Future Science OA最新文献

Background: The intelligent decision support system (IDSS) is designed for patients to acquire hearing aids that better meet their needs, because they often agree to pay from their funds for a better, more customized hearing aid.

Objective: The article aims to present the IDSS for selecting personal hearing aids in healthcare institutions.

Methods: The article proves that the SAW (simple additive waiting) multi-criteria evaluation method is the most suitable for creating the IDSS. Hearing aids are evaluated according to 12 reasonable criteria, which are differentiated into two groups. The proposed methodology is flexible, allowing for changing the significance of differentiated criteria groups.

Results: The created IDSS system helps increase the effectiveness of choosing the best hearing aid. Even 92% of the surveyed patients positively evaluated the choice of hearing aid. This situation indicates greater patient satisfaction than usual when selecting these measures.

Conclusion: The proposed IDSS is suitable for adaptation in a computer program, and such a solution greatly facilitates the selection of a hearing aid. Applying the proposed IDSS makes the choice more objective, thus better meeting patients' needs.

Aim: The surge in different brands of artesunate injection in Uganda, has raised the need for this study, which aimed at quantifying the actual amount of artesunate in different brands of artesunate injections available in Northern and Western Uganda.

Materials and methods: The wavelength at maximum absorbance of pure artesunate powder was determined using Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer and Beer Lambert's plot was generated. This was validated and used to assay 27 brands of artesunate.

Results: In the spectrophotometric assay method used, Beer Lambert's law was obeyed within the range of 20 µg/ml-140 µg/ml with linear regression equation of y = 0.012 + 0.030 and correlation coefficient of (R²) 0.999 (n = 9). The limits of detection (sensitivity) and quantification were found to be 0.83 mg/ml and 2.09 mg/ml respectively. About 66.6% (18) and 33.3% (9) had actual artesunate content higher and lower than labeled claim respectively, while 40.7% (11) had deviations from labeled claim that were within acceptable limits.

Conclusion: Most brands of artesunate injection assayed deviated from labeled claim, regional/environmental factor impacted much on the stability of artesunate thus there is need for further screening of the quality of artesunate injection in circulation in view of the therapeutic consequences of substandard artesunate injection.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of chemo-immunotherapy combined with residual lesions irradiation of advanced stage esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods: Treatment-naïve patients with radiologically and histologically confirmed advanced or metastatic squamous-cell esophageal carcinoma were enrolled. Participants received four cycles of the TP regimen combined with the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab. Patients who completed four cycles of chemo-immunotherapy with stable disease (SD) or partial response (PR) subsequently received 50 Gy of radiation in 25 fractions for residual tumors. Maintenance sintilimab therapy was administered every 21 days for up to 31 cycles or until disease progression or intolerable toxicity occurred.

Results: A total of 39 patients were enrolled in this study, of whom 30 were evaluable for efficacy and toxicity. The complete response (CR) rate was 6.7% (2/30), the partial response (PR) rate was 53.3% (16/30). The median depth of response (DpR) was 34.5% for chemo-immunotherapy and increased to 64.0% after radiotherapy. The progression-free survival (PFS) was 16.4 months, while overall survival (OS) has not yet been reached.

Conclusions: Chemo-immunotherapy followed by radiotherapy for residual tumors and maintenance sintilimab, demonstrated high response rates, prolonged PFS, and tolerable toxicity as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma.

Chemotherapy, especially for malignant tumors, can affect the thymus, leading to its atrophy and a decreased production of naïve T lymphocytes. However, regenerative process can occur in children and rarely in adults manifesting as thymic hyperplasia. A 49-year-old female patient was diagnosed with stage I breast cancer. She was treated with surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy and hormonotherapy. Follow-up computed tomography scan showed a mediastinal retro-sternal mass, raising concern for tumor recurrence. However, no other signs of relapse were evident. A thymic rebound was suspected, with the lesion presenting as a triangular-shaped mediastinal mass suggestive of thymic morphology and consisting of mixed fat and soft tissue density with smooth borders. Close monitoring was then decided. A follow-up CT scan of the chest showed regression of the mediastinal mass. The diagnosis of thymic rebound after chemotherapy was then retained. The patient is currently in remission, seven years from her original diagnosis of breast cancer. Thymic hyperplasia after chemotherapy can rarely occur in adults. Clinicians should be aware of this unusual presentation to prevent needless investigation and therapy.

Background: The recruitment of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in clinical trials remains a challenge.

Methods: The ClinicalTrials.gov database was queried for phase III trials related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), leukemia, and multiple myeloma (MM). A reference population was sourced from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

Results: A total of 53,821 pooled participants from 119 phase III trials were included in the analyses. Race and ethnicity data were reported in 95.8% and 81.5% of trials, respectively. Globally, the majority of participants were predominantly White (77.3%), followed by Asian (8.2%), Black/African American (5.4%), American Indian/Alaska Native (0.4%), and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (0.2%), while Hispanic/Latino individuals constituted 11.0% of trial participants. In comparison to data in SEER, the proportions were lower for Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino across all cancers, and for Black/African American and American Indian/Alaska Native in leukemia and MM in US only trials.

Conclusions: Despite progress, reporting and representation of non-White population remain insufficient in trials. Innovative strategies to enhance representation in trial enrollment are warranted, as well as the utilization of real-world data to establish recruitment goals by more effectively assessing the demographic and geographic distribution of target patient populations.

