Changes in the quality of life of adults with an ostomy during the first year after surgery as part of the Best Practice Spotlight Organisation® Programme.

The aim was to analyse changes in the perceived quality of life of patients with an ostomy during the first year after surgery at two or three follow-ups. This is a prospective study of a cohort of 55 patients who were ostomised between June 2021 and September 2022 and cared for under the recommendations set out in the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario® best practice guideline Supporting Adults Who Anticipate or Live with an Ostomy as part of the Best Practice Spotlight Organisation® (BPSO®) programme. The Stoma Quality of Life tool was used. A univariate analysis was performed to identify variables associated with a non-improvement in quality of life. Variables showing p < 0.1 were included in a multivariate model. Patients with an ostomy exhibited a moderate-to-good perception of quality of life in both the personal and social dimensions, with no worsening over the first year. Being female (OR = 10.32) and being younger (OR = 0.89) were associated with a higher risk of no improvement in quality of life. The most frequent complications were urinary leakage (p = 0.027) and dermatitis (p = 0.052) at first follow-up; and parastomal hernia (p = 0.009) and prolapse (p = 0.05) at third follow-up. However, they did not lead to a worsening of quality of life, suggesting that these patients were adequately supported under the BPSO® programme.

Auditing completion of nursing records as an outcome indicator for identifying patients at risk of developing pressure ulcers, falling, and social vulnerability: An observational study.

AIM: To evaluate the completion of nursing records through scheduled audits to analyse risk outcome indicators. BACKGROUND: Nursing records support clinical decision-making and encourage continuity of care, hence the importance of auditing their completion in order to take corrective action where necessary. METHOD: This was an observational descriptive study carried out from February to November 2020 with a sample of 1131 electronic health records belonging to patients admitted to COVID-19 hospital units during three observation periods: pre-pandemic, first wave, and second wave. RESULTS: A significant reduction in nursing record completion rates was observed between pre-pandemic period and first and second waves: Braden scale 40.97%, 28.02%, and 30.99%; Downton scale: 43.74%, 22.34%, and 33.91%; Gijón scale: 40.12%, 26.23%, and 33.64% (p < 0.001). There was an increase in the number of records completed between the first and second waves following the measures adopted after the quality audit. CONCLUSIONS: The use of scheduled audits of nursing records as quality indicators facilitated the detection of areas for improvement, allowing timely corrective actions. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Support from nursing managers at health care facilities to implement quality assessment programmes encompassing audits of clinical record completion will encourage the adoption of measures for corrective action.

Factors Relating to Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pain Management in Inpatients.

PURPOSE: To describe factors associated with nurses' attitudes or lack of knowledge regarding pain management in adult inpatients. DESIGN: Transverse descriptive survey-based study. METHODS: This was a transverse descriptive survey-based study. The population was obtained through nonprobabilistic convenience sampling. The Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was made available to 470 nurses at a tertiary level hospital. Associations were sought with the unit where assigned, years of experience, specific training on pain, and postgraduate education. RESULTS: The sample included 134 nurses with a mean age of 41.6 ± 10.8 years; 87% were women, 64% worked rotating shifts, 64% had more than 10 years of experience, and 31% had specific training in pain management. The greatest number of correct responses was obtained from nurses with specific training in pain management (p = .001) and nurses who worked in units of surgical hospitalization (p = .004). The lack of training was associated with a deficit in knowledge and inadequate attitudes about pain management. In nurses with less than 10 years of experience, worse results were observed in knowledge, whereas the unit of work was decisive in the results about attitude (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Among the nurses surveyed, some knowledge gaps were detected, as were certain inappropriate attitudes, associated with lack of training, lack of experience, and being assigned to specific hospitalization units.

Reversible binding of solvent to naked PbII centers in unusual homoleptic alkynyl-based Pt2Pb2 clusters.

