Recombinant Baculovirus: A Flexible Drug Screening Platform for Chikungunya Virus.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted infectious agent that causes an endemic or epidemic outbreak(s) of Chikungunya fever that is reported in almost all countries. This virus is an intense global threat, due to its high rate of contagion and the lack of effective remedies. In this study, we developed two baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS)-based approaches for the screening of anti-CHIKV drugs in Spodoptera frugiperda insect (Sf21) cells and U-2OS cells. First, structural protein of CHIKV was co-expressed through BEVS and thereby induced cell fusion in Sf21 cells. We used an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) to co-express the green fluorescent protein (EGFP) for identifying these fusion events. The EGFP-positive Sf21 cells fused with each other and with uninfected cells to form syncytia. We identified that ursolic acid has potential anti-CHIKV activity in vitro, by using this approach. Second, BacMam virus-based gene delivery has been successfully applied for the transient expression of non-structural proteins with a subgenomic promoter-EGFP (SP-EGFP) cassette in U-2OS cells to act as an in vitro CHIKV replicon system. Our BacMam-based screening system has identified that the potential effects of baicalin and baicalein phytocompounds can inhibit the replicon activity of CHIKV in U-2OS cells. In conclusion, our results suggested that BEVS can be a potential tool for screening drugs against CHIKV.

Analysis of Environmental and Typhoon Effects on Modal Frequencies of a Power Transmission Tower.

The structural health monitoring of power transmission towers (PTTs) has drawn increasing attention from researchers in recent years; however, no long-term monitoring of the dynamic parameters of PTTs has previously been reported in the literature. This study performed the long-term monitoring of an instrumented PTT. An automated subspace identification technique was used to extract the dynamic parameters of the PTT from ambient vibration measurements taken over approximately ten months in 2017. Ten target modal frequencies were selected to explore the effects of environmental factors, such as temperature and wind speed, as well as the root-mean-square (RMS) acceleration response of the PTT. Variations in the modal frequencies of approximately 2% to 8% were observed during the study period. In general, among the environmental factors, the temperature was found to be the primary cause of decreases in the modal frequencies, except in the case of some of the higher modes. Typhoon Nesat, which affected the PTT on July 29th, 2017, seems to have decreased the modal frequencies of the PTT, especially for the higher modes. This reduction in the modal frequencies seems to have lasted for approximately two and a half months, after which they recovered to their normal state, probably due to a seasonal cool down in temperature. The reduction percentages in the modal frequencies due to Typhoon Nesat were quantified as approximately -0.89% to -1.34% for the higher modes, but only -0.07% to -0.46% for the remaining lower modes. Although the unusual reductions in the modal frequencies are reported in this study, the reason for this phenomenon is not clear yet. Further studies would be required in the future in order to find the cause.

Local hemostatic matrix for endoscope-assisted removal of intracerebral hemorrhage is safe and effective.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Minimally invasive endoscope-assisted (MIE) evacuation of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is simple and effective, but the limited working space may hinder meticulous hemostasis and might lead to rebleeding. Management of intraoperative hemorrhage is therefore a critical issue of this study. This study presents experience in the treatment of patients with various types of ICH by MIE evacuation followed by direct local injection of FloSeal Hemostatic Matrix (Baxter Healthcare Corp, Fremont, CA, USA) for hemostasis. METHODS: The retrospective nonrandomized clinical and radiology-based analysis enrolled 42 patients treated with MIE evacuation of ICH followed by direct local injection of FloSeal Hemostatic Matrix. Rebleeding, morbidity, and mortality were the primary endpoints. The percentage of hematoma evacuated was calculated from the pre- and postoperative brain computed tomography (CT) scans. Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSE) was evaluated at 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: Forty-two ICH patients were included in this study, among these, 23 patients were putaminal hemorrhage, 16 were thalamic ICH, and the other three were subcortical type. Surgery-related mortality was 2.4%. The average percentage of hematoma evacuated was 80.8%, and the rebleeding rate was 4.8%. The mean operative time was 102.7 minutes and the average blood loss was 84.9 mL. The mean postoperative GOSE score was 4.55 at 6-months' follow-up. CONCLUSION: This study shows that local application of FloSeal Hemostatic Matrix is safe and effective for hemostasis during MIE evacuation of ICH. In our experience, this shortens the operation time, especially in cases with intraoperative bleeding. A large, prospective, randomized trial is needed to confirm the findings.

