A Novel Bayesian Method for Efficacy Assessment in Animal Oncology Studies

In pre-clinical oncology studies, the investigator often compares efficacy of two or more treatments on tumor-bearing animals over a period of time. This is accomplished either through comparison of tumor volumes at various time points or overall survival. Due to ethical concerns, animals are euthanized before the end of the study whenever their tumor volumes reach a prespecified limit, the loss of bodyweight is beyond 20% or severely ulcerated tumors are observed. The traditional cross time-point tumor-size comparisons should not be performed when animals leave the study in a nonrandom nature. Survival analysis may alternatively be carried out to compare the time-to-euthanasia or natural death across treatment groups. As a result of government regulations, however, animal survival studies are hampered by small-sample sizes, often making statistical inference of survival data difficult. For example, it may be impossible to estimate median survival for an efficacious treatment group in which the majority of animals survive to the end of the study. Such cases create challenges to investigators who wish to rank-order the treatment effects, in effect picking the “winners” for further investigation. In this aricle, we list the benefits and shortcomings of popular methods and then propose a novel hypothesis test based directly on the survival probability to rank order the efficacy of treatments. The performance of the method is illustrated using a real-life example.     

Resorbable scaffold based chronic neural electrode arrays

We have developed a novel type of neural electrode array for future brain-machine interfaces (BMI) and neural implants requiring high resolution recording and stimulation on the surface of brain lesions or on the cortex. The devices differ on two points from commonly used thin film electrode arrays: first, the thin film backbone of the implant is exceptionally thin (down to 5 microns) and finely patterned into spring-like structures. This increases the flexibility of the electrode array and allows stretching and conforming better to a quasi spherical cavity surface. Second, the thin film backbone of the device is reinforced with a porous layer of resorbable chitosan. This design aims at minimal invasiveness and low mechanical irritation during prolonged use, while the chitosan matrix ensures the implant is stiff enough for practical handling during the implantation procedure and dissolves afterwards. Furthermore, the chitosan adds haemostatic and antiseptic properties to the implant and improves adhesion. In the article, the design and fabrication process are presented. In vitro and long term in vivo test results over a 12 month period are shown. By adopting the use of a resorbable scaffold-like material as main constituent of neural implants, the presented work opens up the possibility of applying tissue engineering techniques to further improve neural implant technology.     

Cancer morbidity of residents living near an oil refinery plant in North-West Italy

Cerano is a municipality of the Province of Novara (North-West Italy). To assess the morbidity associated to its proximity to a petrochemical plant, standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of oncological pathologies in the period 2003–2009 were calculated based on age-sex specific rates for the district of the Local Health Authority of Novara (ASL13) and the main regional city of Turin. For all cancers combined, men showed a significant higher risk (SIR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.02–1.40) compared to the ASL13 population; significantly lower risks for both men and women were observed in comparison to the Turin population. Among women, a significant excess of mesothelioma cancers was reported; a significantly higher risk for lympho-haematopoietic pathologies was also observed compared to the Turin population only. Several other cancers have significantly lower rates in Cerano for both men and women. Despite some studies’ limitations, these findings could suggest potential chemical risk factors and need further investigation.     

Forensic Assertive Community Treatment in a Continuum of Care for Male Internees in Belgium: Results After 33 Months

Non-forensic or regular assertive community treatment (ACT) has positive effects on non-forensic outcomes but has poor effects on forensic outcome measures. In this study, we examined non-forensic and forensic outcome measures of a forensic adaptation of ACT (ForACT) within a continuum of care for internees. Data were collected retrospectively from files of 70 participants in the ForACT group who had been released from a forensic hospital. The control group comprised internees who had left prison and entered community-based care (n?=?56). The ForACT group demonstrated significantly better outcomes on forensic measures, such as arrests and incarcerations, and had better community tenure. However, this group showed high hospitalization rates. The findings indicate that this type of community-based care can be beneficial for such internees; however, internees continue to experience difficulties reintegrating into society.     

Exogenous Pubertal Induction by Oral versus Transdermal Estrogen Therapy

Hypogonadal adolescent girls need estrogen therapy for the induction of puberty. For years, oral conjugated estrogens have been used for this purpose, starting at a very low dose, with gradual increments over time, to allow for the maturation of the reproductive organs, in order to mimic physiologic conditions. Several concerns, mainly due to first pass through the liver, are manifest with oral estrogen therapy. With the advent of transdermal estrogens and its improved efficacy profile as well as reduced side effects, it seems reasonable to consider it for pubertal induction. The primary objective of this study was to compare and contrast oral versus transdermal estrogen with regard to metabolism and physiology and to review current available data on transdermal estrogens with respect to exogenous pubertal induction.     

Velopharyngeal insufficiency,submucous cleft palate and a phonological disorder as the associated clinical features which led to the diagnosis of Jacobsen syndrome. Case report and review of the literature

Jacobsen syndrome is an uncommon but well-known contiguous gene syndrome caused by partial deletion involving the long arm of chromosome 11. Most common features include: psychomotor impairment, facial dysmorphism, and thrombocytopenia. Cleft palate has been rarely reported.     

Brief Report: Reduced Grouping Interference in Children with ASD: Evidence from a Multiple Object Tracking Task

This study was inspired by the more locally oriented processing style in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A modified multiple object tracking (MOT) task was administered to a group of children with and without ASD. Participants not only had to distinguish moving targets from distracters, but they also had to track targets when they were visually grouped to distracters, a manipulation which has a detrimental effect on tracking performance in adults. MOT performance in the ASD group was also affected by grouping, but this effect was significantly reduced. This result highlights how the reduced bias towards more global processing in ASD could influence further stages of cognition by altering the way in which attention selects information for further processing.     

Cystic fibrosis in the year 2020: A disease with a new face

The autosomal recessive disease cystic fibrosis (CF) was once untreatable and deadly in childhood, but now most patients survive to adulthood. Many countries have instituted CF newborn screening because early diagnosis improves outcome. CF research has greatly intensified following the discovery of the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, which has more than 2000 different mutations. For patients with common mutations like F508del, CFTR modulators are life transforming and may even prevent major complications if started early in childhood. For some patients with rare CFTR mutations, a treatment path still needs to be developed. Conclusion: This review provides a general update on CF, including screening and current and future treatment.