The Frequency of Interval Surveillance in the Adult Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Survivor

Cancer treatments for hematologic malignancies can include radiation, chemotherapy, immunosuppression, stem cell transplant, and targeted biological therapies. These therapies can cause long-term side effects that may negatively affect quality of life. Many of these late effects are modifiable when a proactive systematic plan of prevention and surveillance is implemented. This plan is most effective when factors such as past treatments, chromosomal prognostic factors, comorbid health conditions, and lifestyle behaviors are considered. A survivorship care plan specific for cancer survivors who have undergone a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) would enhance the ability of clinicians to monitor for these late effects. The Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplant have recommended that a HSCT-specific survivorship care plan include 6-month, 12-month, and annual assessments of physical and psychosocial well-being including preventive screenings unique to the HSCT survivor. This quality improvement study described the frequency of documentation of the recommended cancer survivorship guidelines by oncology clinicians in the medical records of adult HSCT survivors at 12 and 24 months post-transplant in one comprehensive cancer center. This retrospective chart review found that only three of the 29 recommended guidelines were documented as being completed in more than 50% of the charts at 12 and 24 months. Furthermore, the data indicated that the remaining indicators were documented in less than 50% of the charts at both 12 and 24 months. These findings were used to inform the oncology clinicians of the need for adherence to recommended guidelines and in the planning of a hematology and transplant survivorship clinic for individuals who have completed the acute phase of their cancer treatment.No embarg

“To me, it's just natural to be in the garden”: a multi-site investigation of new community gardener motivation using Self-Determination Theory

International audienceWe compare interviews with 30 new community gardeners in Denver, Colorado and Montpellier, France, using Self-determination theory, a general theory of motivation, to determine how new community gardeners may or may not have felt motivated based on psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Relatedness as a motivational feature carried through the interview data at both sites. Participants’ success or failure to relate to other gardeners was a major influence for how autonomous and competent as a community gardener they expressed feeling. As the evidence grows that community gardening is beneficial for health and wellbeing, our findings are critical to understanding how community gardening could serve as a health promotion strategy. With the presence of ongoing, friendly support from others, more individuals may adhere to this socially connective, nature-based practice

Oocyte mRNA and Follicle Androgen Levels Associated with Fertility

The environment that the oocyte develops in (follicle) and the mRNA that is produced (mRNA abundance) during development were examined. Androgen levels within the follicle were higher in heifers (≤ 2 years) that never established a pregnancy compared to cows that stayed in the herd at least 3 years and had at least one successful pregnancy. These high androgen levels were associated with increased abundance of several candidate mRNAs in the cumulus-oocyte complex (COC), which includes the oocyte and somatic cells immediately surrounding the oocyte, isolated from the dominant follicle. The data suggest that androgen levels represent a marker for oocyte quality which could be used to select for females to retain in the herd

Granulosa Cell Gene Expression is Altered in Follicles from Cows with Differing Reproductive Longevity

Heifers and cows that were culled from the herd due to failure to become pregnant were categorized into groups with low (\u3c 2 year), moderate (\u3e2 and \u3c 6 year) or high (≥ 6 year) fertility. Antral follicle counts were numerically lower in the low group and increased in the moderate- and high-fertility group. Granulosa cells from dominant follicles in moderate- and high-fertility cows had a greater ratio of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor 164 (VEGF164) to VEGF164B compared to the low-fertility cows. Furthermore, there was more CARTPT in granulosa cells from subordinate follicles in moderate- and high-fertility cows than low. Gene expression is altered in granulosa cells from cows differing in fertility, suggesting these are candidate genes that may be used as markers to assist in determining reproductive longevity in beef cows

Feasibility of collection and analysis of microbiome data in a longitudinal randomized trial of community gardening

Aim: We explored the feasibility of collecting and analyzing human microbiome data in a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of community gardening. Methods & materials: Participants were randomly assigned to gardening (N = 8) or control (N = 8). Participants provided stool, mouth, hand and forehead microbiome samples at six timepoints. Analyses combined mixed models with Qiita output. Results: Participant satisfaction was high, with 75% of participants completing evaluations. While no microbial effects were statistically significant due to small sample size, the analysis pipeline utility was tested. Conclusion: Longitudinal collection and analysis of microbiome data in a community gardening randomized controlled trial is feasible. The analysis pipeline will be useful in larger studies for assessment of the pathway between microbiota, gardening and health outcomes.This study was funded by the University of Colorado Boulder Population Center (CUPC, J Litt, PI), through the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the NIH under award number P2CHD066613-06 and the Center for Microbiome Innovation at the University of California San Diego. We also received supplemental funding through the Clinical & Translational Research Center (CTRC) to cover all laboratory costs (J Litt, PI). M Gascon received a fellowship from the Societat Econòmica Barcelonesa d'Amics del País (SEBAP) in 2018, Barcelona (Catalonia), for her research stay at the University of Colorado to conduct the statistical analysis for this work. DH Glueck was supported, in part, by R01GM121-81 and R25 GM11190