Zateria multiflora boiss essential oil encapsulated into S. cerevisiae yeast may be used as a potential preservative for the food and drug industry. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.
 Zateria multiflora boiss essential oil can be encapsulated effectively in S. cerevisiae yeast cells, refrigerated without degradation, and released efficiently. Zateria multiflora boiss essential oil encapsulated into S. cerevisiae yeast may be used as a potential preservative for the food and drug industry. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.The predictive effect of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment is still highly discussed. The primary objective of our study was to investigate a possible prognostic/predictive value of ctDNA under regorafenib treatment. This prospective multicenter translational biomarker phase II pilot study enrolled 30 metastatic CRC patients (67% men, 33% women) treated with regorafenib. ctDNA was assessed in plasma before treatment start and at defined time points during administration. Measurement of tumor fraction as well as mutation and copy number analysis of CRC driver genes were performed by next-generation sequencing approaches. Multivariate analyses for survival and treatment efficacy were adjusted to age, gender and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Disease control rate was 30%. Median tumor fraction at baseline was 18.5% (0-49.9). Mutations in CRC driver genes or genes involved in angiogenesis were identified in 25 patients (83.3%). KRAS mutations were detected in 13 of 14 KRAS-positive tumors; in three patients without KRAS mutation in the respective tumors, acquired mutations as a consequence of prior anti-EGFR treatment were detected. In a subset of patients, novel occurring mutations or focal amplifications were detected.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/cc-90011.html  A tumor fraction of 5% and higher at baseline was significantly associated with a decreased OS (P = .022; hazard ratio 3.110 (95% confidence interval 1.2-8.2). ctDNA is detectable in a high proportion of mCRC patients. Higher ctDNA levels are associated with survival among regorafenib treatment. Moreover, our data highlight the benefit of a combined evaluation of mutations and somatic copy number alterations in advanced cancer patients.We examined the association between established risk factors for breast cancer and microcalcification clusters and their asymmetry. A cohort study of 53 273 Swedish women aged 30 to 80 years, with comprehensive information on breast cancer risk factors and mammograms, was conducted. Total number of microcalcification clusters and the average mammographic density area were measured using a Computer Aided Detection system and the STRATUS method, respectively. A polygenic risk score for breast cancer, including 313 single nucleotide polymorphisms, was calculated for those women genotyped (N = 7387). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), with adjustment for potential confounders, were estimated. Age was strongly associated with microcalcification clusters. Both high mammographic density (>40 cm2 ), and high polygenic risk score (80-100 percentile) were associated with microcalcification clusters, OR = 2.08 (95% CI = 1.93-2.25) and OR = 1.22 (95% CI = 1.06-1.48), respectively. Among reproductive risk factors, life-time breastfeeding duration >1 year was associated with microcalcification clusters OR = 1.22 (95% CI = 1.03-1.46). The association was confined to postmenopausal women. Among lifestyle risk factors, women with a body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 had the lowest risk of microcalcification clusters OR = 0.79 (95% CI = 0.73-0.85) and the association was stronger among premenopausal women. Our results suggest that age, mammographic density, genetic predictors of breast cancer, having more than two children, longer duration of breast-feeding are significantly associated with increased risk of microcalcification clusters. However, most lifestyle risk factors for breast cancer seem to protect against presence of microcalcification clusters. More research is needed to study biological mechanisms behind microcalcifications formation.
  Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection may be at an increased risk for morbidity and mortality from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We present the clinical outcomes of HIV patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in a matched comparison with historical controls.
 
  We conducted a retrospective cohort study of HIV patients admitted for COVID-19 between March 2020 and April 2020 to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Data on baseline clinical characteristics and hospital course weredocumented and compared with that of a matched control group of COVID-19 patients who had no history of HIV. Kaplan-Meiersurvival curves and the log-rank tests were used to estimate and compare in-hospital survival between both unmatched and matched groups.
 
  Twenty-three patients with HIV were hospitalized with COVID-19. The median age was 59 years. The rates of in-hospital death, the need for mechanical ventilation, and intensive care unit (ICU) admission were 13% (n = 3), 9% (n = 2), and 9% (n = 2), respectively. The HIV infection was well-controlled in all patients except for three patients presented with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). All AIDS patients were discharged home uneventfully. A one-to-one propensity matching identified 23 COVID-19 patients who served as a control group. In both pre- and post-match cohorts, survival between HIV and control groups were comparable.
 
  In our cohort of HIV-infected patients hospitalized for COVID-19, there was no difference in mortality, ICU admission, and the need for mechanical ventilation when compared witha matched control of COVID-19 patients with HIV.
 In our cohort of HIV-infected patients hospitalized for COVID-19, there was no difference in mortality, ICU admission, and the need for mechanical ventilation when compared with a matched control of COVID-19 patients with HIV.The advent and subsequent widespread availability of preventive vaccines has altered the course of public health over the past century. Despite this success, effective vaccines to prevent many high-burden diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), have been slow to develop. Vaccine development can be aided by the identification of immune response markers that serve as effective surrogates for clinically significant infection or disease endpoints. However, measuring immune response marker activity is often costly, which has motivated the usage of two-phase sampling for immune response evaluation in clinical trials of preventive vaccines. In such trials, the measurement of immunological markers is performed on a subset of trial participants, where enrollment in this second phase is potentially contingent on the observed study outcome and other participant-level information. We propose nonparametric methodology for efficiently estimating a counterfactual parameter that quantifies the impact of a given immune response marker on the subsequent probability of infection.