Measles with a possible 23 day incubation period.

Measles virus (MV) eradication is biologically, technically and operationally feasible. An essential feature in understanding the chain of MV transmission is its incubation period, that is, the time from infection to the onset of symptoms. This period is important for determining the likely source of infection and directing public health measures to interrupt ongoing transmission.

Action-specific value signals in reward-related regions of the human brain.

Estimating the value of potential actions is crucial for learning and adaptive behavior. We know little about how the human brain represents action-specific value outside of motor areas. This is, in part, due to a difficulty in detecting the neural correlates of value using conventional (region of interest) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses, due to a potential distributed representation of value.

CD4+ T-cell expansion predicts neutralizing antibody responses to monovalent, inactivated 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus subtype H1N1 vaccine.

Background: The ability of influenza vaccines to elicit CD4(+) T cells and the relationship between induction of CD4(+) T cells and vaccine-induced neutralizing antibody responses has been controversial. The emergence of swine-origin 2009 pandemic influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A[H1N1]pdm09) provided a unique opportunity to examine responses to an influenza vaccine composed of both novel and previously encountered antigens and to probe the relationship between B-cell and T-cell responses to vaccination.

Methods: We tracked CD4(+) T-cell and antibody responses of human subjects vaccinated with monovalent subunit A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine.

Effect of hospital-wide chlorhexidine patient bathing on healthcare-associated infections.

Background: Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bathing has been used primarily in critical care to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections and infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms. The objective was to determine the effect of hospital-wide CHG patient bathing on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

Design: Quasi-experimental, staged, dose-escalation study for 19 months followed by a 4-month washout period, in 3 cohorts.

The associations of insomnia with costly workplace accidents and errors: results from the America Insomnia Survey.

Context: Insomnia is a common and seriously impairing condition that often goes unrecognized.

Objectives: To examine associations of broadly defined insomnia (ie, meeting inclusion criteria for a diagnosis from International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, DSM-IV, or Research Diagnostic Criteria/International Classification of Sleep Disorders, Second Edition) with costly workplace accidents and errors after excluding other chronic conditions among workers in the America Insomnia Survey (AIS).

Design/setting: A national cross-sectional telephone survey (65.

Response-dependent and reduced treatment in lower risk Hodgkin lymphoma in children and adolescents, results of P9426: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Background: Hodgkin lymphoma is highly curable but associated with significant late effects. Reduction of total treatment would be anticipated to reduce late effects. This aim of this study was to demonstrate that a reduction in treatment was possible without compromising survival outcomes.

IL-1 generated subsequent to radiation-induced tissue injury contributes to the pathogenesis of radiodermatitis.

Radiation injury in the skin causes radiodermatitis, a condition in which the skin becomes inflamed and the epidermis can break down. This condition causes significant morbidity and if severe it can be an independent factor that contributes to radiation mortality. Radiodermatitis is seen in some settings of radiotherapy for cancer and is also of concern as a complication post-radiation exposure from accidents or weapons, such as a "dirty bomb".

A quantitative synthesis of mercury in commercial seafood and implications for exposure in the United States.

Background: Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that presents public health risks through fish consumption. A major source of uncertainty in evaluating harmful exposure is inadequate knowledge of Hg concentrations in commercially important seafood.

Objectives: We examined patterns, variability, and knowledge gaps of Hg in common commercial seafood items in the United States and compared seafood Hg concentrations from our database to those used for exposure estimates and consumption advice.

Surveillance computed tomography imaging and detection of relapse in intermediate- and advanced-stage pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

PURPOSE Children with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) routinely undergo surveillance computed tomography (CT) imaging for up to 5 years after therapy, resulting in cost and radiation exposure, without clear benefit. The objective of this study was to determine the contribution of surveillance CT, as compared with clinical findings, to detection of disease recurrence. PATIENTS AND METHODS Two hundred sixteen patients, age ≤ 21 years old, were treated on the multicenter Pediatric Oncology Group 9425 trial.

A phenomenological model of seizure initiation suggests network structure may explain seizure frequency in idiopathic generalised epilepsy.

We describe a phenomenological model of seizure initiation, consisting of a bistable switch between stable fixed point and stable limit-cycle attractors. We determine a quasi-analytic formula for the exit time problem for our model in the presence of noise. This formula--which we equate to seizure frequency--is then validated numerically, before we extend our study to explore the combined effects of noise and network structure on escape times.

Insomnia, comorbidity, and risk of injury among insured Americans: results from the America Insomnia Survey.

Study Objectives: To estimate associations of broadly defined insomnia (i.e., meeting inclusion criteria for International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), or Research Diagnostic Criteria/International Classification of Sleep Disorders, Second Edition (RDC/ICSD-2) diagnosis) with workplace/nonworkplace injuries controlling for comorbid conditions among workers in the America Insomnia Survey (AIS).

Surgical management of malignant bowel obstruction: at what price palliation?

Several options exist to palliate malignant obstruction (MBO), none of which have established consensus among surgeons. The purpose of this study was to establish outcomes of diverting stoma (DS), internal bypass (IB), and palliative resection (PR) for a tertiary academic referral surgical oncology service. All patients presenting to a surgical oncology service with malignant bowel obstruction over a 3-year period were identified.

