Image and report quality in non-obstetric ultrasound examinations undertaken by sonographers: Results of an audit of 3731 cases.

Introduction: This paper reports the results of a rolling audit of sonographer-performed non-obstetric ultrasound examinations undertaken between 2010 and 2020 in a large University Teaching Hospital Ultrasound Department in the United Kingdom. We believe that this represents the largest published audit of sonographer non-obstetric ultrasound examination quality.

Methods: Random samples of sonographer ultrasound examinations were regularly and systematically audited by consultant-level ultrasound practitioners through review of soft copy images and reports.

National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Correlates Well with Initial Intracerebral Hemorrhage Volume.

Objectives: The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) currently publicly reports hospital-quality, risk-adjusted mortality measure for ischemic stroke but not intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The NIHSS, which is captured in CMS administrative claims data, is a candidate metric for use in ICH risk adjustment and has been shown to predict clinical outcome with accuracy similar to the ICH Score. Correlation between early NIHSS and initial ICH volume would further support use of the NIHSS for ICH risk adjustment.

Phase II Study of Taselisib in -Mutated Solid Tumors Other Than Breast and Squamous Lung Cancer: Results From the NCI-MATCH ECOG-ACRIN Trial (EAY131) Subprotocol I.

Purpose: mutations frequently contribute to oncogenesis in solid tumors. Taselisib, a potent and selective inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase, has demonstrated clinical activity in -mutant breast cancer. Whether mutations predict sensitivity to taselisib in other cancer types is unknown.

Phase II Study of Copanlisib in Patients With Tumors With Mutations: Results From the NCI-MATCH ECOG-ACRIN Trial (EAY131) Subprotocol Z1F.

Purpose: Activating mutations in are observed across multiple tumor types. The NCI-MATCH (EAY131) is a tumor-agnostic platform trial that enrolls patients to targeted therapies on the basis of matching genomic alterations. Arm Z1F evaluated copanlisib, an α and δ isoform-specific phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, in patients with mutations (with or without loss).

Coupled changes in pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen impact the physiology and ecology of herbivorous kelp forest grazers.

Understanding species' responses to upwelling may be especially important in light of ongoing environmental change. Upwelling frequency and intensity are expected to increase in the future, while ocean acidification and deoxygenation are expected to decrease the pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) of upwelled waters. However, the acute effects of a single upwelling event and the integrated effects of multiple upwelling events on marine organisms are poorly understood.

Results of the United States Food and Drug Administration Clinical Trial of the CustomFlex Artificial Iris.

Purpose: To evaluate safety and efficacy of a custom-manufactured artificial iris device (CustomFlex Artificial Iris; HumanOptics AG) for the treatment of congenital and acquired iris defects.

Design: Multicenter, prospective, unmasked, nonrandomized, interventional clinical trial.

Participants: Patients with photophobia, sensitivity secondary to partial or complete congenital or acquired iris defects, or both.

Evaluation of myCOPD Digital Self-management Technology in a Remote and Rural Population: Real-world Feasibility Study.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common, costly, and incurable respiratory disease affecting 1.2 million people in the United Kingdom alone. Acute COPD exacerbations requiring hospitalization place significant demands on health services, and the incidence of COPD in poor, remote, and rural populations is up to twice that of cities.

Treatment and outcomes in undifferentiated and dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma.

Objective: Undifferentiated and dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma is a rare type of uterine malignancy. This study assesses disease characteristics, treatment and survival outcomes in patients with undifferentiated and dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma treated at BC Cancer.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with undifferentiated and dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma between 2000 and 2019 at BC Cancer were reviewed centrally.

Ero1α-Dependent ERp44 Dissociation From RyR2 Contributes to Cardiac Arrhythmia.

Background: Oxidative stress in cardiac disease promotes proarrhythmic disturbances in Ca homeostasis, impairing luminal Ca regulation of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca release channel, the RyR2 (ryanodine receptor), and increasing channel activity. However, exact mechanisms underlying redox-mediated increase of RyR2 function in cardiac disease remain elusive. We tested whether the oxidoreductase family of proteins that dynamically regulate the oxidative environment within the SR are involved in this process.

The Prognostic Impact of Radiotherapy Delays in Oropharynx Carcinoma and the Role of p16 Status.

Objective: A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of treatment delays (TDs) for oropharynx carcinoma patients treated with definitive radiotherapy (RT), comparing p16+ versus p16- disease.

Materials And Methods: Patients treated between 2012 and 2016 were analyzed (n=763). TD was defined as the time from pathologic diagnosis to initiation of RT.

The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex-color combinations.

The unusual blue color polymorphism of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) is the subject of much speculation but little empirical research; ~20% of lingcod individuals exhibit this striking blue color morph, which is discrete from and found within the same populations as the more common brown morph. In other species, color polymorphisms are intimately linked with host-parasite interactions, which led us to ask whether blue coloration in lingcod might be associated with parasitism, either as cause or effect. To test how color and parasitism are related in this host species, we performed parasitological dissection of 89 lingcod individuals collected across more than 26 degrees of latitude from Alaska, Washington, and California, USA.

