Patterns of recurrence among adults diagnosed with screen-detected lung cancer.

Background: With the recent shift in lung cancer staging towards early-stage disease coinciding with the introduction of lung cancer screening (LCS), little is known if LCS has affected the rate of recurrence and survival in community settings. Our objective was to evaluate variation in the detection and outcomes of recurrent lung cancer stratified by receipt of LCS.

Methods: Patients aged 55-80 years old diagnosed with stage I-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between 1/1/2014 and 12/31/2020 who completed definitive therapy and were considered disease-free were identified.

Association of systemic therapy with survival among adults with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Uptake of new systemic therapy treatments among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) occurred rapidly after FDA approval. Few studies have characterized the association of these therapies on survival in community settings. We assessed survival by type of systemic therapy received among patients diagnosed with advanced NSCLC who were treated in community-based settings.

Endoscopic, ultrasound-guided, radiofrequency ablation of aldosterone-producing adenomas (FABULAS): a UK, multicentre, prospective, proof-of-concept trial.

Background: Unilateral aldosterone-producing adrenal adenomas (APAs) are the potentially curable cause of 5% of all cases of hypertension. Their localisation (via adrenal vein sampling [AVS]) and removal (by laparoscopic adrenalectomy) require invasive procedures that are unattractive to patients. Molecular imaging-located, endoscopic ultrasound-guided trans-gastric radiofrequency ablation (EUS-RFA) is a potential novel, minimally invasive alternative to AVS and total adrenalectomy for the treatment of APAs in the left adrenal gland, which is very close to the stomach.

Unveiling Equitable Surgical Prioritization: Insights From a Comprehensive Analysis Using the Medically Necessary and Time-Sensitive (MeNTS) Scoring System.

Background: This study addresses the intricate landscape of racial disparities in healthcare delivery, with a specific focus on surgical procedures. The concern was accentuated by the challenges posed during the COVID-19 pandemic when resources became scarce. Recognizing the potential impact of provider bias in medical decision-making, the American College of Surgeons introduced the Medically Necessary and Time-Sensitive (MeNTS) scoring system.

UK Foot and Ankle Thromboembolism (UK-FATE).

Aims: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a potential complication of foot and ankle surgery. There is a lack of agreement on contributing risk factors and chemical prophylaxis requirements. The primary outcome of this study was to analyze the 90-day incidence of symptomatic VTE and VTE-related mortality in patients undergoing foot and ankle surgery and Achilles tendon (TA) rupture.

New enantiornithine diversity in the Hell Creek Formation and the functional morphology of the avisaurid tarsometatarsus.

Enantiornithines were the most diverse group of birds during the Cretaceous, comprising over half of all known species from this period. The fossil record and subsequently our knowledge of this clade is heavily skewed by the wealth of material from Lower Cretaceous deposits in China. In contrast, specimens from Upper Cretaceous deposits are rare and typically fragmentary, yet critical for understanding the extinction of this clade across the K-Pg boundary.

A latent profile analysis of relationship satisfaction and self-regulation among low-income participants who attended relationship education with a partner.

Relationship education has shown promising effects for low-income couples on outcomes such as promoting positive communication, improving global relationship satisfaction, parenting, and individual psychological distress. Studies also indicate that couples' baseline distress (e.g.

Understanding delays to parathyroidectomy: A mixed-methods approach.

Background: Patients from ethnic and racial minority groups with primary hyperparathyroidism may have greater time delays to curative parathyroidectomy. Contributing factors are unclear.

Methods: This was a sequential mixed-methods study.

Isolation of nucleic acids using liquid-liquid phase separation of pH-sensitive elastin-like polypeptides.

Extraction of nucleic acids (NAs) is critical for many methods in molecular biology and bioanalytical chemistry. NA extraction has been extensively studied and optimized for a wide range of applications and its importance to society has significantly increased. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of early and efficient NA testing, for which NA extraction is a critical analytical step prior to the detection by methods like polymerase chain reaction.

Hospital Finances During the First Two Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From Washington State Hospitals.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a broad array of challenges for hospitals. These challenges included restrictions on admissions and procedures, patient surges, rising costs of labor and supplies, and a disparate impact on already disadvantaged populations. Many of these intersecting challenges put pressure on hospitals' finances.

Endocrine Patients' Views on Transoral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy via Vestibular Approach (TOETVA).

TOETVA's adoption has been slow in the Western hemisphere. Our study aimed to evaluate how endocrine patients in the United States perceive the risks and benefits of TOETVA. This was a cross-sectional study where a de novo survey was sent via email to patients seen from 2018 to 2020.

Longitudinal medication adherence group-based trajectories of aging adults in the US: A retrospective analysis using monthly proportion of days covered calculations.

Background: It is thought that half of the patients with chronic conditions are not adherent to their medications, which contributes to significant health and economic burden. Many studies estimate medication non-adherence by implementing a threshold of ≥80% of Proportion of Days Covered (PDC), categorizing patients as either adherent or non-adherent. Healthcare quality metrics pertaining to medication use are based on this dichotomous approach of medication adherence, including the Medicare Part D Star Ratings.

