Publications by authors named "Brega"

Translational research needs to show value through impact on measures that matter to the public, including health and societal benefits. To this end, the Translational Science Benefits Model (TSBM) identified four categories of impact: Clinical, Community, Economic, and Policy. However, TSBM offers limited guidance on how these areas of impact relate to equity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Pseudoaneurysm (PSA) of the left ventricle (LV) is a rare peri-annular complication of infective endocarditis (IE), and it is associated with high risk of free wall rupture. The diagnosis is challenging because the exact incidence and the pathogenesis are still unclear.

Case Summary: A 69-year-old lady underwent prosthetic mitral valve replacement for IE secondary to sepsis complicated by multiple embolizations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people have high rates of diabetes and limited access to nutrition education. The "What Can I Eat? Healthy Choices for People With Type 2 Diabetes" (WCIE) diabetes nutrition education program was culturally adapted for AI/AN adults.

Objective: This analysis was designed to evaluate the reliability and validity of items developed to measure diabetes nutrition self-efficacy (ie, confidence one can engage in specific behaviors) and diabetes nutrition behavior among participants in the WCIE program for AI/AN adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We present the case of a young adult, who developed several hepatic post-HCT complications, which made differential diagnosis extremely difficult.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The photochemical oxidations of acenes can cause challenges with their optoelectronic applications, such as singlet fission and organic transistors. At the same time, these reactions form the basis for many luminescent sensing schemes for O. While diethynyl substitution is arguably the most widely adopted of the various substitution strategies to control oxidation and also improve solubility and processability of long acenes, the extent to which differences between the alkyne groups can influence key properties of long acenes remains largely unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Larotrectinib, a first-in-class, highly selective tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor, has demonstrated efficacy in adult and pediatric patients with various solid tumors harboring NTRK gene fusions. This subset analysis focuses on the efficacy and safety of larotrectinib in an expanded cohort of adult patients with TRK fusion sarcomas.

Methods: Patients (≥18 years old) with sarcomas harboring NTRK gene fusions were identified from three clinical trials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase (NTRK) fusions involving NTRK1, NTRK2, and NTRK3 were found in a broad range of solid tumors as driver gene variants. However, the prevalence of NTRK fusions in Chinese solid tumor patients is rarely reported. Based on the next-generation sequencing data from 10,194 Chinese solid tumor patients, we identified approximately 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe, compare, and examine associations at baseline of reproductive health awareness, knowledge, health beliefs, communication and behaviors related to gestational diabetes (GDM) and GDM risk reduction in a vulnerable population of both American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) adolescent girls and their mothers.

Methods: Descriptive/comparative/correlational analyses examined multitribal baseline data on 149 mother-daughter (M-D) dyads (N = 298; daughter age = 12-24 years) enrolled in a longitudinal study to adapt and evaluate a culturally relevant diabetes preconception counseling (PC) program (Stopping-GDM). The associations between GDM risk reduction awareness, knowledge, health beliefs, and behaviors (eg, daughters' eating, physical activity, reproductive-health [RH] choices/planning, M-D communication, daughters' discussions on PC) were examined.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Currently, minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) has been developing and has been largely approved for mitral valve surgery. The more development of MICS, the more the entire surgical setup needs to be appropriate. We developed a homemade tool for mitral annular sizing that is simple and fits the mini surgical access.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although health literacy (HL) skills may change over time, most research treats HL as a constant, using baseline HL to predict other health-related constructs. Few studies have explored change in HL over time.

Objective: We examined person-level differences in HL trajectories.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nowadays, despite the rapid advancements in interventional cardiology, open surgery still deals with aortic root diseases, to assure the best "ad hoc" treatment. In case of middle-aged adult patients, the optimal operation still represents a matter of debate. A review of the last 10-year literature was conducted, focusing on patients below 65 to 70 years of age.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To explore the overall experiences of key players involved in a culturally adapted, online, synchronous diabetes nutrition education program across 5 reservation tribal and intertribal urban Indian clinics.

Methods: A multimethods design, including postclass surveys with Likert-scale and short-answer questions, was completed after each of the 5 classes. Participants (n = 54) and class facilitators/coordinators (n = 10) completed postclass surveys (n = 189 and 58, respectively).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Computer vision system (CVSs) are effective tools that enable large-scale phenotyping with a low-cost and non-invasive method, which avoids animal stress. Economically important traits, such as rib and loin yield, are difficult to measure; therefore, the use of CVS is crucial to accurately predict several measures to allow their inclusion in breeding goals by indirect predictors. Therefore, this study aimed (1) to validate CVS by a deep learning approach and to automatically predict morphometric measurements in tambaqui and (2) to estimate genetic parameters for growth traits and body yield.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To explore the prevalence of obesity among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) adolescents aged 12-19 years in association with social determinants of health (SDOH), and mental health and substance use disorders.

