Group Health & Wellness Coaching: development and validation of the required competencies.

Background: As the popularity and demonstrated effectiveness of Health and Wellness Coaching (HWC) continue to grow to address chronic disease prevalence worldwide, delivery of this approach in a group format is gaining traction, particularly in healthcare. Nonetheless, very little empirical work exists on group coaching and there are currently no published competencies for Group Health and Wellness Coaching (GHWC).

Methods: We used a well-established two-phase (Development and Judgment) process to create and validate GHWC competencies with strong content validity.

RET Kinase-Regulated MicroRNA-153-3p Improves Therapeutic Efficacy in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) presents a disproportionate number of thyroid cancer deaths due to limited treatment options beyond surgery. Gain-of-function mutations of the human REarranged during Transfection () proto-oncogene have been well-established as the key driver of MTC tumorigenesis. RET has been targeted by tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as cabozantinib and vandetanib.

Translational applications of microRNAs in cancer, and therapeutic implications.

The search for targeted novel therapies for cancer is ongoing. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) display a number of characteristics making them an attractive and realisable option. In this review, we explore these applications, ranging from diagnostics, prognostics, disease surveillance, to being a primary therapy or a tool to sensitise patients to treatment modalities such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Targeting mesothelin receptors with drug-loaded bacterial nanocells suppresses human mesothelioma tumour growth in mouse xenograft models.

Human malignant mesothelioma is a chemoresistant tumour that develops from mesothelial cells, commonly associated with asbestos exposure. Malignant mesothelioma incidence rates in European countries are still rising and Australia has one of the highest burdens of malignant mesothelioma on a population basis in the world. Therapy using systemic delivery of free cytotoxic agents is associated with many undesirable side effects due to non-selectivity, and is thus dose-limited which limits its therapeutic potential.

Knowledge about Human Papillomavirus and Time to Complete Vaccination among Vulnerable Female Youth.

Objective: To examine the association of knowledge about human papillomavirus (HPV) on the time to completion of the 3-dose quadrivalent vaccine series in an inner-city population of adolescent female subjects at high risk for infection.

Study Design: We prospectively followed 139 female subjects aged 14-20 years enrolled in a vaccine surveillance study in New York City during a period of at least 24 months. Participants were given a 30-item true or false survey on HPV at enrollment and ranked according to the number of correct responses.

MicroRNA-7 as a tumor suppressor and novel therapeutic for adrenocortical carcinoma.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has a poor prognosis with significant unmet clinical need due to late diagnosis, high rates of recurrence/metastasis and poor response to conventional treatment. Replacing tumor suppressor microRNAs (miRNAs) offer a novel therapy, however systemic delivery remains challenging. A number of miRNAs have been described to be under-expressed in ACC however it is not known if they form a part of ACC pathogenesis.

Increased Body Mass Index Associated with Increased Risky Sexual Behaviors.

Study Objective: The increasing prevalence of adolescent obesity has led to consideration of the potential effect of obesity on risky sexual behaviors. In the current study we examined whether body mass index (BMI) was related to age at sexual debut, type of sexual behavior, partner number, and condom use in a population of adolescent women at high risk for obesity and risky sexual behaviors.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional examination of 860 sexually active, predominantly minority, adolescent women who received medical care at an urban health center from 2007 through 2013.

miR-193a-3p is a potential tumor suppressor in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an asbestos-induced cancer with poor prognosis that displays characteristic alterations in microRNA expression. Recently it was reported that the expression of a subset of microRNAs can distinguish between MPM and adenocarcinoma of the lung. However, the functional importance of these changes has yet to be investigated.

Association Between Cumulative Psychosocial Risk and Cervical Human Papillomavirus Infection Among Female Adolescents in a Free Vaccination Program.

Objective: This study investigated the association of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection with cumulative psychosocial risk reflecting family disadvantage, psychological distress, and unhealthy lifestyle.

