Comparing and contrasting barriers in augmentative alternative communication use in nonspeaking autism and complex communication needs: multi-stakeholder perspectives.

Augmentative alternative communication (AAC) devices or systems are often prescribed to minimally verbal or nonspeaking autistic individuals and other individuals with complex communication needs to facilitate communication or as an alternative to spoken language. AAC use can result in communication gains and improved quality of life for minimally verbal or nonspeaking individuals. Despite this, AAC abandonment is high, limiting societal participation of the individual on the autism spectrum with complex communication needs.

The Medical Costs of Determining Eligibility and Waiting for a Kidney Transplantation.

Background: Recent efforts to increase access to kidney transplant (KTx) in the United States include increasing referrals to transplant programs, leading to more pretransplant services. Transplant programs reconcile the costs of these services through the Organ Acquisition Cost Center (OACC).

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the costs associated with pretransplant services by applying microeconomic methods to OACC costs reported by transplant hospitals.

Immunologic Benefits of 0-antigen Mismatched Transplants: No Added Boost for Racial and Ethnic Minorities.

Background: Systemic barriers to posttransplant care, including access to immunosuppressant medications, contribute to higher rates of kidney transplant failure in racial minorities. Matching donor and recipient HLA alleles reduce allorecognition, easing reliance on immunosuppression. We hypothesize that 0-antigen mismatch transplants may provide stronger protection against graft loss in racial minorities.

Cognitive and neuroscientific perspectives of healthy ageing.

With dementia incidence projected to escalate significantly within the next 25 years, the United Nations declared 2021-2030 the Decade of Healthy Ageing, emphasising cognition as a crucial element. As a leading discipline in cognition and ageing research, psychology is well-equipped to offer insights for translational research, clinical practice, and policy-making. In this comprehensive review, we discuss the current state of knowledge on age-related changes in cognition and psychological health.

Validation of a Core Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Life Participation in Kidney Transplant Recipients: the SONG Life Participation Instrument.

Introduction: Life participation has been established as a critically important core for trials in kidney transplantation. We aimed to validate a patient-reported outcome measure for life participation in kidney transplant recipients.

Methods: A psychometric evaluation of the Standardized Outcomes in Nephrology life participation (SONG-LP) measure was conducted in adult kidney transplant recipients.

Comparison of online and offline applications of dual-site transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over the pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) and right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) for improving response inhibition.

The efficacy of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is thought to be brain state-dependent, such that tACS during task performance would be hypothesised to offer greater potential for improving performance compared to tACS at rest. However, to date, no empirical study has tested this postulation. The current study compared the effects of dual-site beta tACS applied during a stop signal task (online) to the effects of the same tACS protocol applied prior to the task (offline) and a sham control stimulation in 53 young, healthy adults (32 female; 18-35 yrs).

An 8-week compassion and mindfulness-based exposure therapy program improves posttraumatic stress symptoms.

The persistence of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) can be debilitating. However, many people experiencing such symptoms may not qualify for or may not seek treatment. Potentially contributing to ongoing residual symptoms of PTSS is emotion dysregulation.

Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation for Older Transplant Candidates: A New Microsimulation Model for Determining Risks and Benefits.

Background: Under the current US kidney allocation system, older candidates receive a disproportionately small share of deceased donor kidneys despite a reserve of potentially usable kidneys that could shorten their wait times. To consider potential health gains from increasing access to kidneys for these candidates, we developed and calibrated a microsimulation model of the transplantation process and long-term outcomes for older deceased donor kidney transplant candidates.

Methods: We estimated risk equations for transplant outcomes using the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), which contains data on all US transplants (2010-2019).

Association of Pretransplant Coronary Heart Disease Testing With Early Kidney Transplant Outcomes.

Importance: Testing for coronary heart disease (CHD) in asymptomatic kidney transplant candidates before transplant is widespread and endorsed by various professional societies, but its association with perioperative outcomes is unclear.

Objective: To estimate the association of pretransplant CHD testing with rates of death and myocardial infarction (MI).

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study included all adult, first-time kidney transplant recipients from January 2000 through December 2014 in the US Renal Data System with at least 1 year of Medicare enrollment before and after transplant.

Infection, Rejection, and the Connection.

Solid organ transplantation is a life-saving treatment for people with end-stage organ disease. Immune-mediated transplant rejection is a common complication that decreases allograft survival. Although immunosuppression is required to prevent rejection, it also increases the risk of infection.

Trends in Coronary Artery Disease Screening before Kidney Transplantation.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) screening in asymptomatic kidney transplant candidates is widespread but not well supported by contemporary cardiology literature. In this study we describe temporal trends in CAD screening before kidney transplant in the United States.

Methods: Using the United States Renal Data System, we examined Medicare-insured adults who received a first kidney transplant from 2000 through 2015.

Racial Disparities in Pediatric Kidney Transplantation under the New Kidney Allocation System in the United States.

