Two rapid alternatives compared to the staircase method for the estimation of the vibrotactile perception threshold.

Wearable vibrotactile devices seem now mature for entering the daily lives and practices of more and more users. However, vibrotactile perception can greatly differ between individuals, in terms of psychophysics and physiology, not to mention higher levels (cognitive or affective for example). Broadly-distributed and affordable vibrotactile devices hence must be adapted to each user's own perception, first of all by delivering intensity levels that are in the perceptible range of the user.

Risk of emergency hospital admission related to adverse events after antibiotic treatment in adults with a common infection: impact of COVID-19 and derivation and validation of risk prediction models.

Background: With the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluating adverse events (AEs) post-antibiotic treatment for common infections is crucial. This study aims to examines the changes in incidence rates of AEs during the COVID-19 pandemic and predict AE risk following antibiotic prescriptions for common infections, considering their previous antibiotic exposure and other long-term clinical conditions.

Methods: With the approval of NHS England, we used OpenSAFELY platform and analysed electronic health records from patients aged 18-110, prescribed antibiotics for urinary tract infection (UTI), lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), sinusitis, otitis externa, and otitis media between January 2019 and June 2023.

Reduction in vertical transmission rate of bean common mosaic virus in bee-pollinated common bean plants.

Vertical transmission, the transfer of pathogens across generations, is a critical mechanism for the persistence of plant viruses. The transmission mechanisms are diverse, involving direct invasion through the suspensor and virus entry into developing gametes before achieving symplastic isolation. Despite the progress in understanding vertical virus transmission, the environmental factors influencing this process remain largely unexplored.

Evaluating Perceptions of Test Anxiety Among Student Pharmacists and Faculty Members: A Pilot Study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine student perceptions versus actual level of test anxiety, as measured by the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale-2 (CTAS-2), and student and faculty perceptions of test anxiety with regard to prevalence, impact, ease of treatment, and importance in pharmacy education.

Methods: Two independent Qualtrics questionnaires were distributed via email to all students and faculty in the professional pharmacy program (years 1-4) at the University of Mississippi. The first questionnaire evaluated pharmacy students' perceptions of test anxiety and self-awareness of personal test anxiety.

Calibration plots for multistate risk predictions models.

Introduction: There is currently no guidance on how to assess the calibration of multistate models used for risk prediction. We introduce several techniques that can be used to produce calibration plots for the transition probabilities of a multistate model, before assessing their performance in the presence of random and independent censoring through a simulation.

Methods: We studied pseudo-values based on the Aalen-Johansen estimator, binary logistic regression with inverse probability of censoring weights (BLR-IPCW), and multinomial logistic regression with inverse probability of censoring weights (MLR-IPCW).

Sepsis and case fatality rates and associations with deprivation, ethnicity, and clinical characteristics: population-based case-control study with linked primary care and hospital data in England.

Purpose: Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by dysregulated host response to infection. The purpose of the study was to measure the associations of specific exposures (deprivation, ethnicity, and clinical characteristics) with incident sepsis and case fatality.

Methods: Two research databases in England were used including anonymized patient-level records from primary care linked to hospital admission, death certificate, and small-area deprivation.

Rapid systematic review on risks and outcomes of sepsis: the influence of risk factors associated with health inequalities.

Background And Aims: Sepsis is a serious and life-threatening condition caused by a dysregulated immune response to an infection. Recent guidance issued in the UK gave recommendations around recognition and antibiotic treatment of sepsis, but did not consider factors relating to health inequalities. The aim of this study was to summarise the literature investigating associations between health inequalities and sepsis.

Clinical and health inequality risk factors for non-COVID-related sepsis during the global COVID-19 pandemic: a national case-control and cohort study.

Background: Sepsis, characterised by significant morbidity and mortality, is intricately linked to socioeconomic disparities and pre-admission clinical histories. This study aspires to elucidate the association between non-COVID-19 related sepsis and health inequality risk factors amidst the pandemic in England, with a secondary focus on their association with 30-day sepsis mortality.

Methods: With the approval of NHS England, we harnessed the OpenSAFELY platform to execute a cohort study and a 1:6 matched case-control study.

Clinical prediction models and the multiverse of madness.

Background: Each year, thousands of clinical prediction models are developed to make predictions (e.g. estimated risk) to inform individual diagnosis and prognosis in healthcare.

Evaluation of Patient Adherence to Vaccine and Screening Recommendations during Community Pharmacist-led Medicare Annual Wellness Visits in a Family Medicine Clinic.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initiated annual wellness visits (AWV) to reduce healthcare costs and improve preventive healthcare for beneficiaries. Provider time constraints and varying preferences to perform AWVs have limited its clinical implementation in some areas, affording pharmacists an opportunity to expand their role. To evaluate patient adherence to pharmacist recommendations for vaccinations and preventive screenings in an annual wellness visit service at a family medicine clinic in northeast Mississippi.

A scoping review finds a growing trend in studies validating multimorbidity patterns and identifies five broad types of validation methods.

