The impact of a patient advisory board on a clinical comparative effectiveness trial: a comparison of patient and researcher perspectives.

To examine contributions of a patient advisory board (PAB) to the design and conduct of The Pulmonary Embolism Prevention after Hip and Knee Replacement (PEPPER) Trial (NCT02810704) and compare perceptions of PAB members and researchers on the Trial. This evaluation of the PAB was conducted by Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC) members who first discussed PAB contributions, leading to the design of a semi-structured WebEx interview individually querying PAB members on their experience. Two study team members analyzed transcriptions of the interviews for common themes, which were discussed and affirmed at an in-person meeting with PAB members.

Clinical utility of myocardial work assessment in arterial hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.

In clinical practice, ventricular ejection fraction (EF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) are the most often used parameters for evaluating left ventricular systolic function, despite the impact that variable loading conditions have. Alternatively, the myocardial efficiency (ME) of the heart, encompassing cardiac energy formation and dissipation, along with myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2), is a useful surrogate for assessing myocardial work (MW), a parameter correlated with the pressure-strain loop (PSL), arterial pressure, and cardiac output (CO). This refinement proves especially practical in defining cardiac work across various clinical contexts, including arterial hypertension and heart failure (HF), the primary conditions associated with cardiovascular mortality.

Real-world treatment patterns and survival outcomes in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in Finland: a national, population-based cohort study.

Background: Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treatment is advancing yet Nordic, real-world evidence for its use is scarce. In this population-based cohort study, we describe characteristics of patients with mCRPC, and their treatment patterns and survival outcomes in Finland.

Methods: Incident patients with mCRPC diagnosed during 2013-2021 were identified from data lakes in two large and representative, Finnish hospital districts, and linked to data on drug purchases and causes of death from national registries.

Trends in Formulary Restrictions for Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotic Medications Among Medicare Drug Plans, 2019-2023.

Objective: Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIAPs) enable safe and effective long-term management of chronic psychotic disorders but are underused in clinical practice. The authors examined whether Medicare formulary restrictions (prior authorization [PA] or step therapy) impose barriers to LAIAP uptake.

Methods: The authors analyzed formulary restrictions and patient cost-sharing for several LAIAPs and estimated the percentage of plans (N=2,494 were available per year) applying formulary restrictions.

Real-world clinical impact of plasma cell-free DNA metagenomic next-generation sequencing assay.

Objective: To describe the real-world clinical impact of a commercially available plasma cell-free DNA metagenomic next-generation sequencing assay, the Karius test (KT).

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical impact of KT by clinical panel adjudication. Descriptive statistics were used to study associations of diagnostic indications, host characteristics, and KT-generated microbiologic patterns with the clinical impact of KT.

Emotional ecosystems: Understanding the relationship between family interactions and anxiety among cancer caregivers.

Objectives: Recent studies have challenged the assumption that families are invariable sources of support for cancer caregivers, noting that relationships with family members can have both positive and negative effects on caregiver well-being. This study expands upon prior literature to examine the relationship between cancer caregivers' perceptions of the quality of their family interactions and their symptoms of anxiety.

Methods: We employed secondary analysis of baseline data from a multisite randomized clinical trial of an intervention for cancer caregivers conducted at 3 large academic palliative care clinics.

Safety and tolerability of intramuscular sotrovimab administered at different injection sites: results from the Phase 1 COSMIC study.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT05280717.

Development and validation of an integrated model for the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis with portal vein thrombosis combined with endoscopic characters and blood biochemistry data: a retrospective propensity score matching (PSM) cohort study.

Background: Liver cirrhosis complicated by portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a fatal complication with no specific manifestations but often misdiagnosed, it crucially increases the mortality worldwide. This study aimed to identify risk factors and establish a predictive model for diagnosis of venous thrombosis clinical by routine blood tests and endoscopic characteristics.

Methods: Patients from Gansu Provincial Hospital from October 2019 to December 2023 were enrolled.

High-Yield Generation of Glucose-Responsive Pseudoislets From Murine Insulinoma Cells for Studies and Longitudinal Monitoring of Graft Survival .

