Simplified Methods for Modelling Dependent Parameters in Health Economic Evaluations: A Tutorial.

Background: In health economic evaluations, model parameters are often dependent on other model parameters. Although methods exist to simulate multivariate normal (MVN) distribution data and estimate transition probabilities in Markov models while considering competing risks, they are technically challenging for health economic modellers to implement. This tutorial introduces easily implementable applications for handling dependent parameters in modelling.

Evaluating the correlations of cost and utility parameters from summary statistics for probabilistic analysis in economic evaluations.

Objectives: The correlations between economic modeling input parameters directly impact the variance and may impact the expected values of model outputs. However, correlation coefficients are not often reported in the literature. We aim to understand the correlations between model inputs for probabilistic analysis from summary statistics.

Age Differences in Thermal Pain Responses: A Direct Laboratory Comparison.

Objectives: According to a widely cited assertion, older adults are less likely than younger individuals to express pain complaints. Age-related differences in pain responses have been discussed in the literature despite a paucity of research involving direct comparisons of younger and older adults' pain reactions (i.e.

Solid-State Transformations of Mayenite and Core-Shell Structures of C12A7@C Type at High Pressure, High Temperature Conditions.

Calcium aluminate of a mayenite structure, 12CaO∙7AlO (C12A7), is widely applicable in many fields of modern science and technology. Therefore, its behavior under various experimental conditions is of special interest. The present research aimed to estimate the possible impact of the carbon shell in core-shell materials of C12A7@C type on the proceeding of solid-state reactions of mayenite with graphite and magnesium oxide under High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) conditions.

Comparative Study on Carbon Erosion of Nickel Alloys in the Presence of Organic Compounds under Various Reaction Conditions.

The processes of carbon erosion of nickel alloys during the catalytic pyrolysis of organic compounds with the formation of carbon nanofibers in a flow-through reactor as well as under reaction conditions in a close volume (Reactions under Autogenic Pressure at Elevated Temperature, RAPET) were studied. The efficiency of the ferromagnetic resonance method to monitor the appearance of catalytically active nickel particles in these processes has been shown. As found, the interaction of bulk Ni-Cr alloy with the reaction medium containing halogenated hydrocarbons (1,2-dichloroethane, 1-iodobutane, 1-bromobutane) results in the appearance of ferromagnetic particles of similar dimensions (~200-300 nm).

Aluminothermic Synthesis of Dispersed Electrides Based on Mayenite: XRD and EPR Study.

The evolution of the structure and the phase composition of a dispersed mayenite at its interaction with metallic aluminum was studied in a temperature range from 900 to 1400 °C in both argon and air atmospheres. The aluminum loading was varied from 0 to 50 wt%. It was found that the addition of aluminum significantly affects the stability of the mayenite and other calcium aluminate phases within the studied temperature range.

Recycling the High-Salinity Textile Wastewater by Quercetin-Based Nanofiltration Membranes with Minimal Water and Energy Consumption.

Effective recovery of dyes and salts from textile wastewater by nanofiltration (NF) remains a serious challenge due to the high consumption of water and energy caused by the limited performance of the available membranes. Herein, a novel strategy is described to prepare loose polyester NF membranes by using renewable quercetin as the aqueous monomer for fractionation of high salinity textile wastewater with minimal water and energy consumption. Compared with NF270, taken as the reference membrane, the QE-0.

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) Concomitant with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Are Therapeutically Effective in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) In Vivo Model.

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are electric fields that exert physical forces to disrupt cellular processes critical for cancer cell viability and tumor progression. TTFields induce anti-mitotic effects through the disruption of the mitotic spindle and abnormal chromosome segregation, which trigger several forms of cell death, including immunogenic cell death (ICD). The efficacy of TTFields concomitant with anti-programmed death-1 (anti-PD-1) treatment was previously shown in vivo and is currently under clinical investigation.

Resistance Switching in Polycrystalline C12A7 Electride.

