Multidisciplinary Model Research Articles

(473) Simultaneous Multidisciplinary Gender Affirming Surgery during COVID-19: Improving Access to Care for Military Patients

Abstract Introduction Access to surgical care for the transgender population has been a persistent challenge. Frequently cited barriers include long waiting lists, strict insurance prior authorization protocols, surgeon scarcity, financial cost, and social stigma. These issues have been magnified throughout the COVID-19 pandemic response, as the diversion of resources has led to the postponement of surgeries deemed “routine” or “non-essential.” Many medical societies and healthcare organizations have classified gender-affirming surgery (GAS) as such despite the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) defining surgical care for gender dysphoric individuals as medical necessity. Unfortunately, delays in care for this population contribute to prolonged mental health distress. Another important barrier to access centers on the issue of surgical timing. Many patients cannot afford to postpone school and work obligations to undergo multiple surgeries each with long recovery times. Furthermore, staffing shortages nationwide have limited operating room (OR) availability. To respond to these issues, our center organized a multidisciplinary collaboration among various surgical subspecialties to perform simultaneous GASs (e.g., top and bottom surgeries). In this way, the patient can undergo multiple GASs in a single procedure, thus limiting anesthesia exposure, expediting postoperative recovery, improving patient satisfaction and maximizing limited healthcare resources. Objective To describe a multidisciplinary model for GAS involving simultaneous top and bottom surgery to improve access to care for the transgender population in a resource-limited environment. Methods Case report describing successful multidisciplinary surgical management of a transgender female desiring multiple simultaneous GAS. Results Patient is a 24-year-old active duty transgender female who met WPATH criteria for top and bottom surgery. She desired numerous procedures including simple orchiectomy, breast implants and facial feminization. Given our limited OR availability during COVID-19, the decision was made to perform all of these surgeries under the same anesthetic. She underwent breast augmentation and fat harvesting with plastic surgery, which was immediately followed by simultaneous simple orchiectomy by urology and facial feminizing surgery with otolaryngology. Total operative time was 8.3 hours. Patient was discharged on post-op day 1 and had an uneventful recovery without surgical or anesthetic complications. Conclusions Simultaneous GAS is an effective approach to improve access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic. A single anesthetic enables the patients to achieve their surgical goals sooner and to lessen their overall recovery time compared to staged procedures. Disclosure No

Improving Outcomes of Pediatric Lupus Care Delivery With Provider Goal-Setting Activities and Multidisciplinary Care Models.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate high-quality care delivery in the context of provider goal-setting activities and a multidisciplinary care model using an electronic health record (EHR)-enabled pediatric lupus registry. We then determined associations between care quality and prednisone use among youth with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We implemented standardized EHR documentation tools to autopopulate a SLE registry. We compared pediatric Lupus Care Index (pLCI) performance (range 0.0-1.0; 1.0 representing perfect metric adherence) and timely follow-up 1) before versus during provider goal-setting activities and population management, and 2) in a multidisciplinary lupus nephritis versus rheumatology clinic. We estimated associations between pLCI and subsequent prednisone use adjusted for time, current medication, disease activity, clinical features, and social determinants of health. We analyzed 830 visits by 110 patients (median 7 visits per patient [interquartile range 4-10]) over 3.5 years. The provider-directed activity was associated with improved pLCI performance (adjusted β 0.05 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.01, 0.09]; mean 0.74 versus 0.69). Patients with nephritis in multidisciplinary clinic had higher pLCI scores (adjusted β 0.06 [95% CI 0.02, 0.10]) and likelihood of timely follow-up than those in rheumatology (adjusted relative risk [RR] 1.27 [95% CI 1.02, 1.57]). A pLCI score of ≥0.50 was associated with 0.72-fold lower adjusted risk of subsequent prednisone use (95% CI 0.53, 0.93). Minoritized race, public insurance, and living in areas with greater social vulnerability were not associated with reduced care quality or follow-up, but public insurance was associated with higher risk of prednisone use. Greater attention to quality metrics is associated with better outcomes in childhood SLE. Multidisciplinary care models with population management may additionally facilitate equitable care delivery.

Right Care, Right Now: Bringing More Critical Care to Boarding Patients in the Emergency Department.

Right Care, Right Now: Bringing More Critical Care to Boarding Patients in the Emergency Department.

Pivotal Role of Genetic Counselors in the Uptake of Germline Genetic Testing in Non-Metastatic Breast Cancer and the Impact of Testing on Surgical Decision Making.

Genetic testing is increasingly utilized in breast cancer patients; however, testing rates remain low. We aimed to evaluate the rate of genetic testing at a tertiary academic medical center utilizing a multidisciplinary clinic model including genetic counselor. A single-center retrospective chart review was performed on a cohort of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients from January 2018 through February 2019. Patients were reviewed for genetic screening eligibility, consultation with a genetic counselor, and test results. Final analysis included 426 patients. 261 (61.3%) were found to meet National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for genetic testing, of which 178 patient (68.2%) underwent testing and 32 patients (12.3%) declined testing. Of the 165 not eligible for testing, 5 patients were tested. A total of 183 patients underwent testing and 116 (63.4%) had a negative result, 17 (9.3%) were positive for at least one gene mutation and 50 (27.3%) were identified to have a variant of unknown significance (VUS). There was a positive association between those patients who met with a genetic counselor and eligibility for testing (OR 31.1, 95% CI 16.0-60.5). Genetic testing result has become an increasingly important factor when defining optimal surgical treatment for breast cancer patients. Increasing the availability of genetic consultation for breast cancer patients can improve testing rates and patient selection.

The effect of pharmacist-initiated perioperative multidisciplinary pharmaceutical care model and clinical pathway on pain management in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery: a before-after study.

Poor pain control is common in perioperative orthopedic surgeries. However, there is a lack of exploration of the clinical pharmacy practice model for this population. To construct a perioperative pharmaceutical care model and clinical pathway for patients undergoing orthopedic surgeries and assess their impact on pain management. This historical before-and-after study was conducted in the Department of Orthopedics of a tertiary hospital in Guangdong Province, China. The control group was surgical patients who received routine diagnosis and treatment. The intervention group received pain management from a multidisciplinary team based on a pharmacist-initiated pharmaceutical care practice model and clinical pathways for medication management. The primary outcome measures were postoperative pain at rest (PAR) and movement-evoked pain (MEP) scores, number of breakthrough pains, and length of hospital stay. A total of 320 orthopedic surgery patients were included. Among patients with expected moderate or severe postoperative pain (82.5%), significantly lower PAR and MEP scores were observed in the intervention group 24h after surgeries compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Compared to the control group, hospital stay in the intervention group was shortened by 2.3days (p < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the control of breakthrough pain and the incidence of adverse drug reactions (p > 0.05). Multidisciplinary perioperative pain management practice models and clinical pathways initiated by pharmacists could improve outcome indicators related to pain management and support the role and value of pharmacists.

УЛУЧШЕНИЕ АКУСТИЧЕСКИХ ПАРАМЕТРОВ ГИДРОПРИВОДОВ

The study objective is to improve the operational characteristics of hydraulic drives. The task to which the paper is devoted is to simulate operating processes and minimize the vibrations of the drive hydraulic and mechanical components based on the analysis of the main types of generators and dissipators of acoustic vibrations in hydraulic systems.&#x0D; Research methods: analysis of complex multidisciplinary models of hydraulic machine operating processes. Macro-models provide solutions to problems at the system level. Micro-models provide an analysis of the operating processes of hydraulic drives, taking into account the influence of internal and external factors of impact operating, the interaction of components and parts, changes in structural and technological parameters. &#x0D; The novelty of the work is in the substantiation of the influence of operational factors, structural and technological parameters on the vibration processes that form the acoustic characteristics of the hydraulic drive. &#x0D; The results of the study are presented on the example of reducing the vibration processes of an axial plunger hydraulic machine. Fluctuations in the operating pressure are given in the indicator diagram. The vibration amplitude depends on the dead volume of the piston chamber, as well as due to its under-filling operation at low temperatures. Also, based on the simulation results, zones of energy dissipation of the working fluid are localized to reduce vibration processes. Conclusions: the obtained results of modeling various measures to reduce the vibration processes will allow to localize and reduce the negative factors of noise generation.

