Development and implementation of an electronic asthma record for primary care: integrating guidelines into practice.

Rationale: Evidence-based practice may be enhanced by integrating knowledge translation tools into electronic medical records (EMRs). We examined the feasibility of incorporating an evidence-based asthma care map (ACM) into Primary Care (PC) EMRs, and reporting on performance indicators.

Methods: Clinicians and information technology experts selected 69 clinical and administrative variables from the ACM template.

Development and pilot testing of a mobile health solution for asthma self-management: asthma action plan smartphone application pilot study.

Background: Collaborative self-management is a core recommendation of national asthma guidelines; the written action plan is the knowledge tool that supports this objective. Mobile health technologies have the potential to enhance the effectiveness of the action plan as a knowledge translation tool.

Objective: To design, develop and pilot a mobile health system to support asthma self-management.

Spirometry in primary care: an analysis of spirometery test quality in a regional primary care asthma program.

Background: Primary care office spirometry can improve access to testing and concordance between clinical practice and asthma guidelines. Compliance with test quality standards is essential to implementation.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of spirometry performed onsite in a regional primary care asthma program (RAP) by health care professionals with limited training.

Comparison of asthma control criteria: importance of spirometry.

Aims: To compare the measurements of asthma control using Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) Asthma Management Consensus Summary and Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines composite indices with and without spirometry.

Methods: Asthma control parameters were extracted from electronic medical records (EMRs) of patients ≥6 years old at two primary care sites. Asthma control ratings calculated according to CTS and GINA criteria were compared.

High cAMP in spores of Dictyostelium discoideum: association with spore dormancy and inhibition of germination.

Signalling mechanisms involving cAMP have a well-documented role in the coordination of multicellular development and differentiation leading to spore formation in the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum. The involvement of cAMP in the poorly understood developmental stages of spore dormancy and germination have been investigated in this study. Dormant spores contained up to 11-fold more cAMP than nascent amoebae.