Outcomes in biomarker-selected subgroups from the KESTREL study of durvalumab and tremelimumab in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Selective biomarkers may improve outcomes in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. We investigated three independent biomarkers for association with efficacy in the randomized, phase III KESTREL study (NCT02551159) of first-line durvalumab monotherapy or durvalumab plus tremelimumab versus the EXTREME regimen: programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) immunohistochemistry, blood tumor mutational burden (bTMB) via circulating tumor DNA, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR).

Methods: Tumor or blood samples from patients enrolled in the KESTREL study were analyzed for PD-L1, bTMB, and NLR.

Residential Water Softeners Release Carbon, Consume Chlorine, and Require Remediation after Hydrocarbon Contamination.

Water quality impacts of new ion exchange point-of-entry residential softeners and their ability to be decontaminated following hydrocarbon exposure were investigated. During startup, significant amounts of total sulfur (445 ± 815 mg/L) and total organic carbon (937 ± 119 mg/L) were released into the drinking water that flowed through the softeners. Particulate organic carbon was released until the third regeneration cycle, and resin may also have been released.

The oDGal Mouse: A Novel, Physiologically Relevant Rodent Model of Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease.

Sporadic Alzheimer's disease (sAD) represents a serious and growing worldwide economic and healthcare burden. Almost 95% of current AD patients are associated with sAD as opposed to patients presenting with well-characterized genetic mutations that lead to AD predisposition, i.e.

Tumor Mutational Burden as a Predictor of Survival with Durvalumab and/or Tremelimumab Treatment in Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Purpose: Biomarkers that predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) are needed. This retrospective study assessed tumor mutational burden (TMB) and outcomes in the phase II HAWK and CONDOR and phase III EAGLE studies of durvalumab with or without tremelimumab in platinum-resistant R/M HNSCC.

Patients And Methods: Tumor samples from HAWK/CONDOR (N = 153) and blood samples from EAGLE (N = 247) were analyzed for TMB.

Examining Efficiency in Open-Bay and Single-Family Room NICU Designs.

Background: There is growing awareness of the relationship between physical work environments and efficiency. Two conflicting factors shape efficiency in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment: the move to single-family rooms (SFRs) and increased demand for care, requiring growth in unit size.

Purpose: The goal of this research was to understand the impact of SFR NICUs on efficiency factors such as unit design, visibility and proximity, staff time, and workspace usage by various health professionals.

The Healthcare Workspace: Understanding the Role of Decentralized Nursing Stations, Corridors, and Huddle Spaces as Locations for Teamwork in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Objective: The goal of this research was to understand the use of decentralized nursing stations (DNS), corridors, and huddle stations as places for teamwork and multidisciplinary care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Background: This article shares outcomes from a pre- and post-occupancy evaluation that assessed a NICU moving from an open-bay model to a new single-family room (SFR) unit comprised of six, 12-bed neighborhoods. This interdisciplinary research team draws upon the practical expertise of a NICU Patient Care Manager and researchers in Design and Communication to illuminate the research process, results, and lessons learned.

Patient Room Design: A Qualitative Evaluation of Attributes Impacting Health Care Professionals.

The focus of this research was to identify what attributes of patient room designs are most beneficial to health care professionals and to explore whether particular professionals hold certain beliefs about patient room attributes. Acute care, progressive care, and intensive care patient room designs were analyzed through the use of pre- and postoccupancy evaluations of a cardiovascular service line. Fourteen focus groups and 1 interview among 74 health care professionals were conducted.

Patient Perceptions and Real-Time Observations of Bedside Rounding Team Communication: The Interprofessional Teamwork Innovation Model (ITIM).

Background: Interdisciplinary rounds are designed to address barriers to teamwork, communication, and quality patient care. This study used multiple methods (observations, patient surveys) in two hospital sites to examine communication and teamwork in the Interprofessional Teamwork Innovation Model (ITIM).

Methods: Observations of 68 ITIM teams that completed 685 patient visits were conducted in a 302-bed community-based acute care hospital (CH) and a 569-bed academic medical center (AMC) in one academic health care system.

Designing for Efficiency: Examining the Impact of Centralized and Decentralized Nurse Stations on Interdisciplinary Care Processes.

Objective: This study examined the impact of centralized and decentralized unit designs on an interdisciplinary team's perceptions of efficiency through the use of a preoccupancy and postoccupancy evaluation of a cardiovascular unit.

Background: During the premove study, the service line was housed across 4 separate locations, each with a centralized nurses' station. The postmove design was housed on 1 floor with decentralized stations.

Exploring Family Decisions to Refuse Organ Donation at Imminent Death.

Communication about organ donation at the time of imminent death is a meaningful, yet less understood, area of health communication. We employed a multiple goals framework to explore family normative perceptions of organ donation and the conversational goal tensions experienced during a family member's imminent death. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 family members who refused to donate when approached by an organ procurement coordinator (OPC) upon the imminent death of a family member.

Antioxidant properties of citric acid interfere with the uricase-based measurement of circulating uric acid.

Background: Circulating uric acid (UA) is an important biomarker, not only in the detection and management of gout, but also in assessing the risk of related comorbidity. The impact of collection methods on clinical UA measurements has been the subject of limited study. After observing significant differences between UA concentrations of blood samples obtained by different collection tubes, we began examining the effects of exogenous tube components on measured UA concentrations.

A Systematic Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Decentralized Nursing Stations.

Objectives:: The objective of this systematic review of literature was to critically evaluate peer-reviewed evidence regarding the effectiveness of decentralized nurse stations (DNSs).

Background:: The DNS has become an important topic in healthcare design research and practice over the past decade with aims of improving staff efficiency and patient experience. Research has shown to be inconclusive, with studies reporting an assortment of mixed findings.

The Social Logic of Nursing Communication and Team Processes in Centralized and Decentralized Work Spaces.

This pre-post multi-method study explored how nurses made sense of changes in nurse station design and how they characterized communication processes within a hospital unit before and after it moved from an existing hospital into a newly designed trauma-1 level hospital. Quantitative observations (116 h) of real-time communication were gathered in both hospitals. Additionally, 41 nursing staff (nurses, nursing care technicians, nurse managers) participated in a qualitative study.

Using Systems Theory to Examine Patient and Nurse Structures, Processes, and Outcomes in Centralized and Decentralized Units.

Objectives: This study utilizes systems theory to understand how changes to physical design structures impact communication processes and patient and staff design-related outcomes.

Background: Many scholars and researchers have noted the importance of communication and teamwork for patient care quality. Few studies have examined changes to nursing station design within a systems theory framework.

Emergency Nurses' Perceptions of Efficiency and Design: Examining ED Structure, Process, and Outcomes.

Introduction: Due to increasing demands, it is imperative for emergency departments to improve efficiency, while providing safe and effective care. Efficient and quality healthcare delivery are impacted by interactions among the emergency department's physical structure, processes, and outcomes. Examining the interrelationship between these three components is essential for assessing quality of care in the ED setting.

Shifting Landscapes: The Impact of Centralized and Decentralized Nursing Station Models on the Efficiency of Care.

Objective: The focus of this research was to analyze the impact of decentralized and centralized hospital design layouts on the delivery of efficient care and the resultant level of caregiver satisfaction.

Background: An interdisciplinary team conducted a multiphased pre- and postoccupancy evaluation of a cardiovascular service line in an academic hospital that moved from a centralized to decentralized model. This study examined the impact of walkability, room usage, allocation of time, and visibility to better understand efficiency in the care environment.

Perspectives of healthcare practitioners: An exploration of interprofessional communication using electronic medical records.

Contemporary state-of-the-art healthcare facilities are incorporating technology into their building design to improve communication and patient care. However, technological innovations may also have unintended consequences. This study seeks to better understand how technology influences interprofessional communication within a hospital setting based in the United States.

Understanding Resident Performance, Mindfulness, and Communication in Critical Care Rotations.

Objective: Evidence from the medical literature suggests that surgical trainees can benefit from mindful practices. Surgical educators are challenged with the need to address resident core competencies, some of which may be facilitated by higher levels of mindfulness. This study explores whether mindful residents perform better than their peers as members of the health care team.

The Role of the Built Environment: How Decentralized Nurse Stations Shape Communication, Patient Care Processes, and Patient Outcomes.

Increasingly, health communication scholars are attending to how hospital built environments shape communication, patient care processes, and patient outcomes. This multimethod study was conducted on two floors of a newly designed urban hospital. Nine focus groups interviews were conducted with 35 health care professionals from 10 provider groups.

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine: Brussels, Belgium. 15-18 March 2016.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.].

A profile of inactive information seekers on influenza prevention: a survey of health care workers in Central Kentucky.

Objective: This study developed a profile of inactive information seekers by characterising how they are different from active seekers, identifying possible determinants of inactive seekers and understanding characteristics of frequently asked influenza-related questions.

Methods: A survey and follow-up interviews were conducted between December 2010 and January 2011. A total of 307 health care workers in three hospitals in Central Kentucky (USA) are included.

Selective FFA2 Agonism Appears to Act via Intestinal PYY to Reduce Transit and Food Intake but Does Not Improve Glucose Tolerance in Mouse Models.

Free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFA2) is expressed on enteroendocrine L cells that release glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY (PYY) when activated by short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Functionally GLP-1 and PYY inhibit gut transit, increase glucose tolerance, and suppress appetite; thus, FFA2 has therapeutic potential for type 2 diabetes and obesity. However, FFA2-selective agonists have not been characterized in vivo.

Extremely low microsatellite diversity but distinct population structure in a long-lived threatened species, the Australian lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri (Dipnoi).

The Australian lungfish is a unique living representative of an ancient dipnoan lineage, listed as 'vulnerable' to extinction under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Historical accounts indicate this species occurred naturally in two adjacent river systems in Australia, the Burnett and Mary. Current day populations in other rivers are thought to have arisen by translocation from these source populations.

One size does not fit all: a diagnostic post-occupancy evaluation model for an emergency department.

Objective: This study presents a detailed account of processes and multiple methodologies used in conducting a diagnostic post-occupancy evaluation (POE) in an urban hospital emergency department.

Background: Healthcare design POE research findings can lead to improved work environments for healthcare providers and higher levels of staff, patient, and visitor satisfaction.

Methods: This evaluation was conducted in two separate phases over 12 months, with data analysis occurring after each phase.