Psychometric Analysis of a Survey on Patient Safety Culture-Based Tool for Emergency Medical Services.

Objective: Evaluating organizational safety culture is critical for high-stress, high-risk professions such as prehospital emergency medical services (EMS). The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a safety culture instrument for EMS, based on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's widely used Surveys on Patient Safety Culture (SOPS).

Methods: The final EMS-adapted instrument consisted of 37 items covering 11 safety culture domains including 10 domains from existing SOPS instruments and one new domain for communication while en route to an emergency call.

Sex differences in the effects of 12 weeks sprint interval training on body fat mass and the rates of fatty acid oxidation and VOmax during exercise.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine whether very short duration, very high intensity sprint interval training (SIT) leads to loss of body fat mass in association with improvements to VOmax and fatty acid oxidation, and to assess the extent of sex dimorphism in these physiological responses.

Methods: A total of 24 men and 17 women (mean (SEM) age: 39 (±2) years; body mass index 24.6 (0.

Web-Based Virtual Microscopy of Digitized Blood Slides for Malaria Diagnosis: An Effective Tool for Skills Assessment in Different Countries and Environments.

Background: Morphological examination of blood films remains the reference standard for malaria diagnosis. Supporting the skills required to make an accurate morphological diagnosis is therefore essential. However, providing support across different countries and environments is a substantial challenge.

Whole blood analysis of phagocytosis, apoptosis, cytokine production, and leukocyte subsets in healthy older men and women: the ZENITH study.

Few studies to date have examined age-related changes in markers of immune status in healthy older individuals. The immune status of 93 healthy individuals aged 55-70 years was assessed by two- and three-color flow cytometry and biochemical analysis. There were significant age effects (p View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Serum TK levels in CLL identify Binet stage A patients within biologically defined prognostic subgroups most likely to undergo disease progression.

Objective: Serum thymidine kinase (TK) levels have been shown to be correlated with survival in many malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). This study was designed to investigate associations between TK levels and other prognostic markers, in newly and previously diagnosed Binet stage A patients. Furthermore, the use of serum TK measurement to identify subcategories of disease within those defined by IgV(H) mutational status, gene usage and chromosomal aberrations was investigated.

All-trans retinoic acid-induced downregulation of annexin II expression in myeloid leukaemia cell lines is not confined to acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

Most acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) patients suffer from disordered haemostasis. APL can be treated successfully in most instances by all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) therapy, which induces endpoint maturation of the leukaemic promyelocytes with the characteristic t(15;17). Annexin II (AnII), a profibrinolytic protein, has been implicated in the bleeding manifestation seen in APL.

Docosahexaenoic acid reduces in vitro invasion of renal cell carcinoma by elevated levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1.

We demonstrate in this study that the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids derived from fish oil, namely, eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), can increase levels of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in the renal cell carcinoma cell line caki-1 by 26% and 17.42% respectively. The result of this elevation in TIMP-1 levels is a reduction of 48.

Homocysteine is lower in the third trimester of pregnancy in women with enhanced folate status from continued folic acid supplementation.

Background: In many countries, current recommendations are that women take a daily 400-mug folic acid supplement from before conception until the end of the 12th week of gestation for the prevention of neural tube defects. Low folate status is associated with an increased concentration of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), a risk factor associated with pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia.

Methods: In a longitudinal study, we determined tHcy and corresponding folate status in 101 pregnant women at 12, 20, and 35 weeks of gestation, in 35 nonpregnant controls sampled concurrently, and in a subgroup (n = 21 pregnant women and 19 nonpregnant controls) at 3 days postpartum.

Annexin II cell surface and mRNA expression in human acute myeloid leukaemia cell lines.

Introduction: Acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) (M3) is associated with both a characteristic t(15;17) and severe bleeding diathesis caused by disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and/or hyperfibrinolysis. It has been suggested that annexin II, a coreceptor for tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen (PLG), is overexpressed on the surface of promyelocytes, leading to an increased fibrinolytic potential.

Materials And Methods: This study examined the level of annexin II cell surface and mRNA expression in a range of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cell lines.