Financial conflicts among physician speakers at the April 12, 2024 Oncology Drug Advisory Meeting: Who decided that MRD can be a novel regulatory endpoint in myeloma?

Background: In April 2024, the Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted to approve minimal residual disease (MRD) as a new regulatory endpoint for multiple myeloma (MM) despite its poor trial-level surrogacy. This is expected to result in faster MM drug approvals, a potential boon for the pharmaceutical companies that make them. This study investigates the prevalence of financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) with these companies among United States (US)-based physician speakers at the meeting.

Acquired ineffective erythropoiesis in pediatric ECMO patients: Higher than anticipated serum EPO levels and lower than anticipated reticulocytes counts were associated with mortality.

Background: ECMO plays a crucial role in treating severe respiratory and cardiac failure in pediatric patients. However, its impact on the regulation of erythropoietin (EPO) and erythropoiesis remains poorly understood. Factors such as improved oxygenation, inflammation, and hemodilution associated with ECMO treatment may influence EPO production and erythropoiesis.

Targeted Genetic Sequencing Analysis of 223 Cases of Pseudomyxoma Peritonei Treated by Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Shows Survival Related to GNAS and KRAS Status.

Background And Aim: Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is an unusual condition with unique behaviour caused by a mucinous neoplasm, usually arising from the appendix. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of genomic alterations in clinical specimens of PMP using a targeted assay and correlate the findings with clinical, pathological and outcome data. Sequencing data from 223 patients were analysed.

Iron deposition in infants undergoing ECMO: A retrospective analysis of Postmortem tissue samples.

Background: Infants undergoing ECMO may have elevated serum ferritin and iron levels, raising concerns about iron overload. Recent studies question the utility of these markers for acute vs. chronic iron overload during ECMO.

Interview study exploring how global health partnership principles are enacted and recommendations for practice.

Background: Effective global health partnerships can strengthen and improve health and healthcare systems across the world; however, establishing and maintaining effective partnerships can be challenging. Principles of Partnerships have been developed to improve the quality and effectiveness of health partnerships. It is unclear how principles are enacted in practice, and current research has not always included the voices of low-income and middle-income country partners.

Challenges and opportunities for competency-based health professional education in Bangladesh: an interview, observation and mapping study.

Background: Bangladesh has a shortfall of health professionals. The World Health Organization states that improving education will increase recruitment and retention of health workers. Traditional learning approaches, in medical education particularly, focus on didactic teaching, teaching of subjects and knowledge testing.

Low-Titer Type O Whole Blood for Transfusing Perinatal Patients after Acute Hemorrhage: A Case Series.

 Acute and massive blood loss is fortunately a rare occurrence in perinatal/neonatal practice. When it occurs, typical transfusion paradigms utilize sequential administration of blood components. However, an alternative approach, transfusing type O whole blood with low anti-A and anti-B titers, (LTOWB) has recently been approved and utilized in trauma surgery.

Using sentinel nodes to evaluate changing connectivity in a protected area network.

It has been recognized that well-connected networks of protected areas are needed to halt the continued loss of global biodiversity. The recently signed Kunming-Montreal biodiversity agreement commits countries to protecting 30% of terrestrial lands in well-connected networks of protected areas by 2030. To meet these ambitious targets, land-use planners and conservation practitioners will require tools to identify areas important for connectivity and track future changes.

A cortical information bottleneck during decision-making.

Decision-making emerges from distributed computations across multiple brain areas, but it is unclear the brain distributes the computation. In deep learning, artificial neural networks use multiple areas (or layers) to form optimal representations of task inputs. These optimal representations are to perform the task well, but so they are invariant to other irrelevant variables.

Pseudomyxoma Peritonei Arising from Urachal Mucinous Neoplasms: a Case Series and Updated Literature Review.

Unlabelled: To report a case series of patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) from urachal mucinous neoplasm (UMN) treated with CRS and HIPEC at a high-volume referral centre, along with an updated literature review. Retrospective review of cases treated between 2000 and 2021. A literature review using MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases was performed.

Survival outcomes used to validate version 9 of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system for appendiceal cancer.

The standard for cancer staging in the United States for all cancer sites, including primary carcinomas of the appendix, is the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system. AJCC staging criteria undergo periodic revisions, led by a panel of site-specific experts, to maintain contemporary staging definitions through the evaluation of new evidence. Since its last revision, the AJCC has restructured its processes to include prospectively collected data because large data sets have become increasingly robust and available over time.

WaveMAP for identifying putative cell types from in vivo electrophysiology.

Action potential spike widths are used to classify cell types as either excitatory or inhibitory; however, this approach obscures other differences in waveform shape useful for identifying more fine-grained cell types. Here, we present a protocol for using WaveMAP to generate nuanced average waveform clusters more closely linked to underlying cell types. We describe steps for installing WaveMAP, preprocessing data, and clustering waveform into putative cell types.

