Overcoming Barriers to Latino Participation in Alzheimer's Disease Research.

There is a critical need to increase Latino participation in research on Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD). Applying principles of community-based participatory research, we convened a community advisory board (CAB) to identify barriers and recommend strategies to increase participation of older Latinos in a longitudinal observational research study of ADRD at the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Six major barriers were identified and programmatic changes to overcome them were implemented.

Current utility of first-line FT4 and TSH in screening for central hypothyroidism.

Background: Thyroid testing strategies vary across laboratories. First-line combined thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and freeT4 (FT4) have historically been preferred by many laboratories as this detects individuals with undiagnosed central hypothyroidism who can be missed with a first-line TSH-only strategy. However, an up-to-date evaluation of the utility of this approach is lacking.

Developing a scale to explore self-regulatory approaches to assessment and feedback with academics in higher education.

Introduction: Students need to acquire high level self-regulatory skills if they are to be successful within higher education, and academics need support in facilitating this. In this article we explore how the current research gap between knowledge of self-regulatory assessment and feedback (SRAF) practices, and academics' professional training in it can be bridged.

Methods: SRAF tools were used with academics to explore their understandings of and training needs in SRAF; central to this work was the development of a SRAF scale.

Salivary Cortisol Response to ACTH Stimulation Is a Reliable Alternative to Serum Cortisol in Evaluating Hypoadrenalism.

Context: The serum total cortisol response to the ACTH stimulation test is widely used to assess adrenocortical function but is affected by changes in cortisol-binding globulin (CBG) concentration. Salivary cortisol reflects free cortisol concentrations and may offer a reliable alternative.

Objectives: (1) To establish the salivary cortisol response to ACTH stimulation in healthy volunteers and patients with altered CBG concentrations; (2) to evaluate the performance of a lower reference limit (LRL) determined in healthy volunteers in patients with suspected hypoadrenalism (SH-patients).

The development and validation of the assessment engagement scale.

Introduction: The quality of student engagement in assessment within higher education affects learning outcomes. However, variations in conceptions of what quality in engagement looks like impacts assessment design and the way that students and lecturers engage with each other in the assessment process. Given that assessment is an important driver of student engagement in higher education, it is surprising that no specific measures to support understanding of this measure exist.

Multi-center evaluation of the highly sensitive Abbott ARCHITECT and Alinity thyroglobulin chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay.

Background: Thyroglobulin (Tg) is an essential part for the management of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) after thyroidectomy. Highly sensitive Tg assays are now established in clinical practice as they facilitate follow-up of DTC patients. In this study, we evaluated the recently launched highly sensitive Abbott Tg assay for Alinity and ARCHITECT.

Impact of potential modifications to Alzheimer's disease clinical trials in response to disruption by COVID-19: a simulation study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Alzheimer disease randomized clinical trials (RCTs), forcing investigators to make changes in the conduct of such trials while endeavoring to maintain their validity. Changing ongoing RCTs carries risks for biases and threats to validity. To understand the impact of exigent modifications due to COVID-19, we examined several scenarios in symptomatic and disease modification trials that could be made.

Method-dependent variation in TSH and FT4 reference intervals in pregnancy: A systematic review.

Background: Gestational TSH and FT4 reference intervals may differ according to assay method, but the extent of variation is unclear and has not been systematically evaluated. We conducted a systematic review of published studies on TSH and FT4 reference intervals in pregnancy. Our aim was to quantify method-related differences in gestation reference intervals, across four commonly used assay methods, Abbott, Beckman, Roche and Siemens.

Glasgow Early Treatment Arm Favirpiravir (GETAFIX) for adults with early stage COVID-19: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: The GETAFIX trial will test the hypothesis that favipiravir is a more effective treatment for COVID-19 infection in patients who have early stage disease, compared to current standard of care. This study will also provide an important opportunity to investigate the safety and tolerability of favipiravir, the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of this drug and mechanisms of resistance in the context of COVID-19 infection, as well as the effect of favipiravir on hospitalisation duration and the post COVID-19 health and psycho-social wellbeing of patients recruited to the study.

Trial Design: GETAFIX is an open label, parallel group, two arm phase II/III randomised trial with 1:1 treatment allocation ratio.

Primary therapy of Graves' disease and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality: a linked-record cohort study.

