Preventive healthcare practice by allied health professionals: Results from a cross-sectional survey in rural and regional Victoria.

Objectives: To describe the frequency of preventive healthcare practice (assess, advice, refer for support) provided by allied health professionals (AHPs) practicing in regional and rural healthcare settings to address smoking, diet and physical inactivity. To identify factors that influence the delivery of preventive healthcare practice.

Methods: AHPs working in public healthcare services in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria were surveyed.

Development of an improved Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients deceased donor heart yield model using donor critical care data from the Donor Management Goal Registry cohort.

Organ procurement organizations (OPOs) face increasing regulatory scrutiny, and the performance of predictive models used to assess OPO performance is critical. We sought to determine whether adding deceased donor physiological and critical care data to the existing Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) heart yield model would improve the model's performance. Donor data and heart transplanted (yes/no), the outcome of interest, were obtained from the United Network for Organ Sharing Donor Management Goal (DMG) Registry for 19 141 donors after brain death, from 25 OPOs.

Quality of life in breast reconstruction: a comparison of lightweight and conventional breast implants.

Background: Due to the declining mortality rates of breast carcinoma and the rising incidence of risk-reducing mastectomies, enhancing the quality of life after breast reconstructions has become an increasingly important goal. The advantages of lightweight breast implants (B-Lite®) may significantly contribute to achieving this objective. This study aims to investigate whether lightweight implants are suitable for patients undergoing breast reconstruction and could improve the quality of life in comparison to conventional implants.

NBCAL violation of products that compete with breastfeeding on the social network Instagram.

The article aims to identify NBCAL violations and analyze the content of messages posted on the Instagram social network. This qualitative-quantitative study consisted of a convenience sample of profiles identified through specific terms preceded by the hashtag symbol (#). Data were collected for two months by trained researchers using a structured questionnaire.

Implementation of a quality improvement strategy to optimise the management of community acquired pneumonia in a rural health setting.

Problem: In Australia, inappropriate prescribing of antimicrobials is higher in rural and regional areas than in major city hospitals. Inappropriate prescribing is defined as the prescription of antimicrobial agents that do not adhere to guidelines in terms of type of antimicrobial chosen, dose and/or duration or are deemed unnecessary. A review of antimicrobial prescribing in a Queensland rural Hospital and Health Service (HHS) identified that respiratory infections were an area for potential improvement.

Bone turnover change after randomized switch from tenofovir disoproxil to tenofovir alafenamide fumarate in men with HIV.

Objective: Bone loss in people with HIV (PWH) is poorly understood. Switching tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) has yielded bone mineral density (BMD) increases. PETRAM (NCT#:03405012) investigated whether BMD and bone turnover changes correlate.

Inflammation condition sensitizes Piezo1 mechanosensitive channel in mouse cerebellum astrocyte.

Piezo1 mechanosensitive ion channel (MSC) plays a significant role in human physiology. Despite several research on the function and expression of Piezo1 in the nervous system, its electrophysiological properties in neuroinflammatory astrocytes remain unknown. We tested whether astrocytic neuroinflammatory state regulates Piezo1 using electrical recordings, calcium imaging, and wound healing assays on cultured astrocytes.

Post introduction evaluation of the malaria vaccine implementation programme in Ghana, 2021.

Background: Malaria remains a public health challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa with the region contributing to more than 90% of global cases in 2020. In Ghana, the malaria vaccine was piloted to assess the feasibility, safety, and its impact in the context of routine use alongside the existing recommended malaria control measures. To obtain context-specific evidence that could inform future strategies of introducing new vaccines, a standardized post-introduction evaluation (PIE) of the successes and challenges of the malaria vaccine implementation programme (MVIP) was conducted.

Current and Future Therapies for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. This is due to delayed diagnosis and resistance to traditional chemotherapy. Delayed diagnosis is often due to the broad range of non-specific symptoms that are associated with the disease.

