Availability, prices and affordability of self-monitoring blood glucose devices: surveys in six low-income and middle-income countries.

Introduction: Accessing glucose meters, test strips, lancets and continuous/flash glucose monitoring devices for self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) is crucial for the management of diabetes. Yet little is known about access to SMBG devices in low-income and middle-income countries.

Methods: In 2022/2023, facility-based surveys were undertaken in selected regions and sectors in Fiji, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Peru and Vietnam.

Changes in spatial clusters of cancer incidence and mortality over 15 years in South Korea: Implication to cancer control.

Background: The temporal investigation of high-risk areas of cancer incidence and mortality can provide practical implications in cancer control. We aimed to investigate the changes in spatial clusters of incidence and mortality from 1999 through 2013 by major cancer types in South Korea.

Methods: We applied flexible scan statistics to identify spatial clusters of cancer incidence and mortality by three 5-year periods and seven major cancer types using the counts of new cases and deaths and population in 244 districts during 1999-2013.

Enhanced power conversion efficiency of an n-Si/PEDOT:PSS hybrid solar cell using nanostructured silicon and gold nanoparticles.

Herein, the effect of nanostructured silicon and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of an n-type silicon/poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (n-Si/PEDOT:PSS) hybrid solar cell was investigated. The Si surface modified with different nanostructures including Si nanopyramids (SiNPs), Si nanoholes (SiNHs) and Si nanowires (SiNWs) was utilized to improve light trapping and photo-carrier collection. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.

Changes in, and predictors of, quality of life among patients with unstable angina after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: Changes in, and predictors of, quality of life (QoL) among unstable angina patients are informative for both clinical and public health practice. However, there is little research on this topic, especially in health care settings with limited resources. This study aims to detect changes in QoL and its associated factors among patients with unstable angina after percutaneous coronary intervention.

The validation of organisational culture assessment instrument in healthcare setting: results from a cross-sectional study in Vietnam.

Background: Organisational culture (OC) has increasingly become a crucial factor in defining healthcare practice and management. However, there has been little research validating and adapting OCAI (organisational culture assessment instrument) to assess OC in healthcare settings in developing countries, including Vietnam. The purpose of this study is to validate the OCAI in a hospital setting using key psychometric tests and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Physician Beware: Severe Cyanide Toxicity from Amygdalin Tablets Ingestion.

Despite the risk of cyanide toxicity and lack of efficacy, amygdalin is still used as alternative cancer treatment. Due to the highly lethal nature of cyanide toxicity, many patients die before getting medical care. Herein, we describe the case of a 73-year-old female with metastatic pancreatic cancer who developed cyanide toxicity from taking amygdalin.

Palliative Care in Vietnam: Long-Term Partnerships Yield Increasing Access.

Palliative care began in Vietnam in 2001, but steady growth in palliative care services and education commenced several years later when partnerships for ongoing training and technical assistance by committed experts were created with the Ministry of Health, major public hospitals, and medical universities. An empirical analysis of palliative care need by the Ministry of Health in 2006 was followed by national palliative care clinical guidelines, initiation of clinical training for physicians and nurses, and revision of opioid prescribing regulations. As advanced and specialist training programs in palliative care became available, graduates of these programs began helping to establish palliative care services in their hospitals.

Targeting the Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase Pathway in Gastric Cancer: Can Omics Improve Outcomes?

Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway signaling is an established oncogenic signal transduction pathway implicated in multiple malignancies. Therapeutic targeting of PI3K pathway components has improved outcomes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, kidney cancer, breast cancer, and neuroendocrine tumors. Gastric cancers harbor some of the highest rates of oncogenic alterations in PI3K but attempts to translate this genomic observation have met with limited clinical success and novel approaches are needed.

Outcome Assessments and Cost Avoidance of an Oral Chemotherapy Management Clinic.

Background: Increasing use of oral chemotherapy drugs increases the challenges for drug and patient management. An oral chemotherapy management clinic was developed to provide patients with oral chemotherapy management, concurrent medication (CM) education, and symptom management services. This evaluation aims to measure the need and effectiveness of this practice model due to scarce published data.

Implementation and preliminary outcomes of a comprehensive oral chemotherapy management clinic.

Purpose: Improved outcomes achieved by an oral chemotherapy management (OCM) clinic, including a reduction in the need for medication-related interventions, are reported.

Summary: A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an OCM clinic providing comprehensive medication therapy management (MTM) services, including education on various oral chemotherapy agents, concurrent medications, and symptom management, as well as insurance assistance. Patient demographics, self-rated depression scores, and data on concurrent medication use, types of interventions, and intervention outcomes were collected at baseline and at follow-up visits for up to three months.

Vietnam's palliative care initiative: successes and challenges in the first five years.

In 2005, Vietnam's Ministry of Health (MoH) launched a palliative care initiative that uses the World Health Organization (WHO) public health strategy for national palliative care program development. With international financial and technical support, the initiative has made significant early progress. A rapid situation analysis in 2005 led to national Guidelines on Palliative Care in 2006, radically improved opioid prescribing regulations in 2008, the training of more than 400 physicians in palliative care by early 2010 using three curricula written especially for Vietnam, and the initiation of palliative care services in some hospitals and in the community.