A Primer on Interstitial Lung Disease and Thoracic Radiation.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a term used to describe a heterogeneous group of lung disorders with characteristic clinical and imaging features. Patients with ILD are at an increased risk of developing NSCLC, which is frequently medically comorbid, often precluding operative management. In this scenario, radiotherapy (RT) is generally recommended; however, ILD is known to increase the risk of RT-related toxicity.

Cell Lines for Honey Bee Virus Research.

With ongoing colony losses driven in part by the Varroa mite and the associated exacerbation of the virus load, there is an urgent need to protect honey bees () from fatal levels of virus infection and from the non-target effects of insecticides used in agricultural settings. A continuously replicating cell line derived from the honey bee would provide a valuable tool for the study of molecular mechanisms of virus-host interaction, for the screening of antiviral agents for potential use within the hive, and for the assessment of the risk of current and candidate insecticides to the honey bee. However, the establishment of a continuously replicating honey bee cell line has proved challenging.

Managing loneliness: a qualitative study of older people's views.

Engaging with older people who self-identify as lonely may help professionals in mental health and other services understand how they deal with loneliness. The evidence-base for effective interventions to address loneliness is inconclusive. This study aimed to explore how community-dwelling lonely older people in England manage their experiences of loneliness.

Charity Care Characteristics and Expenditures Among US Tax-Exempt Hospitals in 2016.

To examine content of financial assistance polices (FAPs) among US tax-exempt hospitals and determine whether restrictive policies were associated with reduced charity care spending. Using hospital tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service in 2016 and FAPs obtained from hospital Web sites, we examined characteristics of FAPs and associated expenditures for charity care in a representative sample of 170 tax-exempt hospitals. We identified common eligibility requirements and used them to define restrictiveness of FAPs.

Exercise May Ameliorate the Detrimental Side Effects of High Vitamin D Supplementation on Muscle Function in Mice.

Vitamin D is commonly prescribed to normalize deficiencies and to treat osteoporosis. However, the effect vitamin D supplements have on skeletal muscle health is equivocal. Although vitamin D is known to play a role in the various processes that maintain muscle integrity and function, recent studies utilizing high bolus dose vitamin D supplementation has demonstrated an increased risk of falls.

Medication information and supply behaviours in elite and developing athletes.

Objectives: To investigate the behaviours of elite and developing athletes in obtaining medications and medication information, and to identify the role of pharmacists in athlete care.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Methods: An electronic, 39-item questionnaire was developed, piloted and distributed to elite and developing athletes aged 18 years and above at a state-based sporting institute.

Setting Priorities to Inform Assessment of Care Homes' Readiness to Participate in Healthcare Innovation: A Systematic Mapping Review and Consensus Process.

Organisational context is known to impact on the successful implementation of healthcare initiatives in care homes. We undertook a systematic mapping review to examine whether researchers have considered organisational context when planning, conducting, and reporting the implementation of healthcare innovations in care homes. Review data were mapped against the Alberta Context Tool, which was designed to assess organizational context in care homes.

Improvement of postinpatient psychiatric follow-up for veterans using telehealth.

Purpose: To describe the implementation and initial outcomes of a pilot interdisciplinary telehealth clinic, Allied Transitional Telehealth Encounters post-iNpatient Discharge (ATTEND), providing clinical pharmacy specialist follow-up for veterans transitioning from inpatient to outpatient mental healthcare in a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) hospital.

Summary: The ATTEND clinic's primary intervention was providing medication management appointments through clinical video telehealth (CVT) to patient discharge locations through a DVA-provided tablet. An interdisciplinary team supported care through on-unit inpatient training, secure messaging, and self-help applications.

Components of palliative care interventions addressing the needs of people with dementia living in long-term care: A systematic review.

Background: People with dementia requiring palliative care have multiple needs, which are amplified in long-term care settings. The European Association for Palliative Care White Paper offers recommendations for optimal palliative care in dementia integral for this population, providing useful guidance to inform interventions addressing their specific needs.

Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the components of palliative care interventions for people with dementia in long-term care focusing on shared decision-making and examine their alignment to the European Association for Palliative Care domains of care.

Patients with positive malaria tests not given artemisinin-based combination therapies: a research synthesis describing under-prescription of antimalarial medicines in Africa.

Background: There has been a successful push towards parasitological diagnosis of malaria in Africa, mainly with rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs), which has reduced over-prescribing of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) to malaria test-negative patients. The effect on prescribing for test-positive patients has received much less attention. Malaria infection in endemic Africa is often most dangerous for young children and those in low-transmission settings.

Adenylosuccinic acid therapy ameliorates murine Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Arising from the ablation of the cytoskeletal protein dystrophin, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a debilitating and fatal skeletal muscle wasting disease underpinned by metabolic insufficiency. The inability to facilitate adequate energy production may impede calcium (Ca) buffering within, and the regenerative capacity of, dystrophic muscle. Therefore, increasing the metabogenic potential could represent an effective treatment avenue.

