End-of-life care quality for American Indians with cancer.

Background: American Indians (AI) experience disparities in cancer outcomes. Little is known about the quality of end-of-life (EOL) care in AI patients with cancer.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed EOL care for North Carolina patients who died (decedents) diagnosed with any cancer (2003-2018) using the Cancer Information and Population Health Resource.

Capturing Catchment Area Data Comprehensively: The North Carolina Cancer Health Assets and Needs Assessment (CHANA) Approach.

Background: A key requirement of community outreach and engagement offices within National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers is to conduct a comprehensive examination of their catchment area's population, cancer burden, and assets. To accomplish this task, we describe the plan for implementing our initiative, the Cancer Health Assets and Needs Assessment (CHANA). CHANA compiles, into a single source, up-to-date data that describes the cancer landscape of North Carolina's 100 counties.

Catchment area and cancer population health research through a novel population-based statewide database: a scoping review.

Background: Population-based linked datasets are vital to generate catchment area and population health research. The novel Cancer Information and Population Health Resource (CIPHR) links statewide cancer registry data, public and private insurance claims, and provider- and area-level data, representing more than 80% of North Carolina's large, diverse population of individuals diagnosed with cancer. This scoping review of articles that used CIPHR data characterizes the breadth of research generated and identifies further opportunities for population-based health research.

Scoping Review of Barriers and Facilitators to Recruitment of Black People With Cancer in Biospecimen-Based Research.

The increasing focus on precision medicine to optimize cancer treatments and improve cancer outcomes is an opportunity to consider equitable engagement of people racialized as Black or African American (B/AA) in biospecimen-based cancer research. B/AA people have the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates compared with all other racial and ethnic groups in the United States, yet are under-represented in biospecimen-based research. A narrative scoping review was conducted to understand the current literature on barriers, facilitators, and evidence-based strategies associated with the engagement of B/AA people with cancer in biospecimen research.

Characterizing Cancer Burden in the American Indian Population in North Carolina.

Background: The American Indian (AI) population in North Carolina has limited access to the Indian Health Service. Consequently, cancer burden and disparities may differ from national estimates. We describe the AI cancer population and examine AI-White disparities in cancer incidence and mortality.

Manufacture of Soft-Hard Implants from Electrospun Filaments Embedded in 3D Printed Structures.

Rotator cuff tendon tears are common injuries of the musculoskeletal system that often require surgical repair. However, re-tearing following repair is a significant clinical problem, with a failure rate of up to 40%, notably at the transition from bone to tendon. The development of biphasic materials consisting of soft and hard components, which can mimic this interface, is therefore promising.

Alternative tissue fixation for combined histopathological and molecular analysis in a clinically representative setting.

Formalin is the principal tissue fixative used worldwide for clinical and research purposes. Despite optimal preservation of morphology, its preservation of DNA and RNA is poor. As clinical diagnostics increasingly incorporates molecular-based analysis, the requirement for maintaining nucleic acid quality is of increasing importance.

Host-biomaterial interactions in mesh complications after pelvic floor reconstructive surgery.

Polypropylene (PPL) mesh is widely used in pelvic floor reconstructive surgery for prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. However, some women, particularly those treated using transvaginal PPL mesh placement for prolapse, experience intractable pain and mesh exposure or extrusion. Explanted tissue from patients with complications following transvaginal implantation of mesh is typified by a dense fibrous capsule with an immune cell-rich infiltrate, suggesting that the host immune response has a role in transvaginal PPL mesh complications through the separate contributions of the host (patient), the biological niche within which the material is implanted and biomaterial properties of the mesh.

Charting physiotherapy students' attitudes toward people with chronic pain as they progress through their undergraduate programme: An observational study.

Background: Healthcare professionals' attitudes toward people with chronic pain influence their clinical practice.

Objectives: To investigate physiotherapy students' attitudes and beliefs toward people with chronic pain over the course of their Scottish undergraduate program.

Methods: In this observational study, physiotherapy students from one university were recruited in the first year and followed up to their final year (year 1 n = 62/75, year 2 n = 68/72, year 3 n = 59/69, year 4 n = 74/74) for 4 years.

Testing Speech Perception with Cochlear Implants Through Digital Audio Streaming in a Virtual Sound Booth: A Feasibility Study.

Objective: For patients who have received cochlear implants (CIs), speech-perception testing requires specialized equipment. This limits locations where these services can be provided, which can introduce barriers for provision of care. Providing speech test stimuli directly to the CI via wireless digital audio streaming (DAS) or wired direct audio input (DAI) allows for testing without the need for a sound booth (SB).

Polydioxanone implants: A systematic review on safety and performance in patients.

Background: Medical devices made of polydioxanone (a synthetic biodegradable polymer) have been available since the early 1980s. However, no review regarding their performance and safety has been published.

Objective: This systematic review intends to review and assess commercially available polydioxanone implants and their safety and performance in patients.

Pyridine as an additive to improve the deposition of continuous electrospun filaments.

Electrospun filaments are leading to a new generation of medical yarns that have the ability to enhance tissue healing through their biophysical cues. We have recently developed a technology to fabricate continuous electrospun filaments by depositing the submicron fibres onto a thin wire. Here we investigate the influence of pyridine on the fibre deposition.

Perception of noise-vocoded tone complexes: A time domain analysis based on an auditory filterbank model.

When a wideband harmonic tone complex (wHTC) is passed through a noise vocoder, the resulting sounds can have spectra with large peak-to-valley ratios, but little or no periodicity strength in the autocorrelation functions. We measured judgments of pitch strength for normal-hearing listeners for noise-vocoded wideband harmonic tone complexes (NV-wHTCs) relative to standard and anchor stimuli. The standard was a 1-channel NV-wHTC and the anchor was either the unprocessed wHTC or an infinitely-iterated rippled noise (IIRN).

Loss of N-WASP drives early progression in an Apc model of intestinal tumourigenesis.

N-WASP (WASL) is a widely expressed cytoskeletal signalling and scaffold protein also implicated in regulation of Wnt signalling and homeostatic maintenance of skin epithelial architecture. N-WASP mediates invasion of cancer cells in vitro and its depletion reduces invasion and metastatic dissemination of breast cancer. Given this role in cancer invasion and universal expression in the gastrointestinal tract, we explored a role for N-WASP in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer.

Synthetic sutures: Clinical evaluation and future developments.

Today's sutures are the result of a 4000-year innovation process with regard to their materials and manufacturing techniques, yet little has been done to enhance the therapeutic value of the suture itself. In this review, we explore the historical development, regulatory database and clinical literature of sutures to gain a fuller picture of suture advances to date. First, we examine historical shifts in suture manufacturing companies and review suture regulatory databases to understand the forces driving suture development.

Fascin is regulated by slug, promotes progression of pancreatic cancer in mice, and is associated with patient outcomes.

Background & Aims: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is often lethal because it is highly invasive and metastasizes rapidly. The actin-bundling protein fascin has been identified as a biomarker of invasive and advanced PDAC and regulates cell migration and invasion in vitro. We investigated fascin expression and its role in PDAC progression in mice.

Do medical student attitudes towards patients with chronic low back pain improve during training? a cross-sectional study.

Background: Health care professionals with positive attitudes towards the functional abilities of patients with low back pain are more likely to encourage activity and avoidance of rest as per recommended guidelines. This study investigated whether medical student training fosters positive attitudes towards patients with back pain and their ability to function.

Methods: First (n = 202) and final (n = 146) year medical students at the University of Glasgow completed the Health Care Professionals' Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS) questionnaire.