Implementation of point-of-care testing: current applications and the impact on patient experience

Introduction: Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) also widely known as Near Patient Testing (NPT), is pathology testing performed at or near the site of patient care, offering several advantages over traditional pathology testing: it is portable, provides rapid results, uses smaller sample sizes and can be used for patient self-testing (PST). Due to these differences, it is conceivable that the implementation of POCT in place of laboratory testing could have an impact on patient experience; therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate this impact. The specific objectives of the study are to identify where and how POCT is currently used, to assess its impact on patient outcome and experience within a community setting and to evaluate its performance in the community setting. Methods: A survey was performed to gain insight on the extent to which POCT is used within UK primary care, how well established it is and general attitudes toward its use. A cross-sectional study, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods was conducted with patients receiving local authority provided NHS Health Checks in the community, where POCT is used to measure cholesterol and glucose. The analytical and operator performance of the POCT used was also assessed. Results: UK primary care staff were aware of POCT; 86% of respondents reporting that their surgery used some form of POCT on a regular basis. It appeared, however, that POCT operators were not always trained and that the quality of results obtained was not always considered. The use of POCT in community-based NHS Health Checks was well received and enabled the screening of individuals who would not normally access healthcare. However, the programme as a whole did not instigate significant improvements in the cardiovascular health of the participants, unless the participant was referred for further testing. The POCT used produced results that were significantly different from the reference value, producing clinically significant changes in outcome. Conclusion: The use of POCT should be tightly managed in every setting, including the community. This management should include regular quality checks to ensure patient results are accurate and that clinical management decisions are appropriate

A Quantitative Examination Of Community College Students' Self-Efficacy Inside Mathematics Pathways

Title from PDF of title page, viewed May 24, 2023Dissertation advisor: Tiffani Riggers-PiehlVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 162-172)DIssertation (Ed.D.)--Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Foundations. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2023The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the change in mathematics self-efficacy of students enrolled in a college mathematics course at a community college in Missouri. The change was measured over a single semester as a pre-test and post-test. The timing of this study is significant, given that it follows statewide changes in college mathematics curriculum. The changes made to Missouri college-level mathematics courses were done in an effort to increase student retention and completion of general education mathematics credit in the state, which had been a barrier for graduation. This study outlines how mathematics self-efficacy is one measure that may be used to assess how the new courses impact students. The data from a mathematics self-efficacy survey, administered to students during Fall 2019 and Spring 2021 semesters, were analyzed using descriptive statistics and tested for significance using t-tests and ANOVA. Changes in mathematics self-efficacy were examined based on whether or not the student was enrolled in an optimal mathematics course for their degree, gender, ethnicity, high school grade point average, and overall college mathematics course enrollment. Findings showed that there were significant differences in the change in mathematics self-efficacy based on gender, ethnicity, high school grade point average, developmental math course enrollment, and optimal mathematics pathway course enrollment. Students enrolled in a general education mathematics course for the fall of 2019 had an overall increase in mathematics self-efficacy. Male students showed greater overall mathematics self-efficacy at the start of the semester; gender was a significant factor in how much mathematics self-efficacy changed. White students had an overall significant increase in mathematics self-efficacy. Other groups with a significant increase were students with a high school grade point average of 3.0 or higher and students enrolled in a three credit-hour developmental mathematics course. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in obstacles that led to less robust data collection following the pandemic. Therefore, the Spring of 2021 data were not sufficient to aid in some of this research study. This research fills a gap in the literature on the mathematics self-efficacy of Missouri mathematics college students, but further research is needed.Introduction -- A review of the literature -- Methodology -- Results -- Conclusio

Exploring Secondary Agriscience Teachers' and Students' Use, Attitude Toward, Knowledge and Perceptions of Computers and Technology Tools

Computers are an ever changing facet of everyday life; almost all businesses, including schools, are dependent on technology, from research to information delivery. With the rapid advances in computer technology made every year combined with the increasing availability of computers to students, it is important to continually investigate how secondary agriscience teachers' and students' use and view computer technology, both personally and educationally, in order to effectively utilize this advancing educational tool for the benefit of both groups. The purpose of this study was to describe agriscience teachers' and students use, attitude toward, knowledge and perceptions of computers and technology tools in order to better understand how secondary agriscience teachers use computers in their instruction and how agriscience students use computers for school and social purposes. This study explored both teacher and student opinions about school assignments that require computer use and how often both groups utilize the computer for work and entertainment

