Specialty palliative care use among cancer patients: A population-based study.

Background: Rigorous population-based assessments of the use of specialty palliative care (SPC) in the US are rare.

Settings/subjects: This study examined SPC use among cancer patients in a mid-sized metropolitan area in Southeast US.

Measurements: In this cancer decedent cohort study, data were acquired and linked from the state-wide cancer registry; state-wide hospital discharge dataset; and local SPC providers.

Degradation of diclofenac and 4-chlorobenzoic acid in aqueous solution by cold atmospheric plasma source.

In this study, cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) was explored as a novel advanced oxidation process (AOP) for water decontamination. Samples with high concentration aqueous solutions of Diclofenac sodium (DCF) and 4-Chlorobenzoic acid (pCBA) were treated by plasma systems. Atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) with a 1 pin-electrode and multi-needle electrodes (3 pins) configurations were used.

Patient Survival With and Without Radiation Therapy for Early-Stage Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in the Era of PET and Rituximab.

Purpose: The benefit of radiation therapy (RT) becomes uncertain in the treatment of early stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in the era of rituximab, positron emission topography (PET), and computed tomography (CT). We sought to retrospectively review modern patients with early stage I-II DLBCL treated with rituximab and staged by PET-CT to better define which patients benefit from consolidative RT.

Methods And Materials: Patients with early stage I-II DLBCL from 1998 to 2017 were reviewed coinciding with our institutional utilization of rituximab with the standard regimen of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone and PET-CT.

Treatment of Chrysanthemum Synthetic Seeds by Air SDBD Plasma.

Herein, we present the effect of surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) air cold plasma on regrowth of chrysanthemum synthetic seeds (synseeds) and subsequent plantlet development. The plasma system used in this study operates in air at the frequency of 50 Hz. The detailed electrical characterization of SDBD was shown, as well as air plasma emission spectra obtained by optical emission spectroscopy.

Eligibility Criteria Perpetuate Disparities in Enrollment and Participation of Black Patients in Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials.

Purpose: Clinical trials determine safety and efficacy of cancer therapeutics and establish standards of care. Minority patient participation in cancer clinical trials is dismal. We aimed to determine the impact of eligibility criteria on disparities in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) clinical trial candidacy.

Pathways of organic micropollutants degradation in atmospheric pressure plasma processing - A review.

Concern of toxic compounds and their, potentially more harmful degradation products, present in aquatic environment alarmed scientific community and research on the development of novel technologies for wastewater treatment had become of great interest. Up to this date, many papers pointed out the challenges and limitations of conventional wastewater treatment and of some advanced oxidation processes. Advanced technologies based on the use of non-equilibrium or non-thermal plasma had been recognized as a possible solution for, not only degradation, but for complete removal of recalcitrant organic micropollutants.

Using predicted length of stay to define treatment and model costs in hospitalized adults with serious illness: an evaluation of palliative care.

Background: Economic research on hospital palliative care faces major challenges. Observational studies using routine data encounter difficulties because treatment timing is not under investigator control and unobserved patient complexity is endemic. An individual's predicted LOS at admission offers potential advantages in this context.

Plasma-Activated Medium Potentiates the Immunogenicity of Tumor Cell Lysates for Dendritic Cell-Based Cancer Vaccines.

Autologous dendritic cells (DCs)-based vaccines are considered quite promising for cancer immunotherapy due to their exquisite potential to induce tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells. However, a lack of efficient protocols for inducing immunogenic tumor antigens limits the efficacy of DC-based cancer vaccines. Here, we found that a plasma-activated medium (PAM) induces immunogenic cell death (ICD) in tumor cells but not in an immortalized L929 cell line or human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Effect of Atmospheric Cold Plasma Treatments on Reduction of Toxins Content in Wheat Flour.

Beside toxins, toxins are among the most commonly found mycotoxins in wheat and wheat products. Currently, investigations of possibilities of reduction of toxins in the wheat-processing chain are limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the potency of cold atmospheric plasma treatments, as a new non-thermal approach, for reduction of alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) and tentoxin (TEN) content in spiked white wheat flour samples.

Evaluating Hospital Readmissions for Persons With Serious and Complex Illness: A Competing Risks Approach.

Hospital readmission rate is a ubiquitous measure of efficiency and quality. Individuals with life-limiting illnesses account heavily for admissions but evaluation is complicated by high-mortality rates. We report a retrospective cohort study examining the association between palliative care (PC) and readmissions while controlling for postdischarge mortality with a competing risks approach.

Does Modality Matter? Palliative Care Unit Associated With More Cost-Avoidance Than Consultations.

Context: Inpatient palliative care (PC) is associated with reduced costs, but the optimal model for providing inpatient PC is unknown.

Objectives: To estimate the effect of palliative care consultations (PCCs) and care in a palliative care unit (PCU) on cost of care, in comparison with usual care (UC) only and in comparison with each other.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study, using multinomial propensity scoring to control for observed confounding between treatment groups.

Response to pain management among patients with active cancer, no evidence of disease, or chronic nonmalignant pain in an outpatient palliative care clinic.

Unlabelled: Abstract Background: Outpatient palliative care clinics may be required to manage patients not typically seen by palliative care. These include patients treated for cancer who no longer have evidence of disease (NED) and patients with chronic pain but no life-limiting illness (NLLI). Treatment response may differ among these groups.

Energy-Dependent UV Photodissociation of Gas-Phase Adenosine Monophosphate Nucleotide Ions: The Role of a Single Solvent Molecule.

The photodissociation of gaseous protonated adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) and the same system hydrated with one water molecule has been investigated in the 4 to 13 eV photon energy range by coupling a linear quadrupole ion trap with a synchrotron radiation beamline. The dissociation of the bare AMP cation upon absorption of a single ultraviolet (UV) photon below the ionization energy (IE) almost exclusively produces the protonated adenine base, with a measured photodissociation yield showing spectroscopic features with dominant absorption bands located at 4.75 and 6.

Electrical breakdown in water vapor.

In this paper investigations of the voltage required to break down water vapor are reported for the region around the Paschen minimum and to the left of it. In spite of numerous applications of discharges in biomedicine, and recent studies of discharges in water and vapor bubbles and discharges with liquid water electrodes, studies of the basic parameters of breakdown are lacking. Paschen curves have been measured by recording voltages and currents in the low-current Townsend regime and extrapolating them to zero current.