Candidiasis: Red and White Manifestations in the Oral Cavity.

Candidiasis is a very common malady in the head neck region. This review will concentrate on intraoral, pharyngeal and perioral manifestations and treatment. A history of the origins associated with candidiasis will be introduced.

Efficacy of Patient Activation Interventions With or Without Financial Incentives to Promote Prescribing of Thiazides and Hypertension Control: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Evidence-based guidelines recommend thiazide diuretics as a first-line therapy for uncomplicated hypertension; however, thiazides are underused, and hypertension remains inadequately managed.

Objective: To test the efficacy of a patient activation intervention with financial incentives to promote thiazide prescribing.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The Veterans Affairs Project to Implement Diuretics, a randomized clinical trial, was conducted at 13 Veterans Affairs primary care clinics from August 1, 2006, to July 31, 2008, with 12 months of follow-up.

Best Practices on Examination Construction, Administration, and Feedback.

Examinations are typically used in higher education to objectively assess student learning, and they are also used as a frequent assessment tool in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. This paper describes best practices and provides examples for faculty to build reliable and valid examinations, ensure examination security and deter academic misconduct, and enhance student learning and achievement of course objectives. Colleges and schools of pharmacy can incorporate these concepts into comprehensive examination policies and focus faculty development efforts on improving the examination purpose, design, and experience for both faculty and students.

Statin use and delayed onset of Huntington's disease.

Background: There is evidence to suggest that 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) may be beneficial in Huntington's disease (HD).

Objective: This study aimed to determine if statin use was associated with delayed motor diagnosis in participants with premotor HD.

Methods: Among premotor HD participants from the Enroll-HD database, statin users were propensity score matched with statin nonusers based on cytosine-adenine-guanine-age product score, cytosine-adenine-guanine repeat length, baseline age, sex, and region.

The Report of the 2017-2018 Professional Affairs Standing Committee: The Development of the Preceptor Self-Assessment Tool for Entrustable Professional Activities for New Graduates.

The 2017-2018 AACP Professional Affairs Committee addressed the charges of (1) developing a self-reflection/self-assessment tool for pharmacy faculty and preceptors to allow them to assess their capability and confidence with Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Educational Outcomes, the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP), and the Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for New Pharmacy Graduates and (2) creation of a plan for AACP to utilize in the development of preceptor continuing education and training programs. This report describes the framework, rationale and process for the development of the Preceptor Self-Assessment Tool for Entrustable Professional Activities for New Pharmacy Graduates (PSAE Tool), the pre-test for the PSAE tool, and the online pilot test and its results for the PSAE Tool. The committee provides recommendations for AACP in the continued development and distribution of the PSAE Tool to the schools of pharmacy.

Using Continuing Professional Development to Create Meaningful Co-Curricular Learning Opportunities for all Student Pharmacists.

To illustrate a method for integrating co-curricular activities, quantify co-curricular activities, and evaluate student perception of achievement of goals. Throughout a longitudinal course, students engaged in self-selected, co-curricular activities in three categories: professional service, leadership, and community engagement. Hours were documented online with minimum course requirements.

Comparing Clinical Outcomes of a Pharmacist-Managed Diabetes Clinic to Usual Physician-Based Care.

Background: This study analyzed the impact of a pharmacist-managed diabetes clinic on clinical outcomes compared to usual care received from primary care providers (PCPs). This comparison may more definitively demonstrate the value of pharmacist management of chronic disease states.

Methods: Retrospective observational cohort study conducted in patients referred to a pharmacist-managed pharmacotherapy (PT) clinic from July 2009 to October 2014.

Comprehensive Literature Review of Factors Influencing Medication Safety in Nursing Homes: Using a Systems Model.

Objectives: The objectives of this review were to identify the work system factors influencing medication safety measures [adverse drug events (ADEs), adverse drug reactions, or medication errors (MEs)], to determine the incidence of ADEs, and describe the most common ADEs in nursing homes (NHs).

Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted using PubMed and CINAHL to identify studies investigating factors that influence ADEs, adverse drug reactions, and MEs in NHs and skilled nursing facilities. An initial search identified related studies over 3 decades (1985-2016).

Factors influencing the degree of physician-pharmacist collaboration within Iraqi public healthcare settings.

Objectives: Medication safety and effectiveness can be improved through interprofessional collaboration. The goals of this study were to measure the degree of physician-pharmacist collaboration within Iraqi governmental healthcare settings and to investigate factors influencing this collaboration.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Najaf Province using the Collaborative Working Relationship Model and Physician-Pharmacist Collaborative Instrument (PPCI).

Effect of sustained PDGF nonviral gene delivery on repair of tooth-supporting bone defects.

Recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB (rhPDGF-BB) promotes soft tissue and bone healing, and is Food and Drug Administration-approved for treatment of diabetic ulcers and periodontal defects. The short half-life of topical rhPDGF-BB protein application necessitates bolus, high-dose delivery. Gene therapy enables sustained local growth factor production.