Finding our own ways of working together: reflections on implementing and facilitating a multidisciplinary and equity-oriented model of Group Pregnancy Care for women of refugee background

ObjectiveThis paper explores professional staff experiences of implementing and facilitating a multidisciplinary equity-oriented model of Group Pregnancy Care for women of refugee background. This model was the first of its kind in Australia and one of the first worldwide. Design and SettingThis exploratory descriptive qualitative study reports the process evaluation findings from the formative evaluation of Group Pregnancy Care for women of refugee background. Data were collected in Melbourne, Australia between January and March 2021 via semi-structured interviews, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. ParticipantsPurposive sampling was used to recruit twenty-three professional staff involved in the implementation, facilitation, or oversight of Group Pregnancy Care. FindingsThis paper reports five themes: knowledge sharing, bicultural family mentors – the critical link, finding our own ways of working together, power dynamics at the intersection of community and clinical knowledge, and system capacity for change. Key conclusionsThe bicultural family mentor role contributes to the cultural safety of the group, and increases the confidence and competence of professional staff through cultural bridging. Multidisciplinary cross-sector teams that collaborate well can provide cohesive care. It is possible for hospital and community-based services to establish cross-sector equity-oriented partnerships. However, there are challenges sustaining partnerships in the absence of explicit funding to support collaboration, and in context of organisational and professional inflexibility. Implications for practiceInvesting in change is necessary to achieve health equity. Creating explicit funding pathways for the bicultural family mentor workforce, multidisciplinary collaboration, and cross-sector partnerships would strengthen service capacity to provide equity-oriented care. Working towards health equity also requires a commitment to continuing professional development for professional staff and organisations to increase knowledge and capacity.

Two-stage Text-to-BIMQL semantic parsing for building information model extraction using graph neural networks

With the increasing complexity of the building process, it is difficult for project stakeholders to retrieve large and multi-disciplinary building information models (BIMs). A natural language interface (NLI) is beneficial for users to query BIM models using natural language. However, parsing natural language queries (NLQs) is challenging due to ambiguous name descriptions and intricate relationships between entities. To address these issues, this study proposes a graph neural network (GNN)-based semantic parsing method that automatically maps NLQs into executable queries. Firstly, ambiguous mentions are collectively linked to referent ontological entities via a GNN-based entity linking model. Secondly, the logical forms of NLQs are interpreted through a GNN-based relation extraction model, which predicts links between mentioned entities in a heterogeneous graph fusing ontology and NLQ texts. The experiment based on 786 queries shows its outstanding performance. Moreover, a real-world case verifies the practicability of the proposed method for BIM model retrieval.

A SysML-centric integration framework for helicopter fuel system development

Data and model exchange between SysML (Systems Modeling Language) Modeling tools and other system development tools is a critical aspect of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). This paper introduces an application of the SysML-centric integration framework, which allows integrating multi-disciplinary engineering models into a SysML Modeling environment. A design practice of helicopter fuel system is then presented to illustrate how to combine the external simulation models within the SysML Models to explore the performance and verify corresponding requirements. In this case, FMI (Functional Mock-up Interface) based co-simulation creates a bridge between SysML Modeling tools and simulation tools in the SysML-centric integration framework. According to the practice, we believe it will significantly improve model consistency and traceability to provide early evaluation of concepts during conceptual design phase.

Study on the value of the prenatal-postnatal integrated management model in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of fetal heart malformations.

