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Background/Objective: Hypercalcemia is a common occurrence associated with malignancy, due to a number of causes: (1) lytic bone metastases, (2) production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D from lymphoma, and (3) parathyroid hormone–related peptide (PTHrP) secretion usually from solid tumors. Case Report: A 56-year-old woman presented with symptoms of severe hypercalcemia. Investigations determined that this was due to PTHrP secretion from a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (pNET), a noted complication in 1.1% of pNET cases. Although unfit for curative therapy, the patient was treated with fluid replacement, bisphosphonates, calcitonin, and denosumab. After treatment, she had recurrent severe symptomatic hypercalcemia on several occasions despite adjunctive therapy with a somatostatin analog. Ultimately, the patient died as a result of refractory hypercalcemia. Discussion: The hypercalcemia that is rarely associated with PTHrP secretion from pNETs is aggressive and often refractory to the usual medical treatment of hypercalcemia of malignancy. Effective treatment requires cytoreduction of the causative tumor. Denosumab, a receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa beta ligand inhibitor, has proven useful in some cases. Conclusion: This challenging case highlighted the rare but potentially fatal association of pNET with hypercalcemia. Hypercalcemia was the main cause of mortality in an otherwise relatively indolent malignancy.

Background: The Early Career Publishers Committee (ECPC) of the STM Association (the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers)’s Early Career Publishers Committee (ECPC) aims to engage, and provide tools and resources for, early-career publishers (ECPs) and professionals. The committee believes it is important to survey the community regularly to understand the background, needs, and concerns of its members to better achieve the committee’s goals.Objectives: Early-career professionals were surveyed in 2014 and 2020: the first survey was undertaken to get a baseline understanding of the community and to guide the newly formed ECPC whereas the second not only sought to review some aspects of the first survey but also to identify and explore ways to improve engagement and support through new or revised survey questions.Methods: The two surveys were conducted online through the ECPC mailing list and social networks. The surveys were voluntary, with the option to skip some questions, and responses – some in the form of a rating scale – were collected anonymously. Each survey remained open for over a month to maximize responses, but neither was pretested. Some questions in the first survey were revised in the second in the light of learnings from the first survey.Results: Most of respondents were women, 25–54 years old, from the UK or the US, with higher degrees, and working in editorial roles. In the second survey, many respondents were interested in developing their career either in their current role or in a different one, and nearly half were actively seeking a new role. Over half said that finding the right role was a challenge. Many had never participated in a publishing-related mentoring scheme, and most had not heard of the STM mentoring scheme before.Conclusions: More tools, resources, and outreach for entry-level and younger industry members, for those from countries outside the UK and US, and for those seeking to develop their careers may be useful in the future. The mentoring scheme could be publicized more prominently to drive engagement. A new survey will be needed in the next 2–3 years, given the potential impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on the number of respondents in the second (2020) survey and their motivation.

People who are diagnosed with treatment resistant schizophrenia (TRS) are likely to have clozapine as a therapeutic management option. There is a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients receiving clozapine. To mitigate against this, monitoring of weight, waist circumference, lipid profile, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and blood pressure (BP) is recommended. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and whether any variables were correlated with its development, and to highlight any opportunities for the pharmacist to offer support. This study was conducted in an urban hospital and its associated Clozapine Clinic in Cork, Ireland. A retrospective audit assessed the prevalence of metabolic syndrome using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they were aged 18 years or more, registered with the Clozapine Clinic, and had the capacity to provide informed consent. All data were entered into Microsoft® Excel ® (Microsoft Corporation) and further statistical analysis was undertaken using R, t-tests, Fisher’s Exact Test and Mann–Whitney U tests as appropriate, and p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Of 145 patients (32% female; mean age (SD) 45.3 (±11.7) years; 86.2% living independently/in family home), nearly two thirds (n = 86, 59.3%) were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. The mean age of participants with metabolic syndrome was 44.4 years (SD = 10.8), similar to the 46.6 years (SD = 12.8) for those without. Variables that were identified to be statistically significantly associated with metabolic syndrome included waist circumference, weight, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), BP, FBG and HbA1c. The high incidence of metabolic syndrome in this patient population highlights the need for continued physical health monitoring of these patients to ameliorate the risk of developing metabolic syndrome.

Abstract Background Bubaque is the most populous island of the Bijagos archipelago, a group of malaria-endemic islands situated off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. Malaria vector control on Bubaque relies almost exclusively on the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs). However, there is little information on local vector bionomics and insecticide resistance. Methods A survey of mosquito species composition was performed at the onset of the wet season (June/July) and the beginning of the dry season (November/December). Sampling was performed using indoor adult light-traps and larval dipping. Anopheles mosquitoes were identified to species level and assessed for kdr allele frequency by TaqMan PCR. Females were analysed for sporozoite positivity by CSP-ELISA. Resistance to permethrin and α-cypermethrin was measured using the CDC-bottle bioassay incorporating the synergist piperonyl-butoxide. Results Several Anopheles species were found on the island, all belonging to the Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) complex, including An. gambiae sensu stricto, Anopheles coluzzii, Anopheles melas, and An. gambiae/An. coluzzii hybrids. Endophagic Anopheles species composition and abundance showed strong seasonal variation, with a majority of An. gambiae (50% of adults collected) caught in June/July, while An. melas was dominant in November/December (83.9% of adults collected). Anopheles gambiae had the highest sporozoite rate in both seasons, with infection rates of 13.9% and 20% in June/July and November/December, respectively. Moderate frequencies of the West African kdr allele were found in An. gambiae (36%), An. coluzzii (35%), An. gambiae/An. coluzzii hybrids (42%). Bioassays suggest moderate resistance to α-cypermethrin, but full susceptibility to permethrin. Conclusions The island of Bubaque maintained an An. gambiae s.l. population in both June/July and November/December. Anopheles gambiae was the primary vector at the onset of the wet season, while An. melas is likely to be responsible for most dry season transmission. There was moderate kdr allele frequency and synergist assays suggest likely metabolic resistance, which could reduce the efficacy of LLINs. Future control of malaria on the islands should consider the seasonal shift in mosquito species, and should employ continuous monitoring for insecticide resistance.