Evolving fetal phenotypes and clinical impact of progressive prenatal exome sequencing pathways: cohort study.

Objectives: To determine (1) the diagnostic yield and turnaround time (TAT) of two consecutive prenatal exome sequencing (ES) pathways, (2) the evolution of the fetal phenotype and (3) the clinical impact of detecting causative pathogenic variants and incidental findings.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort analysis of prospectively collected fetal cases that underwent trio ES in the presence of a structural anomaly and normal chromosomal microarray testing in the West Midlands Regional Genetics Laboratory, Birmingham, UK. The study included two phases: (1) between July 2018 and October 2020, the clinical pathway from the Prenatal Assessment of Genomes and Exomes (PAGE) study was adopted and involved prenatal trio ES based on a panel of 1542 development disorder genes and case selection by a multidisciplinary team; (2) between October 2020 and July 2021, prenatal trio ES investigation was based on the National Health Service (NHS) England R21 pathway, with definitive inclusion criteria and a panel of 1205 prenatally relevant genes.

Environmental risk factors for reduced kidney function due to undetermined cause in India: an environmental epidemiologic analysis.

Background: An epidemic of chronic kidney disease is occurring in rural communities in low-income and middle-income countries that do not share common kidney disease risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension. This chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology occurs primarily in agricultural communities in Central America and South Asia. Consequently, environmental risk factors including heat stress, heavy metals exposure, and low altitude have been hypothesized as risk factors.

Potential Genetic Overlap Between Insomnia and Sleep Symptoms in Major Depressive Disorder: A Polygenic Risk Score Analysis.

The prevalence of insomnia and hypersomnia in depressed individuals is substantially higher than that found in the general population. Unfortunately, these concurrent sleep problems can have profound effects on the disease course. Although the full biology of sleep remains to be elucidated, a recent genome-wide association (GWAS) of insomnia, and other sleep traits in over 1 million individuals was recently published and provides many promising hits for genetics of insomnia in a population-based sample.

An Alarm Watch for Daytime Urinary Incontinence: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Daytime urinary incontinence is disabling and occurs in 17% of school-aged children. Timed-voiding is part of standard therapy. Can an alarm watch to aid timed-voiding improve treatment response to standard therapy?

Methods: The WATCH (Watch with Alarm for Timed-Voiding in Children) study is a randomized controlled trial.

UK Guidelines for Lipomodelling of the Breast on behalf of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery and Association of Breast Surgery Expert Advisory Group.

Lipomodelling has become increasingly popular for reconstructive, aesthetic and therapeutic indications. The guidelines summarise available evidence for indications, training, technique, audit and outcomes in lipomodelling and also highlight areas for further research.

Development of a PROTAC-Based Targeting Strategy Provides a Mechanistically Unique Mode of Anti-Cytomegalovirus Activity.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major pathogenic herpesvirus that is prevalent worldwide and it is associated with a variety of clinical symptoms. Current antiviral therapy options do not fully satisfy the medical needs; thus, improved drug classes and drug-targeting strategies are required. In particular, host-directed antivirals, including pharmaceutical kinase inhibitors, might help improve the drug qualities.

The meta-gut: community coalescence of animal gut and environmental microbiomes.

All animals carry specialized microbiomes, and their gut microbiota are continuously released into the environment through excretion of waste. Here we propose the meta-gut as a novel conceptual framework that addresses the ability of the gut microbiome released from an animal to function outside the host and alter biogeochemical processes mediated by microbes. We demonstrate this dynamic in the hippopotamus (hippo) and the pools they inhabit.

Patient-reported outcomes and complications during head and neck cancer radiotherapy before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: This study compares patient-reported outcomes and treatment-related complications during radiotherapy before (August 2019-January 2020) versus during (March-Sept 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials And Methods: The MD Anderson Symptom Inventory-head and neck module was used to assess curative intent in H&N cancer patients' symptoms during radiotherapy.

Results: There were 158 patients in the pre-pandemic cohort and 137 patients in the pandemic cohort.

Proliferation, apoptosis and their regulatory protein expression in colorectal adenomas and serrated lesions.

Background: Adenomas and serrated lesions represent heterogeneous sets of early precursors in the colorectum with varying malignant potential. They are often distinguished by their histopathologic differences, but little is known about potential differences in regulation of epithelial proliferation and apoptosis.

Methods: We conducted a protein expression analysis using tissue microarrays of 625 colorectal adenomas and 142 serrated lesions to determine potential differences in regulation of epithelial proliferation and apoptosis.

Mice with diverse microbial exposure histories as a model for preclinical vaccine testing.

Laboratory mice comprise an expeditious model for preclinical vaccine testing; however, vaccine immunogenicity in these models often inadequately translates to humans. Reconstituting physiologic microbial experience to specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice induces durable immunological changes that better recapitulate human immunity. We examined whether mice with diverse microbial experience better model human responses post vaccination.