Improvement in the routine screening performance of cytotechnologists over time

BACKGROUND:

Documenting the performance of gynecologic screening in actual practice settings is difficult to achieve. In the current study, the screening performance of 11 individual cytotechnologists as well as that of the overall laboratory over 2 consecutive time periods was examined using the rapid prescreening (RPS) method.

METHODS:

RPS was performed by all cytotechnologists in a single laboratory over 2 separate 8‐month periods. The sensitivity of screening for individual and groups of cytotechnologists was examined. For purposes of comparison, cytotechnologists were divided into 2 groups: screeners with an overall routine sensitivity ≥95% and screeners with an overall sensitivity <95%.

RESULTS:

Atypical squamous cells (ASC) were used as a threshold, and routine screening sensitivity was found to vary from 68.3% to 96.8%. The overall sensitivity of the laboratory for RPS and routine screening was 43.6% and 88.4%, respectively. Over time, the overall laboratory sensitivity of routine screening improved from 85.3% to 91.3% (P = .01). During this same time frame, the sensitivity of the screeners with an overall sensitivity <95% improved from 79.3% to 91.2% (P < .001), whereas the sensitivity of screeners with an overall routine sensitivity ≥95% remained the same (96.1% to 96.4%; P = .6).

CONCLUSIONS:

In addition to improved overall performance of the laboratory by detecting and correcting errors, the results of the current study indicate that using RPS consistently over time might play a role leading to improved performance of cytotechnologists with an overall routine sensitivity <95% but not of cytotechnologists with an overall routine sensitivity ≥95%. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.     

CFTR rescue with VX-809 and VX-770 favors the repair of primary airway epithelial cell cultures from patients with class II mutations in the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exoproducts

Background

Progressive airway damage due to bacterial infections, especially with Pseudomonas aeruginosa remains the first cause of morbidity and mortality in CF patients. Our previous work revealed a repair delay in CF airway epithelia compared to non-CF. This delay was partially prevented after CFTR correction (with VRT-325) in the absence of infection. Our goals were now to evaluate the effect of the Orkambi combination (CFTR VX-809 corrector?+?VX-770 potentiator) on the repair of CF primary airway epithelia, in infectious conditions.

Primary graft dysfunction after heart transplantation: Incidence,trends, and associated risk factors

Changes in heart transplantation (HT) donor and recipient demographics may influence the incidence of primary graft dysfunction (PGD). We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate PGD incidence, trends, and associated risk factors by analyzing consecutive adult patients who underwent HT between January 2009 and December 2014 at our institution. Patients were categorized as having PGD using the International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation (ISHLT)–defined criteria. Variables, including clinical and demographic characteristics of donors and recipients, were selected to assess their independent association with PGD. A time‐trend analysis was performed over the study period. Three‐hundred seventeen patients met inclusion criteria. Left ventricular PGD, right ventricular PGD, or both, were observed in 99 patients (31%). Risk factors independently associated with PGD included ischemic time, recipient African American race, and recipient amiodarone treatment. Over the study period, there was no change in the PGD incidence; however, there was an increase in the recipient pretransplantation use of amiodarone. The rate of 30‐day mortality was significantly elevated in those with PGD versus those without PGD (6.06% vs 0.92%, P = .01). Despite recent advancements, incidence of PGD remains high. Understanding associated risk factors may allow for implementation of targeted therapeutic interventions.     

Pain-related psychological issues in hand therapy

Study Design

Literature review.

Comparison of standard PCR and the LightCycler technique to determine the thrombophilic mutations: an efficiency and cost study.

For several years it has been possible to routinely detect numerous mutations in the human genome by different methods. The most common technique is a standard PCR, but real time fluorescence PCR is increasingly being used. The purpose of this paper is to compare these two different techniques from the point of view of reliability, time consumption, and cost. More than 600 DNA samples of prevalence studies and from cancer patients were used to determine mutations in the genes of coagulation factor V Leiden, prothrombin, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase using standard PCR. A subset of 132 samples from the same pool was also tested by LightCycler PCR for the same coagulation gene mutations. Originally LightCycler techniques were applied for quantitative PCR by real time fluorescence measuring. Adding a melting curve analysis allows mutation detection. The results were perfectly concordant. The cost for the reagents is nearly the same for both methods but the time consumption for standard PCR is much higher than for the LightCycler method, resulting in higher laboratory personnel costs.     