A promising trend in complex cancer care is personalized therapy, a molecular profiling to tailor treatments to each patient's unique tumor attributes. Different methodologies have been used to identify cancer's mutation profile, including the use of hydrogel in liquid biopsy. This review aims to assess published works describing the performance of hydrogels as diagnostic devices for cancer biomarker detection. A systematic search was conducted following PRISMA guidelines across five databases: PubMed, Scopus, Embase, MEDLINE, and EBSCO. Studies were screened, selected, and assessed for quality. Relevant data were extracted, including the demographics of the studies, characteristics of the hydrogel, cancer, sample characteristics captured, and detection methods. From 33 studies, various types and forms of hydrogels were discussed. This review identified the most used hydrogel polymers, including acrylamide, PEG, DNA, and alginate. The most frequently observed cancer sites were breast, liver, and cervical uteri. In addition, this work reports that the most captured biomarkers were CTCs and protein markers. Hydrogels have demonstrated a promising platform for detecting cancer biomarkers in the early stages of research. Future investigations are required to optimize and validate the hydrogel application as a diagnostic device in the translational stage.

Cervical inlet patch refers to heterotopic gastric mucosa located in the proximal esophagus, which can be congenital or acquired and has a rare potential for neoplastic transformation. We report a rare case of a tubulovillous adenoma with high-grade dysplasia arising from an inlet patch. A 67-year-old male presented with a complaint of nighttime acid regurgitation and throat discomfort. Endoscopic examination revealed a 20 mm sessile polyp at 16-18 cm from the incisors, arising in an heterotopic gastric mucosa. Following comprehensive diagnostic workup including endoscopic ultrasound and computed tomography, endoscopic mucosal resection was performed. Histopathological examination confirmed a tubulovillous adenoma with high-grade dysplasia developed on gastric heterotopic mucosa with associated intestinal metaplasia. Complete resection was achieved, and follow-up endoscopy at 12 months showed no recurrence with complete resolution of symptoms. This case highlights the neoplastic potential of cervical inlet patches and demonstrates the efficacy of endoscopic resection as a definitive treatment modality for such lesions.

Purpose: Intracameral phenylephrine 1.0%/ketorolac 0.3% (OMIDRIA^®) is used during cataract surgery to prevent intraoperative miosis and reduce postoperative pain. Although studied in beagles, no human data exist showing the duration ketorolac remains in the eye postoperatively. A clinical trial measuring ketorolac concentrations in aqueous/vitreous samples necessitated the development of a validation process for acquiring these measurements. Due to limited human aqueous/vitreous humor sample availability, a bioanalytical method was developed and validated to quantify ketorolac levels using human plasma as a surrogate matrix.

Methods: The developed process involves extracting ketorolac and its internal standard (ketorolac-d5) from plasma as a surrogate for aqueous and vitreous humor using a protein precipitation sample preparation technique, followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis.

Results: The validated method can be successfully applied for quantitation of ketorolac over a concentration range of 2.5 ng/mL to 5000 ng/mL. The method met the acceptance criteria with respect to selectivity, specificity, precision, accuracy, linearity, dilution integrity, and stability.

Conclusions: The validated method can use plasma as a surrogate matrix for quantitation of ketorolac in aqueous and vitreous humor, thereby eliminating the need to procure human vitreous and aqueous samples for validation prior to initiation of a clinical trial.

Background: We analyzed immunoexpression of Dysadherin, E-cadherin and ß-catenin proteins in prostate.

Methods: 53 radical prostatectomy specimens were included. Dysadherin, E-cadherin and ß-catenin were evaluated in prostatic adenocarcinoma and in adjacent non-tumorous tissue, and correlated with clinicomorphological features in prostatic adenocarcinoma.

Results: We report cytoplasmic/membraneous and nuclear staining for Dysadherin in prostatic tissue. Cytoplasmic/membraneous expression was stronger in prostatic adenocarcinoma when compared to adjacent non-tumorous prostatic tissue (p < 0.001).

Dysadherin positively correlated with T status (rho = 0.326, P = 0.017) and Grade Group (rho = 0.278, P = 0.044). We report no correlation with recurrence, surgical margins status, sPSA and N status. E-cadherin was negatively correlated with recurrence (rho = -0.297, P = 0.031), T status (rho = -0.430, P = 0.001), Grade Group (rho = -0.558, P < 0.001) and positive surgical margins (rho = -0.404, P = 0.003). ß-catenin negatively correlated with Grade Group (rho = -0.557, P < 0,001). No correlation was observed between Dysadherin and E-cadherin and Dysadherin and ß-catenin expression.

Conclusion: Our results suggest a potential role for Dysadherin in tumor progression. No significant correlation between Dysadherin and E-cadherin or ß-catenin indicates potential independence of Dysadherin in its regulatory role in prostatic adenocarcinoma.

Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for expanded diagnostic tools to combat respiratory pathogens with pandemic potential, particularly in developing countries. This study aimed to create a Dot Blotting test utilizing IgY antibodies for acute respiratory infection diagnosis, with COVID-19 as the disease model.

Methods: Leghorn chickens were immunized with precipitated SARS-CoV-2 virus, and IgY antibodies were purified via ammonium sulfate precipitation and titrated by ELISA. Dot Blotting detected viral antigens in saliva samples, demonstrating efficacy comparable to ELISA tests.

Results: The IgY antibody was successfully produced and purified, obtaining a titration of 1:16,000. The ability of IgY to detect SARS-CoV-2 in clinical saliva samples showed promising results in terms of accuracy (91.3%), sensitivity (92.5%), specificity (90.0%), positive predictive value (PPV) (90.2%), negative predictive value (NPV) (92.3%), and Cohen's Kappa (0.825).

Conclusion: Chicken antibodies proved effective for early and accurate diagnosis of respiratory infections, including COVID-19. This study validates the efficacy of chicken antibodies in diagnosing respiratory infections, supporting pandemic response in developing nations. Expanding diagnostic capabilities is crucial for combating respiratory pathogens.