Metabolomics of Breast Cancer: A Review.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. Major advances have been made towards breast cancer prevention and treatment. Unfortunately, the incidence of breast cancer is still increasing globally. Metabolomics is the field of science which studies all the metabolites in a cell, tissue, system, or organism. Metabolomics can provide information on dynamic changes occurring during cancer development and progression. The metabolites identified using cutting-edge metabolomics techniques will result in the identification of biomarkers for the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancers. This review briefly introduces the metabolic changes in cancer with particular focus on breast cancer.

Racial Disparities in Type of Heart Failure and Hospitalization.

Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of hospitalization and readmissions. Our study aimed to examine racial disparities in heart failure patients including onset, mortality, length of stay (LOS), direct costs, and readmission rates. This is a secondary data analysis. We analyzed the risk-adjusted inpatient data of all patients admitted with HF to one health academic center. We compared five health outcomes among three racial groups (white, black, and Hispanic). There were 1006 adult patients making 1605 visits from 10/01/2011 to 09/30/2015. Most black patients were admitted in younger age than other racial groups which indicates the needs for more public health preventions. With risk adjustments, the racial differences in LOS and readmission rates remain. We stratified health outcomes by race/ethnic and type of HF. The findings suggest that further studies to uncover underlying causes of these disparities are necessary. Using risk-adjusted hospitalization data allows for comparisons of quality of care across three racial groups. The study suggests that more prevention and protection services are needed for African American patients with heart failure.

The Ninth Industrial Fluid Properties Simulation Challenge.

The Ninth Industrial Fluid Properties Simulation Challenge aimed to test the ability of molecular modeling approaches to predict water/oil interfacial tension (IFT) at conditions of high temperature and pressure. In particular, the challenge featured water/oil IFT where the oil was n-dodecane, toluene, or a 50:50 n-dodecane/toluene blend at 1.825 MPa and temperatures in the range of 383 K to 443 K. Seven entries were received including approaches such as molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, COSMO-RS, and iSAFT, and they were judged by comparison to pendant drop tensiometer benchmark data. The quality of predictions varied among the entries between approximately 20 % and 70 % of the total points possible with the entries based on MD and MC having the highest scores in most cases. As is often the case in molecular modeling, predictions of the relative trends tended to be reliable even if the absolute values were not.

Improving the Collection of Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data to Reduce Healthcare Disparities: A Case Study from an Academic Medical Center.

Well-designed electronic health records (EHRs) must integrate a variety of accurate information to support efforts to improve quality of care, particularly equity-in-care initiatives. This case study provides insight into the challenges those initiatives may face in collecting accurate race, ethnicity, and language (REAL) information in the EHR. We present the experience of an academic medical center strengthening its EHR for better collection of REAL data with funding from the EHR Incentive Programs for meaningful use of health information technology and the Texas Medicaid 1115 Waiver program. We also present a plan to address some of the challenges that arose during the course of the project. Our experience at an academic medical center can provide guidance about the likely challenges similar institutions may expect when they implement new initiatives to collect REAL data, particularly challenges regarding scope, personnel, and other resource needs.

The Eighth Industrial Fluids Properties Simulation Challenge.

The goal of the eighth industrial fluid properties simulation challenge was to test the ability of molecular simulation methods to predict the adsorption of organic adsorbates in activated carbon materials. In particular, the eighth challenge focused on the adsorption of perfluorohexane in the activated carbon BAM-109. Entrants were challenged to predict the adsorption in the carbon at 273 K and relative pressures of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.6. The predictions were judged by comparison to a benchmark set of experimentally determined values. Overall good agreement and consistency were found between the predictions of most entrants.

Adsorption, X-ray Diffraction, Photoelectron, and Atomic Emission Spectroscopy Benchmark Studies for the Eighth Industrial Fluid Properties Simulation Challenge.

The primary goal of the eighth industrial fluid properties simulation challenge was to test the ability of molecular simulation methods to predict the adsorption of organic adsorbates in activated carbon materials. The challenge focused on the adsorption of perfluorohexane in the activated carbon standard BAM-P109 (Panne and Thünemann 2010). Entrants were challenged to predict the adsorption of perfluorohexane in the activated carbon at a temperature of 273 K and at relative pressures of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.6. The relative pressure (P/Po) is defined as that relative to the bulk saturation pressure predicted by the fluid model at a given temperature (273 K in this case). The predictions were judged by comparison to a set of experimentally determined values, which are published here for the first time and were not disclosed to the entrants prior to the challenge. Benchmark experimental studies, described herein, were also carried out and provided to entrants in order to aid in the development of new force fields and simulation methods to be employed in the challenge. These studies included argon, carbon dioxide, and water adsorption in the BAM-P109 activated carbon as well as X-ray diffraction, X-ray microtomography, photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic emission spectroscopy studies of BAM-P109. Several concurrent studies were carried out for the BAM-P108 activated carbon (Panne and Thünemann 2010). These are included in the current manuscript for comparison.

"Health in All Policies": taking stock of emerging practices to incorporate health in decision making in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: Policies affecting the determinants of health lie largely outside the control of the health care and public health sectors. Ensuring health considerations in the formation and implementation of policies, programs, projects, and plans from all sectors, though lofty, is the overall aim of Health in All Policies. The purpose of this article was to identify categories of strategies that illustrate how Health in All Policies had been implemented in the United States. DESIGN: We used a 3-phased process: (1) review of the published and gray literature; (2) analysis of case examples to identify a draft framework, which included tactics and strategies for implementing Health in All Policies; and (3) vetting the draft framework through individual and group consultation. RESULTS: We identify 7 interrelated strategies for incorporating health considerations into decisions and systems: (1) developing and structuring cross-sector relationships; (2) incorporating health into decision-making processes; (3) enhancing workforce capacity; (4) coordinating funding and investments; (5) integrating research, evaluation and data systems; (6) synchronizing communications and messaging; and (7) implementing accountability structures. For each strategy, we provide illustrative examples from the United States to help public health leaders identify effective tactics for Health in All Policies implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Through our review, we offer a starting point for categorizing and describing the emerging practices used to work across sectors and address the determinants of health. By delineating the different types of strategies and tactics to achieve Health in All Policies, we provide public health practitioners with a "menu" of options for incorporating Health in All Policies into their work.

Potentially inappropriate medication prescribing for elderly outpatients in Emilia Romagna, Italy: a population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: In the US, a growing body of epidemiological studies has documented widespread potentially inappropriate medication prescribing among the elderly in outpatient settings. However, only limited information exists in Europe. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication prescribing among elderly outpatients in Emilia Romagna, Italy and to investigate factors associated with potentially inappropriate medication prescribing in that setting. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using the Emilia Romagna outpatient prescription claims database from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001 linked with information (age, sex and other variables) available from a demographic file of approximately 1 million Emilia Romagna residents aged >or=65 years. The cohort comprised 849 425 elderly patients who had at least one drug prescription during the study period. The prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication prescribing, as defined by the 2002 Beers' criteria, was measured together with predictors associated with potentially inappropriate medication prescribing. RESULTS: A total of 152 641 (18%) elderly Emilia Romagna outpatients had one or more occurrences of potentially inappropriate medication prescribing. Of these, 11.5% received prescriptions for two medications of concern and 1.7% for three or more. Doxazosin (prescribed to 23% of subjects) was the most frequently occurring potentially inappropriate prescribed medication, followed by ketorolac (20.5%), ticlopidine (18.3%) and amiodarone (12.6%). Factors associated with greater likelihood of potentially inappropriate medication prescribing were older age, overall number of drugs prescribed and greater number of chronic conditions. The odds of receiving potentially inappropriate prescribed medications were lower for females, subjects living in more urban areas and subjects with a higher income level. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides strong evidence that potentially inappropriate medication prescribing for elderly outpatients is a substantial problem in Emilia Romagna. Focusing on the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication prescribing and associated predictors can help in the development of educational programmes targeting outpatient practitioners to influence prescribing behaviour and, therefore, reduce potentially inappropriate medication prescribing.

Evidence for deep magma injection beneath Lake Tahoe, Nevada-California.

A deep earthquake swarm in late 2003 at Lake Tahoe, California (Richter magnitude < 2.2; depth of 29 to 33 kilometers), was coeval with a transient displacement of 6 millimeters horizontally outward from the swarm and 8 millimeters upward measured at global positioning system station Slide Mountain (SLID) 18 kilometers to the northeast. During the first 23 days of the swarm, hypocentral depths migrated at a rate of 2.4 millimeters per second up-dip along a 40-square-kilometer structure striking north 30 degrees west and dipping 50 degrees to the northeast. SLID's transient velocity of 20 millimeters per year implies a lower bound of 200 nanostrains per year (parts per billion per year) on local strain rates, an order of magnitude greater than the 1996 to 2003 regional rate. The geodetic displacement is too large to be explained by the elastic strain from the cumulative seismic moment of the sequence, suggesting an aseismic forcing mechanism. Aspects of the swarm and SLID displacements are consistent with lower-crustal magma injection under Lake Tahoe.