Digital Commons Network^™

Differentiating Wide Complex Tachycardias: A Historical Perspective, Anthony H Kashou, Christopher M Evenson, Peter A Noseworthy, Thoddi R Muralidharan, Christopher V Desimone, Abhishek J Deshmukh, Samuel J Asirvatham, Adam M May

2020-Current year OA Pubs

One of the most critical and challenging skills is the distinction of wide complex tachycardias into ventricular tachycardia or supraventricular wide complex tachycardia. Prompt and accurate differentiation of wide complex tachycardias naturally influences short- and long-term management decisions and may directly affect patient outcomes. Currently, there are many useful electrocardiographic criteria and algorithms designed to distinguish ventricular tachycardia and supraventricular wide complex tachycardia accurately; however, no single approach guarantees diagnostic certainty. In this review, we offer an in-depth analysis of available methods to differentiate wide complex tachycardias by retrospectively examining its rich literature base - one that spans several decades.

Gene Therapy Potential For Genetic Disorders Of Surfactant Dysfunction, Ashley L Cooney, Jennifer A Wambach, Patrick L Sinn, Paul B Mccray

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Pulmonary surfactant is critically important to prevent atelectasis by lowering the surface tension of the alveolar lining liquid. While respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is common in premature infants, severe RDS in term and late preterm infants suggests an underlying genetic etiology. Pathogenic variants in the genes encoding key components of pulmonary surfactant including surfactant protein B (SP-B,

Rethinking Immune Checkpoint Blockade: Beyond The T Cell, Xiuting Liu, Graham D Hogg, David G Denardo

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The clinical success of immune checkpoint inhibitors has highlighted the central role of the immune system in cancer control. Immune checkpoint inhibitors can reinvigorate anti-cancer immunity and are now the standard of care in a number of malignancies. However, research on immune checkpoint blockade has largely been framed with the central dogma that checkpoint therapies intrinsically target the T cell, triggering the tumoricidal potential of the adaptive immune system. Although T cells undoubtedly remain a critical piece of the story, mounting evidence, reviewed herein, indicates that much of the efficacy of checkpoint therapies may be attributable to the innate immune …

Disease-Modifying Therapy Prescription Patterns In People With Multiple Sclerosis By Age, Yinan Zhang, Amber Salter, Shan Jin, William J Culpepper, Gary R Cutter, Mitchell Wallin, Olaf Stuve

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) are approved for their ability to reduce disease activity, namely clinical relapses and signal changes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Disease activity appears age dependent. Thus, the greatest benefit would be expected in younger people with MS (PwMS) whereas benefits in the elderly are uncertain.

METHODS: Real-world data were obtained from PwMS from the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) registry and the US Department of Veterans Affairs Multiple Sclerosis Surveillance Registry (MSSR).

RESULTS: 6948 PwMS were surveyed from NARCOMS, and the MSSR had 1719 participants. In younger adult PwMS …

Improved Gastrointestinal Profile With Diroximel Fumarate Is Associated With A Positive Impact On Quality Of Life Compared With Dimethyl Fumarate: Results From The Randomized, Double-Blind, Phase Iii Evolve-Ms-2 Study, Annette Wundes, Sibyl Wray, Ralf Gold, Barry A Singer, Elzbieta Jasinska, Tjalf Ziemssen, Jerome De Seze, Pavle Repovic, Hailu Chen, Jerome Hanna, Jordan Messer, Catherine Miller, Robert T Naismith

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Diroximel fumarate (DRF) is a novel oral fumarate approved for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). DRF demonstrated significantly improved gastrointestinal (GI) tolerability

METHODS: A

RESULTS: In total, 504 patients (DRF,

CONCLUSIONS: The improved GI tolerability with DRF translated into clinically meaningful benefits to QoL, as patients experienced less impact on daily life and work and required less concomitant symptomatic medication use.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03093324].

Veterans Health Administration's Whole Health System Of Care: Supporting The Health, Well-Being, And Resiliency Of Employees, Kavitha P Reddy, Tamara M Schult, Alison M Whitehead, Barbara G Bokhour

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is implementing a Whole Health System (WHS) of care that empowers and equips Veterans to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest, and increasingly leaders recognize the need and value in implementing a similar approach to support the health and well-being of employees. The purpose of this paper is to do the following: 1) provide an overview of the WHS of care in VHA and applicability in addressing employee resiliency; 2) provide a brief history of employee well-being efforts in VHA to date; 3) share new priorities from …

Climate Change And Antibiotic Resistance: A Deadly Combination, Jason P Burnham

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Climate change is driven primarily by humanity's use of fossil fuels and the resultant greenhouse gases from their combustion. The effects of climate change on human health are myriad and becomingly increasingly severe as the pace of climate change accelerates. One relatively underreported intersection between health and climate change is that of infections, particularly antibiotic-resistant infections. In this perspective review, the aspects of climate change that have already, will, and could possibly impact the proliferation and dissemination of antibiotic resistance are discussed.

Immunotherapy As A Treatment Strategy In Advanced Stage And Recurrent Endometrial Cancer: Review Of Current Phase Iii Immunotherapy Clinical Trials, Ramez N Eskander, Matthew A Powell

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The treatment of advanced stage, metastatic or recurrent endometrial cancer remains a clinically difficult scenario. Although combination carboplatin and paclitaxel is an effective standard-of-care regimen, alternate strategies have shown promise, particularly in biomarker select populations. In an effort to improve oncologic outcomes, investigators are exploring novel immunotherapy combinations. In this review, we discuss the clinical rationale and design of current phase III immuno-oncology clinical trials in patients with advanced stage or recurrent endometrial cancer.

Anabolic Resistance Of Muscle Protein Turnover Comes In Various Shapes And Sizes, Kevin J M Paulussen, Colleen F Mckenna, Joseph W Beals, Kenneth R Wilund, Amadeo F Salvador, Nicholas A Burd

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Anabolic resistance is defined by a blunted stimulation of muscle protein synthesis rates (MPS) to common anabolic stimuli in skeletal muscle tissue such as dietary protein and exercise. Generally, MPS is the target of most exercise and feeding interventions as muscle protein breakdown rates seem to be less responsive to these stimuli. Ultimately, the blunted responsiveness of MPS to dietary protein and exercise underpins the loss of the amount and quality of skeletal muscle mass leading to decrements in physical performance in these populations. The increase of both habitual physical activity (including structured exercise that targets general fitness characteristics) and …

Convalescent Plasma Therapy For Covid-19: A Graphical Mosaic Of The Worldwide Evidence, Stephen A Klassen, Brenda J Grossman, Jeffrey P Henderson, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Convalescent plasma has been used worldwide to treat patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and prevent disease progression. Despite global usage, uncertainty remains regarding plasma efficacy, as randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have provided divergent evidence regarding the survival benefit of convalescent plasma. Here, we argue that during a global health emergency, the mosaic of evidence originating from multiple levels of the epistemic hierarchy should inform contemporary policy and healthcare decisions. Indeed, worldwide matched-control studies have generally found convalescent plasma to improve COVID-19 patient survival, and RCTs have demonstrated a survival benefit when transfused early in the disease course but …

Immune Cell Analysis Of Pilocytic Astrocytomas Reveals Sexually Dimorphic Brain Region-Specific Differences In T-Cell Content, Jie Chen, Namita Sinha, Olivia Cobb, Collin Liu, Ayca Ersen, Joanna J Phillips, Tarik Tihan, David H Gutmann, Sonika Dahiya

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Profiles Of Hiv Care Disruptions Among Adult Patients Lost To Follow-Up In Zambia: A Latent Class Analysis, Aaloke Mody, Kombatende Sikombe, Laura K. Beres, Sandra Simbeza, Njekwa Mukamba, Ingrid Eshun-Wilson, Sheree Schwartz, Jake Pry, Nancy Padian, Charles B. Holmes, Carolyn Bolton-Moore, Izukanji Sikazwe, Elvin H. Geng

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Patients report varied barriers to HIV care across multiple domains, but specific barrier patterns may be driven by underlying, but unobserved, behavioral profiles.

