Real-world experience of nintedanib for progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease in the UK.

Background: Nintedanib slows progression of lung function decline in patients with progressive fibrosing (PF) interstitial lung disease (ILD) and was recommended for this indication within the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service in Scotland in June 2021 and in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in November 2021. To date, there has been no national evaluation of the use of nintedanib for PF-ILD in a real-world setting.

Methods: 26 UK centres were invited to take part in a national service evaluation between 17 November 2021 and 30 September 2022.

The role of the clinical pharmacist in the respiratory or sleep multidisciplinary team.

The role of the pharmacist has evolved significantly, not least over the last 20 years. It delivers a skilled profession with a vital role in medicines optimisation and the management of patients with a respiratory or sleep disorder. While pharmacists are capable of acting as independent practitioners delivering direct patient care, this article explores their contribution to multidisciplinary teams within asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, tuberculosis, interstitial lung disease and sleep medicine.

Nintedanib for non-IPF progressive pulmonary fibrosis: 12-month outcome data from a real-world multicentre observational study.

Background: Nintedanib slows lung function decline for patients with non-idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) in clinical trials, but the real-world safety and efficacy are not known.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, standardised data were collected from patients in whom nintedanib was initiated for PPF between 2019 and 2020 through an early-access programme across eight centres in the United Kingdom. Rate of lung function change in the 12months pre- and post-nintedanib initiation was the primary analysis.

Accurately Assessing Teacher ADHD-Specific Attitudes Using the Scale for ADHD-Specific Attitudes.

Objective: The aim of this study is therefore twofold, first to accurately examine the ADHD-specific attitudes of New South Wales Government school in-service teachers using the Scale for ADHD-Specific Attitudes (Authors 2016), and second, to determine if any of their socio-demographic features could predict their attitudes.

Method: Exploratory factor analysis found a 5-factor structure, and multiple regression analysis was performed to establish the existence of groups of variables with respect to teacher attitudes towards ADHD-type behaviours and any demographic predictors of teacher attitudes.

Results: The final regression model found significant predictors of each factor with R2 values ranging from .

Optical interferometry-based array of seafloor environmental sensors using a transoceanic submarine cable.

Optical fiber-based sensing technology can drastically improve Earth observations by enabling the use of existing submarine communication cables as seafloor sensors. Previous interferometric and polarization-based techniques demonstrated environmental sensing over cable lengths up to 10,500 kilometers. However, measurements were limited to the integrated changes over the entire length of the cable.

Long-term nitrofurantoin: an analysis of complication awareness, monitoring, and pulmonary injury cases.

Background: Long-term nitrofurantoin (NF) treatment can result in pulmonary and hepatic injury. Current guidelines do not outline the type or frequency of monitoring required for detection of these injuries.

Aim: To assess 1) awareness of NF complications among prescribers; 2) monitoring practice; and 3) to describe the pulmonary sequelae of NF-related complications.

The Safe Resumption of Elective Plastic Surgery in Accredited Ambulatory Surgery Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) a worldwide pandemic, resulting in an unprecedented shift in the Canadian healthcare system, where protection of an already overloaded system became a priority; all elective surgeries and non-essential activities were ceased. With the impact being less than predicted, on May 26, 2020, elective surgeries and non-essential activities were permitted to resume.

Objectives: The authors sought to examine outcomes following elective aesthetic surgery and the impact on the Canadian healthcare system with the resumption of these services during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.

Inhibitors of the Autotaxin-Lysophosphatidic Acid Axis and Their Potential in the Treatment of Interstitial Lung Disease: Current Perspectives.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease for which there is no known cure. Currently available therapeutic options have been shown at best to slow the progression of the disease and thus there remains an urgent unmet need to identify new therapies. In this article, we will discuss the mechanisms of action, pre-clinical and clinical trial data surrounding inhibitors of the autotaxin-lysophosphatidic acid axis, which show promise as emerging novel therapies for fibrotic lung disease.

Compact laser system for a laser-cooled ytterbium ion microwave frequency standard.

The development of a transportable microwave frequency standard based on the ground-state transition of Yb at ∼12.6 GHz requires a compact laser system for cooling the ions, clearing out of long-lived states and also for photoionisation. In this paper, we describe the development of a suitable compact laser system based on a 6U height rack-mounted arrangement with overall dimensions 260 × 194 × 335 mm.

A Stimulatory Role for Cytokinin in the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis of Pea.

The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis between terrestrial plants and AM fungi is regulated by plant hormones. For most of these, a role has been clearly assigned in this mutualistic interaction; however, there are still contradictory reports for cytokinin (CK). Here, pea plants, the wild type (WT) cv.

Specialist palliative care, psychology, interstitial lung disease (ILD) multidisciplinary team meeting: a novel model to address palliative care needs.

