Outcomes of Lung Transplantation for Cystic Fibrosis in the Setting of Extensively Drug-Resistant Organisms.

Introduction: Since the largest study on extensively drug-resistant organisms and lung transplantation in patients with cystic fibrosis, there have been innovations and advancements in the treatment of .

Research Question: What differences exist for patients with cystic fibrosis with a history of extensively drug-resistant infections who undergo lung transplantation despite treatment advances with antimicrobial therapy?

Study Design: Two-center, retrospective, cohort study conducted in 44 patients with cystic fibrosis chronically infected with extensively drug-resistant organisms who received a lung transplant from January 2008 through August 2016. Patients in the resistant cohort were chronically infected with pan-resistant , polymyxin-sensitive only, or sensitive to 2 antibiotic classes (polymyxin plus one other); remaining patients with more susceptible or no remained in the control cohort.

Community-Academic Partnerships: Approaches to Engagement.

Current public health problems such as cancer have an expansive set of lifestyle and social circumstances that affect the cause and course of the disease. In response, over the past 7 years, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has recognized the important role that cancer centers play in their community and has gradually increased the requirements and stringency of these sections in the Cancer Center Support Grant guidelines to include a plan for community outreach and engagement. Developing sustainable community-academic partnerships is an essential factor for the successful dissemination and implementation of promising interventions and programs aimed at decreasing barriers and improving cancer outcomes.

Evaluation of Swallow Function Post-Extubation: Is It Necessary to Wait 24 Hours?

Background: Post-extubation dysphagia is associated with an increased incidence of nosocomial pneumonias, longer hospitalizations, and higher re-intubation rates. The purpose of this study was to determine if it is necessary to delay swallow evaluation for 24 hours post-extubation.

Methods: A prospective investigation of swallowing was conducted at 1, 4, and 24 hours post-extubation to determine if it is necessary to delay swallow evaluation following intubation.

Examining symptom trajectories that predict worse outcomes in post-CABG patients.

Background: Coronary artery bypass grafting is one of the most common interventional revascularisation procedures used to treat coronary artery disease worldwide. With a wide variability in postoperative cardiac symptoms, identification of symptom trajectories during the 3-month postoperative recovery period may improve clinicians' abilities to support symptom recovery.

Aims: To identify distinct trajectories of cardiac symptoms seen over time in a cohort of patients during the 3-month post-coronary artery bypass grafting period, and determine clinical characteristics associated with different symptom trajectories postoperatively.

Personal Prejudice, Other Guilt: Explicit Prejudice Toward Black People Predicts Guilty Verdicts for White Officers Who Kill Black Men.

Across the United States, acquittals of White police officers who have killed Black men have spurred clashes between those who see such situations as manifestations of racism and those who see them as race-irrelevant acts of officer self-defense. In this research, we explore the relationship between participants' racial prejudice and construal of an event that leads to the death of a Black man. In Study 1, we found that participants' racial prejudice predicts lower perceived guilt for a White officer who killed a Black man.

Trauma Trainees' Multiple Competing Goals in Opioid Prescription Communication.

Prescription opioids and heroin account for more than half of all drug overdose fatalities, costing an estimated 115 American lives every day. The ongoing opioid epidemic devastates communities and represents a tremendous burden to the national economy and health care system. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy proposed action to train prescribers on the proper dispensing of opioids, which are indispensable pharmacologic resources for treating acute pain resulting from a traumatic injury or surgery.

Multidisciplinary Prerounding Meeting as a Continuous Quality Improvement Tool: Leveraging to Reduce Continuous Benzodiazepine Use at an Academic Medical Center.

Background: Evidence-based medicine often has many barriers to overcome prior to implementation in practice, hence the importance of continuous quality improvement. We report on a brief (≤10 minutes) multidisciplinary meeting prior to rounds to establish a dashboard for continuous quality improvement and studied the success of this meeting on a particular area of focus: continuous infusion benzodiazepine minimization.

Methods: This was a prospective observational study of patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) of a large academic medical center over a 4-month period.

Using Systems Theory to Examine Patient and Nurse Structures, Processes, and Outcomes in Centralized and Decentralized Units.

Objectives: This study utilizes systems theory to understand how changes to physical design structures impact communication processes and patient and staff design-related outcomes.

Background: Many scholars and researchers have noted the importance of communication and teamwork for patient care quality. Few studies have examined changes to nursing station design within a systems theory framework.

Routine Hematoxylin and Eosin Stain Is Specific for the Diagnosis of Cytomegalovirus Infection in Gastrointestinal Biopsy Specimens.

Background: Gastrointestinal cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a serious complication in immunocompromised patients; clinicians often expect expedited results for biopsy specimens. Our goal is to determine the accuracy of identification of CMV on hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain.

Methods And Results: A total of 361 biopsy specimens from 273 patients with suspicion for CMV infection were retrieved.

Racial differences in dietary antioxidant intake and cardiac event-free survival in patients with heart failure.

Background: Heart failure is a chronic, burdensome condition with higher re-hospitalization rates in African Americans than Whites. Higher dietary antioxidant intake is associated with lower oxidative stress and improved endothelial function. Lower dietary antioxidant intake in African Americans may play a role in the re-hospitalization disparity between African American and White patients with heart failure.

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Predicts Health Perception in Prison Inmates.

