An Online Educational Program Improves Pediatric Oncology Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Spiritual Care Competence

This study evaluated the potential impact of an online spiritual care educational program on pediatric nurses’ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and their competence to provide spiritual care to children with cancer at the end of life. It was hypothesized that the intervention would increase nurses’ positive attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and increase nurses’ level of perceived spiritual care competence. A positive correlation was expected between change in nurses’ perceived attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and change in nurses’ perceived spiritual care competence. A prospective, longitudinal design was employed, and analyses included one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance, linear regression, and partial correlation. Statistically significant differences were found in nurses’ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and nurses’ perceived spiritual care competence. There was a positive relationship between change scores in nurses’ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and nurses’ spiritual care competence. Online spiritual care educational programs may exert a lasting impact on nurses’ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and their competence to provide spiritual care to children with cancer at the end of life. Additional studies are required to evaluate the direct effects of educational interventions patient outcomes

Studies of wolf x coyote hybridization via artificial insemination

Following the production of western gray wolf (Canis lupus) x western coyote (Canis latrans) hybrids via artificial insemination (AI), the present article documents that the hybrids survived in captivity for at least 4 years and successfully bred with each other. It further reports that backcrossing one of the hybrids to a male gray wolf by AI also resulted in the birth of live pups that have survived for at least 10 months. All male hybrids (F1 and F2) produced sperm by about 10 months of age, and sperm quality of the F1 males fell within the fertile range for domestic dogs, but sperm motility and morphology, in particular, were low in F2 males at 10 months but improved in samples taken at 22 months of age. These studies are relevant to a long-standing controversy about the identity of the red wolf (Canis rufus), the existence of a proposed new species (Canis lycaon) of gray wolf, and to the role of hybridization in mammalian evolution

Expanding Efficiency: Women\u27s Communication in Engineering

As engineering fields strive to be more inclusive of women, focusing on perceptions of women\u27s work is vital to understanding how women can succeed and the limitations they may face. One area in need of more attention is the connection between communication and women\u27s experiences in engineering. This article examines the gendered nature of writing labor in engineering, focusing on case studies of three women who were able to use writing effectively, yet how communication emerged as a gendered form of labor subject to gendered perceptions. While these women\u27s communication skills led to professional success, their association with writing echoes a historical division, where writing is viewed as less valuable than technical knowledge. This division has the potential to disadvantage women who are asked to take on more writing-related tasks. In addition, their writing and communication are subject to gendered perceptions of being ‘chatty’ or blunt rather than effective or efficient. Articulating these perceptions and attitudes can lead to a breakdown of the binary between writing and technical labor as well as appropriately valuing the contributions women make in engineering through writing

Intestinal microbiome analyses identify melanoma patients at risk for checkpoint-blockade-induced colitis

The composition of the intestinal microbiota influences the development of inflammatory disorders. However, associating inflammatory diseases with specific microbial members of the microbiota is challenging, because clinically detectable inflammation and its treatment can alter the microbiota's composition. Immunologic checkpoint blockade with ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody that blocks cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) signalling, is associated with new-onset, immune-mediated colitis. Here we conduct a prospective study of patients with metastatic melanoma undergoing ipilimumab treatment and correlate the pre-inflammation faecal microbiota and microbiome composition with subsequent colitis development. We demonstrate that increased representation of bacteria belonging to the Bacteroidetes phylum is correlated with resistance to the development of checkpoint-blockade-induced colitis. Furthermore, a paucity of genetic pathways involved in polyamine transport and B vitamin biosynthesis is associated with an increased risk of colitis. Identification of these biomarkers may enable interventions to reduce the risk of inflammatory complications following cancer immunotherapy

Nivolumab Monotherapy and Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab in Recurrent Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results From the CheckMate 032 Randomized Cohort

