Association of ABC (HbA1c, Blood Pressure, LDL-Cholesterol) Goal Attainment with Depression and Health-Related Quality of Life among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

Aims: To determine the relationship between ABC goal attainment, depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among a national sample of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis was performed examining 808 non-pregnant patients ≥ 20 years old with T2DM from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2012. ABC goals were defined as HbA1c \u3c 7%, BP \u3c 130/80mmHg, and LDL-C \u3c 100mg/dL. Patient characteristics associated with ABC goal attainment were examined. Results: Overall, 23.7% of participants achieved simultaneous ABC goals. Severe depression was significantly associated with lower rates of ABC goal attainment compared to those with no depression (5.0% vs. 25.4%, p = 0.048). ABC goal attainment rates were lower among females, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black minority groups, and patients with a duration of diabetes over five years, while increased visits with health care professionals was significantly associated with meeting all three ABC goals for patients with T2DM. Conclusions: The relationship between simultaneous ABC goal attainment, depression and HRQoL is complex. Patients with T2DM unable to meet ABC goals may benefit from increased contact with health care professionals

Implementation of an Accelerated Physical Examination Course in a Doctor of Pharmacy Program

Objective. To describe the implementation of a 1-day accelerated physical examination course for a doctor of pharmacy program and to evaluate pharmacy students’ knowledge, attitudes, and confi- dence in performing physical examination. Design. Using a flipped teaching approach, course coordinators collaborated with a physician faculty member to design and develop the objectives of the course. Knowledge, attitude, and confidence survey questions were administered before and after the practical laboratory. Assessment. Following the practical laboratory, knowledge improved by 8.3% (p,0.0001). Students’ perceived ability and confidence to perform a physical examination significantly improved (p,0.0001). A majority of students responded that reviewing the training video (81.3%) and reading material (67.4%) prior to the practical laboratory was helpful in learning the physical examination. Conclusion. An accelerated physical examination course using a flipped teaching approach was successful in improving students’ knowledge of, attitudes about, and confidence in using physical examination skills in pharmacy practice

Evaluation of molecular makers for species phylogeny of genus Acropora (Cnidaria; Scleractinia; Acroporidae)

Acropora is the most speciose genus in coral reef with 113 species currently described. Diversified morphology and potential of cross-species hybridization have drawn our attention in defining the species boundary, constructing species-level phylogeny, and inferring mechanism of speciation for this genus. Although endeavours have been taking in developing molecular markers in the last decade, several unique features such as slow evolution of mitochondrial genome and abundant ribosomal pseudogenes of Acropora neither provide little resolution for phylogenetic inference, nor equivocal conclusions in contrast to phylogenies based on fossil records and morphological characters. In this study, we evaluated 4 molecular markers, including mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (Cytb), mitochondrial intergenic spacer spanning between Cytb and ND gene (mtigs), mini-collagen intron 2 (mci2), and nuclear histone 2a and 2b gene (H2ab), for constructing species phylogeny of genus Acropora. All the 4 loci supported the two subgenera, lsopora and Acropora, as two distinct evolutionary lineages, and relocated Acropora togianensis as the fifth species in the• subgenus lsopora. However, Cytb, mtigs, and mci2 suffering from either low variability or sharing unsorted polymorphisms between the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific species provided no further resolution in resolving phylogeny in subgenus Acropora. In contrast, phylogeny constructed based on h2ab gene using Bayesian approach supported, in part, to Wallace (1999), that A. humilis group and A. austera form the basal clades of morphological phylogeny. The utility of nuclear coding genes in. resolving. species phylogeny of Acropora is highlighted

Relationship Between Grit with Academic Performance and Attainment of Postgraduate Training in Pharmacy Students

Objective. To determine if Grit-S scores correlate with academic success in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program, as well as the pursuit and attainment of pharmacy postgraduate (residency or fellowship) training. Methods. A 28-item survey was administered to third- and fourth-year (P3 and P4) pharmacy students. Variables queried included Grit-S score, demographics, pharmacy experience prior to the PharmD program, and factors that may affect academic performance during didactic coursework. Didactic coursework GPA was used as a surrogate for academic success. Information about pursuit and attainment of a postgraduate training position was also documented and used in the analyses. Results. There was no significant correlation between Grit-S scores and variables related to academic success. However, students were more likely to pursue postgraduate training with higher academic success and higher Grit-S. Lastly, students with higher Grit-S were also more likely to obtain a postgraduate training position. Conclusion. Grit-S scores correlated with the pursuit and successful attainment of postgraduate training, but not with academic success during the didactic years of a PharmD program

Novel Monthly Quality Assurance Regimen and 5-Year Analysis Using a Proton Metrology System