Background And Objectives: In December 2014, the Kidney Allocation System (KAS) was implemented to improve equity in access to transplantation, but preliminary studies in children show mixed results. Thus, we aimed to assess how the 2014 KAS policy change affected racial and ethnic disparities in pediatric kidney transplantation access and related outcomes.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We performed a retrospective cohort study of children <18 years of age active on the kidney transplant list from 2008 to 2019 using the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

Influence of tDCS over right inferior frontal gyrus and pre-supplementary motor area on perceptual decision-making and response inhibition: A healthy ageing perspective.

A wide body of literature suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) administered over the prefrontal cortex can improve executive function - including decision-making and inhibitory control - in healthy young adults. However, the effects of tDCS in older adults are largely unknown. Here, using a double-blind, sham-controlled approach, changes in a combined perceptual decision-making and inhibitory control task were assessed before and after the application of tDCS (1 mA, 20 minute) targeting the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) or pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) in 42 young (18-34 years) and 41 older (60-80 years) healthy adults.

Functional Consequences of Memory Inflation after Solid Organ Transplantation.

CMV is a major infectious complication following solid organ transplantation. Reactivation of CMV leads to memory inflation, a process in which CD8 T cells expand over time. Memory inflation is associated with specific changes in T cell function, including increased oligoclonality, decreased cytokine production, and terminal differentiation.

Immunosuppression Considerations for Older Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Purpose Of Review: While kidney transplantation improves the long-term survival of the majority of patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), age-related immune dysfunction and associated comorbidities make older transplant recipients more susceptible to complications related to immunosuppression. In this review, we discuss appropriate management of immunosuppressive agents in older adults to minimize adverse events, avoid acute rejection, and maximize patient and graft survival.

Recent Findings: Physiological changes associated with senescence can impact drug metabolism and increase the risk of posttransplant infection and malignancy.

Karnofsky Performance Score-Failure to Thrive as a Frailty Proxy?

Unlabelled: Among patients listed for kidney transplantation, the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) Scale has been used as a proxy for frailty and proposed as a predictor of long-term posttransplant outcomes. The KPS is required by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network for all transplants; however, the interrater reliability of KPS reporting in kidney transplant candidates has not been well investigated, and there is concern regarding limitations of using KPS that may influence transplant eligibility.

Methods: We performed an observational study using existing Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data from 2006 to 2020 to examine the variability, reliability, and trends in the KPS among patients on the kidney transplant waitlist.

Performance versus Risk Factor-Based Approaches to Coronary Artery Disease Screening in Waitlisted Kidney Transplant Candidates.

Introduction: Current screening algorithms for coronary artery disease (CAD) before kidney transplantation result in many tests but few interventions.

Objective: The aim of this study was to study the utility of 6-minute walk test (6MWT), an office-based test of cardiorespiratory fitness, for risk stratification in this setting.

Methods: We enrolled 360 patients who are near the top of the kidney transplant waitlist at our institution.

The organ procurement costs of expanding deceased donor organ acceptance criteria: Evidence from a cost function model.

A potential solution to the deceased donor organ shortage is to expand donor acceptability criteria. The procurement cost implications of using nonstandard donors is unknown. Using 5 years of US organ procurement organization (OPO) data, we built a cost function model to make cost projections: the total cost was the dependent variable; production outputs, including the number of donors and organs procured, were the independent variables.

Sex Disparity in Deceased-Donor Kidney Transplant Access by Cause of Kidney Disease.

Background And Objectives: Women with kidney failure have lower access to kidney transplantation compared with men, but the magnitude of this disparity may not be uniform across all kidney diseases. We hypothesized that the attributed cause of kidney failure may modify the magnitude of the disparities in transplant access by sex.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We performed a retrospective cohort study of adults who developed kidney failure between 2005 and 2017 according to the United States Renal Data System.

And Then There Were Three: Effects of Pretransplant Dialysis on Multiorgan Transplantation.

Background: Simultaneous liver-kidney (SLK) and simultaneous heart-kidney (SHK) transplantation currently utilize 6% of deceased donor kidneys in the United States. To what extent residual kidney function accounts for apparent kidney allograft survival is unknown.

Methods: We examined all adult SLK and SHK transplants in the United States during 1995-2014.

Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography in Diagnosing Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is emerging as an important noninvasive testing modality for coronary angiography. The performance characteristic of CCTA in patients with advanced kidney disease is unknown.

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies specifically investigating the sensitivity and specificity of CCTA compared to coronary angiogram as a reference standard in patients with advanced kidney disease, defined as dialysis dependence or nearing kidney transplantation.

Toward telemedicine-compatible physical functioning assessments in kidney transplant candidates.

Frailty is associated with adverse kidney transplant outcomes and can be assessed by subjective and objective metrics. There is increasing recognition of the value of metrics obtainable remotely. We compared the self-reported SF-36 physical functioning subscale score (SF-36 PF) with in-person physical performance tests (6-min walk and sit-to-stand) in a prospective cohort of kidney transplant candidates.

Impact of Functional Status on Outcomes of Simultaneous Pancreas-kidney Transplantation: Risks and Opportunities for Patient Benefit.

Background: The impact of functional status on survival among simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant (SPKT) candidates and recipients is not well described.

Methods: We examined national Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) data for patients listed for SPKT in the United States (2006-2019). Functional status was categorized by center-reported Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS).