Beyond hazard ratios: appropriate statistical methods for quantifying the clinical effectiveness of immune-oncology therapies - the example of the Netherlands.

Background: The Dutch Committee for the Evaluation of Oncological Drugs evaluates the effectiveness of new oncological treatments. The committee compares survival endpoints to the so-called PASKWIL-2023 criteria for palliative treatments, which define if treatment effects are considered clinically relevant. A positive recommendation depends on whether the median overall survival (OS) is below or above 12 months in the comparator arm.

Rehabilitation Based on BCI: An Innovative Enhancement for Sensorimotor Cortex Rhythms Systemization.

The research proposes a novel strategy for categorizing electroencephalograms (EEG) in real-time brain-computer interfaces that have rehabilitation applications. The methodology utilizes Five Cross-Common Spatial Patterns (FCCSP) to develop a motor movement/imagery systemization model that extracts multi-domain characteristics with excellent performance. The goal is to eliminate the impact caused by EEG's nonstationarity.

Nitrogen and sulfur cycling and their coupling mechanisms in eutrophic lake sediment microbiomes.

Microorganisms play important roles in the biogeochemical cycles of lake sediment. However, the integrated metabolic mechanisms governing nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) cycling in eutrophic lakes remain poorly understood. Here, metagenomic analysis of field and bioreactor enriched sediment samples from a typical eutrophic lake were applied to elucidate the metabolic coupling of N and S cycling.

Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards 2022 (CHEERS II) statement: a validated Dutch translation.

Objectives: This study primarily aimed to develop a validated Dutch translation of the 28 items of the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) II. A secondary aim was to provide a worked example of a scientifically valid translation process.

Methods: A four-step process was applied: (1) forward translation, (2) backward translation, (3) quantitative validation (two back-translated English versions vs.

Benefits of a digital health technology for older nursing home residents. A de-novo cost-effectiveness model for digital health technologies to aid in the assessment of toileting and containment care needs.

The aim of this study was first, to introduce a comprehensive, de-novo health economic (HE) model incorporating the full range of activities involved in toileting and containment care (T&CC) for people with incontinence, capturing all the potential benefits and costs of existing and future Digital Health Technologies (DHT) aimed at improving continence care, for both residential care and home care. Second, to use this novel model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the DHT TENA SmartCare Identifi in the implementation of person-centred continence care (PCCC), compared with conventional continence care for Canadian nursing home residents. The de-novo HE model was designed to evaluate technologies across different care settings from the perspective of several stakeholders.

A review on self-healing featured soft robotics.

Soft robots are becoming more popular because they can solve issues stiff robots cannot. Soft component and system design have seen several innovations recently. Next-generation robot-human interactions will depend on soft robotics.

Statins markedly potentiate aminopeptidase inhibitor activity against (drug-resistant) human acute myeloid leukemia cells.

This study aimed to decipher the molecular mechanism underlying the synergistic effect of inhibitors of the mevalonate-cholesterol pathway (i.e., statins) and aminopeptidase inhibitors (APis) on APi-sensitive and -resistant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells.

Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of Mahony Psychological Assessment for Bariatric Surgery.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of Mahony Psychological Assessment for Bariatric Surgery which can be easily administered and used as a guide by health professionals who will be included in the treatment of patients who are potential candidates for bariatric surgery.

Methods: A total of 310 patients who were admitted to health institutions for bariatric surgery in 3 different provinces of Turkey answered these questions in the Turkish translation of Mahony Psychological Assessment for Bariatric Surgery. Eating disorder examination questionnaire was also administered to the patients in addition to Mahony Psychological Assessment for Bariatric Surgery.

Microplastics in urban waters and its effects on microbial communities: a critical review.

Microplastic (MP) pollution is one of the emerging threats to the water and terrestrial environment, forcing a new environmental challenge due to the growing trend of plastic released into the environment. Synthetic and non-synthetic plastic components can be found in rivers, lakes/reservoirs, oceans, mountains, and even remote areas, such as the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets. MPs' main challenge is identifying, measuring, and evaluating their impacts on environmental behaviors, such as carbon and nutrient cycles, water and wastewater microbiome, and the associated side effects.

Multiple giant jejunal diverticulosis: A rare clinical presentation of a rarely encountered disease.

Jejunoileal diverticula have a four-fold greater risk of developing general complications and an 18-fold greater risk of perforation compared to duodenal diverticula. While resection is not preferred in asymptomatic cases, surgical intervention may be required in life-threatening conditions. In this case report, a 69-year-old male patient with multiple giant jejunal diverticulum presenting with long-standing and transient symptoms was presented.

Targeting histone methylation to reprogram the transcriptional state that drives survival of drug-tolerant myeloid leukemia persisters.

Although chemotherapy induces complete remission in the majority of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, many face a relapse. This relapse is caused by survival of chemotherapy-resistant leukemia (stem) cells (measurable residual disease; MRD). Here, we demonstrate that the anthracycline doxorubicin epigenetically reprograms leukemia cells by inducing histone 3 lysine 27 (H3K27) and H3K4 tri-methylation.

Weight Loss, Type 2 Diabetes, and Nutrition in 355 Patients with Obesity Undergoing Sleeve Gastrectomy with Transit Bipartition: Two-Year Outcomes.

