Solid tumors that arise in the body interact with neurons, which influences cancer progression and treatment response. Here, we discuss key questions in the field, including defining the nature of interactions between tumors and neural circuits and defining how neural signals shape the tumor microenvironment. This information will allow us to optimally target neural signaling to improve outcomes for cancer patients.

Thermoregulation, responsible for maintaining a stable core temperature during wide fluctuations in external and internal thermal environments, is an iconic homeostatic process. However, we suggest that despite its fundamental physiological significance, the potential for required cool housing temperatures and thermoregulatory mechanisms to influence the interpretation of experimental data is not sufficiently appreciated. Moreover, although it is generally assumed that the major thermoregulatory pathways are well understood, here we discuss new research that suggests otherwise and reveals the emergence of a new wave of exciting ideas for this "old" field of research.

Recent work has highlighted the central role the brain–body axis plays in not only maintaining organismal homeostasis but also coordinating the body's response to immune and inflammatory insults. Here, we discuss how science is poised to address the many ways that our brain is directly involved with disease. In particular, we feel that combining cutting-edge tools in neuroscience with translationally relevant models of cancer will be critical to understanding how the brain and tumors communicate and modulate each other's behavior.

The dorsal vagal complex contains three structures: the area postrema, the nucleus tractus solitarii, and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus. These structures are tightly linked, both anatomically and functionally, and have important yet distinct roles in not only conveying peripheral bodily signals to the rest of the brain but in the generation of behavioral and physiological responses. Reports on the new discoveries in these structures were highlights of the symposium. In this outlook, we focus on the roles of the area postrema in mediating brain–body interactions and its potential utility as a therapeutic target, especially in cancer cachexia.

Our approaches toward understanding cancer have evolved beyond cell-intrinsic and local microenvironmental changes within the tumor to encompass how the cancer interfaces with the entire host organism. The nervous system is uniquely situated at the interface between the brain and body, constantly receiving and sending signals back and forth to maintain homeostasis and respond to salient stimuli. It is becoming clear that various cancers disrupt this dialog between the brain and body via both neuronal and humoral routes, leading to aberrant brain activity and accelerated disease. In this outlook, I discuss this view of cancer as a homeostatic challenge, emphasize cutting-edge work, and provide outstanding questions that need to be answered to move the field forward.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Patients with brain tumors have high intersubject variation in putative language regions, which may limit the utility of straightforward application of healthy subject brain atlases in clinical scenarios. The purpose of this study was to develop a probabilistic functional brain atlas that consolidates language functional activations of sentence completion and Silent Word Generation language paradigms using a large sample of patients with brain tumors.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Previous studies have reported metal accumulation and microstructure changes in deep gray nuclei (DGN) in Wilson disease (WD). However, there are limited studies that investigate whether there is metal accumulation and microstructure changes in DGN of patients with WD with normal-appearing routine MRI. This study aimed to evaluate multiparametric changes in DGN of WD and whether the findings correlate with clinical severity in patients with WD.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Recently, artificial intelligence tools have been deployed with increasing speed in educational and clinical settings. However, the use of artificial intelligence by trainees across different levels of experience has not been well-studied. This study investigates the impact of artificial intelligence assistance on the diagnostic accuracy for intracranial hemorrhage and large-vessel occlusion by medical students and resident trainees.

Pilocytic astrocytomas are the most common pediatric brain tumors, typically presenting as low-grade neoplasms. We report two cases of pilocytic astrocytoma with atypical tumor progression. Case 1 involves a 12-yr-old boy with an unresectable suprasellar tumor, negative for BRAF rearrangement but harboring a BRAF p.V600E mutation. He experienced tumor size reduction and stable disease following dabrafenib treatment. Case 2 describes a 6-yr-old boy with a thalamic tumor that underwent multiple resections, with no actionable driver detected using targeted next-generation sequencing. Whole-genome and RNA-seq analysis identified an internal tandem duplication in FGFR1 and RAS pathway activation. Future management options include FGFR1 inhibitors. These cases demonstrate the importance of escalating molecular diagnostics for pediatric brain cancer, advocating for early reflexing to integrative whole-genome sequencing and transcriptomic profiling when targeted panels are uninformative. Identifying molecular drivers can significantly impact treatment decisions and improve patient outcomes.

HUNDREDS of travellers’ holiday plans are in disarray after all Tigerair flights in and out of Bali were cancelled again today and early tomorrow.

A rail service linking Scotland, Wales and England with one train journey is to start running for the first time. 

Kelley mounts her fox onto a fox to go for a walk with her foxes. Robert breaks his keyboard. Anna Marie drinks the Kool-Aid. Chris is singing about Death Tales, awooo-oo. And Josh vapes with his Xbox. Regardless, they all agree that you should not play Operation Darkness.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 565: “Whiskers on Raindrops” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris has a normal amount of coffee on his shirt. Kelley conks her cat on the head with a controller. And Josh thinks Maglam Lord is a contraceptive device.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 617: “Yoko Taro Made This While Queuing for His Raid” appeared first on RPGamer.

Kelley is better at Elden Ring than Chris. Anna Marie shows off her deck. And Chris hates sand. Time to go play with the HD-2D you have at home.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 633: “Your Cat Sharts on the Rainbow Bridge” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris suffers from "The Curse of the Steam Deck." Kelley can't pickpocket, so she mugs people at night. And Ryan likes practical grave robbers. Curl up in your clothmap quilt and enjoy our cozy '60s demon world.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 681: “Ganon Is Afraid of Homemade Apple Pie” appeared first on RPGamer.

