Current practice and surgical outcomes of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer : UK NeST study

Funding Information: This work was funded by a grant from the Association of Breast SurgeryPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Determining the effectiveness of a video-based contact intervention in improving attitudes of Penang primary care nurses towards people with mental illness

<div><p>Background</p><p>Mental illness-related stigma is common, and is associated with poorer outcomes in people with mental illness. This study evaluated the attitudes of primary care nurses towards people with mental illness and its associated factors; and the effectiveness of a short video-based contact intervention (VBCI) in improving these attitudes using a Malay version of the 15-item Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Healthcare Providers (OMS-HC-15-M).</p><p>Methods</p><p>A 5-minute VBCI was developed comprising elements of psychoeducation and interviews of people with mental illness and the people they interact with, relating to experience of mental illness and recovery. A pre-post cross-sectional study was conducted on 206 randomly selected primary care nurses in Penang, Malaysia. The OMS-HC-15-M questionnaire was administered before and immediately after participants viewed the VBCI. The difference in mean pre-post VBCI scores using paired t-tests, effect size and standardised response mean (SRM) were obtained. Factors correlating to attitudes were obtained using univariate and multivariate regression analyses.</p><p>Results</p><p>Differences in pre-post VBCI score were statistically significant (p<0.001) with a 14% score reduction, a moderate effect size and SRM at 0.97 (0.85–0.11) and 1.1 (0.97–1.2) respectively. By factoring in the Minimal Detectable Change statistic of 7.76, the VBCI produced a significant improvement of attitudes in 30% of the participants. Factors associated with less stigmatising attitudes at baseline were previous psychiatry-related training, desiring psychiatric training, and positive contact with people with mental illness.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>This is the first study in Malaysia to show that a brief VBCI is effective in improving attitudes of primary care nurses towards people with mental illness in the immediate term. Further studies are needed to determine if these results can be sustained in the longer term and generalizable to other health care professionals. Qualitative studies are warranted to provide insight to the factors correlating to these attitudes. (300 words)</p></div

Demographic characteristics of participants (n = 206).

<p>Demographic characteristics of participants (n = 206).</p

OMS-HC-15-M pre-post intervention change scores.

<p>OMS-HC-15-M pre-post intervention change scores.</p

Change scores with minimal detectable change applied.

<p>Change scores with minimal detectable change applied.</p

Experiences with mental illness.

<p>Experiences with mental illness.</p

Study flow.

<p>ANMPI, The attitudes of nurses to people presenting with mental illness; OMS-HC-15-M, Opening Minds Scale for Healthcare Providers 15 Items, Malay version.</p

Multivariate regression analysis for independent variables associated with mean total pre-VBCI OMS-HC-15-M scores.

<p>Multivariate regression analysis for independent variables associated with mean total pre-VBCI OMS-HC-15-M scores.</p

Protein disorder and short conserved motifs in disordered regions are enriched near the cytoplasmic side of single-pass transmembrane proteins

Intracellular juxtamembrane regions of transmembrane proteins play pivotal roles in cell signalling, mediated by protein-protein interactions. Disordered protein regions, and short conserved motifs within them, are emerging as key determinants of many such interactions. Here, we investigated whether disorder and conserved motifs are enriched in the juxtamembrane area of human single-pass transmembrane proteins. Conserved motifs were defined as short disordered regions that were much more conserved than the adjacent disordered residues. Human single-pass proteins had higher mean disorder in their cytoplasmic segments than their extracellular parts. Some, but not all, of this effect reflected the shorter length of the cytoplasmic tail. A peak of cytoplasmic disorder was seen at around 30 residues from the membrane. We noted a significant increase in the incidence of conserved motifs within the disordered regions at the same location, even after correcting for the extent of disorder. We conclude that elevated disorder within the cytoplasmic tail of many transmembrane proteins is likely to be associated with enrichment for signalling interactions mediated by conserved short motifs.Author has checked copyrigh

Amino acid composition.

<p>Standard error bars plotted on the graph are very close to the mean values. EC: extracellular. IC: intracellular.</p