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A project team from the United Kingdom Oncology Nursing Society developed a blended e-learning website to facilitate nurses to further develop their confidence and competencies in a range of skills related to assessing the holistic needs of people with cancer. The project team identified three areas which were integral to an holistic needs assessment (HNA) implementation project. These were project support information, project management skills, and practical competencies delivered in a blended e-learning package containing a series of accessible video presentations, supporting documents, and practical activities. The team worked with internal and external partners to ensure that a robust and inspiring programme was created. www.hnaforcancer.com was launched in October 2012 as a blended learning programme that incorporates e-learning on core subjects. These subjects are packaged as videoed presentations with supporting learning material and can be accessed via the UKONS website. By the end of the programme participants were equipped to identify and explore the essential requirements for HNA and care planning, more able to recognise potential need, and initiate care to prevent or minimise the risk of complications. Participants had also developed confidence and competency in new skills, including basic project management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review briefly considers the testicular damage elicited by environmental chemical pollution. It includes a short comment on environmental toxicology as an introduction to environmental chemical pollution, highlighting the importance of this current field of study and its impact on male reproductive health. Furthermore an experimental animal model addressing the effect of organophosphorated agropesticides as a testicular toxicant is presented. Moreover two relevant chemical contaminants and their effect on the testis, such as the classical case of lead and the rarely reported case of Boron on spermatogenesis, are considered. Additionally, the subject of biosentinel species and their relevance for the monitoring of pollution in aquatic and/or terrestrial ecosystems is considered. In conclusion, it should be stressed that environmental health is closely related to the reproductive health of all living beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented regarding the difference of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive dopaminergic (DA) neurons from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) derived from schizophrenia (SZ) patients.

Mice rendered completely deficient of the complement components C3 or C4 were used to determine the influence of complement activation in the heterologous phase of the anti-GBM disease model. In wild-type animals the disease is characterized by a neutrophil infiltrate, capillary thrombosis, proteinuria and C3 and C4 deposited within the glomerulus. The early infiltration of neutrophils into the glomeruli is greater in wild-type mice (2.8 ± 0.3) compared with C3-deficient (1.4 ± 0.2) and C4-deficient (1.2 ± 0.003) mice. Deficiency also protects against the subsequent development of proteinuria (2.99 ± 1.11 mg/24h, 0.059mg/24h and 0.327 ± 0.14mg/24h in wild-type, C3-deficient and C4- deficient mice, respectively) and decreases glomerular capillary thrombosis in both C3- and C4- deficient mice. The degree of protection is greater in the C3-deficient than the C4-deficient animals, suggesting both classical and alternative pathway involvement. These studies support a critical role for complement in the development of anti-GBM disease. However, the protective effect of complement deficiency can be broken if the dose of nephritogenic antibody is increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repeated low-dose injections of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) in the brown Norway (BN) rat result in polyclonal activation which includes the induction of anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) autoantibodies. We examined the kinetics of various autoantibodies produced in vivo, general features of polyclonal activation such as total IgG levels and immune complex formation, and the relationship between organ specific autoimmunity and tissue injury in the kidney and thyroid The production of immune complexes and autoantibodies to GBM and thyroglobulin was short lived and the increase in levels of total IgG and antibodies to ssDNA and dsDNA was prolonged; the antibody response to collagen types land II was intermediate in duration. Autoantibodies induced by HgCl: caused only mild and variable tissue injury in the kidneys and did not induce abnormalities in the thyroid. These studies demonstrate that immunostimulation by mercury may result in the formation of a range of autoantibodies with variable kinetics and pathogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: CHARGE syndrome is a congenital collection of anomalies of various organs including various functional and structural anomalies of the ears. Surgical management of hearing loss in CHARGE syndrome is challenging due to various anatomical malformations of the middle and inner ear. Cochlear implantation surgery for profound sensorineural hearing loss is technically difficult due to these malformations whilst cochlea nerve hypoplasia or aplasia may compromise outcomes. Aberrant facial nerve position may increase perioperative morbidity whilst developmental delay often makes global assessment of patients with CHARGE difficult. We aim to provide surgical guidance on managment of patients with CHARGE Methods: We performed a systematic review of all trials involving cochlear implantation in CHARGE syndrome. We searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE through Ovid SP and Web of Science. Primary outcome measures included Health-related quality of life, audiological outcomes as well as adverse events and complications. We also assessed the most commonly recorded ear anomalies including the findings of aberrant facial nerve positon. A retrospective series of patients with CHARGE syndrome assessed for cochlear implantation at Great Ormond Street Hospital was also performed. Results: 15 patients with CHARGE were assessed at our centre between 1993 and 2017 with ten cochlear implantations performed. Semicircular canal aplasia and vestibulocochlear dysplasia were seen in all patients. All patients had abnormal facial nerve anatomy. These findings were in keeping with the findings of our systematic review which consisted of case series/retrospective reviews. No randomised controlled trials were identified. Data from the systematic review is presented in an easy-to-interpret table. Conclusions: Cochlear implantation in CHARGE patients is surgically challenging with variable outcomes. We describe our experience and compare this to the literature through a systematic review of published outcome data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]