We report a series of luminescent sandwich-type clusters [Pt2 Pb2 (C≡CR)8] (R=Tol, 1; C6 H4 OMe-3, 2; C6 H4 OMe-4, 3) with a dynamic Pt2 Pb2 metallic core, which is key to their intriguing stimuli-responsive photophysical properties. The solvent-free solids 1-3 display an orange emission ascribed to charge transfer from Pt-alkynyl fragments to a delocalized orbital with mixed Pt2 Pb2 /C≡CR nature, with a predominant lead contribution and Pb⋅⋅⋅Pb bonding character ((3) MLCCT/(3) IL). They exhibit mechanical, color, and luminescence changes that are reversible and perceivable with the naked eye, which are attributed to small inter- and intramolecular structural modifications induced by gentle grinding. Interestingly, 1 and 2 also exhibit remarkable and fast reversible vapochromic responses to donor solvent vapors (acetone, THFMe-2: yellow; NCMe: green, vs. dry solids: orange). The structures of 1(acetone)2 ⋅2(Me2 CO), 2(acetone)3 , and 2(THFMe-2)2 allow the vapochromic responses to be ascribed to the fast creation/disruption of solvate clusters [Pt2 Pb2 (C≡CR)8 Sx] (x≥2), with concomitant electronic and geometrical modifications within the Pt2 Pb2 core, which are easily accessible through a slight change in the stereochemical activity of the lone pair. The binding of one (or two) solvent molecules to Pb(2+) increases the Pb⋅⋅⋅Pb separation in the metallic core, causing a destabilization of the target orbital and larger energy gaps of the transitions. All the solvates exhibit remarkable rigidochromism upon a decrease in temperature, which is also associated with the gradual increase in the transannular Pb⋅⋅⋅Pb separation, as revealed by X-ray crystallography of 1(acetone)2 at different temperatures. Investigation of the crystal lattice of 1⋅CH2 Cl2 and 3⋅2 CH2 Cl2 further suggests that the lack of vapor stimuli response of complex 3 could be attributed to the presence of competitive additional secondary intermolecular Pb⋅⋅⋅O(OMe) contacts, which give rise to a more compact network built up from extended chains of clusters.

Implementing Best Practice Guidelines under the Best Practice Spotlight Organisation: Facilitators and Barriers for Nurses: A Delphi Study.

The implementation and sustainability of evidence-based practice (EBP) is a complex process. Best practice guidelines (BPGs) can facilitate the translation of knowledge from theory into practice, but they require working groups to adapt recommendations and encourage adherence to them. The aim of this study was to identify facilitators and barriers of BPGs in the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario®, within the framework of Best Practice Spotlight Organisations® (BPSOs®), in a hospital setting. Methods: This study was conducted using the modified Delphi method (two rounds) with a cohort of BPSO® Best Practice Champions. The facilitators and barriers included in the first round were identified through a bibliographic search. The degree of concordance was determined in the second round using the highest mean resulting values. Results: A total of 44 nurses responded, with a mean age of 42.57 ± 8.563. The facilitators included the following: work environment; working in a hospital that encourages research; and dedicating time to EBP (p < 0.001). The barriers included the following: excessive workload; professional mobility (p < 0.001); and lack of time (p = 0.002). Implications for practice: As such, it is necessary to approach human resource management by implementing new policies that guarantee systemic sustainability. The BPSO® programme is an excellent framework for promoting the translation of theoretical knowledge into practice and effecting institutional change.

Structure-property relationships and (1)O)2) photosensitisation in sterically encumbered diimine Pt(II) acetylide complexes.

A series of sterically encumbered [Pt(L)(σ-acetylide)2 ] complexes were prepared in which L, a dendritic polyaromatic diimine ligand, was held constant (L=1-(2,2'-bipyrid-6-yl)-2,3,4,5-tetrakis(4-tert-butylphenyl)benzene) and the cis ethynyl co-ligands were varied. The optical properties of the complexes were tuned by changing the electronic character, extent of π conjugation and steric bulk of the ethynyl ligands. Replacing electron-withdrawing phenyl-CF3 substituents (4) with electron-donating pyrenes (5) resulted in a red shift of both the lowest-energy absorption (ΔE=3300 cm(-1) , 61 nm) and emission bands (ΔE=1930 cm(-1) , 64 nm). The emission, assigned in each case as phosphorescence on the basis of the excited-state lifetimes, switched from being (3) MMLL'CT-derived (mixed metal-ligand-to-ligand charge transfer) when phenyl/polyphenylene substituents (3, 4, 6) were present, to ligand-centred (3) ππ* when the substituents were more conjugated aromatic platforms [pyrene (5) or hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (7)]. The novel Pt(II) acetylide complexes 5 and 7 absorb strongly in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, which along with their long triplet excited-state lifetimes suggested they would be good candidates for use as singlet-oxygen photosensitisers. Determined by in situ photooxidation of 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN), the photooxidation rate with pyrenyl-5 as sensitiser (kobs =39.3×10(-3)  min(-1) ) was over half that of the known (1) O2 sensitiser tetraphenylporphyrin (kobs =78.6×10(-3)  min(-1) ) under the same conditions. Measured (1) O2 quantum yields of complexes 5 and 7 were half and one-third, respectively, of that of TPP, and thus reveal an efficient triplet-triplet energy-transfer process in both cases.

Self-perceived competences in evidence-based practice of clinical-teaching nurses versus clinical nurses.