α(V)β(6) integrin expression is induced in the POET and Pten(pc-/-) mouse models of prostatic inflammation and prostatic adenocarcinoma.

Chronic inflammation is proposed to prime the development of prostate cancer. However, the mechanisms of prostate cancer initiation and development are not completely understood. The α(v)β(6) integrin has been shown to play a role in epithelial development, wound healing and some epithelial cancers [1, 2].

Antigenic and immunogenic properties of recombinant hemagglutinin proteins from H1N1 A/Brisbane/59/07 and B/Florida/04/06 when produced in various protein expression systems.

Antibodies directed against the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein largely mediate virus neutralization and confer protection against infection. Consequently, many studies and assays of influenza vaccines are focused on HA-specific immune responses. Recombinant HA (rHA) proteins can be produced in a number of protein expression and cell culture systems.

Approach-avoidance processes contribute to dissociable impacts of risk and loss on choice.

Value-based choices are influenced both by risk in potential outcomes and by whether outcomes reflect potential gains or losses. These variables are held to be related in a specific fashion, manifest in risk aversion for gains and risk seeking for losses. Instead, we hypothesized that there are independent impacts of risk and loss on choice such that, depending on context, subjects can show either risk aversion for gains and risk seeking for losses or the exact opposite.

Analysis of adaptive ribosomal gene diversity in wild plant populations from contrasting climatic environments.

Plant populations may contain variation that reflects adaptation to local environmental conditions. Clues to adaptive evolution of plants may be found in the genomes of species growing in diverse environments or across steep environmental gradients, and under stress. We have examined populations of wild relatives of barley and rice across diverse environmental gradients.

Hyperspectral imaging for early detection of oxygenation and perfusion changes in irradiated skin.

Studies examining acute oxygenation and perfusion changes in irradiated skin are limited. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI), a method of wide-field, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, provides noninvasive, quantified measurements of cutaneous oxygenation and perfusion. This study examines whether HSI can assess acute changes in oxygenation and perfusion following irradiation.

Changes in invasive pneumococcal disease serotypes in a regional area of Australia following three years of 7vPCV introduction.

Background: Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) is a serious bacterial disease. Vaccination can prevent disease for many of the current serotypes. The aim of this investigation was to describe the notification rates of IPD in a regional area of Australia, explore changes in rates since the introduction of the population vaccine programmes in 2005 and to describe changes in the distribution of serotypes in relation to the available vaccines after three years.

Redesigning radiotherapy quality assurance: opportunities to develop an efficient, evidence-based system to support clinical trials--report of the National Cancer Institute Work Group on Radiotherapy Quality Assurance.

Purpose: In the context of national calls for reorganizing cancer clinical trials, the National Cancer Institute sponsored a 2-day workshop to examine challenges and opportunities for optimizing radiotherapy quality assurance (QA) in clinical trial design.

Methods And Materials: Participants reviewed the current processes of clinical trial QA and noted the QA challenges presented by advanced technologies. The lessons learned from the radiotherapy QA programs of recent trials were discussed in detail.

Randomized phase III study of thoracic radiation in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin with or without thalidomide in patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer: the ECOG 3598 study.

Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to compare the survival of patients with unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with combined chemoradiotherapy with or without thalidomide.

Patients And Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to the control arm (PC) involving two cycles of induction paclitaxel 225 mg/m(2) and carboplatin area under the curve (AUC) 6 followed by 60 Gy thoracic radiation administered concurrently with weekly paclitaxel 45 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC 2, or to the experimental arm (TPC), receiving the same treatment in combination with thalidomide at a starting dose of 200 mg daily. The protocol allowed an increase in thalidomide dose up to 1,000 mg daily based on patient tolerability.

Dopamine, affordance and active inference.

The role of dopamine in behaviour and decision-making is often cast in terms of reinforcement learning and optimal decision theory. Here, we present an alternative view that frames the physiology of dopamine in terms of Bayes-optimal behaviour. In this account, dopamine controls the precision or salience of (external or internal) cues that engender action.

Immunogenicity of an inactivated monovalent 2009 influenza A (H1N1) vaccine in patients who have cancer.

Background: The immune response of patients who have cancer, who may be receiving immunosuppressive therapy, is generally considered to be decreased. This study aimed to evaluate the immune response of cancer patients to the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) vaccine.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a prospective single site study comparing the immune response after H1N1 vaccination of healthy controls (group A), patients who had solid tumors and were taking myelosuppressive chemotherapy (group B), patients who had solid tumors and were taking nonmyelosuppressive or no treatment (group C), and patients who had hematologic malignancies (group D).

What we have learned: the impact of quality from a clinical trials perspective.

In this review article, we address the radiation oncology process improvements in clinical trials and review how these changes improve the quality for the next generation of trials. In recent years, we have progressed from a time of limited data acquisition to the present in which we have real-time influence of clinical trials quality. This enables immediate availability of the important elements, including staging, eligibility, response, and outcome for all trial investigators.

Genome diversity in wild grasses under environmental stress.

Patterns of diversity distribution in the Isa defense locus in wild-barley populations suggest adaptive selection at this locus. The extent to which environmental selection may act at additional nuclear-encoded defense loci and within the whole chloroplast genome has now been examined by analyses in two grass species. Analysis of genetic diversity in wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) defense genes revealed much greater variation in biotic stress-related genes than abiotic stress-related genes.