Palliative Approach Remains Lacking in Terminal Hospital Admissions for Chronic Disease Across Rural Settings: Multisite Retrospective Medical Record Audit.

Introduction/aim: Despite clear benefit from palliative care in end-stage chronic diseases, access is often limited, and rural access largely undescribed. This study sought to determine if a palliative approach is provided to people with chronic disease in their terminal hospital admission.

Methods: Multisite, retrospective medical record audit, of decedents with a primary diagnosis of chronic lung, heart, or renal failure, or multimorbidity of these conditions over 2019.

Service Level Characteristics of Rural Palliative Care for People with Chronic Disease.

Context: Despite clear benefit from palliative care in end-stage chronic, non-malignant disease, access for rural patients is often limited due to workforce gaps and geographical barriers.

Objectives: This study aimed to understand existing rural service structures regarding the availability and provision of palliative care for people with chronic conditions.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed by email to rural health service leaders.

Emergency Department Utilisation by Palliative Patients in a Regional Australian Setting.

Background: Many palliative care patients attend emergency departments (EDs) in acute Hospital. However, very limited studies inform about their presentations and appropriateness.

Objectives: This study explored the reasons and appropriateness of palliative care presentations in a regional Australian ED setting.

1,2,4 triazolo[1,5-a] pyrimidin-7-ones as novel SARS-CoV-2 Main protease inhibitors: In silico screening and molecular dynamics simulation of potential COVID-19 drug candidates.

Discovery of a potent SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M) inhibitor is the need of the hour to combat COVID-19. A total of 1000 protease-inhibitor-like compounds available in the ZINC database were screened by molecular docking with SARS-CoV-2 M and the top 2 lead compounds based on binding affinity were found to be 1,2,4 triazolo[1,5-a] pyrimidin-7-one compounds. We report these two compounds (ZINC000621278586 and ZINC000621285995) as potent SARS-CoV-2 M inhibitors with high affinity (<-9 kCal/mol) and less toxicity than Lopinavir and Nelfinavir positive controls.

Modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) for Prognostication of Adult Oncology Patients With Palliative Intent in a Regional Victorian Hospital, Australia.

Background: Accurate prognostication is essential in caring for palliative patients. Various prognostication tools have been validated in many settings in the past few years. Biomarkers of inflammation (albumin and C-reactive protein) are combined to calculate the modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), which has been found to be a simple prognostic tool in this population.

Author Correction: Cancer Testis Antigen Promotes Triple Negative Breast Cancer Metastasis and is Traceable in the Circulating Extracellular Vesicles.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Cancer Testis Antigen Promotes Triple Negative Breast Cancer Metastasis and is Traceable in the Circulating Extracellular Vesicles.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has poor survival, exhibits rapid metastases, lacks targeted therapies and reliable prognostic markers. Here, we examined metastasis promoting role of cancer testis antigen SPANXB1 in TNBC and its utility as a therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker. Expression pattern of SPANXB1 was determined using matched primary cancer, lymph node metastatic tissues and circulating small extracellular vesicles (sEVs).

Prognosis prediction with two calculations of Palliative Prognostic Index: further prospective validation in hospice cancer patients with multicentre study.

Objectives: In palliative care settings, predicting prognosis is important for patients and clinicians. The Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI), a prognostic tool calculated using clinical indices alone has been validated within cancer population. This study was to further test the discriminatory ability of the PPI (ie, its ability to determine whether a subject will live more or less than a certain amount of time) in a larger sample but with a palliative care context and to compare predictions at two different points in time.

Analysis of EAWAG-BBD pathway prediction system for the identification of malathion degrading microbes.

Insecticides are the toxic substances that are used to kill insects. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind the increase in agricultural productivity in the 20th century. The organophosphates are now the largest and most versatile class of insecticide used and Malathion is the predominant type utilized.

Mitochondrial Reprogramming Regulates Breast Cancer Progression.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to understand the role of altered mitochondrial function in breast cancer progression and determine the potential of the molecular alteration signature in developing exosome-based biomarkers.

Experimental Design: This study was designed to characterize the critical components regulating mitochondrial function in breast tumorigenesis. Experiments were conducted to assess the potential of these molecules for exosome-based biomarker development.

Accuracy of prognosis prediction by PPI in hospice inpatients with cancer: a multi-centre prospective study.

The Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) is a prognostication tool for palliative care patients based on clinical indices developed in Japan and further validated by one study in the UK. The aim of this study was to test its prediction accuracy in a large inpatient hospice sample. The admitting doctor in three inpatient hospices calculated the PPI score on admission.

Accuracy of prognosis prediction by PPI in hospice inpatients with cancer: a multi-centre prospective study.

The Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) is a prognostication tool for palliative care patients based on clinical indices developed in Japan and further validated by one study in the UK. The aim of this study was to test its prediction accuracy in a large inpatient hospice sample. The admitting doctor in three inpatient hospices calculated the PPI score on admission.

Tertiary structure prediction and identification of druggable pocket in the cancer biomarker - Osteopontin-c.

Background: Osteopontin (Eta, secreted sialoprotein 1, opn) is secreted from different cell types including cancer cells. Three splice variant forms namely osteopontin-a, osteopontin-b and osteopontin-c have been identified. The main astonishing feature is that osteopontin-c is found to be elevated in almost all types of cancer cells.

The relationship between measurement method and corneal structure on apparent intraocular pressure in glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

Purpose: To analyse the relationship between measured intraocular pressure (IOP) and central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal hysteresis (CH) and corneal resistance factor (CRF) in ocular hypertension (OHT), primary open-angle (POAG) and normal tension glaucoma (NTG) eyes using multiple tonometry devices.

Methods: Right eyes of patients diagnosed with OHT (n=47), normal tension glaucoma (n=17) and POAG (n=50) were assessed. IOP was measured in random order with four devices: Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT); Pascal dynamic contour tonometer (DCT); Reichert ocular response analyser (ORA); and Tono-Pen XL.

Preventing intraocular pressure increase after phacoemulsification and the role of perioperative apraclonidine.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of prophylactic topical apraclonidine 1% in preventing an intraocular pressure (IOP) rise in the early period after uneventful phacoemulsification with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation.

Setting: District general hospital, United Kingdom.

Methods: In this prospective masked randomized trial, 61 patients had elective, routine, corneal tunnel, sutureless phacoemulsification with in-the-bag foldable IOL implantation.