015). CONCLUSIONS mCPD and volume of thoracic marrow spared radiation differentially predict lineage-specific leukopenias during CRT for EC. mCPD is significantly associated with lower total WBC and neutrophil nadirs. In contrast, greater thoracic marrow spared radiation is associated with mitigation of lymphopenia during CRT. Clinical factors such as sex, age, and diabetes may be associated with a more rapid decline in hematologic counts during treatment. V.INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of elevated Hypoxanthine Guanine Phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) on the immune response in the tumor microenvironment. METHODOLOGY HPRT expression was evaluated in cancer patients and correlated with cytokine expression, survival, and immune cell infiltration. An HPRT knockdown cell line was created to evaluate HPRT impact on purine expression and subsequent purine treatment was administered to immune cells to determine their influence on cell activation. RESULTS HPRT expression was negatively correlated with the general expression of both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Additionally, HPRT expression was also negatively correlated with the infiltration of immune cell subsets B-cells, CD4 + T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells (p  less then  0.001) and CD8 + T-cells (p  less then  0.01). When HPRT was knocked down in a Raji cell line, the levels of adenosine were reduced significantly compared to the wild type. When examining the level of Ca2+ influx of Raji compared to the HPRT Raji knockdown cell, there was a significant decrease in calcium influx in the knockdown cells when compared to the wild type cells. This demonstrates that HPRT had a significant impact on overall cell activation and the ability of the cells to properly influx calcium needed for their activation. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that purine levels significantly reduce immune cell activation in cancer and the upregulation of HPRT in malignant tissue is a contributing factors to the immunosuppressive microenvironment. Over the years, aspiration thrombectomy for management of acute coronary syndrome was the center of discussion however due to multiple randomized control trials which did not provide sufficient evidence supporting use of this approach, this method is not routinely used. The benefit of this approach remains unknown, however, it is important to acknowledge the evolution of aspiration catheters and their potential in minimizing complications which were previously the set back of this approach. We provide a comprehensive review of the previous trials and how those catheters have since evolved significantly. Quantitative ultrasound has been used to assess carotid plaque tissue composition. Here, we compute the attenuation coefficient (AC) in vivo with the optimum power spectral shift estimator (OPSSE) and reference phantom method (RPM), extract AC parameters and form parametric maps. Differences between OPSSE and RPM AC parameters are computed. Relationships between AC parameters, surgical scores and histopathology assessments are examined. Kendall’s τ correlations between OPSSE AC and surgical scores are significant, including those between cholesterol and Standard Deviation (adjusted p = 0.038); thrombus and Minimum (adjusted p = 0.002), Maximum (adjusted p = 0.021) and Standard Deviation (adjusted p = 0.001); ulceration and Average (adjusted p = 0.033), Median (unadjusted p = 0.013), Maximum (unadjusted p = 0.039) and Mode (adjusted p = 0.009). The strongest correlations with histopathology are percentage cholesterol and Median OPSSE (unadjusted p = 0.007); percentage hemorrhage and Minimum OPSSE (adjusted p less then 0.001); hemosiderin score and Median OPSSE (adjusted p = 0.010); and percentage calcium and Percentage Non-physical RPM Pixels (unadjusted p = 0.014). Kruskal-Wallis H and Dunn’s post hoc tests have the ability to distinguish between groups (p less then 0.05). Results suggest AC parameters may assist in vivo evaluation of carotid plaque vulnerability. BACKGROUND Vaccination against Ebolavirus is an emerging public health tool during Ebola Virus Disease outbreaks. We examined demand issues related to deployment of Ebolavirus vaccine during the 2014-2015 outbreak in Sierra Leone. METHODS A cluster survey was administered to a population-based sample in December 2014 (N = 3540), before any Ebola vaccine was available to the general public in Sierra Leone. Ebola vaccine demand was captured in this survey by three Likert-scale items that were used to develop a composite score and dichotomized into a binary outcome to define high demand. A multilevel logistic regression model was fitted to assess the associations between perceptions of who should be first to receive an Ebola vaccine and the expression of high demand for an Ebola vaccine. RESULTS The largest proportion of respondents reported that health workers (35.1%) or their own families (29.5%) should receive the vaccine first if it became available, rather than politicians (13.8%), vaccination teams (9.8%), or people in high risk areas (8.2%). High demand for an Ebola vaccine was expressed by 74.2% of respondents nationally. see more The odds of expressing high demand were 13 times greater among those who said they or their families should be the first to take the vaccine compared to those who said politicians should be the first recipients (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 13.0 [95% confidence interval [CI] 7.8-21.6]). The ultra-brief measure of the Ebola vaccine demand demonstrated acceptable scale reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.79) and construct validity (single-factor loadings > 0.50). CONCLUSION Perceptions of who should be the first to get the vaccine was associated with high demand for Ebola vaccine around the peak of the outbreak in Sierra Leone. Using an ultra-brief measure of Ebola vaccine demand is a feasible solution in outbreak settings and can help inform development of future rapid assessment tools. Published by Elsevier Ltd.OBJECTIVES Anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects of statins suggest that they may play a role in the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing the risk of RA in statin-users versus non-users. METHODS We searched Medline from inception to 01/22/2019 and Embase from 1988 to Week 03 2019 for studies that examined the association between statin use and RA without restrictions on language. RESULTS We identified 1,161 references; of them 8 studies (5 cohort studies and 3 case-control studies) were included in the systematic review. Four cohort studies comparing statin-users versus non-users were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled risk ratio (RR) was 1.01; 95%CI 0.93-1.10; I2 = 17%. Case-control studies showed highly heterogeneous results (I2 = 92%) and were not included in the meta-analysis. One cohort study and one case-control study assessing persistence with or intensity of treatment with statins showed lower risk of RA with higher versus lower treatment persistence or intensity of statin use (pooled RR 0.