Update on age-appropriate preventive measures and screening for Canadian primary care providers

ObjectiveTo summarize the best available age-appropriate, evidence-based guidelines for prevention and screening in Canadian adults.ConclusionWhether primary care providers use a dedicated preventive health visit or opportunistic preventive counseling and screening in their patient encounters, this summary of evidence-based recommendations can help maximize efficiency and prevent important omissions and unnecessary screening.Useful charting tools for preventive care have been published in the past^1–4 but not all such resources are regularly updated. There is a lack of recent comprehensive guides to facilitate delivery and charting of appropriate evidence-based primary care. Recommendations for screening come from various organizations and are constantly changing, rendering health promotion and disease prevention a daunting task. Currently, navigating the plethora of available information in a search of prevention guidelines is overwhelming. There is a need for regular updates through systematic literature reviews. Piecing together these guidelines into a single summary table for practical use in a busy clinical setting simplifies access to information and allows practitioners to provide preventive care in an efficient, evidence-based manner.Chronic disease management is an economic burden to the health care system.⁵ Savings through prevention have been explored by several sources, with emphasis on quality of life and increase in years lived.^6,7 The Choosing Wisely movement is publicizing the disadvantages of causing harm with tests that are not evidence based.⁸ By facilitating opportunities for prevention through easy access to best-practice guidelines, the incidence of chronic disease might decrease, resulting in improved patient-centred care and savings to the health care system.We performed a review of the literature and created a concise table summarizing the findings, as well as charting tools to aid in documentation. After reading this article, providers will be able to list the evidence-based recommendations for preventive maneuvers in healthy adults of different ages and sexes.     

The Currently Available Literature on Inpatient Foodservices: Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal

BackgroundAn adequate hospital foodservice is important to optimize protein and energy intake and to maintain or improve a patient’s nutritional status. Key elements that define an optimal foodservice have yet to be identified.ObjectivesTo systematically describe the effects of published foodservice interventions on nutrition and clinical outcomes and determine which elements should be considered essential. Secondly, to describe the outcome measures used in these studies and evaluate their relevance and validity to guide future research.MethodsPubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science databases were searched. Studies that included assessment of nutrition and/or clinical outcomes of hospital foodservice up to December 2017 were eligible. The details of the subject population, the type of intervention, and the effects on reported outcomes were extracted from each study.ResultsIn total, 33 studies that met inclusion criteria were identified, but only nine (27%) were rated as having sufficient methodologic quality. These nine studies concluded that various elements of a foodservice can be considered essential, including using volunteers to provide mealtime assistance, encouraging patients to choose protein-rich foods, adding protein-enriched items to the menu, replacing existing items with protein-enriched items, giving patients the ability to order food by telephone from a printed menu (room service concept), or a combination of these interventions. The interstudy heterogeneity was high for both outcome measures and methods.ConclusionsVarious foodservice interventions have the potential to improve outcome measures. Recommendations are made to facilitate future research.     

Effect of Sch1000 in allergen-induced asthma.

Carefully controlled allergen inhalation tests were carried out in twelve subjects to provoke early asthmatic responses with a mean maximum FEV1 fall of 30.7 +/- 5.2% (mean +/- s.d.). Four subjects had additional late asthmatic responses with a maximum mean FEV1 fall of 21.0 +/- 5.9%. The tests were repeated at intervals of 7 days in an identical way, following inhalation of Sch1000 (80 microgram) and placebo, each given 45 min before the onset of the early asthmatic response. This dose of Sch1000 produced a marked and uniform inhibition of methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction in the same subjects. The allergen-induced responses were reproducible in eleven out of the twelve subjects; the coefficient of variation for the decrease in FEV1 in the early responses being +/- 7% and in the late response +/- 43%. Sch1000 produced a slight and variable inhibition of early asthmatic responses (P less than 0.02) and no inhibition of late asthmatic responses. We examined the relationship between the degree of inhibition of the early asthmatic response by Sch1000 and : (a) the degree of inhibition produced by Sch1000 on histamine- and methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction; (b) the level of non-specific bronchial reactivity measured by inhaled histamine and methacholine; and (c) the degree of bronchodilatation produced by Sch1000. No relationship was found.     

Cell-based protein vaccines for influenza

An overview of influenza vaccines in development is provided, with an emphasis on new cell-based protein vaccine candidates. The current licensed vaccine is a cost-effective means to reduce the impact of influenza with a known mechanism of action. Most vaccine companies are focusing on the production of whole influenza viruses in various cell lines to replace egg-based manufacturing technology. Only a limited number of targets have been identified for the development of cell-based protein influenza vaccines. They include hemagglutinin, neuraminidase, M2 and nucleocapsid protein. These protein-based vaccine candidates are discussed, along with their progress in clinical development and the advantages and disadvantages of each vaccine approach.     

A proteolytic nanobiocatalyst with built-in disulphide reducing properties

We report a method to equip proteolytic nanobiocatalysts with intrinsic disulphide bond reducing properties. After immobilisation onto silica particles, selected protease enzymes are partially shielded in a nanometre-thick mercaptosilica layer acting not only as a protective system but also as a substrate reducing agent. The biocatalysts produced efficiently perform simultaneous disulphide bond reduction and protein digestion. Besides a significant simplification of the proteolysis process, this strategy allows for a drastic increase of the enzyme stability.

Proteolytic nanobiocatalysts are equipped with intrinsic disulphide bond reducing properties.