Publications by authors named "McFarland L"

Introduction: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (CAR T therapy) is a treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma that has led to unprecedented treatment outcomes. Among CAR T therapies available, ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) is a good candidate for outpatient administration due to its generally predictable safety profile. There are multiple advantages of outpatient administration of cilta-cel, including reduced healthcare burden, expanded access, and patient autonomy.

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Article Synopsis
  • Previous research suggests that dairy calves raised in pairs show improved performance and welfare compared to those raised alone.
  • In this study, 130 Holstein calves were either housed in pairs or individually, with no significant differences found in weight gain, mortality, or disease treatments between the two groups.
  • However, paired calves were quicker to approach food and novel objects, and heavier calves within pairs displayed better growth and less fearfulness compared to lighter calves.*
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infections (CDIs) continue to be a persistent healthcare concern despite newer antibiotic treatments, enhanced infection control practices, and preventive strategies focused on restoring the protective intestinal microbial barrier. Recent strides in gene sequencing research have identified many genes regulating diverse virulence factors for CDIs. These genes may be over- or under-expressed when triggered by various environmental and nutritional factors.

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Although chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies are typically administered in the inpatient setting, outpatient administration is rapidly expanding. However, there is limited summarized evidence comparing outcomes between outpatient and inpatient administration. This systematic literature review aims to compare the safety, efficacy, quality of life (QoL), costs, and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) outcomes in patients with hematological cancer who are administered CAR-T therapy in an outpatient versus an inpatient setting.

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Importance: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses often report conflicting results when assessing evidence for probiotic efficacy, partially because of the lack of understanding of the unique features of probiotic trials. As a consequence, clinical decisions on the use of probiotics have been confusing.

Objective: To provide recommendations to improve the quality and consistency of systematic reviews with meta-analyses on probiotics, so evidence-based clinical decisions can be made with more clarity.

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infections (CDIs) have decreased in the past years, but since 2021, some hospitals have reported an increase in CDI rates. CDI remains a global concern and has been identified as an urgent threat to healthcare. Although multiple treatment options are available, prevention strategies are more limited.

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Lactobacilli are widely found in nature, are commensal microbes in humans, and are commonly used as probiotics. Concerns about probiotic safety have arisen due to reports of bacteremia and other -associated infections. We reviewed the literature for articles on the pathogenicity of spp.

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Aims: Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. A probiotic formulation (Bio-K+) comprised of Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285, Lacticaseibacillus casei LBC80R, and Lacti. rhamnosus CLR2 strains have been shown to reduce the incidence of CDI and antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD).

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Background: We performed a retrospective study of chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) during 2019-2021.

Methods: We determined the annual number of chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV tests from 2019 through 2021 using electronic health record data. We calculated rates by age, birth sex, race, census region, rurality, HIV status, and use of preexposure prophylaxis.

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Workplace bullying in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector is a pervasive and significant issue in Australia and globally. Workplace bullying can negatively impact early childhood professionals' mental health, contributing to staff turnover and attrition. Given the current, and predicted, future shortages of ECEC staff, it is critical that strategies be implemented to support staff well-being and maintain healthy and safe workplaces.

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Background: The choice of an appropriate probiotic for pediatric acute gastroenteritis (PAGE) can be confusing. Our aim was to compare the efficacy and safety of 2 probiotics (Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745 vs a 4-strain mixture of Bacillus clausii O/C, SIN, N/R, T) for the treatment of PAGE.

Methods: A 2-arm parallel, randomized trial recruited children (6 months to 5 years old) with mild-moderate acute diarrhea, from 8 centers in Argentina.

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Probiotic supplementation, traditionally used for the prevention or treatment of a variety of disease indications, is now recognized in a variety of population groups including athletes and those physically active for improving general health and performance. However, experimental and clinical trials with probiotics commonly suffer from design flaws and different outcome measures, making comparison and synthesis of conclusions difficult. Here we review current randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using probiotics for performance improvement, prevention of common illnesses, or general health, in a specific target population (athletes and those physically active).