With the development and widespread use of fetal ultrasound and magnetic resonance technology in recent years, approximately 75% of fetuses are diagnosed prenatally with congenital structural malformations, a serious birth defect that endangers the life and health of the newborn. In this study, we aimed to study and analyze the value of the prenatal-postnatal integrated management model in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of fetal heart malformations. All pregnant women who were to undergo delivery in our hospital between January 2018 and December 2021 were recruited as the first subjects in this study, and after excluding those who refused to participate in the study, a total of 3,238 cases were finally included as subjects of this study. All pregnant women were screened for fetal heart malformations using the prenatal-postnatal integrated management model. Maternal files were established for all cases of heart malformations, grading the fetuses according to their heart disease grade, observing and recording their deliveries, treatment results and follow-ups. After screening for heart malformations using the prenatal-postnatal integrated management model, 33 cases of heart malformations were identified, including 5 cases of Grade I (all delivered), 6 cases of Grade II (all delivered), 10 cases of Grade III (1 induced), and 12 cases of Grade IV (1 induced); 2 cases of ventricular septal defect healed spontaneously after delivery, and 18 infants were treated accordingly. The results of the later follow-up showed that 10 children had normalized their heart structure, 7 cases had slight alterations in the heart valves, and 1 case died. The prenatal-postnatal integrated management model is a multidisciplinary cooperation model with certain clinical value in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of fetal heart malformations, which is beneficial to comprehensively improve the ability of hospital physicians in the grading management of heart malformations, detecting fetal heart malformations early and predicting fetal changes after birth. It further reduces the incidence of serious birth defects, conforms to the development trend of the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart diseases, enables to reduce child mortality with timely treatment, effectively improves the surgical prognosis of critical and complex congenital heart diseases, with a promising application prospect.

Application of a specialist nurse-led multidisciplinary team model in the perioperative care of patients undergoing simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation: randomized controlled trial.

Simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation (SPKT) is an effective treatment option for individuals who suffer from both diabetes mellitus and renal failure. However, experiments exploring nurse-led multidisciplinary team management during the perioperative management of patients undergoing SPKT are currently limited. This study aims to explore the clinical performance of a transplant nurse-led multidisciplinary team (MDT) in the perioperative management of SPKT patients. A total of 218 patients who underwent SPKT were randomly assigned to either a control group (n=116) receiving conventional care or an intervention group (n=102) managed through a transplant nurse-led MDT approach. The incidence of postoperative complications, hospital stay, total hospitalization cost, readmission rate, and postoperative nursing quality were compared between these 2 groups. The intervention and control groups showed no significant differences in age, gender, and body mass index. Compared with the control group, the intervention group had a significantly lower incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection and gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding (27.6% vs. 14.7% and 31.0% vs. 15.7%, respectively, both P<0.05). Compared to the control group, the intervention group had significantly lower hospitalization costs, length of hospital stay, and readmission rate 30 days after discharge (32.98±9.10 vs. 36.78±15.36, 26.47±13.4 vs. 31.03±11.61 and 31.4% vs. 50.0%, respectively, all P<0.05). Additionally, the intervention group had significantly better quality of postoperative nursing care than the control group (11.61±0.69 vs. 9.64±1.42, P<0.01), the availability of infection control and prevention measures (11.74±0.61 vs. 10.53±1.11, P<0.01), the effectiveness of health education (11.73±0.61 vs. 10.41±1.06, P<0.01), the effectiveness of rehabilitation training (11.77±0.54 vs. 10.37±0.96, P<0.01), and the patient satisfaction with nursing care (11.83±0.42 vs. 10.81±1.08, P<0.01). The nurse-led MDT model for transplant patients can reduce complications, shorten hospital stays, and save costs. It also provides clear guidelines for nurses, improving care quality and aiding patient recovery. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1900026543.

