What are the beliefs, attitudes and practices of front-line staff in long-term care (LTC) facilities related to osteoporosis awareness, management and fracture prevention?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Compared to the general elderly population, those institutionalized in LTC facilities have the highest prevalence of osteoporosis and subsequently have higher incidences of vertebral and hip fractures. The goal of this study is to determine how well nurses at LTC facilities are educated to properly administer bisphosphonates. A secondary question assessed was the nurse's and PSW's attitudes and beliefs regarding the role and benefits of vitamin D for LTC patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eight LTC facilities in Hamilton were surveyed, and all nurses were offered a survey. A total 57 registered nurses were surveyed. A 21 item questionnaire was developed to assess existing management practices and specific osteoporosis knowledge areas.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The questionnaire assessed the nurse's and personal support worker's (PSWs) education on how to properly administer bisphosphonates by having them select all applicable responses from a list of options. These options included administering the drug before, after or with meals, given with or separate from other medications, given with juice, given with or without water, given with the patient sitting up, or finally given with the patient supine. Only 52% of the nurses and 8.7% of PSWs administered the drug properly, where they selected the options: (given before meals, given with water, given separate from all other medications, and given in a sitting up position). If at least one incorrect option was selected, then it was scored as an inappropriate administration. Bisphosphonates were given before meals by 85% of nurses, given with water by 90%, given separately from other medication by 71%, and was administered in an upright position by 79%. Only 52% of the nurses and 8.7% of PSWs surveyed were administering the drug properly. Regarding the secondary question, of the 57 nurses surveyed, 68% strongly felt their patients should be prescribed vitamin D supplements. Of the 124 PSWs who completed the survey, 44.4% strongly felt their patients should be prescribed vitamin D supplementation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Bisphosphonates are quite effective in increasing the bone mineral density of LTC patients, and may reduce fracture rates, but it is only effective if properly administered. In our study, proper administration of bisphosphonate therapy was less than optimal. In summary, although the education of health providers has improved since the mid-1990's, this area still requires further attention and the subject of future quality assurance research.</p

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

A brief study of Gene Stratton-Porter's life and career

There is no abstract available for this research paper.Thesis (M.A.

Co-administration of CpG oligonucleotides enhances the late affinity maturation process of human anti-hepatitis B vaccine response

We assessed the avidity maturation process elicited by human immunization with alum-adsorbed HBsAg alone or with a novel adjuvant containing CpG motifs (CpG 7909). Mean avidity indexes and distribution of low- and high-avidity anti-HBs indicated that avidity maturation essentially takes place late after priming. CpG 7909 markedly enhanced this affinity maturation process, increasing the pool of high-avidity antibodies. The influence of CpG 7909 was antigen-specific, isotype-specific and distinct from the influence on anti-HBs production, as avidity did not correlate with anti-HBs IgG titers. This is the first demonstration that a novel human adjuvant may induce antibodies with higher antigen-binding affinity

High Catalytic Rates for Hydrogen Production Using Nickel Electrocatalysts with Seven-Membered Cyclic Diphosphine Ligands Containing One Pendant Amine

A series of Ni-based electrocatalysts, [Ni­(7P^Ph₂N^C6H4X)₂]­(BF₄)₂, featuring seven-membered cyclic diphosphine ligands incorporating a single amine base, 1-<i>para</i>-X-phenyl-3,6-triphenyl-1-aza-3,6-diphosphacycloheptane (7P^Ph₂N^C6H4X, where X = OMe, Me, Br, Cl, or CF₃), have been synthesized and characterized. X-ray diffraction studies have established that the [Ni­(7P^Ph₂N^C6H4X)₂]²⁺ complexes have a square planar geometry, with bonds to four phosphorus atoms of the two bidentate diphosphine ligands. Each of the complexes is an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen production at the potential of the Ni­(II/I) couple, with turnover frequencies ranging from 2400 to 27 000 s^–1 with [(DMF)­H]⁺ in acetonitrile. Addition of water (up to 1.0 M) accelerates the catalysis, giving turnover frequencies ranging from 4100 to 96 000 s^–1. Computational studies carried out on the [Ni­(7P^Ph₂N^C6H4X)₂]²⁺ family indicate the catalytic rates reach a maximum when the electron-donating character of X results in the p<i>K</i>_a of the Ni­(I) protonated pendant amine matching that of the acid used for proton delivery. Additionally, the fast catalytic rates for hydrogen production by the [Ni­(7P^Ph₂N^C6H4X)₂]²⁺ family relative to the analogous [Ni­(P^Ph₂N^C6H4X₂)₂]²⁺ family are attributed to preferred formation of endo protonated isomers with respect to the metal center in the former, which is essential to attain suitable proximity to the reduced metal center to generate H₂. The results of this work highlight the importance of precise p<i>K</i>_a matching with the acid for proton delivery to obtain optimal rates of catalysis