Valuing quality of life for economic evaluations in cancer: navigating multiple methods.

Introduction: Utility values offer a quantitative means to evaluate the impact of novel cancer treatments on patients' quality of life (QoL). However, the multiple methods available for valuing QoL present challenges in selecting the most appropriate method across different contexts.

Areas Covered: This review provides cancer clinicians and researchers with an overview of methods to value QoL for economic evaluations, including standalone and derived preference-based measures (PBMs) and direct preference elicitation methods.

Metastatic malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the uterus and cervix: Diagnostic Challenges, prognostic determinants and treatment.

•MPNST is an uncommon sarcoma of the nerve sheath that is rarely found in the female reproductive tract.•Preoperative uterine mass imaging should include pelvic MRI and thorough evaluation of imaging by an expert pelvic MRI radiologist.•Metastatic MPNST has a poor prognosis and systemic treatment options lack efficacy.

Continuously increased generation of ROS in human plasma after cardiac arrest as determined by Amplex Red oxidation.

Oxidative stress is believed to be a major cause of injury after cardiac arrest (CA). While the effects of ROS generated within tissues have been extensively investigated, the potential of plasma-generated ROS in contributing to CA pathology has not been examined. We utilized Amplex Red (AR) to measure the real time-generation of ROS in isolated plasma from human CA patients.

Use of Talimogene Laherparepvec to Treat Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a Renal Transplant Patient.

A 66-year-old female with a history of two renal transplants due to recurrent thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura presented to clinic with multiple lesions identified to be non-metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). The patient previously underwent multiple Mohs procedures and radiation therapy treatment but continued to develop CSCC lesions with increasing frequency. After discussing multiple treatment options, it was elected to pursue treatment with Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) given the systemic immune responses it can cause, with low theoretical risk of graft rejection.

Multi-Drug Cocktail Therapy Improves Survival and Neurological Function after Asphyxial Cardiac Arrest in Rodents.

Background: Cardiac arrest (CA) can lead to neuronal degeneration and death through various pathways, including oxidative, inflammatory, and metabolic stress. However, current neuroprotective drug therapies will typically target only one of these pathways, and most single drug attempts to correct the multiple dysregulated metabolic pathways elicited following cardiac arrest have failed to demonstrate clear benefit. Many scientists have opined on the need for novel, multidimensional approaches to the multiple metabolic disturbances after cardiac arrest.

A Novel Approach to Delivering Evidence-based, High-quality Care in Psychiatry Through an Electronic Integrated Care Pathway (eICP) Pilot.

Integrated care pathways (ICPs) are evidence-based decision support tools intended to reduce variation and improve quality of care. Historically, adoption of ICPs has been difficult to measure, as the pathways were outside of the electronic health record (EHR), where care delivery documentation and orders were completed. This Technology Column describes the innovative development and implementation of a diagnosis specific electronic ICP that directly embeds pathway steps into an EHR to facilitate order sets, clinical decision-making, and usage tracking.

ouR Space Commentary: Wellness Perspective From SABI's Early Career Committee.

Radiologists and members-in-training are experiencing higher (and escalating) rates of burnout, resulting in a profound impact on the health of physicians, patients, and the community. Lately, the radiology community has demonstrated a growing awareness of this phenomenon, which has led to emphasis on practicing and promoting wellness. With a myriad of factors contributing to burnout in radiology, a multifaceted approach is pivotal for counteracting burnout and fostering overall well-being, including efforts driven at both organizational and individual levels.

MR Imaging of the Ovaries: From Puberty to Menopause.

The ovary resides in the pelvic cavity and is a dynamic organ with physiologic changes from birth to menopause. The imaging features of the normal ovary depend on the physiologic changes through puberty, reproductive age, and menopause. It is important for radiologists to understand the imaging features of normal physiologic changes in the ovaries and differentiate them from disease states.

Comparison of Prostate Imaging and Reporting Data System V2.0 and V2.1 for Evaluation of Transition Zone Lesions: A 5-Reader 202-Patient Analysis.

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the distribution of Prostate Imaging and Reporting Data System (PI-RADS) scores, interreader agreement, and diagnostic performance of PI-RADS v2.0 and v2.1 for transition zone (TZ) lesions.

Metformin-mediated mitochondrial protection post-cardiac arrest improves EEG activity and confers neuroprotection and survival benefit.

Cardiac arrest (CA) produces global ischemia/reperfusion injury resulting in substantial multiorgan damage. There are limited efficacious therapies to save lives despite CA being such a lethal disease process. The small population of surviving patients suffer extensive brain damage that results in substantial morbidity.

Algorithmic Approach to the Splenic Lesion Based on Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation.

Splenic lesions are commonly discovered incidentally at imaging, without clinical signs or symptoms that may aid in diagnosis. As such, the differential diagnosis and subsequent management are based primarily on imaging characteristics. Much has been written about the myriad pathologic conditions that can occur in the spleen; however, there is little guidance on the approach to an incidental splenic mass.

