Artificial Intelligence-Based Co-Facilitator (AICF) for Detecting and Monitoring Group Cohesion Outcomes in Web-Based Cancer Support Groups: Single-Arm Trial Study.

Background: Commonly offered as supportive care, therapist-led online support groups (OSGs) are a cost-effective way to provide support to individuals affected by cancer. One important indicator of a successful OSG session is group cohesion; however, monitoring group cohesion can be challenging due to the lack of nonverbal cues and in-person interactions in text-based OSGs. The Artificial Intelligence-based Co-Facilitator (AICF) was designed to contextually identify therapeutic outcomes from conversations and produce real-time analytics.

Enhancing care: evaluating the impact of True North Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eTraining for healthcare providers working with prostate cancer patients and partners.

Background: Educational programs that enhance healthcare providers' competence in managing the care of patients with sexual dysfunction following prostate cancer treatments are needed to facilitate comprehensive sexual health treatments for patients and their partners.

Aim: In this study we evaluated the impact of a real-world online sexual health educational intervention called the True North Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eTraining Program. This program is designed to increase healthcare providers' knowledge and self-efficacy in providing sexual healthcare to prostate cancer patients and their partners.

Therapist Feedback and Implications on Adoption of an Artificial Intelligence-Based Co-Facilitator for Online Cancer Support Groups: Mixed Methods Single-Arm Usability Study.

Background: The recent onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing requirement have created an increased demand for virtual support programs. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) may offer novel solutions to management challenges such as the lack of emotional connections within virtual group interventions. Using typed text from online support groups, AI can help identify the potential risk of mental health concerns, alert group facilitator(s), and automatically recommend tailored resources while monitoring patient outcomes.

Gender Socialization as a Predictor of Psychosocial Well-Being in Young Women with Breast Cancer.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between gender socialization and psychosocial well-being among young women diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer. A total of 113 women between the ages of 18-49 completed a one-time questionnaire package. Four key measures of gender socialization were included: Gender Role Socialization Scale (GRSS), Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS), Mental Freedom Scale (MFS), and Silencing the Self Scale (SSS).

An online Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eClinic (TrueNTH SHAReClinic) for prostate cancer patients: a feasibility study.

Purpose: The primary objective was to determine the feasibility of implementing the TrueNTH SHAReClinic as a pan-Canadian sexual health and rehabilitation intervention for patients treated for localized prostate cancer.

Methods: The feasibility study was designed to evaluate the accessibility and acceptability of the intervention. Participants from five institutions across Canada were enrolled to attend one pre-treatment and five follow-up online clinic visits over 1 year following their prostate cancer (PC) treatment.

Translating the Restoring Body Image After Cancer (ReBIC) Group Therapy Intervention Into an Online Version: A Successful Case Study and Recommendations.

A growing number of face-to-face group therapy interventions are being translated into online versions in psycho-oncology. Yet few researchers have systematically described the complex translation process or systematic approaches used to maintain the integrity of the original empirically supported interventions. In this article, we present a case study to illustrate the process of translating an evidence-based face-to-face therapy group, Restoring Body Image after Cancer (ReBIC) into an online format.

Online interventions to address body image distress in cancer.

Purpose Of Review: Body image is a critical psychosocial issue for patients with cancer, because of the profound effects the disease and its treatment can have on appearance and bodily functioning. Adverse psychological effects of body image changes associated with cancer include debilitating levels of anxiety, social avoidance, depression, problems with intimacy and impaired sexuality, and feelings of shame/inadequacy. The construct of body image is increasingly recognized as complex and multifaceted from an embodied lens, creating more meaningful and efficacious interventions.

Feasibility and acceptability of i-Restoring Body Image after Cancer (i-ReBIC): A pilot trial for female cancer survivors.

Objective: This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and psychosocial outcomes of a text-based online group therapy intervention, i-Restoring Body Image after Cancer (i-ReBIC). i-ReBIC was developed to reduce body image distress and psychosexual dysfunction among women diagnosed and treated for breast or gynecological cancer.

Methods: i-ReBIC was adapted from an empirically tested face-to-face group therapy intervention, ReBIC.

The Case for Prehabilitation Prior to Breast Cancer Treatment.

Cancer rehabilitation in breast cancer survivors is well established, and there are many studies that focus on interventions to treat impairments as well as therapeutic exercise. However, very little is known about the role of prehabilitation for people with breast cancer. In this narrative review, we describe contemporary clinical management of breast cancer and associated treatment-related morbidity and mortality considerations.

Exploring gay couples' experience with sexual dysfunction after radical prostatectomy: a qualitative study.

This exploratory study examines the experience of three gay couples managing sexual dysfunction as a result of undergoing a radical prostatectomy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted as part of a larger study at an urban hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Examining risk perception among men with a family history of prostate cancer.

Objective: This paper explores factors that influence the formulation of risk perception among men with a family history of prostate cancer who are currently attending a prostate cancer screening clinic.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen participants. Interview transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Treatment of pneumonia in mechanically ventilated trauma patients. Results of a prospective trial.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy and magnitude of associated adverse effects of 2 different antibiotic regimens for the treatment of pneumonia in intubated surgical patients and to assay and compare blood samples and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid with respect to some host-defense parameters, especially in patients with unilateral pneumonia.

Design: Randomized, prospective, unblinded clinical comparison of 2 treatment arms with respect to intent to treat and clinical and microbiologically evaluable patients.

Setting: Six university surgical services in teaching hospitals with modern and well-staffed intensive care units.

Second place winner of the Conrad Jobst Award in the gold medal paper competition. Increased antibiotic effectiveness in a model of surgical infection through continuous infusion.

As long as infection remains the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in severely ill patients, there exists the need for more effective anti-infective therapy. The current study was undertaken to determine whether continuous infusion (CONT) is superior to intermittent administration (INT) of an equal amount of cefazolin (CEF) in a model of surgical infection. The thigh suture model consists of the surgical placement of 1 cm of cotton suture with absorbed K.

Regional and systemic immune responses in a murine model of empyema.

The extent to which circulating leukocytes reflect functional capacity at the site of infection is unclear despite a century of debate. We conducted experiments designed to clarify those relationships as well as the relationship of pleural and peritoneal responses to infection. Empyema was established in inbred CBA/J mice by introducing Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis into the thoracic cavity through a limited thoracotomy.

Protective effects of recombinant human tumour necrosis factor alpha and interferon gamma against surgically simulated wound infection in mice.

Tumour necrosis factor alpha and interferon gamma have both been shown to have immunoregulatory properties, and to be able to influence, several microbial infections. This study showed that tumour necrosis factor was effective in modifying surgically simulated wound infections when administered both as prophylaxis and as therapy. Two models were used; one was an intramuscular bacterial challenge, and the other involved the use of a bacteria-laden thigh suture.

Evaluation of copovithane as a nonspecific immunomodulator in surgically simulated sepsis.

Copovithane (CPV), a synthetic polymer, has been shown to have antitumor activity and also to reduce mortality in experimental murine peritonitis. The purpose of this study was to compare CPV with muramyl dipeptide (MDP), an immunomodulator of proven efficacy in simulated surgical infection. Six groups of CBA/J mice were compared; they received intramuscular injections of normal saline (controls), MDP (100 micrograms), or CPV (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) 24 h prior to bacterial challenge.

Effects of interferon-gamma treatment on surgically simulated wound infection in mice.

Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) has been shown to have immunoregulatory properties and is able to modulate resistance to several microbial infections. This study was designed to determine the efficacy of IFN-gamma treatment in a mouse model of infection that simulates many clinical conditions associated with surgical wound infection: viz, a bacteria laden suture and tissue injury. The test bacteria were Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Effects of muramyl dipeptide and lead acetate on carbon clearance and endotoxin-induced mortality in mice.

Muramyl dipeptide (MDP) is a nonspecific immune adjuvant thought to affect the macrophage. MDP had been used safely without immunosuppressive or toxic side effects in our laboratory and others. Endotoxin, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), is thought to be responsible for many of the systemic toxic effects of gram-negative infection.

A randomized, double-blind trial of single dose piperacillin versus multidose cefoxitin in alimentary tract operations.

For elective alimentary tract operations in which contamination is moderate, single dose prophylaxis with piperacillin is equivalent to triple dose cefoxitin, a well established and effective regimen. Both methods failed to control infection arising in the perineal wound after abdominoperineal resection. Just as is the case with drain site infection, such infection often evolves from postoperative contamination and, indeed, is in theory and in fact unlikely to be controlled by perioperative prophylaxis.

Effects of muramyl dipeptide and clindamycin in a murine abdominal abscess model.

Peritonitis and subsequent local and remote complications are an important source of morbidity and mortality, which persist despite the best available treatment. Reasonable therapeutic efforts, therefore, have included stimulation of host defenses with immune adjuvants, recently typified by muramyl dipeptide (MDP). Murine abdominal abscesses were created by intraperitoneal injection of Bacteroides fragilis and autoclaved fecal suspensions, and the effects of MDP and clindamycin on these abscesses were evaluated.

Serum kinetics of intraperitoneal moxalactam.

Continuous intraperitoneal administration of antibiotics has been recommended as treatment for peritonitis. The necessity of simultaneous systemic administration of antibiotics remains undefined but usually is performed. Moxalactam kinetics in serum were studied in dogs receiving 15 mg/kg intravenously; 15 mg/kg intraperitoneally; 5 mg/kg hourly with peritoneal lavage; 15 mg/kg intravenously followed by 5 mg/kg hourly intraperitoneally; 15 mg/kg intraperitoneally after 24 hours of peritonitis; and 5 mg/kg hourly by peritoneal lavage after 24 hours of peritonitis.

In vitro characteristics of tobramycin-PMMA beads: compressive strength and leaching.

Antibiotic-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement beads have been used as a local drug delivery system for the treatment of bone and soft tissue infections. The beads deliver a high local level of antibiotic with a decreased risk of toxic systemic levels. This study was undertaken to determine the antibiotic release characteristics of tobramycin-impregnated beads over time and to determine the compressive strength of these beads.

Bacterial inoculum and the activity of antimicrobial agents.

Experimental and clinical infections have concentrations of bacteria that are greater than the concentrations used in the laboratory for the determination of in vitro activity. When realistic concentrations are used, the antibiotic activity is reduced. The optimum selection of antibiotics may require a re-examination of the laboratory procedures for the determination of sensitivity data.

The role of muramyl dipeptide in the therapy of established experimental bacterial infection.

Muramyl dipeptide (MDP) actively potentiates host defences and confers protection when given before a bacterial challenge. Experiments were undertaken to characterize its actions when used alone or in combination with cephaloridine in a manner analogous to clinical therapy, i.e.

Non-specific host defence stimulation and antibiotic-resistant infection.

The impact of a subinhibitory dose of clindamycin combined with stimulation of host defences by muramyl dipeptide (MDP) in an animal model of surgical infection with Escherichia coli was studied. Both the percentage of bacteria recovered from the implantation site and the degree of bacteraemia were quantitated at timed intervals following the bacterial challenge. Neither of these parameters was significantly different in animals treated with clindamycin alone compared to placebo animals.