Compared to primary pancreatic islets, insulinoma cell-derived 3D pseudoislets offer a more accessible, consistent, renewable, and widely applicable model system for optimization and mechanistic studies in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Here, we report a simple and efficient method for generating 3D pseudoislets from MIN6 and NIT-1 murine insulinoma cells. These pseudoislets are homogeneous in size and morphology (~150 µm), exhibit functional glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) up to 18 days (NIT-1) enabling long-term studies, are produced in high yield [>35,000 Islet Equivalence from 30 ml culture], and are suitable for both and studies, including for encapsulation studies.

68Ga-FAPI-04 Versus 18F-FDG PET/CT in Duodenal Synovial Sarcoma.

A previously healthy 18-year-old man with a 9-month history of upper abdominal pain and significant weight loss underwent gastroscopy, revealing an ulcerative lesion in the duodenal bulb. Enrolled in a clinical trial, both 18F-FDG and 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT demonstrated similar metabolic activity, though 68Ga-FAPI-04 offered superior lesion delineation. Pathology confirmed synovial sarcoma.

Health-Related Social Needs Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults With Type 2 Diabetes and Their Caregivers: An Exploratory Study Using Human-Centered Design.

Youth-onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasingly common and projected to impact over 200,000 adolescents and young adults by 2060. Youth with T2D frequently experience health-related social needs (HRSN) that increase their risk for poor outcomes. Using human-centered design methodology, we explored how best to address HRSN in pediatric endocrinology clinics.

Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee Points to Consider: Proposal and Recommendations to Reduce Euthanasia of Control Nonhuman Primates in Nonclinical Toxicity Studies.

Nonhuman primates (NHPs) have been and remain a highly valuable animal model with an essential role in translational research and pharmaceutical drug development. Based on current regulatory guidelines, the nonclinical safety of novel therapeutics should be evaluated in relevant nonclinical species, which commonly includes NHPs for biotherapeutics. Given the practical and ethical limitations on availability and/or use of NHPs and in line with the widely accepted guiding "3Rs" (replace, reduce, and refine) principles, many approaches have been considered to optimize toxicity study designs to meaningfully reduce the number of NHPs used.

Delmarva (DMV1639) infectious bronchitis virus infection alters the microbiome of gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts of broiler chickens.

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is known to cause significant alterations in tracheal microbial flora in broiler chickens 5 days post-infection (dpi) and our focus is to understand the changes in both respiratory and gastrointestinal microbiome in broilers over a period of time following IBV infection. A study was conducted to characterize the tracheal and cecal microbiome in IBV infected and control broiler chickens at 6, 9 and 15 dpi. IBV genome in trachea, lung and cecal tonsils could be observed in the infected group at all the time points.

Application of elastic net for clinical outcome prediction and classification in progressive supranuclear palsy: A multicenter cohort study.

Background: Previous studies have used machine learning to identify clinically relevant atrophic regions in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). This study applied Elastic Net (EN) in PSP to uncover key atrophic patterns, offering a novel approach to understanding its pathology.

Methods: This study included baseline data from 74 patients with PSP enrolled in the Study of Comprehensive ANd multimodal marker-based cohort of PSP (SCAN-PSP, NCT05579301) in Seoul between January 2022 and August 2023.

Prevalence of Asymptomatic Acetabular Labrum Abnormalities in the Active Pediatric Population.

Background: The prevalence of labral tears in asymptomatic active adults has been reported, but the prevalence of labral tears and other incidental hip lesions in the asymptomatic active pediatric population remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of hip abnormalities detected on 3T MRI in an active pediatric population with no hip symptoms and to compare with hip abnormalities found in children and adolescents who underwent an MRI for a hip-related condition.

Methods: After IRB approval, pediatric patients self-reporting as athletes and presenting with isolated, acute-onset knee pain requiring knee MRI were prospectively recruited to undergo 3T MRI of their asymptomatic contralateral hip (ASx).

A pan-cancer analysis of MARCH8: molecular characteristics, clinical relevance, and immuno-oncology features.

Membrane-associated RING-CH8 (MARCH8) is a member of the recently discovered MARCH family of ubiquitin ligases. MARCH8 has been shown to participate in immune responses. However, the role of MARCH8 in prognosis and immunology in human cancers remains largely unknown.

