Nevin Manimala

Am J Pharm Educ. 2021 Nov 23:8745. doi: 10.5688/ajpe8745. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Objective To assess how U.S. schools and colleges of pharmacy curriculum committees’ responsibilities, structure, functions, charges, and activities have evolved since 2011.Methods A total of 133 fully-accredited schools and colleges of pharmacy were included in the survey. Data collection occurred between March and September 2020, and survey questions pertained to the academic year (19-20). Data were collected on committee membership, leadership, functions, and charges. New questions explored ties to assessment and Standards 2016. Analysis included descriptive statistics and comparisons to the 2011 survey results.Results Response rate was 80%; one partial response was excluded from analysis. Most (93%) schools and colleges rely on a curriculum committee to provide curriculum oversight. Faculty and students remain the most frequent types of members but there has been an increase in the number of committees with members from other areas including experiential programs, staff, directors, librarians, and pharmacy residents. Committee charges have increased beyond the traditional curriculum planning, mapping, and review to include newer tasks (eg, EPAs, IPEs, PPCP, co-curriculum, certificates). Primary responsibility for various assessment activities is shared by both committees in 1/3 of the institutions.Conclusion. Curriculum committees remain a key part of pharmacy education but continue to evolve to meet their responsibility for new and increasing numbers of charges and finding ways to communicate and share duties with their assessment counterparts. Having clear guidance for the CC and reducing frequency of scheduled work to ensure the CC will be able to address new challenges as they emerge are recommended.

PMID:34815213 | DOI:10.5688/ajpe8745

Am J Pharm Educ. 2021 Nov 23:8671. doi: 10.5688/ajpe8671. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Objective. To assess the six domains of worklife areas (Community, Control, Fairness, Reward, Workload Values) in pharmacy academicians that have been associated with burnout and poor job satisfaction.Methods. We aimed to assess the Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS) among a sample of pharmacy academicians attending a national meeting to evaluate personal, environmental, or workplace factors that may influence worklife environment. Data were analyzed using SPSS; descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis and Pearson correlations were performed.Results. Participant response rate was 40.4% (n=49/121 attendees). Eighty-eight percent of participants reported working more than 40 hours per week. Mean AWS scores ranged from 2.7 to 3.9 with 1 representing a strong mismatch between person and work environment and 5 representing a strong match. Workload and Fairness domains were the lowest scores reported compared to Control being the highest. Higher mean scores were reported for Control and Reward in those with a mentor, and for Fairness in those reporting a hobby.Conclusion. Workload and Fairness were the lowest rated areas of worklife by participants. Developing targeted interventions such mentorship, hobbies, transparency in the work setting related in particular to workload and fairness may be an important step to prevent burnout in pharmacy academicians. Further studies in a larger population may further help to determine factors associated with low rated areas of worklife.

PMID:34815212 | DOI:10.5688/ajpe8671

J Perianesth Nurs. 2021 Nov 20:S1089-9472(21)00144-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jopan.2021.06.004. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of an operating room nurse visit on the anxiety levels of surgical patients.

DESIGN: A prospective, interventional, quasi-experimental design.

METHODS: 80 patients were divided into the control group (n = 40) and the intervention group (n = 40). The control group was given routine care, and the intervention group was visited preoperatively by the operating room nurse in addition to routine care.

FINDINGS: The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI TX-1) mean score of the control patients who had information about anesthesia was low, while the STAI TX-1 mean score of the patients who had concerns about surgery was high. The STAI-TX-1 mean score of the control group patients who had information about anesthesia was significantly lower. There was no statistically significant difference in the STAI TX-1 scores between the two groups before and after surgery (P > .05). However, the STAI TX-1 mean score of the control patients was high in the post-operative period.

CONCLUSIONS: In an effort to reduce anxiety, the psychological preparation of the patient undergoing urological surgery should involve an anesthesia team member and the operating room nurse together.

PMID:34815164 | DOI:10.1016/j.jopan.2021.06.004

Reprod Biomed Online. 2021 Aug 24:S1472-6483(21)00416-8. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2021.08.019. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

RESEARCH QUESTION: To evaluate the correlation between clinical and hormonal parameters and comorbidity burden in Caucasian women presenting for fertility treatment.

