Pereirakok8104

13) and between 12 pm and 3.30 pm (p=0.011). Cumulative sun exposure during hobbies was similar between patients and controls in outdoor workers, higher (p<0.05) in patients among indoor workers. Patients and controls with history of outdoor work were more sun exposed at work than during leisure activities (p<0.001). Use of sunscreens by outdoor workers was very low, particularly at work (19.9%). Patients used sunscreens more than controls (p=0.002).

Occupational and recreational sun exposure are relev ant risk factors for outdoor and indoor workers respectively. Sunscreens are alarmingly underused, particularly at work, and are used mainly by patients.

Occupational and recreational sun exposure are relev ant risk factors for outdoor and indoor workers respectively. Sunscreens are alarmingly underused, particularly at work, and are used mainly by patients.

RCTs provide the scientific basis upon which treatment decisions are made. To facilitate critical review, it is important that methods and results are reported transparently. The aim of this study was to explore transparency in surgical RCTs with respect to trial registration, disclosure of funding sources, declarations of investigator conflicts and data-sharing.

This was a cross-sectional review of published surgical RCTs. Ten high-impact journals were searched systematically for RCTs published in years 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018. Four domains of transparency were explored trial registration, disclosure of funding, disclosure of investigator conflicts, and a statement relating to data-sharing.

Of 611 RCTs, 475 were eligible for analysis. Some 397 RCTs (83.6 per cent) were registered on a trial database, of which 190 (47·9 per cent) had been registered prospectively. Prospective registration increased over time (26 per cent in 2009, 33·0 per cent in 2012, 54 per cent in 2015, and 72·7 per cent in 2018). Funding disclosure was present in 55·0, 65·0, 69·4 and 75·4 per cent of manuscripts respectively. Conflict of interest disclosure was present in 49·5, 89·1, 94·6 and 98·3 per cent of manuscripts across the same time periods. Data-sharing statements were present in only 15 RCTs (3·2 per cent), 11 of which were published in 2018.

Trial registration, disclosure of funding and disclosure of investigator conflicts in surgical RCTs have improved markedly over the past 10 years. Disclosure of data-sharing plans is exceptionally low. This may contribute to research waste and represents a target for improvement.

Trial registration, disclosure of funding and disclosure of investigator conflicts in surgical RCTs have improved markedly over the past 10 years. Disclosure of data-sharing plans is exceptionally low. This may contribute to research waste and represents a target for improvement.Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)- and magnetic resonance (MR)-images allow a daily observation of patient anatomy but are not directly suited for accurate proton dose calculations. This can be overcome by creating synthetic CTs (sCT) using deep convolutional neural networks. In this study, we compared sCTs based on CBCTs and MRs for head and neck (H&N) cancer patients in terms of image quality and proton dose calculation accuracy. A dataset of 27 H&N-patients, treated with proton therapy (PT), containing planning CTs (pCTs), repeat CTs, CBCTs and MRs were used to train two neural networks to convert either CBCTs or MRs into sCTs. Image quality was quantified by calculating mean absolute error (MAE), mean error (ME) and Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) for bones. The dose evaluation consisted of a systematic non-clinical analysis and a clinical recalculation of actually used proton treatment plans. Gamma analysis was performed for non-clinical and clinical treatment plans. For clinical treatment plans also dose to targets and organs at risk (OARs) and normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP) were compared. CBCT-based sCTs resulted in higher image quality with an average MAE of 40 ± 4 HU and a DSC of 0.95, while for MR-based sCTs a MAE of 65 ± 4 HU and a DSC of 0.89 was observed. Also in clinical proton dose calculations, sCTCBCT achieved higher average gamma pass ratios (2%/2 mm criteria) than sCTMR (96.1% vs. 93.3%). Dose-volume histograms for selected OARs and NTCP-values showed a very small difference between sCTCBCT and sCTMR and a high agreement with the reference pCT. CBCT- and MR-based sCTs have the potential to enable accurate proton dose calculations valuable for daily adaptive PT. Selleckchem Resiquimod Significant image quality differences were observed but did not affect proton dose calculation accuracy in a similar manner. Especially the recalculation of clinical treatment plans showed high agreement with the pCT for both sCTCBCT and sCTMR.

The VACTERL association (VACTERL) includes at least three of these congenital anomalies vertebral, anal, cardiac, trachea-esophageal, renal, and limb anomalies. Assisted reproductive techniques (ART), pregestational diabetes mellitus, and chronic lower obstructive pulmonary disorders (CLOPD) have been associated with VACTERL. We aimed to replicate these findings and were interested in additional maternal risk factors.

A case-control study using self-administered questionnaires was performed including 142 VACTERL cases and 2,135 population-based healthy controls. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate confounder adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).

