Specialization within pharmacy education: A survey of curricular track or concentration offerings.

Introduction: The purpose of this national survey was to determine what constitutes a curricular track or concentration within colleges and schools of pharmacy. Additionally, for programs not currently offering curricular tracks or concentrations, this survey sought to identify barriers to implementation.

Methods: A survey instrument was developed and piloted.

Structured Head and Neck CT Angiography Reporting Reduces Resident Revision Rates.

Purpose: This resident-driven quality improvement project was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of structured reporting to reduce revision rates for afterhours reports dictated by residents.

Methods: The first part of the study assessed baseline revision rates for head and neck CT angiography (CTA) examinations dictated by residents during afterhours call. A structured report was subsequently created based on templates on the RSNA informatics reporting website and critical findings that should be assessed for on all CTA examinations.

Assessing the Satisfaction of Citizens Using Teleconsent in Clinical Research.

Researchers tested the functionality, and evaluated the feasibility of a telemedicine software, Doxy.me, to complete informed teleconsent sessions remotely with prospective research participants. Twenty healthy volunteers completed a teleconsent session, and web survey assessing overall experience and satisfaction with the Doxy.

Review and Comparison of Electronic Patient-Facing Family Health History Tools.

Family health history (FHx) is one of the most important pieces of information available to help genetic counselors and other clinicians identify risk and prevent disease. Unfortunately, the collection of FHx from patients is often too time consuming to be done during a clinical visit. Fortunately, there are many electronic FHx tools designed to help patients gather and organize their own FHx information prior to a clinic visit.

Fifty shades of gradients: does the pressure gradient in venous sinus stenting for idiopathic intracranial hypertension matter? A systematic review.

Objective: The role of venous sinus stenting (VSS) for idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is not well understood. The aim of this systematic review is to attempt to identify subsets of patients with IIH who will benefit from VSS based on the pressure gradients of their venous sinus stenosis.

Methods: MEDLINE/PubMed was searched for studies reporting venous pressure gradients across the stenotic segment of the venous sinus, pre- and post-stent pressure gradients, and clinical outcomes after VSS.

Treatment of blood blister aneurysms of the internal carotid artery with flow diversion.

Background: Blood blister aneurysms (BBA) are a rare subset of intracranial aneurysms that represent a therapeutic challenge from both a surgical and endovascular perspective.

Objective: To report multicenter experience with flow diversion exclusively for BBA, located at non-branching segments along the anteromedial wall of the supraclinoidal internal carotid artery (ICA).

Methods: Consecutive cases of BBA located at non-branching segments along the anteromedial wall of the supraclinoidal ICA treated with flow diversion were included in the final analysis.

Statistical Methodology of the National Immunization Survey, 2005-2014.

The National Immunization Survey (NIS) family of surveys includes NIS-Child, which monitors vaccination coverage for the U.S. population of children aged 19-35 months; NIS- Teen, which monitors vaccination coverage for the U.

Pharmacokinetic and Chemical Synthesis Optimization of a Potent d-Peptide HIV Entry Inhibitor Suitable for Extended-Release Delivery.

Peptides often suffer from short in vivo half-lives due to proteolysis and renal clearance that limit their therapeutic potential in many indications, necessitating pharmacokinetic (PK) enhancement. d-Peptides, composed of mirror-image d-amino acids, overcome proteolytic degradation but are still vulnerable to renal filtration due to their small size. If renal filtration could be slowed, d-peptides would be promising therapeutic agents for infrequent dosing, such as in extended-release depots.

Influence of work clothing on physiological responses and performance during treadmill exercise and the Wildland Firefighter Pack Test.

This study investigated physiological responses and performance during three separate exercise challenges (Parts I, II, and III) with wildland firefighting work clothing ensemble (boots and coveralls) and a 20.4 kg backpack in four conditions: U-EX (no pack, exercise clothing); L-EX (pack, exercise clothing); U-W (no pack, work clothing); and, L-W (pack and work clothing). Part I consisted of randomly-ordered graded exercise tests, on separate days, in U-EX, L-EX and L-W conditions.

Design and Implementation of a Professional Development Course Series.

To design and implement a longitudinal course series focused on professional development and professional identity formation in pharmacy students at Western New England University. A four-year, theme-based course series was designed to sequentially and longitudinally impart the values, attributes, and characteristics of a professional pharmacist. Requirements of the course include: goal planning and reflective assignments, submission of "Best Works," attendance at professional meetings, completion of service hours, annual completion of a Pharmacy Professionalism Instrument, attendance at Dean's Seminar, participation in roundtable discussions, and maintenance of an electronic portfolio.