Propagation and synchronization of reverberatory bursts in developing cultured networks.

Developing networks of neural systems can exhibit spontaneous, synchronous activities called neural bursts, which can be important in the organization of functional neural circuits. Before the network matures, the activity level of a burst can reverberate in repeated rise-and-falls in periods of hundreds of milliseconds following an initial wave-like propagation of spiking activity, while the burst itself lasts for seconds. To investigate the spatiotemporal structure of the reverberatory bursts, we culture dissociated, rat cortical neurons on a high-density multi-electrode array to record the dynamics of neural activity over the growth and maturation of the network. We find the synchrony of the spiking significantly reduced following the initial wave and the activities become broadly distributed spatially. The synchrony recovers as the system reverberates until the end of the burst. Using a propagation model we infer the spreading speed of the spiking activity, which increases as the culture ages. We perform computer simulations of the system using a physiological model of spiking networks in two spatial dimensions and find the parameters that reproduce the observed resynchronization of spiking in the bursts. An analysis of the simulated dynamics suggests that the depletion of synaptic resources causes the resynchronization. The spatial propagation dynamics of the simulations match well with observations over the course of a burst and point to an interplay of the synaptic efficacy and the noisy neural self-activation in producing the morphology of the bursts.

Head-to-head comparisons of bisphosphonates and teriparatide in osteoporosis: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: This meta-analysis aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of teriparatide vs. bisphosphonates in the management of osteoporosis. METHODS: A total of 1,967 patients from eight randomized controlled trials were analyzed; outcomes included bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral neck, total hip and lumbar spine, vertebral and nonvertebral fractures and any adverse event. A subgroup analysis of treatment effectiveness was performed according to the etiology of osteoporosis; i.e., glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO) vs. post-menopausal osteoporosis (PO). RESULTS: Teriparatide increased the BMD of the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip to a greater extent than bisphosphonates. Patients treated with teriparatide also had a lower risk of vertebral fractures compared with bisphosphonates; however, no difference in risk of nonvertebral fractures (or adverse events) was found. GIO subgroups showed larger increases in BMD of the lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck in patients treated with teriparatide compared with bisphosphonates. The PO subgroup showed larger increases in BMD of the lumbar spine in patients treated with teriparatide compared with bisphosphonates. Patients in the GIO subgroup (but not the PO subgroup) were less likely to suffer a vertebral fracture on teriparatide as compared with bisphosphonates. In contrast, no significant difference in the percentage of nonvertebral fractures was noted between the two types of treatment for either subgroup. CONCLUSION: Teriparatide significantly increased the BMD of lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck, particularly in GIO-induced osteoporosis. Teriparatide did not lower the risk of nonvertebral fractures when compared with bisphosphonates.

Indirect Band Gap Emission by Hot Electron Injection in Metal/MoS2 and Metal/WSe2 Heterojunctions.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), such as MoS2 and WSe2, are free of dangling bonds and therefore make more "ideal" Schottky junctions than bulk semiconductors, which produce Fermi energy pinning and recombination centers at the interface with bulk metals, inhibiting charge transfer. Here, we observe a more than 10× enhancement in the indirect band gap photoluminescence of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) deposited on various metals (e.g., Cu, Au, Ag), while the direct band gap emission remains unchanged. We believe the main mechanism of light emission arises from photoexcited hot electrons in the metal that are injected into the conduction band of MoS2 and WSe2 and subsequently recombine radiatively with minority holes in the TMDC. Since the conduction band at the K-point is 0.5 eV higher than at the Σ-point, a lower Schottky barrier exists for the Σ-point band, making electron injection more favorable. Also, the Σ band consists of the sulfur pz orbital, which overlaps more significantly with the electron wave functions in the metal. This enhancement in the indirect emission only occurs for thick flakes of MoS2 and WSe2 (≥100 nm) and is completely absent in monolayer and few-layer (∼10 nm) flakes. Here, the flake thickness must exceed the depletion width of the Schottky junction, in order for efficient radiative recombination to occur in the TMDC. The intensity of this indirect peak decreases at low temperatures, which is consistent with the hot electron injection model.

Determination of melting temperature and temperature melting range for DNA with multi-peak differential melting curves.