DESIGN: Monocentric cross-sectional study including a cohort of 3163 Caucasian women seeking medical care for fertility treatment. All patients underwent centralized laboratory testing for hormonal assessment. Complete clinical and laboratory data from the entire cohort were retrospectively analysed. Comorbidity burden score was assessed by the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI; categorized as 0 versus 1 versus ≥2).

RESULTS: Descriptive statistics and regression models tested the associations between clinical and laboratory parameters and CCI. Among the entire cohort of patients, a CCI = 0 was found in 2977 women (94.1%), and CCI = 1 and CCI ≥2 were found in 113 (3.6%) and 73 (2.3%) patients, respectively. Age (P = 0.009), gravidity (P = 0.001), anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH, P < 0.001) and TSH (P = 0.003) values were significantly different among CCI groups. In regression models, age at presentation and AMH emerged as independent indicators of CCI ≥ 1. Age at presentation <36 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.742, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.284-2.364) and an AMH concentration ≤2.3 ng/ml (OR 1.864, 95% CI 1.29-2.69) were the most informative cut-off values for CCI ≥ 1 in the study population.

CONCLUSIONS: A younger age at presentation and lower AMH concentrations are significant independent indicators of decreased general health in women requiring clinical evaluation for fertility treatment. As observed for sperm parameters in men, AMH might serve as a proxy of women’s general health status.

PMID:34815158 | DOI:10.1016/j.rbmo.2021.08.019

J Environ Manage. 2021 Nov 20:114113. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114113. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Globally, the payments for ecosystem services (PES) program has become a helpful tool that serves the purpose of mitigating ecosystem degradation and protecting ecosystem services. However, the ecological effects of existing PES programs based on counterfactual baselines, quantification and sophisticated statistical analyses are still poorly understood. Taking Inner Mongolia as an example, this study evaluated the ecological effectiveness of the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP) using the matching approach. The findings are as follows. First, 49.8% and 41.5% of the townships had significant gains in vegetation quantity and quality between 2000 and 2015, respectively; while 9.5% and 13.7% of the townships had significant losses in vegetation quantity and quality, respectively. Second, for forest quantity recovered townships, comparing to the NFCP unenrolled townships, the enrolled townships had increased forest quantity by additional 0.377 million ha (5.2%) from 2000 to 2015. Third, for forest quality recovered townships, the enrolled townships on average additionally increased forest quality by 465.513 Gg carbon (3.6%) from 2000 to 2015. Our study helps to promote sophisticated impact evaluation of conservation policies, which would improve the understanding and management of conservation practices in China and abroad.

PMID:34815155 | DOI:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114113

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Nov 14:127797. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127797. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Public awareness of plastic pollution and its impact on the ecosystem has increased rapidly. The microplastics in raw waters and their removal during drinking water treatment is receiving growing attention, but the impact on the efficiency of ultrafiltration has not been examined previously, especially in regard to the formation potential of disinfection by-products (DBPs-FP) in effluent water. In this study, two bench-scale continuous-flow ultrafiltration systems, with and without microplastics, were operated to examine the effect of microplastics on ultrafiltration. Results showed that the microplastics not only increased microbial growth, but also affected the microbial community (e.g. families Xanthobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae, Leptolyngbyaceae), which can promote the production of extracellular polymeric substances and nitrogen fixation, causing rapid membrane fouling. The formation potential of THM (TCM and BDCM) and N-DBP (TCNM) species in UF permeate increased with the presence of microplastics, due to changes in water quality. Statistical analysis indicated that tyrosine-like components (C3), ammonium (NH₄⁺-N) and tryptophan-like component (C1) can be used as indicators of the DBPs-FP. This study provides new insights into the relationship between microplastics, membrane biofouling and DBPs-FP, and the potential adverse impact of microplastics on drinking water treatment.

PMID:34815124 | DOI:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127797

Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2021 Mar 24:S0266-4356(21)00114-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2021.03.007. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Controversy exists regarding the influence of the graft placement site in the mandible on the success of non-vascularised bone grafts. In this study, we examine the association between the compartment of the mandibular defect and the bone graft failure rate. A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was performed using MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Failure rates according to the compartment of mandibular defect were extracted and analysed by meta-analysis. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the studies, and publication bias was evaluated using funnel plots. The search strategy identified 27 publications. After screening, five were selected for review. Based on the result of comparison among these five, we found no significant statistical association between the bone graft failure rate and compartment of mandibular defect, although further investigation of prospective randomised cohort studies is required.

PMID:34815100 | DOI:10.1016/j.bjoms.2021.03.007

Eur J Dent. 2021 Nov 23. doi: 10.1055/s-0041-1731839. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is patients’ satisfaction evaluation and radiographic evaluation of the terminal abutments of attachment-retained maxillary obturators with metal framework versus milled polyetheretherketone (PEEK) framework in the management of maxillectomy cases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen participants were randomly divided into three parallel groups (n = 6). Participants of the PEEK group received attachment-retained obturators with milled PEEK framework, the metal group received an attachment-retained obturator with a metallic framework, and the conventional group received conventional clasp-retained obturators with a metallic framework (Control group). The evaluation included was radiographic evaluation and patients’ satisfaction in this study included two scales-“The Obturator Functioning Scale” and “The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Head and Neck 35” using one-way ANOVA test.

RESULTS: Both PEEK and metal groups showed a statistically significant lower mean bone loss (p <0.050) compared with the conventional group during all follow-up periods. There is no statistically significant difference between the PEEK and metal groups during all follow-up periods. Regarding patient satisfaction, both the PEEK and metal groups showed a statistically significant decrease score (p <0.050) compared with the conventional group in various aspects of patients’ satisfaction scales as satisfaction with the look and difficulty of talking to the public, and noticeable clasps. In comparison, the PEEK group showed a statistically significant decrease score (p <0.050) than the metal group with respect to satisfaction with the look along all follow-up periods.

CONCLUSIONS: PEEK attachment-retained maxillary definitive obturators could be considered a promising treatment modality for patients with acquired maxillary defects with regard to esthetics and satisfaction.

PMID:34814222 | DOI:10.1055/s-0041-1731839

Eur J Dent. 2021 Nov 23. doi: 10.1055/s-0041-1736291. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate bone regeneration capacity of FDBX granules compared to composite DBBM/DFDBX granules for filling of bone defect in rabbit mandible.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Critical size defects were created in 45 rabbits’ mandible. The defect in the control group is left untreated, while in other groups the defects were filled with FDBX granules and composite DBBM/DFDBX granules, respectively. Specimens were collected at 2, 4, and 8 weeks for histology and immunohistochemical analyses. Significant difference is set at p-value < 0.05.

RESULTS: The osteoblast-osteoclast quantification, osteoblast expression of Runx2, alkaline phosphatase, collagen-I, and osteocalcin, and osteoclast expression of receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in FDBX groups were statistically comparable (p > 0.05) with the composite group, while OPG/RANKL ratio, bone healing scores, and trabecular area were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the composite compared to FDBX group.

CONCLUSION: Composite DBBM/DFDBX granules, within the limitation of this study, has better bone forming capacity than FDBX granules for filling of bone defects in the mandible.

PMID:34814221 | DOI:10.1055/s-0041-1736291

Eur J Dent. 2021 Nov 23. doi: 10.1055/s-0041-1735796. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of new complete dentures (CDs) and new removable partial dentures (RPDs) on oral health-related quality of life, dry mouth sensation, and anxiety level of their wearers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 20 complete edentulous patients (in both arches) that needed to be rehabilitated with new CDs, and 20 partial edentulous patients (in both arches) that needed to be rehabilitated with new RPDs, were included in this study. Each patient must wear the same pair of CDs or RPDs for more than 5 years. Oral health-related quality of life, dry mouth sensation, and level of anxiety were assessed by using the following questionnaires: Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI), VAS (Visual Analog Scale) Xerostomia Questionnaire, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). These questionnaires were applied before oral rehabilitation (initially initial time point) and 3 months after insertion of new dentures (end time point).

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: For the results of STAI-State, STAI-Trait, and GOHAI, the Wilcoxon test was applied to compare the time points. For the results of the VAS xerostomia questionnaire, two-way repeated measures ANOVA (analysis of variance) was applied, followed by the Tukey test. The p-values lower than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: /CONCLUSION: For both groups, it was observed that 3 months after the insertion of new removable dentures: (1) there was an increase in oral health-related quality of life; (2) there was a reduction in anxiety (trait anxiety and state anxiety); and (3) there was a perception of greater salivation.

PMID:34814220 | DOI:10.1055/s-0041-1735796