Nomogram for Predicting Individual Survival After Recurrence of Advanced-Stage, High-Grade Ovarian Carcinoma.

Objective: To analyze clinical prognostic factors for survival after recurrence of high-grade, advanced-stage ovarian-peritoneal-tubal carcinoma and to develop a nomogram to predict individual survival after recurrence.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients treated in multicenter Gynecologic Oncology Group protocols for stage III and IV ovarian-peritoneal-tubal carcinoma who underwent primary debulking surgery, received chemotherapy with paclitaxel and a platinum compound, and subsequently developed recurrence. Prognostic factors affecting survival were identified and used to develop a nomogram, which was both internally and externally validated.

Patients With Temporary Ostomies: Veterans Administration Hospitals Multi-institutional Retrospective Study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe clinical outcomes of patients with temporary ostomies in 3 Veterans Health Administration hospitals.

Design: Retrospective descriptive study, secondary analysis.

Sample And Setting: Veterans with temporary ostomies from 3 Veterans Health Administration hospitals who were enrolled in a previous study.

Why do clinicians order inappropriate Clostridium difficile testing? An exploratory study.

Background: The drivers behind Clostridium difficile testing are not well understood.

Methods: C difficile testing orders were reviewed. An algorithm that sequentially considered the presence of diarrhea, leukocytosis, fever, and laxative use was created.

Report of Confirmation of the rs7853758 and rs885004 Haplotype in SLC28A3.

Aims: To validate a laboratory-developed test for the nucleoside transporter, SLC28A3, which has been associated with an increased risk of anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy.

Methods: We used Taqman allele discrimination to test for two variants of the SLC28A3 gene: rs7853758 (c.1381C>T) and rs885004 (c.

Operative Anatomy of the Human Skull: A Virtual Reality Expedition.

Introduction: The human cranial vault possesses an incredible, complex anatomical intricacy. Bridging the divide between 2-dimensional (2D) learning resources and the 3-dimensional (3D) world in which the anatomy becomes clinically relevant poses an intellectual challenge. Advances in computer graphics and modelling technologies have allowed increasingly accurate and representative resources to supplement cadaveric dissection specimens.

Genomic Profiling of T-Cell Neoplasms Reveals Frequent and Mutations With Clonal Evasion From Targeted Therapies.

Purpose: The promise of precision oncology is that identification of genomic alterations will direct the rational use of molecularly targeted therapy. This approach is particularly applicable to neoplasms that are resistant to standard cytotoxic chemotherapy, like T-cell leukemias and lymphomas. In this study, we tested the feasibility of targeted next-generation sequencing in profiles of diverse T-cell neoplasms and focused on the therapeutic utility of targeting activated JAK1 and JAK3 in an index case.

Recognizing Culturally Related Findings on Refugee Physical Examinations.

On physical examination, refugees from countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East often present with findings that are unfamiliar to primary health care providers in the West. Previous traditional practices that may have left their mark include scarification and burning of the skin, excision of body parts, and subcutaneous insertion of foreign material. The descriptions detailed here introduce providers to some of the signs that result from body modification practices commonly encountered on physical examination of refugees.

Optimal interference of the tibial component of the cementless Oxford Unicompartmental Knee Replacement.

Objectives: The primary stability of the cementless Oxford Unicompartmental Knee Replacement (OUKR) relies on interference fit (or press fit). Insufficient interference may cause implant loosening, whilst excessive interference could cause bone damage and fracture.The aim of this study was to identify the optimal interference fit by measuring the force required to seat the tibial component of the cementless OUKR (push-in force) and the force required to remove the component (pull-out force).

A Pragmatic View of Disturbed Self-Reflection in Personality Disorders: Implications for Psychotherapy.

Patients with personality disorders suffer from impairment in self-reflective capacities. This is not a matter of making incorrect judgments about self-experience but reflects problems with (a) labeling internal experience consistent with the type and level of bodily arousal, (b) seeing how thoughts and feelings are connected to one another within the flow of daily life, and (c) realizing that one's own ideas about interpersonal relationships are subjective and fallible and not direct perceptions of external reality. The authors offer a discussion and definition of each of these three impairments and then offer suggestions for how to address these impairments in psychotherapy.

Quality of Life in Partners of Young and Old Breast Cancer Survivors.

Background: Partners of breast cancer survivors experience the effects of a spouse's cancer years after treatment. Partners of younger survivors (YPs) may experience greater problems than partners of older survivors (OPs), just as younger survivors experience greater problems than their older counterparts.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to (1) compare quality of life (QoL) in YPs and OPs and (2) determine contributing factors to each group's QoL.

Colonoscopy and Colorectal Cancer Mortality in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System: A Case-Control Study.

Background: Colonoscopy is widely used in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system for colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention, but its effect on CRC mortality is unknown.

