A real-world analysis on the efficacy and tolerability of liposomal irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in Belgium.

Background: Currently, nanoliposomal irinotecan (nal-IRI) + 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (5-FU/LV) is the only approved second-line treatment for patients suffering from metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC). However, also other chemotherapeutic regimens are used in this setting and due to the lack of clear real-world data on the efficacy of the different regimens, there is no consensus on the optimal treatment sequence for mPDAC patients.

Objectives: To provide information on the safe and efficacious use of nal-IRI + 5-FU/LV in clinical practice in Belgium, which is needed for healthcare professionals to estimate the risk-benefit ratio of the intervention.

[Evolutionary psychiatry applied to autism spectrum disorder].

Background: Considering an evolutionary perspective, psychiatric conditions present us with a paradox. How can the high prevalence of those conditions be explained, given the importance of genetic factors in many of them? Evolutionary principles predict that traits with an adverse effect on reproduction undergo negative selection.

Aim: To try to formulate an answer to this paradox from the perspective of evolutionary psychiatry by integrating different disciplines.

Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador.

Background: Indigenous populations are represented among the poor and disadvantaged in rural areas. High rates of infectious diseases are observed in indigenous child populations, and fever as a general symptom is common.

Objective: We aim to improve the skills of healers in rural indigenous areas in the South of Ecuador for managing children with fevers.

NPY Methylated ctDNA is a Promising Biomarker for Treatment Response Monitoring in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: Analysis of methylation markers in liquid biopsies is a promising technique for the follow-up of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), because they can be used in all patients, regardless of their mutational status. Therefore, we studied the value of NPY methylation analysis in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for accurate response monitoring in patients with mCRC in the PANIB trial.

Experimental Design: The PANIB trial was a randomized phase II trial designed to compare FOLFOX plus panitumumab and FOLFOX plus bevacizumab in patients with RAS wild-type unresectable mCRC.

Culturally adapted flowcharts in obstetric emergencies: a participatory action research study.

Introduction: Maternal mortality is a health problem in developing countries and is the result of several factors such as sociodemographic and economic inequalities and difficulties in accessing the health services. In addition, training strategies in obstetric emergencies targeting the non-medical personnel such as traditional midwives are scarce. The focus of this study is to develop learning and communication bridges on the management of obstetric emergencies and on policies of patients' referral to the biomedical health system in rural areas.

Keep biology weird: The freedom to be curious: On disobedient worms and scientific freedom.

Caenorhabditis elegans embodies the expectations of a solution-driven take on biology on the one hand, and the mysteries and wonders of life that drives biologists to go to their labs on the other hand.

Efficacy and Safety of Lanreotide Autogel in the Treatment of Clinical Symptoms Associated With Inoperable Malignant Intestinal Obstruction: A Prospective Phase II Study.

Purpose: Inoperable malignant intestinal obstruction (IMIO) is a severe complication in patients with cancer, usually gastrointestinal or gynecologic in origin. For patients with IMIO, there is a need to relieve symptoms and limit nasogastric tube (NGT) use. Previous studies have suggested the efficacy of somatostatin analogues in relieving obstruction-related symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and pain.

Orphan Drugs, Compounded Medication and Pharmaceutical Commons.

Regulatory agencies installed orphan drug regulations to stimulate research and development of new innovative treatments for life-threatening diseases with a low prevalence (rare diseases). We established a list of well-known food-related ingredients with clinical evidence for rare diseases in the open medical literature that obtained marketing authorization as an expensive "orphan drug", protected by intellectual property (IP) rights. We show that these ingredients are part of an established practice of medicinal compounding-a form of point of care manufacturing.

Impact of antithrombotics on the fecal immunochemical test for colorectal cancer screening : a multi-center Belgian experience.

Background: Impact of antithrombotics on the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening remains unclear.

Methods: Patients undergoing colonoscopy for positive FIT in 2015 were assessed at 3 Belgian centers. Significant findings were advanced polyps (AP) (sessile serrated, tubular or villous adenomas >1cm or high-grade dysplasia) and CRC.

Perceptions of Ecuadorian indigenous healers on their relationship with the formal health care system: barriers and opportunities.

Background: The new paradigm of intercultural policies focuses on rethinking the common public culture. In Ecuador, the "Buen Vivir" plan seeks to incorporate the ancestral medical knowledge, experience and beliefs of traditional healers into the formal health services. This study explores views on the formal health system from the perspective of the healers belonging to the Kichwa and Shuar ethnicities in the South of Ecuador.

Towards an indigenous definition of health: an explorative study to understand the indigenous Ecuadorian people's health and illness concepts.

Backgrounds: An intercultural society facilitates equitable and respectful interrelations. Knowing and understanding each other's sociocultural and linguitic contexts is a prerequisite for an intercultural society. This study explores the concepts of health and illness among healers of indigenous ethnicities in Southern Ecuador.

