Aims: The aim of this study was to perform an incremental cost-utility analysis and assess the impact of differential costs and case volume on the cost-effectiveness of robotic arm-assisted medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (rUKA) compared to manual (mUKA).
Methods: Ten-year follow-up of patients who were randomized to rUKA (n = 64) or mUKA (n = 65) was performed. Patients completed the EuroQol five-dimension health questionnaire preoperatively, at three months, and one, two, five, and ten years postoperatively, which was used to calculate quality-adjusted life years (QALY) gained and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER).
Added safety measures coupled with the development and use of pathogen reduction technologies (PRT) significantly reduces the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) from blood products. Current approved PRTs utilize chemical and/or UV-light based inactivation methods. While the effectiveness of these PRTs in reducing pathogens are well documented, these can cause tolerable yet unintended consequences on the quality and efficacy of the transfusion products.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough lab-coat genomics scientists are highly skilled and involved in pioneering work, few studies have examined their perceptions on what they do, and how they relate with others in interdisciplinary work. Recognizing that gap, we were curious to talk with scientists about their current work and positionalities related to the use of genomics for bioremediation. Using unstructured open-ended interviews and thematic analysis, we interviewed researchers with diverse genomics-related expertise.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLittle is known about the potential impact of point source contamination from seed treatment pesticide residues and degradation products in waste products in treated seed. The presence of these pesticides and their degradation products in the environment has been associated with toxic effects on non-target organisms including bees, aquatic organisms and humans. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of twenty-two pesticide residues and their degradation products in two streams receiving runoff from land-applied wet cake, applied and spilled wastewater originating at a biofuels production facility using pesticide-treated seed as a feedstock.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Urothelial carcinoma in situ (CIS) with early papillary formation is terminology sometimes used to suggest incipient high-grade papillary urothelial carcinoma (PUC) but may lead to confusion between true CIS and lateral flat spread of PUC.
Methods: It remains unclear how pathologists and urologists interpret this scenario, so a survey was circulated to 68 pathologists (group 1 = 28 academic genitourinary pathologists; group 2 = 17 pathologists with a self-reported genitourinary focus; group 3 = 23 pathologists self-reported as not genitourinary specialists) and 32 urologists.
Results: Regarding atypical urothelial lesions that appear mainly flat but contain possible papillae, group 3 was more likely to label this as CIS compared with groups 1 and 2 (35% for group 3 vs 13% for groups 1 and 2), while groups 1 and 2 more often adopted another descriptive diagnosis, such as "CIS with early papillary features" (38% for groups 1 and 2 vs 13% for group 3).
Objective: To examine if a nationally representative population of older adults with communication disabilities (CDs) have a higher risk of mortality when compared to older adults without these disabilities, independent of sociodemographic, health, and other disability characteristics.
Design: Retrospective, cohort study. We conducted a survival analysis using multivariable Cox-proportional hazards regression, adjusting for sociodemographic, health, and other disability characteristics.
Background: Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as bisphenol A (BPA), disrupts reproduction across generations. Germ cell epigenetic alterations are proposed to bridge transgenerational reproductive defects resulting from EDCs. Previously, we have shown that prenatal exposure to environmentally relevant doses of BPA or its substitute, BPS, caused transgenerationally maintained reproductive impairments associated with neonatal spermatogonial epigenetic changes in male mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreased antibody affinity over time after vaccination, known as affinity maturation, is a prototypical feature of immune responses. Recent studies have shown that a diverse collection of B cells, producing antibodies with a wide spectrum of different affinities, are selected into the plasma cell (PC) pathway. How affinity-permissive selection enables PC affinity maturation remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prevention of drug-resistant tuberculosis is a global health priority. However, trials evaluating the effectiveness of treating infection among contacts of persons with drug-resistant tuberculosis are lacking.
Methods: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial comparing 6 months of daily levofloxacin (weight-based doses) with placebo to treat infection.
During development and cancer metastasis, cells transition reversibly from epithelial to mesenchymal via intermediate cell states during epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT is controlled by gene regulatory networks (GRNs) and can be described by a three-node GRN that permits tristable EMT landscapes. In this GRN, multiple inputs regulate the transcription factor ZEB that induces EMT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Biomater Sci Eng
December 2024
Electroactive microorganisms such as can couple organic electron donor oxidation to the respiration of electrode surfaces, colonizing them in the process. These microbes can also reduce soluble metal ions, such as soluble Pd, resulting in metallic nanoparticle (NP) synthesis. Such NPs are valuable catalysts for industrially relevant chemical production; however, their chemical and solid-state syntheses are often energy-intensive and result in hazardous byproducts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Elite-level contact sport participation is associated with increased dementia risk, which may be attributable to sport-related traumatic brain injury and repetitive head impact exposure. However, the contribution of wider, potentially modifiable dementia risk factors remains uncertain.