Tigerair has been forced to suddenly halt services to Bali after Jakarta unexpectedly cancelled a flight agreement.

More than 170 Australian travellers remained stranded in Bali last night following the Indonesian ban on Tiger­air.

Much the same as anyone with a soul, I find ants deeply fascinating and, much the same as anyone who occasionally drops small pieces of sandwich on the floor, I will continue to uphold my respect for them as long as they come nowhere near my feet. Yes. I admit it: I am a bug hypocrite, loudly extolling their virtue and beauty at a distance then getting irritated if they decide to come sit on me.

Fortunately, real time strategy Empire Of The Ants understands that the best place for insects to be is inside a screen, where they can be appreciated but cannot under any circumstances touch you. It’s out this week, as it happens, and here’s a new launch trailer to celebrate. Follow your pheromone trail to the video below.

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Calling a game ‘no frills’ or ‘no nonsense’ is always a back-handed compliment, because it sounds like you're saying it's a bit straightforward and simple. And yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying here. Acts Of Blood feels like a spiffy PS2 action brawler; a slightly tighter old Yakuza game, or a stripped-back Sifu. It’s snacky and a bit janky, but it’s also great coffee break fodder, assuming you want to spend your break breaking a selection of heavy objects over the crumbly skulls of ne’er-do-wells. I mean, they might have done some things well, I don’t know them. But they aren’t doing any well to my character in the game, so violence it is.

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When multiplayer fishing game Webfishing came out last month, it offered a relaxing hangout zone for cats and dogs. Everything revolves around catching, selling, and collecting the fish that gather in the rivers of a small island. It also lets you customise your character with clothing. Mostly simple hats and shorts, but some options let players celebrate their sexuality, such as a rainbow-adorned t-shirts, or titles that hang above your character which simply say "Trans" or "Bi". All this led one player to complain there was no "Straight" title. So, the developer added one. It costs 10 grand.

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Finance guru Laura Pomfret explained how changes to inheritance tax in the budget may hit people in a way they hadn't realised

If artificial intelligence chatbots are fine-tuned to improve their responses using human feedback, they can become more likely to give deceptive answers that seem right but aren’t

Machines are fighting machines on the Ukrainian battlefield, as a technological arms race has given birth to a new way to wage war

Hurricane Helene hit a quartz mine in North Carolina that is key to global semiconductor production, which could impact the entire tech industry. Here is everything we know so far

Seven major datasets used to train audio-generating AI models are three times more likely to use the words "man" or "men" than "woman" or "women", raising fears of bias

The end to this bloody stalemate must come with negotiation, and Putin should not wait until Trump is in the White House, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins

Two large grizzly bears followed 13 hikers down a trail in Banff National Park for 20 minutes — with one even making a few quick runs at the group.

Online group Girls Who Chase has created a global community of women who head into severe weather to record images, report damage and help scientists understand the impact of storms to be better prepared

… Trains for 1st Time inside Davis Cup Venue VALENCIA, Spain – World No … the Spanish national team’s Davis Cup quarterfinals against Germany. Nadal, who ….

A pilot program aimed at training women and non-binary persons for careers in cybersecurity will soon start recruiting its third group of students. The program, offered to students in computer science and related courses in seven Canadian post-secondary institutions, should start looking for candidates next month for the fall academic year, said Vivian Lee, team […]

Depending on PC config you may see up to a 30fps uplift with anti-tamper tech ditched.

Red and processed meat, and even poultry, seem to raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study of nearly 2 million adults, but not everyone is convinced

DNA from mitochondria, the energy powerhouses inside cells, sometimes gets added to our genome – and the number of these mutations in the brain could be linked to ageing

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have unexpected effects on the brain, opening up potential new ways to treat depression, anxiety, addiction and Alzheimer’s

A network of neurons in the brain seems to be larger in people with depression, which could change how we think about the condition's causes

They fight invaders, clear debris and tend neural connections, but sometimes microglia go rogue. Preventing this malfunction may offer new treatments for brain conditions including Alzheimer's

A woman's brain was scanned throughout her pregnancy, adding to the growing body of evidence that dramatic remodelling takes place in preparation for motherhood

A meta-analysis of 137 clinical trials finds triptan drugs are among the most effective for treating migraines, while newer ditan and gepant drugs were rated less highly

Neuroscientists have been surprised to discover that the human brain is teeming with microbes, and we are beginning to suspect they could play a role in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's

Rats perform better on memory tests when certain brainwave-producing neurons are stimulated while they sleep. If we can boost these brainwaves in people, it could help treat memory impairments in those with dementia

A researcher who underwent dozens of brain scans discovered that the volume of her cerebral cortex was 1 per cent lower when she took hormonal contraceptives

A bird flu virus that has been circulating in dairy cattle for months has now been found in a pig in the US for the first time, raising the risk of the virus evolving to become more dangerous to people

Despite his own isolationist musings, the first picks of President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration hail from a decidedly more traditionalist wing of the Republican Party.

Several trade associations have called on European policymakers to reconsider the EU-Mercosur trade deal following findings from an audit in Brazil. The EU-Mercosur deal is an agreement between the European Union and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. A recently published audit report by DG Sante revealed Brazil’s issues in meeting European food... Continue Reading