METHODS: We traced a probability sample of patients lost to follow-up (>90 days late) as of July 31, 2015 from 64 clinics in Zambia. Among those found alive, we ascertained patient-reported reasons for care disruptions. We performed latent class analysis to identify patient subgroups with similar patterns of reasons reported and assessed the association between class membership and care status (ie, disengaged versus silently transferred to a new site).

RESULTS: Among 547 patients, we identified …

Exploring Intentional Medication Non-Adherence In Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: The Role Of Physician-Patient Interactions, Jerik Leung, Elizabeth A Baker, Alfred H J Kim

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Medication non-adherence contributes to worse health outcomes among SLE patients. The underlying mechanisms that drive medication non-adherence are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to explore possible mechanisms of medication non-adherence by eliciting patient experiences.

METHODS: Consented adult patients with ACR- or SLICC-classified SLE were recruited. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted across six participants. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using an iterative process. The findings were presented to an interactive public forum with SLE patients, family members and friends of patients, and health-care professionals to assess validity and for elaboration of the concepts developed.

RESULTS: …

Nonliteral Language Processing Across The Lifespan, Kathrin Rothermich, Cristal Giorio, Sharon Falkins, Lindsay Leonard, Angela Roberts

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Studies investigating the effects of aging on nonliteral language processing have mainly focused on one sensory modality, for example written vignettes. In the current study, we used a video-based task to examine the effect of healthy aging on social communication perception using a novel database called RISC (Relation Inference in Social Communication). By means of an online recruitment platform, we asked young, middle-aged, and older adults between the ages of 18 and 76 (N = 100) to evaluate videos of actors using different forms of literal and nonliteral language, such as sarcasm or teasing. The participants' task was to infer …

Context-Responsive Anticoagulation Reduces Complications In Pediatric Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, John C Lin, Lauren M Barron, Adam M Vogel, Ryan M Colvin, Sirine A Baltagi, Allan Doctor, Avihu Z Gazit, Mary Mehegan, Nicole O'Connor, Ahmed S Said, Mark Shepard, Michael Wallendorf, Philip C Spinella

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

The Genomics Of Heart Failure: Design And Rationale Of The Hermes Consortium, R. Thomas Lumbers, Douglas Mann, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Peer-Taught Virtual Research Workshops For Surgical Residents: Protocol For A Novel And Sustainable Solution To Improving Surgical Research In Pakistan, Russell S. Martins, Ronika Devi Ukrani, Mohummad Hassan Raza Raja, Maria Khan, Haissan Iftikhar, Syeda Sadia Fatima, Saulat Fatimi

Medical College Documents

Objective: To generate a protocol describing the methodology for a study assessing the effectiveness of a comprehensive series of peer-taught online research workshops for surgical residents across Pakistan in terms of improving research-related knowledge and skills, and long-term research involvement and output.
Methods: The quasi-experimental study will consist of a series of six online research workshops conducted over Zoom for surgical residents across Pakistan. An online sign-up form will be circulated on social media to current surgical residents throughout Pakistan. Curricular content covered in the workshops will be developed in collaboration with experienced research faculty at the Departments of Surgery …

The Role Of Simulators In Improving Vitreoretinal Surgery Training - A Systematic Review, Taha Muneer Ahmed, Rehman Siddiqui

Medical College Documents

Objective: To conduct an appraisal of current evidence regarding the effectiveness of EyeSi®-based training of vitreoretinal surgery.
Methods: The systematic review was conducted in July 2020, and comprised literature search on Cochrane Library, PubMed and Embase for articles regarding simulation training in vitreoretinal surgery. The shortlisted articles were subjected to qualitative analysis. Existing evidence was assessed, and predictions on how outcomes may be applied to improve vitreoretinal surgery training were made. The risk of bias of each study was calculated in line with the guidelines of the Cochrane Handbook.
Results: Of the 124 articles identified, 7(5.6%) were shortlisted; 5(71.4%) established …