Postdocs’ Lab Engagement Predicts Trajectories of PhD Students’ Skill Development

The doctoral advisor—typically the principal investigator (PI)—is often characterized as a singular or primary mentor who guides students using a cognitive apprenticeship model. Alternatively, the “cascading mentorship” model describes the members of laboratories or research groups receiving mentorship from more senior laboratory members and providing it to more junior members (i.e., PIs mentor postdocs, postdocs mentor senior graduate students, senior students mentor junior students, etc.). Here we show that PIs’ laboratory and mentoring activities do not significantly predict students’ skill development trajectories, but the engagement of postdocs and senior graduate students in laboratory interactions do. We found that the cascading mentorship model accounts best for doctoral student skill development in a longitudinal study of 336 PhD students in the United States. Specifically, when postdocs and senior doctoral students actively participate in laboratory discussions, junior PhD students are over 4 times as likely to have positive skill development trajectories. Thus, postdocs disproportionately enhance the doctoral training enterprise, despite typically having no formal mentorship role. These findings also illustrate both the importance and the feasibility of identifying evidence-based practices in graduate education

Preparing Postbaccalaureates for Entry and Success in Biomedical PhD Programs

Certain racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds remain underrepresented (UR) in the biomedical sciences. This underrepresentation becomes more extreme at each higher education stage. To support UR scholars during the critical transition from baccalaureate to PhD, we established an intensive, 1-yr postbaccalaureate training program. We hypothesized that this intervention would strengthen each participant’s competitiveness for leading PhD programs and build a foundation of skills and self-efficacy important for success during and after graduate school. Scholar critical analysis skills, lab technique knowledge, and Graduate Record Examination scores all improved significantly during the program. Scholars reported significant confidence growth in 21 of 24 categories related to success in research careers. In 5 yr, 91% (41/45) of scholars transitioned directly into PhD programs. Importantly, 40% (18/45) of participating postbaccalaureate scholars had previously been declined acceptance into graduate school; however, 17/18 of these scholars directly entered competitive PhD programs following our training program. Alumni reported they were “extremely well” prepared for graduate school, and 95% (39/41) are currently making progress to graduation with a PhD. In conclusion, we report a model for postbaccalaureate training that could be replicated to increase participation and success among UR scholars in the biomedical sciences

Why Primate Models Matter

Research involving nonhuman primates (NHPs) has played a vital role in many of the medical and scientific advances of the past century. NHPs are used because of their similarity to humans in physiology, neuroanatomy, reproduction, development, cognition, and social complexity – yet it is these very similarities that make the use of NHPs in biomedical research a considered decision. As primate researchers, we feel an obligation and responsibility to present the facts concerning why primates are used in various areas of biomedical research. Recent decisions in the United States, including the phasing out of chimpanzees in research by the National Institutes of Health and the pending closure of the New England Primate Research Center, illustrate to us the critical importance of conveying why continued research with primates is needed. Here we review key areas in biomedicine where primate models have been, and continue to be, essential for advancing fundamental knowledge in biomedical and biological research

Barriers to asymptomatic screening and other STD services for adolescents and young adults: focus group discussions

BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a major public health problem among young people and can lead to the spread of HIV. Previous studies have primarily addressed barriers to STD care for symptomatic patients. The purpose of our study was to identify perceptions about existing barriers to and ideal services for STDs, especially asymptomatic screening, among young people in a southeastern community. METHODS: Eight focus group discussions including 53 White, African American, and Latino youth (age 14–24) were conducted. RESULTS: Perceived barriers to care included lack of knowledge of STDs and available services, cost, shame associated with seeking services, long clinic waiting times, discrimination, and urethral specimen collection methods. Perceived features of ideal STD services included locations close to familiar places, extended hours, and urine-based screening. Television was perceived as the most effective route of disseminating STD information. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is warranted to evaluate improving convenience, efficiency, and privacy of existing services; adding urine-based screening and new services closer to neighborhoods; and using mass media to disseminate STD information as strategies to increase STD screening

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin