Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally, remains a pressing health issue despite significant medical advances. The New York Lung Cancer Foundation brought together experts from academia, the pharmaceutical and biotech industries as well as organizational leaders and patient advocates, to thoroughly examine the current state of lung cancer diagnosis, treatment, and research. The goal was to identify areas where our understanding is incomplete and to develop collaborative public health and scientific strategies to generate better patient outcomes, as highlighted in our \"Calls to Action.\" The consortium prioritized 8 different calls to action. These include (1) develop strategies to cure more patients with early-stage lung cancer, (2) investigate carcinogenesis leading to lung cancers in patients without a history of smoking, (3) harness precision medicine for disease interception and prevention, (4) implement solutions to deliver prevention measures and effective therapies to individuals in under-resourced countries, (5) facilitate collaborations with industry to collect and share data and samples, (6) create and maintain open access to big data repositories, (7) develop new immunotherapeutic agents for lung cancer treatment and prevention, and (8) invest in research in both the academic and community settings. These calls to action provide guidance to representatives from academia, the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, organizational and regulatory leaders, and patient advocates to guide ongoing and planned initiatives.

OBJECTIVE: Fed-batch cultures have rarely been used in single cell protein (SCP) research. This work evaluated multiple yeast species for suitability as SCP cultivated using glucose- and sucrose-based substrate and performed in-depth studies of fed-batch SCP cultivation kinetics for selected yeasts, including determination of specific crude nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors.
METHODS: SCP was cultivated using fully synthetic media in flask batch or bioreactor fed-batch cultures. Crude nitrogen and nucleic acid content were determined using the Dumas method and fluorescence assay kits, respectively.
RESULTS: C. utilis compared favorably to other yeasts in flask batch cultures in terms of process yield (0.52 ± 0.01 gx gs-1) and crude nitrogen content (10.0 ± 0.5 and 9.9 ± 0.5%CDW for glucose and sucrose, respectively). This is the first time biomass composition data was reported for SCP cultivated in fed-batch mode. C. utilis crude nitrogen content was consistent across the tested conditions (protein content stabilized around 50%CDW in fed-batch), while that of the benchmark yeast S. cerevisiae was higher in batch cultures and at the beginning of fed-batch relative to the end (protein content decreased over time and stabilized around 43%CDW). Total nucleic acid content of the yeasts was similar (6.8%CDW and 6.3%CDW, for C. utilis and S. cerevisiae, respectively), with crude nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors of 4.97 and 5.80.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the suitability of C. utilis as SCP, notably the robustness of its crude nitrogen content (as an indicator of protein content) across batch and fed-batch conditions, compared to that of the benchmark yeast S. cerevisiae.

BACKGROUND: Appropriate cut-off values and diagnostic accuracy (DA) [sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, positive (PPV) and negative (NPV)] of electrodiagnostic findings for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) based on age, gender, and diabetes mellitus (DM) were not reported.
METHODS: In a retrospective study, we described the latency difference values and DA of comparative latency studies COLS [median to ulnar through palmar difference (palmdiff) and ring difference study (ringdiff), median to radial through thumb difference study (thumbdiff), and combined sensory index (CSI)] among non-CTS and CTS groups based on age, DM, and gender.
RESULTS: We included 632 patients (228 without CTS and 404 with CTS). For PPV > 90% and NPV > 50%, the best cut-offs among patients without DM, were 0.5ms, 0.8-1 ms, 1.4 ms, and 2 ms for palmdiff, thumbdiff, CSI (age < 60 years), and CSI (age > 60 years), respectively. The best cut-offs among patients with DM were 0.5 ms, 1.2 ms, 0.8 ms, 1.0-1.2 ms, 1.8 ms, 1-1.2 ms, 3.0 ms, and 3.5 ms for palmdiff (age < 50 years), palmdiff (age > 50 years), thumbdiff (age < 40 years), thumbdiff (age 40-59 years), thumbdiff (age > 60 years), CSI (age < 50 years), CSI (age 50-59 years), and CSI (age > 60 years), respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The cut-off values of COLS to confirm CTS and their DA were different according to age and DM.

