by Mary J. Lotesto  and Stacey L. Raimondi

Received: 26 June 2020;  Published: 07 October 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2004117

Estrogen-based cancers affect a substantial portion of the female population in the United States. While multiple studies have examined the effect of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα/ESR1) in cancer, the effects of ERβ/ESR2 are not as well understood in tumor tissues. Furthermore, there are few studies examining the role of specific binding partners of the estrogen receptors, such as early B-cell factor 1 (EBF1). EBF1 has been shown to have a role in B cell development and differentiation and is also know [...]

by Pierpaolo Di Cocco  , Alberto Fratti  , Kerim B. Kaylan  , Ivo G. Tzvetanov  and Enrico Benedetti

Received: 22 August 2020;  Published: 28 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2003119

This article reviews the current treatment strategies of antibody-mediated rejection in kidney transplantation, which is increasingly recognized as the leading immunological cause of graft failure. The pathophysiologic complexity of this condition poses significant challenges for its treatment; however, progress toward advancing our understanding of its pathogenesis and diagnosis will allow for identification of new therapeutic targets. Emphasis is also given to prevention, which is mainly based on careful assessme [...]

by Ashleigh Trapuzzano  , Sara Chizmar  , Lauren Wilda  and Nicole Dawson

Received: 03 April 2020;  Published: 27 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.2003134

This study investigated the predictors of gait speed in community dwelling older adults while examining interplay between physical performance and cognition on comfortable and fast gait speed. Sixty-six community-dwelling older adults (mean age 80.8 71% female) completed the following: 30-Second Chair Stand (30-SCS), Functional Reach (FR), Flanker Task, Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), and gait speed (comfortable and fast). Hierarchical linear regression examined the relationship of comfortable and fast gait [...]

by Richard A. Manfready  , Jack Husney  , Swan Thung  and Ilan S. Weisberg

Received: 04 March 2020;  Published: 25 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.2003051

Patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy for inflammatory bowel disease may be susceptible to non-cirrhotic portal hypertension, now referred to as porto-sinusoidal vascular disease. Here we describe a patient treated with long-term azathioprine for Crohn’s disease who developed porto-sinusoidal vascular disease with obliterative portal venopathy without nodular regenerative hyperplasia on histology. Specific signs of portal hypertension were present, including porto-systemic collaterals on imaging. Histopathol [...]

by Tamuyen P. Do  , Eileen B. O'Keefe  and Nicole L. Spartano

Received: 04 June 2020;  Published: 23 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.2003133

Individuals with dementia frequently report poor quality of life (QOL), which declines as their disease progresses. Some evidence suggests that physical activity may help maintain cognitive function in older age, but it is unclear whether physical activity affects quality of life in older adults with dementia. The purpose of this review paper is to explore whether and how physical activity impacts QOL in patients with diagnosed dementia in different residential settings. To conduct this systematic review, the follo [...]

by Bhagyashree Deshmankar  , Craig E. Eckfeldt  , Graf Oliver  , Aleksandr Lazaryan  and Nelli Bejanyan

Received: 19 July 2020;  Published: 18 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2003118

Severe hypercholesterolemia is an uncommon complication of allogenic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Treatment options for hypercholesterolemia due to liver graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) are limited because many antilipidemic medications are known to worsen hepatic functions. We report our experience on a case of a 38-year-old male with Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting with steroid-refractory hepatic and lower gastrointestinal acute GVHD after matched sibling don [...]

by Jiankang Jin  , Shumei Song  and Jaffer A. Ajani

Received: 30 June 2020;  Published: 16 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2003116

Gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) is among the three most common cancers in the world. The majority of GAC patients are diagnosed in an advanced stage and have a median survival of ~9 months. There are limited effective therapeutic strategies available in the clinic and currently U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved immune therapy is programmed death-1 (PD-1) antibodies (e.g. pembrolizumab) but only a few patients seem to benefit. Transformation to cancer occurs when multiple genes and cellular pathways are [...]

by Giuseppe Cocco

Received: 05 September 2020;  Published: 10 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.2003132

Covid-19 pandemic has been infecting a substantial portion of the world population, thereby revealing quality deficits in health care in the majority of the countries around the globe. Severe illness and mortality from Covid-19 infection are present predominantly in minorities; especially they are more frequent in geriatric patients. Unfortunately, our knowledge is limited about what accounts for the variability in immune response from one person to another. This question is far from being merely academic, and find [...]

by Babak Jahani  , Xinnan Wang  and Amanda Brooks

Received: 26 June 2020;  Published: 08 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2003021

Bone tissue engineering (BTE) as a modern and more effective treatment for bone defects has recently received lots of attention. One of the pivotal parts of BTE is the “scaffold”, which functions as an indwelling carrier of cells and additives, as well as, providing a foundation for cell growth and eventually forming new, native-like bone. Up to now, many methods and materials have been employed to manufacture bone scaffolds. This review focuses on providing both basic knowledge of BTE as well as possible methods o [...]

by Miguel Mayo-Yáñez  and Irma Cabo-Varela

Received: 29 June 2020;  Published: 08 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2003072

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia in the world. This manuscript attempts to review the current knowledge of neurolaryngology and speech and language therapy in Alzheimer’s disease in order to distinguish it from other neurodegenerative diseases. Only a limited number of studies carried out on Alzheimer’s disease patients with speech or laryngeal disorders are found in the literature. Laryngeal (dysphonia, dysphagia, dry mucosa…) and speech symptoms (aphasic, rhythm alterations…) appear to exis [...]