Peer support between healthcare workers in hospital and out-of-hospital settings: a scoping review

Background and aim: the healthcare workers, mostly in emergency departments, are exposed to emotionally strong situations: this condition often can lead them to operate incorrectly. In the face of the mistake, many of them experience psychological trauma, becoming “second victims” of the event. In this case they can find comfort in dealing with Peers that can help to understand emotions and normalize lived experiences. A scoping review was conducted to clarify the key concepts available in the literature and understand Peer Support characteristics and methods of implementation. Methods: scoping review approach of Joanna Briggs Institute was used. The reviewers analyzed the last twenty-one years of literature and extracted data from relevant studies. Results: 49 articles were relevant. Articles involve mostly physicians and nurses, but all the other healthcare professionals are included. 56% of the articles have been published in the last two years during the Covid 19 pandemic, which revealed the growing need of developing Peer Support programs; the Anglo-Saxon countries are the main geographical area of origin (82%). Peer support emerges as a preclinical psychological support for people involved in tiring situations. It’s based on mutual respect and on voluntary and not prejudicial help. Peers are trained to guide the support relationship. Peer Support can be proposed as one to one/group peer support, or through online platforms. Conclusions: many of the studies affirm that the personnel involved have benefited from the programs available. It is necessary to carry out further research to determine the pre and post intervention benefits. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Total Synthesis of Asparenydiol by Two Sonogashira Cross-Coupling Reactions Promoted by Supported Pd and Cu Catalysts

Asparenydiol, which is an important natural compound with potential pharmacological activities, was synthesized through two Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions catalyzed by supported Pd and Cu catalysts and by a Mitsunobu etherification. The optimization of the Sonogashira couplings allowed the use of catalysts supported on different matrices with good results in terms of catalytic efficiency and yields

Impact of ABC transporters in osteosarcoma and ewing’s sarcoma: Which are involved in chemoresistance and which are not?

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily consists of several proteins with a wide repertoire of functions. Under physiological conditions, ABC transporters are involved in cellular trafficking of hormones, lipids, ions, xenobiotics, and several other molecules, including a broad spectrum of chemical substrates and chemotherapeutic drugs. In cancers, ABC transporters have been intensely studied over the past decades, mostly for their involvement in the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype. This review provides an overview of ABC transporters, both related and unrelated to MDR, which have been studied in osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma. Since different backbone drugs used in first-line or rescue chemotherapy for these two rare bone sarcomas are substrates of ABC transporters, this review particularly focused on studies that have provided findings that have been either translated to clinical practice or have indicated new candidate therapeutic targets; however, findings obtained from ABC transporters that were not directly involved in drug resistance were also discussed, in order to provide a more complete overview of the biological impacts of these molecules in osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma. Finally, therapeutic strategies and agents aimed to circumvent ABC-mediated chemoresistance were discussed to provide future perspectives about possible treatment improvements of these neoplasms

Successful implementation of inquiry-based physiology laboratories in undergraduate major and nonmajor courses. Adv Physiol Educ 32

