Cost-Effectiveness of Pembrolizumab as an Adjuvant Treatment in Colombia for Melanoma Patients with Lymph Node Involvement After Complete Resection.

Introduction: The KEYNOTE-054 trial found that adjuvant treatment with pembrolizumab improved recurrence-free survival versus placebo in completely resected high-risk stage III melanoma patients. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of adjuvant pembrolizumab in Colombia compared with watchful waiting, a widely used strategy despite the high risk of recurrence with surgery alone.

Methods: A four-health state [recurrence-free (RF), locoregional recurrence (LR), distant metastases (DM), and death) Markov model was developed to assess the lifetime medical costs and outcomes (3% annual discount), along with cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).

The Burden of Cervical Conization in Privately Insured Young and Mid-Adult Women in the United States.

In 2019, the United States (US) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that healthcare providers engage in shared clinical decision making for adults aged 27-45 who may benefit from HPV vaccination. However, it is difficult to assess these benefits as there is a lack of data on HPV burden on young and mid-adult women. This analysis estimates the incidence of conization and the burden associated with treating pre-cancerous states related to HPV with a loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) or a cold knife conization (CKC) among commercially insured women aged 18-45.

Time and productivity loss associated with immunotherapy infusions for the treatment of melanoma in the United States: a survey of health care professionals and patients.

Introduction: A new dosing schedule for the oncology immunotherapy pembrolizumab, every 6 weeks (Q6W), has been approved by the U.S. FDA, reducing the frequency of visits to infusion centers.

Real-world weight change, adherence, and discontinuation among patients with type 2 diabetes initiating glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists in the UK.

Introduction: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are a type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) treatment with demonstrated weight loss benefits in clinical trials. However, the extent to which real-world patients with T2DM achieve clinically meaningful weight loss (≥5%) has not been well characterized. Analysis of real-world data suggests adherence to injectable GLP-1 RAs is suboptimal and discontinuation following the first year of therapy is poorly characterized.

Treatment patterns and clinical outcomes among patients <65 years with a worsening heart failure event.

Aims: Data regarding patients with chronic heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) following a worsening HF event (WHFE) are largely driven by findings from elderly patients. Younger patients are not well studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in commercially insured chronic HFrEF patients <65 years old during 1-year periods before and after a WHFE.

Real-World Adherence and Discontinuation of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in the United States.

Aim: To assess adherence and discontinuation of injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) at 12 and 24 months among adult type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in the United States initiating GLP-1 RA using the administrative claims-based database, Optum Clinformatics Data Mart 7.1.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from 01/2009 to 12/2017.

Clinical and Economic Burden of Chronic Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction Following a Worsening Heart Failure Event.

Introduction: A worsening heart failure event (WHFE) is defined as progressively escalating heart failure signs/symptoms requiring intravenous diuretic treatment or hospitalization. No studies have compared the burden of chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) following a WHFE versus stable disease to inform healthcare decision makers.

Methods: A retrospective study using the IBM MarketScan Commercial Database included patients younger than 65 years of age with HFrEF (one inpatient or two outpatient claims of systolic HF or one outpatient claim of systolic HF plus one outpatient claim of any HF).

Distance to glycemic goal at the time of treatment intensification in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus failing metformin monotherapy in the United States.

A substantial proportion of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) do not reach their target HbA1c level on metformin. The objective of this retrospective observational cohort study is to better characterize the distance between HbA1c target and patient's actual HbA1c level (the distance to goal), using a target HbA1c of 7.0% (53 mmol/mol), in patients with T2DM who have started metformin monotherapy.

Dose distribution and up-titration patterns of metformin monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Aims: To assess the dose distribution among users of metformin monotherapy as well as the patterns of up-titration following initiation of therapy in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of adults with T2DM in the United Kingdom (UK). Metformin dose distribution was assessed at 0, 6 and 12 months in people initiating metformin monotherapy (new users) and cross-sectionally in people with ongoing metformin monotherapy (prevalent users).

Evaluation of plum fruit maturity by image processing techniques.

Maturity is the key factor which determines the storage life and ripening quality of fruits. In order to provide marketing flexibility and to guarantee the acceptable eating quality to the buyer it is very critical to determine the right maturity stage. Maturity indices are also important for trade regulation, marketing strategy and for the efficient use of labor and resources.

