Core Competencies to Promote Consistency and Standardization of Best Practices for Digital Peer Support: Focus Group Study

Background: As digital peer support is quickly expanding across the globe in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, standardization in the training and delivery of digital peer support can advance the professionalism of this field. While telehealth competencies exist for other fields of mental health practice, such as social work, psychiatry, and psychology, limited research has been done to develop and promote digital peer support competencies. Objective: The goal of this study is to introduce the coproduction of core competencies that can guide digital peer support. Methods: Peer support specialists were recruited through an international listserv and participated in a 1-hour virtual focus group. A total of four focus groups were conducted with 59 peer support specialists from 11 US states and three countries. Results: Analysis was conducted using the rigorous and accelerated data reduction (RADaR) technique, and 10 themes were identified: (1) protecting the rights of service users, (2) technical knowledge and skills in the practice of digital peer support, (3) available technologies, (4) equity of access, (5) digital communication skills, (6) performance-based training, (7) self-care, (8) monitoring digital peer support and addressing digital crisis, (9) peer support competencies, and (10) health literacy (emerging). The authors present recommendations based on these themes. Conclusions: The introduction of digital peer support core competencies is an initial first step to promote the standardization of best practices in digital peer support. The established competencies can potentially act as a guide for training and skill development to be integrated into US state peer support specialist competencies and to enhance competencies endorsed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).publishedVersio

K-Ras4A splice variant is widely expressed in cancer and uses a hybrid membrane-targeting motif

The KRAS oncogene is mutated more frequently in human cancer than any other. The KRAS transcript is alternatively spliced to give rise to two products, K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B, both of which are oncogenic when KRAS is mutated. We detected significant amounts of each transcript in human tumor cells and colorectal carcinomas. We found that K-Ras4A is targeted to the plasma membrane by dual targeting motifs distinct from those of K-Ras4B. Because interfering with membrane association of Ras proteins remains one of the most attractive approaches to anti-Ras therapy, efforts in this direction will have to disrupt both the K-Ras4A and the K-Ras4B membrane-targeting pathways

Erratum to: Methods for evaluating medical tests and biomarkers

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s41512-016-0001-y.]

Evidence synthesis to inform model-based cost-effectiveness evaluations of diagnostic tests: a methodological systematic review of health technology assessments

Background: Evaluations of diagnostic tests are challenging because of the indirect nature of their impact on patient outcomes. Model-based health economic evaluations of tests allow different types of evidence from various sources to be incorporated and enable cost-effectiveness estimates to be made beyond the duration of available study data. To parameterize a health-economic model fully, all the ways a test impacts on patient health must be quantified, including but not limited to diagnostic test accuracy. Methods: We assessed all UK NIHR HTA reports published May 2009-July 2015. Reports were included if they evaluated a diagnostic test, included a model-based health economic evaluation and included a systematic review and meta-analysis of test accuracy. From each eligible report we extracted information on the following topics: 1) what evidence aside from test accuracy was searched for and synthesised, 2) which methods were used to synthesise test accuracy evidence and how did the results inform the economic model, 3) how/whether threshold effects were explored, 4) how the potential dependency between multiple tests in a pathway was accounted for, and 5) for evaluations of tests targeted at the primary care setting, how evidence from differing healthcare settings was incorporated. Results: The bivariate or HSROC model was implemented in 20/22 reports that met all inclusion criteria. Test accuracy data for health economic modelling was obtained from meta-analyses completely in four reports, partially in fourteen reports and not at all in four reports. Only 2/7 reports that used a quantitative test gave clear threshold recommendations. All 22 reports explored the effect of uncertainty in accuracy parameters but most of those that used multiple tests did not allow for dependence between test results. 7/22 tests were potentially suitable for primary care but the majority found limited evidence on test accuracy in primary care settings. Conclusions: The uptake of appropriate meta-analysis methods for synthesising evidence on diagnostic test accuracy in UK NIHR HTAs has improved in recent years. Future research should focus on other evidence requirements for cost-effectiveness assessment, threshold effects for quantitative tests and the impact of multiple diagnostic tests

Erratum to: Methods for evaluating medical tests and biomarkers

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s41512-016-0001-y.]

