Essential Role of Pharmacists in Asthma Care and Management.

Asthma, a chronic respiratory disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and reversible airflow obstruction, poses a substantial economic burden on patients and caregivers alike. Moreover, the heterogeneous nature of the disease and the presence of various phenotypes make the treatment of asthma challenging and nuanced. Despite the availability of several approved pharmacological treatments, approximately half of patients with asthma in the United States experienced exacerbations in 2016, highlighting the need for effective add-on treatments.

Predictors of increased melphalan exposure correlate with overall survival, nonrelapse mortality, and toxicities in patients undergoing reduced-intensity allogeneic stem cell transplantation with fludarabine and melphalan.

The reduced-intensity conditioning regimen, fludarabine and melphalan 140 mg/m (FM140), is widely adopted in practice. Pharmacokinetic studies report 10-fold interpatient variability in melphalan exposure. We identified low hemoglobin (Hb) and/or creatinine clearance (CrCl), determinants of melphalan pharmacokinetic, as strong predictors of outcomes after high-dose melphalan and autologous transplant.

Development of an Outcome Measure of Observable Signs of Health and Well-Being in Infants With Orofacial Clefts.

Objective: To develop an outcomes instrument that assesses observations that can be reliably reported by caregivers and can be used to assess health of infants with a cleft lip or cleft lip and cleft palate (CL±P) and impacts of treatments.

Design: Cross-sectional, mixed methods study.

Setting: Caregivers and health-care providers were recruited from 3 academic craniofacial centers and national advertisements.

The Expanding Frontiers of Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.

Fundamental understanding of chemistry and physical properties at the nanoscale enables the rational design of interface-based systems. Surface interactions underlie numerous technologies ranging from catalysis to organic thin films to biological systems. Since surface environments are especially prone to heterogeneity, it becomes crucial to characterize these systems with spatial resolution sufficient to localize individual active sites or defects.

Chilean Health Care Providers' Perceived Comfort in Performing Oral Rapid Testing for HIV: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: To understand key factors influencing Chilean health care providers' perceived comfort performing oral rapid HIV testing.

Design: One hundred and fifty health care providers completed a self-administered questionnaire that included a five-item scale measuring self-perceived comfort in conducting HIV pretest counseling, oral rapid testing, finger-prick testing, and delivering test results.

Results: Most participants (60%) envisioned good overall comfort performing oral rapid HIV testing (mean score of 16.

Psychiatrist and Psychiatric Pharmacists Beliefs and Preferences for Atypical Antipsychotic Treatments in Patients With Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders.

Background: Selection of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder treatments is complicated by treatment-effect heterogeneity.

Objectives: This study assessed how clinicians' beliefs and health system/ insurace policies impact choice of atypical antipsychotic agent in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted of members of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and College of Psychiatric & Neurologic Pharmacists.

Relationship Between Sedentary Time and Sleep Duration Among Korean Adolescents.

Longer sedentary time and insufficient sleep are common and potentially serious problems among adolescents and have substantially adverse effects on their physical and mental health. In this school-based study, we conducted an ecological momentary assessment using actigraphy to examine the within-subject association between sedentary time and sleep duration among 80 Korean adolescents aged 12-17. Objectively measured sedentary time and sleep duration were recorded over 5 days; participants also completed a self-reported questionnaire and sleep logs.