Merits of the social return on investment methodology for assessing the value of palliative care programmes.

Despite the widely accepted benefits of palliative care for individuals with serious illnesses and their families, the utilisation of this approach remains low. Although an increased use of palliative care services can increase the value of health-care spending by providing comprehensive wraparound services to support care, the economic evidence required to implement, promote, and engage in palliative care models on a wide scale eludes the affected individuals, health-care providers, payers, and policy makers. This gap in evidence is partly owing to the methodological limitations of standard value-assessment frameworks, which do not capture important societal dimensions of the value generated by palliative care.

Efficacy, safety, and patient-reported outcomes across young to older age groups of patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer treated with ribociclib plus endocrine therapy in the randomized MONALEESA-2, -3, and -7 trials.

Background: Ribociclib + endocrine therapy (ET) showed significant progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) benefits in the MONALEESA trials in patients with HR+ /HER2 - advanced breast cancer (ABC). We report efficacy, safety, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) across age groups, including older patients, in these trials.

Methods: Data from the MONALEESA-2, -3, and -7 trials for pre- and postmenopausal patients receiving first-line treatment for ABC were pooled and analyzed by age (<65y, 65-74y, and ≥75y).

Impact of Recent Translational and Therapeutic Developments on Clinical Course of BCR::ABL1-Positive and -Negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.

Despite the study of BCR::ABL1-positive and -negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) providing seminal insights into cancer biology, tumor evolution and precision oncology over the past half century, significant challenges remain. MPNs are clonal hematopoietic stem cell-derived neoplasms with heterogenous clinical phenotypes and a clonal architecture which impacts the often-complex underlying genetics and microenvironment. The major driving molecular abnormalities have been well characterized, but debate on their role as disease-initiating molecular lesions continues.

Safety and Efficacy of Deutetrabenazine at High versus Lower Daily Dosages in the ARC-HD Study to Treat Chorea in Huntington Disease.

Background: Huntington disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes psychiatric and neurological symptoms, including involuntary and irregular muscle movements (chorea). Chorea can disrupt activities of daily living, pose safety issues, and may lead to social withdrawal. The vesicular monoamine transporter 2 inhibitors tetrabenazine, deutetrabenazine, and valbenazine are approved treatments that can reduce chorea.

Microsurgical Education in Reproductive Urology: A Review of Current Techniques and Opportunities for Improved Access to Learning Experiences.

Infertility is a common problem. Despite this, a dearth of urologists are trained in infertility care. Improved training opportunities may improve proficiency and interest in subspecialized training.

Adjusting for bias due to measurement error in functional quantile regression models with error-prone functional and scalar covariates.

Wearable devices enable the continuous monitoring of physical activity (PA) but generate complex functional data with poorly characterized errors. Most work on functional data views the data as smooth, latent curves obtained at discrete time intervals with some random noise with mean zero and constant variance. Viewing this noise as homoscedastic and independent ignores potential serial correlations.

Neuron-derived extracellular vesicles as a liquid biopsy for brain insulin dysregulation in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as novel blood-based biomarkers for various pathologies. The development of methods to enrich cell-specific EVs from biofluids has enabled us to monitor difficult-to-access organs, such as the brain, in real time without disrupting their function, thus serving as liquid biopsy. Burgeoning evidence indicates that the contents of neuron-derived EVs (NDEs) in blood reveal dynamic alterations that occur during neurodegenerative pathogenesis, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), reflecting a disease-specific molecular signature.

Impact of Lookback Duration on the Performance of a Claims-Based Frailty Proxy in Women With Stage I-III Breast Cancer.

Background: Frailty is an important prognostic indicator in older women with breast cancer. The Faurot frailty index, a validated claims-based frailty proxy measure, uses healthcare billing codes during a user-specified ascertainment window to predict frailty. We assessed how the duration of frailty ascertainment affected the ability of the Faurot frailty index to predict one-year mortality in women with stage I-II breast cancer.

Endometrial scratching before euploid embryo transfer: a case-control study.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of endometrial scratching on in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates in women undergoing frozen embryo transfer with preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A).

Methods: Biopsy was performed at oocyte retrieval in cases and compared to those who did not undergo scratching (controls). Endpoints included pregnancy loss, total pregnancy, clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), ongoing pregnancy rate/live birth rate (OPR), and the incidence of chronic endometritis (CE).

Association of plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's pathology and neurodegeneration with gait performance in older adults.

Background: Declining gait performance is seen in aging individuals, due to neural and systemic factors. Plasma biomarkers provide an accessible way to assess evolving brain changes; non-specific neurodegeneration (NfL, GFAP) or evolving Alzheimer's disease (Aβ 42/40 ratio, P-Tau181).

Methods: In a population-based cohort of older adults, we evaluate the hypothesis that plasma biomarkers of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's Disease pathology are associated with worse gait performance.

Gut microbiota interact with breast cancer therapeutics to modulate efficacy.

The gut microbiome, or the community of microorganisms residing in the gastrointestinal tract, has emerged as an important factor in breast cancer etiology and treatment. Specifically, the impact of gut bacterial populations on breast cancer therapeutic outcomes is an emerging area of research. The microbiota's role in modifying the pharmacokinetics of chemotherapy and endocrine-targeting therapies can alter drug efficacy and toxicity profiles.