Queensland Alumni Catch Up: How to be a flamingo in a flock of seagulls

Swinburne alum and Brand Designer and Strategist Kate Perry, shares her hints and tips for standing out from the crowd in this new virtual world. Recorded 28th October 2020

Anormalidades dentarias en caninos

Se realizó un estudio de la salud bucal en 50 perros anestesiados, adaptándose un método clínico de diagnóstico a partir de la odontología humana. Este método contempla la detección de anomalías bucodentarias, uso de índices periodontales y medición de profundidad del surco gingivodentario. Se encontró que prácticamente todos los pacientes presentaban alguna periodontopatía, en grado variable. Dentro del resto de alteraciones, las más frecuentes fueron las facetas de desgaste y las caries.Palabras claves: Enfermedad periodontal, caries dental.AbstractIn the present report attention is drawn to investigate the presence of dental abnormalities in fifty dogs anesthetized at a veterinary hospital. In this animals by using oral examination and human diagnostics techniques, periodontal disease was detected in 100% of dogs, dental caries in 32%.Key words: Periodontal disease, dental caries

Yeast-surface expressed BVDV E2 protein induces a Th1/Th2 response in naïve T cells

Yeast species such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae are known to be potent activators of the immune system. S. cerevisiae activates the innate immune system by engaging pattern recognition receptors such as toll like receptor 2 (TLR2) and dectin-1. In the current project, we express the immunogenic envelope protein E2 of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) on the surface of S. cerevisiae. After successful expression, components of the innate and adaptive immune response induced by the recombinant S. cerevisiaein vitro were analysed to determine if expression in yeast enhances the immunogenicity of the viral protein. Recombinant S. cerevisiae stimulated production of the chemokine CXCL-8 in primary bovine macrophages, but did no stimulate production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the same cells. Additionally, bovine macrophages primed with S. cerevisiae expressing viral envelope proteins had a greater capacity for stimulating proliferation of CD4+ T-cells from BVDV-free animals compared to macrophages primed with envelope protein alone or S. cerevisiae without envelope protein expression. Heat inactivation of recombinant S. cerevisiae increased ROS production and capacity to stimulate CD4+ T-cells in macrophages but did not alter CXCL-8 release compared to the live counter-part. Additionally, heat-inactivation of recombinant S. cerevisiae induced less INFγ and IL-4 but equal amounts of IL-10 compared to live yeast T-cell cultures. Our studies demonstrate a use for S. cerevisiae as a vehicle for transporting BVDV vaccine antigen to antigen-presenting cell in order to elicit cell-mediated immunity even in naïve animals

K-Ras4A splice variant is widely expressed in cancer and uses a hybrid membrane-targeting motif

The two products of the KRAS locus, K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B, are encoded by alternative fourth exons and therefore, possess distinct membrane-targeting sequences. The common activating mutations occur in exons 1 or 2 and therefore, render both splice variants oncogenic. K-Ras4A has been understudied, because it has been considered a minor splice variant. By priming off of the splice junction, we developed a quantitative RT-PCR assay for K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B message capable of measuring absolute amounts of the two transcripts. We found that K-Ras4A was widely expressed in 30 of 30 human cancer cell lines and amounts equal to K-Ras4B in 17 human colorectal tumors. Using splice variant-specific antibodies, we detected K-Ras4A protein in several tumor cell lines at a level equal to or greater than that of K-Ras4B. In addition to the CAAX motif, the C terminus of K-Ras4A contains a site of palmitoylation as well as a bipartite polybasic region. Although both were required for maximal efficiency, each of these could independently deliver K-Ras4A to the plasma membrane. Thus, among four Ras proteins, K-Ras4A is unique in possessing a dual membrane-targeting motif. We also found that, unlike K-Ras4B, K-Ras4A does not bind to the cytosolic chaperone δ-subunit of cGMP phosphodiesterase type 6 (PDE6δ). We conclude that efforts to develop anti–K-Ras drugs that interfere with membrane trafficking will have to take into account the distinct modes of targeting of the two K-Ras splice variants