Pharmacologic Considerations in Oncology Critical Care

Critical care in the oncology population consists of diverse levels of diseases, syndromes, and emergencies that are not observed in typical medically-ill patients and, with it, comes even more specialized treatment strategies. Therefore, the uncommon or less well-understood pharmacologic considerations in this population must be discussed to better assist any clinician at the bedside. This chapter outlines some of the situations commonly encountered in this setting such as the challenge of treating and preventing infectious diseases when the patient lacks the ability to mount appropriate immune responses to conventional therapy, the paradigm of treating thromboembolism in the group of patients who are at highest risk for both bleeding and clotting and treatment of acute and long-term consequences of cancer or chemotherapy requiring escalation of care to the intensive care unit (ICU)

Support for UNRWA's survival

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides life-saving humanitarian aid for 5·4 million Palestine refugees now entering their eighth decade of statelessness and conflict. About a third of Palestine refugees still live in 58 recognised camps. UNRWA operates 702 schools and 144 health centres, some of which are affected by the ongoing humanitarian disasters in Syria and the Gaza Strip. It has dramatically reduced the prevalence of infectious diseases, mortality, and illiteracy. Its social services include rebuilding infrastructure and homes that have been destroyed by conflict and providing cash assistance and micro-finance loans for Palestinians whose rights are curtailed and who are denied the right of return to their homeland

The Effect of Undergraduate Exposure and Experience on Choosing to Pursue a Pharmacy Degree

BACKGROUND Shortage of pharmacists identified by Department of Health and Human Services in 20001 Despite investment of significant recruitment resources to achieve optimum enrollment, fewer applications are being submitted for consideration to pharmacy school, and the number of students pursuing pharmacy school continues to decline2 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Recruitment Admissions Task Force speculates that qualified candidates may be pursuing other healthcare professions due to lack of awareness of and limited exposure to the expanding role of the pharmacist2 Limited studies have been conducted to evaluate the primary factors motivating students to pursue a career in pharmacy Poster presented at: AACP Annual Meeting at Nashville, Tennessee, United States.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/pharmacyposters/1005/thumbnail.jp

Ongoing barriers to immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraception: a physician survey

Abstract Background Postpartum women are at risk for unintended pregnancy. Access to immediate long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) may help decrease this risk, but it is unclear how many providers in the United States routinely offer this to their patients and what obstacles they face. Our primary objective was to determine the proportion of United States obstetric providers that offer immediate postpartum LARC to their obstetric patients. Methods We surveyed practicing Fellows and Junior Fellows of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) about their use of immediate postpartum LARC. These members are demographically representative of ACOG members as a whole and represent all of the ACOG districts. Half of these Fellows were also part of the Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network (CARN), a group of ACOG members who voluntarily participate in research. We asked about their experience with and barriers to immediate placement of intrauterine devices and contraceptive implants after delivery. Results There were a total of 108 out of 600 responses (18%). Participants practiced in a total of 36 states and/or US territories and their median age was 52 years. Only 26.9% of providers surveyed offered their patients immediate postpartum LARC, and of these providers, 60.7% work in a university-based practice. There was a statistically significant association between offering immediate postpartum LARC and practice type, with the majority of providers working at a university-based practice (p < 0.001). Multiple obstacles were identified, including cost or reimbursement, device availability, and provider training on device placement in the immediate postpartum period. Conclusion The majority of obstetricians surveyed do not offer immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraception to patients in the United States. This is secondary to multiple obstacles faced by providers

<i>Salmonella enterica</i> Serovar Typhi Conceals the Invasion-Associated Type Three Secretion System from the Innate Immune System by Gene Regulation

<div><p>Delivery of microbial products into the mammalian cell cytosol by bacterial secretion systems is a strong stimulus for triggering pro-inflammatory host responses. Here we show that <i>Salmonella enterica</i> serovar Typhi (<i>S.</i> Typhi), the causative agent of typhoid fever, tightly regulates expression of the invasion-associated type III secretion system (T3SS-1) and thus fails to activate these innate immune signaling pathways. The <i>S.</i> Typhi regulatory protein TviA rapidly repressed T3SS-1 expression, thereby preventing RAC1-dependent, RIP2-dependent activation of NF-κB in epithelial cells. Heterologous expression of TviA in <i>S. enterica</i> serovar Typhimurium (<i>S.</i> Typhimurium) suppressed T3SS-1-dependent inflammatory responses generated early after infection in animal models of gastroenteritis. These results suggest that <i>S.</i> Typhi reduces intestinal inflammation by limiting the induction of pathogen-induced processes through regulation of virulence gene expression.</p></div