A group intervention to improve quality of life for people with advanced dementia living in care homes: the Namaste feasibility cluster RCT.

Background: People with advanced dementia who live and die in nursing homes experience variable quality of life, care and dying. There is a need to identify appropriate, cost-effective interventions that facilitate high-quality end-of-life care provision.

Objectives: To establish the feasibility and acceptability to staff and family of conducting a cluster randomised controlled trial of the Namaste Care intervention for people with advanced dementia in nursing homes.

Quality of tuberculosis care by pharmacies in low- and middle-income countries: Gaps and opportunities.

Pharmacies hold great potential to contribute meaningfully to tuberculosis (TB) control efforts, given their accessibility and extensive utilisation by communities in many high burden countries. Despite this promise, the quality of care provided by pharmacies in these settings for a range of conditions has historically been poor. This paper sets out to conceptualise the key issues surrounding quality of TB care in the low- and middle-income country pharmacy setting; examine the empirical evidence on quality of care; and review the interventions employed to improve this.

ELECtric Tibial nerve stimulation to Reduce Incontinence in Care homes: protocol for the ELECTRIC randomised trial.

Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) is highly prevalent in nursing and residential care homes (CHs) and profoundly impacts on residents' dignity and quality of life. CHs predominantly use absorbent pads to contain UI rather than actively treat the condition. Transcutaneous posterior tibial nerve stimulation (TPTNS) is a non-invasive, safe and low-cost intervention with demonstrated effectiveness for reducing UI in adults.

Establishment of two midgut cell lines from the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Two cell lines were generated from larval midguts of Spodoptera frugiperda and have been 26 passaged over 50 times. The CT/BCIRL-SfMG1-0611-KZ line was established from 27 trypsinized, minced whole midgut tissues: the CT/BCIRL-SfMG-0617-KZ line from isolated 28 midgut muscle tissue (containing some residual epithelial cells). Additional midgut cultures were 29 generated from isolated epithelial cells; some passaged not more than three times, which grew 30 very slowly and survived longer than 1 year.

Gemcitabine-induced pseudocellulitis: a case report and review of the literature.

Gemcitabine is a chemotherapeutic agent used in a wide variety of solid tumours. Known side effects include a dose-limiting myelosuppressive toxicity, mild rash, and radiation-dependent dermatitis. Rarely, localized inflammation in the form of pseudocellulitis has also been observed.

Mycoplasma detection in a historical arbovirus repository: Commercial kit comparison and implications for improved repository management.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arbovirus Reference Collection (ARC) contains viral isolates from both environmental and human sources that are maintained in the laboratory through passage in suckling mouse brain and/or vertebrate and invertebrate cell culture. There has been increased concern regarding the effect of mycoplasma contamination on virus growth and its impact on research and phenotypic analysis. Therefore, quality control testing of virus preparations has become a routine part of the ARC quality assurance program.

A four-stage process for intervention description and guide development of a practice-based intervention: refining the Namaste Care intervention implementation specification for people with advanced dementia prior to a feasibility cluster randomised trial.

Background: Some interventions are developed from practice, and implemented before evidence of effect is determined, or the intervention is fully specified. An example is Namaste Care, a multi-component intervention for people with advanced dementia, delivered in care home, community, hospital and hospice settings. This paper describes the development of an intervention description, guide and training package to support implementation of Namaste Care within the context of a feasibility trial.

Regulatory, Policy, and Operational Considerations for Outcomes-Based Risk-Sharing Agreements in the U.S. Market: Opportunities for Reform.

Background: Although interest in outcomes-based risk-sharing agreements (OBRSAs) and other value-based contracts (VBCs) continues to grow, the number of VBCs in the United States is still limited. A better understanding of the evolving and fluid context of policies, regulations, and operational factors affecting their uptake in the United States is needed in order to lower or obviate barriers and advance OBRSAs.

Objectives: To (a) identify and recognize priorities among policies, regulations, and other factors that are most likely to influence the feasibility, design, and execution of OBRSAs and (b) suggest opportunities for reform and other modifications that may advance OBRSAs in the United States.

How to do (or not to do) … using the standardized patient method to measure clinical quality of care in LMIC health facilities.

Standardized patients (SPs), i.e. mystery shoppers for healthcare providers, are increasingly used as a tool to measure quality of clinical care, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where medical record abstraction is unlikely to be feasible.

A predator-based psychosocial stress animal model of PTSD in females: Influence of estrous phase and ovarian hormones.

Traumatized women are more likely than traumatized men to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Still, the inclusion of females in animal models of PTSD has largely been avoided, likely due to the variable hormone profile of female rodents. Because a valid animal model of PTSD that incorporates females is still needed, we examined the influence of estrous stage and ovarian hormones on the female rat response to a predator-based psychosocial stress model of PTSD.