Many factors that change the temperature position and interval of the DNA helix-coil transition often also alter the shape of multi-peak differential melting curves (DMCs). For DNAs with a multi-peak DMC, there is no agreement on the most useful definition for the melting temperature, Tm, and temperature melting width, ΔT, of the entire DNA transition. Changes in Tm and ΔT can reflect unstable variation of the shape of the DMC as well as alterations in DNA thermal stability and heterogeneity. Here, experiments and computer modeling for DNA multi-peak DMCs varying under different factors allowed testing of several methods of defining Tm and ΔT. Indeed, some of the methods give unreasonable "jagged" Tm and ΔT dependences on varying relative concentration of DNA chemical modifications (rb), [Na(+)], and GC content. At the same time, Tm determined as the helix-coil transition average temperature, and ΔT, which is proportional to the average absolute temperature deviation from this temperature, are suitable to characterize multi-peak DMCs. They give smoothly varying theoretical and experimental dependences of Tm and ΔT on rb, [Na(+)], and GC content. For multi-peak DMCs, Tm value determined in this way is the closest to the thermodynamic melting temperature (the helix-coil transition enthalpy/entropy ratio).

5-aminolevulinic enhanced brain lesions mimic glioblastoma: A case report and literature review.

RATIONALE: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly malignant primary brain tumor for which maximal tumor resection plays an important role in the treatment strategy. 5-aminolevulinic (5-ALA) is a powerful tool in fluorescence-guided surgery for GBM. However, 5-ALA- enhancing lesion can also be observed with different etiologies. PATIENTS CONCERNS: Three cases of 5-ALA-enhancing lesions with etiologies different from glioma. DIAGNOSES: The final diagnosis was abscess in 1 patient and diffuse large B-cell in the other 2 patients. INTERVENTIONS: Three patients received 5-aminolevulinic acid-guided tumor resection under microscope with intraoperative neuromonitoring. OUTCOMES: All of our patients showed improvement or stable neurological function outcomes. The final pathology revealed etiologies different from GBM. LESSONS: The 5-aminolevulinic acid fluorescence-guided surgery has demonstrated its maximal extent of resection and safety profile in patients with high-grade glioma. Non-glioma etiologies may also mimic GBM in 5-ALA-guided surgeries. Therefore, patient history taking and consideration of brain images are necessary for the interpretation of 5-ALA-enhanced lesions.

Cerebrolysin enhances cognitive recovery of mild traumatic brain injury patients: double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study.

In adults, mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) frequently results in impairments of cognitive functions which would lead to psychological consequences in the future. Cerebrolysin is a nootropic drug, and can significantly improve cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease and stroke. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Cerebrolysin therapy enhances cognitive recovery for mild traumatic brain injury patients using a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized phase II pilot study. Patients having head injury within 24 h sent to our hospital were screened and recruited if patients were alert and conscious, and had intracranial contusion haemorrhage. From July 2009 to June 2010, totally, thirty-two patients were recruited in the double-blinded, placebo-controlled, and randomized study. Patients were randomized to receive Cerebrolysin (Group A, once daily intravenous infusion of 30 mL Cerebrolysin over a 60-min period for 5 days) or placebo (Group B, same dosage and administration of normal saline as Group A). The primary outcome measures were differences of cognitive function including Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), and Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) scores between baseline and week 1, between baseline and week 4, and between baseline and week 12. Thirty-two patients completed the trial. For Group A, the CASI score difference between baseline and week 12 was 21.0 ± 20.4, a significantly greater change than that of Group B (7.6 ± 12.1) (p = 0.0461). Besides, drawing function (one of the domains of CASI; p = 0.0066) on week 4 and both drawing function (p = 0.0472) and long-term memory (one of the domains of CASI; p = 0.0256) on week 12 were also found to be significantly improved in the patients receiving Cerebrolysin treatment. Our results suggest that Cerebrolysin improves the cognitive function of the MTBI in patients at 3rd month after injury, especially for long-term memory and drawing function.

Transsylvian-transinsular approach for the removal of basal ganglia hemorrhage under a Modified Intracerebral Hemorrhage score.

