Pharmacy in transition: A work sampling study of community pharmacists using smartphone technology

Introduction

The nature of community pharmacy is changing, shifting from the preparation and distribution of medicines to the provision of cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS); however, often the provision of traditional services leaves little time for innovative services. This study investigated the time community pharmacists spend on the tasks and activities of daily practice and to what extent they are able to implement CPS-related services in daily practice.

Monitoring Hepatocyte Dysfunction and Biliary Complication After Liver Transplantation Using Quantitative Hepatobiliary Scintigraphy

The significance of hepatobiliary scintigraphy (HBS) for hepatic graft function assessment was established mostly on retrospective studies and was not widely recognized due to the lack of quantitative data and variation in accuracy. This prospective study was performed to investigate the effectiveness of quantitative HBS for assessing hepatocyte dysfunction and biliary complication in liver transplant recipients.In 57 recipients who had undergone orthotopic liver transplantation, a total of 67 dynamic ^99mTc-EHIDA scans were performed and quantitative parameters including the hepatocyte extraction fraction (HEF), time to maximum hepatic radioactivity (T_max), and time for peak activity to decrease by 50% (T_1/2) were calculated. The scintigraphic results based on the 3 parameters were compared against the final diagnosis. A ROC curve analysis was carried out to identify the cutoff value of T_max for diagnosis of biliary stricture. Correlation between the parameters of postoperative HBS and conventional biochemical liver function indices were also analyzed.Quantitative ^99mTc-EHIDA HBS had an overall sensitivity of 94.12% (16/17), specificity of 93.33% (42/45), and diagnostic accuracy of 93.55% (58/62) for detecting hepatocyte dysfunction and biliary complication in liver transplant recipients. The recommended cutoff value of T_max for diagnosis of post-transplant biliary stricture was set at 15.75 min with a sensitivity of 100.0% and a specificity of 94.0%. The scintigraphic parameters (HEF, T_max) were statistically significantly associated with the conventional liver function parameters.Quantitative ^99mTc-EHIDA HBS offers a noninvasive imaging modality with high sensitivity and specificity to diagnose hepatocyte dysfunction as well as distinguish between patients with or without biliary stricture following liver transplantation. Furthermore, HEF and T_max values obtained from dynamic HBS show good correlation with conventional liver function parameters.     

Immunohistochemical and molecular analysis of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in esophageal carcinoma

Among the numerous signaling pathways involved in tumorigenesis, PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR is a key one that regulates diverse cellular functions. However, its prognostic value in esophageal carcinoma remains unclear. In our study, we examined the immunohistochemical expression of phosphorylated (p‐) AKT, mTOR, p70S6K and 4E‐BP1 along with the mutational status of PIK3CA and AKT1 genes by High Resolution Melting Analysis and Pyrosequencing in 44 esophageal carcinomas. The results were correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics of the patients in an effort to define their possible prognostic significance. Total p‐mTOR cytoplasmic expression, assessed in 10 random areas, was positively correlated with tumor stage (Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA, I/II vs III/IV, p = 0.0500). Μoreover, maximum p‐mTOR cytoplasmic immunoexpression, estimated in hot spot areas, was positively associated with tumor grade (Mann–Whitney U test, I/II vs III, p = 0.0565). Interestingly, p‐4E‐BP1 immunoreactivity was negatively correlated with tumor histological grade (Mann–Whitney U test, I/II vs III, p = 0.0427). No mutation was observed in exons 9 and 20 of PIK3CA gene and in exon 4 of AKT1 gene. In conclusion, our findings depict the presence of activated PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in esophageal cancer bringing forward p‐mTOR and p‐4E‐BP1 for their potential role in esophageal carcinogenesis. Additional studies are warranted to validate our findings.     

Effects of Cinnamomum camphora Leaves Extracts-Flocculants Composite Algaecide on Microcystis aeruginosa Growth and Microcystins Release

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology - In this study, a composite algaecide containing flocculants and Cinnamomum. camphora leaves extracts (CCCLE) were synthesized. The...