Immersive virtual reality and psychological well-being in adult chronic physical illness: systematic review.

Introduction: Individuals with chronic physical illness are at increased risk of negative psychological sequelae. Immersive virtual reality (VR) is an emerging treatment that might reduce these negative effects and increase quality of life in individuals with chronic physical illness.

Objective: To systematically review literature examining the use of immersive VR in adult populations with chronic physical illness to understand: (1) how immersive VR is used to improve psychological well-being of adults with chronic physical illness (2) what effect this immersive VR has on the psychological well-being of adults with chronic physical illness.

The role of companion animals in advanced cancer: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Background: There is evidence that a companion animal (CA) or 'pet' can be helpful during the management of chronic illness. However, the psychological effects of CAs and the mechanism by which they can be beneficial to individuals managing life-limiting conditions is unknown. This study addresses this gap and provides the first examination of the lived experience of CAs among community-dwelling adults with advanced cancer.

Important considerations for drugs, nutritional, and herbal supplements in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients.

Pediatric transplant recipients are on multiple prescription and non-prescription drugs. Many patients also use dietary, nutritional, and herbal supplements. This manuscript researched formulations of immunosuppressive drugs currently available and presents information on generic immunosuppressive drugs, commonly used non-prescription medications, dietary supplements, and herbal supplements.

A Quality Assessment of a Collaborative Model of a Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Program.

Background: Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines recommend that key antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) personnel include an infectious disease (ID) physician leader and dedicated ID-trained clinical pharmacist. Limited resources prompted development of an alternative model by using ID physicians and service-based clinical pharmacists at a pediatric hospital. The aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness and impact of this alternative ASP model.

Antifungal Lock Therapy with Liposomal Amphotericin B: A Prospective Trial.

We conducted a prospective pilot study to evaluate the potential role of combined systemic antifungal and liposomal amphotericin B lock therapy in children with intestinal insufficiency with fungal catheter-related bloodstream infections whose central venous catheters had not been removed. Our results provide supportive evidence for the conduct of larger clinical trials to confirm the efficacy and safety of this approach.

Intestinal transplantation in children: a review of immunotherapy regimens.

This review summarizes the outcomes and known adverse effects of current immunosuppression strategies in use in pediatric intestinal transplantation. Intestinal transplantation has evolved from an experimental therapy to a highly successful treatment for children with intestinal failure who have complications with total parenteral nutrition. Because of continued success with intestinal transplantation over the past decade, the focus of clinicians and researchers is shifting from short-term patient survival to optimizing long-term outcomes.

Inhibition of IKK-2 by 2-[(aminocarbonyl)amino]-5-acetylenyl-3-thiophenecarboxamides.

A series of 21 novel 2-[(aminocarbonyl)amino]-5-acetylenyl-3-thiophenecarboxamides were synthesized and evaluated for the inhibition of IKK-2. In spite of their often modest activity on the enzyme, six selected analogs showed significant inhibition of the production of inflammatory cytokine IL-8 in IL-1beta stimulated rheumatoid arthritis-derived synovial fibroblasts, demonstrating their potential usefulness as NF-kappaB regulators.

Immunosuppressant strategies for intestinal transplantation: a review of a tolerogenic regimen.

Intestinal, combined liver-intestinal, and multivisceral transplantation are now considered the standard of care for children and adults with permanent intestinal failure. Early attempts at intestinal transplantation were discouraging because of the high incidence of technical complications, rejection, and infection. Advances in the field of transplantation, including the introduction of tacrolimus, improved surgical techniques, and improvements in postoperative care, have led to a renewed interest in intestinal transplantation since 1990.

Pharmacokinetics of sirolimus and tacrolimus in pediatric transplant patients.

To evaluate the pharmacokinetics of Sirolimus (SRL) and Tacrolimus (TAC) in pediatric transplant recipients. Fifty-one SRL and 55 TAC pharmacokinetic profiles were obtained from 20 male and 14 female recipients of liver alone (LTx, n = 23), small bowel alone, and with liver (SBTx, n = 11). The median age was 13.