Expression, Functional Characterization and X-ray Analysis of HosA, A Member of MarR Family of Transcription Regulator from Uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Regulators belonging to multiple antibiotic resistance regulator (MarR) family are widespread in prokaryotes and are involved in regulation of genes that are responsible for virulence and pathogenicity in most of the clinically important pathogens. Here we report the transcriptional, biophysical, and X-ray analyses of homologue of SlyA (HosA), a member of MarR family that is predominantly present in the pathogenic strains of Enterobacteriaceae family. The initiation of hosA transcription was observed to occur at two independent start sites and subsequent binding study has revealed that the purified HosA interacts with its upstream region suggesting a probable autoregulation.

Identification of Plasmodium falciparum apicoplast-targeted tRNA-guanine transglycosylase and its potential inhibitors using comparative genomics, molecular modelling, docking and simulation studies.

tRNA modifications play an important role in the proper folding of tRNA and thereby determine its functionality as an adaptor molecule. Notwithstanding the centrality of this basic process in translation, a major gap in the genomics of Plasmodium falciparum is unambiguous identification of enzymes catalysing the various tRNA modifications. In this study, tRNA-modifying enzymes of P.

Response surface optimization of osmotic dehydration process for aonla slices.

Response surface methodology was used to investigate the effect of sugar concentration (50-70° Brix), solution temperature (30-60°C), solution to fruit ratio (4:1-8:1) and immersion time (60-180 min) on the water loss, solute gain, rehydration ratio, vitamin-C loss, colour change and sensory overall acceptability of Indian gooseberry (aonla) slices. The optimum process parameters obtained by computer generated response surfaces, canonical analysis and contour plot interpretation were: sugar concentration, 59° Brix solution temperature 51°C, solution to fruit ratio 4:1 and immersion time of 60 min.

Dislodgeable copper, chromium and arsenic from CCA-treated wood surfaces.

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is commonly used to preserve wood, but its use poses risk of arsenic exposure. In order to evaluate the extent of exposure to As from physical contact with CCA-treated wood, dislodgeable As from treated wood surfaces (as well as Cu and Cr) was determined as a function of weathering time using dampened polyester wipe materials. Six sets of 2.

Pseudorandom binary sequence stimulation applied to the visual evoked response. Normative data and a comparative study with pattern and flash stimulation.

The investigation of patients who are unable to fixate the pattern visual stimulus generally requires the use of diffuse flash stimulation to elicit the visual evoked response. However, by comparison with pattern, flash stimulation has proved relatively insensitive in identifying lesions of the visual pathway. We investigated a more complex method of flash stimulation.

Total and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation by liver homogenates from autopsied Reye's and control subjects.

To determine whether the accumulation of liver triglyceride in Reye's syndrome could be due to a block in beta-oxidation of the fatty acids, the ability of Reye's and control liver homogenates from samples obtained at autopsy to oxidize fatty acids was examined. Total fatty acid oxidation as measured by oxidation of [1-14C]oleoyl CoA, which mostly represents mitochondrial activity, was comparable between the groups. Peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation was, likewise, similar despite the reported increase in the numbers and sizes of these organelles.

Limited joint mobility in insulin-dependent diabetes: relationship to retinopathy, peripheral nerve function and HLA status.

Eighty-eight (43 per cent) of 204 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes had limited joint mobility affecting mainly the small joints of the hands. The presence of limited joint mobility correlated with duration of diabetes and with the presence of retinopathy. Patients with longstanding diabetes were approximately 2.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Food: A Review.

Literature published from 1970 through mid-1984 on polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination of foods, including fish, dairy products, packaged and processed food and human milk, is reviewed. Sources of the contamination are discussed. The reports show that although PCBs are no longer manufactured in this country, large quantities have entered the environment.

Endogenous surface phosphorylation reactions and ectokinase activity in the guinea pig T lymphocyte.

The guinea pig T lymphocyte, known to interact with other cells via direct cell-to-cell contact, exhibits endogenous surface kinase activity as reflected by the appearance of four major labeled bands in autoradiographs of dried sodium dodecyl sulfate (NaDoSO4)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gels when intact cells are briefly exposed to micromolar concentrations of [gamma-32P]ATP followed immediately by solubilization with NaDoSO4 to terminate the reaction. This pattern differs from the labeling of intracellular components which is seen when intact cells are incubated with 32PO4 to generate intracellular [gamma-32P]ATP when only two major labeled bands of protein with different molecular weights are seen. Of a number of modulators of lymphocyte function tested, cyclic GMP and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) caused additional bands to appear in cells exposed to [gamma-32P]ATP.

Plant Contamination by PCBs from Amended Soils.

Plants accumulated PCBs (Aroclors) from soil amended with lake sediment contaminated with Aroclors 1248, 1254, and 1260. Uptake into different parts of vegetable plants was investigated in the field by growing beets ( Beta vulgaris L .), turnips ( Brassica rapa L .