Methods: Guided by the World Health Organization's Social Determinants of Health Framework, we examined data from the Indian Health Service (IHS) Improving Health Care Delivery Data Project from Fiscal Year 2013, supplemented by county-level data from the U.S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Larotrectinib, a highly specific tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor, previously demonstrated high response rates in single-arm trials of patients with TRK fusion-positive cancer, but there are limited data on comparative effectiveness against standard-of-care (SoC) regimens used in routine health care practice, before widespread adoption of TRK inhibitors as SoC for TRK fusion-positive cancers. Matching-adjusted indirect comparison, a validated methodology that balances population characteristics to facilitate cross-trial comparisons, was used to compare the overall survival (OS) of larotrectinib versus non-TRK-inhibitor SoC.

Materials And Methods: Individual patient data from three larotrectinib trials (ClinicalTrials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to explore how pre-pregnancy diabetes, gestational diabetes, body mass index, and social factors at the county level relate to infant macrosomia among American Indian/Alaska Native women receiving care from the Indian Health Service.
  • Data was collected from 1,136 births in 2011, using mixed models to analyze the relationships between maternal health status, social determinants, and macrosomia.
  • Findings revealed that younger mothers, higher rates of overweight/obesity, and certain diabetes conditions increased the likelihood of having larger infants, highlighting critical health disparities in this population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

For decades, no clear consensus existed on the standard treatment option for malignant tumors of the external auditory canal, an extremely rare disease. Here we report the case of a 55-year-old female patient with secretory carcinoma that originated from the left external auditory canal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at baseline showed that the tumor had extended to the medulla oblongata despite surgical and radiation treatments for more than 20 years from the initial diagnosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how social determinants of health (SDOH) influence overweight and obesity rates among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children aged 2-11 who used Indian Health Service between 2010 and 2014.
  • - About 49% of the children were classified as overweight or obese, with severe obesity at 20% for ages 6-11, revealing a notable impact of poverty on these health outcomes.
  • - Findings suggest that higher poverty levels correlate with increased chances of being overweight/obese, indicating the need for targeted efforts in research and policy to tackle economic instability among young AI/AN populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aim Of The Study: Periareolar minithoracotomy represents an interesting option in minimally invasive cardiac surgery and it is our preferred approach for women. Our aim is to assess the results in female patients, in terms of nipple postoperative pain, local sensitivity, and eventual alterations in mammography after surgery.

Methods: Fifty-seven female patients underwent periareolar incision, as minithoracotomy approach, from December 2018 to December 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Larotrectinib is a first-in-class, highly selective, and central nervous system-active tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor approved for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with TRK fusion cancer. We report the efficacy and safety of larotrectinib in patients with TRK fusion-positive salivary gland cancers.

Patients And Methods: Patients with TRK fusion-positive salivary gland cancer treated with larotrectinib were identified from two clinical trials (NCT02122913 and NCT02576431).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: Low-gradient aortic stenosis is a challenging entity that needs accurate preoperative evaluation. For this high-risk patient population, ad hoc predictive scores are not available and profile risk is currently revealed by the EuroSCOREs. Aims of this study are to verify the suitability of the ES II as predictor of mortality in low-gradient aortic stenosis and to analyse the role of surgery as a treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: American Indian and Alaska Native peoples (AI/AN) have a disproportionately high rate of obesity, but little is known about the social determinants of obesity among older AI/AN. Thus, our study assessed social determinants of obesity in AI/AN aged ≥ 50 years.

Design: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using multivariate generalised linear mixed models to identify social determinants associated with the risk of being classified as obese (BMI ≥ 30·0 kg/m).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Larotrectinib is a highly selective tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor with demonstrated efficacy across various TRK fusion-positive solid tumours. We assessed the efficacy and safety of larotrectinib in patients with TRK fusion-positive thyroid carcinoma (TC).

Methods: We pooled data from three phase I/II larotrectinib clinical trials (NCT02576431, NCT02122913, and NCT02637687).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Larotrectinib is a highly selective and CNS-active tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor that has demonstrated efficacy across TRK fusion-positive cancers, regardless of the tumor type. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of larotrectinib in patients with TRK fusion-positive lung cancers.

Materials And Methods: Data from two global, multicenter, registrational clinical trials of patients treated with larotrectinib were analyzed: a phase II adult and young adult basket trial (NCT02576431) and a phase I adult trial (NCT02122913).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF