Project description:Centralized outcome adjudication has been used widely in multicenter clinical trials in order to prevent potential biases and to reduce variations in important safety and efficacy outcome assessments. Adjudication procedures could vary significantly among different studies. In practice, the coordination of outcome adjudication procedures in many multicenter clinical trials remains as a manual process with low efficiency and high risk of delay. Motivated by the demands from two large clinical trial networks, a generic outcome adjudication module has been developed by the network's data management center within a homegrown clinical trial management system. In this article, the system design strategy and database structure are presented.A generic database model was created to transfer different adjudication procedures into a unified set of sequential adjudication steps. Each adjudication step was defined by one activate condition, one lock condition, one to five categorical data items to capture adjudication results, and one free text field for general comments. Based on this model, a generic outcome adjudication user interface and a generic data processing program were developed within a homegrown clinical trial management system to provide automated coordination of outcome adjudication.By the end of 2014, this generic outcome adjudication module had been implemented in 10 multicenter trials. A total of 29 adjudication procedures were defined with the number of adjudication steps varying from 1 to 7. The implementation of a new adjudication procedure in this generic module took an experienced programmer 1 or 2?days. A total of 7336 outcome events had been adjudicated and 16,235 adjudication step activities had been recorded. In a multicenter trial, 1144 safety outcome event submissions went through a three-step adjudication procedure and reported a median of 3.95?days from safety event case report form submission to adjudication completion. In another trial, 277 clinical outcome events were adjudicated by a six-step procedure and took a median of 23.84?days from outcome event case report form submission to adjudication procedure completion.A generic outcome adjudication module integrated in the clinical trial management system made the automated coordination of efficacy and safety outcome adjudication a reality.

Project description:Objectives: To test whether (1) electromechanical dyssynchrony induces region-specific alterations in the myocardial transcriptome and (2) dyssynchrony-induced gene expression changes can be corrected by cardiac resynchronization (CRT). Background: To date, CRT is the only heart failure treatment that can both acutely and chronically increase systolic function and prolong survival, something not yet achieved by a drug therapy. However, the mechanisms underlying the benefits of CRT remain elusive. Methods: Adult dogs underwent left bundle branch ablation (LBBB) and right atrial pacing at 200 bpm for either 6 weeks (dyssynchronous heart failure, DHF, n=12) or 3 weeks followed by 3 weeks of resynchronization by bi-ventricular pacing at the same pacing rate (CRT, n=10). Control animals without LBBB were not paced (NF, n=14). Echocardiography and invasive hemodynamic measurements were performed at 3 and 6 weeks. At 6 weeks, RNA was isolated from the anterior and lateral LV walls and hybridized onto canine-specific 44K microarrays. Results: In DHF, transcriptional changes consistent with re-expression of a fetal gene program were primarily observed in the anterior LV, resulting in increased regional heterogeneity of gene expression within the left ventricle. Dyssynchrony-induced region-specific expression changes in 1050 transcripts were reversed by CRT to levels of NF hearts (false discovery rate <5%). CRT remodeled transcripts with metabolic and cell signaling function and greatly reduced regional heterogeneity of gene expression compared with DHF. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate a profound effect of electromechanical dyssynchrony on the regional cardiac transcriptome, causing gene expression changes primarily in the anterior LV wall. CRT corrected the alterations in gene expression in the anterior wall by reversing the fetal gene expression pattern, supporting a global effect of biventricular pacing on the ventricular transcriptome that extends beyond the pacing site in the lateral wall. Complementary study to GSE14327. While GSE14327 was designed as a 1-color microarray experiment, this series was carried out following a 2-color design (anterior and lateral LV wall labeled with Cy3 and Cy5, respectively, including dye swaps).

Project description:Objectives: To test whether (1) electromechanical dyssynchrony induces region-specific alterations in the myocardial transcriptome and (2) dyssynchrony-induced gene expression changes can be corrected by cardiac resynchronization (CRT). Background: To date, CRT is the only heart failure treatment that can both acutely and chronically increase systolic function and prolong survival, something not yet achieved by a drug therapy. However, the mechanisms underlying the benefits of CRT remain elusive. Methods: Adult dogs underwent left bundle branch ablation (LBBB) and right atrial pacing at 200 bpm for either 6 weeks (dyssynchronous heart failure, DHF, n=12) or 3 weeks followed by 3 weeks of resynchronization by bi-ventricular pacing at the same pacing rate (CRT, n=10). Control animals without LBBB were not paced (NF, n=14). Echocardiography and invasive hemodynamic measurements were performed at 3 and 6 weeks. At 6 weeks, RNA was isolated from the anterior and lateral LV walls and hybridized onto canine-specific 44K microarrays. Results: In DHF, transcriptional changes consistent with re-expression of a fetal gene program were primarily observed in the anterior LV, resulting in increased regional heterogeneity of gene expression within the left ventricle. Dyssynchrony-induced region-specific expression changes in 1050 transcripts were reversed by CRT to levels of NF hearts (false discovery rate <5%). CRT remodeled transcripts with metabolic and cell signaling function and greatly reduced regional heterogeneity of gene expression compared with DHF. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate a profound effect of electromechanical dyssynchrony on the regional cardiac transcriptome, causing gene expression changes primarily in the anterior LV wall. CRT corrected the alterations in gene expression in the anterior wall by reversing the fetal gene expression pattern, supporting a global effect of biventricular pacing on the ventricular transcriptome that extends beyond the pacing site in the lateral wall. Designed as a 1-color experiments, samples from anterior and lateral left ventricular myocardium from non-failing, DHF and CRT animals were labeled with Cy3 and hybridized onto Agilent 44K long oligonucleotide arrays.

Project description:BackgroundAdherence to computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT) programs in real-world settings can be poor, and in the absence of therapist support, effects are modest and short term. Moreover, because cCBT systems tend toward limited support and thus low-intensity treatment, they are typically most appropriate for people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties. Blended therapy, that is, combining direct therapist contact with cCBT or psychoeducational materials, has been identified as one possible approach to address these limitations and widen access to individual CBT for depression. Building on the initial success of blended therapy, we explore an integrated approach that seeks to seamlessly combine face-to-face contact, electronic contact, and between-session activities. Integration also considers how the technology can support therapists' workflow and integrate with broader health care systems. The ultimate aim is to provide a structure within which therapists can deliver high-intensity treatments, while also greatly reducing face-to-face contact.ObjectiveThe research aimed to explore patients' and therapists' views on using a system for the delivery of individual treatment for depression that integrates face-to-face therapist contact with access to online resources and with synchronous online therapy sessions that allow collaborative exercises, and to establish design requirements and thus key design considerations for integrated systems that more seamlessly combine different modes of communication.MethodsWe conducted a series of four user-centered design studies. This included four design workshops and seven prototype testing sessions with 18 people who had received CBT for depression in the past, and 11 qualitative interviews and three role-play sessions with 12 CBT therapists experienced in the treatment of depression. Studies took place between July and December 2017 in Bristol, United Kingdom.ResultsWorkshops and prototyping sessions with people who had received CBT identified three important requirements for integrated platforms delivering CBT therapy for depression as follows: (1) features that help to overcome depression-related barriers, (2) features that support engagement, and (3) features that reinforce learning and support the development of new skills. Research with therapists highlighted the importance of the therapist and client working together, the impact of technology on therapists' workflow and workload, challenges and opportunities related to the use of online resources, and the potential of technology to support patient engagement. We use these findings to inform 12 design considerations for developing integrated therapy systems.ConclusionsTo meet clients' and therapists' needs, integrated systems need to help retain the personal connection, support both therapist- and patient-led activities, and provide access to materials and the ability to monitor progress. However, developers of such systems should be mindful of their capacity to disrupt current work practices and increase therapists' workload. Future research should evaluate the impact of integrated systems on patients and therapists in a real-world context.

Project description:Objectives: To test whether (1) electromechanical dyssynchrony induces region-specific alterations in the myocardial transcriptome and (2) dyssynchrony-induced gene expression changes can be corrected by cardiac resynchronization (CRT). Background: To date, CRT is the only heart failure treatment that can both acutely and chronically increase systolic function and prolong survival, something not yet achieved by a drug therapy. However, the mechanisms underlying the benefits of CRT remain elusive. Methods: Adult dogs underwent left bundle branch ablation (LBBB) and right atrial pacing at 200 bpm for either 6 weeks (dyssynchronous heart failure, DHF, n=12) or 3 weeks followed by 3 weeks of resynchronization by bi-ventricular pacing at the same pacing rate (CRT, n=10). Control animals without LBBB were not paced (NF, n=14). Echocardiography and invasive hemodynamic measurements were performed at 3 and 6 weeks. At 6 weeks, RNA was isolated from the anterior and lateral LV walls and hybridized onto canine-specific 44K microarrays. Results: In DHF, transcriptional changes consistent with re-expression of a fetal gene program were primarily observed in the anterior LV, resulting in increased regional heterogeneity of gene expression within the left ventricle. Dyssynchrony-induced region-specific expression changes in 1050 transcripts were reversed by CRT to levels of NF hearts (false discovery rate <5%). CRT remodeled transcripts with metabolic and cell signaling function and greatly reduced regional heterogeneity of gene expression compared with DHF. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate a profound effect of electromechanical dyssynchrony on the regional cardiac transcriptome, causing gene expression changes primarily in the anterior LV wall. CRT corrected the alterations in gene expression in the anterior wall by reversing the fetal gene expression pattern, supporting a global effect of biventricular pacing on the ventricular transcriptome that extends beyond the pacing site in the lateral wall.

Dataset Information

Design and validation of Integrated Yoga Therapy module for Antarctic expeditioners.

Publications

Design and validation of Integrated Yoga Therapy module for Antarctic expeditioners.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets