A randomized pilot study to evaluate the stability, taste, and palatability of a novel liquid formulation of tenapanor.

Objective: This pilot study aimed to develop a liquid formulation of tenapanor and evaluate taste and palatability with different sweetener and flavor combinations.

Significance: Tenapanor is a first-in-class, minimally absorbed, small molecule inhibitor of intestinal sodium/hydrogen exchanger 3, indicated (as tablets) to treat adults with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. It is also approved as add-on therapy to reduce serum phosphorus in adults with chronic kidney disease on dialysis who are intolerant of, or unacceptably responsive to, any dose of phosphate binder therapy.

Two-Part Phase 1 Study to Evaluate the Taste Profile of Novel Belumosudil Oral Suspensions and Assess the Relative Bioavailability and Food Effect of the Selected Belumosudil Oral Suspension Compared With Oral Tablet Reference in Healthy Male Participants.

Belumosudil is a selective rho-associated coiled-coil-containing protein kinase 2 inhibitor in clinical use for the treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease. The current tablet formulation may be inappropriate for children or adults with dysphagia and/or upper gastrointestinal manifestations of chronic graft-versus-host disease. This study (NCT04735822) assessed the taste and palatability of oral suspensions of belumosudil, evaluated the relative bioavailability of an oral suspension versus the tablet formulation, and characterized the effect of food on the pharmacokinetics of an oral suspension.

Vaccine Study in Oxford (SALVO) trial: protocol for an observer-participant blind randomised placebo-controlled trial of the iNTS-GMMA vaccine within a European cohort.

Introduction: Invasive non-typhoidal Salmonellosis (iNTS) is mainly caused by serovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis and is estimated to result in 77 500 deaths per year, disproportionately affecting children under 5 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. Invasive non-typhoidal serovars are increasingly acquiring resistance to first-line antibiotics, thus an effective vaccine would be a valuable tool in reducing morbidity and mortality from infection. While NTS livestock vaccines are in wide use, no licensed vaccines exist for use in humans.

Persistence of immune responses after heterologous and homologous third COVID-19 vaccine dose schedules in the UK: eight-month analyses of the COV-BOOST trial.

Background: COV-BOOST is a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial of seven COVID-19 vaccines used as a third booster dose in June 2021. Monovalent messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines were subsequently widely used for the third and fourth-dose vaccination campaigns in high-income countries. Real-world vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infections following third doses declined during the Omicron wave.

Safety, immunogenicity, and reactogenicity of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccines given as fourth-dose boosters following two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or BNT162b2 and a third dose of BNT162b2 (COV-BOOST): a multicentre, blinded, phase 2, randomised trial.

Background: Some high-income countries have deployed fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines, but the clinical need, effectiveness, timing, and dose of a fourth dose remain uncertain. We aimed to investigate the safety, reactogenicity, and immunogenicity of fourth-dose boosters against COVID-19.

Methods: The COV-BOOST trial is a multicentre, blinded, phase 2, randomised controlled trial of seven COVID-19 vaccines given as third-dose boosters at 18 sites in the UK.

Can children swallow tablets? Outcome data from a feasibility study to assess the acceptability of different-sized placebo tablets in children (creating acceptable tablets (CAT)).

Objective: Feasibility study to investigate the acceptability of different-sized placebo tablets in children aged 4-12 years.

Design And Setting: Clinical Research Facilities, inpatient wards and outpatient clinics within a Regional Paediatric Hospital and/or District General Hospital. Healthy children and National Health Service (NHS) patients were asked to swallow three placebo tablets: 6 mm, 8 mm and 10 mm, smallest to largest.

Effect of veterinarian-client-patient interactions on client adherence to dentistry and surgery recommendations in companion-animal practice.

Objective: To explore the relationship between veterinarian-client-patient interactions and client adherence to dental and surgery recommendations and to test the a priori hypotheses that appointment-specific client satisfaction and relationship-centered care are positively associated with client adherence.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Sample: A subsample of 19 companion-animal veterinarians and 83 clients from a larger observational study consisting of 20 randomly recruited veterinarians and a convenience sample of 350 clients from eastern Ontario.

A survey on the attitudes towards research in medical school.

Background: An observed decrease of physician scientists in medical practice has generated much recent interest in increasing the exposure of research programs in medical school. The aim of this study was to review the experience and attitudes regarding research by medical students in Canada.

Methods: An anonymous, cross-sectional, self-report questionnaire was administered to second and fourth year students in three medical schools in Ontario between February and May of 2005.

Autogenic training to manage symptomology in women with chest pain and normal coronary arteries.

Objectives: To explore autogenic training (AT) as a treatment for psychological morbidity, symptomology, and physiological markers of stress among women with chest pain, a positive exercise test for myocardial ischemia, and normal coronary arteries (cardiac syndrome X).

