AudioCOMMUNICATOR Reminder Phone Calls to Increase Attendance of Well Child Visits

Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends six well child checks (WCC) between 2 to 15 months. A large pediatric clinic in Southern California has an attendance rate of 86% and a very mobile population. Reminder phone calls have been shown to improve WCC attendance. Aims of Service Change: Improve WCC attendance to \u3e90%. As an interim step, we implemented a pilot project and measured responses to AudioCOMMUNICATOR™ reminder calls. Outcome: In two months 148 calls were made, the majority,74%, went unanswered. 26% were able to schedule an appointment or discharge from the clinic. Discussion: Reminder calls provide a simple way to schedule visits or update information. This technology could be used for other health promotion activities including immunizations, school/sports physicals, developmental screenings, and ADHD follow ups. A system with e-mail and text message capabilities would provide patients and families with other options for reminders, visit scheduling, and updating information

The Development of Ambulatory Cancer Care in the UK: A Scoping Review of the Literature

INTRODUCTION: Ambulatory Care (AC), where patients receive inpatient cancer treatment on an outpatient basis, was introduced into the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS) in 2004. Although now well established within some services, the development of AC across the NHS is yet to be described. We report findings of a scoping review that set out to understand the provenance of the clinical pathway, whilst exploring drivers for the development of AC in the UK. METHODS: Using scoping review methods, database citation, and grey literature, searches were undertaken to map the storyline of AC’s development internationally. The Joanna Briggs Institute guidance was followed; this included consultation with six professionals considered critical to the development of AC. RESULTS: From the 57 records identified between 1979 and 2022, four domains were identified through a narrative synthesis that reflected the following drivers for AC: financial; optimisation of bed capacity; advances in technology and supportive care; and professional motivation to improve patient experience. CONCLUSION: We report the first descriptive analysis of the international development of AC, locating the UK cancer service within its commissioning, operational, and philosophical foundations. The review additionally highlights limited research exploring the experience of the AC model from the patients’ perspective

Extending cognitive-behavioural theory and therapy to medically unexplained symptoms and long term conditions:a hybrid transdiagnostic/problem specific approach

Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS) are not only common and distressing, but also are typically poorly managed in general medical settings. Those suffering from these problems tend to incur significantly higher health costs than the general population. There are many effective treatments for different MUS; these are almost entirely based on Cognitive-behavioural approaches. However, the wide range of treatment protocols tend to be “syndrome specific”. As such, they do not generalise well in terms of training and application, making them expensive and difficult to disseminate, suggesting the desirability of developing a transdiagnostic approach. The general basis of such a CBT grounded transdiagnostic approach is considered, and the particular need to incorporate cognitive elements of both anxiety/health anxiety (threat) and depression (loss) is highlighted. Key empirically grounded and evidence based processes (both specific and general) previously identified as underpinning the maintenance of MUS are delineated. The way in which these can be combined in a transdiagnostic model which accounts for most MUS presentations is presented and linked to a formulation driven transdiagnostic treatment strategy, which is described. However, the need to take more syndrome-specific issues into account in treatment is identified, suggesting that the optimum treatment may be a hybrid transdiagnostic/specific approach with formulation, shared understanding, belief change strategies and behavioural experiments at its heart. The generalisation of such approaches to psychological problems occurring in the context of “Long Term Conditions” is identified as a further important development which is now within reach

Hematopoietic Defects in rps29 Mutant Zebrafish Depend Upon p53 Activation

Disruption of ribosomal proteins is associated with hematopoietic phenotypes in cell culture and animal models. Mutations in ribosomal proteins are seen in patients with Diamond Black- fan anemia, a rare congenital disease characterized by red cell aplasia and distinctive cranio- facial anomalies. A zebrafish screen uncovered decreased hematopoietic stem cells in embryos with mutations in ribosomal protein rps29. Here, we determined that rps29L/L embryos also have red blood cell defects and increased apoptosis in the head. As the p53 pathway has been shown to play a role in other ribosomal protein mutants, we studied the genetic relationship of rps29 and p53. Transcriptional profiling revealed that genes upregulated in the rps29 mutant are enriched for genes upregulated by p53 after irradiation. p53 mutation near completely rescues the rps29 morphological and hematopoietic phenotypes, demonstrating that p53 medi- ates the effects of rps29 knockdown. We also identified neuronal gene orthopedia protein a (otpa) as one whose expression correlates with rps29 expression, suggesting that levels of expression of some genes are dependent on rps29 levels. Together, our studies demonstrate a role of p53 in mediating the cellular defects associated with rps29 and establish a role for rps29 and p53 in hematopoietic stem cells and red blood cell development.Stem Cell and Regenerative Biolog

Comparison of treatment effect sizes from pivotal and postapproval trials of novel therapeutics approved by the FDA based on surrogate markers of disease: a meta-epidemiological study

