T-Cell Lymphoma: Recent Advances in Characterization and New Opportunities for Treatment.

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are uncommon, heterogeneous, and aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Despite progress in the last several years resulting in a deeper understanding of PTCL biology and pathogenesis, there is currently no accepted single standard of care for newly diagnosed patients, and for those with relapsed or refractory disease, prognosis is dismal. The National Cancer Institute convened a Clinical Trials Planning Meeting to advance the national clinical trial agenda in lymphoma.

Beyond RCHOP: A Blueprint for Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma Research.

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) comprises multiple molecular and biological subtypes, resulting in a broad range of clinical outcomes. With standard chemoimmunotherapy, there remains an unacceptably high treatment failure rate in certain DLBCL subsets: activated B cell (ABC) DLBCL, double-hit lymphoma defined by the dual translocation of MYC and BCL2, dual protein-expressing lymphomas defined by the overexpression of MYC and BCL2, and older patients and those with central nervous system involvement. The main research challenges for DLBCL are to accurately identify molecular subsets and to determine if specific chemotherapy platforms and targeted agents offer differential benefit.

General Biomarker Recommendations for Lymphoma.

Lymphoid malignancies are a heterogeneous group of tumors that have distinctive clinical and biological behaviors. The increasing prevalence of disease reflects both treatment advances and the fact that some of these tumors are indolent. The ability to determine treatment needs at diagnosis remains problematic for some of the tumors, such as in follicular lymphomas.

Measure for measure: minimal residual disease in CLL.

In this issue of , Kwok and colleagues have provided a wealth of retrospective clinical data that greatly expands our appreciation for the prognostic importance of flow-cytometric residual disease measurement across a spectrum of clinical presentations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Update on Burkitt Lymphoma.

Because of its rarity and high curability, progress in advancing therapeutics in Burkitt lymphoma (BL) has been difficult. Over recent years, several new mutations that cooperate with MYC have been identified, and this has paved the way for testing novel agents in the disease. One of the challenges of most standard approaches typically used is severe treatment-related toxicity that often leads to discontinuation of therapy.

Perceptions of national recruitment for orthodontic specialty registrars: 2012-2014.

Aim: To assess the changes in interviewees' and interviewers' perceptions and experiences of national recruitment and a multi-station interview (MSI) for the selection of Orthodontic Specialty Registrars to UK training programmes from 2012 to 2014.

Design: Questionnaire-based longitudinal survey.

Setting: Interviews for selection of Orthodontic Specialty Registrars (StRs) held at London Deanery, London, UK.

Pharyngoesophageal diverticuli: diagnosis, incidence and management.

Purpose Of Review: Pharyngoesophageal diverticuli such as Zenker's diverticulum are relatively rare diseases that may have a significant impact on a patient's quality of life. Open surgical techniques have historically been the mainstay of treatment for Zenker's diverticuli and remain the preferred approach for many surgeons operating on Killian-Jamieson diverticuli (KJD) and pharyngoceles. However, advances in technology in recent decades have allowed for the development of successful endoscopic surgical techniques for the management of these conditions.

What is that rash?

Case History: A healthy 15-month-old girl presented to the emergency department with a 24-hour history of fever and rash. The initial blanching rash developed into non-blanching areas with associated leg swelling. She had received no recent medications, had no known drug allergies and no unwell contacts.

How do they feel? Patients' perspectives on draping and dignity in a physiotherapy outpatient setting: A pilot study.

Background: Research to date has focused on dignity within the hospital rather than outpatient settings which is likely to raise different issues from the patients' perspective.

Purpose: To investigate patients' views relating to draping and dignity and their choice of dressing options in the physiotherapy outpatient setting.

Method: A custom-designed questionnaire was developed including feedback from a focus group of 10 individuals attending a physiotherapy outpatient clinic.

Cost-utility analysis comparing radioactive iodine, anti-thyroid drugs and total thyroidectomy for primary treatment of Graves' disease.

Objective: Little data is in existence about the most cost-effective primary treatment for Graves' disease. We performed a cost-utility analysis comparing radioactive iodine (RAI), anti-thyroid drugs (ATD) and total thyroidectomy (TT) as first-line therapy for Graves' disease in England and Australia.

Methods: We used a Markov model to compare lifetime costs and benefits (quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs)).

Physeal fractures about the knee.

While some fractures may be managed similarly in adults and children, physeal fractures are uniquely limited to the pediatric population and require special consideration. Although physeal fractures about the knee are relatively rare, they are occurring more frequently due to increasing youth participation in sports and high-energy recreational activities. The evaluation and management of distal femoral and proximal tibial physeal fractures are similar to one another, but fractures of the tibial spine and tibial tubercle are approached somewhat differently.

Student Perceptions of iPad Applications-Assisted Instruction in Health Professions Education.

The purpose of this study was to examine student's perceptions of the iPad applications-assisted instruction as part of their learning. In this study, multiple features and applications were evaluated as an instructional tool. Fifteen participants responded to the survey indicating their perceptions of the iPad and applications used as part of their course delivery.

Cancer clinical trials in persons with HIV infection.

Purpose Of Review: The era of modern HIV therapeutics is well underway. The cancer and infectious disease epidemiology of HIV disease has markedly altered as populations are availed to the benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ARV). The types of cancers occurring among those with HIV infection has broadened but the case burden in absolute numbers is very low relative to the background population.

Compensation and exotic livestock disease management: the views of animal keepers and veterinarians in England.