Development of an Electronic Health Record-Based Algorithm for Predicting Lung Cancer Screening Eligibility in the Population-Based Research to Optimize the Screening Process Lung Research Consortium.

Purpose: Lung cancer screening (LCS) guidelines in the United States recommend LCS for those age 50-80 years with at least 20 pack-years smoking history who currently smoke or quit within the last 15 years. We tested the performance of simple smoking-related criteria derived from electronic health record (EHR) data and developed and tested the performance of a multivariable model in predicting LCS eligibility.

Methods: Analyses were completed within the Population-based Research to Optimize the Screening Process Lung Consortium (PROSPR-Lung).

The relationship between palliative radiotherapy and opioid prescribing patterns among patients with metastatic cancer.

Background: While randomized trials have established that palliative radiotherapy, especially to bone, can improve qualitative measures of pain, its quantitative relationship to opioid prescribing patterns has remained underexplored. We aimed to identify the association of palliative radiotherapy on opioid prescriptions received among patients with metastatic cancer.

Methods: The Virginia Commonwealth University Institutional Review Board approved retrospective analysis extracted prescription data from all adult patients with metastatic cancer who underwent outpatient palliative external beam radiation therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System from 2008-2018.

UK and Ireland Joint Advisory Group (JAG) consensus statements for training and certification in diagnostic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS).

Background And Aims: International endoscopy societies vary in their approach for credentialing individuals in endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) to enable independent practice; however, there is no consensus in this or its implementation. In 2019, the Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy (JAG) commissioned a working group to examine the evidence relating to this process for EUS. The aim of this was to develop evidence-based recommendations for EUS training and certification in the UK.

Similar success rate in proximal and distal colonic stent placement: a retrospective multi-center study.

Objectives: Stenting of malignant colon obstruction is used as a bridge to surgery or as an alternative to surgical colostomy in a palliative setting. Current guidelines recommend stent placement as the first line of treatment in colonic obstruction in both curative and palliative settings. However, it is unclear whether the location of the malignant obstruction influences the outcome of the stenting procedure.

Does Interdisciplinary Care Team Care Management Improve Health Quality and Demonstrate Cost-Effectiveness?

This study evaluated the impact of an interdisciplinary care teams (IDCT) care management program on cost and quality outcomes using a novel algorithm to identify 400 high-risk patients out of 48,235 Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries. Of the 400, 252 were enrolled in the IDCT care management intervention program, while the remaining 148 were not enrolled. A second comparison group consisted of 660 who were referred to the IDCT program but not selected by the algorithm.

Application of team science best practices to the project management of a large, multi-site lung cancer screening research consortium.

Research is increasingly conducted through multi-institutional consortia, and best practices for establishing multi-site research collaborations must be employed to ensure efficient, effective, and productive translational research teams. In this manuscript, we describe how the Population-based Research to Optimize the Screening Process Lung Research Center (PROSPR-Lung) utilized evidence-based Science of Team Science (SciTS) best practices to establish the consortium's infrastructure and processes to promote translational research in lung cancer screening. We provide specific, actionable examples of how we: (1) developed and reinforced a shared mission, vision, and goals; (2) maintained a transparent and representative leadership structure; (3) employed strong research support systems; (4) provided efficient and effective data management; (5) promoted interdisciplinary conversations; and (6) built a culture of trust.

Exposure to Stress Alters Cardiac Gene Expression and Exacerbates Myocardial Ischemic Injury in the Female Murine Heart.

Mental stress is a risk factor for myocardial infarction in women. The central hypothesis of this study is that restraint stress induces sex-specific changes in gene expression in the heart, which leads to an intensified response to ischemia/reperfusion injury due to the development of a pro-oxidative environment in female hearts. We challenged male and female C57BL/6 mice in a restraint stress model to mimic the effects of mental stress.

Cost minimization analysis of short-duration antiviral prophylaxis for hepatitis C positive donor kidney transplants.

Background: Trials describing 4-12 week courses of direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs) to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission from infected donors to uninfected kidney transplant recipients (D+/R-transplants), may be limited in application by costs and delayed access to expensive DAAs. A short prophylactic strategy may be safer and cost-effective. Here, we report a cost minimization analysis using the health system perspective to determine the least expensive DAA regimen, using available published strategies.

Uptake of novel systemic therapy: Real world patterns among adults with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction/background: Systemic treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is shifting from platinum-based chemotherapy to immunotherapy and targeted therapies associated with improved survival in clinical trials. As new therapies are approved for use, examining variations in use for treating patients in community practice can generate additional evidence as to the magnitude of their benefit.

Patients And Methods: We identified 1,442 patients diagnosed with de novo stage IV NSCLC between 3/1/2012 and 12/31/2020.