Background: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) often approves new drugs based on trials that use surrogate markers for endpoints, which involve certain trade-offs and may risk making erroneous inferences about the medical product’s actual clinical effect. This study aims to compare the treatment effects among pivotal trials supporting FDA approval of novel therapeutics based on surrogate markers of disease with those observed among postapproval trials for the same indication. Methods: We searched Drugs@FDA and PubMed to identify published randomized superiority design pivotal trials for all novel drugs initially approved by the FDA between 2005 and 2012 based on surrogate markers as primary endpoints and published postapproval trials using the same surrogate markers or patient-relevant outcomes as endpoints. Summary ratio of odds ratios (RORs) and difference between standardized mean differences (dSMDs) were used to quantify the average difference in treatment effects between pivotal and matched postapproval trials. Results: Between 2005 and 2012, the FDA approved 88 novel drugs for 90 indications based on one or multiple pivotal trials using surrogate markers of disease. Of these, 27 novel drugs for 27 indications were approved based on pivotal trials using surrogate markers as primary endpoints that could be matched to at least one postapproval trial, for a total of 43 matches. For nine (75.0%) of the 12 matches using the same non-continuous surrogate markers as trial endpoints, pivotal trials had larger treatment effects than postapproval trials. On average, treatment effects were 50% higher (more beneficial) in the pivotal than the postapproval trials (ROR 1.5; 95% confidence interval CI 1.01–2.23). For 17 (54.8%) of the 31 matches using the same continuous surrogate markers as trial endpoints, pivotal trials had larger treatment effects than the postapproval trials. On average, there was no difference in treatment effects between pivotal and postapproval trials (dSMDs 0.01; 95% CI -0.15–0.16). Conclusions: Many postapproval drug trials are not directly comparable to previously published pivotal trials, particularly with respect to endpoint selection. Although treatment effects from pivotal trials supporting FDA approval of novel therapeutics based on non-continuous surrogate markers of disease are often larger than those observed among postapproval trials using surrogate markers as trial endpoints, there is no evidence of difference between pivotal and postapproval trials using continuous surrogate markers

Tissue Tropism in Host Transcriptional Response to Members of the Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most common infectious disease of beef and dairy cattle and is characterized by a complex infectious etiology that includes a variety of viral and bacterial pathogens. We examined the global changes in mRNA abundance in healthy lung and lung lesions and in the lymphoid tissues bronchial lymph node, retropharyngeal lymph node, nasopharyngeal lymph node and pharyngeal tonsil collected at the peak of clinical disease from beef cattle experimentally challenged with either bovine respiratory syncytial virus, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine viral diarrhea virus, Mannheimia haemolytica or Mycoplasma bovis. We identified signatures of tissue-specific transcriptional responses indicative of tropism in the coordination of host's immune tissue responses to infection by viral or bacterial infections. Furthermore, our study shows that this tissue tropism in host transcriptional response to BRD pathogens results in the activation of different networks of response genes. The differential crosstalk among genes expressed in lymphoid tissues was predicted to be orchestrated by specific immune genes that act as 'key players' within expression networks. The results of this study serve as a basis for the development of innovative therapeutic strategies and for the selection of cattle with enhanced resistance to BRD

A pre-post test evaluation of the impact of the PELICAN MDT-TME development programme on the working lives of colorectal cancer team members

Background - The PELICAN Multidisciplinary Team Total Mesorectal Excision (MDT-TME) Development Programme aimed to improve clinical outcomes for rectal cancer by educating colorectal cancer teams in precision surgery and related aspects of multidisciplinary care. The Programme reached almost all colorectal cancer teams across England. We took the opportunity to assess the impact of participating in this novel team-based Development Programme on the working lives of colorectal cancer team members. Methods - The impact of participating in the programme on team members' self-reported job stress, job satisfaction and team performance was assessed in a pre-post course study. 333/568 (59%) team members, from the 75 multidisciplinary teams who attended the final year of the Programme, completed questionnaires pre-course, and 6-8 weeks post-course. Results - Across all team members, the main sources of job satisfaction related to working in multidisciplinary teams; whilst feeling overloaded was the main source of job stress. Surgeons and clinical nurse specialists reported higher levels of job satisfaction than team members who do not provide direct patient care, whilst MDT coordinators reported the lowest levels of job satisfaction and job stress. Both job stress and satisfaction decreased after participating in the Programme for all team members. There was a small improvement in team performance. Conclusions - Participation in the Development Programme had a mixed impact on the working lives of team members in the immediate aftermath of attending. The decrease in team members' job stress may reflect the improved knowledge and skills conferred by the Programme. The decrease in job satisfaction may be the consequence of being unable to apply these skills immediately in clinical practice because of a lack of required infrastructure and/or equipment. In addition, whilst the Programme raised awareness of the challenges of teamworking, a greater focus on tackling these issues may have improved working lives further

Family history of cancer and head and neck cancer survival

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137774/1/lary26524_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137774/2/lary26524.pd