Objective: To determine whether colonoscopy is associated with decreased CRC mortality in veterans and whether its effect differs by anatomical location of CRC.

Design: Case-control study.

Myocardial Polyploidization Creates a Barrier to Heart Regeneration in Zebrafish.

Correlative evidence suggests that polyploidization of heart muscle, which occurs naturally in post-natal mammals, creates a barrier to heart regeneration. Here, we move beyond a correlation by demonstrating that experimental polyploidization of zebrafish cardiomyocytes is sufficient to suppress their proliferative potential during regeneration. Initially, we determined that zebrafish myocardium becomes susceptible to polyploidization upon transient cytokinesis inhibition mediated by dominant-negative Ect2.

Cyclin D2 is sufficient to drive β cell self-renewal and regeneration.

Diabetes results from an inadequate mass of functional β cells, due to either β cell loss caused by autoimmune destruction (type I diabetes) or β cell failure in response to insulin resistance (type II diabetes). Elucidating the mechanisms that regulate β cell mass may be key to developing new techniques that foster β cell regeneration as a cellular therapy to treat diabetes. While previous studies concluded that cyclin D2 is required for postnatal β cell self-renewal in mice, it is not clear if cyclin D2 is sufficient to drive β cell self-renewal.

Clinical Validation of a Test for the Diagnosis of Vaginitis.

Objective: Vaginitis may be diagnosed as bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis, trichomoniasis, or coinfection. A new molecular test assays the vaginal microbiome and organisms that cause three common infections. The objective of the trial was to evaluate the clinical accuracy of the investigational test for vaginal swabs collected by patients (self) or clinicians.

Monitoring focal adhesion kinase phosphorylation dynamics in live cells.

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a cytoplasmic non-receptor tyrosine kinase essential for a diverse set of cellular functions. Current methods for monitoring FAK activity in response to an extracellular stimulus lack spatiotemporal resolution and/or the ability to perform multiplex detection. Here we report on a novel approach to monitor the real-time kinase phosphorylation activity of FAK in live single cells by fluorescence lifetime imaging.

A comparison of multiple testing adjustment methods with block-correlation positively-dependent tests.

In high dimensional data analysis (such as gene expression, spatial epidemiology, or brain imaging studies), we often test thousands or more hypotheses simultaneously. As the number of tests increases, the chance of observing some statistically significant tests is very high even when all null hypotheses are true. Consequently, we could reach incorrect conclusions regarding the hypotheses.

Multi-site harmonization of diffusion MRI data in a registration framework.

Diffusion MRI (dMRI) data acquired on different scanners varies significantly in its content throughout the brain even if the acquisition parameters are nearly identical. Thus, proper harmonization of such data sets is necessary to increase the sample size and thereby the statistical power of neuroimaging studies. In this paper, we present a novel approach to harmonize dMRI data (the raw signal, instead of dMRI derived measures such as fractional anisotropy) using rotation invariant spherical harmonic (RISH) features embedded within a multi-modal image registration framework.

Medical Oncologists' Experiences in Using Genomic Testing for Lung and Colorectal Cancer Care.

Purpose: Genomic testing improves outcomes for many at-risk individuals and patients with cancer; however, little is known about how genomic testing for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) is used in clinical practice.

Patients And Methods: In 2012 to 2013, we surveyed medical oncologists who care for patients in diverse practice and health care settings across the United States about their use of guideline- and non-guideline-endorsed genetic tests. Multivariable regression models identified factors that are associated with greater test use.

Transcriptome analysis reveals manifold mechanisms of cyst development in ADPKD.

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) causes progressive loss of renal function in adults as a consequence of the accumulation of cysts. ADPKD is the most common genetic cause of end-stage renal disease. Mutations in polycystin-1 occur in 87% of cases of ADPKD and mutations in polycystin-2 are found in 12% of ADPKD patients.

Outcomes from a 12-Week, Open-Label, Multicenter Clinical Trial of Teduglutide in Pediatric Short Bowel Syndrome.

Objective: To determine safety and pharmacodynamics/efficacy of teduglutide in children with intestinal failure associated with short bowel syndrome (SBS-IF).

Study Design: This 12-week, open-label study enrolled patients aged 1-17 years with SBS-IF who required parenteral nutrition (PN) and showed minimal or no advance in enteral nutrition (EN) feeds. Patients enrolled sequentially into 3 teduglutide cohorts (0.

Virtual-tissue computer simulations define the roles of cell adhesion and proliferation in the onset of kidney cystic disease.

In autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), cysts accumulate and progressively impair renal function. Mutations in PKD1 and PKD2 genes are causally linked to ADPKD, but how these mutations drive cell behaviors that underlie ADPKD pathogenesis is unknown. Human ADPKD cysts frequently express cadherin-8 (cad8), and expression of cad8 ectopically in vitro suffices to initiate cystogenesis.