A Participatory Model for Cocreating Accessible Rehabilitation Technology for Stroke Survivors: User-Centered Design Approach.

Background: Globally, 1 in 3 people live with health conditions that could be improved with rehabilitation. Ideally, this is provided by trained professionals delivering evidence-based dose, intensity, and content of rehabilitation for optimal recovery. The widely acknowledged inability of global health care providers to deliver recommended levels of rehabilitation creates an opportunity for technological innovation.

Pre-contact and post-colonial ecological legacies shape Surinamese rainforests.

Disturbances in tropical forests can have long-lasting ecological impacts, but their manifestations (ecological legacies) in modern forests are uncertain. Many Amazonian forests bear the mark of past soil modifications, species enrichments, and fire events, but the trajectories of ecological legacies from the pre-contact or post-colonial period remain relatively unexplored. We assessed the fire and vegetation history from 15 soil cores ranging from 0 to 10 km from a post-colonial Surinamese archaeological site.

A Case of Fatal Clostridium perfringens Sepsis with Massive Hemolysis in the Setting of a Coincidental Platelet Transfusion.

A 62-year-old woman with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) died of shock and massive hemolysis shortly after receiving two platelet transfusions at a routine clinic visit. Subsequent investigation into what was initially believed to be an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction secondary to platelet transfusions revealed that the patient died of Clostridium perfringens sepsis leading to massive hemolysis. Further investigation ruled out bacterially-contaminated platelets since a patient blood sample from 2 days prior had Clostridium species.

Development of A Multi-Modality Navigational Based Training System for Fetoscopic Surgical Therapy.

Fetal surgery is regarded as a technically difficult and new field of research, requiring the use of fetoscopic and ultrasound (US) navigation to perform minimally invasive procedures within the amniotic cavity. The Surgical Apprenticeship Training model (SAT) centres around the subjective assessment of a surgical resident's cognitive competency and technical skills under proctorship using opportunity-based environments. The restrictiveness and rarity of fetal procedures limit the effectiveness of the SAT model, resulting in a slow learning curve (LC) and higher procedural complication rates.

Between the Library and Lectures: How Can Nature Be Integrated Into University Infrastructure to Improve Students' Mental Health.

The university campus provides the backdrop to a student's education and social journey. For many students, the transition from secondary school through to graduation can be one of upheaval, geographical, financial and social change. Evidence suggests increasing levels of mental health difficulties among UK university students.

Impact of radiation therapy on perineal urethrostomy for penile cancer.

Objective: A lack of demonstrated clinical benefit precludes radiotherapy (RT) from being recommended for pN1/pN2 penile cancer (PeCa) lesions; but it may be recommended in case of extranodal (pN3) disease or for positive resection margins. Perineal urethrostomy (PU) is a technique of urinary diversion in patients with PeCa requiring total or subtotal penectomy as primary therapy. Prior studies suggest PU failure rates of up to 30%, without specific mention of the potential role of RT.

Outcomes of perineal urethrostomy for penile cancer: A 20-year international multicenter experience.

Purpose: Perineal urethrostomy (PU) is often the definitive form of urinary diversion in patients with locally-advanced or anatomically unfavorable penile cancer (PC) requiring total penectomy. Here, we report post-operative PU-related complications and PU stenosis rates after total penectomy with PU in a large multicenter cohort of PC patients.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 299 patients who underwent PU as a means of urinary diversion for primary PC across seven international centers from 2000 to 2020.

Hand hygiene feedback impacts compliance.

Background: Health care-acquired infections are one of the top causes of mortality in the United States (Stone, 2009; Scott, 2009). Hand hygiene (HH) can reduce the incidence of such infections. Adherence to HH practices remains challenging for health care workers (World Health Organization, 2014).

Placebo Oral Rabies Vaccine Bait Uptake by Small Indian Mongooses () in Southwestern Puerto Rico.

The small Indian mongoose () is a rabies reservoir in areas of the Caribbean including Puerto Rico, but no rabies vaccination program targeting this host exists. We used two derivatives of iophenoxic acid (IPA) to evaluate placebo oral rabies vaccine bait uptake by mongooses in southwestern Puerto Rico. We hand-distributed baits at an application rate of 200 baits/km at three, 400 ha, sites during autumn 2016 and spring 2017.

Evaluation of a co-facilitated information and learning programme for service users: the EOLAS programme.

Background: The co-production and co-facilitation of recovery-focused education programmes is one way in which service users may be meaningfully involved as partners.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a clinician and peer co-facilitated information programme on service users' knowledge, confidence, recovery attitudes, advocacy and hope, and to explore their experience of the programme.

Methods: A sequential design was used involving a pre-post survey to assess changes in knowledge, confidence, advocacy, recovery attitudes and hope following programme participation.

Outcomes of a co-facilitation skills training programme for mental health service users, family members, and clinicians: the EOLAS project.