BACKGROUND: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is a treatment for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (ES-NSCLC). Surveillance guidelines vary after treatment. While patients are more likely to locally recur within 2 years of treatment, there remains a paucity of data on the benefit of frequent and long-term surveillance. We evaluated a cohort of NSCLC patients to evaluate surveillance patterns and outcomes.
METHODS: Patients with ES-NSCLC treated with SBRT were retrospectively evaluated. Imaging was reviewed after SBRT for evidence of recurrence or new malignancy. The median scan interval (MSI) was calculated as the median number of months between surveillance scans. The MSI between patients with or without new disease was compared by t-test. New disease development and survival between patients with =T2 disease and with or without prior malignancy was compared using χ², Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Gray\'s test.
RESULTS: A cohort of 168 patients with median follow up of 23.4 months met criteria for review with 50% developing new disease. MSI did not differ between patients with or without new disease. Patients with >=cT2 tumors had worse overall survival and trended towards higher incidence of new disease. New disease continued to occur, even 5 years after treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Increased scan frequency did not increase detection of new disease. Patients continued to fail 5 years after treatment. Larger tumors trended toward more frequent failures and those patients experienced worse OS. Surveillance guidelines should be optimized to prevent over surveillance after treatment and to continue long-term surveillance.

Antenatal screening with ultrasound identifies fetal structural anomalies in 3-6% of pregnancies. Identification of anomalies during pregnancy provides an opportunity for counselling, targeted imaging, genetic testing, fetal intervention and delivery planning. Ultrasound is the primary modality for imaging the fetus in pregnancy, but magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is evolving as an adjunctive tool providing additional structural and functional information. Screening should start from the first trimester when more than 50% of severe defects can be detected. The mid-trimester ultrasound balances the benefits of increased fetal growth and development to improve detection rates, whilst still providing timely management options. A routine third trimester ultrasound may detect acquired anomalies or those missed earlier in pregnancy but may not be available in all settings. Targeted imaging by fetal medicine experts improves detection in high-risk pregnancies or when an anomaly has been detected, allowing accurate phenotyping, access to advanced genetic testing and expert counselling.

Hybridoma technology is a well-established and indispensable tool for generating high-quality monoclonal antibodies and has become one of the most common methods for monoclonal antibody production. In this process, antibody-producing B cells are isolated from mice following immunization of mice with a specific immunogen and fused with an immortal myeloma cell line to form antibody-producing hybridoma cell lines. Hybridoma-derived monoclonal antibodies not only serve as powerful research and diagnostic reagents but have also emerged as the most rapidly expanding class of therapeutic biologicals. In spite of the development of new high-throughput monoclonal antibody generation technologies, hybridoma technology still is applied for antibody production due to its ability to preserve innate functions of immune cells and to preserve natural cognate antibody paring information. In this chapter, an overview of hybridoma technology and the laboratory procedures used for hybridoma production and antibody screening of peptide-specific antibodies are presented.