Culturally Competent in Medical Education - European Medical Teachers' Self-Reported Preparedness and Training Needs to Teach Cultural Competence Topics and to Teach a Diverse Class.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background Health inequalities related to culture and ethnicity may be reduced by training future health care providers.

Dengue illness index-A tool to characterize the subjective dengue illness experience.

Dengue virus infections are a major cause of febrile illness that significantly affects individual and societal productivity and drives up health care costs principally in the developing world. Two dengue vaccine candidates are in advanced clinical efficacy trials in Latin America and Asia, and another has been licensed in more than fifteen countries but its uptake has been limited. Despite these advances, standardized metrics for comparability of protective efficacy between dengue vaccines remain poorly defined.

Development of standard clinical endpoints for use in dengue interventional trials.

Dengue is a major public health problem worldwide. Although several drug candidates have been evaluated in randomized controlled trials, none has been effective and at present, early recognition of severe dengue and timely supportive care are used to reduce mortality. While the first dengue vaccine was recently licensed, and several other candidates are in late stage clinical trials, future decisions regarding widespread deployment of vaccines and/or therapeutics will require evidence of product safety, efficacy and effectiveness.

Solidarity after nature: From biopolitics to cosmopolitics.

What is sustaining the divide between nature and nurture, even though sciences like epigenetics have been challenging it for at least two decades? Evelyn Fox Keller asked this question and considered it a logical problem rooted in terminological confusion within the sciences. In this article, we propose a complementary diagnosis of the problem: the nature-nurture divide is (re-)mobilized when society faces questions of inclusion and solidarity. With examples stemming from the fields of insurance and health care, immigration policy and epigenetics, we demonstrate how the nature-nurture divide is performed through techniques of classification for a politics of solidarity.

Consensus study to define appropriate inaction and inappropriate inertia in the management of patients with hypertension in primary care.

Objectives: To elaborate and validate operational definitions for appropriate inaction and for inappropriate inertia in the management of patients with hypertension in primary care.

Design: A two-step approach was used to reach a definition consensus. First, nominal groups provided practice-based information on the two concepts.

Exploring Lanthanide Doping in UiO-66: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study of the Electronic Structure.

Lanthanide-based metal-organic frameworks show very limited stabilities, which impedes their use in applications exploiting their extraordinary electronic properties, such as luminescence and photocatalysis. This study demonstrates a fast and easy microwave procedure to dope UiO-66, an exceptionally stable and tunable Zr-based metal-organic framework. The generally applicable synthesis methodology is used to incorporate different transition metal and lanthanide ions.

An Epigenetic Prism to Norms and Values.

In this article, we ask to what extent the specific characteristics of epigenetics may affect the type of questions one can ask about human society. We pay particular attention to the way epigenetic research stirs debate about normative and moral issues. Are these issues implied by scientific evidence as an outcome of research? Or do moral and normative issues also shape how research is done and which problems it addresses? We briefly explore these questions through examples and discussions in (social-) scientific literature.

Defining a framework for medical teachers' competencies to teach ethnic and cultural diversity: Results of a European Delphi study.

Background: Medical students need to be trained in delivering diversity-responsive health care but unknown is what competencies teachers need. The aim of this study was to devise a framework of competencies for diversity teaching.

Methods: An open-ended questionnaire about essential diversity teaching competencies was sent to a panel.

A series of sulfonic acid functionalized mixed-linker DUT-4 analogues: synthesis, gas sorption properties and catalytic performance.

In this work, we present the successful synthesis of a series of sulfonic acid functionalized mixed-linker metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) having the DUT-4 topology by using different ratios of 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (H-NDC) and 4,8-disulfonaphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (H-NDC-2SOH) in one-pot reactions. The obtained materials were fully characterized and their CO adsorption properties at low and high pressures were studied and compared with those of the pristine DUT-4 material. Generally, the CO adsorption capacities range from 3.

Investigating empathy in interpreter-mediated simulated consultations: An explorative study.

Objective: To explore i) the ways in which empathic communication is expressed in interpreter-mediated consultations; ii) the interpreter's effect on the expression of empathic communication.

Methods: We coded 9 video-recorded interpreter-mediated simulated consultations by using the Empathic Communication Coding System (ECCS) which we used for each interaction during interpreter-mediated consultations. We compared patients' empathic opportunities and doctors' responses as expressed by the patients and doctors and as rendered by the interpreters.

Ten-year survival after endoscopic stent placement as a bridge to surgery in obstructing colon cancer.

Background And Aims: Self-expandable metal stents are used increasingly in the treatment of obstructing colorectal cancer (CRC). Although endoscopic colon stenting is widely accepted in palliation, disagreement exists about its role in a curative setting. This study aims to describe long-term survival data in a large patient group treated with colon stenting as a bridge to surgery for CRC.