The memory (memristive) properties of an electride material based on polycrystalline mayenite (C12A7:e) were studied. The phase composition of the material has been confirmed by such methods as XRD, TEM, Raman, and infrared spectroscopy. The electride state was confirmed by conductivity measurements and EPR using a characteristic signal from F-like centers, but the peak at 186 cm, corresponding to an electride with free electrons, was not observed explicitly in the Raman spectra.

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) Reversibly Permeabilize the Blood-Brain Barrier In Vitro and In Vivo.

Despite the availability of numerous therapeutic substances that could potentially target CNS disorders, an inability of these agents to cross the restrictive blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits their clinical utility. Novel strategies to overcome the BBB are therefore needed to improve drug delivery. We report, for the first time, how Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), approved for glioblastoma (GBM), affect the BBB's integrity and permeability.

Various Approaches to Studying the Phase Transition in an Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane Crystal: From X-ray Structural Analysis to Metadynamics.

The structure, thermodynamic parameters, and the character of thermal motion in octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) were investigated using the combination of experimental (single-crystal X-ray diffraction, thermochemistry) and theoretical (density functional theory calculations, ab initio molecular dynamics and metadynamics) methods. Single crystals of D4 were grown in a glass capillary in situ and the structures of high- (238-270 K) and low-temperature (100-230 K) phases were studied in detail. In the temperature interval 230-238 K, a phase transition with rather low enthalpy (-1.

Understanding bias in probabilistic analysis in model-based health economic evaluation.

Guidelines of economic evaluations suggest that probabilistic analysis (using probability distributions as inputs) provides less biased estimates than deterministic analysis (using point estimates) owing to the non-linear relationship of model inputs and model outputs. However, other factors can also impact the magnitude of bias for model results. We evaluate bias in probabilistic analysis and deterministic analysis through three simulation studies.

Examining the correlation between treatment effects in clinical trials and economic modeling.

Introduction: Many diseases have a sequential treatment pathway. Compared with patients without previous treatment, patients who fail initial treatment may have lower success rates with a second treatment. This phenomenon can be explained by a correlation between treatment effects.

Logarithmic confidence estimation of a ratio of binomial proportions for dependent populations.

This article investigates the logarithmic interval estimation of a ratio of two binomial proportions in dependent samples. Previous studies suggest that the confidence intervals of the difference between two correlated proportions and their ratio typically do not possess closed-form solutions. Moreover, the computation process is complex and often based on a maximum likelihood estimator, which is a biased estimator of the ratio.

Mayenite Synthesis from Hydroxide Precursors: Structure Formation and Active Sites on Its Surface.

We studied the formation process of a mayenite structure from hydroxide precursors in different gas media. According to X-ray diffraction data, this method allows a well-crystallized mayenite (CaAlO or C12A7) phase to be obtained at low (500-900 °C) temperatures with an insignificant impurity of CaO. It was shown that the lattice parameters for C12A7 obtained in an inert atmosphere (Ar) were lower when compared with similar samples in the air.

Review and estimation of disutility for joint health states of severe and nonsevere hypoglycemic events in diabetes.

Many economic evaluations used linear or log-transformed additive methods to estimate the disutility of hypoglycemic events in diabetes, both nonsevere (NSHEs) and severe (SHEs). We conducted a literature search for studies of disutility for hypoglycemia. We used additive, minimum and multiplicative methods, and the adjusted decrement estimator to estimate the disutilities of joint health states with both NSHEs and SHEs in six scenarios.

Synthesis, Structure and Electrochemical Properties of Acetamide- and Caprolactam-Containing Silicon Catecholates.

Hexacoordinated heteroligand silicon catecholates, although being prospective as easily soluble compounds with high hydrolytic stability and diverse redox properties, have been insufficiently studied. The transesterification of 1-(trimethoxysilylmethyl)-2-oxohexahydroaze or -methyl--(trimethoxysilylmethyl)acetamide by two equivalents of catechol derivatives in the presence of dicyclohexylamine afforded a series of target compounds in good yield. The complexes were characterized using elemental analysis, FTIR, H, C and Si NMR spectra, X-ray crystallography and cyclic voltammetry.