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The Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) held its annual meeting in 2021 in an online format due to travel restrictions during the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. The virtual meeting was attended by rheumatologists, dermatologists, representatives of biopharmaceutical companies, and patient research partners. Similar to previous years, GRAPPA's annual meeting focused on the 3 overlapping missions of education, research, and clinical care of psoriatic disease (PsD).

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Background: The prevalence of allergic rhinitis has been estimated to range from 10 to 30% in adults and up to 40% in children. Probiotics have been tested as for this condition, but no census on which probiotic types are most effective.

Objective: Our aim of this study was to provide probiotic strain-specific evaluation for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

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This paper introduces a theoretical framework intended to define the nature, structure, and function of external team contexts. The external team context is defined as the resources, stimuli, elements, and features that are part of a broader multilevel system but exist outside the team's boundaries and that influence (and are influenced by) the team in temporally dynamic ways. The proposed framework seeks to understand all such contexts in terms of three continuous dimensions.

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Background: Consistent guidance for choosing an appropriate probiotic for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome is lacking.

Methods: Literature databases searched included: PubMed, Google Scholar and NIH registry of clinical trials from inception to June 2021. Inclusion criteria: randomized controlled trials (RCTs) enrolling adult or pediatric IBS patients comparing probiotics against controls and ≥ 2 RCTs with common IBS outcome measures within each type of probiotic.

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Background: During, shortly after, and sometimes for years after hematopoietic stem cell transplant, a large proportion of hematological cancer patients undergoing transplant report significant physical and psychological symptoms and reduced health-related quality of life. To address these survivorship problems, we developed a low-burden, brief psychological intervention called expressive helping that includes two theory- and evidence-based components designed to work together synergistically: emotionally expressive writing and peer support writing. Building on evidence from a prior randomized control trial showing reductions in physical symptoms and distress in long-term transplant survivors with persistent survivorship problems, the Writing for Insight, Strength, and Ease (WISE) trial will evaluate the efficacy of expressive helping when used during transplant and in the early post-transplant period, when symptoms peak, and when intervention could prevent development of persistent symptoms.

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The Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) held its annual meeting in 2020 in an online format due to travel restrictions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; caused by SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. The virtual meeting was attended by 351 rheumatologists, dermatologists, representatives of biopharmaceutical companies, and patient research partners. Similar to previous years, GRAPPA's annual meeting focused on the 3 overlapping missions of education, research, and clinical care of psoriatic disease.

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Background: The well-documented association between acute mental status changes and sepsis development and progression makes acute mental status an attractive factor for sepsis screening tools. However, the usefulness of acute mental status within these criteria is limited to the frequency and accuracy of its capture. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score-the acute mental status indicator in many clinical sepsis criteria-is infrequently captured among allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients with suspected infections, and its ability to serve as an indicator of acute mental status among this high-risk population is unknown.

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Pediatric acute gastroenteritis (PAGE) is a significant cause of morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs in many countries, but differences in PAGE vary from country-to-country; thus, we limited our analysis to 1 country. Probiotics have been recommended as an adjunct to standard treatment, but the choice of probiotic is unclear. PubMed, Google Scholar, and reviews were searched from inception to May 2020 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in India using probiotics for a treatment for PAGE.

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Medical care for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 is an evolving process. Most COVID-19 inpatients (58-95%) received empiric antibiotics to prevent the increased mortality due to ventilator-associated pneumonia and other secondary infections observed in COVID-19 patients. The expected consequences of increased antibiotic use include antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and infections (CDI).

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Opportunistic pathogenic bacteria may cause disease after the normally protective microbiome is disrupted (typically by antibiotic exposure). Clostridioides difficile is one such pathogen having a severe impact on healthcare facilities and increasing costs of medical care. The search for new therapeutic strategies that are not reliant on additional antibiotic exposures are currently being explored.

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