Banging Our Heads To The Music And On The Walls: First Year IR Adventures

Creating an Institutional Repository from scratch creates a multitude of both opportunities and pitfalls in establishment of workflow, content creation, outreach and marketing policies, and stakeholder support. Nova Southeastern University’s Digital Commons based repository, NSUWorks, completed its first year in February 2015. During this session, the triumphs and tribulations of the first year will be discussed, along with future plans in order to give attendees a glimpse into one particular IR experience. Archival collection digitization, outreach/marketing, journal/book publishing, reporting tools, and collection development will also be covered. Spotify Playlist

Comparison of PCR and clinical laboratory tests for diagnosing H. pylori infection in pediatric patients

BACKGROUND: Histology and/or culture are generally considered the gold standard for the detection of H. pylori infection. Especially in children, these tests may result in a false negative outcome because of patchy distribution of the organism in the stomach mucosa. We have developed a PCR assay utilizing nested primer pairs directed against a subunit of the H. pylori urease gene (ureA). As part of a prospective evaluation of diagnostic tests to aid in detecting H. pylori infection in children, the aim of this study was to compare our PCR and Western blot assays with results obtained from histologic examination of biopsy specimens, rapid urease tests, and an FDA approved serologic assay and published PCR results to determine if we could validate the assays for diagnostic use on our patient population. RESULTS: Gastric biopsy specimens obtained from 101 pediatric patients were evaluated for the presence of H. pylori using histologic techniques, rapid urease (CLOtest) test and the PCR assay. Serum samples from each patient were assayed using both ELISA and Western Blot for antibodies to H. pylori. A total of 32 patients tested were positive by at least one of the methods evaluated. Thirteen patients had positive histology, 13 had a positive CLOtest, and 17 patients had positive H. pylori PCR. Out of the 13 CLO positive patients, 12 were positive by histologic analysis and all 13 were positive by PCR. Results of serologic tests on the same population did not correlate well with other assays. Twenty-eight patients showed serologic evidence of H. pylori infection, of which 9 were both CLO and histology positive and 12 were positive by PCR. Of the seropositive patients, 26 were ELISA positive, 13 were positive by Western blot, and 11 by both serologic methods. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained suggest that our nested PCR assay has the specificity and sensitivity necessary for clinical application when compared to standard histologic examination and rapid urease test. In addition, we found the current commercially available approved ELISA method appears unable to accurately detect H. pylori in this population. The Western blot assay yielded better concordance with CLOtest and histology, but not as good as the nested PCR assay

Growth of Helicobacter pylori in a long spiral form does not alter expression of immunodominant proteins

BACKGROUND: We have previously reported that altered culture conditions (a broth media with shaking) could induce a strain of Helicobacter pylori to assume a long spiral morphology resembling that described for Helicobacter heilmannii. The present study was initiated to determine if other strains of H. pylori could be induced to assume that morphology and if doing so would alter the expression of immunodominant proteins. RESULTS: The six strains used in this study were American Type Culture Collection 43504, 43579, 49503, 51652, and 51653, and Sydney Strain I. Each strain was grown on solid media and in broth culture using conditions previously shown to induce the long spiral morphology in strain 43504. DNA from each was subjected to urease gene fingerprint analysis. Results of the molecular analysis showed identical fingerprint patterns for each strain independent of culture source, indicating that only a single strain was present in each culture. Expression of immunodominant proteins was assessed by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting with hyperimmune rabbit anti H. pylori sera or serum from an H. pylori infected patient. Analysis of protein profiles revealed some variation between strains but no significant differences associated with morphologic alterations. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that growth of H. pylori in a long spiral form does not affect expression of immunodominant proteins, thus in vivo growth in the long spiral form (not documented to date) would not be distinguishable by serology

When the Earth trembles in the americas: the experience of haiti and chile 2010.

