Background: Squamous cell carcinoma of the prostate (SCCP) is a neoplasm that comprises fewer than 1% of all primary prostate cancer diagnoses. Given its rarity, there is a paucity of data regarding the treatment of this disease. The limited literature points to the potential of local therapy in conjunction with chemotherapy to improve patient mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a prevalent condition with high mortality and poor outcomes even in settings where extensive emergency care resources are available. Interventions to address OHCA have had limited success, with survival rates below 10% in national samples of high-income countries. In resource-limited settings, where scarcity requires careful priority setting, more data is needed to determine the optimal allocation of resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Herein, the authors describe the successful utilization of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) and the first case of GammaTile cesium-131 therapy in a pediatric patient with recurrent high-grade glioma. 5-ALA was utilized to optimize gross-total resection prior to GammaTile implantation. After conversion to an equivalent dose in 2-Gy fractions (EQD2), a composite was made of the GammaTile dose with the initial external beam radiotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction Traditional medical school curricula rely on textbook-based learning during the first two years, often limiting students' clinical exposure. Simulation-based learning (SBL) provides an opportunity for students to gain clinical exposure and competency with common procedures as well as to gain knowledge related to common clinical topics. Retention of factual knowledge is a current topic of discussion as medical learners often have difficulty with long-term retention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe particulate and biological components of indoor air have a substantial impact on human health, especially immune respiratory conditions such as asthma. To better explore the relationship between allergens, the microbial community, and the indoor living environment, we sampled the bedrooms of 65 homes in the Chicago area using 23the patient-friendly Inspirotec electrokinetic air sampling device, which collects airborne particles for characterization of both allergens and microbial DNA. The sampling device captured sufficient microbial material to enable 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data to be generated for every sample in the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Allergy Asthma Immunol
August 2018
Background: In current practice, allergens in vacuum-collected dust are used as surrogates for inhalable allergens. We developed an air-sampling device that can be used by patients for direct measurement of airborne allergen concentrations in their own homes.
Objective: To demonstrate the use of this device to establish allergen concentration reference ranges in a target population and to evaluate associations between patient-reported information and measured allergen concentrations.
Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol
May 2016
Background: A variety of different sampling devices are currently available to acquire air samples for the study of the microbiome of the air. All have a degree of technical complexity that limits deployment. Here, we evaluate the use of a novel device, which has no technical complexity and is easily deployable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In the search for more powerful tools for diagnoses of endemic diseases in resource-limited settings, we have been analyzing technologies with potential applicability. Increasingly, the process focuses on readily accessible bodily fluids combined with increasingly powerful multiplex capabilities to unambiguously diagnose a condition without resorting to reliance on a sophisticated reference laboratory. Although these technological advances may well have important implications for the sensitive and specific detection of disease, to date their clinical utility has not been demonstrated, especially in resource-limited settings.
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