Abstract Introduction Nivolumab monotherapy is approved in the United States for third-line or later metastatic small cell lung cancer based on pooled data from nonrandomized and randomized cohorts of the multicenter, open-label, phase 1/2 trial of nivolumab ± ipilimumab (CheckMate 032; NCT01928394). We report updated results, including long-term overall survival (OS), from the randomized cohort. Methods Patients with small cell lung cancer and disease progression after one to two prior chemotherapy regimens were randomized 3:2 to nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks or nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks for four cycles followed by nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks. Patients were stratified by number of prior chemotherapy regimens and treated until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) by blinded independent central review. Results Overall, 147 patients received nivolumab and 96 nivolumab plus ipilimumab. Minimum follow-up for ORR/progression-free survival/safety was 11.9 months (nivolumab) and 11.2 months (nivolumab plus ipilimumab). ORR increased with nivolumab plus ipilimumab (21.9% versus 11.6% with nivolumab; odds ratio: 2.12; 95% confidence interval: 1.06–4.26; p = 0.03). For long-term OS, minimum follow-up was 29.0 months (nivolumab) versus 28.4 months (nivolumab plus ipilimumab); median (95% confidence interval) OS was 5.7 (3.8–7.6) versus 4.7 months (3.1–8.3). Twenty-four–month OS rates were 17.9% (nivolumab) and 16.9% (nivolumab plus ipilimumab). Grade 3 to 4 treatment-related adverse event rates were 12.9% (nivolumab) versus 37.5% (nivolumab plus ipilimumab), and treatment-related deaths were n =1 versus n = 3, respectively. Conclusions Whereas ORR (primary endpoint) was higher with nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus nivolumab, OS was similar between groups. In each group, OS remained encouraging with long-term follow-up. Toxicities were more common with combination therapy versus nivolumab monotherapy

Peripheral blood clinical laboratory variables associated with outcomes following combination nivolumab and ipilimumab immunotherapy in melanoma

Both the combination of nivolumab + ipilimumab and single-agent anti-PD- 1 immunotherapy have demonstrated survival benefit for patients with advanced melanoma. As the combination has a high rate of serious side effects, further analyses in randomized trials of combination versus anti-PD- 1 immunotherapy are needed to understand who benefits most from the combination. Clinical laboratory values that were routinely collected in randomized studies may provide information on the relative benefit of combination immunotherapy. To prioritize which clinical laboratory factors to ultimately explore in these randomized studies, we performed a single-center, retrospective analysis of patients with advanced melanoma who received nivolumab + ipilimumab either as part of a clinical trial (n = 122) or commercial use (n = 87). Baseline routine laboratory values were correlated with overall survival (OS) and overall response rate (ORR). Kaplan–Meier estimation and Cox regression were performed. Median OS was 44.4 months, 95% CI (32.9, Not Reached). A total of 110 patients (53%) responded (CR/PR). Significant independent variables for favorable OS included the following: high relative eosinophils, high relative basophils, low absolute monocytes, low LDH, and a low neutrophil-to- lymphocyte ratio. These newly identified factors, along with those previously reported to be associated with anti-PD- 1 monotherapy outcomes, should be studied in the randomized trials of nivolumab + ipilimumab versus anti-PD- 1 monotherapies to determine whether they help define the patients who benefit most from the combination versus anti-PD- 1 alone

Health-related quality of life results from the phase III CheckMate 067 study

Background Nivolumab, a monoclonal antibody of immune checkpoint programmed death 1 on T cells (PD-1), combined with ipilimumab, an immune checkpoint cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitor, as combination therapy on the one hand and nivolumab as monotherapy on the other, have both demonstrated improved efficacy compared with ipilimumab alone in the CheckMate 067 study. However, the combination resulted in a higher frequency of grade 3/4 adverse events (AEs), which could result in diminished health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Here we report analyses of HRQoL for patients with advanced melanoma in clinical trial CheckMate 067.Patients and methods HRQoL was assessed at weeks 1 and 5 per 6-week cycle for the first 6 months, once every 6 weeks thereafter, and at two follow-up visits using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Care Core Quality of Life Questionnaire and the EuroQoL Five Dimensions Questionnaire. In addition to the randomised population, patient subgroups, including BRAF mutation status, partial or complete response, treatment-related AEs of grade 3/4, and those who discontinued due to any reason and due to an AE, were investigated.Results Nivolumab and ipilimumab combination and nivolumab alone both maintained HRQoL, and no clinically meaningful deterioration was observed over time compared with ipilimumab. In addition, similar results were observed across patient subgroups, and no clinically meaningful changes in HRQoL were observed during follow-up visits for patients who discontinued due to any cause.Conclusion These results further support the clinical benefit of nivolumab monotherapy and nivolumab and ipilimumab combination therapy in patients with advanced melanoma. The finding that the difference in grade 3/4 AEs between the arms did not translate into clinically meaningful differences in the reported HRQoL may be relevant in the clinical setting.Study number NCT01844505

