The use and potential impact of digital health tools at the community level: results from a multi-country survey of community health workers.

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly viewed as a critical workforce to address health system strengthening and sustainable development goals. Optimizing and widening the capacity of this workforce through digital technology is currently underway, though there is skepticism regarding CHWs' willingness and optimism to engage in digital health. We sought to understand CHWs' perceptions on the use of digital health tools in their work.

Federated Networks for Distributed Analysis of Health Data.

Access to health data, important for population health planning, basic and clinical research and health industry utilization, remains problematic. Legislation intended to improve access to personal data across national borders has proven to be a double-edged sword, where complexity and implications from misinterpretations have paradoxically resulted in data becoming more siloed. As a result, the potential for development of health specific AI and clinical decision support tools built on real-world data have yet to be fully realized.

Post-Biopsy Pneumothorax Incidence in Patients Treated with Biosentry™ Plug Device.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine if the Biosentry™ Plug Device (BPD), a prophylactic sealant used to prevent pneumothorax after lung biopsies, reduced post-lung biopsy pneumothorax rates, and other complications compared to no device utilization.

Methods: This single institution, retrospective cohort study included patients who received a lung biopsy in the Department of Interventional Radiology from May 1, 2015 to August 31, 2017. Data such as sex, race, ethnicity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease status, degree of lung bullae if present, smoking status, and use of BPD were recorded.

Pain Management and Education for Ambulatory Surgery: A Qualitative Study of Perioperative Nurses.

Background: Ambulatory surgery presents unique challenges regarding adequate pain management and education. Studies have documented issues with transfer of information and patient comfort. Our objective was to explore perioperative nurses' perspectives of current practices and challenges with pain management and education.

Preexisting oncogenic events impact trastuzumab sensitivity in ERBB2-amplified gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.

Patients with gastric and esophageal (GE) adenocarcinoma tumors in which the oncogene ERBB2 has been amplified are routinely treated with a combination of cytotoxic chemotherapy and the ERBB2-directed antibody trastuzumab; however, the addition of trastuzumab, even when tested in a selected biomarker-positive patient population, provides only modest survival gains. To investigate the potential reasons for the modest impact of ERBB2-directed therapies, we explored the hypothesis that secondary molecular features of ERBB2-amplified GE adenocarcinomas attenuate the impact of ERBB2 blockade. We analyzed genomic profiles of ERBB2-amplified GE adenocarcinomas and determined that the majority of ERBB2-amplified tumors harbor secondary oncogenic alterations that have the potential to be therapeutically targeted.

Src mutation induces acquired lapatinib resistance in ERBB2-amplified human gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma models.

ERBB2-directed therapy is now a routine component of therapy for ERBB2-amplified metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas. However, there is little knowledge of the mechanisms by which these tumors develop acquired resistance to ERBB2 inhibition. To investigate this question we sought to characterize cell line models of ERBB2-amplified gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma with acquired resistance to ERBB2 inhibition.

SOX2 and p63 colocalize at genetic loci in squamous cell carcinomas.

The transcription factor SOX2 is an essential regulator of pluripotent stem cells and promotes development and maintenance of squamous epithelia. We previously reported that SOX2 is an oncogene and subject to highly recurrent genomic amplification in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Here, we have further characterized the function of SOX2 in SCC.

Exome and whole-genome sequencing of esophageal adenocarcinoma identifies recurrent driver events and mutational complexity.

The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has risen 600% over the last 30 years. With a 5-year survival rate of ~15%, the identification of new therapeutic targets for EAC is greatly important. We analyze the mutation spectra from whole-exome sequencing of 149 EAC tumor-normal pairs, 15 of which have also been subjected to whole-genome sequencing.

Gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas of the esophagus, stomach, and colon exhibit distinct patterns of genome instability and oncogenesis.

A more detailed understanding of the somatic genetic events that drive gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas is necessary to improve diagnosis and therapy. Using data from high-density genomic profiling arrays, we conducted an analysis of somatic copy-number aberrations in 486 gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas including 296 esophageal and gastric cancers. Focal amplifications were substantially more prevalent in gastric/esophageal adenocarcinomas than colorectal tumors.