OC-0591 Acute radiotherapy toxicity in elderly patients managed by a multidisciplinary oncogeriatric model

OC-0591 Acute radiotherapy toxicity in elderly patients managed by a multidisciplinary oncogeriatric model

PO-03-080 OPTIMIZING POST-IMPLANT CRT MANAGEMENT

Implementing a post-implant cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) clinic using a combined electrophysiology (EP) & heart failure (HF) advanced practice provider (APP) model may improve subspecialty collaboration & prevent delays in device & medical optimization. Some previously described models evaluate patients 6 months post-procedure. Early follow-up post-implant may further improve response. To determine if a 1 month post-implant device interrogation provides actionable data to improve CRT response at 6 months using a dual-APP multidisciplinary model. We designed a multidisciplinary clinic to formally evaluate patients after CRT device implant. The team involves an advanced HF APP, an EP APP & a HF nurse. Standard device clinic follow up is maintained with the addition of a device interrogation at 1 month to evaluate device function & CRT pacing. Interventions are made at 1 month as necessary. Patients are then seen in the multidisciplinary clinic 6 months following implant & undergo device interrogation, ECG, echocardiogram, & 6-minute walk test. Patients are simultaneously seen by the APPs & a unified plan of care is developed. The electronic medical records were reviewed prospectively for clinical characteristics pre-implant & at 1 & 6 months post-implant, which were summarized with descriptive statistics, including correlation between 1 month data & 6 month CRT response. CRT responders at 6 months were defined as having an LVEF improvement of ≥5% & a reduction in LVESVi ≥10%. Ninety-six patients seen in the clinic from September 2020 to April 2022 were evaluated. The mean age was 70 years; 66 (69%) were male; 40 (42%) had ischemic cardiomyopathy; 53 (56%) had no documented arrhythmia history prior to device implant; 13 (13.5%) were considered to have permanent atrial fibrillation (AF). Of these patients, 52 (54%) were considered CRT responders at 6 months. One month CRT pacing >95% correlated with 6 month CRT response (coefficient of 0.11, std error 0.04, p= 0.01). PVC burden >5% negatively correlated with CRT response (coefficient of 0.15, std error 0.15, p=.02). AF burden did not correlate with CRT response (coefficient of 0.01, std error 0.01, p=0.14). Multivariate analysis did not show these variables to be independently predictive of CRT response. An APP-led, early post-implant evaluation of CRT patients may provide an opportunity to improve six-month CRT response.

Encouraging learning difficulties in social studies by multidisciplinary learning models

Learning activity distributes knowledge from educators to students to develop abilities and shape character, essential in improving student learning outcomes. However, there are still many learning activities that are less exciting or tend to be monotonous, which makes students quickly bored. This study aims to explore the learning difficulties in social studies learning by implementing a multidiscipline learning model. A conventional literature review and Jacobs' theory of a multidisciplinary integrated learning model were used to analyze the data. This study found that applying multidisciplinary learning models in social studies learning could bring some advantages, such as encouraging students to be more open-minded, active, easy-going, friendly, motivated, disciplined, and work in teamwork.

Adapting an intervention to support young caregivers of cancer survivors: A study protocol.

Of the family members providing care, in the United States over 5.4 million are young people (<18 years of age) and they are the caregivers receiving the least support overall. Given the need to support cancer survivors through a family-centered practice approach, this lack of support and intervention for young caregivers represents a substantial gap in cancer care. In this study, we will adapt a young caregivers intervention, YCare, with young caregivers in families affected by cancer in order to advance support for families in cancer settings. YCare is an intervention that improves the support young caregivers provide through a peer-engaged, multidisciplinary model but has previously not been studied in the cancer care setting. Guided by the updated Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) we will engage stakeholders (i.e., young caregivers, cancer survivors, health care providers) using qualitative (i.e., one-on-one semi-structured interviews) and arts-based methods. Stakeholders will be recruited via cancer registries and community partners. Data will be analyzed descriptively using deductive (e.g., CFIR domains) and inductive (e.g., cancer practice settings) approaches. The results will indicate the critical components for adapting the YCare intervention to the cancer practice context including new intervention elements and key characteristics. Adapting YCare to a cancer context will address a critical cancer disparity issue.

Medication Adherence among Allogeneic Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: A Systematic Review.