Prevalence and clinical impact of the London classification: a prospective, international, multicenter study from the Lower Gastrointestinal International Consortium (LoGIC).

Introduction: The London classification provides standardization for characterization of disorders of anorectal function, although prevalences and clinical impact of these disorders are unclear.

Methods: An international research consortium was established, including five specialist centers. Prospective data were collected in consecutive adults referred for refractory chronic constipation (CC), fecal incontinence (FI) or coexistent CC/FI over 18 months.

Racial/ethnic differences in the associations between social support and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

Background: Despite the established link between social support and cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes, few studies have examined racial/ethnic variation in these associations. This study utilized data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) to investigate racial/ethnic differences in perceived social support and in the link between support and incident hard CVD events and mortality.

Method: Participants (N = 6,814) were 45-84 years of age who identified as White, Black, Hispanic/Latino, or Chinese without known clinical CVD at baseline (2000-2002).

Long-Term Effect of Intensive vs Standard Blood Pressure Control on Mild Cognitive Impairment and Probable Dementia in SPRINT.

Background And Objectives: The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial suggested that intensive lowering of systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreases the risk of developing dementia. However, an insufficient number of probable dementia cases stemming from the trial's early termination made results inconclusive. The goal of this study was to estimate the effect of intensive vs standard SBP lowering on the longer term incidence of cognitive impairment leveraging extended follow-up for cognitive status.

The influence of pre- and intratask emotional experiences on affective working memory maintenance.

In two studies conducted in 2022, we examined the effect of images that elicit incidental emotions and the timing of exposure to these images, on the maintenance of positive and negative emotions in affective working memory (AWM). In Study 1, participants viewed a negative, positive, or neutral image while maintaining the emotional intensity of positive or negative emotions in AWM (intratrial). The results showed that experiencing a negative or positive incidental emotion (but not neutral states) improved the maintenance of negative (but not positive) emotions induced by another stimulus.

Bacterial Nanovesicles as Interkingdom Signaling Moieties Mediating Pain Hypersensitivity.

Gut dysbiosis contributes to multiple pathologies, yet the mechanisms of the gut microbiota-mediated influence on systemic and distant responses remain largely elusive. This study aimed to identify the role of nanosized bacterial extracellular vesicles (bEVs) in mediating allodynia, i.e.

The Evidence Alone Was Not Enough to Change Practice: A Mixed-methods Analysis Using a Standardized Framework to Understand Perceptions of Barriers and Compliance to ERAS Recommendations.

Purpose: Understanding barriers to compliance can aid in mitigation strategies to address them. This study aims to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the relationship between barriers to ERAS recommendations and perceived ability to assure compliance among multidisciplinary team (MDT) members who deliver Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) care.

Design: Embedded mixed-methods survey analysis.

Readily Accessible, Versatile, and Adaptive Biaxially Chiral Chromophores.

Precisely controlling quantum states is relevant in next-generation quantum computing, encryption, and sensing. Chiral organic chromophores host unique light-matter interactions, which allow them to manipulate the quantized circular polarization of photons. Axially chiral organic scaffolds, such as helicenes or twisted acenes, are powerful motifs in chiral light manipulation.

Electrical Heterogeneity in Hispanic Background Subpopulations: The HCHS/SOL.

Background: The Hispanic/Latino population is not uniform. Prevalence and clinical outcomes of cardiac arrhythmias in ethnic background subgroups are variable, but the reasons for differences are unclear. Vectorcardiographic Global Electrical Heterogeneity (GEH) has been shown to be associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Maternal and psychosocial antecedents of anxiety and depression in extremely low gestational age newborns at age 15 years.

Objectives: The prevalence of many psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety and depression, is higher in individuals born extremely preterm (EP) than in term-born individuals during childhood and adolescence. In this prospective study of adolescents born EP, we examined associations between early-life risk factors (prenatal maternal health conditions, socioeconomic and social factors) and anxiety and depression at 15 years of age.

Methods: We included 682 participants (53.

Global Review of Tools Evaluating Quality of Life in Cervical Cancer Survivors Treated With Chemoradiation Therapy.

Purpose: This systematic review aimed to identify and compare tools used to evaluate quality of life (QoL) after pelvic radiation for cervical cancer and to describe variations in results within commonly used instruments. This review hypothesized regional preferences in the selection of these tools and an absence of uniformity in their application globally.

Methods And Materials: A comprehensive search of 6 databases was conducted between the inception of each included database and June 14, 2023, focusing on studies evaluating the QoL of patients with cervical cancer during and after radiation.

Emergency department early mortality model for patients admitted after presenting to a tertiary medical center emergency department.

Objectives: Identifying patients in the emergency department (ED) at higher risk for in-hospital mortality can inform shared decision making and goals-of-care discussions. Electronic health record systems allow for integrated multivariable logistic regression (LR) modeling, which can provide early predictions of mortality risk in time for crucial decision making during a patient's initial care. Many commonly used LR models require blood gas analysis values, which are not frequently obtained in the ED.

Bone and Nerve Response to Sciatic Compression Neuropathy in a Rabbit Model.

Compression neuropathy is a prevalent medical condition, including common types such as carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, sciatica, and many others. While the neurological consequences are well understood, the effects on bone properties and the potential downstream impact on fracture risk remain less clear. This study aimed to assess the influence of compressive neuropathy on bone properties using a rabbit model of sciatic nerve compression.