Background: Graves' disease is routinely treated with antithyroid drugs, radioiodine, or surgery, but whether the choice of initial therapy influences long-term outcomes is uncertain. We evaluated cardiovascular morbidity and mortality according to the method and effectiveness of primary therapy in Graves' disease.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we identified patients with hyperthyroidism, diagnosed between Jan 1, 1998, and Dec 31, 2013, from a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)-receptor antibody (TRAb) test register in south Wales, UK, and imported their clinical data into the All-Wales Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank (Swansea University, Swansea, UK).

Livestock management, beaver, and climate influences on riparian vegetation in a semi-arid landscape.

Riparian and aquatic habitats support biodiversity and key environmental processes in semi-arid and arid landscapes, but stressors such as conventional livestock grazing, wildfire, and drought can degrade their condition. To enhance habitat for fish and wildlife and increase resiliency in these critical areas, land managers in the interior western United States increasingly use alternative grazing strategies, beaver management, or beaver dam surrogates as low-effort, low-expense restoration approaches. In this study we used historical archives of satellite and aerial imagery spanning three decades to characterize riparian vegetation productivity and document beaver dam occurrences, then evaluated vegetation productivity relative to land management associated with livestock grazing and beaver dam densities while accounting for climate and wildfire.

Measuring cortisol in serum, urine and saliva - are our assays good enough?

Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced in response to stress. It is essential for maintaining health and wellbeing and leads to significant morbidity when deficient or present in excess. It is lipophilic and is transported bound to cortisol-binding globulin (CBG) and albumin; a small fraction (∼10%) of total serum cortisol is unbound and biologically active.

Serum thyroglobulin in the monitoring of differentiated thyroid cancer.

Patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) usually have an excellent prognosis. Following surgical and radioiodine treatment to remove the cancer cells and suppressive doses of levothyroxine, long-term follow-up, including measurement of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) using a sensitive assay is required to detect recurrence. To interpret Tg results clinicians need to know the corresponding serum TSH concentration, have an appreciation of the clearance of Tg from patient serum following various interventions and the limitations of its measurement.

Clinical supervision in a community setting.

Clinical supervision is a formal process of professional support, reflection and learning that contributes to individual development. First Community Health and Care is committed to providing clinical supervision to nurses and allied healthcare professionals to support the provision and maintenance of high-quality care. In 2012, we developed new guidelines for nurses and AHPs on supervision, incorporating a clinical supervision framework.

Thyroglobulin in differentiated thyroid cancer.

Identification of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is becoming increasingly common. Patients usually have an excellent prognosis. Most undergo total thyroidectomy, radioiodine ablation and treatment with suppressive doses of levothyroxine.

Neonatal blood TSH concentration in Wales (UK): an indicator of iodine sufficiency.

Objective: Population iodine status can be assessed by urinary iodine concentrations, prevalence of goitre, frequency of newborn thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) >5 mU/l and blood thyroglobulin concentrations. The UK population has historically been considered to be iodine sufficient; however, a recent survey of UK schoolgirls has demonstrated median urinary iodine concentrations consistent with mild iodine deficiency. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of TSH >5 mU/l in the newborn blood spot screening samples from the eligible population in Wales between 2011 and 2013 to assess iodine sufficiency.

Cognitive Style as Environmentally Sensitive Individual Differences in Cognition: A Modern Synthesis and Applications in Education, Business, and Management.

The key aims of this article are to relate the construct of cognitive style to current theories in cognitive psychology and neuroscience and to outline a framework that integrates the findings on individual differences in cognition across different disciplines. First, we characterize cognitive style as patterns of adaptation to the external world that develop on the basis of innate predispositions, the interactions among which are shaped by changing environmental demands. Second, we show that research on cognitive style in psychology and cross-cultural neuroscience, on learning styles in education, and on decision-making styles in business and management all address the same phenomena.

Development of a rapid assay for the analysis of serum cortisol and its implementation into a routine service laboratory.

Background: LC-MS/MS is rapidly becoming the technology of choice for measuring steroid hormones. We have developed a rapid LC-MS/MS assay for the routine analysis of serum cortisol. We have used this assay to investigate the effects of gender and exogenous steroid interference on the immunoassay measurement of serum cortisol.

Field independence: reviewing the evidence.

Background: The construct of field independence (FI) remains one of the most widely cited notions in research on cognitive style and on learning and instruction more generally. However, a great deal of confusion continues to exist around the definition of FI, its measurement, and the interpretation of research results, all of which have served to limit our understanding of and practice in education.

Aims: This study reviews research evidence on FI and highlights key issues to frame a more informed agenda for future research.