Methods: The sample (N = 745) comprised sexually active female adolescent patients (12-19 yr), primarily ethnic minorities, enrolled in a free HPV vaccination program. Subjects completed questionnaires and provided cervical swabs for HPV DNA testing.

mTOR inhibition by everolimus in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia induces caspase-independent cell death.

Increasingly, anti-cancer medications are being reported to induce cell death mechanisms other than apoptosis. Activating alternate death mechanisms introduces the potential to kill cells that have defects in their apoptotic machinery, as is commonly observed in cancer cells, including in hematological malignancies. We, and others, have previously reported that the mTOR inhibitor everolimus has pre-clinical efficacy and induces caspase-independent cell death in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells.

Circulating adipokine levels and endometrial cancer risk in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial.

Background: Circulating adipokine levels may be associated with endometrial cancer risk, yet few studies have evaluated these markers prospectively.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study of postmenopausal women in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (n = 78,216), including 167 incident endometrial cancer cases and 327 controls that were matched on age, study center, race, study year of diagnosis, year of blood draw, time of day of blood draw, and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use. Adipokine and estradiol levels were categorized into tertiles (T).

Comparative effectiveness of revascularization strategies.

Background: Questions persist concerning the comparative effectiveness of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG). The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) collaborated to compare the rates of long-term survival after PCI and CABG.

Methods: We linked the ACCF National Cardiovascular Data Registry and the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database to claims data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the years 2004 through 2008.

Predictors of long-term survival after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery: results from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (the ASCERT study).

Background: Most survival prediction models for coronary artery bypass grafting surgery are limited to in-hospital or 30-day end points. We estimate a long-term survival model using data from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Methods And Results: The final study cohort included 348 341 isolated coronary artery bypass grafting patients aged ≥65 years, discharged between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2007, from 917 Society of Thoracic Surgeons-participating hospitals, randomly divided into training (n=174 506) and validation (n=173 835) samples.

Prediction of long-term mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention in older adults: results from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry.

Background: The purpose of this study was to develop a long-term model to predict mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention in both patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and those with more stable coronary disease.

Methods And Results: The American College of Cardiology Foundation CathPCI Registry data were linked to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 100% denominator file by probabilistic matching. Preprocedure demographic and clinical variables from the CathPCI Registry were used to predict the probability of death over 3 years as recorded in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services database.

Topical anaesthetics for repair of dermal laceration.

Background: Topical local anaesthetics are recognized as providing effective analgesia for numerous superficial procedures, including repair of dermal lacerations. The need for cocaine in topical anaesthetic formulations has been questioned due to concern about adverse effects, and so novel preparations of cocaine-free anaesthetics have been developed.

Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of infiltrated local anaesthetics with those of topical local anaesthetics for repair of dermal lacerations and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of various single or multi-component topical anaesthetics to identify cocaine-free topically applied local anaesthetics that may provide equivalent analgesia to those containing cocaine.

The association between inflammation-related genes and serum androgen levels in men: the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian study.

Background: Androgens and inflammation have been implicated in the etiology of several cancers, including prostate cancer. Serum androgens have been shown to correlate with markers of inflammation and expression of inflammation-related genes.

Methods: In this report, we evaluated associations between 9,932 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) marking common genetic variants in 774 inflammation-related genes and four serum androgen levels (total testosterone [T], bioavailable T [BioT]; 5α-androstane-3α, 17β-diol glucuronide [3αdiol G], and 4-androstene-3,17-dione [androstenedione]), in 560 healthy men (median age 64 years) drawn from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

The mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor RAD001 (everolimus) synergizes with chemotherapeutic agents, ionizing radiation and proteasome inhibitors in pre-B acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Background: Despite incremental improvements in outcomes for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, significant numbers of patients still die from this disease. Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors have shown potential in vitro and in vivo as therapeutic agents against a range of tumors including acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Design And Methods: Flow cytometry was used to evaluate drug-induced cell death in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines and patients' samples.

Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of endometrial cancer: Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers.

