Research Connections :: 糖心传媒

Screen grab from video shows Anthony Camnetar holding an exact replica of his kidney 糖心传媒� complete with tumors 糖心传媒搘hile his wife and son look on. The replica enabled Medical Center urologist Ahmed Ghazi to practice the complex surgery Anthony required long before he went under the knife.

Fake organs guide way for 'impossible' kidney surgery

Anthony Camnetar has undergone multiple surgeries to remove tumors that proliferate in his organs because of von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.

But the most challenging of all was the surgery he needed to remove five tumors from his left kidney.

Kidneys are highly prone to bleeding. Despite their small size, they receive 20 percent of the heart糖心传媒檚 blood output. So surgeons will typically clamp the vessel that supplies blood to the organ before resecting the tumors. However, this makes the procedure a race against the clock as blood flow must be restored within 30 minutes or the kidneys become irreversibly damaged.

Fortunately, Anthony reached out to Ahmed Ghazi, an assistant professor in the Medical Center’s Department of Urology and the Wilmot Cancer Institute. Because of the complications from a surgery on his other kidney, Anthony wanted to explore the possibility of having the next procedure done robotically and had heard about Ghazi糖心传媒檚 unique approach.

Ghazi partnered with Jonathon Stone, then a resident in the URMC Department of Neurosurgery, to . The lab fabricates lifelike artificial organs, which allow surgeons to practice complex cases in advance of the actual surgery.

The process begins by converting MRI, CT, or ultrasound scans obtained from the patient into computer-assisted designs (CAD). The CADs of organs are converted into molds, or negatives, which are built using a 3D printer. In a process akin to casting a bronze statue, the molds are then injected with a hydrogel which, after freezing, assumes a solid state.

By altering the concentration of the hydrogel, the team can add denser tumor mass and other components of the organ, such as blood vessels. The team also assembles entire segments of the body, complete with artificial muscle tissue, skin, and fat, and, depending upon the area of interest, the liver, intestines, spleen, kidney, and other adjacent organs and structures. Artificial blood vessels are connected to bags of red dye that will 糖心传媒渂leed糖心传媒� if cut. This process allows surgeons to replicate the entire surgical process of guiding instruments to the right location, moving other organs out of the way, clamping blood vessels, and resecting and removing tumors.

糖心传媒淭hese rehearsals allow you to save operating time, decrease blood loss, potentially avoid complications, and prevent time you have to trouble shoot,糖心传媒� said Ghazi. 糖心传媒淎ll of this directly impacts patient outcomes.糖心传媒�

Months ahead of the planned surgery, Ghazi created five replicas of Anthony’s kidney and conducted full rehearsals in the operating room using the robots, including a final practice run the day before the actual surgery.

糖心传媒淚 started rehearsing using different game plans and deciding which tumors I was going to remove first,糖心传媒� said Ghazi. 糖心传媒淎nd you can only figure that out by trying it a couple of times. It turns out that two of the five tumors could be removed before I cut off the blood supply and the rest needed to be done after the blood vessel was clamped.糖心传媒�

When the day came for Anthony糖心传媒檚 surgery, Ghazi was confident he had developed the right approach. He successfully removed all five tumors, preserved 90 percent of the kidney糖心传媒檚 function, and was able to restore blood flow in under 24 minutes.

糖心传媒�Recovery was so easy,糖心传媒� said Anthony. 糖心传媒淎 week after surgery I was able to walk around. The last surgery I had it took about a month and a half for me to be able to walk around without pain. I was able to hold my son two and a half weeks this time as opposed to two and a half months.糖心传媒�

Uncertainty in a date dampens interest in a mate

According to a, those who feel greater certainty that a prospective romantic partner reciprocates their interest will put more effort into seeing that person again, while rating the possible date as more sexually attractive than they would if they were less certain about the prospective date糖心传媒檚 romantic intentions.

Published in Computers in Human Behavior, the study by researchers from Israeli-based Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and the University of Rochester finds that uncertainty about potential partners糖心传媒� romantic interest decreased their sexual appeal.

糖心传媒淧eople may protect themselves from the possibility of a painful rejection by distancing themselves from potentially rejecting partners,糖心传媒� explains study co-author Harry Reis, a professor of psychology and Dean糖心传媒檚 Professor in Arts, Sciences & Engineering at Rochester.

While some scientists have argued that uncertainty spices up sexual desire, Reis says his team糖心传媒檚 results suggest the opposite holds true. 糖心传媒淧eople experience higher levels of sexual desire when they feel confident about a partner糖心传媒檚 interest and acceptance,糖心传媒� says Reis.

Lead author Gurit Birnbaum, a social psychologist and associate professor of psychology at the听IDC Herzliya, says the findings suggest that sexual desire may 糖心传媒渟erve as a gut-feeling indicator of mate suitability that motivates people to pursue romantic relationships with a reliable and valuable partner.糖心传媒� Conversely, 糖心传媒渋nhibiting desire may serve as a mechanism aimed at protecting the self from investing in a relationship in which the future is uncertain.糖心传媒�

PI oversight: Protecting privacy of subjects and confidentiality of data

(This is part of a monthly series to help principal investigators understand their role in ensuring that human subject protection requirements are met in their studies.)

Department of Health and Human Service and Food and Drug Administration regulations (; ) define specific criteria that human subject research must meet in order for an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to approve the research.听 A critical, yet often overlooked step in the protocol development process is to objectively evaluate study protocols against these criteria prior to IRB submission.听 Doing so will help facilitate IRB review of the proposal, with the intent of minimizing IRB stipulations.

Over the upcoming months, as part the 糖心传媒淧I Oversight Tip of the Month糖心传媒� series, each criterion for IRB approval will be reviewed.听This month we look at approval criteria听#7: “When appropriate, there are provisions to protect the privacy of subjects and maintain the confidentiality of the data.”

First it is important to understand the difference between privacy and confidentiality:

Privacy is defined as having control over the extent, timing, and circumstances of sharing oneself (physically, behaviorally, or intellectually) with others or access to people or people糖心传媒檚 information.

Confidentiality is the process or method for ensuring that information collected from a subject is protected.

In evaluating this criterion, the IRB will consider:

Are all study procedures (including recruitment and enrollment) conducted in a manner that ensures the protection of subject privacy?
Will institutional privacy and security standards (including HIPAA, if applicable) be adhered to?
Is all of the information collected and/or accessed necessary to meet the aims of the research?
How and where will the data be stored?
Will data be shared with individuals outside of the immediate study team? If so, was this disclosed in the consent form and what measures are in place to protect the subject糖心传媒檚 confidentiality?
Will the data be coded? Will the data be de-identified at any point and if so, when? For additional information on coding vs. de-identification of data see the .
If sensitive information will be collected, are there additional protections (e.g., Certificate of Confidentiality) in place?

Stay tuned next month for criteria #8, “when some or all of the subjects are likely to be vulnerable to coercion or undue influence糖心传媒dditional safeguards have been included in the study to protect the rights and welfare of these subjects.” For previously highlighted criteria, see the , , , , , and editions of Research Connections.

Genomic data analysis workshops planned in July

听in July focus on providing biomedical researchers a basic understanding of experimental design as it relates to RNA-Seq and a 糖心传媒渢oolkit糖心传媒� to perform some analyses on RNA-Seq data.听The workshops糖心传媒攚hich will be held July 9 and 10, and July 16 and 17糖心传媒攁re a collaborative initiative between the Genomics Research Center and the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology. Space is limited..

Funding available for environmental health pilot projects

The Medical Center’s脗听Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) is offering up to $30,000 for one year of funding for pilot projects relevant to the theme, “Environmental Agents as Modulators of Human Disease and Dysfunction.” Proposals that investigate how the environment modifies stem or progenitor cells, affects early origins of adult disease, or host-pathogen interactions are especially welcomed.

Applicants are encouraged to use emerging technologies (CRISPR, next generation or single cell RNA sequencing, big data initiatives, etc.) and the unique core facilities of the center. Applicants must hold a tenure-track faculty position, but new investigators collaborating with existing EHSC faculty are also encouraged to apply.

Submit initial applications脗听to Pat Noonan-Sullivan脗听by Wednesday, August 1, 2018.

PhD dissertation defenses

Kelly McGlynn, pharmacology, 糖心传媒淐ooperative and Mechanistic Roles of Mecom in Hematopoiesis,糖心传媒� 3 p.m. June 25, 2018. Case Method Room (1-9576), Medical Center. Advisor:听Archibald Perkins.

Dev Crasta, clinical psychology, “The Promoting Awareness and Improving Relationships (PAIR) Program: Investigating the Efficacy and Mechanisms of a New Relationship Enhancement Program.” 10 a.m., June 28, 2018. Meliora 366. Advisor: Ronald Rogge.

Greg Madejski, biomedical engineering, “Silicon-Based Nanomembrane Uses in Biosensing.” 1 p.m., June 28, 2018. 1400 Wegmans Hall. Advisor: James McGrath.

Mark your calendar

Today: Deadline to apply for pilot and feasibility awards of up to $50,000 for innovative applications of technology (e.g. novel use of electronic health record data, wearable sensors, digital tools, human-machine interfaces, etc.) in research with human participants to yield new insights into clinical neuroscience. The Center for Health + Technology (CHeT), in conjunction with the Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience. For more information and to download the RFA, click .

June 27: “Identifying Differences in GPUs Using Performance Data.” Sreepathi Pai, assistant professor of computer science. Data Science Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. Noon to 1 p.m., Wegmans Hall 1400. Open to all faculty, staff, students, and community members. Lunch included.

June 30: Deadline to for , which will be held July 9 and 10 and July 16 and 17, to provide biomedical researchers a basic understanding of experimental design as it relates to RNA-Seq and a 糖心传媒渢oolkit糖心传媒� to perform some analyses on RNA-Seq data. A collaborative initiative between the Genomics Research Center and the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology.

July 11:听 “Information Flow in Music.” David Temperley, professor of music theory at the Eastman School. Data Science Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. Noon to 1 p.m., Wegmans Hall 1400. Open to all faculty, staff, students, and community members. Lunch included.

July 17: CIRC Summer School begins. Classes in programming languages and data analysis skills. VISTA Collaboratory. Click to learn more and to register.

July 18:听 “Physics of Complex Systems.” Gourab Ghoshal, assistant professor of physics. Data Science Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. Noon to 1 p.m., Wegmans Hall 1400. Open to all faculty, staff, students, and community members. Lunch included.

Aug. 1: Deadline to submit initial applications for Environmental Health Sciences Center funding of up to $30,000 for pilot projects relevant to the theme, “Environmental Agents as Modulators of Human Disease and Dysfunction.” Submit initial applications听to Pat Noonan-Sullivan. .

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