Transbilayer Phospholipid Movements in ABCA1-Deficient Cells

Tangier disease is an inherited disorder that results in a deficiency in circulating levels of HDL. Although the disease is known to be caused by mutations in the ABCA1 gene, the mechanism by which lesions in the ABCA1 ATPase effect this outcome is not known. The inability of ABCA1 knockout mice (ABCA1−/−) to load cholesterol and phospholipids onto apoA1 led to a proposal that ABCA1 mediates the transbilayer externalization of phospholipids, an activity integral not only to the formation of HDL particles but also to another, distinct process: the recognition and clearance of apoptotic cells by macrophages. Expression of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the surface of both macrophages and their apoptotic targets is required for efficient engulfment of the apoptotic cells, and it has been proposed that ABCA1 is required for transbilayer externalization of PS to the surface of both cell types. To determine whether ABCA1 is responsible for any of the catalytic activities known to control transbilayer phospholipid movements, these activities were measured in cells from ABCA1−/− mice and from Tangier individuals as well as ABCA1-expressing HeLa cells. Phospholipid movements in either normal or apoptotic lymphocytes or in macrophages were not inhibited when cells from knockout and wildtype mice or immortalized cells from Tangier individuals vs normal individuals were compared. Exposure of PS on the surface of normal thymocytes, apoptotic thymocytes and elicited peritoneal macrophages from wildtype and knockout mice or B lymphocytes from normal and Tangier individuals, as measured by annexin V binding, was also unchanged. No evidence was found of ABCA1-stimulated active PS export, and spontaneous PS movement to the outer leaflet in the presence or absence of apoA1 was unaffected by the presence or absence of ABCA1. Normal or Tangier B lymphocytes and macrophages were also identical in their ability to serve as targets or phagocytes, respectively, in apoptotic cell clearance assays. No evidence was found to support the suggestion that ABCA1 is involved in transport to the macrophage cell surface of annexins I and II, known to enhance phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. These results show that mutations in ABCA1 do not measurably reduce the rate of transbilayer movements of phospholipids in either the engulfing macrophage or the apoptotic target, thus discounting catalysis of transbilayer movements of phospholipids as the mechanism by which ABCA1 facilitates loading of phospholipids and cholesterol onto apoA1

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

Cross-sectional analysis of association between socioeconomic status and utilization of primary total hip joint replacements 2006-7 : Australian orthopaedic association national joint replacement registry

Background The utilization of total hip replacement (THR) surgery is rapidly increasing, however few data examine whether these procedures are associated with socioeconomic status (SES) within Australia. This study examined primary THR across SES for both genders for the Barwon Statistical Division (BSD) of Victoria, Australia.Methods Using the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry data for 2006&ndash;7, primary THR with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) among residents of the BSD was ascertained. The Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage was used to measure SES; determined by matching residential addresses with Australian Bureau of Statistics census data. The data were categorised into quintiles; quintile 1 indicating the most disadvantaged. Age- and sex-specific rates of primary THR per 1,000 person years were reported for 10-year age bands using the total population at risk.Results Females accounted for 46.9% of the 642 primary THR performed during 2006&ndash;7. THR utilization per 1,000 person years was 1.9 for males and 1.5 for females. The highest utilization of primary THR was observed in those aged 70&ndash;79&thinsp;years (males 6.1, and females 5.4 per 1,000 person years). Overall, the U-shaped pattern of THR across SES gave the appearance of bimodality for both males and females, whereby rates were greater for both the most disadvantaged and least disadvantaged groups.Conclusions Further work on a larger scale is required to determine whether relationships between SES and THR utilization for the diagnosis of OA is attributable to lifestyle factors related to SES, or alternatively reflects geographic and health system biases. Identifying contributing factors associated with SES may enhance resource planning and enable more effective and focussed preventive strategies for hip OA. <br /