Recipients of a haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) may experience issues in medication adherence (MA) when discharged. The primary aim of this review was to describe the oral MA prevalence and the tools used to evaluate it among these patients; the secondary aims were to summarise factors affecting medication non-adherence (MNA), interventions promoting MA, and outcomes of MNA. A systematic review (PROSPERO no. CRD42022315298) was performed by searching the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica dataBASE (EMBASE), PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus databases, and grey literature up to May 2022 by including (a) adult recipients of allogeneic HSCT, taking oral medications up to 4 years after HSCT; (b) primary studies published in any year and written in any language; (c) with an experimental, quasi-experimental, observational, correlational, and cross-sectional design; and (d) with a low risk of bias. We provide a qualitative narrative synthesis of the extracted data. We included 14 studies with 1049 patients. The median prevalence of MA was 61.8% and it has not decreased over time (immunosuppressors 61.5% [range 31.3-88.8%] and non-immunosuppressors 65.2% [range 48-100%]). Subjective measures of MA have been used most frequently (78.6%) to date. Factors affecting MNA are younger age, higher psychosocial risk, distress, daily immunosuppressors, decreased concomitant therapies, and experiencing more side effects. Four studies reported findings about interventions, all led by pharmacists, with positive effects on MA. Two studies showed an association between MNA and chronic graft-versus-host disease. The variability in adherence rates suggests that the issues are relevant and should be carefully considered in daily practice. MNA has a multifactorial nature and thus requires multidisciplinary care models.

E050 Developing multidisciplinary models of care in rheumatology at University College London Hospital: 18 months of learning from conception to delivery and beyond

Abstract Background/Aims The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressures on NHS departments, with demand rapidly outstripping capacity. The British Society for Rheumatology ‘Rheumatology Workforce: a crisis in numbers (2021)’ highlighted the need to provide innovative ways of delivering rheumatology specialist care. At University College London Hospitals (UCLH) we created a rheumatology multidisciplinary team (MDT) clinic to meet rising demands on our service. The aims of the Rheumatology MDT clinic were to: reduce new appointment/follow-up waiting times, increase clinic capacity, incorporate musculoskeletal (MSK) point of care ultrasound, reduce number of hospital visits and add value to each clinic encounter. Methods We ran a 6-month pilot, supported by our outpatient transformation team, incorporating a Rheumatology Advanced Practice Physiotherapist (APP), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) and MSK ultrasound within a Consultant clinic. The success of the pilot helped secure funding for a further 12 months. Over 18 months we have implemented: APP/Consultant enhanced triage - up to 40% of referrals were appropriate for APP assessment, including regional MSK problems and back pain. This increased capacity for consultant-led appointments. Standardisation of time-lapse between CNS and consultant follow-up appointments to ensure appropriate spacing between patient encounters. Facilitated overbooking of urgent cases afforded by additional capacity provided by the APP. MSK ultrasound embedded in the clinic template. ‘Zoom’ patient education webinars facilitated by MDT members and wider disciplines e.g. dietetics, to empower self-management and reduce the administrative burden of patient emails/phone calls occurring outside the clinic. Patient participation sessions and feedback to help shape the service. Results During the 6-month pilot we reduced our waiting time for follow-up appointments from 9 months to 2. We now have capacity to book 1-2 urgent cases each week. Pre-MDT the average wait from consultant referral to physiotherapist appointment was 55 days. The MDT allows for same day assessment (reducing 2-3 patient journeys a clinic) and where suitable, facilitates discharge or onwards referral to the appropriate service. A dedicated MDT CNS has shortened treatment times, reduced email traffic between CNS and consultant and allows for same day, joint decision-making resulting in fewer appointments. Zoom webinar feedback has been positive. Patients value the broad expertise of allied health professionals which supports self-management. Embedding ultrasound allows for same day diagnostics, decreased referrals to radiology and reduced hospital visits. Conclusion Our MDT model has reduced waiting lists, decreased treatment delays and cut hospital attendances. Point of care ultrasound allows for same day decision making and abolishes the cost and diagnostic delay associated with referrals to radiology or outsourced providers. Shared decision-making adds value to outpatient attendances, which is reflected in patients’ positive feedback. The MDT model maximises the existing workforce skill set by enhancing the APP and CNS role, allowing patients immediate access to their expertise. Disclosure F. Higgs: None. D. Ludwig: None. N. Allotey: None. S. Begum: None. J. Burton: None.

Applying the syndemic framework to cancer research for effective cancer control in low- and middle-income countries.

Cancer burden is increasing rapidly globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which already face a double burden of infectious diseases and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). LMICs also struggle with poor social determinants of health, leading to cancer health disparities, such as delayed diagnoses and increased death rates due to cancer. Contextually, relevant research needs to be prioritised in these regions to ensure feasible, evidence-based healthcare planning and delivery for cancer prevention and control. A syndemic framework has been used to study the disease clustering of infectious diseases and NCDs across varied social contexts to understand how diseases interact adversely and how the wider environmental context and other socioeconomic factors contribute to poor health outcomes within specific populations. We propose using this model to study the 'syndemic of cancers' in the disadvantaged population of LMICs and suggest ways for the clear operationalisation of the syndemic framework through multidisciplinary evidence-generation models for the delivery of integrated, socially conscious interventions for effective cancer control.

In praise of ovulation induction for the management of anovulatory subfertility

Rapid advances in assisted reproductive technology have revolutionized fertility treatments for couples worldwide seeking a pregnancy. Although this is promising, concerns are emerging over the overuse of unnecessary assisted conception treatments, particularly among couples with anovulatory subfertility. Some experts are calling for the cessation of ovulation induction as the primary treatment of anovulatory subfertility in favour of more sophisticated assisted conception treatments. In the absence of other causes of subfertility, ovulation induction in patients with type 1 and type 2 anovulation disorders can achieve an up to 80% ovulation rate with a 40% cumulative pregnancy rate and few adverse effects. Considering the various risks and high costs associated with assisted reproductive technology treatments, it is hard to argue for their cost-effectiveness when simpler, safer and cheaper pharmacological ovulation induction could achieve comparable pregnancy rates. We argue here for the safe, effective and ethical use of ovulation induction in this population, supplemented by a judicious use of assisted conception treatments. We emphasize the essential role of ovulation induction as a first-line intervention for couples with anovulatory subfertility delivered within a patient-centred multidisciplinary care model and with a clear escalation pathway to use assisted reproductive technology treatments based on the person's response, characteristics and treatment preference.

Smart contract swarm and multi-branch structure for secure and efficient BIM versioning in blockchain-aided common data environment

Managing versions of data for building information modeling (BIM) data is critical for design collaboration, especially with multiple disciplines involved where each team has specific data requirements and design procedures. However, existing version control approaches are still inefficient for two limitations: (1) lacking an efficient data structure for managing version dependencies among multi-disciplinary BIM models and (2) risking data manipulation due to a centralized versioning architecture that may lead to reworking, losing design traceability and raising disputes. Blockchain technology is an emerging and promising solution for version management as it provides a decentralized, immutable, and traceable database paradigm. Hence, this paper proposes a blockchain-aided solution for secure and efficient BIM versioning with three major innovations. Firstly, a two-layer container common data environment (TLCCDE) model integrating blockchain and Interplanetary File System (IPFS) is developed to illustrate an overall logic for BIM versioning in a distributed environment. Secondly, a smart contract swarm (SCS) is developed to automate versioning actions in the TLCCDE. Thirdly, a novel multi-branch structure (MBS) with efficient algorithms is designed to simultaneously manage version change continuity, issue attachment, and dependency compliance. The proposed TLCCDE model is evaluated and validated in design scenarios based on a real-world project. Results show that: (1) the TLCCDE model is workable in BIM versioning; (2) TLCCDE computing performance metrics, including SCS latency and throughput, as well as MBS latency and scalability, are all validated to be practical; and (3) the TLCCDE outperforms existing versioning approaches by augmenting dependency automation and versioning cybersecurity.