The Effectiveness of Psychosocial Interventions for Psychological Outcomes in Pediatric Oncology: A Systematic Review

Context

This review summarizes the current randomized controlled trials literature on psychological and physical outcomes of psychosocial interventions in pediatric oncology.

The development of a patient-specific method for physiotherapy goal setting: a user-centered design

Purpose: To deliver client-centered care, physiotherapists need to identify the patients’ individual treatment goals. However, practical tools for involving patients in goal setting are lacking. The purpose of this study was to improve the frequently used Patient-Specific Complaints instrument in Dutch physiotherapy, and to develop it into a feasible method to improve physiotherapy goal setting.

Methods: An iterative user-centered design was conducted in co-creation with the physiotherapists and patients, in three phases. Their needs and preferences were identified by means of group meetings and questionnaires. The new method was tested in several field tests in physiotherapy practices.

Results: Four main objectives for improvement were formulated: clear instructions for the administration procedure, targeted use across the physiotherapy process, client-activating communication skills, and a client-centered attitude of the physiotherapist. A theoretical goal-setting framework and elements of shared decision making were integrated into the new-called, Patient-Specific Goal-setting method, together with a practical training course.

Conclusions: The user-centered approach resulted in a goal-setting method that is fully integrated in the physiotherapy process. The new goal-setting method contributes to a more structured approach to goal setting and enables patient participation and goal-oriented physiotherapy. Before large-scale implementation, its feasibility in physiotherapy practice needs to be investigated.

• Implications for rehabilitation

• Involving patients and physiotherapists in the development and testing of a goal-setting method, increases the likelihood of its feasibility in practice.

• The integration of a goal-setting method into the physiotherapy process offers the opportunity to focus more fully on the patient’s goals.

• Patients should be informed about the aim of every step of the goal-setting process in order to increase their awareness and involvement.

• Training physiotherapists to use a patient-specific method for goal setting is crucial for a correct application.

     

Neurodegenerative Genes Polymorphisms of the -491A/T APOE,the -877T/C APP and the Risk of Primary Open-angle Glaucoma in the Polish Population

Background: Glaucoma is characterized by optic neuropathy of the retinal ganglion cell. It may be possible that β-amyloid (Aβ) and apolipoprotein E (APOE), the main proteins of the pathogenesis of AD, play a role in glaucoma development. The aim of this study was to evaluate a relationship between the APP and APOE gene polymorphisms and the risk of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) occurrence.

Materials and methods: The study consisted of 183 patients with POAG and 209 healthy subjects. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood. Analysis of the gene polymorphisms was performed using PCR-RFLP.

Results: We found a statistically significant increase of the -491?T allele frequency (p?=?0.02; OR?=?1.48; 95% CI?=?1.06–2.08) of APOE in POAG compared to healthy controls. There were no differences in the genotype and allele distributions and odds ratios of the APP polymorphism between patients and controls group. We also found an association between APOE polymorphic variant and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). There was a statistically significant difference in the APOE gene A/T genotype frequency in the early POAG stage and middle-advanced POAG stage in comparison to the advanced POAG stage (p?=?0.04; OR?=?3.38; 95% CI?=?1.04–10.97).

Conclusions: The -491?T allele of APOE polymorphism may be associated with a risk of POAG occurrence in the Polish population.     

On the synergy between silver nanoparticles and doxycycline towards the inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus growth

In a previous paper (RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 66886–66893), we showed that the combination of silver nanoparticles (NanoAg) with doxycycline (DO) culminated in an increased bactericidal activity towards E. coli. Herein we further investigated the metabolic changes that occurred on Staphylococcus aureus upon exposure to NanoAg with the help of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) coupled with multivariate data analysis. It has been discovered that the combination of DO with NanoAg produced metabolic changes in S. aureus that were not simply the overlap of the treatments with DO and NanoAg separately. Our results suggest that DO and NanoAg act synergistically to impede protein synthesis by the bacteria.

Silver nanoparticles conjugated with doxycycline act synergistically to halt S. aureus growth via inhibition of protein synthesis.     

The impact of childhood vaccines on bacterial carriage in the nasopharynx: a longitudinal study

Background

There is increasing evidence that childhood vaccines have effects that extend beyond their target disease. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of routine childhood vaccines on bacterial carriage in the nasopharynx.

Methods

A cohort of children from rural Gambia was recruited at birth and followed up for one year. Nasopharyngeal swabs were taken immediately after birth, every two weeks for the first six months and then every other month. The presence of bacteria in the nasopharynx (Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus) was compared before and after the administration of DTP-Hib-HepB and measles-yellow fever vaccines.

Results

A total of 1,779 nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 136 children for whom vaccination data were available. The prevalence of bacterial carriage was high: 82.2% S. pneumoniae, 30.6%, S.aureus, 27.8% H. influenzae. Carriage of H. influenzae (OR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.99) and S. pneumoniae (OR = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.90) were significantly reduced after measles-yellow fever vaccination; while DTP-Hib-HepB had no effect on bacterial carriage.

Conclusions

Nasopharyngeal bacterial carriage is unaffected by DTP-Hib-HepB vaccination and reduced after measles-yellow fever vaccination.     

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the FADS Gene Cluster but not the ELOVL2 Gene are Associated with Serum Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Composition and Development of Allergy (in a Swedish Birth Cohort)

Exposure to polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) influences immune function and may affect the risk of allergy development. Long chain PUFAs are produced from dietary precursors catalyzed by desaturases and elongases encoded by FADS and ELOVL genes. In 211 subjects, we investigated whether polymorphisms in the FADS gene cluster and the ELOVL2 gene were associated with allergy or PUFA composition in serum phospholipids in a Swedish birth-cohort sampled at birth and at 13 years of age; allergy was diagnosed at 13 years of age. Minor allele carriers of rs102275 and rs174448 (FADS gene cluster) had decreased proportions of 20:4 n-6 in cord and adolescent serum and increased proportions of 20:3 n-6 in cord serum as well as a nominally reduced risk of developing atopic eczema, but not respiratory allergy, at 13 years of age. Minor allele carriers of rs17606561 in the ELOVL2 gene had nominally decreased proportions of 20:4 n-6 in cord serum but ELOVL polymorphisms (rs2236212 and rs17606561) were not associated with allergy development. Thus, reduced capacity to desaturase n-6 PUFAs due to FADS polymorphisms was nominally associated with reduced risk for eczema development, which could indicate a pathogenic role for long-chain PUFAs in allergy development.