All-carbon phosphoranes difluorocarbene trapping.

A reaction of intramolecularly disposed phosphonium and phenoxide (or thiophenoxide) fragments with difluorocarbene affording all-carbon λ5-phosphoranes is described. The presence of electron-withdrawing CHF2-groups at the phosphonium center is important for the phosphorane formation. In a phosphorane, both phenyl groups located in the equatorial positions undergo 1,2-P,C migration under thermal conditions.

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) Hinder Cancer Cell Motility through Regulation of Microtubule and Acting Dynamics.

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are noninvasive, alternating electric fields within the intermediate frequency range (100-300 kHz) that are utilized as an antimitotic cancer treatment. TTFields are loco-regionally delivered to the tumor region through 2 pairs of transducer arrays placed on the skin. This novel treatment modality has been FDA-approved for use in patients with glioblastoma and malignant pleural mesothelioma based on clinical trial data demonstrating efficacy and safety; and is currently under investigation in other types of solid tumors.

ortho-Dialkylamino arylboranes as efficient reagents for difluorocarbene trapping.

Compounds bearing ortho-oriented dialkylamino and boryl groups can serve as efficient reagents to trap difluorocarbene leading to zwitterionic ammonium borates featuring N-CF-B fragments. The reagents are shelf-stable and can be used as mechanistic probes for reactions proceeding via difluorocarbene.

Tetrahedral Silicon-Centered Dibenzoylmethanatoboron Difluorides: Synthesis, Crystal Structure, and Photophysical Behavior in Solution and the Solid State.

Four tetrahedral silicon-centered derivatives of dibenzoylmethanatoboron difluoride (DBMBF ) were synthesized and characterized. Their structural and optical features both in solution and the solid state were investigated by using X-ray crystallography, steady-state and time-dependent spectroscopy, and DFT-based calculations. In dilute solutions, the molar absorption coefficient increases from 40500 to 175200 M  cm as the number of DBMBF fragments in a molecule increases from one to four, while, in contrast, the nonradiative rate constant of fluorescence decay decreases from 0.

A signaling hub of insulin receptor, dystrophin glycoprotein complex and plakoglobin regulates muscle size.

Signaling through the insulin receptor governs central physiological functions related to cell growth and metabolism. Here we show by tandem native protein complex purification approach and super-resolution STED microscopy that insulin receptor activity requires association with the fundamental structural module in muscle, the dystrophin glycoprotein complex (DGC), and the desmosomal component plakoglobin (γ-catenin). The integrity of this high-molecular-mass assembly renders skeletal muscle susceptibility to insulin, because DGC-insulin receptor dissociation by plakoglobin downregulation reduces insulin signaling and causes atrophy.

Trapping of Difluorocarbene by Frustrated Lewis Pairs.

Frustrated Lewis pairs consisting of diphenylphosphino and boryl groups located at the ortho-position can trap difluorocarbene affording stable zwitterionic adducts. The reaction can be reversed to release difluorocarbene at elevated temperatures.

Estimation of the Mutagenic Potential of 8-Oxog in Nuclear Extracts of Mouse Cells Using the "Framed Mirror" Method.

We propose an improved earlier described "mirror" method for detecting in cell nuclear extracts mutations that arise in DNA during its replication due to the misincorporation of deoxyadenosine-5'-monophosphate (dAMP) opposite 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG). This method is based on the synthesis of a complementary chain ("mirror") by nuclear extracts of different mice organs on a template containing 8-oxoG and dideoxycytidine residue (ddC) at the 3'‑end. The "mirror" was amplified by PCR using primers part of which was non-complementary to the template.

[Topic of the article: extracorporeal rhinoseptoplasty technique of the open approach].

In this article were represented a clinical examination and assessment of the effectiveness of the open extracorporeal rhinoseptoplasty technique perfomed in W. Gubisch modification. For the analysis of the results, patients were divided on the basis of the indications for extracorporeal rhinoseptoplasty in major groups.