Randomized Trial of Enhanced Versus Standard Navigation to Promote Timely Initiation of Adjuvant Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer.

Purpose: National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines recommend initiating postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) within 6 weeks of surgery for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but delays affect 50% of patients, disproportionately burden minoritized groups, and contribute to worse oncologic outcomes. This trial evaluates the efficacy of Navigation for Disparities and Untimely Radiation thErapy (NDURE), an enhanced navigation-based intervention, relative to usual care (UC) patient navigation for starting timely PORT.

Methods: Adults with locally advanced HNSCC planning to undergo surgery and PORT were randomly assigned 1:1 to standard multidisciplinary head and neck oncology care and either NDURE, a multilevel navigation-based intervention to enhance key processes of care and overcome barriers to timely PORT, or UC, which consisted of standard patient navigation.

A new measure of professional caregiver coping in long-term care: The LTC COPE.

Introduction: The professional caregiver workforce (nursing assistants and personal care aides) is critical to quality of care and quality of life in nursing home (NH) and assisted living (AL) settings. The work is highly stressful, so improving responses to stress in this workforce could contribute to satisfaction and retention. This research developed a coping measure appropriate for the diverse professional caregiver workforce.

Stress-related coping and its relationship to well-being in nursing assistants and personal care aides in nursing homes and assisted living.

Introduction: Professional caregivers (nursing assistants and personal care aides) in nursing homes (NH) and assisted living (AL) provide the majority of long-term residential care for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Their work is stressful, but until recently, no measures were available to assess stress in this workforce. Using the new Long-Term Care Cope (LTC COPE) scale, this study evaluates the relationship of coping with staff demographic characteristics and outcomes; the findings can be used to develop and evaluate interventions to improve staff well-being.

Identification of specific microbiota members that induce beige fat biogenesis in response to dietary cues.

Activation of brown and beige fat biogenesis promotes metabolic health in rodents and humans, but typically requires cold exposure or pharmacological activation of β-adrenergic receptors, which may pose cardiovascular risks. Dietary intervention represents a clinically viable alternative strategy to induce beige cells and thus enhance metabolic health, though the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified specific microbiota members in both mice and humans that promote browning of white adipose tissue (WAT) and ameliorate metabolic disorders in the context of a low-protein diet (LPD).

Dietary fructose enhances tumour growth indirectly via interorgan lipid transfer.

Fructose consumption has increased considerably over the past five decades, largely due to the widespread use of high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. It has been proposed that fructose promotes the growth of some tumours directly by serving as a fuel. Here we show that fructose supplementation enhances tumour growth in animal models of melanoma, breast cancer and cervical cancer without causing weight gain or insulin resistance.