Histological assessment of esophageal squamous malignancies is crucial for management of patients with the cancer as well as working in research on the cancer. The squamous malignancies in the esophagus comprise squamous dysplasia and squamous cell carcinoma. Current classification of squamous dysplasia in the esophagus is to divide it into low grade and high grade. Most of the esophageal squamous cell carcinomas are of conventional type and divided into well, moderately, and poorly differentiated. The variants of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma include basaloid squamous carcinoma, spindle cell carcinoma, and verrucous carcinoma. Preoperative chemoradiation is used commonly in the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and induces changes in morphology. Tumor regression grading systems based on the percentage of the remaining carcinoma cells are used to assess the response to the neoadjuvant therapy in the cancer. Additional histological parameters including lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, clearance of resection margins, and carcinoma in the nodal and distant metastatic sites provide essential information for the management of the patient with the cancer.Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is the most common histological subtype of esophageal cancer. The carcinoma is more common in high-incidence areas such as in Central and Southeast Asia, Eastern and Southern Africa, South America, etc. Common risk factors associated with the cancer are tobacco smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Dietary factors, genetic factors, microorganisms, and some other environmental factors may contribute to the etiopathogenesis of the disease. Despite the global incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma decreases slightly in the recent years, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is still a major cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. Further improvement of the outcomes of the patients with the disease could be achieved by early diagnosis, collaborative efforts of multidisciplinary clinical and research teams, use of standardized protocol for pathological reporting and staging of the disease, proper use of cancer tissue, as well as improvement in clinical, pathological, therapeutic, and research approaches to the cancer.Recently, microRNA-498 (miR-498) plays important effect in human cancers. Nonetheless, the role of miR-498 is still unclear in gastric cancer (GC). Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the function of miR-498 in GC tissues and cell lines (SGC-7901, BGC-823, MGC-803). The expressions of miR-498 and BMI-1 were examined in GC tissues via the RT-qPCR assay. The function of miR-498 was investigated through MTT and transwell assays. The relationship between miR-498 and BMI-1 was testified by dual luciferase assay. The protein expression of EMT markers, AKT pathway markers and BMI-1 was measured through western blot. The expression of miR-498 was decreased in GC tissues which predicted poor prognosis of GC patients. Moreover, functional analyses show that the overexpression of miR-498 inhibited the progression of GC. Furthermore, BMI-1 was a direct target of miR-498 which was upregulated in GC. Especially, the upregulation of BMI-1 recovered the suppressive effect of miR-498 in GC. In addition, miR-498 inhibited the metastasis and proliferation of GC cells through blocking EMT and AKT pathway. MiR-498, by targeting BMI-1, presents a plethora of tumor suppressor activities in GC cells.BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with adverse drug events due to medication errors and the risks of polypharmacy. The aim of this study was to investigate whether multiple pharmacodynamic interactions are a significant problem in CKD patients to improve medication safety. METHODS The discharge medication of 200 elderly patients with stage 3, 4 and 5/5D CKD was analysed in a retrospective observational study with respect to kidney-related medication errors and multiple pharmacodynamic interactions. The clinical relevance of the most common and hazardous multiple interactions was assessed by evaluating adverse events at the primary or the subsequent hospital stay. RESULTS Findings showed that 29.5% of the study cohort were at risk of QTc-interval prolongation in association with their medication combinations and half of them exhibited QTc-interval prolongation. The QTc interval was extended among all patients receiving a combination of two or more drugs with 'known’ risk of Torsades de pointes. Amiodarone, citalopram and ciprofloxacin turned out to be the most hazardous drugs in this context. Eight percent of the patient population received a regimen of 4-6 potassium-enhancing drugs during their hospital stay, which was not de-escalated in 75.0% in the ambulatory setting. Despite close monitoring in the clinical setting, 37.5% of these patients developed hyperkalaemic episodes during their primary stay and 66.7% during rehospitalization. Of the study cohort, 8.5% received a combination of three drugs with antithrombotic or antiplatelet effects. Of these, 64.7% developed haemorrhagic events with two of them proving fatal. CONCLUSION Multiple pharmacodynamic interactions related to QTc prolongation, hyperkalaemia and haemorrhage are frequently associated with a negative outcome in older adults with CKD and often require recurrent medical treatment or rehospitalization.OBJECTIVE To describe how pediatric hospitals across the USA and Canada collect race/ethnicity and language preference (REaL) data and how they stratify quality and safety metrics using such data. METHODS Pediatric hospitals from the Solutions for Patient Safety network (125 US, 6 Canadian) were surveyed between January and March 2018 on collection and use of patient/family race/ethnicity data and patient/family language preference data. The study team created the survey using a formal process including pre-testing. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS Ninety-three of 131 (71%) hospitals completed the survey (87/125 [70%] US, 6/6 [100%] Canadian). Patient race/ethnicity was collected by 95%, parent/guardian race/ethnicity was collected by 31%, and 5/6 Canadian hospitals collected neither. Minimum government race/ethnicity categories were used without modification/addition by 68% of US hospitals. Eleven hospitals (13%) offered a multiracial/multiethnic option. Most hospitals reported collecting language preferences of parent/guardian (81%) and/or patient (87%). A majority provided formal training on data collection for race/ethnicity (70%) and language preferences (70%); fewer had a written policy (41%, 51%). Few hospitals stratified hospital quality and safety measures by race/ethnicity (20% readmissions, 20% patient/family experience, 16% other) or language preference (21% readmissions, 21% patient/family experience, 8% other). CONCLUSIONS The variability of REaL data collection practices among pediatric hospitals highlights the importance of examining the validity and reliability of such data, especially when combined from multiple hospitals. Nevertheless, while improvements in data accuracy and standardization are sought, efforts to identify and eliminate disparities should be developed concurrently using existing data.The present study identified a plurality of coping responses, which provides a spectrum of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral strategies, both adaptive and maladaptive to combat the stresses of racism. These identified coping responses reflect a cognitive-contextual perspective, coined by the authors of this paper. This perspective reflects a combination of coping strategies that omit previous research which suggest mostly anger, depression, and anxiety as a possible response to perceived racial discrimination. These negative emotional responses are suggested to result in chronic physical and mental health risk. Current findings also support the need for examining these racism-coping phenomena from a biopsychosocial perspective. It would allow health practitioners information to treat individuals impacted by cultural stress from a holistic perspective and could be included as part of both mental and physical healthcare.Coronary artery disease remains the major cause of mortality worldwide. Antiplatelet drugs such as acetylsalicylic acid and P2Y12 receptor antagonists are cornerstone treatments for the prevention of thrombotic events in patients with coronary artery disease. Clopidogrel has long been the gold standard but has major pharmacological limitations such as a slow onset and long duration of effect, as well as weak platelet inhibition with high inter-individual pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variability. There has been a strong need to develop potent P2Y12 receptor antagonists with more favorable pharmacological properties. Prasugrel and ticagrelor are more potent and have a faster onset of action; however, they have shown an increased bleeding risk compared with clopidogrel. Cangrelor is highly potent and has a very rapid onset and offset of effect; however, its indication is limited to P2Y12 antagonist-naïve patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Two novel P2Y12 receptor antagonists are currently in clinical development, namely vicagrel and selatogrel. Vicagrel is an analog of clopidogrel with enhanced and more efficient formation of its active metabolite. Selatogrel is characterized by a rapid onset of action following subcutaneous administration and developed for early treatment of a suspected acute myocardial infarction. This review article describes the clinical pharmacology profile of marketed P2Y12 receptor antagonists and those under development focusing on pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and drug-drug interaction liability.BACKGROUND Ireland has changed over the past sixty years, and the dynamic practice of obstetrics and gynaecology has changed with it. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS To describe these changes, a review was performed of clinical reports of a tertiary referral teaching hospital over six decades. RESULTS Since the 1960s, the hospital’s total births per annum has risen (3050 to 8362 births). Teenage pregnancy is less common (4.7 to 2.0%, p  less then  0.001), with more women over age 40 at booking (2.6 to 6.4%, p  less then  0.001). There are more multiple pregnancies now (1.8 to 4.1%, p  less then  0.001) and less grand-multiparous woman (10.1 to 1.3%, p  less then  0.001). Eclampsia is less common (0.18 to 0.02%, p = 0.003), with a slight decrease in rate of preeclampsia (3.8 to 3.0%, p = 0.03). Induction of labour increased considerably (8.8 to 32.1%, p  less then  0.001). While the instrumental delivery rate remained stable, the instrument of choice has changed from forceps (11.3 to 5.4%, p = 0.001) to ventouse delivery (0.6 to 9.1%, p = 0.001). The caesarean section rate rose (5.9 to 29.7%, p  less then  0.001). Vaginal birth after caesarean section rate dropped (90.4 to 28.2%, p  less then  0.001) without significant change in rate of uterine rupture (0.4 to 0.7%, p = 0.1). The perinatal mortality rate improved (48.5 to 5.4 per 1000 births, p  less then  0.001). Preterm birth rate rose (4.9 to 6.6%, p = 0.001). Foetal macrosomia decreased in this time (2.5 to 1.7%, p = 0.007), despite a rise in the incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSION This study provides an intriguing glimpse into the changes in the practice of obstetrics and demonstrates how it adapts to the population it serves.