Empowering Self-Management for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Human-Centered Design Study of Spanish- and Cantonese-Preferring Patients in the United States.

Introduction: Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is a leading cause of disability with disproportionately high impacts on marginalized populations, including non-English-preferring patients. These patients face significant barriers to accessing care and adhering to self-management strategies due to language barriers, socioeconomic challenges, and cultural differences. Despite the emphasis on self-management for cLBP, limited research has focused on understanding the specific needs and preferences of Spanish- and Cantonese-preferring patients.

Hematologists' perspective on advance directives, a French national cross-sectional survey - the ADORE-H study.

Background: The onset of hematological malignancies can lead to acute and critical situations. It can also result in adverse outcome despite the significant advancements made in their therapeutic management. In this context, advance care planning and, in particular, advance directives (AD) play an essential role.

A novel bioassay for thyroid-blocking immunoglobulins.

Background: Thyroid-blocking immunoglobulins (TBI) are present in 10%-15% of patients with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). TBI affect thyroid function. The analytical performance of a novel TBI bioassay was evaluated.

Mind your pain: A single-arm feasibility study to assess a smartphone-based interoceptive attention training for patients with chronic low back pain.

Objective: People commonly cope with chronic low back pain (cLBP) by ignoring and distraction. Can mindful interoceptive exposure to the pain sensation itself and its phenomenological components be an alternative approach?

Methods: Single-arm feasibility study in patients with cLBP using a 2-minute attention exercise guided by a smartphone app several times per day over 8 weeks. We assessed feasibility, pre/post pain, function, and psychological parameters using mixed methods: standard questionnaires, ecological momentary assessment, and exit interviews that included micro-phenomenology technique and subsequent reflexive thematic qualitative analysis.

Gender- and personality-specific differences in academic qualifications, research motivation, and attractiveness of leadership positions: a survey among radiologists from Germany.

This study investigated gender- and personality-specific differences in academic qualifications, research motivation, and options to increase the attractiveness of leadership positions in radiology.A validated questionnaire with 66 questions was distributed via the German Roentgen Society and individually sent to 4,500 radiologists in Germany. Participants were asked about their gender.

Chronic Low Back Pain Causal Risk Factors Identified by Mendelian Randomization: a Cross-Sectional Cohort Analysis.

Background Context: There are a number of risk factors- from biological, psychological, and social domains- for non-specific chronic low back pain (cLBP). Many cLBP treatments target risk factors on the assumption that the targeted factor is not just associated with cLBP but is also a cause (i.e, a causal risk factor).

Atezolizumab Combined With Platinum and Maintenance Niraparib for Recurrent Ovarian Cancer With a Platinum-Free Interval >6 Months: ENGOT-OV41/GEICO 69-O/ANITA Phase III Trial.

Purpose: To evaluate atezolizumab combined with platinum-based chemotherapy (CT) followed by maintenance niraparib for late-relapsing recurrent ovarian cancer.

Methods: The multicenter placebo-controlled double-blind randomized phase III ENGOT-OV41/GEICO 69-O/ANITA trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03598270) enrolled patients with measurable high-grade serous, endometrioid, or undifferentiated recurrent ovarian cancer who had received one or two previous CT lines (most recent including platinum) and had a treatment-free interval since last platinum (TFIp) of >6 months.

Renal tumor segmentation, visualization, and segmentation confidence using ensembles of neural networks in patients undergoing surgical resection.

Objectives: To develop an automatic segmentation model for solid renal tumors on contrast-enhanced CTs and to visualize segmentation with associated confidence to promote clinical applicability.

Materials And Methods: The training dataset included solid renal tumor patients from two tertiary centers undergoing surgical resection and receiving CT in the corticomedullary or nephrogenic contrast media (CM) phase. Manual tumor segmentation was performed on all axial CT slices serving as reference standard for automatic segmentations.

Overcoming data scarcity in biomedical imaging with a foundational multi-task model.