Objectives: Multimorbidity, the presence of two or more long-term conditions, is a growing public health concern. Many studies use analytical methods to discover multimorbidity patterns from data. We aimed to review approaches used in published literature to validate these patterns.

Guidance for Qualitative Research Manuscripts in Pharmacy Education.

The goal of this Best Practice Review is to support researchers in successfully preparing and publishing qualitative research in pharmacy education. Standard practice from the literature and journals' guidance from related fields were reviewed, and recommendations and resources applicable to qualitative research in pharmacy education were compiled for researchers planning to conduct and publish qualitative research. This review provides recommendations, not requirements, for publication in the Journal and is intended to be a guide, especially for authors and reviewers relatively new to the field of qualitative research.

Impact of COVID-19 on broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for common infections in primary care in England: a time-series analyses using OpenSAFELY and effects of predictors including deprivation.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the healthcare systems, adding extra pressure to reduce antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate changes in antibiotic prescription patterns after COVID-19 started.

Methods: With the approval of NHS England, we used the OpenSAFELY platform to access the TPP SystmOne electronic health record (EHR) system in primary care and selected patients prescribed antibiotics from 2019 to 2021.

Evaluating the Efficacy of 3 Recruitment Methods for Enrolling Patients in Chronic Care Management Services: A Pilot Study.

Chronic Care Management (CCM) is a billable service that pharmacists can provide either in person or via telephone in ambulatory clinics or community pharmacies. Pharmacists may use this service to expand current roles in patient care and add billable services to an ambulatory care practice. The number of clinics employing CCM is steadily increasing, and to date, there has been limited information published to aid pharmacists who are considering implementing these services.

Developing prediction models to estimate the risk of two survival outcomes both occurring: A comparison of techniques.

Introduction: This study considers the prediction of the time until two survival outcomes have both occurred. We compared a variety of analytical methods motivated by a typical clinical problem of multimorbidity prognosis.

Methods: We considered five methods: product (multiply marginal risks), dual-outcome (directly model the time until both events occur), multistate models (msm), and a range of copula and frailty models.

The impact of COVID-19 on antibiotic prescribing in primary care in England: Evaluation and risk prediction of appropriateness of type and repeat prescribing.

Background: This study aimed to predict risks of potentially inappropriate antibiotic type and repeat prescribing and assess changes during COVID-19.

Methods: With the approval of NHS England, we used OpenSAFELY platform to access the TPP SystmOne electronic health record (EHR) system and selected patients prescribed antibiotics from 2019 to 2021. Multinomial logistic regression models predicted patient's probability of receiving inappropriate antibiotic type or repeat antibiotic course for each common infection.

Vibrotactile Thresholds on the Wrist for Vibrations Normal to the Skin.

In order to facilitate the development of wrist-worn vibrotactile devices, detailed knowledge about how vibrations are perceived by the users is needed. In particular, perceptual thresholds in amplitude are really important. Thresholds have been measured in the literature for other areas of the body, but given the variability reported between areas (shape of the threshold curve, position of maximum sensitivity), thresholds on the wrist can not be inferred from previous measurements and must be measured.

Residency application content and considerations based on residency director review of a fictitious CV: What really matters?

Purpose: This research was conducted to evaluate the influence of a pharmacy residency candidate's prior work or research experience on the potential for selection for an interview. Additionally, residency program directors (RPDs) were asked to evaluate the importance of letters of intent and recommendation, rank the importance of typical curriculum vitae (CV) items along with general preferences, and provide advice for a standout CV.

Methods: This cross-sectional, survey-based study recruited RPDs to review a work-focused or research-focused fictitious residency candidate CV and complete a 33-question survey regarding interest in interviewing the fictitious candidate and their general perceptions of significant factors in interview candidate selection.

Biased pollen transfer by bumblebees favors the paternity of virus-infected plants in cross-pollination.

We used a marker gene for paternity analysis to determine if virus infection affected male reproductive success of tomato in bumblebee-mediated cross-pollination under glasshouse conditions. We found that bumblebees that visited flowers of infected plants showed a strong preference to subsequently visit flowers of non-infected plants. The behavior of the bumblebees to move toward non-infected plants after pollinating virus-infected plants appears to explain the paternity data, which demonstrate a statistically significant ∼10-fold bias for fertilization of non-infected plants with pollen from infected parents.

Minimum sample size for developing a multivariable prediction model using multinomial logistic regression.

Aims: Multinomial logistic regression models allow one to predict the risk of a categorical outcome with > 2 categories. When developing such a model, researchers should ensure the number of participants () is appropriate relative to the number of events () and the number of predictor parameters () for each category . We propose three criteria to determine the minimum required in light of existing criteria developed for binary outcomes.

Surgical Technologist Apprentice Program: An Innovative Approach to Improve Staffing.

Along with surgeons, anesthesia professionals, and RN circulators, surgical technologists are essential members of the perioperative team. Despite a partnership with a local community college that offered a surgical technologist degree program, Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Kentucky, continued to experience a shortage of surgical technologists. To meet demands, the clinical educators at the facility developed an in-house Surgical Technologist Apprentice Program (STAP).