Fostering Oral Chemotherapy Understanding and Safety (FOCUS) Project: Interventions for Improving Knowledge and Compliance With National Safety Standards.

Background: Oral chemotherapy drug development and use has increased, and evidence in the literature suggests variability in practices nationally. Thus, there is a need for continuous review of the process of oral chemotherapy administration that focuses on improving adherence to national standards.

Objectives: This quality improvement project evaluated provider and staff general knowledge on oral chemotherapy and national safety standards and the implementation and ease of use of an electronic medical record (EMR)-integrated chemotherapy documentation template geared toward improving compliance with national chemotherapy administration standards.

Associations between age and patient-reported outcomes, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations among lung cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Objective: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for lung cancer (LC) treatment have a more favorable safety profile and improved patient reported outcomes (PROs) compared to chemotherapy, suggesting that ICIs are advantageous for older populations. The impact of ICIs on PROs, clinical outcomes, and age in LC patients remains to be established. We examined associations between age and PROs, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations in LC patients receiving ICIs.

Factors Associated With Unmet Supportive Care Needs and Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations in Ambulatory Oncology.

Importance: Patients with cancer experience multiple supportive care needs (eg, coping and financial counseling) that, if not addressed, may result in poor clinical outcomes. Limited work has assessed the factors associated with unmet needs in large and diverse samples of ambulatory oncology patients.

Objective: To characterize the factors associated with unmet supportive care needs among ambulatory oncology patients and to assess whether such needs were associated with emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations.

Implementation and Feasibility of an Electronic Health Record-Integrated Patient-Reported Outcomes Symptom and Needs Monitoring Pilot in Ambulatory Oncology.

Purpose: Describe the feasibility and implementation of an electronic health record (EHR)-integrated symptom and needs screening and referral system in a diverse racial/ethnic patient population in ambulatory oncology.

Methods: Data were collected from an ambulatory oncology clinic at the University of Miami Health System from October 2019 to January 2021. Guided by a Patient Advisory Board and the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment model, was developed to assess physical and psychologic symptoms and needs of ambulatory oncology patients before appointments to triage them to supportive services when elevated symptoms (eg, depression), barriers to care (eg, transportation and childcare), and nutritional needs were identified.

Towards intellectual freedom in an AI Ethics Global Community.

The recent incidents involving Dr. Timnit Gebru, Dr. Margaret Mitchell, and Google have triggered an important discussion emblematic of issues arising from the practice of AI Ethics research.

Optimizing osteoporosis care in a rural primary health care center: Findings of a research study aimed to support seniors.

Background: Osteoporosis is one of the most under-diagnosed and under-treated health conditions in Canada. This study questioned whether an invitation to self-refer for osteoporosis risk evaluation would improve the number of patients who were tested for bone mineral density (BMD) at a rural Primary Health Care Center (PHCC).

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to improve osteoporosis care and decrease bone fracture risk in a population of patients 65 years of age and older.

Maternal education and newborn thyroid-stimulating hormone level in a congenital hypothyroidism screening program.

To examine the relationship between neonatal thyroid function and the formal education of mothers. Participants came from a population-based congenital hypothyroidism (CH) screening program in Tianjin, China. Of 66,390 registered births in 2015, 60,568 mothers and newborns had complete data.

Affect, craving, and cognition: An EMA study of ad libitum adolescent smoking.

Reducing smoking among adolescents is a public health priority. Affect, craving, and cognitive processes have been identified as predictors of smoking in adolescents. The current study examined associations between implicit attitude for smoking (assessed via the positive-negative valence implicit association test) and affect, craving, and smoking assessed using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

Emotion dysregulation and negative affect: Laboratory and EMA investigations in smokers.

Introduction: Difficulties in emotion regulation are associated with addictive behaviors, including smoking. Difficulties in emotion regulation may underlie large, rapid changes in negative affect that can increase likelihood of relapse. We investigated the association between emotion regulation ability and negative affect in smokers assessed both in the laboratory and in the field using Ecological Momentary Assessment.

Organ and tissue donation from poisoned patients in the emergency department: A Canadian emergency physician survey.

Objectives: Screening for organ and tissue donation is an essential skill for emergency physicians. In 2015, 4,631 Canadians were on a waiting list for a transplant, and 262 died while waiting. Canada’s donation rates are less than half of comparable countries, so it is essential to explore strategies to improve the referral of donors.

The -paclitaxel/gemcitabine regimen for patients with refractory advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The phase III MPACT trial for metastatic pancreatic cancer (PC) showed improved overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and response rates (RRs) for first-line -paclitaxel (Abraxane) and gemcitabine (the AG combination) compared to gemcitabine monotherapy. The safety and efficacy of the AG combination has not been systematically studied as second-line therapy or beyond for metastatic PC. We conducted an IRB-approved retrospective analysis of all patients diagnosed between September 2010 and August 2014 with advanced refractory PC that received combination treatment with AG at our institution.

Nurse Practitioner Fellowship: Developing a Program to Address Gaps in Practice.

Formal training is an important mechanism to assist the new generation of nurse practitioners (NPs) entering the complex field of oncology. The growing number of patients with cancer and the expansion of treatment options demand structured oncology training to support the transition of novice advanced practice nurses to the field. Oncology NP fellowships are a potential solution for those seeking training centered on the management of patients with cancer.

Rhinovirus induction of fractalkine (CX3CL1) in airway and peripheral blood mononuclear cells in asthma.

Rhinovirus infection is associated with the majority of asthma exacerbations. The role of fractalkine in anti-viral (type 1) and pathogenic (type 2) responses to rhinovirus infection in allergic asthma is unknown. To determine whether (1) fractalkine is produced in airway cells and in peripheral blood leucocytes, (2) rhinovirus infection increases production of fractalkine and (3) levels of fractalkine differ in asthmatic compared to non-asthmatic subjects.

Development and feasibility of an evidence-informed self-management education program in pediatric concussion rehabilitation.

Background: Concussion is a considerable public health problem in youth. However, identifying, understanding and implementing best evidence informed recovery guidelines may be challenging for families given the vast amount of information available in the public domains (e.g.

Self-reported and automatic cognitions are associated with exercise behavior in cancer survivors.

Objective: Physical activity is beneficial for cancer survivors, but exercise participation is low in this population. It is therefore important to understand the psychological factors underlying exercise uptake so that more effective interventions can be developed. Social-cognitive theory constructs such as outcome expectancies predict exercise behavior, but self-report measures have several limitations.

Full dose neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX is associated with prolonged survival in patients with locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Background: The efficacy of FOLFIRINOX for metastatic pancreatic cancer has led to its use in patients with earlier stages of disease. This study retrospectively analyzed a cohort of patients with locally-advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) treated with FOLFIRINOX.

Methods: Between 2008 and 2013, 51 treatment-naïve patients with LAPC at a single institution received first-line FOLFIRINOX with neoadjuvant intent, at the full dose as described in the PRODIGE 4/ACCORD 11 study.

Optimization of experimental conditions for functional in vitro characterization of humanized antibodies specific for staphylococcal enterotoxin B.

Staphylococcus aureus is a common nosocomial infection and its resistance to penicillin and methicillin antibiotics is a growing clinical problem. We previously described the development of a humanized anti-Staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB) antibody derived from the mouse antibody made by the 20B1 hybridoma. This antibody was humanized and characterized kinetically by surface plasmon resonance demonstrating that the humanized clones retained binding to SEB.

Increased nuclear suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 in asthmatic bronchial epithelium suppresses rhinovirus induction of innate interferons.

Background: Rhinovirus infections are the dominant cause of asthma exacerbations, and deficient virus induction of IFN-α/β/λ in asthmatic patients is important in asthma exacerbation pathogenesis. Mechanisms causing this interferon deficiency in asthmatic patients are unknown.

Objective: We sought to investigate the expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) 1 in tissues from asthmatic patients and its possible role in impaired virus-induced interferon induction in these patients.

Rhinovirus-induced IL-25 in asthma exacerbation drives type 2 immunity and allergic pulmonary inflammation.

Rhinoviruses (RVs), which are the most common cause of virally induced asthma exacerbations, account for much of the burden of asthma in terms of morbidity, mortality, and associated cost. Interleukin-25 (IL-25) activates type 2-driven inflammation and is therefore potentially important in virally induced asthma exacerbations. To investigate this, we examined whether RV-induced IL-25 could contribute to asthma exacerbations.

Early childhood diarrhoeal diseases and cognition: are we missing the rest of the iceberg?

Risk factors which interfere with cognitive function are especially important during the first 2 years of life - a period referred to as early child development and a time during which rapid growth and essential development occur. Malnutrition, a condition whose effect on cognitive function is well known, has been shown to be part of a vicious cycle with diarrhoeal diseases, and the two pathologies together continue to be the leading cause of illness and death in young children in developing countries. This paper reviews the burden of early childhood diarrhoeal diseases globally and the emerging evidence of their relationship with global disparities in neurocognitive development.

Humanized staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)-specific monoclonal antibodies protect from SEB intoxication and Staphylococcus aureus infections alone or as adjunctive therapy with vancomycin.

Background: Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), a potential biological warfare agent, is a potent superantigen that contributes to the virulence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is a major health threat in the United States. Efforts to develop toxin-neutralizing antibodies as adjunctive therapies are justified, given the high mortality and frequent failure of therapy despite available antibiotics.

Methods: Murine SEB-specific mAb 20B1 was humanized, and treatment benefits of Hu-1.

Cannabinoid and lipid-mediated vasorelaxation in retinal microvasculature.

The endocannabinoid system plays a role in regulation of vasoactivity in the peripheral vasculature; however, little is known about its role in regulation of the CNS microvasculature. This study investigated the pharmacology of cannabinoids and cannabimimetic lipids in the retinal microvasculature, a CNS vascular bed that is autoregulated. Vessel diameter (edge detector) and calcium transients (fura-2) were recorded from segments of retinal microvasculature isolated from adult, male Fischer 344 rats.