The response of the nephrological community to the Haiti and Chile earthquakes which occurred in the first months of 2010 is described. In Haiti, renal support was organized by the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF) of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) in close collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and covered both patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) and patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The majority of AKI patients (19/27) suffered from crush syndrome and recovered their kidney function. The remaining 8 patients with AKI showed acute-to-chronic renal failure with very low recovery rates. The intervention of the RDRTF-ISN involved 25 volunteers of 9 nationalities, lasted exactly 2 months, and was characterized by major organizational difficulties and problems to create awareness among other rescue teams regarding the availability of dialysis possibilities. Part of the Haitian patients with AKI reached the Dominican Republic (DR) and received their therapy there. The nephrological community in the DR was able to cope with this extra patient load. In both Haiti and the DR, dialysis treatment was able to be prevented in at least 40 patients by screening and adequate fluid administration. Since laboratory facilities were destroyed in Port-au-Prince and were thus lacking during the first weeks of the intervention, the use from the very beginning on of a point-of-care device (i-STAT®) was very efficient for the detection of aberrant kidney function and electrolyte parameters. In Chile, nephrological problems were essentially related to difficulties delivering dialysis treatment to CKD patients, due to the damage to several units. This necessitated the reallocation of patients and the adaptation of their schedules. The problems could be handled by the local nephrologists. These observations illustrate that local and international preparedness might be life-saving if renal problems occur in earthquake circumstances

Changing illness perceptions in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, a randomised controlled trial of a family-based intervention: protocol and pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This paper presents the pilot study and protocol for a randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a psychological, family-based intervention to improve outcomes in those with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. The intervention has been designed to change the illness perceptions of patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, and their family members. It is a complex psychological intervention, developed from the Self-Regulatory Model of Illness Behaviour. The important influence the family context can have in psychological interventions and diabetes management is also recognised, by the inclusion of patients' family members.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>We aim to recruit 122 patients with persistently poorly controlled diabetes. Patients are deemed to have persistent poor control when at least two out of their last three HbA1c readings are 8.0% or over. Patients nominate a family member to participate with them, and this patient/family member dyad is randomly allocated to either the intervention or control group. Participants in the control group receive their usual care. Participants in the intervention group participate, with their family members, in three intervention sessions. Sessions one and two are delivered in the participant's home by a health psychologist. Session one takes place approximately one week after session two, with the third session, a follow-up telephone call, one week later. The intervention is based upon clarifying the illness perceptions of both the patient and the family member, examining how they influence self-management behaviours, improving the degree of similarity of patient and family member perceptions in a positive direction and developing personalized action plans to improve diabetes management.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study is the first of its kind to incorporate the evidence from illness perceptions research into developing and applying an intervention for people with poorly controlled diabetes and their families. This study also acknowledges the important role of family members in effective diabetes care.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ISRCTN62219234</p

Capturing health and eating status through a nutritional perception screening questionnaire (NPSQ9) in a randomised internet-based personalised nutrition intervention : the Food4Me study

BACKGROUND: National guidelines emphasize healthy eating to promote wellbeing and prevention of non-communicable diseases. The perceived healthiness of food is determined by many factors affecting food intake. A positive perception of healthy eating has been shown to be associated with greater diet quality. Internet-based methodologies allow contact with large populations. Our present study aims to design and evaluate a short nutritional perception questionnaire, to be used as a screening tool for assessing nutritional status, and to predict an optimal level of personalisation in nutritional advice delivered via the Internet. METHODS: Data from all participants who were screened and then enrolled into the Food4Me proof-of-principle study (n = 2369) were used to determine the optimal items for inclusion in a novel screening tool, the Nutritional Perception Screening Questionnaire-9 (NPSQ9). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed on anthropometric and biochemical data and on dietary indices acquired from participants who had completed the Food4Me dietary intervention (n = 1153). Baseline and intervention data were analysed using linear regression and linear mixed regression, respectively. RESULTS: A final model with 9 NPSQ items was validated against the dietary intervention data. NPSQ9 scores were inversely associated with BMI (β = -0.181, p < 0.001) and waist circumference (Β = -0.155, p < 0.001), and positively associated with total carotenoids (β = 0.198, p < 0.001), omega-3 fatty acid index (β = 0.155, p < 0.001), Healthy Eating Index (HEI) (β = 0.299, p < 0.001) and Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) (β = 0. 279, p < 0.001). Findings from the longitudinal intervention study showed a greater reduction in BMI and improved dietary indices among participants with lower NPSQ9 scores. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy eating perceptions and dietary habits captured by the NPSQ9 score, based on nine questionnaire items, were associated with reduced body weight and improved diet quality. Likewise, participants with a lower score achieved greater health improvements than those with higher scores, in response to personalised advice, suggesting that NPSQ9 may be used for early evaluation of nutritional status and to tailor nutritional advice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01530139 .Peer reviewedFinal Published versio