A nested case-control study, including 830 cases and 992 controls from 7 cohorts, was conducted to evaluate the association of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), the best indicator of vitamin D status, with risk of endometrial cancer. Matching factors included age at blood donation, date of blood donation, and race. Conditional logistic regression was used in the main analysis.

Association between genetic variants in the 8q24 cancer risk regions and circulating levels of androgens and sex hormone-binding globulin.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified multiple independent regions on chromosome 8q24 that are associated with cancers of the prostate, breast, colon, and bladder.

Methods: To investigate their biological basis, we examined the possible association between 164 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 8q24 risk regions spanning 128,101,433-128,828,043 bp, and serum androgen (testosterone, androstenedione, 3alphadiol G, and bioavailable testosterone), and sex hormone-binding globulin levels in 563 healthy, non-Hispanic, Caucasian men (55-74 years old) from a prospective cohort study (the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial). Age-adjusted linear regression models were used to determine the association between the SNPs in an additive genetic model and log-transformed biomarker levels.

Anthropometric measurements, physical activity, and the risk of symptomatic gallstone disease in Chinese women.

Purpose: Gallstone disease is more common among overweight individuals, particularly in women. We conducted a cross-sectional case-control study of Chinese women nested in the Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS) to evaluate the association of gallstone disease with body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), and physical activity (PA).

Methods: The study included 8,485 women with self-reported, physician-diagnosed, prevalent gallstone disease and 16,970 frequency-matched controls by birth year and age at gallstone diagnosis (4-year intervals).

Menstrual and reproductive factors in association with lung cancer in female lifetime nonsmokers.

Cigarette smoking is irrefutably the strongest risk factor for lung cancer; however, approximately 25% of cases worldwide occur among nonsmokers. The age-adjusted annual incidence rate of lung cancer in Shanghai, a region where relatively few women smoke cigarettes, is one of the highest in the world. To help further elucidate the etiology of lung cancer among nonsmokers, the authors examined hormonal factors among women who were lifetime nonsmokers.

Diabetes mellitus and prostate cancer risk in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

Objective: A history of diabetes has been fairly consistently related to a reduced prostate cancer risk, but previous investigations have not always addressed whether the relation with diabetes varies by prostate cancer aggressiveness or the association between diabetes and prostate cancer is modified by physical activity level and body mass, variables closely related to glucose metabolism.

Methods: We prospectively examined the diabetes-prostate cancer risk relationship among 33,088 men in the screening arm of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial.

Results: During 8.

Endogenous sex hormones and the risk of prostate cancer: a prospective study.

Sex steroid hormones influence prostate development and maintenance through their roles in prostate cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Although suspected to be involved in prostate carcinogenesis, an association between circulating androgens and prostate cancer has not been clearly established in epidemiologic studies. We conducted a nested case-control study with prospectively collected samples in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, to examine associations of prostate cancer with androstenedione (Delta4-A), testosterone (T), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and 3alpha-androstanediol glucuronide (3alpha-diolG).

IGF-1 and IGFBP-3: Risk of prostate cancer among men in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 may influence risk of prostate cancer through their roles in cellular growth, metabolism and apoptosis, however, epidemiologic results have been inconsistent. The role of obesity in prostate cancer risk is not clearly understood, but hyperinsulinemia-related increases in bioactive IGF-1 levels, associated with obesity, could be a component of the relationship between the IGF-axis and prostate cancer. We conducted a nested case-control study in the prospective Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial to examine associations between IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 and risk of prostate cancer.

Bacterially derived 400 nm particles for encapsulation and cancer cell targeting of chemotherapeutics.

Systemic administration of chemotherapeutic agents results in indiscriminate drug distribution and severe toxicity. Here we report a technology potentially overcoming these shortcomings through encapsulation and cancer cell-specific targeting of chemotherapeutics in bacterially derived 400 nm minicells. We discovered that minicells can be packaged with therapeutically significant concentrations of chemotherapeutics of differing charge, hydrophobicity, and solubility.