Feasibility study of brief Group Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioural Treatment delivered via Zoom for anxiety and depression in primary care

Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioural Treatment (TCBT) (targeting depression and a range of anxiety disorders) is an effective treatment that targets the common factors and processes underlying anxiety and depressive symptoms.68 Previous trials evaluating TCBT have been internet-based or face-to-face in individual or group form.9 Treatment lengths have typically been 10-18 sessions,912 although a large TCBT study evaluated brief (seven session) group TCBT for emotional disorders in primary care.13 This study reported sustained improvements for anxiety, depression, somatisation and reliable recovery for those receiving TCBT compared to treatment with general practitioners (GPs), but the treatment intervention was longer than is typically provided in the New Zealand context and the study did not include an active therapy control. Exclusion criteria Patients not eligible included those for whom alcohol and drugs were identified as the main clinical issue, those for whom a referral to specialty services was required to manage moderate-severe illness or high levels of risk and those with significant cognitive problems or language barriers that meant psychological interventions and completion of rating scales was not possible unless in modified form. Group content included the following: socialisation to the group, goal setting and motivation, introduction to the TCBT model, understanding the function of emotion, emotion-driven behaviours and the role of avoidance, behavioural activation, learning to observe emotions and thoughts (mindfulness exercises), thinking biases and thought restructuring, behavioural experiments, awareness of and tolerating physiological sensations (including interoceptive exposures) and relapse prevention. Reliable recovery was measured by scoring above clinical cut-off for PHQ-9 (>10) and GAD-7 (>8) at baseline assessment, scoring below clinical cut-off for PHQ-9 and GAD-7 at the follow-up time point and showing reliable improvement over treatment (pre-post change in PHQ-9>5.2 and GAD-7>3.53).19 The PHQ-9 is a reliable, valid self-administered measure of depression20 and the GAD-7 is a valid and efficient self-report measure for the assessment of generalised anxiety disorder.21 Secondary outcome measures were: 1.

DNA Gyrase as a Target for Quinolones.

Bacterial DNA gyrase is a type II topoisomerase that can introduce negative supercoils to DNA substrates and is a clinically-relevant target for the development of new antibacterials. DNA gyrase is one of the primary targets of quinolones, broad-spectrum antibacterial agents and are used as a first-line drug for various types of infections. However, currently used quinolones are becoming less effective due to drug resistance. Common resistance comes in the form of mutation in enzyme targets, with this type being the most clinically relevant. Additional mechanisms, conducive to quinolone resistance, are arbitrated by chromosomal mutations and/or plasmid-gene uptake that can alter quinolone cellular concentration and interaction with the target, or affect drug metabolism. Significant synthetic strategies have been employed to modify the quinolone scaffold and/or develop novel quinolones to overcome the resistance problem. This review discusses the development of quinolone antibiotics targeting DNA gyrase to overcome bacterial resistance and reduce toxicity. Moreover, structural activity relationship (SAR) data included in this review could be useful for the development of future generations of quinolone antibiotics.

A Novel Partnership Between Physicians and Medical Librarians During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

An ongoing collaboration between physicians and librarians provided critical information during the COVID-19 pandemic. A development team, which consisted of the hospital and medical school disaster preparedness medical director, the medical library director, professional librarians, and the Departments of IT and Marketing in a multi-state healthcare system worked together to develop a shared website to distribute and curate timely resources during COVID-19. The initial impacts of this collaboration and the website show the benefits of this novel partnership.