Introduction: This study examined whether 355 obese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) of varying duration and severity experienced equivalent weight loss and T2D remission following a newer sleeve gastrectomy (SG) procedure - SG with transit bipartition (SG-TB).

Methods: Primary outcomes were changes in body mass index (BMI), total weight loss (TWL), excess BMI loss (EBMIL), A1C, and diabetes medication use through 24 months.

Results: Between December 2015 and December 2019, 399 patients who underwent SG-TB reached the 2-year time point.

Real-world evidence in health technology assessment of high-risk medical devices: Fit for purpose?

Health technology assessment (HTA) of medical devices (MDs) increasingly rely on real-world evidence (RWE). The aim of this study was to evaluate the type and the quality of the evidence used to assess the (cost-)effectiveness of high risk MDs (Class III) by HTA agencies in Europe (four European HTA agencies and EUnetHTA), with particular focus on RWE. Data were extracted from HTA reports on the type of evidence demonstrating (cost-)effectiveness, and the quality of observational studies of comparative effectiveness using the Good Research for Comparative Effectiveness principles.

Microbial network complexity drives non-linear shift in biodiversity-nutrient cycling in a saline urban reservoir.

Aquatic biodiversity is important in mediating ecosystem functioning, contributing to ecosystem sustainability and human wellbeing. However, how microbial network complexity affects the biodiversity-nutrient cycling relationship in saline freshwater ecosystems remains underexplored. Using high-resolution time-series data, we examined the relationships between microeukaryotic-bacterial community network complexity, biodiversity and multi-nutrient cycling in an urban reservoir undergoing a freshwater salinization-desalinization cycle.

Home Telemonitoring and a Diagnostic Algorithm in the Management of Heart Failure in the Netherlands: Cost-effectiveness Analysis.

Background: Heart failure is a major health concern associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and reduced quality of life in patients. Home telemonitoring (HTM) facilitates frequent or continuous assessment of disease signs and symptoms, and it has shown to improve compliance by involving patients in their own care and prevent emergency admissions by facilitating early detection of clinically significant changes. Diagnostic algorithms (DAs) are predictive mathematical relationships that make use of a wide range of collected data for calculating the likelihood of a particular event and use this output for prioritizing patients with regard to their treatment.

Receptor model-oriented sources and risks evaluation of metals in sediments of an industrial affected riverine system in Bangladesh.

Toxic metals in river sediments may represent significant ecological concerns, although there has been limited research on the source-oriented ecological hazards of metals in sediments. Surface sediments from an industrial affected Rupsa River were utilized in this study to conduct a complete investigation of toxic metals with source-specific ecological risk assessment. The findings indicated that the average concentration of Ni, Cr, Cd, Zn, As, Cu, Mn and Pb were 50.

Being Transparent About Brilliant Failures: An Attempt to Use Real-World Data in a Disease Model for Patients with Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

Background: Real-world disease models spanning multiple treatment lines can provide insight into the (cost) effectiveness of treatment sequences in clinical practice.

Objective: Our objective was to explore whether a disease model based solely on real-world data (RWD) could be used to estimate the effectiveness of treatments for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) that could then be suitably used in a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Methods: We developed a patient-level simulation model using patient-level data from the Dutch CAPRI registry as input parameters.

Testosterone Changes in Men With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes 6 Months After Sleeve Gastrectomy With Transit Bipartition.

Background: Metabolic/bariatric surgery has been shown to increase testosterone in males with obesity. This study investigated the effect of the novel metabolic/bariatric surgery procedure, sleeve gastrectomy with transit bipartition (SG-TB), on serum total testosterone and metabolic variable changes in men with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Methods: In a prospective single-center cohort study, laboratory samples were analyzed preoperatively and at 6 months following SG-TB in patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2.

Model-based cost-effectiveness analyses comparing combinations of urate lowering therapy and anti-inflammatory treatment in gout patients.

Objectives: To assess the cost-effectiveness of various combinations of urate lowering therapy (ULT) and anti-inflammatory treatment in the management of newly diagnosed gout patients, from the Dutch societal perspective.

Methods: A probabilistic patient-level simulation estimating costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) comparing gout and hyperuricemia treatment strategies was performed. ULT options febuxostat, allopurinol and no ULT were considered.

Urban green space mediates spatiotemporal variation in land surface temperature: a case study of an urbanized city, Bangladesh.

Rapid urbanization with an increasing rate of urban built-up area is decreasing urban green space resulting in changing urban microclimate conditions showing increasing land surface temperature. A better understanding of these effects is important to formulate effective strategies in addressing the impact of increasing built-up area. Land surface temperature patterns in an urbanized city in Bangladesh (Mymensingh district) were investigated using Landsat satellite sensor data from 1988 to 2016.

Original contribution: sleeve gastrectomy reduces soluble lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (sLOX-1) levels in patients with morbid obesity.

Background: Early diagnosis of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with morbid obesity is important. We investigated the effects of sleeve gastrectomy (SG) on serum soluble lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (sLOX-1), oxidized LDL (oxLDL), and other metabolic and inflammatory parameters associated with atherosclerosis in patients with morbid obesity.

Methods: Body mass index (BMI) measurements and assays of metabolic and inflammatory markers were taken in patients in an SG surgery group and a healthy control group and compared at baseline and 12 months after SG.