Elucidation of Sequence-Function Relationships for an Improved Biobutanol Biosensor in .

Transcription factor (TF)-promoter pairs have been repurposed from native hosts to provide tools to measure intracellular biochemical production titer and dynamically control gene expression. Most often, native TF-promoter systems require rigorous screening to obtain desirable characteristics optimized for biotechnological applications. High-throughput techniques may provide a rational and less labor-intensive strategy to engineer user-defined TF-promoter pairs using fluorescence-activated cell sorting and deep sequencing methods (sort-seq).

The acceptability of a novel procedure service run by PAs and NPs.

Background: Hospitalist physicians are performing fewer procedures because of multiple reasons, including expanded responsibilities beyond their patient panel. A procedure service that offloads hospitalists could expedite these necessary services. An opportunity exists for physician assistants (PAs) and NPs to fill this gap.

Increased plasma disequilibrium between pro- and anti-oxidants during the early phase resuscitation after cardiac arrest is associated with increased levels of oxidative stress end-products.

Background: Cardiac arrest (CA) results in loss of blood circulation to all tissues leading to oxygen and metabolite dysfunction. Return of blood flow and oxygen during resuscitative efforts is the beginning of reperfusion injury and is marked by the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can directly damage tissues. The plasma serves as a reservoir and transportation medium for oxygen and metabolites critical for survival as well as ROS that are generated.

Racial disparities in the SOFA score among patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Background: Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score predicts probability of in-hospital mortality. Many crisis standards of care suggest the use of SOFA scores to allocate medical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research Question: Are SOFA scores elevated among Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients hospitalized with COVID-19, compared to Non-Hispanic White patients?

Study Design And Methods: Retrospective cohort study conducted in Yale New Haven Health System, including 5 hospitals with total of 2681 beds.

The potential impact of triage protocols on racial disparities in clinical outcomes among COVID-positive patients in a large academic healthcare system.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact in the United States, particularly for Black populations, and has heavily burdened the healthcare system. Hospitals have created protocols to allocate limited resources, but there is concern that these protocols will exacerbate disparities. The sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score is a tool often used in triage protocols.

Understanding physiologic phospholipid maintenance in the context of brain mitochondrial phospholipid alterations after cardiac arrest.

Cardiac arrest (CA) induces whole-body ischemia resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction. We used isolated mitochondria to examine phospholipid alterations in the brain, heart, kidney, and liver post-CA. Our data shows that ischemia/reperfusion most significantly alters brain mitochondria phospholipids, predominately after resuscitation.

Inter-reader agreement of the Society of Abdominal Radiology-American Gastroenterological Association (SAR-AGA) consensus reporting for key phenotypes at MR enterography in adults with Crohn disease: impact of radiologist experience.

Purpose: To assess inter-reader agreement of key features from the SAR-AGA recommendations for the interpretation and reporting of MRE in adult patients with CD, focusing on the impact of radiologist experience on inter-reader agreement of CD phenotypes.

Methods: Two experienced and two less-experienced radiologists retrospectively evaluated 99 MRE in CD patients (50 initial MRE, 49 follow-up MRE) performed from 1/1/2019 to 3/20/2020 for the presence of active bowel inflammation (stomach, proximal small bowel, ileum, colon), stricture, probable stricture, penetrating disease, and perianal disease. The MRE protocol did not include dedicated perianal sequences.

Plasma metabolomics supports the use of long-duration cardiac arrest rodent model to study human disease by demonstrating similar metabolic alterations.

Cardiac arrest (CA) is a leading cause of death and there is a necessity for animal models that accurately represent human injury severity. We evaluated a rat model of severe CA injury by comparing plasma metabolic alterations to human patients. Plasma was obtained from adult human control and CA patients post-resuscitation, and from male Sprague-Dawley rats at baseline and after 20 min CA followed by 30 min cardiopulmonary bypass resuscitation.

Efficacy of a small molecule inhibitor of the transcriptional cofactor PC4 in prevention and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

The human positive coactivator 4 (PC4) was originally identified as a multi-functional cofactor capable of mediating transcription activation by diverse gene- and tissue-specific activators. Recent studies suggest that PC4 might also function as a novel cancer biomarker and therapeutic target for different types of cancers. siRNA knockdown studies indicated that down-regulation of PC4 expression could inhibit tumorigeneicity of A549 non-small cell lung cancer tumor model in nude mice.

Transcription factor-based biosensors and inducible systems in non-model bacteria: current progress and future directions.

Genetic diversity within the geobiosphere encompasses enormous sensing capabilities and many non-model bacteria are of biotechnological interest. Biosensing, or more generally inducible, systems are a vital component of metabolic engineering, as they allow tight control of gene expression as well as the basis for high-throughput screens on non-growth-related phenotypes. While these inducible systems, primarily transcription factor/promoter pairs, have been utilized extensively in Escherichia coli, progress in other bacteria is limited because of differences in transcription machinery, physiological compatibility of parts and proteins, and other nuances.