Objective: To explore the association of potentially modifiable dementia risk factors with dementia risk among former professional soccer players.
Increased antibody affinity over time after vaccination, known as affinity maturation, is a prototypical feature of immune responses. Recent studies have shown that a diverse collection of B cells, producing antibodies with a wide spectrum of different affinities, are selected into the plasma cell (PC) pathway. How affinity-permissive selection enables PC affinity maturation remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Women with obesity and/or type-II-diabetes have an increased breast cancer risk, increased metastasis, and poorer prognosis, especially after menopause. In a rat model of high-fat-diet and menopause-induced weight gain, we previously reported that treatment with the anti-diabetic drug metformin for 8-weeks after ovariectomy (OVX; modeling menopause) reduced growth of existing mammary tumors and inhibited new tumor formation. This identified the menopause transition as a potential window-of-opportunity for interventions to decrease obesity-associated breast cancer incidence and disease progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Cardiothorac Surg
November 2024
Background: In the current era of heart transplantation, machine perfusion strategies are emerging as potential additions to the armamentarium of a transplant unit. Donation after circulatory death (DCD) donor hearts assessed through normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) has helped expand the donor pool. Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) is emerging as an alternative strategy to traditional static cold storage (SCS) when a prolonged ischemic time is anticipated in brain dead (BD) donors, this is important in Australia where long distant procurement is vital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCan Assoc Radiol J
December 2024
The Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) Pediatric Expert Panel is made up of pediatric physicians from the disciplines of radiology, emergency medicine, endocrinology, gastroenterology, general surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, respirology, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology, urology, a patient advisor, and an epidemiologist/guideline methodologist. After developing a list of 50 clinical/diagnostic scenarios, a rapid scoping review was undertaken to identify systematically produced referral guidelines that provide recommendations for one or more of these clinical/diagnostic scenarios. Recommendations from 32 guidelines and contextualization criteria in the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) for guidelines framework were used to develop 133 recommendation statements across the 50 scenarios.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe proteasome is considered an excellent drug target for many infectious diseases as well as cancer. Challenges with robust and safe supply of proteasomes from infectious agents, lack of structural information, and complex pharmacology due to multiple active sites have hampered progress in the infectious disease space. We recombinantly expressed the proteasome of the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, and demonstrate pharmacological equivalence to the native T.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe examine whether ridesharing provides a meaningful transportation alternative for those who require ongoing healthcare. Specifically, we combine variation in UberX entry across the U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ang-(1-7) (angiotensin (1-7)) via MasR (Mas receptor) opposes vaso-injurious actions of Ang II (angiotensin II) as shown in models of pulmonary hypertension. The underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesized cross talk between Ang-(1-7) and the protective arm of the ET-1 (endothelin-1) system involving MasR and ETR (endothelin receptor type B).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMechanisms of computation in sensorimotor cortex must be flexible and robust to support skilled motor behavior. Patterns of neuronal coactivity emerge as a result of computational processes. Pairwise spike-time statistical relationships, across the population, can be summarized as a functional network (FN) which retains single-unit properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhenological responses to climate change vary across trophic levels. However, how trophic phenological synchrony determines species' distributions through its effects on population dynamics has rarely been addressed. Here, we show that phenological variation underlies population and geographical range dynamics in a range-shifting herbivore, and demonstrate its interplay with changing trophic interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOperative treatment of triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) tears has been well researched; however, data regarding nonoperative management is mixed and scarce. Our review aimed to utilize available data to formulate conclusions regarding treatment algorithms for this heterogeneous injury group. A thorough literature review was performed in Medline (OVID), Embase, Cochrane Library, and PubMed databases with search terms including "triangular fibrocartilage complex" and variations on the full term including "triangular fibrocartilage" or "TFCC," alongside "non-operative" and "conservative.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patient health is greatly impacted by increased likelihood of malnutrition if food is not consumed. Food waste also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and may be possibly reduced by offering vegetarian food options. Therefore, a Plan-Do-Study-Act intervention of "Vegetarian Week" was conducted in an urban geriatric rehabilitation unit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Increased epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has adverse effects in cardiovascular diseases, independent of body mass index (BMI). Estrogen levels may impact EAT accumulation. Little is known about the predictors and potential impact of EAT in PAH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfecting humans with controlled doses of small intestinal helminths, such as human hookworm, is proposed as a therapy for the colonic inflammatory disease ulcerative colitis. Strengthening the colonic mucus barrier is a potential mechanism by which small intestinal helminths could treat ulcerative colitis. In this study, we compare C57BL/6 mice infected with the small intestinal helminth and uninfected controls to investigate changes in colonic mucus.
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