Methodology and indicators for NBCAL monitoring in stores and health services: a multicenter study (Multi-NBCAL).

The Brazilian Code of Marketing of Infant and Toddlers Food, Nipples, Pacifiers and Baby Bottles (NBCAL), in force in Brazil since 1988, is still systematically violated, exposing mothers and family members to illegal marketing of products that compete with breastfeeding. This study aimed to describe a multicenter study methodology and propose standardized indicators for NBCAL monitoring. This is a Multicenter Study for NBCAL Compliance Assessment (Multi-NBCAL) conducted in seven Brazilian cities: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Ouro Preto (Minas Gerais State), Florianópolis (Santa Catarina State), Brasília (Federal District), João Pessoa (Paraíba State), and Belém (Pará State).

Circulating Nucleic Acids as Novel Biomarkers for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Despite considerable advancements in the clinical management of PDAC it remains a significant cause of mortality. PDAC is often diagnosed at advanced stages due to vague symptoms associated with early-stage disease and a lack of reliable diagnostic biomarkers. Late diagnosis results in a high proportion of cases being ineligible for surgical resection, the only potentially curative therapy for PDAC.

Improving effective contraception uptake through provision of bridging contraception within community pharmacies: findings from the Bridge-it Study process evaluation.

Objective: To present process evaluation results from the Bridge-it Study, a pragmatic cluster randomised cross-over trial to improve effective contraception uptake through provision of the progestogen only pill (POP) plus sexual and reproductive health (SRH) clinic rapid-access to women presenting to community pharmacies for emergency contraception (EC).

Research Design And Methods: A multimethod process evaluation was conducted to assess intervention implementation, mechanisms of change and contextual factors. Data were gathered from screening logs (n=599), observations of pharmacist training, analysis of data from 4-month follow-up questionnaires (n=406), monitoring of contemporaneous events and qualitative interviews with 22 pharmacists, 5 SRH clinical staff and 36 study participants in three participating UK sites in Lothian, Tayside and London.

Thromboelastography profiles for controlled circulatory death donors: Validating the role of heparin.

Controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) liver transplants are associated with increased ischemic-type biliary complications. Microvascular thrombosis secondary to decreased donor fibrinolysis may contribute to bile duct injury. We hypothesized that cDCD donors are hypercoagulable with impaired fibrinolysis and aim to use thromboelastography to characterize cDCD coagulation profiles.

Machine Learning Prediction of Liver Allograft Utilization From Deceased Organ Donors Using the National Donor Management Goals Registry.

Unlabelled: Early prediction of whether a liver allograft will be utilized for transplantation may allow better resource deployment during donor management and improve organ allocation. The national donor management goals (DMG) registry contains critical care data collected during donor management. We developed a machine learning model to predict transplantation of a liver graft based on data from the DMG registry.

COVID-19 in Individuals Treated With Long-Term Hydroxychloroquine: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis of Cicatricial Alopecia Patients.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-malarial agent hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was touted as a potentially effective COVID-19 treatment due to its purported antiinflammatory and antiviral effects.

Hair Care Professionals as Community Health Partners in Detection and Management of Alopecia: A Pilot Survey Study.

Background: Alopecia is one of the most common diagnoses encountered by dermatologists; despite this, patients with hair loss often seek help from hair stylists prior to seeing a physician.

Objective: The purpose of this pilot survey study was to investigate hair stylists as hair loss community health partners and identify how dermatologists can potentially play a key role in cosmetology education.

Study-design: Twenty-four New York City hair stylists completed a novel 23-item survey via email.

Critical care and ventilatory management of deceased organ donors impact lung use and recipient graft survival.

Current risk-adjusted models for donor lung use and lung graft survival do not include donor critical care data. We sought to identify modifiable donor physiologic and mechanical ventilation parameters that predict donor lung use and lung graft survival. This is a prospective observational study of donors after brain death (DBDs) managed by 19 Organ Procurement Organizations from 2016 to 2019.