Efficacy Of Several Strategies Research Articles

Strategies to Improve Therapeutic Adherence in Polymedicated Patients over 65 Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Part of the population over 65 years of age suffer from several pathologies and are therefore polymedicated. In this systematic review and metanalysis, we aimed to determine the efficacy of several strategies developed to improve adherence to pharmacological treatment in polymedicated elderly people. Web Of Science, PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched until 2 January 2024. In total, 17 of the 1508 articles found evaluated the efficacy of interventions to improve adherence to medication in polymedicated elderly patients. Methodological quality and the risk of bias were rated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Open Meta Analyst® software was used to create forest plots of the meta-analysis. In 11 of the 17 studies, an improvement in adherence was observed through the use of different measurement tools and sometimes in combination. The most frequently used strategy was using instructions and counselling, always in combination, in a single strategy used to improve adherence; one involved the use of medication packs and the other patient follow-up. In both cases, the results in improving adherence were positive. Five studies using follow-up interventions via visits and phone calls showed improved adherence on the Morisky Green scale compared to those where usual care was received [OR = 1.900; 95% CI = 1.104-3.270] (p = 0.021). There is a high degree of heterogeneity in the studies analyzed, both in the interventions used and in the measurement tools for improving adherence to treatment. Therefore, we cannot make conclusions about the most efficacious strategy to improve medication adherence in polymedicated elderly patients until more evidence of single-intervention strategies is available.

Advances in Glioblastoma Therapy: An Update on Current Approaches.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a primary malignant brain tumor characterized by a high grade of malignancy and an extremely unfavorable prognosis. The current efficacy of established treatments for GBM is insufficient, necessitating the prompt development of novel therapeutic approaches. The progress made in the fundamental scientific understanding of GBM is swiftly translated into more advanced stages of therapeutic studies. Despite extensive efforts to identify new therapeutic approaches, GBM exhibits a high mortality rate. The current efficacy of treatments for GBM patients is insufficient due to factors such as tumor heterogeneity, the blood-brain barrier, glioma stem cells, drug efflux pumps, and DNA damage repair mechanisms. Considering this, pharmacological cocktail therapy has demonstrated a growing efficacy in addressing these challenges. Towards this, various forms of immunotherapy, including the immune checkpoint blockade, chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T) cell therapy, oncolytic virotherapy, and vaccine therapy have emerged as potential strategies for enhancing the prognosis of GBM. Current investigations are focused on exploring combination therapies to mitigate undesirable side effects and enhance immune responses against tumors. Furthermore, clinical trials are underway to evaluate the efficacy of several strategies to circumvent the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to achieve targeted delivery in patients suffering from recurrent GBM. In this review, we have described the biological and molecular targets for GBM therapy, pharmacologic therapy status, prominent resistance mechanisms, and new treatment approaches. We also discuss these promising therapeutic approaches to assess prospective innovative therapeutic agents and evaluated the present state of preclinical and clinical studies in GBM treatment. Overall, this review attempts to provide comprehensive information on the current status of GBM therapy.

Antimicrobial Stewardship and Environmental Decontamination for the Control of Clostridium difficile Transmission in Healthcare Settings.

We implement an agent-based model for Clostridium difficile transmission in hospitals that accounts for several processes and individual factors including environmental and antibiotic heterogeneity in order to evaluate the efficacy of various control measures aimed at reducing environmental contamination and mitigating the effects of antibiotic use on transmission. In particular, we account for local contamination levels that contribute to the probability of colonization and we account for both the number and type of antibiotic treatments given to patients. Simulations illustrate the relative efficacy of several strategies for the reduction of nosocomial colonizations and nosocomial diseases.

Blood Pressure Management in Acute Stroke.

Raised blood pressure is common in ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage and is an independent risk factor for unfavourable outcome. Yet, the approach to blood pressure management represents an unresolved issue in acute stroke treatment. The aim of this review is to present the current knowledge regarding the management of raised blood pressure in patients with acute ischaemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage. In ischaemic stroke, several large clinical trials have tested the efficacy of several strategies that lower blood pressure. Overall, blood pressure lowering in the acute phase has no beneficial effect and should not be included in routine clinical practice apart from when treating patients with very raised blood pressure or those who are eligible for thrombolytic treatment. These findings in patients with acute ischaemic stroke are in contrast with those in intracerebral haemorrhage. A recent clinical trial has strongly suggested a clinical benefit of blood pressure lowering during the first few hours in intracerebral haemorrhage, which have led to changes in international guidelines. An important unanswered question in blood pressure management in the acute phase of ischaemic stroke involves the first few hours, when there is still penumbral tissue at risk. Forthcoming trials may help to answer this remaining issue.

Selling Off-Grid Light to Liquidity-Constrained Consumers

Problem definition: A large proportion of the world’s population has no access to electricity and so relies on noxious kerosene for their lighting needs. Solar-based solutions require a large up-front investment and are often unaffordable in this market owing to consumers’ tight liquidity constraints. As an alternative, there are business models relying on rechargeable light bulbs that are sold at a subsidized price (which renders them affordable) and require regular micropayments for recharges (which eases liquidity constraints). These bulbs provide a cheaper and healthier light source than kerosene, yet their adoption is lower than expected, and some consumers continue to use kerosene. This paper explores the potential drivers of such preferences and proposes strategies to alter them. Academic/practical relevance: Unlike most of the existing operations management literature, which focuses on the problems in developed economies, our paper studies a problem specific to the poor population. Our novel modeling approach, which incorporates several operational features of the impoverished regions, could also serve as a template for other potential modeling attempts in similar settings. Methodology: We propose a stylized consumer behavior model that accounts for—in addition to the monetary cost incurred while using a particular light source—the inconvenience cost (resulting from repeated travel to the purchase center) and blackout cost (resulting from liquidity constraints) associated with that source to explain the consumer preference for kerosene and to recommend strategies that could mitigate that preference. Results: Although kerosene lighting is more expensive than bulbs, consumers who face either high inconvenience costs or high blackout costs prefer kerosene to bulbs because the former’s flexibility, with regard to quantity, helps reduce whichever cost is dominating. At the firm level, there is an optimal bulb capacity and recharge price pair that maximizes the firm’s revenue; furthermore, a firm can reverse the preferences for kerosene by increasing the flexibility of the bulbs (e.g., by allowing partial recharges). Although strategies—such as price discounts and mobile micropayments—which alleviate liquidity constraints are not in themselves sufficient to ensure higher adoption rates, increased bulb use becomes more likely when they are combined with inconvenience-reducing strategies. Managerial implications: Our paper sheds light on the structure of the market in which firms operate by identifying the characteristics of the market segments that prefer kerosene. It also helps the firms make better decisions by evaluating the efficacy of several strategies in terms of increasing the adoption of bulbs.The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2017.0673 .This paper has been accepted for the Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Special Issue on Value Chain Innovations in Developing Economies.

Making the heart resistant to infarction: how can we further decrease infarct size?

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) following coronary artery occlusion is a common cause of mortality and morbidity world-wide. Patients currently receive reperfusion therapy as the only anti-infarct intervention. A number of agents have been evaluated to further improve myocardial salvage, but until recently, none has demonstrated clear efficacy in clinical trials. A new target of cardioprotection, the Reperfusion Injury Salvage Kinase (RISK) pathway, has been proposed. These kinases are involved in mediating the cardioprotection of myocardial preconditioning and postconditioning induced by short non-lethal cycles of ischemia/reperfusion performed before (preconditioning) or just after (postconditioning) a lethal ischemic insult. Many pharmacological interventions are now available that protect the heart by activating the RISK pathway at the time of reperfusion. The present review will examine the efficacy of several strategies that have been proposed to protect the acutely ischemic myocardium including (1) those intended to directly alter adverse reperfusion events (e.g., calcium overload and free radical attack), (2) those based on activation of the RISK pathway including postconditioning, and (3) myocardial cooling.