Casotti G, Rieser-Danner L, Knabb MT. Successful implementation of inquiry-based physiology laboratories in undergraduate major and nonmajor courses. Adv Physiol Educ 32: 286-296, 2008; doi:10.1152/advan.00100.2007.-Recent evidence has demonstrated that inquiry-based physiology laboratories improve students' criticaland analytical-thinking skills. We implemented inquiry-based learning into three physiology courses: Comparative Vertebrate Physiology (majors), Human Physiology (majors), and Human Anatomy and Physiology (nonmajors). The aims of our curricular modifications were to improve the teaching of physiological concepts, teach students the scientific approach, and promote creative and critical thinking. We assessed our modifications using formative (laboratory exams, oral presentations, and laboratory reports) and summative evaluations (surveys, laboratory notebook, and an end of semester project). Students appreciated the freedom offered by the new curriculum and the opportunity to engage in the inquiry process. Results from both forms of evaluation showed a marked improvement due to the curricular revisions. Our analyses indicate an increased confidence in students' ability to formulate questions and hypotheses, design experiments, collect and analyze data, and make conclusions. Thus, we have successfully incorporated inquiry-based laboratories in both major and nonmajor courses. pedagogy; curriculum; evaluation INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING is an alternative pedagogical method of classroom teaching that is characterized by a focus on learning through discovery. It incorporates four approaches to teaching: 1) a focus on ideas and concepts generated by students rather than by instructors, 2) an activity component where students actively participate in performing tasks (experiments) to test their ideas, 3) an emphasis on learning the methods of verifying and testing hypotheses, and 4) an emphasis on the importance of both content and process as components of learning Some individual studies of the effectiveness of an inquirybased approach have been reported. For example, DiPasquale et al. (2) modified the curriculum in an exercise physiology course at San Diego State University. The course was previously taught in a traditional style. Their new approach was to cover core exercise physiology topics in the first third of the course using the traditional teacher-centered style of learning while emphasizing the scientific process. In the last 9 wk of the course, students worked in small groups of three to four and completed independent research projects. In contrast, Myers and Burgess (11) redesigned an organismal physiology course centering on student-designed experiments throughout the course of the semester. Both studies reported an increase in student achievement of learning outcomes using student-designed experiments compared with a teacher-centered approach. Moreover, a recent review (10) published in Advances of Physiology Education summarized the evidence supporting the conclusion that forms of active learning, such as an inquirybased approach, are more effective in enhancing student learning than traditional modes of teaching. Problems With the Existing Curriculum The physiology curriculum using a teacher-centered approach resulted in several problems related to student learning. One of the problems was that students in our nonmajor course failed to connect physiological concepts taught in lecture with the laboratory activities. In addition, the laboratories did not emphasize the scientific approach to problem solving, and students were restricted in the types of experiments they were able to perform (13). Our old curriculum provided students with detailed step-bystep instructions for completing their experiments. As a result, students commented to the laboratory instructors that they lost sight of the educational purpose of the experiments. Furthermore, regimented instructions did not allow our students any flexibility to deviate from the experimental protocol, thereby impeding student creativity Students had no opportunity to develop their own understanding of physiology using the scientific approach. Even though our majors were required to write laboratory reports in prerequisite courses such as Cell Physiology and Organic Chemistry, they did not communicate their ideas effectively in a scientific report. For example, students did not refer to the neural control of respiration when discussing irregular respiratory patterns when solving a math problem. This resulted in low scores on laboratory reports. Clearly, this called for the need to offer students more opportunities using the scientific method, from researching background information to developing a testable hypothesis using appropriate written communication and reporting of scientific findings. Similar problems in understanding the scientific approach were also evident in our nonmajor course (see Precurricula Survey). Verbal comments from students in our physiology courses indicated a dissatisfaction with simply repeating experiments that had already been done by other researchers. Students could not see the purpose of performing some of the experiments, especially those involving animals, and often asked "Why ar

Factors associated with paradoxical immune response to antiretroviral therapy in HIV infected patients: a case control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A paradoxical immunologic response (PIR) to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), defined as viral suppression without CD4 cell-count improvement, has been reported in the literature as 8 to 42%, around 15% in most instances. The present study aims to determine, in a cohort of HIV infected patients in Brazil, what factors were independently associated with such a discordant response to HAART.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A case-control study (1:4) matched by gender was conducted among 934 HIV infected patients on HAART in Brazil. Cases: patients with PIR, defined as CD4 < 350 cells/mm³(hazard ratio for AIDS or death of at least 8.5) and undetectable HIV viral load on HAART for at least one year. Controls: similar to cases, but with CD4 counts ≥ 350 cells/mm³. Eligibility criteria were applied. Data were collected from medical records using a standardized form. Variables were introduced in a hierarchical logistic regression model if a p-value < 0.1 was determined in a bivariate analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 934 patients, 39 cases and 160 controls were consecutively selected. Factors associated with PIR in the logistic regression model were: total time in use of HAART (OR 0.981; CI 95%: 0.96-0.99), nadir CD4-count (OR 0.985; CI 95%: 0.97-0.99), and time of undetectable HIV viral load (OR 0.969; CI 95%: 0.94-0.99).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>PIR seems to be related to a delay in the management of immunodeficient patients, as shown by its negative association with nadir CD4-count. Strategies should be implemented to avoid such a delay and improve the adherence to HAART as a way to implement concordant responses.</p