External multicentre validation of pseudomyxoma peritonei PSOGI-Ki67 classification.

Background: Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare malignant disease. Adding of the Ki67 proliferation index to the PSOGI PMP classification provided two different subcategories of the extensive HG-PMP group (HG-PMP ≤15% and HG-PMP >15%) with different survival in a previous unicentric study. This study aims to carry out an external and multicentre validation of this new proposed classification.

Development and Validation of Nomograms to Predict Survival in Patients Undergoing Complete Cytoreduction and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Pseudomyxoma Peritonei of Appendiceal Origin.

Importance: Pseudomyxoma peritoni, a rare condition characterized by mucinous ascites and peritoneal deposits, mainly originates from a ruptured mucinous appendix tumor and is considered an indolent disease but can progress and become fatal. Optimal treatment to improve cure and survival rates involves complete cytoreductive surgery (CCRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). Accurate predictive models are useful in supporting and informing treatment strategies and stratifying patient follow-up.

A pilot study to evaluate clinical factors associated with iron and ferritin elevations during pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Elevations in serum ferritin and serum iron occur during pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Previous reports attribute the elevation to frequent red blood cell transfusions and/or hemolysis. Chronic transfusion can cause iron deposition in tissues leading to multisystem organ dysfunction.

The appendix "mucocoele" misnomer: radiological terminology of "likely appendix mucinous neoplasm" better reflects pathology findings.

Aim: To review the radiological terminology used to describe dilated mucin-containing appendiceal lesions with correlation to the histopathological diagnosis.

Materials And Methods: Radiology and histopathology reports for all patients with an abnormally dilated appendix referred to a tertiary peritoneal malignancy centre, between January 2021 and December 2021, were reviewed.

Results: Overall, 213 patients were included with a median appendiceal diameter of 25.

Neonatal subgaleal hemorrhage: twenty years of trends in incidence, associations, and outcomes.

Background: In 2011, we reported 38 neonates with subgaleal hemorrhage (SH), relating an increasing incidence. It is unclear whether the incidence in our hospitals continued to rise and which risk factors and outcomes are associated with this condition.

Design: We retrospectively analyzed every recognized case of SH in our hospitals from the end of our previous report (2010) to the present (2022).

Current Practices for Genetic Testing in Neonatal Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: Findings from a National survey.

Comprehensive genetic testing with whole-exome (WES) or whole-genome (WGS) sequencing facilitates diagnosis, can optimize treatment, and may improve outcomes in critically ill neonates, including those requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for respiratory failure. Our objective was to describe practice variation and barriers to the utilization of comprehensive genetic testing for neonates on ECMO. We performed a cross-sectional survey of Level IV neonatal intensive care units in the United States across the Children's Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC).

Human does not complement or support borate transport in .

Borate is an essential micronutrient in plants regulated by borate transporters, which also protect both yeast and plants from toxically high levels of borate and share homology with the human SLC4 transporters. SLC4A11 is linked to congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy and was initially reported to transport borate before subsequent studies rebutted this conclusion. To better understand the transport activities of purported borate transporters, we tested the ability of and eleven borate transporters from and to complement a deletion in .

Fear of Cancer Recurrence in peritoneal malignancy patients following treatment: a cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To assess Fear of Cancer Recurrence (FCR)-its prevalence, trajectory, and relationship to several demographic and clinical characteristics, and quality of life-in a sample of peritoneal malignancy survivors, up to 5 years post-surgery.

Methods: The Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory-Short Form (FCRI-SF) and 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) were used to collect cross-sectional data from peritoneal malignancy survivors to assess their Fear of Cancer Recurrence and quality of life respectively as well as other demographic and clinical data.

Results: The results show that more than two-thirds of the participants (N = 301) experience severe/clinical FCR.

First report of transfusing low-titer cold-stored type O whole blood to an extremely-low-birth-weight neonate after acute blood loss.

Background: Multiple reports suggest that cold-stored low-titer type O whole blood (LTOWB) is becoming a preferred transfusion product for resuscitating massive hemorrhage across trauma, obstetrical, and pediatric services. However, we know of no reports of using this product for emergency transfusion of newborn infants after acute severe hemorrhage.

Case Report: We report our experience with emergency transfusion of re-warmed LTOWB using a fluid warmer for the resuscitation of a hypotensive 25-week gestation neonate following acute and severe placental abruption.

The Macrotextured Implant Recall: Breast Implant-Associated-Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Risk Aversion in Cosmetic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Practices.

Background: The recall of Allergan Biocell (Irvine, CA) devices due to the association between anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) and macrotextured breast implants means that plastic surgeons are faced with the challenge of caring for patients with these implants in situ. Cosmetic and reconstructive surgeons have been contacting affected patients to encourage them to follow up and discuss the most appropriate risk-reduction strategies.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate patient concerns about the risk of breast implant-associated ALCL (BIA-ALCL) and to compare management differences between cosmetic and reconstructive patients.