Student-Led Surgical Research Network: Enhancing Medical Student Research Opportunities, Ronika Devi Ukrani, Muhammad Musaab Munir, Areesh Bhatti, Shahryar Noordin

Medical College Documents

The current paper was planned to describe a student-led surgical research network established by the Research Division of the Surgery Interest Group at the Aga Khan University, Karachi. The project involved the creation of a collaborative network to provide opportunities to medical students to work with faculty on research projects. Over 25 students were directly connected with faculty and research mentors to work on research projects in the surgical specialty of their choice. The initiative of establishing a student-led surgical research network was successfully implemented and provided medical students with novel research opportunities by helping bridge the gap between the …

Harassment And Mental Health In Surgical Training: A Pilot Survey Of Surgical Trainees In Pakistan, Russell S. Martins, Syeda Amrah Hashmi, Hina Inam, Mahin Janjua, Mahim Malik

Medical College Documents

Objective: To assess harassment among surgical trainees and its effects on mental health, and to explore its association with gender.
Methods: The nationwide cross-sectional pilot study was conducted by the Association of Women Surgeons of Pakistan from July to September 2019, and included surgical trainees of either gender working in both public and private hospitals. Data was collected using an anonymous online survey form to assess harassment and self-perceived burnout and depression. Data was analysed using SPSS 22.
Results: Of the 147 respondents, 49(33.3%) were males; 98(66.6%) were females; and 118(80.3%) were residents. Workplace harassment was reported by 80(54.4%) trainees. …

Human Cortical Serotonin 2a Receptor Occupancy By Psilocybin Measured Using [11c]Mdl 100,907 Dynamic Pet And A Resting-State Fmri-Based Brain Parcellation, Frederick S Barrett, Yun Zhou, Theresa M Carbonaro, Joshua M Roberts, Gwenn S Smith, Roland R Griffiths, Dean F Wong

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Psilocybin (a serotonin 2A, or 5-HT

An Analysis Of Persistence And Obsolescence Of Web Citations Of Pavement Engineering Literature, Shanthakumari K, Keshava -

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper examines the persistent accessibility of cited URLs in International Journal of Pavement Engineering. Also, forsee to compute the half-life period of the cited web URLs in a journal article. A total of 901 URLs cited in 299 research articles published spanning ten years from 2010 to 2019 were extracted. W3C Link Checker is used to verify the accessibility of the cited URLs. Active and inactive URLs were listed. The inactive URLs are checked in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to retrieve available URLs. The half-life period was computed using the formula “t(h) = [t ln (0.5)] / [ln …

Discovering Topics From The Titles Of The Indian Lis Theses, Sourav Mazumder, Tapan Barui

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

A lot of text data is being generated on the web in the form of scholarly articles, doctoral thesis, social media, library databases, and data archives. They are easy to use but complicated to process for research works. That is exactly why text mining is required and topic modeling is one of the most important techniques involved in text mining. In this paper, an attempt has been made to discover topics from the thesis titles (uploaded theses) in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS). For this work, the text data (n=2132) has been obtained from the Shodhganga. Then, …

Changing Role Of Librarian In Knowledge Management: A Survey Of Public Sector Universities, Naila Siddiqua, Hafsa Ansari, Muneera Nasreen Ansari

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

In the current era, libraries have been more advanced and known as a place where wider access to information is available in many formats and from different sources. Thus, it also changed the role of the librarian in the premises of the library. Now the librarian has become more resourceful by using a modern tool in the library to provide quicker, complete, and more refined information to students. Researchers identified the roles of a librarian in knowledge management is to identify the categories of knowledge needed by the student and to use information technology to help organize, store, and retrieve …

Trends Of Open Access Self Archiving In E-Lis Repository With Specific Reference To Turkey, Ipsita Panda, Bulu Maharana