Health policy is increasingly advocating for involvement of service users and family members in service development. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of a 4-day education programme in co-facilitation skills on clinician and peer (service users and family members) knowledge, confidence, and subsequent experience as co-facilitators. The programme was designed to train peers and clinicians as co-facilitators on a clinician and peer-led information programme for people experiencing mental health problems.

A Simple Phosphate-Buffered-Saline-Based Extraction Method Improves Specificity of HIV Viral Load Monitoring Using Dried Blood Spots.

Although Roche COBAS Ampliprep/COBAS TaqMan (CAP/CTM) systems are widely used in sub-Saharan Africa for early infant diagnosis of HIV from dried blood spots (DBS), viral load monitoring with this system is not practical due to nonspecific extraction of both cell-free and cell-associated viral nucleic acids. A simplified DBS extraction technique for cell-free virus elution using phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) may provide an alternative analyte for lower-cost quantitative HIV virus load (VL) testing to monitor antiretroviral therapy (ART). We evaluated the CAP/CTM v2.

A participatory approach to the development of a co-produced and co-delivered information programme for users of services and family members: the EOLAS programme (paper 1).

Objective: The EOLAS programme is a peer and clinician-led mental health information programme on recovery from mental health difficulties, specifically for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum or bipolar disorders, their family members and significant others.

Method: This article, the first of a two part series, outlines the background to and the rationale behind the EOLAS programme, and traces the participatory process used to inform the development and implementation of the pilot phase of the project. The aims of the programme, and the overarching principles that guided its development, delivery and evaluation, including the set-up of the project steering group are outlined and discussed.

Impact of co-facilitated information programmes on outcomes for service users and family members: the EOLAS programmes (paper 2).

Objective: The present study evaluated the impact on psychosocial outcome of parallel clinician and peer-led information programmes for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and for family members within an Irish context.

Methods: A sequential mixed method design was used. Quantitative data were collected using pre- and post-programme questionnaires followed by an integrated qualitative component involving semi-structured interviews after the programme.

Therapeutic relevance of the protein phosphatase 2A in cancer.

Chromosomal Instability (CIN) is regarded as a unifying feature of heterogeneous tumor populations, driving intratumoral heterogeneity. Polo-Like Kinase 1 (PLK1), a serine-threonine kinase that is often overexpressed across multiple tumor types, is one of the key regulators of CIN and is considered as a potential therapeutic target. However, targeting PLK1 has remained a challenge due to the off-target effects caused by the inhibition of other members of the polo-like family.

A three-tier algorithm for guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency newborn screening.

Background: Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency is a rare disorder of creatine biosynthesis presenting with epilepsy and developmental delay in infancy. Excellent developmental outcomes have been reported for infants treated from birth due to a family history. The BC Newborn Screening Program initiated a 3year pilot screening study for GAMT deficiency to evaluate the performance of a novel three-tiered screening approach.

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of methadone enantiomers in hospice patients with cancer pain.

Racemic methadone is increasingly used to manage cancer pain. The authors studied 13 terminally ill patients with cancer pain, who underwent switching (rotation) from morphine to methadone. The relationship between initial morphine dose and final methadone dose, the pharmacokinetics of R- and S- methadone, and the degree of pain control and side effects were investigated.

Synthesis of C-6 substituted pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridines with potent activity against herpesviruses.

A novel series of potent C-6 substituted pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine inhibitors of herpes simplex viruses has been identified. A synthetic methodology was developed involving functionalization of a C-6 trifluoromethyl pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine to allow facile access to a diverse set of analogues from common late stage intermediates. The expansion of the SAR of this series at the 6 position allows for modifications to developability parameters such as clogP, while maintaining potency comparable to acyclovir.

Synthesis of novel substituted 2-phenylpyrazolopyridines with potent activity against herpesviruses.

Herpesviruses are a significant source of human disease; amongst these herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 are very prevalent and cause recurrent infections. We recently identified a pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine scaffold that showed promising activity against HSV-1 and HSV-2 in Vero cell antiviral assays. Here, we describe the synthesis and anti-herpetic activity of several 3-pyrimidinyl-2-phenylpyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridines with differing 2-phenyl substitution patterns.

Mechanism of action of the ribopyranoside benzimidazole GW275175X against human cytomegalovirus.

New human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) therapies with novel mechanisms of action are needed to treat drug-resistant HCMV that arises during therapy with currently approved agents. 2-Bromo-5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-1H-benzimidazole (BDCRB) is an effective anti-HCMV agent with a novel mechanism of action, but problems with in vivo stability preclude clinical development. A D-ribopyranosyl derivative of BDCRB, GW275175X, displays similar antiviral activity without the in vivo stability problems.

Coronary heart disease in HIV-infected individuals.

It is currently unknown whether there is an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with HIV infection. In addition, the contribution of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to CHD risk has not been quantified. We reviewed administrative claims data for HIV-infected and -uninfected individuals from the California Medicaid population and compared the incidence of and relative risk (RR) for CHD using log-linear regression analyses between groups.