Plos One
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For the purpose of providing excellent patient care, residents need to be strong, effective leaders. The lack of clinical leadership is alarming given the detrimental effects on patient safety. The objective of the study was to assess whether a leadership training addressing transactional and transformational leadership enhances leadership skills in residents. ⋯ These findings support the use of the transactional and transformational leadership framework for graduate leadership training. Future studies should incorporate time-latent post-tests, evaluating the stability of the behavioral performance increase.
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Observational Study
Low levels of serum ferritin and moderate transferrin saturation lead to adequate hemoglobin levels in hemodialysis patients, retrospective observational study.
Optimal iron levels in patients on hemodialysis are currently unknown, and a higher level than that for the healthy population is usually set for such patients considering the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents or the occurrence of chronic inflammation. However, excessive iron causes oxidative stress and impairment of its utilization by cells. Therefore we investigated the relationship between hemoglobin (Hb) level and iron status in hemodialysis patients to identify the optimal iron levels for patients undergoing hemodialysis. ⋯ In this study, the iron status of serum ferritin <90 ng/mL and transferrin saturation ≥20% was optimal in hemodialysis patients receiving recombinant human erythropoietin for anemia therapy. This result indicates that the threshold values for the optimal iron status may be lower than those currently recommended in iron-level management guideline.
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Care for severely injured patients requires multidisciplinary teamwork. A decrease in the number of accident victims ultimately affects the routine and skills. PHTLS ("Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support") courses are established two-day courses for medical and non-medical rescue service personnel, aimed at improving the pre-hospital care of trauma patients worldwide. The study aims the examination of the quality of documentation before and after PHTLS courses as a surrogate endpoint of training effectiveness and awareness. ⋯ In summary, we showed that PHTLS training improves documentation quality, which we used as a surrogate endpoint for learning effectiveness and awareness. In this regard, we demonstrated that participants use certain parts of training in real life, thereby suggesting that the learning methods of PHTLS training are effective. These results, however, do not indicate whether patient care has changed.
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Interferences between pathogenic bacteria and specific commensals are known. We determined the interactions between nasopharyngeal microbial pathogens and commensals during viral upper respiratory tract infection (URI) and acute otitis media (AOM) in infants. ⋯ Otopathogen genera played the key roles in URI and AOM occurrences. Staphylococcus counteracts otopathogens thus Staphylococcal colonization may be beneficial, rather than harmful. While Sphingobium may play a role in preventing AOM complicating URI, the commonly used probiotic Bifidobacterium did not play a significant role during URI or AOM. The role of less common commensals in counteracting the deleterious effects of otopathogens requires further studies.
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Postoperative atrial fibrillation, acute kidney dysfunction and low cardiac output following coronary surgery are associated with morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study is to determine if the preoperative autonomic control is a determinant of these postoperative complications. This is a prospective cohort study on 150 adult patients undergoing surgical coronary revascularization with cardiopulmonary bypass. ⋯ A low value of BRSαLF was associated with acute kidney dysfunction and low cardiac output state. A BRSαLF < 3 msec/mmHg was an independent risk factor for acute kidney dysfunction (odds ratio 3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.02-8.8, P = 0.045) and of low cardiac output state (odds ratio 17.0, 95% confidence interval 2.9-99, P = 0.002). Preoperative baroreflex sensitivity is linked to postoperative complications through a number of possible mechanisms, including an autonomic nervous system-mediated vasoconstriction, a poor response to hypotension, and an increased inflammatory reaction.