Relatively little is known about the perceived influence of different compensation systems on animal keepers' management of exotic livestock disease. This paper aims to address this research gap by drawing on interviews with 61 animal keepers and 21 veterinarians, as well as a series of nine animal keeper focus groups across five different livestock sectors in England. The perceived influence of current compensation systems on disease control behaviour was explored and alternative compensation systems that respectively reward positive practices and penalise poor practices were presented in the form of scenarios, alongside a third system that considered the option of a cost-sharing levy system between industry and government.

Pilot Study to Explore the Accuracy of Current Prediction Equations in Assessing Energy Needs of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Multiforme.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is rare, yet it is the most common brain malignancy and has a poor prognosis. In regard to GBM, there is a dearth of research on resting energy expenditure (REE) and the accuracy of extant prediction equations. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare measured REE (mREE) to commonly used prediction equations in newly diagnosed GBM patients.

Quality-of-life assessment in dementia: the use of DEMQOL and DEMQOL-Proxy total scores.

Purpose: There is a need to determine whether health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) assessments in dementia capture what is important, to form a coherent basis for guiding research and clinical and policy decisions. This study investigated structural validity of HRQL assessments made using the DEMQOL system, with particular interest in studying domains that might be central to HRQL, and the external validity of these HRQL measurements.

Methods: HRQL of people with dementia was evaluated by 868 self-reports (DEMQOL) and 909 proxy reports (DEMQOL-Proxy) at a community memory service.

Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation for HIV-related lymphoma: results of the BMT CTN 0803/AMC 071 trial.

Autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (AHCT) for HIV-infected patients is largely limited to centers with HIV-specific expertise. The Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network 0803/AIDS Malignancy Consortium 071 trial is a multicenter phase 2 study of AHCT for patients with HIV-related lymphoma (HRL). Eligible patients had chemotherapy-sensitive relapsed/persistent HRL, were >15 years of age, and had treatable HIV infection.

Parental Origin of Interstitial Duplications at 15q11.2-q13.3 in Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Duplications at 15q11.2-q13.3 overlapping the Prader-Willi/Angelman syndrome (PWS/AS) region have been associated with developmental delay (DD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ).

Electrochemical Oxidative Amination of Sodium Sulfinates: Synthesis of Sulfonamides Mediated by NH4I as a Redox Catalyst.

An efficient protocol for the synthesis of sulfonamides via the electrochemical oxidative amination of sodium sulfinates has been developed. The chemistry proceeds in a simple undivided cell employing a substoichiometric amount of NH4I that serves both as a redox catalyst and a supporting electrolyte; in this manner additional conducting salt is not required. A wide range of substrates, including aliphatic or aromatic secondary and primary amines, as well as aqueous ammonia, proved to be compatible with the protocol.

Role of the tumor microenvironment in mature B-cell lymphoid malignancies.

The tumor microenvironment is the cellular and molecular environment in which the tumor exists and with which it continuously interacts. In B-cell lymphomas, this microenvironment is intriguing in that it plays critical roles in the regulation of tumor cell survival and proliferation, fostering immune escape as well as the development of treatment resistance. The purpose of this review is to summarize the proceedings of the Second Annual Summit on the Immune Microenvironment in Hematologic Malignancies that took place on September 11-12, 2014 in Dublin, Ireland.

Higher degree of glycation of hemoglobin S compared to hemoglobin A measured by mass spectrometry: Potential impact on HbA1c testing.

Background: Glycated hemoglobin (GHb), reported as HbA1c, is used as marker of long-term glycemia for diabetic patients. HbA1c results from boronate affinity methods are generally considered to be unaffected by most hemoglobin variants; this assumes comparable glycation of variant and non-variant (HbAA) hemoglobins. In this report, glycation of HbA beta chain (βA) and HbS beta chain (βS) for the most common Hb variant trait (HbAS) are examined.

Calcium Extrusion Pump PMCA4: A New Player in Renal Calcium Handling?

Calcium (Ca2+) is vital for multiple processes in the body, and maintenance of the electrolyte concentration is required for everyday physiological function. In the kidney, and more specifically, in the late distal convoluted tubule and connecting tubule, the fine-tuning of Ca2+ reabsorption from the pro-urine takes place. Here, Ca2+ enters the epithelial cell via the transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor type 5 (TRPV5) channel, diffuses to the basolateral side bound to calbindin-D28k and is extruded to the blood compartment via the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger 1 (NCX1) and the plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase (PMCA).

Central nervous system involvement in AIDS-related lymphomas.

Central nervous system (CNS) involvement is reportedly more common in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related lymphomas (ARL). We describe factors and outcomes associated with CNS involvement at baseline (CNS(B) ) and relapse (CNS(R) ) in 886 patients with newly diagnosed ARL. Of 886 patients, 800 received either intrathecal (IT) therapy for CNS(B) or IT prophylaxis.

Cohort profile of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Biomedical Research Centre (SLaM BRC) Case Register: current status and recent enhancement of an Electronic Mental Health Record-derived data resource.

Purpose: The South London and Maudsley National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust Biomedical Research Centre (SLaM BRC) Case Register and its Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) application were developed in 2008, generating a research repository of real-time, anonymised, structured and open-text data derived from the electronic health record system used by SLaM, a large mental healthcare provider in southeast London. In this paper, we update this register's descriptive data, and describe the substantial expansion and extension of the data resource since its original development.

Participants: Descriptive data were generated from the SLaM BRC Case Register on 31 December 2014.