Mild Luminal Stenosis of Parent Artery and Neurologic Deterioration After Acute Lacunar Stroke

BACKGROUND Early neurologic deterioration (END) occurs in a quarter of acute lacunar infarcts, but the underlying pathophysiological features are poorly understood. We sought to determine the association between luminal stenosis (<50%) of the parent artery and END. METHODS This observational study included consecutive patients with lacunar stroke from the ischemic stroke registries of New York University Langone Health and Brown University. All included patients were admitted for acute lacunar stroke, which was defined as a subcortical infarct <1.5 cm on computed tomography or <2 cm on diffusion‐weighted imaging without significant stenosis (>50%) in the parent vessel and no cardioembolic source. We defined END as any neurologic deterioration referable to the acute lacunar stroke and not related to a medical or noncerebrovascular neurological complication. We used univariate and logistic regression analyses to determine associations between luminal stenosis (<50%) and the odds of END. Furthermore, we attempted to validate findings using the Columbia University Medical Center stroke registry and perform a meta‐analysis combining the derivation and validation groups because of the expected small samples and event rates. RESULTS The New York University Langone Health and Brown University sample included 205 patients, of whom 41 (20%) had END. In adjusted models, we found no definite association between luminal stenosis (<50%) and END (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.74; 95% CI, 0.73–4.14). From Columbia University Medical Center, 361 total patients were included, of whom 59 (16%) had END. In adjusted models, we found an association between luminal stenosis (<50%) and END (adjusted OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.15–4.50). Meta‐analysis of both cohorts found luminal stenosis (<50%) associated with END (relative risk, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.17–2.43). CONCLUSIONS In this multicenter study, luminal stenosis (<50%) may be associated with END following an acute lacunar infarct. Larger studies using vessel wall imaging are needed to validate our findings.

Ageless physicist

Austrian Manfred Steiner studied medicine, but had a passion for physics. After retiring in 2000, he studied physics at Brown University in the US, finally completing a PhD in 2021 aged 89.

Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction Lecture, Vincent Cristafalo Award Lecture, and Terrie Fox Wetle Award Lecture

The Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction Lecture will feature an address by the 2021 recipient Malene Hansen, PhD of the Buck Institue for Research on Aging. The Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research lecture will feature an address by the 2021 recipient, Morgan Levine, PhD, of Yale University. This award is given by the American Federation for Aging Research, Inc. The Terrie Fox Wetle Award lecture will feature an address by the 2020 recipient, Kali Thomas, PhD, FGSA of Brown University and an address by the 2021 recpient, Andrea Gilmore-Bykovskyi of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. These awards are given by the American Federation for Aging Research, Inc.

Gynecologic Cancers: 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting Highlights for the Advanced Practitioner

Laura Doherty, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, of Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island/Brown University, interprets data on adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer, bevacizumab for advanced ovarian cancer, a new treatment option for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients, and side effects that long-term ovarian cancer survivors experience. Reporting by The ASCO Post.

Improved and Sustained Graduate Programs Diversity Outcomes: a 10-year Analysis and Summary of the Brown University IMSD Program

This report describes the 10-year outcome of implementing practices that support and foster success of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduate training at Brown University. The results show sustained improvements in compositional diversity, retention, and degree attainment of supported students relative to their peers. Among the outcomes is an increase in enrolled student diversity from 19 (35 of 179) to 26% (58 of 223) for historically underrepresented minority (URM) students and an increase in Ph.D. degree attainment from 4 (1 of 25) to 14% (6 of 44) for this group. These achievements follow the introduction and coordination of academic and co-curricular practices through the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences–funded Brown University Initiative to Maximize Student Development (IMSD) Program. At the center of these outcomes is the alignment of IMSD practices with recent diversity initiatives launched by the university. The outcomes described result from long-term commitments to building a culture that includes: (1) development of relationships that serve underrepresented students, (2) provision of a personalized education program of support and skills-based learning that supplements discipline-based research and coursework, and (3) investments in processes that build a culture that values and benefits from diversity. These practices may yield similar outcomes and success for students when applied elsewhere.

Homenagem: Remembering the Life and Work of Abdias Nascimento

This essay provides a brief introduction to this special issue focused on the life and work of Black Brazilian scholar-activist Abdias Nascimento. The contributors include, Vera Lucia Benedito, Ollie Johnson, Zachary Morgan, Elisa Larkin Nascimento, and Cheryl Sterling who all participated in a 2015 conference at Africana Studies at Brown University. This group of scholars aptly illustrate that Nascimento had long contributed to the internationalization of Black Studies as a field in US academe and he was crucial in establishing Brazil as a central component of the Black World. The essays have much to teach us about Nascimento’s views on the relationship between art and politics, the role of military service in shaping his activism, the significance of black politicians in the reconceptualization of Brazilian democracy, and the importance of preserving archives and expanding our understanding of the Black radical tradition.

A Bibliometric Analysis and Visualisation of Research Trends in Titanium-Based Orthopaedic Implants

Titanium is one of the widely used metal for orthopaedic implants. The bibliometric analysis had been conducted to understand the active authors, organizations, journals, and countries involved in the research domain of “Titanium-based orthopaedic implants”. All published articles related to “Titanium-based orthopaedic implants” from “Scopus”, were analyzed using the VOS viewer to develop analysis tables and visualization maps. This article had set the objective to consolidate the scientific literature regarding “Titanium-based orthopaedic implants” and also to find out the trends related to the same. The most active journal related to this research domain was Biomaterials. The most active country was the United States of America. The leading organization engaged in research regarding Titanium Based orthopaedic implants was the Brown University of the United States of America and the Chinese Academy of Sciences of China. The most active authors who had made valuable contributions related to orthopaedic implants were Webster T.J.

Interview with Norman Meyrowitz

Norm Meyrowitz is currently an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Computer Science at Brown University. He received an Sc.B. in Computer Science from Brown in 1981, and is recognized for his work on linking and multimedia technology for the Internet and for the evolution of Web development software. In the 1980s, Norm served as a Co-Director of Brown University's Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship, where he led the development of Intermedia, a hypermedia system that influenced both the creator of the Web and the creator of the Mosaic Web browser. In mid-1980s, he helped start two ACM conferences - OOPSLA (Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, and Languages) and Hypertext '87, which continue to this day. Following his work in academia, Norm worked for several years as the Director of System/User Software for pen/tablet pioneer GO Corporation before transitioning to his role as President of Product Development at Macromedia (later acquired by Adobe). At Macromedia, Norm oversaw a variety of Web development and multimedia products at Macromedia, including Shockwave, Dreamweaver, Flash, the latter of which had more than 4 billion downloads in its heyday in the 1990s and early 2000s.