An approach to determine the net predictive multivariate association pattern between cardiorespiratory fitness and a high-resolution physical activity spectrum in the presence of multicollinear covariates.

Multivariate pattern analysis was recently extended with covariate projections to solve the challenging task of modelling and interpreting associations in the presence of linear dependent multivariate covariates. Within a joint model, this approach allows quantification of the net association pattern between the outcome and the explanatory variables and between the individual covariates and these variables. The aim of this paper is to apply this methodology to establish the net multivariate association pattern between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and a high-resolution linear dependent physical activity (PA) intensity descriptor derived from accelerometry in children and to validate the crucial sub-regions in the PA spectrum predicting CRF.

Longitudinal assessment of diffusion-weighted imaging during magnetic resonance-guided radiotherapy in head and neck cancer.

Background: For radiotherapy of head and neck cancer (HNC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a pivotal role due to its high soft tissue contrast. Moreover, it offers the potential to acquire functional information through diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) with the potential to personalize treatment. The aim of this study was to acquire repetitive DWI during the course of online adaptive radiotherapy on an 1.

Comprehensive analysis of the interaction microbiome and prostate cancer: an initial exploration from multi-cohort metagenome and GWAS studies.

Introduction: Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States with a high mortality rate. In recent years, the traditional opinion about prostate microbiome was challenged. Although there still are some arguments, an escalating number of researchers are shifting their focus toward the microbiome within the prostate tumor environment.

Long non-coding RNA Malat1 modulates CXCR4 expression to regulate the interaction between induced neural stem cells and microglia following closed head injury.

Background: Closed head injury (CHI) provokes a prominent neuroinflammation that may lead to long-term health consequences. Microglia plays pivotal and complex roles in neuroinflammation-mediated neuronal insult and repair following CHI. We previously reported that induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) can block the effects of CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling on NF-κB activation in activated microglia by CXCR4 overexpression.

Alpha/beta values in pediatric medulloblastoma: implications for tailored approaches in radiation oncology.

Background: Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, typically treated with normofractionated craniospinal irradiation (CSI) with an additional boost over about 6 weeks in children older than 3 years. This study investigates the sensitivity of pediatric medulloblastoma cell lines to different radiation fractionation schedules. While extensively studied in adult tumors, these ratios remain unknown in pediatric cases due to the rarity of the disease.

Validating a clinically based MS-MLPA threshold through comparison with Sanger sequencing in glioblastoma patients.

Background: Glioblastoma is the commonest malignant brain tumor and has a very poor prognosis. Reduced expression of the MGMT gene (10q26.3), influenced primarily by the methylation of two differentially methylated regions (DMR1 and DMR2), is associated with a good response to temozolomide treatment.

Prognostic value of the controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a meta-analysis.

Background: The significance of the controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score in predicting the prognostic outcomes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has been widely explored, with conflicting results. Therefore, the present meta-analysis aimed to identify the prognostic significance of the CONUT in DLBCL by aggregating current evidence.

Methods: The Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, CNKI and Cochrane Library databases were searched for articles from inception to October 15, 2024.

N7-methylguanosine modification in cancers: from mechanisms to therapeutic potential.

N7-methylguanosine (m7G) is an important RNA modification involved in epigenetic regulation that is commonly observed in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Their influence on the synthesis and processing of messenger RNA, ribosomal RNA, and transfer RNA allows m7G modifications to affect diverse cellular, physiological, and pathological processes. m7G modifications are pivotal in human diseases, particularly cancer progression.

Neurocognitive impact of different irradiation modalities for patients with grade I-II skull base meningioma: a prospective multi-arm cohort study (CANCER COG).

Background: Radiotherapy as a complement or an alternative to neurosurgery has a central role in the treatment of skull base grade I-II meningiomas. Radiotherapy techniques have improved considerably over the last two decades, becoming more effective and sparing more and more the healthy tissue surrounding the tumour. Currently, hypo-fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) for small tumours and normo-fractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) or proton-therapy (PT) for larger tumours are the most widely used techniques.