Cost-Benefit Analysis of in vivo Reflectance Confocal Microscopy for Melanoma Diagnosis in a Real-World Clinical Setting.

Background: In a recent prospective, multicenter, two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT), we demonstrated that adjunctive reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) in routine clinical practice provides clinical benefits, including safe melanoma detection and a 43.3% reduction in the number needed to excise (NNE).

Methods: A cost-benefit analysis was conducted based on NNEs for standard care (5.

Effects of face protector devices on acoustic parameters of voice.

Objectives: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic required the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in medical and social contexts to reduce exposure and prevent pathogen transmission. This study aims to analyse possible changes in voice and speech parameters with and without PPE.

Methods: Speech samples using different types of PPE were obtained.

Unsupervised clustering analysis-based characterization of spatial profiles of inaccuracy in apparent diffusion coefficient values with varying acquisition plan orientation and diffusion weighting gradient direction - a large multicenter phantom study.

This large multicenter study of 37 magnetic resonance imaging scanners aimed at characterizing, for the first time, spatial profiles of inaccuracy (namely, Δ-profiles) in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values with varying acquisition plan orientation and diffusion weighting gradient direction, using a statistical approach exploiting unsupervised clustering analysis. A diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) protocol (b-value: 0-200-400-600-800-1000 s mm) with different combinations of acquisition plan orientation (axial/sagittal/coronal) and diffusion weighting gradient direction (anterior-posterior/left-right/feet-head) was acquired on a standard water phantom. For each acquisition setup, Δ-profiles along the 3 main orthogonal directions were characterized by fitting data with a second order polynomial function ().

The role of medical physics experts in clinical trials: A guideline from the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics.

The EFOMP working group on the Role of Medical Physics Experts (MPEs) in Clinical Trials was established in 2010, with experts from across Europe and different areas of medical physics. Their main aims were: (1) To develop a consensus guidance document for the work MPEs do in clinical trials across Europe. (2) Complement the work by American colleagues in AAPM TG 113 and guidance from National Member Organisations.

Strawberry phenotypic plasticity in flowering time is driven by the interaction between genetic loci and temperature.

Flowering time (FT), which determines when fruits or seeds can be harvested, is subject to phenotypic plasticity, that is, the ability of a genotype to display different phenotypes in response to environmental variation. Here, we investigated how the environment affects the genetic architecture of FT in cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) and modifies its quantitative trait locus (QTL) effects. To this end, we used a bi-parental segregating population grown for 2 years at widely divergent latitudes (five European countries) and combined climatic variables with genomic data (Affymetrix SNP array).