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Open Access has already been there for last two decades as a model of scholarly communication. Among its multiple forms, Green Open Access or author self-archiving is increasingly becoming popular because of its barrier free (financial, technical and legal) and independent nature of publishing scholarly content. E-LIS, the discipline specific digital open archive aims to showcase e-prints of research papers in LIS and related fields. The present paper is the result of an effort to find out the contributions to E-LIS from Turkey which is the eighth major contributing nation in European continent (i.e. 417 out of 7556 submissions of …

Information Needs And Seeking Behaviour Of Researchers At African Regional Aquaculture Centre (Arac) In Rivers State, Veronica Emenogu, Anthonia Omehia Prof, Emmanuel Okwu Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examined the relationship between information needs and seeking behavior of researchers at the African Regional Aquaculture Centre (ARAC), Rivers State. The population of the study was made up of thirty-four researchers at ARAC, Buguma, Rivers State. The study employed a correlational- Descriptive research design. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire titled ‘Questionnaire on Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of ARAC Researcher (QINSB)’ whose reliability index calculated using Cronbach alpha was 0.922. The collated data from the responses of the respondents was organized using count/frequency, percentages and mean. The data was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlational statistical …

Children Librarians’ Knowledge And Attitude Towards Children With Neuro-Developmental Disorders: Implications For Inclusive Library Services, Charity N. Onyishi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Neuro-developmental disorders (NDDs) are becoming increasingly prevalent among the children population and are the underserved groups in the schools and other learning institutions like a library. The high prevalence of children living with NDDs also highlights the need for the inclusion of children victims in all learning opportunities and supporting them to attain their maximum possible potentials. As the children are increasingly being included in library services, there is a need to know how knowledgeable the children librarians are about NDDs and their attitude towards children with NDDs and their inclusion in library services. Using a qualitative approach, this study …

Infopreneurship As An Employment Option For Library And Information Science Students And Graduates In South Africa: A Literature Review, Lugisani Samuel Ramugondo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose - The review of literature aimed to determine if infopreneurship can employ Library and Information Science graduates in South Africa. The concept of infopreneurship, infopreneurship requisite competencies, areas of infopreneurship, and its challenges are discussed.

Design/methodology/approach - This paper applies a traditional literature review.

Findings - The results of the review of relevant subject literature indicate that infopreneurship, as a feature of the information sector, is practised in South Africa. Furthermore, it has established that infopreneurship is constantly developing, as are the activities infopreneurs can engage in. Notwithstanding its challenges, the findings, particularly those pertaining to the areas …

Pre-Reading Activities And Students’ Achievement In French Oracy: Implication For Evaluation In Library And Information Science, Kenneth O. Eze Phd, Grace C. Offorma Phd, Christian S. Ugwuanyi Phd, Chinedu I.O. Okeke Phd

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Library and Information Science is a profession that is full of people who are passionate about making a positive change in the world. In this profession, the workers are known as Librarians whose duty is to bridge the gaps that exist between people, information and technology. Librarians work to create reader’s advisory resources to encourage young students to develop a lifelong love of reading and learning through pre-reading activities. This paper thus, investigated the effect of pre-reading activities on students’ achievement in French oracy. Using quasi-experimental research design, 154 senior secondary one students participated in the study. French Oracy Achievement …

An Analysis Of Difficulties Faced In Job Duties By Academic Digital Library Professionals Working In University Libraries In Delhi (India), Nisha Kumari, Dr. Shesh Mishra

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present study aims is to analyze the difficulties faced in performing the job duties by academic digital library professionals working in university libraries of Delhi (India). The survey method was adopted in the present study. The study is based on a questionnaire containing 34 job duties performed in academic digital libraries, classified into four categories, i.e. IT system management, information organization, user services, and collection management. The respondents were 146 library professionals working in university libraries in Delhi (India). The study found that professionals rated the difficulty of job duties such as network management and operation; hardware installation & …