The genetic and epigenetic basis of ependymoma

Introduction  

Although ependymoma is the third most common pediatric brain tumor, we know little about the genetic/epigenetic basis of its initiation, maintenance, or progression. This is due in part to the heterogeneity of the disease, as well as the small sample size of the cohorts analyzed in most studies.     

广西边远少数民族学生体型及体质量指数3年追踪**

背景: 前期研究表明广西18~22岁少数民族学生体质量偏轻。 目的：拟进一步了解广西2645名少数民族学生体型及体质健康状况，寻找影响的关联因子。 设计、时间及地点：追踪调查，于2004-12/2007-12在广西民族大学完成。 对象：广西民族大学2003/2005三次体质健康测试的全体学生2 645人。男1 337人，女1308人，年龄为18~20岁，共15个民族。 方法：根据2003年教育部、体育总局《学生体质健康标准（试行方案）》和实施方法分为形态指标、技能指标和身体素质指标3大类。对2 645名少数民族身体机能与体质量指数变化的跟踪调查。 主要观察指标：身高、体质量、肺活量、立定跳远、坐位体前屈、体质量指数。 结果：①广西民族大学2003级学生大学3年期间男生身高、体质量增长率比全国同期多2.45%，身体形态发育正处于高峰期，女生成偏瘦型体型，身体形态发育情况总体欠佳。②男女学生在刚入校时肺活量机能较差，远远低于同期全国平均水平。3年后男生肺活量增长率为11.55%、女生肺活量增长率为27.72%，分别高于全国同期肺活量增长率。③坐位体前屈机能高于同期全国平均水平，男生呈逐年上升趋势，同期全国男性呈下降趋势；同期全国乡村女生均呈逐年上升趋势。④立定跳远机能提高较大，3年后增长率为18.15%，明显高于全国同期立定跳远增长率水平的2.61%。女生立定跳远机能总体不如全国同期水平。⑤体质量指数总体与同期全国乡村男女学生体质量指数比较稍低一些(P < 0.01)。 结论：2 645名少数民族学生发育正处于高峰期；肺活量机能不及全国同期平均水平。男女体质量指数分布有所不同，体质量偏轻者女生多于男生，表明学生营养状况总体欠佳。     

Abnormal fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in benign esophageal leiomyoma

A benign esophageal leiomyoma with abnormally increased fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography (PET) was resected thoracoscopically. The tumor, of which the maximum standardized uptake value of the lesion was 4.7, was well defined and 38 mm in diameter. Neither mitotic activity nor degeneration was found histologically; and immunoreactivity for CD34, CD117, MIB-1, and glucose transporter-1 was negative immunohistochemically. A diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumor was ruled out by an oncogenic kinase gene mutation study. This case cautions against PET-dependent evaluation for malignant potential of esophageal submucosal tumors.     

Community pharmacy services to optimise the use of medications for mental illness: a systematic review

The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the impact of pharmacist delivered community-based services to optimise the use of medications for mental illness. Twenty-two controlled (randomised and non-randomised) studies of pharmacists' interventions in community and residential aged care settings identified in international scientific literature were included for review. Papers were assessed for study design, service recipient, country of origin, intervention type, number of participating pharmacists, methodological quality and outcome measurement. Three studies showed that pharmacists' medication counselling and treatment monitoring can improve adherence to antidepressant medications among those commencing treatment when calculated using an intention-to-treat analysis. Four trials demonstrated that pharmacist conducted medication reviews may reduce the number of potentially inappropriate medications prescribed to those at high risk of medication misadventure. The results of this review provide some evidence that pharmacists can contribute to optimising the use of medications for mental illness in the community setting. However, more well designed studies are needed to assess the impact of pharmacists as members of community mental health teams and as providers of comprehensive medicines information to people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder     

How Should Functionally Equivalent Drugs be Reimbursed?

Statutory reimbursement agencies as well as private insurers throughout member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reimburse the cost of medicines on the basis of criteria that include robust clinical evidence, budget impact analysis, and incremental cost effectiveness. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the US are no exception to this rule and are, in principle, seeking to maximize benefit for their Medicare enrollees, whilst ensuring reasonable drug outlays for the small number of drugs that they reimburse. This paper provides a retrospective analysis of the way two functionally equivalent drugs are treated for reimbursement purposes by the CMS; the period under consideration was 2001–3. The two drugs, epoetin-α and darbepoetin-α, are used for the treatment of anemia in renal failure and in patients receiving chemotherapy. By reviewing the publicly available pharmacological and clinical data of epoetin-α and darbepoetin-α, the paper confirms the two drugs’ functional equivalence, despite their structural differences. The implications of dose conversion ratios and costs to Medicare are subsequently explored. It is argued that the issue of dose equivalence between epoetin-α and darbepoetin-α has significant implications for patients, practitioners, and payors. A payor’s perspective is adopted in this respect, whereby clinical evidence and pricing data are used simultaneously. Based on the clinical evidence, a dose conversion ratio for epoetin-α:darbepoetin-α is established, which achieves a comparable clinical effect for the two drugs and this is set to be <254IU:1μg. The incremental costs to Medicare are calculated subsequently. The Average Wholesale Price and the Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule that Medicare uses to reimburse providers are used and suggest that treatment of cancer patients with chemotherapy-related anemia with epoetin-α would save Medicare an estimated $US600 million each year. Patients would also benefit significantly in terms of lower co-payments for epoetin-α. The evidence is supportive of the decision made by the CMS to reimburse the two drugs at the rate reflecting the achievement of comparable clinical effects and therefore reducing the pass-through payments for darbepoetin-α to zero for the 2002–3 fiscal year.