European and US Real-World Treatment Patterns in Patients with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutation-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Retrospective Medical Record Review.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the preferred first-line (1L) therapy for EGFR mutation-positive (EGFRm) advanced/metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Objective: Our objective was to describe real-world treatment patterns and T790M testing practices in patients with 1L disease progression (Europe/USA) following treatment with first- or second-generation EGFR-TKIs.

Methods: This was a retrospective, non-interventional medical record review of patients with EGFRm locally advanced/metastatic NSCLC from routine clinical practice (EGFR-TKI initiation: 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017; follow-up: last available medical record).

Treatment Patterns in Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors: Analysis of US Insurance Claims Databases.

Background: Most patients with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive (EGFRm) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) acquire resistance to first-line (1L) first- or second-generation (1G/2G) EGFR-TKIs; therefore, it is important to optimize 1L treatment to improve patient outcomes.

Objective: To retrospectively examine treatment patterns in locally advanced/metastatic NSCLC using MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental Databases (all US census regions).

Patients And Methods: Adults with a lung cancer diagnosis code between 1 January 2015-31 March 2018 were analyzed from diagnosis (index) through a variable-length follow-up.

On-chip second-order spatial derivative of an optical beam by a periodic ridge.

In this paper, a very simple periodic ridge on a symmetric slab waveguide is used for implementing an on-chip CMOS-compatible second-order spatial differentiator. The reflection and transmission coefficients of this structure show that the second derivative is performed in the transmission when the optical beam normally incidents on the periodic ridge. Simulations confirm that the reason behind the second-order spatial differentiation of the incoming beam is the excitation of the guided mode of the periodic ridge.

Spin-polarized unidirectional cylindrical waveguide in bianisotropic media.

In this paper, we analyze a cylindrical waveguide consisting of two layers of bianisotropic material with anti-symmetric magnetoelectric coupling tensors. The analysis is carried out in terms of pseudo-electric and pseudo-magnetic fields which satisfy Maxwells' equations with gyrotropic permittivity and permeability tensors. We show that the rotationally symmetric modes of the waveguide are unidirectional with transverse pseudo-electric and transverse pseudo-magnetic modes propagating in opposite directions.

Fundamental limit for gain and resolution in analog optical edge detection.

In this paper, the relation between gain and resolution of an ideal analog optical differentiator in two different cases and their fundamental limits are investigated. Based on this relation, a figure of merit for comparison of the designed differentiators in recent papers is proposed. The differentiators are optimized using this figure of merit, and they are compared with each other to determine the best one.

Prediagnostic circulating inflammation biomarkers and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A case-cohort study in Japan.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the predominant histologic subtype of esophageal cancer worldwide. Measurements of circulating inflammation-related biomarkers may inform etiology or provide noninvasive signatures for early diagnosis. We therefore examined levels of inflammation molecules for associations with ESCC risk.

Risk factors for Burkitt lymphoma: a nested case-control study in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) occurs as three subtypes: endemic BL, immunosuppression-related BL and sporadic BL. Descriptive studies of BL age-specific incidence patterns have suggested multimodal peaks near 10, 40 and 70 years of age, but the risk factors for BL at different ages are unknown. We investigated risk factors for BL in the United Kingdom among 156 BL cases and 608 matched BL-free controls identified in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) between 1992 and 2016.

Sperm Aneuploidy in Faroese Men with Lifetime Exposure to Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p´-DDE) and Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Pollutants.

Background: Although it is known that sperm aneuploidy contributes to early pregnancy losses and congenital abnormalities, the causes are unknown and environmental contaminants are suspected.

Objectives: Our goal was to evaluate associations between lifetime exposure to organochlorines, specifically dichlorodiphenyldicholorethylene (p,p´-DDE) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and sperm aneuploidy in men from the general population of the Faroe Islands, a population with a known history of organochlorine exposures.

Methods: Serum and semen samples from men (n = 90) 22-44 years old who participated in Faroe Islands health studies were analyzed for p,p´-DDE and PCBs 118, 138, 153, and 180 and adjusted for total lipids.

Determining 1-Yr Prosthetic Use for Mobility Prognoses for Community-Dwelling Adults with Lower-Limb Amputation: Development of a Clinical Prediction Rule.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a prognostic clinical prediction rule to identify people not achieving community walking level prosthetic use after 1 yr.

Design: This is a prospective longitudinal cohort study of community-dwelling adults with lower-limb amputations recruited from support groups and prosthetic clinics. Participants completed Activities-specific Balance Confidence and Houghton prosthetic use for mobility self-report scales and the Berg Balance Scale.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood asthma.

Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children living in developed countries and the leading cause of childhood hospitalization and school absenteeism. Prevalence rates of asthma are increasing and show disparities across gender, geographic regions, and ethnic/racial groups. Common risk factors for developing childhood asthma include exposure to tobacco smoke, previous allergic reactions, a family history of asthma, allergic rhinitis or eczema, living in an urban environment, obesity and lack of physical exercise, severe lower respiratory tract infections, and male gender.

Implementation of proteomics for cancer research: past, present, and future.

Cancer is the leading cause of the death, accounts for about 13% of all annual deaths worldwide. Many different fields of science are collaborating together studying cancer to improve our knowledge of this lethal disease, and find better solutions for diagnosis and treatment. Proteomics is one of the most recent and rapidly growing areas in molecular biology that helps understanding cancer from an omics data analysis point of view.

Strain counterstrain technique to decrease tender point palpation pain compared to control conditions: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: Strain counterstrain (SCS) is an indirect osteopathic manipulative technique that uses passive positioning to relieve tender point (TP) palpation pain and associated dysfunction.

Objective: The purposes of this systematic review with meta-analysis were to 1) determine the pooled effect of SCS on TP palpation pain compared to a control condition and 2) assess the quality of the overall evidence.

Data Source: A search conducted using the MEDLINE with AMED, PUBMED, CINAHL, and SCOPUS databases for publications from January 2002 and April 2012 yielded 29 articles for eligibility screening.

Gastric cancer: descriptive epidemiology, risk factors, screening, and prevention.

Less than a century ago, gastric cancer was the most common cancer in the United States and perhaps throughout the world. Despite its worldwide decline in incidence over the past century, gastric cancer remains a major killer across the globe. This article reviews the epidemiology, screening, and prevention of gastric cancer.

The state of nutritional epidemiology: why we are still unsure of what we should eat?

Most people want to know how they can improve their health by implementation of a proper diet. Therefore nutritional epidemiology studies, which correlate the intake of specific nutrients, food items, or dietary patterns with health outcomes, receive substantial interest in the media. However, the results of many nutritional epidemiology studies have not been replicated in subsequent studies.

The relation of multiple sclerosis with allergy and atopy: a case control study.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Allergy are believed to up regulate T helper cell type 1 (Th1) and T helper cell type 2 (Th2)  responses, respectively. It has been shown that disequilibrium in the ratio of Th1/Th2 activities may increase frequency of one disease and decrease the frequency of the other. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation of MS with allergy and atopy in new diagnosed MS patients.

Evidence for U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations against routine mammography for females between 40-49 years of age.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females, worldwide, accounting for 22.9% of all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) in women. Mammography is a sensitive (77-95%) and specific (94-97%) screening method for breast cancer.

Analysis of HLA DR2&DQ6 (DRB1*1501, DQA1*0102, DQB1*0602) haplotypes in Iranian patients with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is prototype of inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system .The etiology of MS remains unclear, but according to current data the disease develops in genetically susceptible individuals and may require additional environmental triggers. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II alleles (DRB1*1501, DQA1*0102, DQB1*0602) may have the strongest genetic effect in MS.