Foundational models, pretrained on a large scale, have demonstrated substantial success across non-medical domains. However, training these models typically requires large, comprehensive datasets, which contrasts with the smaller and more specialized datasets common in biomedical imaging. Here we propose a multi-task learning strategy that decouples the number of training tasks from memory requirements.

Proteomic analysis of serum in a population-based cohort did not reveal a biomarker for Modic changes.

Introduction: Modic changes (MC) are bone marrow lesions of vertebral bones, which can be detected with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) adjacent to degenerated intervertebral discs. Defined by their appearance on T1 and T2 weighted images, there are three interconvertible types: MC1, MC2, and MC3. The inter-observer variability of the MRI diagnosis is high, therefore a diagnostic serum biomarker complementing the MRI to facilitate diagnosis and follow-up would be of great value.

Measurement of Scapholunate Joint Space Width on Real-Time MRI-A Feasibility Study.

Introduction: The scapholunate interosseous ligament is pivotal for wrist stability, and its impairment can result in instability and joint degeneration. This study explores the application of real-time MRI for dynamic assessment of the scapholunate joint during wrist motion with the objective of determining its diagnostic value in efficacy in contrast to static imaging modalities.

Materials And Methods: Ten healthy participants underwent real-time MRI scans during wrist ab/adduction and fist-clenching maneuvers.

Epidemiology, treatment and outcomes of primary renal sarcomas in adult patients.

To assess epidemiology, clinical presentation, treatment and overall survival of adult patients with renal sarcomas, the 2004-2016 SEER and NCDB databases were queried for adult patients diagnosed with renal sarcoma, calculating average annual age-adjusted incidence rates (AAIR) and average annual percentage change (AAPC) as well as overall survival (OS). In n = 1279 included renal sarcoma patients, AAIR remained constant over the study period (average 0.53 cases/1million; AAPC = 0.

Design of the COMEBACK and BACKHOME Studies, Longitudinal Cohorts for Comprehensive Deep Phenotyping of Adults with Chronic Low-Back Pain (cLBP): a part of the BACPAC Research Program.

Objective: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Core Center for Patient-centric, Mechanistic Phenotyping in Chronic Low Back Pain (REACH) is one of the three NIH Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) Research Programs Mechanistic Research Centers (MRCs). The goal of UCSF REACH is to define cLBP phenotypes and pain mechanisms that can lead to effective, personalized treatments for patients across the population. The primary objective of this research project is to address the critical need for new diagnostic and prognostic markers, and associated patient classification protocols for chronic low back pain (cLBP) treatment.

Radiomics and machine learning for renal tumor subtype assessment using multiphase computed tomography in a multicenter setting.

Objectives: To distinguish histological subtypes of renal tumors using radiomic features and machine learning (ML) based on multiphase computed tomography (CT).

Material And Methods: Patients who underwent surgical treatment for renal tumors at two tertiary centers from 2012 to 2022 were included retrospectively. Preoperative arterial (corticomedullary) and venous (nephrogenic) phase CT scans from these centers, as well as from external imaging facilities, were manually segmented, and standardized radiomic features were extracted.

Treating drug-resistant tuberculosis in an era of shorter regimens: Insights from rural South Africa.

Background: Progressive interventions have recently improved programmatic outcomes in drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) care in South Africa (SA). Amidst these, a shorter regimen was introduced in 2017 with weak evidence, and has shown mixed results. Outcomes still fall short of national targets, and the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has undermined progress to date.

Predictors of response in PROMIS-global in a chronic low back pain specialty clinic: STarTBack and chronic overlapping pain conditions.

Background: Tools, such as the STarTBack Screening Tool (SBT), have been developed to identify risks of progressing to chronic disability in low back pain (LBP) patients in the primary care population. However, less is known about predictors of change in function after treatment in the specialty care population.

Objective: We pursued a retrospective observational cohort study involving LBP patients seen in a multidisciplinary specialty clinic to assess which features can predict change in function at follow-up.