De drie gezichten van Pieter Bruegel de Oude (ca. 1525-1569)

Modern approaches to patient treatment and personalized medicine increasingly recognize the importance of the patient’s quality of life outcome. The art of assessing and using quality of life information in routine practice remains a challenge and poses a stumbling block for clinicians. This critical review of the literature identifies useful measures to minimize those challenges and guide nurses and researchers in selecting the correct tool for measuring quality of life in their clinical settingThis publication is supported by Mayo roscommon Hospice Foundation, Knock, Co. Mayo, Ireland and supported by an educational grant from the Irish Hospice Foundation, Dublin Ireland.peer-reviewe

An intervention using quality of life and symptom information as a clinical tool in patients with advanced cancer

The Schedule for Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life-Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW) recognizes the individuals’ values with no pre-judgement. The objective of this study was to determine if clinician awareness and understanding of individual patients’ subjective quality of life (SQoL), bothersome symptoms and symptom interference on SQoL, would lead to improvement over time in the SQoL of patients with advanced cancer. Methods: SEIQoL-DW and symptom bother/interference with SQoL was measured up to 4 time points on Sixty-five (n=65) patients receiving chemotherapy for advanced cancer. Measurements from the intervention group (n=33) was reported to the clinical team at each time point via an info-graph placed in the clinical notes. Measurements from the control group (n=32) was not reported to the clinical team. Results: SEIQoL-DW of all patients improved from baseline to time point 4 (p >0.05).A significant improvement in patient’s perception of health functioning was seen in the intervention group compared to the control group (51% v 19%, p=0.014). Symptom interference in SQoL reduced by 9% in the intervention group versus 37% increase in the control group. In totality, a 46% difference was observed between groups (p < 0.05). Interpretation: Translating SEIQoL-DW and symptom bother/interference into a format for use as a ‘Clinical Tool’ in routine practice improves patient reported health functioning and symptom interference on their SQoL. This patient centered approach could lead to a paradigm shift in our understanding of patient’s needs and in harmony with other clinical interventions, should be considered a valuable step towards personalized medicine

Perspectives on ENCODE

The Encylopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project launched in 2003 with the long-term goal of developing a comprehensive map of functional elements in the human genome. These included genes, biochemical regions associated with gene regulation (for example, transcription factor binding sites, open chromatin, and histone marks) and transcript isoforms. The marks serve as sites for candidate cis-regulatory elements (cCREs) that may serve functional roles in regulating gene expression1. The project has been extended to model organisms, particularly the mouse. In the third phase of ENCODE, nearly a million and more than 300,000 cCRE annotations have been generated for human and mouse, respectively, and these have provided a valuable resource for the scientific community.11Nsciescopu

Expanded encyclopaedias of DNA elements in the human and mouse genomes

AbstractThe human and mouse genomes contain instructions that specify RNAs and proteins and govern the timing, magnitude, and cellular context of their production. To better delineate these elements, phase III of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project has expanded analysis of the cell and tissue repertoires of RNA transcription, chromatin structure and modification, DNA methylation, chromatin looping, and occupancy by transcription factors and RNA-binding proteins. Here we summarize these efforts, which have produced 5,992 new experimental datasets, including systematic determinations across mouse fetal development. All data are available through the ENCODE data portal (https://www.encodeproject.org), including phase II ENCODE1 and Roadmap Epigenomics2 data. We have developed a registry of 926,535 human and 339,815 mouse candidate cis-regulatory elements, covering 7.9 and 3.4% of their respective genomes, by integrating selected datatypes associated with gene regulation, and constructed a web-based server (SCREEN; http://screen.encodeproject.org) to provide flexible, user-defined access to this resource. Collectively, the ENCODE data and registry provide an expansive resource for the scientific community to build a better understanding of the organization and function of the human and mouse genomes.11Nsciescopu