OBJECTIVE: Early detection and intervention are associated with improved outcomes for autistic children. Thus, it is important to understand factors influencing early screening tools designed to detect autism. This study examined the relationship between caregiver-reported emotional and behavioral symptoms and children\'s scores on a commonly used autism screening questionnaire, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers-Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F).
METHODS: Toddlers were recruited from four primary care clinics between 2018 and 2021. Their caregivers completed the M-CHAT-R/F as well as the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a well-validated, normed measure of emotional and behavioral functioning. Correlational and group analyses were evaluated to examine relationships between CBCL scales and M-CHAT-R/F scores.
RESULTS: 1765 toddlers were recruited for the study. CBCL scores for the internalizing, externalizing, autism, ADHD, and anxiety scales were all modestly positively correlated with M-CHAT-R/F scores. Compared to toddlers with elevated autism scale scores only, toddlers with elevations in both autism and ADHD/externalizing scales had higher M-CHAT-R/F scores. In contrast, no significant difference in scores were found between toddlers with elevated autism scale scores only compared to those with elevated scores on both autism and internalizing scales.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that, for children with elevated autism behaviors, the presence of externalizing symptoms, including ADHD-related concerns, is associated with elevated scores on the M-CHAT-R/F. In contrast, internalizing symptoms did not show an association with elevated M-CHAT-R/F scores among toddlers with elevated autism-related behaviors. Interpretation of the M-CHAT-R/F should include consideration of co-occurring psychiatric conditions, especially externalizing conditions such as ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: The STOP-Bang questionnaire is a validated screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We conducted this study to validate it among patients hospitalized with acute symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE).
METHODS: This prospective cohort study enrolled consecutive stable patients with acute PE who underwent an overnight sleep study within 7 days after diagnosis. Our outcomes were: i) the STOP-Bang questionnaire\'s utility for risk stratification, ii) the discrimination of the STOP-Bang questionnaire categories, iii) the false negative rate of STOP-Bang questionnaire prediction, and iv) the clinical utility of the STOP-Bang questionnaire to exclude OSA. We also calculated the test performance characteristics to predict OSA.
RESULTS: During the study period, 268 patients completed a sleep study. OSA was found in 47% of patients. OSA incidence in low-, moderate-, and high-risk STOP-Bang groups was 22.4%, 48.2%, and 61.5%, respectively (P <0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of the STOP-Bang questionnaire for risk of OSA was 0.65. The false negative rate of a low-risk STOP-Bang questionnaire result to rule out OSA was 22.4% and the clinical utility was 21.6%. The sensitivity was 89.8% (97.2% for men and 80.4% for women).
CONCLUSIONS: The STOP-Bang questionnaire showed poor discrimination for the risk of OSA in hospitalized patients with acute symptomatic PE. It had a high false negative rate and a low clinical utility. The STOP-Bang questionnaire had a good sensitivity in men, and might be used to rule out OSA in this population.

UNASSIGNED: Indoor tanning is a major modifiable risk factor in the development of both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Investigation of behavior-altering interventions is an area of active research. As with other preventive measures, screening of high-risk populations can be an important aspect of a multimodality public health intervention. This study sought to further the limited understanding of indoor tanning screening practices in the primary care setting.
UNASSIGNED: Physicians practicing within the scope of primary care in the northeast were surveyed in 2022 on practice patterns around the frequency of indoor tanning screening, barriers encountered with implementing screening, and actions taken with a positive screen. Research methodology adhered to the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist.
UNASSIGNED: Of 26 primary care physicians, only 7.7% routinely screened for indoor tanning. Barriers identified included time limitations (76.9%) and prioritization of other health concerns (96.2%). All primary care physicians (100%) reacted to reports of indoor tanning with an intervention, most commonly counseling on the risks of indoor tanning (92.6%).
UNASSIGNED: This data suggest that screening for indoor tanning use could be improved. The authors recommend the incorporation of a standardized screening question regarding indoor tanning in intake forms.

Background Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a largely preventable, chronic, and progressive medical condition. There appears to be a general lack of knowledge about CVD prevention in the community. This pilot study was carried out to investigate the level of knowledge of CVD prevention among patients visiting a general practitioner (GP) practice in Brisbane. Aim To investigate the level of knowledge of CVD prevention among people visiting a local medical clinic in Brisbane, and to identify the factors responsible for any knowledge deficits. Material and methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Brisbane residents aged 45 years and older visiting a local medical center. This study surveyed 105 Australian individuals via an online survey or a hard copy questionnaire for those without online access. A combination of closed-ended questions and multiple-choice questionnaires was utilized to collect the data. Questions were formulated to assess the level of knowledge of CVD prevention among this demographic, exploring the subjects\' awareness of the screening program, their adherence, factors behind non-adherence, and understanding the influence of education level and occupation on adherence. Results A total of 105 Brisbane adults completed the survey, of which 56 (53.3%) were male. The study found that 61 (58.1%) of the participants were aware of the CVD prevention screening program, but only 22 (21.9%) were compliant with it. Twelve (11.4%) participants attended these preventive screenings less frequently than recommended, while the remaining 69 (66.6%) had never undergone cardiovascular health checks. Conclusion Analysis of data from this population suggests that there is a knowledge deficit among Brisbane residents regarding CVD prevention programs. Enhanced efforts by clinicians to make patients aware of these screening tools and to employ early intervention strategies, especially lifestyle choices at an earlier age, would help lower the burden of CVD.