Parents who used invasive ART had an increased risk of VACTERL in offspring (aOR 4.4 [95%CI 2.1-8.8]), whereas the increased risk for mothers with CLOPD could not be replicated. None of the case mothers had pregestational diabetes mellitus. Primiparity (1.5 [1.1-2.1]) and maternal pregestational overweight and obesity (1.8 [1.2-2.8] and 1.8 [1.0-3.4]) were associated with VACTERL. Consistent folic acid supplement use during the advised periconceptional period may reduce the risk of VACTERL (0.5 [0.3-1.0]). link2 Maternal smoking resulted in an almost twofold increased risk of VACTERL.

We identified invasive ART, primiparity, pregestational overweight and obesity, lack of folic acid supplement use, and smoking as risk factors for VACTERL.

We identified invasive ART, primiparity, pregestational overweight and obesity, lack of folic acid supplement use, and smoking as risk factors for VACTERL.

Arkansas (AR) had the highest prevalence of gastroschisis in a recent study including 15 U.S. states. Our objective was to evaluate trends in prevalence and the spatiotemporal distribution of gastroschisis in AR.

Infants with gastroschisis, born 1998-2015, were identified from the Arkansas Reproductive Health Monitoring System. Birth record data were used as denominators for calculations. Maternal residence at delivery was geocoded for spatial analyses. Annual prevalence rates (PRs) were calculated. Joinpoint regression analysis was performed to examine trends in gastroschisis and report the annual percent changes (APCs) in PRs. Spatiotemporal analyses identified counties with unusually high PRs of gastroschisis. Poisson regression, including county, year, and county*year indicators, was fit to evaluate the PRs of gastroschisis, while adjusting for county-level maternal variables.

We identified 401 cases of gastroschisis among 694,459 live births. The overall PR of gastroschisis was 5.8/10,000 live births. The prevalence of gastroschisis had a significant APC of +5.3% (p < .0001) between 1998 and 2012, followed by a nonsignificant yearly average decrease of -17% through 2015 (p = 0.2). The Emerging Hot Spot Analysis and SaTScan identified an overlapping five-county cluster from 2006 to 2013. Poisson regression model, including county (inside vs. outside cluster), time (before vs. after 2006), and county*time indicators, was fit to evaluate the PRs of gastroschisis. The model did not confirm the presence of a spatiotemporal cluster, once it adjusted for county-level maternal characteristics (p = .549).

Close monitoring of rates of gastroschisis is warranted to determine if the PRs of gastroschisis continue to decline in AR.

Close monitoring of rates of gastroschisis is warranted to determine if the PRs of gastroschisis continue to decline in AR.Migratory dynamics of collective cells is central to the morphogenesis of biological tissues. The statistical distribution of cell velocities in 2D confluent monolayers is measured through large-scale and long-term experiments of various cell types lying on different substrates. A linear relation is discovered between the variability and the mean of cell speeds during the jamming process of confluent cell monolayers, suggesting time-invariant distribution profile of cell velocities. It is further found that the probability density function of cell velocities obeys the non-canonical q-Gaussian statistics, regardless of cell types and substrate stiffness. It is the Tsallis entropy, instead of the classical Boltzmann-Gibbs entropy, that dictates the universal statistical laws of collective cell migration. The universal statistical law stems from cell-cell interactions, as demonstrated by the wound healing experiments. This previously unappreciated finding provides a linkage between cell-level heterogeneity and tissue-level ensembles in embryonic development and tumor growth.Cell engineering relies heavily on viral vectors for the delivery of molecular cargo into cells due to their superior efficiency compared to nonviral ones. link3 However, viruses are immunogenic and expensive to manufacture, and have limited delivery capacity. Nonviral delivery approaches avoid these limitations but are currently inefficient for clinical applications. This work demonstrates that the efficiency of nonviral delivery of plasmid DNA, mRNA, Sleeping Beauty transposon, and ribonucleoprotein can be significantly enhanced through pretreatment of cells with the nondegradable sugars (NDS), such as sucrose, trehalose, and raffinose. The enhancement is mediated by the incorporation of the NDS into cell membranes, causing enlargement of lysosomes and formation of large (>500 nm) amphisome-like bodies (ALBs). The changes in subcellular structures redirect transport of cargo to ALBs rather than to lysosomes, reducing cargo degradation in cells. The data indicate that pretreatment of cells with NDS is a promising approach to improve nonviral cargo delivery in biomedical applications.

To investigate the impact of Computer Aided Diagnostic (CAD) system on the detection rate of prostate cancer (PCa) in a series of fusion prostate biopsy (FPB).

Two prospective transperineal FPB series (with or without CAD assistance) were analyzed and PCa detection rates compared with per patient and per target analyses. Chi-Square and Mann-Whitney test were used to compare categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were applied to identify predictors of any and clinically-significant (cs) PCa detection. Subgroup analyses were performed after stratifying for PIRADS Score and lesion location.

Out of 183 FPB, 89 were performed with CAD assistance. At per patient analysis the detection rate of any PCa and of cs PCa were 56.3% and 30.6%, respectively; the aid of CAD was negligible for either any PCa or csPCa detection rates (p=0.45 and p=0.99, respectively). Conversely in a per target analysis, CAD-assisted biopsy had significantly higher positive predictive value (PPV) for any PCa versus MRI-only group (58%vs37.