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Implementation of MR basic safety software for the radiation oncology.
There have been no reports on the association of hyperthyroidism with hyperlipidemia in patients undergoing treatment especially in Asia. To determine the association between hyperthyroidism and the risk of hyperlipidemia in patients, we conducted a retrospective cohort study using Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) from Taiwan, R.O.C. We also evaluate the influence of 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) and methimazole (MMI) on hepatic genes to explain changes in blood lipid levels in a hepatic cell line model. The cohort study involved 13,667 patients with hyperthyroidism, and the corresponding comparison cohort had four times as many patients. Using Kaplan-Meier analysis method, the results showed that, compared to patients without hyperthyroidism, the overall incidence of hyperlipidemia was significantly higher in the hyperthyroidism patients (18.7 vs. 11.8 cases/1,000 persons-years; adjusted HR 1.5; 95% CI, 1.41-1.59). With only PTU or MMI/carbimazole (CBM) treatment, patients with hyperthyroidism showed a 1.78-fold (95% CI, 1.50-2.11) and 1.43-fold (95% CI, 1.27-1.60) higher risk of hyperlipidemia than those without hyperthyroidism, respectively. Additionally, hyperthyroidism patients that received surgery only or surgery with I131 therapy tended to have a higher risk of hyperlipidemia. Although PTU and MMI treatment decreased the expression levels of genes responsible for circulating remnant lipoproteins, they increased the levels of lipogenic gene expression in hepatic cells. Thus, treatment of hyperthyroid patients with anti-thyroid drugs (ATDs), I131, or surgery is likely to induce hyperlipidemia. ATDs downregulate the expression of genes involved in lipoproteins clearance; increases lipogenic genes expression, which may partly contribute to abnormal blood lipid profiles.Sarcopenia, which is characterized by the loss of skeletal muscle, has been reported to contribute to development of physical disabilities, various illnesses, and increasing mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that inhibit translation of target messenger RNAs. Previous studies have shown that miRNAs play pivotal roles in the development of sarcopenia. Therefore, this systematic review focuses on miRNAs that regulate sarcopenia.Neuroblastoma causes 15% of cancer mortality in children. High risk neuroblastoma has poor prognosis, with high relapse rate and mortality despite multimodal treatment. 123-I-meta-iodo-benzyl-guanidine (mIBG) scintigraphy is one of the current standard diagnostic procedures in neuroblastoma. mIBG can also be used therapeutically, labeled with 131-I, as a radiopharmaceutical agent, delivering targeted radiotherapy to tumoral sites. Retinoid Receptor agonist But published data of this strategy show heterogeneous results. One concern is that in most reports the infused activity is only based in body-weight, which could lead to infra or over-treatment, depending on inter-patient variability in radiation absorption. Activity adjustment by whole-body dosimetry can be used to homogeneize the treatment. Also, mIBG avid tumors may lose avidness along the treatment. As mIBG is used both for treatment and response evaluation, this could result in undetected progressions in patients with apparent complete response. We present a retrospective single-center review of neuroblastoma patients who received therapeutic 131-I-mIBG, focusing on cases with dosimetry-adjusted activity. Dosimetry allowed for a more precise delivery of radiation, reducing 81.1% of deviation from absorption target of 4 Gray (Gy), from 23.4% (±0.936 Gy) to 4.4% (± 0.176 Gy). Patients who showed partial or complete response had better and longer survival. Relapse/progression in non-responders was an early event (within 3 months from treatment). We also present one case of progression with apparent complete response due to loss of mIBG avidness, detected in our series.Purpose To assess the performance of T1 mapping and residual liver volume (RLV) on Gd-EOBDTPA-enhanced MRI in pretreatment estimation of liver function in patients with liver tumors. Indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min (ICG R-15) was used as a reference standard. Methods Ethical approval from the institutional review board and informed consent were obtained for this prospective study. We enrolled 155 patients with liver tumors who underwent pretreatment Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI. T1 relaxation time before (T1-pre), 20 min after (T1-post) Gd-EOB-DTPA injection and RLV were measured. The absolute reduction (ΔT1) and reduction rate (ΔT1%) of T1 relaxation time, volume-assisted ΔT1 (ΔT1*RLV) and volume-assisted ΔT1% (ΔT1%*RLV) were calculated accordingly. The correlation of MR parameters with ICG R-15 was determined using Spearman's rank correlation analysis. Patients were classified into the normal liver function (NLF) group if their ICG R-15 levels were less then 10% or otherwise into the abnormal liver function (ALF) group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to evaluate the performances of the MR parameters in predicting ALF. Results T1-post (r = 0.472, P less then 0.001), ΔT1 (r = -0.355, P = 0.011), ΔT1% (r = -0.482, P less then 0.001), RLV (r = -0.336, P less then 0.001), volume-assisted ΔT1 (r = -0.458, P less then 0.001) and volume-assisted ΔT1% (r = -0.522, P less then 0.001) showed weak to moderate correlation with ICG R-15. The area under the ROC curves (AUROC) of volume-assisted ΔT1 in predicting ALF was 0.777, which was significantly higher than the other parameters (P less then 0.05 for all). Conclusions Combined T1 mapping and RLV on Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI can help assess liver function with good diagnostic accuracy in patients with liver tumors before treatment.An informal survey of 65 pediatric emergency department leaders in North America-from 30 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces-revealed changes in operations, infrastructure, staffing, and clinical care that were undertaken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes identified by the survey respondents were driven by reductions in pediatric patient volumes, a surge of adult patients, clinical considerations related to containment of infection, and financial factors. Survey respondents also reported effects of the pandemic on academic training programs and provider wellness. This report uses the survey responses to provide a snapshot of the adaptability of pediatric emergency medicine departments and clinicians during a public health emergency.Indigenous individuals and communities have experienced historic and ongoing negative interactions with Western health care and biomedical research. To rebuild trust and mitigate power structures between researchers and Indigenous peoples, researchers can adopt Indigenous epistemologies in methodologies, such as nonhierarchical approaches to relationship. This article shares models developed to bridge Indigenous epistemologies with Western qualitative and quantitative research methods and demonstrates how these epistemologies can be used to guide the authors' development of a pilot study on traumatic spinal cord injury.American Indian health disparities have reached crisis levels, and there is a need to develop culturally congruent interventions through meaningful tribal involvement and ethical community-oriented approaches. Hence, it is imperative that researchers and university administrators better understand how research translation occurs for tribally driven health-equity research projects. Utilizing thematic analysis methods, the authors examined documents from a 12-year community-based participatory research partnership to elucidate factors that ignite momentum and support partnership longevity. The overarching finding was that trust and respect provide a foundation for momentum and longevity and are closely intertwined with other themes identified in analyses. Seven themes were extrapolated and classified into two domains (1) investments, which are catalyzing factors that advance research, and (2) intermediate processes, which link investments to success. Investment themes include Indigenous scholar involvement, time and effort, establishing rapport, and clear and appropriate communication. Intermediate process themes include generative colearning, active participation, and recognition and celebration. Community-based participatory research principles were reflected in these findings. This study also upholds prior published work on Indigenous research methodologies, promotes the lived experiences of Indigenous people, and contributes to Indigenous theory building and science.To date, some genetic studies offer medical benefits but lack a clear pathway to benefit for people from underrepresented backgrounds. Historically, Indigenous people, including the Diné (Navajo people), have raised concerns about the lack of benefits, misuse of DNA samples, lack of consultation, and ignoring of cultural and traditional ways of knowing. Shortly after the Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board was established in 1996, the Navajo Nation recognized growing concerns about genetic research, and in 2002 they established a moratorium on human genetic research studies. The moratorium effectively has protected their citizens from potential genetic research harms. Despite the placement of the moratorium, some genetic research studies have continued using blood and DNA samples from Navajo people. To understand the history of genetic research involving Navajo people, the authors conducted a literature review of genetic or genetics-related research publications that involved Navajo people, identifying enous science. They also encourage researchers to consider cultural perspectives and traditional knowledge that has the potential to create stronger conclusions and better-informed, ethical, and respectful science.Multiple terms describe Indigenous peoples' creative expressions, including "Indigenous knowledge" (IK), "traditional ecological knowledge" (TEK), "traditional knowledge" (TK), and increasingly, "Indigenous data" (ID). Variation in terms contributes to disciplinary divides, challenges in organizing and finding prior studies about Indigenous peoples' creative expressions, and intellectually divergent chains of reference. The authors applied a decolonial, digital, feminist, ethics-of-care approach to citation analysis of records about Indigenous peoples knowledge and data, including network analyses of author-generated keywords and research areas, and content analysis of peer-reviewed studies about ID. Results reveal ambiguous uses of the term "Indigenous data"; the influence of ecology and environmental studies in research areas and topics associated with IK, TEK, and TK; and the influence of public administration and governance studies in research areas and topics associated with ID studies. Researchers of ID would benefit from applying a more nuanced and robust vocabulary, one informed by studies of IK, TEK, and TK. Researchers of TEK and TK would benefit from the more people-centered approaches of IK. Researchers and systems designers who work with data sets can practice relational accountability by centering the Indigenous peoples from whom observations are sourced, combining narrative methodologies with computational methods to sustain the holism favored by Indigenous science and the relationality of Indigenous peoples.
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