Screening tests are widely recommended for the early detection of disease among asymptomatic individuals. While detecting disease at an earlier stage has the potential to improve outcomes, screening also has negative consequences, including false positive results which may lead to anxiety, unnecessary diagnostic procedures, and increased healthcare costs. In addition, multiple false positive results could discourage participating in subsequent screening rounds. Screening guidelines typically recommend repeated screening over a period of many years, but little prior research has investigated how often individuals receive multiple false positive test results. Estimating the cumulative risk of multiple false positive results over the course of multiple rounds of screening is challenging due to the presence of censoring and competing risks, which may depend on the false positive risk, screening round, and number of prior false positive results. To address the general challenge of estimating the cumulative risk of multiple false positive test results, we propose a nonhomogeneous multistate model to describe the screening process including competing events. We developed alternative approaches for estimating the cumulative risk of multiple false positive results using this multistate model based on existing estimators for the cumulative risk of a single false positive. We compared the performance of the newly proposed models through simulation studies and illustrate model performance using data on screening mammography from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. Across most simulation scenarios, the multistate extension of a censoring bias model demonstrated lower bias compared to other approaches. In the context of screening mammography, we found that the cumulative risk of multiple false positive results is high. For instance, based on the censoring bias model, for a high-risk individual, the cumulative probability of at least two false positive mammography results after 10 rounds of annual screening is 40.4. Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act has improved access to screening and treatment for certain cancers. It is unclear how this policy has affected the diagnosis and management of pancreatic cancer. Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences (DID) approach, we analyzed Medicaid and uninsured patients in the National Cancer Data Base during two time periods pre-expansion (2011-2012) and postexpansion (2015-2016). We investigated changes in cancer staging, treatment decisions, and surgical outcomes. In this national cohort, pancreatic cancer patients in expansion states had increased Medicaid coverage relative to those in nonexpansion states (DID = 17.49, p < 0.01). Medicaid expansion also led to an increase in early-stage diagnoses (Stage I/II, DID = 4.71, p = 0.03), higher comorbidity scores among surgical patients (Charlson/Deyo score 0 DID = -13.69, p = 0.02), a trend toward more neoadjuvant radiation (DID = 6.15, p = 0.06), and more positive margins (DID = 11.69, p = 0.02). There were no differences in rates of surgery, postoperative outcomes, or overall survival. Medicaid expansion was associated with improved insurance coverage and earlier stage diagnoses for Medicaid and uninsured pancreatic cancer patients, but similar surgical outcomes and overall survival. These findings highlight both the benefits of Medicaid expansion and the potential limitations of policy change to improve outcomes for such an aggressive malignancy.Medicaid expansion was associated with improved insurance coverage and earlier stage diagnoses for Medicaid and uninsured pancreatic cancer patients, but similar surgical outcomes and overall survival. These findings highlight both the benefits of Medicaid expansion and the potential limitations of policy change to improve outcomes for such an aggressive malignancy.Geriatricians have long debated the parameters, positioning, and prospects of their specialty. The year 2020 started full of promise as many organizations anticipated assessing themselves using perfect, or 2020, vision. While challenging on several levels, the momentous combination of events in 2020-the COVID-19 pandemic, Racial Justice Movement, and the November elections-provided Geriatric Medicine several opportunities to firmly secure a position in the mainstream. As we reflect on the new perspectives, programs, and partnerships initiated in 2020, five broader lessons emerge that can help safeguard the future of Geriatrics the field could employ more intentional "direct to consumer" marketing strategies, expand the scope of what it means to be a patient advocate, pursue new strategic partnerships, take the opportunity to address racial injustice, and leverage existing skillsets to expand scope of care for patients. Given the interdisciplinary nature of Geriatrics, it is fitting that many of these lessons build upon this collaborative philosophy and are derived from domains outside of health care. So in an unexpected way, the events of 2020 may actually help Geriatrics see, with 2020 vision, how to remain mainstream. With this new clarity, Geriatrics holds renewed promise to truly become specialists in whole-person care and it is our hope that, with insight from the lessons shared here, the specialty brings this vision to fruition in the current decade and beyond.FinO-domain proteins represent an emerging family of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) with diverse roles in bacterial post-transcriptional control and physiology. They exhibit an intriguing targeting spectrum, ranging from an assumed single RNA pair (FinP/traJ) for the plasmid-encoded FinO protein, to transcriptome-wide activity as documented for chromosomally encoded ProQ proteins. Thus, the shared FinO domain might bear an unusual plasticity enabling it to act either selectively or promiscuously on the same cellular RNA pool. One caveat to this model is that the full suite of in vivo targets of the assumedly highly selective FinO protein is unknown. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/mrt68921.html Here, we have extensively profiled cellular transcripts associated with the virulence plasmid-encoded FinO in Salmonella enterica. While our analysis confirms the FinP sRNA of plasmid pSLT as the primary FinO target, we identify a second major ligand the RepX sRNA of the unrelated antibiotic resistance plasmid pRSF1010. FinP and RepX are strikingly similar in length and structure, but not in primary sequence, and so may provide clues to understanding the high selectivity of FinO-RNA interactions. |