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages account for 20% of all strokes. The Modified Intracerebral Hemorrhage (MICH) score provides a simple, reliable system for decision making regarding surgical treatment. The transsylvian-transinsular approach had previously been neglected because of the dependence on great surgical experience. We believe this approach not only compares favorably with the minimally invasive surgery concept but also preserves most of the cerebral functional cortex with a maximum hematoma evacuation rate. METHODS: From May 2007 to September 2008, a single surgeon treated 32 patients with basal ganglia hemorrhage using the transsylvian-transinsular approach. Of these, 20 had MICH scores of 2 to 3; 5 had MICH scores of 4; and 7 had MICH scores of 5. After 24 postoperative hours, we evaluated the hematoma evacuation rate by a computed tomography scan. The functional recovery was evaluated by the Barthel Index at 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: All data were analyzed according to MICH score. The hematoma evacuation rates were in the following order: MICH scores 2 to 3 (97%) > MICH score 4 (92%) > MICH score 5 (90%). Surgery-related mortality was MICH2, 3 (0%) < MICH4 (20%) < MICH5 (43%). The Barthel Index of the MICH2, 3 patients (n = 18) improved from 16.9 at 1 postoperative month to 41.94 at 6 postoperative months. CONCLUSIONS: The transsylvian-transinsular approach for the removal of an ICH was not difficult, and it was found to be a safe method for treating a spontaneous basal ganglion ICH. In addition, this approach conformed with the spirit of minimally invasive surgery.

Electrical and optical characterization of surface passivation in GaAs nanowires.

We report a systematic study of carrier dynamics in Al(x)Ga(1-x)As-passivated GaAs nanowires. With passivation, the minority carrier diffusion length (L(diff)) increases from 30 to 180 nm, as measured by electron beam induced current (EBIC) mapping, and the photoluminescence (PL) lifetime increases from sub-60 ps to 1.3 ns. A 48-fold enhancement in the continuous-wave PL intensity is observed on the same individual nanowire with and without the Al(x)Ga(1-x)As passivation layer, indicating a significant reduction in surface recombination. These results indicate that, in passivated nanowires, the minority carrier lifetime is not limited by twin stacking faults. From the PL lifetime and minority carrier diffusion length, we estimate the surface recombination velocity (SRV) to range from 1.7 × 10(3) to 1.1 × 10(4) cm·s(-1), and the minority carrier mobility µ is estimated to lie in the range from 10.3 to 67.5 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) for the passivated nanowires.

Case report of intracranial large vessel occlusion in glioblastoma multiforme patient after radiation therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Vasculopathy of the large arteries is a prominent complication of radiotherapy. Radiation-induced cerebral vasculopathy can cause arterial stenosis/occlusion, cerebral hemorrhage, and aneurysm formation. We report a cases of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) with occlusive radiation vasculopathy (ORV). CASE PRESENTATION: This 28-year-old patient who suffered from GBM had surgery for cytoreduction and received postoperative CCRT. We adopted the radiotherapy and oncology group radiation guideline. This patient had cerebrovascular accident episodes without any known risk. Therefore, ORV was highly suspected and vascular stenosis was confirmed using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) or digital subtraction angiography. Extracranial-intracranial bypass was performed and patency was confirmed. The patient had not suffered from recurrent symptoms of transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke for 1.5 years. DISCUSSION: This is the first article to report bypass surgery for GBM patients. Although the median survival rate of GBM is approximately 15 months, the short survival time may be sufficient for occlusive vasculopathy to occur. Regular follow-up magnetic resonance imaging assessments are recommended, as is MRA as a screening tool for the early diagnosis of ORV.The Stenting versus Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent Stroke in Intracranial Stenosis (SAMMPRIS) trial focused on atherosclerotic intracranial arterial stenosis, revealing that aggressive medical management was superior to stenting for secondary stroke prevention; however, it did not mention radiation-induced vasculopathy. Bypass surgery has yielded some positive outcomes. In the absence of contraindications, antiplatelet or anticoagulation agents could be added, and bypass surgery could be performed because there was no stent in the distal intracranial arteries. CONCLUSION: MRA is a potential screening tool for ORV in GBM patients and bypass surgery could be performed to improve brain perfusion. Bypass surgery could help patient with occlusive radiation vasculopathy.

Rosai-Dorfman disease mimicking craniopharyngioma: a challenging differential diagnosis. Illustrative case.