The Veteran-Initiated Electronic Care Coordination: A Multisite Initiative to Promote and Evaluate Consumer-Mediated Health Information Exchange.

Introduction: Information continuity is critical to person-centered care when patients receive care from multiple healthcare systems. Patients can access their electronic health record data through patient portals to facilitate information exchange. This pilot was developed to improve care continuity for rural Veterans by (1) promoting the use of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patient portal to share health information with non-VA providers, and (2) evaluating the impact of health information sharing at a community appointment.

Efficacy of Patient Aligned Care Team Pharmacist Services in Reaching Diabetes and Hyperlipidemia Treatment Goals.

The services provided by clinical pharmacy specialists can improve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and hemoglobin A levels in the veterans enrolled in a disease management clinic.

A leadership elective course developed and taught by graduate students.

Objective: To develop and implement a flexible-credit elective course to empower student pharmacists to develop lifelong leadership skills and provide teaching practice opportunities for graduate students.

Design: An elective course focusing on leadership development for second- and third-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students was designed and taught by 4 graduate students under the mentorship of 2 faculty members. Student pharmacists could enroll in a 1-, 2-, or 3-credit-hour version of the course.

Expression and purification of recombinant human tyrosine hydroxylase as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli.

Tyrosine hydroxylase is the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of dopamine and is tightly regulated. Previous studies have shown it to be covalently modified and potently inhibited by 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (DOPAL), an endogenous neurotoxin via dopamine catabolism which is relevant to Parkinson's disease. In order to elucidate the mechanism of enzyme inhibition, a source of pure, active tyrosine hydroxylase was necessary.

A comprehensive approach to preceptor development.

Objective: To assess the impact of a comprehensive preceptor development program.

Design: A comprehensive preceptor development program was designed that included live and recorded online programming, a preceptor manual, a preceptor newsletter, live events (local and regional), and one-on-one practice site visits.

Assessment: Over 5,000 evaluations (1,900 pre-implementation and 3,160 post-implementation) of preceptor performance were completed by students.

A systematic review of validated methods for identifying lymphoma using administrative data.

Purpose: To systematically review published studies for algorithms that identified lymphoma as a health outcome of interest in administrative or claims data and examined the validity of the algorithm to identify lymphoma cases.

Methods: A systematic literature search was executed using PubMed and the Iowa Drug Information Service database. Two investigators reviewed search results to identify studies using administrative or claims databases from the USA or Canada that both reported and validated an algorithm to identify lymphoma.

A systematic review of validated methods for identifying pancreatitis using administrative data.

Purpose: To systematically review algorithms identifying cases of pancreatitis in administrative data, with a focus on studies examining algorithm validity.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed and the Iowa Drug Information Service database. Reviews were conducted by two investigators identifying studies using data sources from the USA or Canada.

A systematic review of validated methods for identifying seizures, convulsions, or epilepsy using administrative and claims data.

Purpose: To systematically review algorithms to identify seizure, convulsion, or epilepsy cases in administrative and claims data, with a focus on studies that have examined the validity of the algorithms.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed and the Iowa Drug Information Service database. Reviews were conducted by two investigators to identify studies using data sources from the USA or Canada because these data sources were most likely to reflect the coding practices of Mini-Sentinel data partners.

Family physician perceptions of personal health records.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine family practice physician and staff views on the benefits of, barriers to, and use of personal health records (PHRs). Four focus groups were conducted at four family medicine practices in Iowa and included a total of 28 providers. Overall, participants seemed to view PHRs as a source of medical information for healthcare providers when the patient's medical record is not available.

Identification of ligands targeting RGS proteins high-throughput screening and therapeutic potential.

Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins represent unique targets for the modulation of G protein-coupled receptor-mediated signal transduction cascades. Functionally, RGS proteins act to limit the duration of signaling of activated G proteins due to its ability to act as GTPase activating proteins (GAPs). This GAP activity catalyzes the intrinsic GTPase activity of G protein α subunits, such as those in the Gαo, Gαi, and Gαq families.

Explicit and implicit evaluation of physician adherence to hypertension guidelines.

This study evaluated physician adherence to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) hypertension guidelines in 6 community-based clinics. Explicit review of retrospective medical record data for patients with uncontrolled hypertension measured guideline adherence using 22 criteria. Mean overall guideline adherence was 53.

Psychiatric sequelae following breast cancer chemotherapy: a pilot study using claims data.

Despite attention to depression and cognitive disorders, the prevalence of other mental disorders following breast cancer chemotherapy has not been well described. The authors undertook a pilot study using insurance claims data to compare the prevalence of mental disorders other than depression in a population of breast cancer surgery patients who did versus did not receive postsurgical chemotherapy treatment. Women receiving chemotherapy in addition to surgery were more likely to be diagnosed with adjustment disorders (odds ratio=2.