Design: Fifty-three women with cardiac syndrome X (mean +/- SD age, 57.1 +/- 8 years) were randomized to an 8-week AT program or symptom diary control.

Impaired endothelial function in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a high-fat meal on endothelial function in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D).

Study Design: Twenty-three children with T1D, aged 12 to 18 years, and age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects were assessed for baseline macronutrient intake, and endothelial function was measured both fasting and after a standardized fast-food, high-fat breakfast.

Results: Endothelial function, assessed noninvasively by peripheral arterial tonometry, was impaired in the T1D group in the fasting state as compared with control subjects (T1D 1.

Autogenic training for tension type headaches: a systematic review of controlled trials.

Objective: To determine from the published evidence whether autogenic training as sole therapy is effective for prevention of tension-type headaches in adults.

Method: Systematic review of controlled trials. Literature searches were performed in January 2005 in six major databases, specifically Medline, EMBASE, AMED, CENTRAL, PsychInfo and CINAHL and information was extracted and evaluated in a pre-defined manner.

Autogenic training to reduce anxiety in nursing students: randomized controlled trial.

Aim: This paper reports a study to determine the effectiveness of autogenic training in reducing anxiety in nursing students.

Background: Nursing is stressful, and nursing students also have the additional pressures and uncertainties shared with all academic students. Autogenic training is a relaxation technique consisting of six mental exercises and is aimed at relieving tension, anger and stress.

Autogenic training reduces anxiety after coronary angioplasty: a randomized clinical trial.

Objectives: Autogenic training (AT) is a method of autosuggestion with some potential for reducing anxiety. This study tests whether AT lowers anxiety levels experienced by patients undergoing coronary angioplasty.

Methods: Fifty-nine patients were randomly assigned to receive regular AT or no such therapy as an adjunct to standard care for 5 months.

HPC2/ELAC2 gene variants associated with incident prostate cancer.

The HPC2/ELAC2 gene on chromosome 17p11 was identified as a candidate gene for hereditary prostate cancer (HPC) susceptibility. Two HPC2 gene missense variants, Ser217Leu (Leu217) and Ala541Thr (Thr541) have been associated with incident prostate cancer cases in some studies, but not in others. We tested for possible associations between the two HPC2 gene variants and prostate cancer risk in incident prostate cancer cases (199) and healthy male controls (525) from the Calgary region.

Management of pain through autogenic training.

Physical and emotional pain are an inevitable part of human existence and are without natural antidotes. In view of this, and in the light of increasing professional reluctance to depend on analgesics, this paper proposes the widespread application of autogenic training, a relaxation technique which has been seen to confront pain very effectively, and also to reduce substantially drugs dependency. It analyses autogenic training in respect of some of the more common pain-allied disorders such as childbirth, headaches and migraines, back pain, cancer and palliative care, and cardiology.

Autogenic training for stress and anxiety: a systematic review.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate all controlled trials of autogenic training (AT) as a means of reducing stress and anxiety levels in human subjects.

Method: A search for all published and unpublished controlled trials was carried out in the four major databases, specifically CISCOM, Medline, PsychLit and CINAHL.

Results: Eight such trials were located, all of which are included here.

Quality of primary outpatient services in Dar-es-Salaam: a comparison of government and voluntary providers.

This study aimed to test whether voluntary agencies provide care of better quality than that provided by government with respect to primary curative outpatient services in Dar-es-Salaam. All non-government primary services were included, and government primary facilities were randomly sampled within the three districts of the city. Details of consultations were recorded and assessed by a panel who classed consultations as adequate, inadequate but serious consequences unlikely, and consultations where deficiencies in the care could have serious consequences.

From chronic emergency to development: an analysis of the health of the urban poor in Luanda, Angola.

There is a dearth of published literature on health care systems in Angola. Like many sub-Saharan African countries, Angola is experiencing rapid urbanization. The authors provide an analysis of the health status, environmental health conditions, and health-related behavior of the urban poor in Luanda, Angola.

From development to sustained crisis: structural adjustment, equity and health.

We argue that the nature of the economic crises in sub-Saharan Africa cannot be understood outside the context of the legacy of colonialism and class formation. Structural adjustment programmes serve to exacerbate inequalities and threaten to reverse the social gains of the majority achieved through the struggle for independence, in the interest of the indigenous capitalist class. Under such circumstances social scientists have a social responsibility to take a stand against the current policies that have led to an unprecedented decline of the health status of the poor; their skills must be put at the disposal of the oppressed with a view to giving voice to the experiences and needs of the majority.

Costs of workers' compensation claims for hearing loss.

Much has been written about the merits, needs, adequacy, and effectiveness of hearing conservation programs but very little about the cost of noise-induced hearing loss. Using claims for hearing loss submitted to a Canadian compensation board for a 5-years period (1979 to 1983), we estimated the current cost per claim to be $14,106. We observed an annual increase of 20.