BACKGROUND: Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare non-Langerhans histiocytic disorder with less than 5% central nervous system involvement and is often mistaken for meningioma given the similarity in imaging features. The authors present the unique case of a 44-year-old female who presented with ongoing visual impairment. OBSERVATIONS: A purely suprasellar mass was noted on magnetic resonance imaging and was initially diagnosed as craniopharyngioma. Unexpectedly, the pathology report revealed RDD. LESSONS: To date, only six cases of sellar RDD have been reported, and our case is the first reported with a purely suprasellar presentation. No standard treatment has been established for RDD, and next-generation sequencing may be a promising therapeutic option.

Images Combined With Surgical Procedures and Pathological Identification to Distinguish a Reactive Histiocytosis With Organized Hematoma From a Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) are rare soft tissue malignant tumors. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous reports of benign reactive histiocytosis with hematoma that mimics MPNST on medical images. CASE REPORT: A 57-year-old female with past history of hypertension came to our clinic due to low back pain with radiculopathy which was diagnosed with a tumor arising from L2 neuroforamen with L2 pedical erosion. Initial tentative diagnosis on the images was MPNST. However, after surgical resection, the pathologic report revealed no evidence of malignancy but only an organized hematoma with reactive histiocytosis. CONCLUSION: Images cannot provide enough diagnostic evidence for distinguishing a reactive histiocytosis from MPNST. Proper surgical procedures and expert pathological identification can correct the mistaking of the ambiguous identification as MPNST. Images can only provide precise and personalized medication accompanied by proper surgical procedures and expert pathological identification.

Unlocking Colchicine's Untapped Potential: A Paradigm Shift in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Prevention.

Background: Liver cancer and notably hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), results in significantly high mortality rates worldwide. Chronic hepatitis and fatty liver, recognized precursors, underscore the imperative need for effective preventive strategies. This study explores colchicine, traditionally acknowledged for its anti-inflammatory properties and investigates its potential in liver cancer prevention. Methods: Utilizing the iHi Data Platform of China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan, this study analyzed two decades of medical data, incorporating 10,353 patients each in the Colchicine and Non-Colchicine cohorts, to investigate the association between colchicine use and liver cancer risk. Results: The study identified that colchicine users exhibited a 19% reduction in liver cancer risk, with a multivariable-adjusted odds ratio of 0.81 after accounting for confounding variables. Additionally, the influence of gender and comorbidities like diabetes mellitus on liver cancer risk was identified, corroborating the existing literature. A notable finding was that the prolonged use of colchicine was associated with improved outcomes, indicating a potential dose-response relationship. Conclusions: This study proposes a potential new role for colchicine in liver cancer prevention, extending beyond its established anti-inflammatory applications. While the findings are promising, further research is essential to validate these results. This research may serve as a foundation for future studies, aiming to further explore colchicine's role via clinical trials and in-depth investigations, potentially impacting preventive strategies for liver cancer.

Chinese Herb Astragalus membranaceus Enhances Recovery of Hemorrhagic Stroke: Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Study.

We tested the effect of Astragalus membranaceus (AM) on acute hemorrhagic stroke. Seventy-eight patients were randomly assigned to Group A (3 g of AM three times/day for 14 days); or Group B (3 g of placebo herb). A total of 68 patients (Group A 36, Group B 32) completed the trial. The increase of functional independence measure scale score between baseline and week 4 was 24.53 ± 23.40, and between baseline and week 12 was 34.69 ± 28.89, in the Group A was greater than 11.97 ± 11.48 and 23.94 ± 14.8 in the Group B (both P≦0.05). The increase of Glasgow outcome scale score between baseline and week 12 was 0.75 ± 0.77 in the Group A was greater than 0.41 ± 0.50 in the Group B (P < 0.05). The results are preliminary and need a larger study to assess the efficacy of AM after stroke.

Extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass of symptomatic middle cerebral artery (MCA) total occlusion for haemodynamic impairment patients.

A retrospective, single-centre, non-randomized study in the management of symptomatic middle cerebral artery (MCA) total occlusion disease to evaluate extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass as an intervention for patients with atherosclerotic MCA total occlusion, ischemic symptoms (transient ischemic attacks [TIAs]) or poor cerebral haemodynamics who had not responded well to maximal medical treatment was reported. Twenty-three patients were included in the study with the criteria of: having ischemic syndrome, for example, TIA; being associated with atherosclerotic MCA total occlusion disease (compatible with radiological assessment); being failed to respond to optimal medical therapy (e.g. antiplatelet therapy), indicating a repeat TIA or ischemic stroke attack was noted during maximal medical therapy; having poor cerebral perfusion on CT imaging; and having regional cerebrovascular reactivity (rCVR) of <20% when acetazolamide challenge was undergone. Patients had acute ischemic stroke or other major medical co-morbidities were excluded. No patient experienced any recurrent ischemic stroke during a mean follow-up period of 26.5 months except one patient suffered of immediate post-operative ischemic stroke because of the temporal vessel being clipped too long and the hypotension caused by anaesthesia. Post-operative follow-up imaging, which included MRI (MR angiography) and four-vessel digital subtraction angiography revealed a 100% patency of superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) anastomosis. No significant differences between observation periods (baseline status: 5.46 ± 5.13/85 ± 15; 0.5 month after surgery: 5.18 ± 5.29/85.91 ± 15.46 and 3 months after surgery: 5.09 ± 4.75/85.36 ± 12.27) were found for the neurological evaluations of NIHSS and Barthel Index (both expressed in mean ± SD) in all of the 23 patients. The annual risk of recurrent stroke was 0% after EC-IC bypass. However, studies with a larger scale are warranted to further confirm the effectiveness of EC-IC bypass.

Graphene-silicon Schottky diodes.

We have fabricated graphene-silicon Schottky diodes by depositing mechanically exfoliated graphene on top of silicon substrates. The resulting current-voltage characteristics exhibit rectifying diode behavior with a barrier energy of 0.41 eV on n-type silicon and 0.45 eV on p-type silicon at the room temperature. The I-V characteristics measured at 100, 300, and 400 K indicate that temperature strongly influences the ideality factor of graphene-silicon Schottky diodes. The ideality factor, however, does not depend strongly on the number of graphene layers. The optical transparency of the thin graphene layer allows the underlying silicon substrate to absorb incident laser light and generate a photocurrent. Spatially resolved photocurrent measurements reveal the importance of inhomogeneity and series resistance in the devices.

Universal scaling of extinction time in stochastic evolutionary dynamics.

Evolutionary dynamics is well captured by the replicator equations when the population is infinite and well-mixed. However, the extinction dynamics is modified with finite and structured populations. Experiments on the non-transitive ecosystem containing three populations of bacteria found that the ecological stability sensitively depends on the spatial structure of the populations. Based on the Reference-Gamble-Birth algorithm, we use agent-based Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the extinction dynamics in the rock-paper-scissors ecosystem with finite and structured populations. On the fully-connected network, the extinction time in stable and unstable regimes falls into two universal functions when plotted with the rescaled variables. On the two dimensional grid, the spatial structure changes the transition boundary between stable and unstable regimes but doesn't change its extinction trend. The finding of universal scaling in extinction dynamics is unexpected, and may provide a powerful method to classify different evolutionary dynamics into universal classes.

Patient-derived tumor organoids as a platform of precision treatment for malignant brain tumors.

Malignant brain tumors consist of malignancies originated primarily within the brain and the metastatic lesions disseminated from other organs. In spite of intensive studies, malignant brain tumors remain to be a medical challenge. Patient-derived organoid (PDO) can recapitulate the biological features of the primary tumor it was derived from and has emerged as a promising drug-screening model for precision therapy. Here we show a proof-of-concept based on early clinical study entailing the organoids derived from the surgically resected tumors of 26 patients with advanced malignant brain tumors enrolled during December 2020 to October 2021. The tumors included nine glioma patients, one malignant meningioma, one primary lymphoma patient, and 15 brain metastases. The primary tumor sites of the metastases included five from the lungs, three from the breasts, two from the ovaries, two from the colon, one from the testis, one of melanoma origin, and one of chondrosarcoma. Out of the 26 tissues, 13 (50%) organoids were successfully generated with a culture time of about 2 weeks. Among these patients, three were further pursued to have the organoids derived from their tumor tissues tested for the sensitivity to different therapeutic drugs in parallel to their clinical care. Our results showed that the therapeutic effects observed by the organoid models were consistent to the responses of these patients to their treatments. Our study suggests that PDO can recapitulate patient responses in the clinic with high potential of implementation in personalized medicine of malignant brain tumors.