Impact of Staging With Positron-emission Tomography (PET) and Comorbidities on Management and Survival of American Veterans With Stage I-III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Objectives: The extent of whether staging by fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (PET) impacts outcomes in American Veterans with stage I-III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unknown. We investigated impact of fluorodeoxyglucose PET staging and age-adjusted comorbidities (AACs) on management and survival of NSCLC in this group.

Materials And Methods: We performed a retrospective review to identify with NSCLC who underwent initial PET scan and received care at the Ann Arbor Veterans Hospital between 2005 and 2010.

A Systems Engineering and Decision-Support Tool to Enhance Care of Veterans Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer.

A prostate-specific antigen tracking system identifies patients who require intervention before they present with clinical problems, ensuring that testing occurs at appropriate intervals.

A phase I/II pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenomic study of calcitriol in combination with cisplatin and docetaxel in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Preclinical studies demonstrated antiproliferative synergy of 1,25-D3 (calcitriol) with cisplatin. The goals of this phase I/II study were to determine the recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of 1,25-D3 with cisplatin and docetaxel and its efficacy in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer.

Methods: Patients were ≥18 years, PS 0-1 with normal organ function.

Novel broad host range shuttle vectors for expression in Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas putida.

Novel shuttle vectors named pEBP were constructed to allow the gene expression in different bacterial hosts including Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas putida. These vectors share the inducible promoters P(T7) and P(Xyl) and a cos site to enable packaging of plasmid DNA into phage, and carry different multiple cloning sites and antibiotic resistance genes. Vector pEBP41 generally replicates episomally while pEBP18 replicates episomally in Gram-negative bacteria only, but integrates into the chromosome of B.

Novel tools for the functional expression of metagenomic DNA.

The functional expression of environmental genes in a particular host bacterium is hampered by various limitations including inefficient transcription of target genes as well as improper assembly of the corresponding enzymes. Therefore, the identification of novel enzymes from metagenomic libraries by activity-based screening requires efficient expression and screening systems. In the following chapter, we present two novel tools to improve the functional expression of metagenomic genes.