Introduction: Patients with progressive idiopathic fibrotic interstitial lung disease (ILD), such as those with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), can have an aggressive disease course, with a median survival of only 3-5 years from diagnosis. The palliative care needs of these patients are often unmet. There are calls for new models of care, whereby the patient's usual respiratory clinician remains central to the integration of palliative care principles and practices into their patient's management, but the optimal model of service delivery has yet to be determined.

South-West of England's Experience of the Safety and Tolerability Pirfenidone and Nintedanib for the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).

Pirfenidone and nintedanib are two novel antifibrotic agents licensed for the treatment IPF. Prior to being approved for use in England for patients with FVC >50% and <80%, these were made available for all IPF patients under the Mild Patient Program (MPP) and Patient In Need Scheme (PIN). Prescribing of these medications is restricted to specialist centers.

What Are the Net Benefits of Reducing the Ozone Standard to 65 ppb? An Alternative Analysis.

In October 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lowered the level of the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) from 0.075 ppm to 0.070 ppm (annual 4th highest daily maximum 8-h concentration, averaged over three years).

Docking and molecular dynamics simulations of the ternary complex nisin2:lipid II.

Lanthionine antibiotics are an important class of naturally-occurring antimicrobial peptides. The best-known, nisin, is a commercial food preservative. However, structural and mechanistic details on nisin-lipid II membrane complexes are currently lacking.

IRS2 is a candidate driver oncogene on 13q34 in colorectal cancer.

Copy number alterations are frequently found in colorectal cancer (CRC), and recurrent gains or losses are likely to correspond to regions harbouring genes that promote or impede carcinogenesis respectively. Gain of chromosome 13q is common in CRC but, because the region of gain is frequently large, identification of the driver gene(s) has hitherto proved difficult. We used array comparative genomic hybridization to analyse 124 primary CRCs, demonstrating that 13q34 is a region of gain in 35% of CRCs, with focal gains in 4% and amplification in a further 1.

Exploring the integration of internationally educated occupational therapists into the workforce.

Background: British Columbia (BC) is a popular Canadian work destination for occupational therapists from around the world.

Purpose: This study explored the experiences of stakeholders involved in the integration of internationally educated occupational therapists (IEOTs) into the BC workforce.

Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the three primary stakeholder groups (40 IEOTs, 12 supervising occupational therapists, seven managers), as well as with seven key informants.

The influence of environment on the fieldwork experience: exploring interprofessional student perspectives.

Objective: To determine the impact and importance of the physical, social and institutional environments on the outcome of their first fieldwork experience from the perspectives of occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students.

Participants: Eighty two percent (n=84) of OT and 65% (n=51) of PT students completed the survey. The majority of students were female, aged 20-25 years, and supervised using a one student to one educator supervision model.

Antibiotics for community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections secondary to Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children.

Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is widely recognised as an important cause of community-acquired lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in children. Pulmonary manifestations are typically tracheobronchitis or pneumonia but M.

MGMT CpG island is invariably methylated in adult astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors with IDH1 or IDH2 mutations.

We have previously identified a region containing 16 CpGs within the MGMT CpG islands which is critical for the transcriptional control of MGMT (Malley, Acta Neuropathol 2011). To investigate the patterns and incidence of MGMT methylation in astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors, we quantitatively assessed methylation at these 16 CpGs using bisulfite modification followed by pyrosequencing of 362 gliomas not treated with temozolomide, and correlated the findings with previously identified patterns of genetic abnormalities, patients' age and survival. The MGMT gene was considered to be methylated when the mean methylation of the 16 CpGs was 10% or higher.

Adult grade II diffuse astrocytomas are genetically distinct from and more aggressive than their paediatric counterparts.

Diffuse astrocytomas (WHO grade II) typically present as slow-growing tumours showing significant cellular differentiation, but possessing a tendency towards malignant progression. They account for ~10% of all astrocytic tumours, with a peak incidence between 30 and 40 years of age. Median survival is reported as around 6-8 years.

Antibiotics for community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections secondary to Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children.

Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is widely recognised as an important cause of community-acquired lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in children. Pulmonary manifestations are typically tracheobronchitis or pneumonia but M.

Honey and lozenges for children with non-specific cough.

Background: Chronic non-specific cough is a chronic, dry cough of in the absence of identifiable respiratory disease or known aetiology. Although it is usually not reflective of an underlying severe illness, it does cause significant morbidity, and as such relief from it is often sought. The use of honey and lozenges to soothe upper respiratory tract irritation is common, inexpensive, and potentially more effective in treating the symptoms than pharmacological interventions.

Skin rejuvenation and wrinkle reduction using a fractional radiofrequency system.

Introduction: Skin resurfacing has evolved rapidly over the past 15 years from ablative techniques to nonablative methods and most recently fractional ablative resurfacing. The purposes of this study were to analyze the degree of tissue ablation, coagulation, and heating; and to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of a fractional radiofrequency (RF) device, for the treatment of wrinkles with fractional skin ablation and coagulation.

Material And Methods: Individuals scheduled for abdominoplasty received fractional RF treatment to the abdomen area, using different tips at varying energy densities and coverage rates.