Enhanced early warning system impact on nursing practice: A phenomenological study.

Aim: To determine how an enhanced early warning system has an impact on nursing practice.

Background: Early warning systems score physiologic measures and alert nurses to subtle changes in patient condition. Critics of early warning systems have expressed concern that nurses would rely on a score rather than assessment skills and critical thinking to determine the need for intervention.

Trends in urinary arsenic among the U.S. population by drinking water source: Results from the National Health and Nutritional Examinations Survey 2003-2014.

Background: In 2001, the United States revised the arsenic maximum contaminant level for public drinking water systems from 50µg/L to 10µg/L. This study aimed to examine temporal trends in urinary arsenic concentrations in the U.S.

Patient preferences for direct-to-consumer telemedicine services: a nationwide survey.

Background: Direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine providers has the potential to change the traditional patient-physician relationship. Professional medical organizations recommend that telemedicine exist within the medical home. This study aims to understand patients' preferences and desires for DTC telemedicine.

Hepatic tumors of vascular origin: imaging appearances.

A number of benign and malignant neoplasms may arise from the vascular elements within the liver parenchyma. Lesions discussed in this article include angiosarcoma, epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, solitary fibrous tumor (hemangiopericytoma), infantile, and cavernous hemangiomas. Despite a common theme of vascular origin, the pathologic and imaging appearance of these entities can be heterogeneous.

Prevalence and outcomes of cystic lesions of the transplant pancreas: The University of Wisconsin Experience.

Literature on the behavior of cystic lesions in pancreas transplants is scarce, and hence a better understanding is warranted. Data on recipients and their respective donors that underwent simultaneous kidney and pancreas, pancreas transplant alone, and pancreas after kidney between 1994 and 2015 were reviewed (n = 1185). Cystic lesions of the transplant pancreas developed in 22 patients (1.

Feasibility and outcomes of percutaneous thermal ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma in a transplanted allograft.

Purpose: To examine the safety, feasibility, and oncologic control following percutaneous image-guided thermal ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a transplanted allograft.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective review was performed to identify patients who underwent liver transplantation for HCC and subsequently underwent percutaneous hepatic thermal ablation for recurrent HCC within the allograft between January 1st, 2000-September 1st, 2016. Eleven patients with hepatic allograft HCC underwent twelve percutaneous thermal ablation procedures to treat 16 lesions.

Evaluation of previously embolized intracranial aneurysms: inter-and intra-rater reliability among neurosurgeons and interventional neuroradiologists.

Background: The angiographic evaluation of previously coiled aneurysms can be difficult yet remains critical for determining re-treatment.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to determine the inter-rater reliability for both the Raymond Scale and per cent embolization among a group of neurointerventionalists evaluating previously embolized aneurysms.

Methods: A panel of 15 neurointerventionalists examined 92 distinct cases of immediate post-coil embolization and 1 year post-embolization angiographs.

Evaluation of a novel collimator for molecular breast tomosynthesis.

Purpose: This study investigated a novel gamma camera for molecular breast tomosynthesis (MBT), which is a nuclear breast imaging method that uses limited angle tomography. The camera is equipped with a variable angle, slant-hole (VASH) collimator that allows the camera to remain close to the breast throughout the acquisition. The goal of this study was to evaluate the spatial resolution and count sensitivity of this camera and to compare contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) with conventional planar imaging using an experimental breast phantom.

Delayed treatment of ruptured brain AVMs: is it ok to wait?

OBJECTIVE Despite a hemorrhagic presentation, many patients with arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) do not require emergency resection. The timing of definitive management is not standardized in the cerebrovascular community. This study was designed to evaluate the safety of delaying AVM treatment in clinically stable patients with a new hemorrhagic presentation.

Multistage stereotactic radiosurgery for large cerebral arteriovenous malformations using the Gamma Knife platform.

Purpose: Radiosurgery is an established technique to treat cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Obliteration of larger AVMs (> 10-15 cm or diameter > 3 cm) in a single session is challenging with current radiosurgery platforms due to toxicity. We present a novel technique of multistage stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for large intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVM) using the Gamma Knife system.

Current Practices of Awarding Graduation Honors within Doctor of Pharmacy Degree Programs.

To survey the practices of awarding honors upon graduation with a doctor of pharmacy degree. College and school of pharmacy websites were systematically searched to identify if, and then how, graduation honors are awarded. Programs that offer graduation honors were categorized and quantified based upon grade point average (GPA) cutoffs, honors enrollment, research project completion, faculty vote, course failure considerations, and ethics code violations.