Purpose: To develop a novel, monthly quality assurance (QA) regimen for a proton therapy system that uses 2 custom phantoms, each housing a commercial scintillator detector and a charge-coupled device camera. The novel metrology system assessed QA trends at a pediatric proton therapy center from 2018 to 2022. Materials and Methods: The measurement system was designed to accommodate horizontal and vertical positioning of the commercial device and to enable gantry and couch isocentricity measurements (using a star shot procedure), proton spot profile verification, and imaging and radiation congruence tests to be performed simultaneously in the dual-phantom setup. Gantry angles and proton beam energies were varied and alternated each month, using gantry angles of 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, 120°, 150°, and 180° and discrete beam energies of 69.4, 84.5, 100, 139.1, 180.4, 200.4, and 221.3 MeV after radiographic verification. A total of 1176 individual monthly QA measurements of gantry and couch isocentricity, spot size, and congruence were analyzed. Results: Gantry and couch star shot measurements showed beam isocentricities of 0.3 ± 0.2 mm and 0.2 ± 0.2 mm, respectively, which were within the threshold of 1.0 mm. Spot sizes for each discrete energy were within the threshold of ± 10% of the baseline values for all 3 proton rooms. The imaging and radiation coincidence test results for the 1176 individual monthly QA measurements were 0.5 mm for the 50th percentile and 1.2 mm (the clinical threshold) for the 97.6th percentile. Conclusions: Integrating a commercial device with custom phantoms improved the quality of proton system checks compared with previous methods using radiochromic films, loose ball bearings, and foam. The scheme of alternating beam angles with discrete energies in the monthly QA-enabled, clinically meaningful verification of beam energy and gantry angle combinations while the machine performance and accuracy were being checked

Clinical utility of and correlation between Sniffin' Sticks and TIB smell identification test (TIBSIT) among Hong Kong Chinese with or without chronic rhinosinusitis

IntroductionOlfactory dysfunction (OD) is common among patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Validated and culturally specific tests, such as the “Sniffin’ Sticks” test (SST) and the TIB Smell Identification Test (TIBSIT), are crucial for the diagnosis and monitoring of OD. However, they have not been utilised in Hong Kong Chinese and their correlations are unknown.MethodsTwelve CRS patients and twenty healthy volunteers were prospectively recruited from a joint allergy-otorhinolaryngology clinic in Hong Kong and performed both SST and TIBSIT. Demographics, baseline characteristics and all test results were compared and analysed.ResultsPatients with CRS demonstrated significantly lower test scores than healthy controls (all p < 0.001). Significant and strong correlations were observed between all composite and subtest scores, particularly between the composite SST and TIBSIT scores (ρ = 0.789, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of CRS and increasing age were significantly associated with OD.ConclusionBoth SST and TIBSIT are useful olfactory tests and are strongly correlated among Hong Kong Chinese. We advocate that either test can be used for measuring OD among CRS patients

The Greenland Telescope: Antenna Retrofit Status and Future Plans

Since the ALMA North America Prototype Antenna was awarded to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), SAO and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics (ASIAA) are working jointly to relocate the antenna to Greenland. This paper shows the status of the antenna retrofit and the work carried out after the recommissioning and subsequent disassembly of the antenna at the VLA has taken place. The next coming months will see the start of the antenna reassembly at Thule Air Base. These activities are expected to last until the fall of 2017 when commissioning should take place. In parallel, design, fabrication and testing of the last components are taking place in Taiwan

Repurposing hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels as a novel therapy for breast cancer.

Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels are members of the voltage-gated cation channel family known to be expressed in the heart and central nervous system. Ivabradine, a small molecule HCN channel-blocker, is FDA-approved for clinical use as a heart rate-reducing agent. We found that HCN2 and HCN3 are overexpressed in breast cancer cells compared with normal breast epithelia, and the high expression of HCN2 and HCN3 is associated with poorer survival in breast cancer patients. Inhibition of HCN by Ivabradine or by RNAi, aborted breast cancer cell proliferation in vitro and suppressed tumour growth in patient-derived tumour xenograft models established from triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tissues, with no evident side-effects on the mice. Transcriptome-wide analysis showed enrichment for cholesterol metabolism and biosynthesis as well as lipid metabolism pathways associated with ER-stress following Ivabradine treatment. Mechanistic studies confirmed that HCN inhibition leads to ER-stress, in part due to disturbed Ca2+ homeostasis, which subsequently triggered the apoptosis cascade. More importantly, we investigated the synergistic effect of Ivabradine and paclitaxel on TNBC and confirmed that both drugs acted synergistically in vitro through ER-stress to amplify signals for caspase activation. Combination therapy could suppress tumour growth of xenografts at much lower doses for both drugs. In summary, our study identified a new molecular target with potential for being developed into targeted therapy, providing scientific grounds for initiating clinical trials for a new treatment regimen of combining HCN inhibition with chemotherapy