Study Question: Can a panel of plasma protein biomarkers be identified to accurately and specifically diagnose endometriosis?
Summary Answer: A novel panel of 10 plasma protein biomarkers was identified and validated, demonstrating strong predictive accuracy for the diagnosis of endometriosis.
What Is Known Already: Endometriosis poses intricate medical challenges for affected individuals and their physicians, yet diagnosis currently takes an average of 7 years and normally requires invasive laparoscopy. Consequently, the need for a simple, accurate non-invasive diagnostic tool is paramount.
To identify associations between inpatient hospital design features and empirical patient clinical outcomes as well as changes over time. A growing body of literature has emerged evaluating the association of hospital design features with measurable clinical outcomes during inpatient hospital admissions. However, there has been limited effort to evaluate the scope and quality of studies examining individual, inpatient hospital design features on empirical patient clinical outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prognostic models in peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL) have identified biological factors including age, performance status, LDH, and BM involvement as prognostic for survival. The association of social determinants of health (SDH), on PTCL outcomes remains unexplored.
Methods: To evaluate the impact of actionable SDH on PTCL mortality across race groups, we conducted a retrospective cohort study that included all White, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander (PI) and Black adult patients with nodal PTCLs , diagnosed 2000-2020, in California.
Concern has been raised about the effectiveness of the Hospital Price Transparency Rule to facilitate a clear understanding of health care prices due to poor reporting by hospitals. However, the relationship between what services the hospital provides and what prices they report is not clear. We assessed reported prices in the Turquoise Health database and compared them at the hospital level with the CMS Provider of Services File to identify if a shoppable service was provided at a hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrauma activation fees are intended to help trauma centers cover the costs of providing lifesaving care at all times, but they have fallen under greater scrutiny because of a lack of regulation and wide variability in charges. We leveraged the federal Hospital Price Transparency rule to systematically describe trauma activation fees as captured in the Turquoise Health database for all Level I-III trauma centers nationally and across payer types. As of April 18, 2023, a total of 38 percent of US trauma centers published trauma activation fees.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral second- and third-line immunotherapeutic options for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant are directed against the B-cell antigen cluster of differentiation 19 (CD19). The anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody tafasitamab, paired with the immunomodulator lenalidomide, mediates antibody-dependent cellular toxicity and phagocytosis; the antibody-drug conjugate loncastuximab tesirine delivers the DNA cross-linking agent tesirine via CD19 binding and internalization; and CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) products are engineered from autologous T cells. Although CD19 expression is assessed at diagnosis, clinically relevant thresholds of CD19 expression-which may not be detectable using current routine methodologies-have not been defined and may vary between CD19-directed treatment modalities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDevelopmental exposure to either polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or heavy metals has been shown to cause persisting and overlapping neurobehavioral effects in animal models. However, interactions between these compounds have not been well characterized, despite their co-occurrence in a variety of environmental media. In two companion studies, we examined the effects of developmental exposure to cadmium (Cd) with or without co-exposure to prototypic PAHs benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, Exp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In 2021, the United States enacted a law requiring hospitals to report prices for health care services. Across several health care services, poor compliance and wide variation in pricing was found. This study was performed to investigate variation in reporting and listed prices by hospital features for high-volume hand procedures, including carpal tunnel release, trigger finger release, de Quervain tenosynovitis release, and carpometacarpal arthroplasty.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur understanding of COVID-19 vaccinations and their impact on health and mortality has evolved substantially since the first vaccine rollouts. Published reports from the original randomized phase 3 trials concluded that the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could greatly reduce COVID-19 symptoms. In the interim, problems with the methods, execution, and reporting of these pivotal trials have emerged.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWnt16 is expressed in bone and arteries, and maintains bone mass in mice and humans, but its role in cardiovascular physiology is unknown. We show that Wnt16 protein accumulates in murine and human vascular smooth muscle (VSM). WNT16 genotypes that convey risk for bone frailty also convey risk for cardiovascular events in the Dallas Heart Study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPregnancy is a unique time when amplified sex steroid concentrations promote an escalation in vitamin D binding protein (DBP) synthesis, associated with increased total vitamin D and metabolites, including 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). Free 25(OH)D concentration increases disproportionately to total 25(OH)D during pregnancy, likely an adaptation to supply the woman and fetus with readily available 25(OH)D. Highlighting the importance of the calcium metabolic stress during pregnancy, the interactional relationship between serum 25(OH)D and PTH has been evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Vitamin D (VitD) has been shown to impact neurodevelopment. Studies have shown that higher 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations (the indicator of vitD status) may be associated with better neurodevelopmental outcomes, although current data are conflicting. This study examined the relationship between total circulating 25(OH)D concentrations and neurodevelopmental outcomes in 3-5-year-old (3-5 yo) children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF, an important pulmonary fungal pathogen causing several diseases collectively called aspergillosis, relies on asexual spores (conidia) for initiating host infection. Here, we used a phylogenomic approach to compare proteins in the conidial surface of , two closely related non-pathogenic species, and , and the cryptic pathogen . After identifying 62 proteins uniquely expressed on the conidial surface, we assessed null mutants for 42 genes encoding conidial proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Positive effects of vitamin D (vitD) supplementation on comorbidities of pregnancy (COP) have been explored; however, few studies have elucidated the pathophysiology behind the development of these COP and the potential relationship with derangements in placental development and morphology. Additionally, it is known that placentas weighing 10th-90th % for gestational age are associated with better outcomes. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the impact of resulting circulating serum 25(OH)D concentrations associated with intake of high or low doses of supplementary vitD on placental development and morphology in women who participated in a randomized double blind, placebo-controlled trial of vitD supplementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTraffic is an important source of air pollution in Vietnamese cities. The spatio-temporal variation of air pollution derived from traffic is poorly understood. Application of dispersion modelling can help but is hindered by the local scarcity of suitable input data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To identify the impact of clinical risk adjustment models for evaluating pain medication consumption differences between private rooms and a multibed ward.
Background: Views of nature are reported to reduce anxiety and pain for patients. This often leads to prioritizing large windows with views for patient rooms; however, it is not clear how other factors influencing pain (e.