Retardation of Kidney Failure – Applying Principles to Practice

Over the next decade, the number of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) treated by dialysis may double, and even developed nations will have difficulty in coping with this alarming increase. This review will outline the proven and unproven strategies that have the potential to retard the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recently, a number of randomised clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of several strategies to slow the progression of CKD. Proven strategies include adequate blood pressure control (with angiotensin blockade), and for diabetic nephropathy good glycaemic control. Other potentially beneficial strategies include smoking cessation, lipid control and aldosterone blockade. The early institution of these strategies has the potential to regress established CKD as well as improve the long-term cardiovascular outcomes of these patients. Proof of the efficacy in humans of promising experimental approaches, such as the administration of growth factors (e.g., recombinant bone morphogenetic protein-7), anti-fibrotic agents (e.g., pirfenidone) and novel anti-proteinuric drugs (e.g., pentosan polysulphate), is awaited. Finally, the primary prevention of CKD, at least in part, by the eradication of type 2 diabetes and obesity (through improvement of lifestyle factors), and adequate treatment of hypertension, have the potential to eliminate up to half of the most common causes of CKD (or ESRD) in developed countries.

Novel approaches to the treatment of acute renal failure

Acute renal failure (ARF) occurs frequently in hospitalised patients and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Many therapeutic strategies have been undertaken both to prevent acute renal injury and, once ARF occurs, to improve renal function and reduce mortality. Among the available pharmacological options, no specific therapy has been shown to alter the course of ARF. This article reviews the efficacy of several strategies in experimental renal disease and raises the possibility that similar interventions might be available to the clinician in the near future for the prevention and management of ARF. The prospect of these novel strategies, together with the ever-increasing understanding of the complex pathophysiology of ARF, offers the promise of effective and more physiological therapeutic interventions in this new millennium.

Mediastinal Bleeding After Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Pediatric Patients

Background. The purpose of our review was to develop simple clinical recommendations to reduce the need for allogeneic blood transfusions in children undergoing cardiac operations. Methods. The literature on hemostasis as it relates to children, cardiac disease in children, and pediatric heart surgery was reviewed. We also reexamined the efficacy of several strategies in this patient population: on-site monitoring of coagulation, transfusion of fresh whole blood, and administration of desmopressin, ϵ-aminocaproic acid, or aprotinin. Results. Children with heart disease may present with preoperative thrombocytopenia, reduced platelet aggregation, and a decreased level of von Willebrand factor. Infants less than 6 months of age show a significant dilution of coagulation factors and decreased platelet counts during cardiopulmonary bypass. Fresh whole blood reduces blood loss in children younger than 2 years undergoing complex operations. Desmopressin does not reduce bleeding, whereas on-site monitoring, synthetic antifibrinolytics, and aprotinin require further evaluation in pediatric cardiac surgical patients. Conclusions. The use of fresh whole blood to reduce blood loss in children younger than 2 years undergoing complex heart operations is recommended. Therapy for excessive bleeding after cardiopulmonary bypass will vary according to the patient's age, platelet count, and activated partial thromboplastin and prothrombin times.

Efficacy of agents counteracting hypoxia in fractionated radiation regimes

Background and purpose: Solid tumours contain hypoxic cells which are resistant to radiotherapy. This study compares the efficacy of several strategies to counteract diffusion-limited hypoxia, or intermittent hypoxia in a fractionated regimen of 1 to 6 × 2 Gy. Materials and methods: Nicotinamide (250 mg/kg), perflubron emulsion (Oxygent ™) (4 ml/kg), tirapazamine (SR4233) (0.10 mmol/kg) and carbogen breathing, administered alone or in combination, were investigated on two tumour cell lines: EMT6 (a rodent mammary carcinoma) and HRT18 (a human rectal adenocarcinoma) using a clonogenic assay. The radiosensitizing effect of the agents was assessed after 1 and 6 × 2 Gy for drugs used alone, and 1, 2, 4, 6 × 2 Gy for drugs used in combination. Results: At the end of the fractionated radiation regimen, the combination of nicotinamide + carbogen induced the greatest radiosensitization for EMT6 tumours, while greatest radiosensitization of HRT18 was obtained with nicotinamide + carbogen + tirapazamine. Conclusion: The efficacy of the strategies for overcoming hypoxia using a fractionated regimen depends on the tumour cell line. These differences could be linked to differences in the initial percentages of acute and chronic hypoxic cells, and to changes in the two types of hypoxia during treatment.