We hypothesized that risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) would be associated with worse health perceptions in prison inmates. This study included 362 inmates recruited from four medium security prisons in Kentucky. Framingham Risk Score was used to estimate the risk of developing CVD within the next 10 years.

Do Financial Constraints Affect Depressive Symptomatology Among Mid-Aged and Older Adults?

The relationship between financial constraints and depressive symptomatology among adults aged 50 and greater was examined. The mediating effect of perceived control over one's financial circumstances on this relationship was assessed. Ordinary least square hierarchical regression models were estimated using data from the Health and Retirement Study.

Screening for Colorectal Cancer at the Worksite.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women in the United States. To increase statewide CRC screening rates, the Alabama Department of Public Health (through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] Colorectal Cancer Control Program grant) partnered with The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and The University of South Alabama (USA) to provide free CRC screening opportunities to eligible University employees and dependents. Resources were invested at both universities to ensure participant education, tracking, and monitoring.

Do puzzle pieces and autism puzzle piece logos evoke negative associations?

Puzzle pieces have become ubiquitous symbols for autism. However, puzzle-piece imagery stirs debate between those who support and those who object to its use because they believe puzzle-piece imagery evokes negative associations. Our study empirically investigated whether puzzle pieces evoke negative associations in the general public.

Suspected Synthetic Cannabinomimetic Intoxication: Case Series and Review.

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to retrospectively review patient cases presenting to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center (UKCMC) emergency department (ED) with symptoms of suspected synthetic cannabinomimetic (SC) intoxication. These drugs, currently undetected by standard urine drug screen tests, comprise a structurally diverse group of compounds designed to mimic the psychoactive effects of Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ-THC), the primary psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana.

Summary: Fourteen cases of suspected SC intoxication were identified between July 1, 2015, through September 30, 2015.

Identifying Strategies Programs Adopt to Meet Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Standards in Afterschool Programs.

Background: The YMCA of USA has adopted Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) Standards for its afterschool programs (ASPs). Little is known about strategies YMCA ASPs are implementing to achieve Standards and these strategies' effectiveness.

Aims: (1) Identify strategies implemented in YMCA ASPs and (2) evaluate the relationship between strategy implementation and meeting Standards.

Body Composition and Bone Mineral Density in Patients With Heart Failure.

The purpose of this study was to examine associations among bone mineral density, osteopenia/osteoporosis, body mass index (BMI), and body composition in patients with heart failure (HF). A total of 119 patients (age = 61 ± 12 years, 65% male) underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans to determine bone mineral density and body composition. In multivariable linear regressions, BMI, relative skeletal muscle index (RSMI), and mineral-free lean mass were positively associated with total body bone mineral density.

A Qualitative Approach to Increasing HIV Prevention in Primary Care Settings for Older Adults: Perspectives From Primary Care Providers.

The purpose of this research was to explore primary care providers' willingness and ability to increase HIV prevention efforts among older adults and to gain recommendations for improving HIV prevention in primary care settings. Data were collected through 24 semistructured interviews with primary care providers. The results of the study reveal that the majority of providers find it necessary to increase HIV prevention efforts in primary care settings and are willing to do so; however, they cannot do so without assistance.

An international review of autism knowledge assessment measures.

Autism spectrum disorder-specific knowledge deficits contribute to current disparities in the timing and quality of autism spectrum disorder services throughout the United States and globally. This study conducted a systematic review of Western and International literature to examine measures used to assess autism spectrum disorder knowledge. This review identified 44 unique autism spectrum disorder knowledge measures across 67 studies conducted in 21 countries.

Item Response Theory Modeling and Categorical Regression Analyses of the Five-Factor Model Rating Form: A Study on Italian Community-Dwelling Adolescent Participants and Adult Participants.

To extend the evidence on the reliability and construct validity of the Five-Factor Model Rating Form (FFMRF) in its self-report version, two independent samples of Italian participants, which were composed of 510 adolescent high school students and 457 community-dwelling adults, respectively, were administered the FFMRF in its Italian translation. Adolescent participants were also administered the Italian translation of the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children-11 (BPFSC-11), whereas adult participants were administered the Italian translation of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM). Cronbach α values were consistent with previous findings; in both samples, average interitem r values indicated acceptable internal consistency for all FFMRF scales.

Undiagnosed Obstructive Lung Disease in the United States. Associated Factors and Long-term Mortality.

Rationale: Understanding factors associated with undiagnosed obstructive lung disease and its impact on mortality could inform the ongoing discussions about benefits and risks of screening and case finding.

Objectives: To define factors associated with undiagnosed obstructive lung disease and its long-term mortality.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of participants, aged 20 to 79 years, in two National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES), NHANES III (1988-1994) and NHANES 2007-2012, with longitudinal follow-up of NHANES III participants.

Discovery of a new method for potent drug development using power function of stoichiometry of homomeric biocomplexes or biological nanomotors.

Introduction: Multidrug resistance and the appearance of incurable diseases inspire the quest for potent therapeutics.

Areas Covered: We review a new methodology in designing potent drugs by targeting multi-subunit homomeric biological motors, machines or complexes with Z > 1 and K = 1, where Z is the stoichiometry of the target, and K is the number of drugged subunits required to block the function of the complex. The condition is similar to a series electrical circuit of Christmas decorations: failure of one light bulb causes the entire lighting system to lose power.