AIM: To compare the evidence-based practice (EBP) self-perceived competences of clinical teacher nurses (CTN) versus clinical nurses (CN) to detect areas for improvement in practical training. METHOD: A cross-sectional study by means of a self-assessment questionnaire sent to nurses of two public hospitals of Castilla y León was performed, between February to May 2020. Variables included competences in evidence based practice (EBP) - attitude, knowledge, skills and use-, sociodemographic, job, academic, teaching relations and training in investigation methodology and/or EBP. A validated questionnaire EBP-COQ prof© of 35 questions with answers type Likert (1, very disagree-5, very agree) was used. Data analysis (descriptive and bivariate) was performed by means SPSS v.24 program. RESULTS: 171 questionnaires were answered by nurses. CN 52%, CTN 48%. There were no significant differences between both groups regarding sociodemographic variables. Mean age was 43.6 ±â€¯9.9 and 42.9 ±â€¯8.5 for CN and CTN, respectively. Total sample showed a mean EBP competency score of 3.54 ±â€¯1.00 (attitudes: 4.40 ±â€¯0.60; knowledge: 3.08 ±â€¯0.94; skills: 3.57 ±â€¯0.66; utilization: 3.36 ±â€¯0.75). The CTN group obtained higher mean scores in knowledge dimension, compared with CN (P = .02) and with total sample (P = .02). There were no significant differences in other dimensions. CONCLUSION: CTN showed better self-perceived competences scores only in the knowledge dimension compared with CN. Taking in account the level of responsibility they support in their daily practice, it would be advisable to design management strategies in order to improve attitudes, skills and utilize EBP, acting as professional role models for students and peer mentors.

Nurses' evidence-based practice competence and hospital practice environment after specific training under the Best Practice Spotlight Organization® Programme. A cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Barriers to implementing training strategies for the improvement of evidence-based practice competence of nurses in hospital practice environments still persist. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a specific training within the framework of the Best Practice Spotlight Organization® programme, on nurses' evidence-based practice competence and the practice environment in two hospitals. DESIGN: This is a observational cross-sectional study assessing evidence-based practice competence and perceptions of Practice Environments. PARTICIPANTS: The study sample were 204 nurses working at medical and surgical inpatient units at two hospitals involved in the Best Practice Spotlight Organization® programme. METHODS: The study was conducted from February 2020 to May 2020. Three questionnaires were used to collect data: a sociodemographic/occupational questionnaire, a questionnaire exploring evidence-based practice skills, and a questionnaire exploring nurses' perceptions of their hospital practice environments. RESULTS: A total of 204 nurses participated. They were classified into two groups: those who had received specific training within the framework of the programme, called trained-champions (n = 66), and those who had not yet received training, control group (n = 138). The trained-champions exhibited better evidence-based practice competence values than the control group in all dimensions (p < 0.001), with a higher difference in means in the "Utilisation" dimension (-0.80; CI:-0.99,-0.60) and the "Knowledge" dimension (-0.63; CI:-0.88,-0.38). Trained-champions also had a more positive perception of the practice environments than the controls in all dimensions (p ≤ 0.001). The largest differences in means were in the "Participation" dimension (-0.48; CI:-0.66,-0.31) and in the "Leadership" dimension (-0.41; CI:-0.59,-0.23). CONCLUSIONS: Specific EBP training within the framework of the Best Practice Spotlight Organization® programme has succeeded in nurses (trained-champions) obtaining better EBP competence than others without this training. This could have contributed to increase nurses' abilities to integrate evidence into decision making in their clinical practice, while positively influencing them to perceive their PEs more favorably.

Umbilical KeyPort bilateral laparoscopic orchiectomy in patient with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome.

MAIN FINDINGS: A 22-year-old woman with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) presenting with primary amenorrhea and normal female external genitalia was referred for laparoscopic gonadectomy. She had been diagnosed several years earlier but was reluctant to undergo surgery. Case HYPOTHESIS: Diagnosis of this X-linked recessive inherited syndrome characterizes by disturbance of virilization in males with an AR mutation, XY karyotipe, female genitalia and severely undescended testis with risk of malignization. The optimal time to orchidectomy is not settled; neither the real risk of malignancy in these patients. Early surgery impacts development of a complete female phenotype, with enlargement of the breasts. Based on modern diagnostic imaging using DCE-MRI and surgical technology with single port laparoscopic access we hypothesize that the optimum time for gonadectomy is not at the time of diagnosis, but once feminization has completed. PROMISING FUTURE IMPLICATIONS: An umbilical laparoendoscopic single-site access for bilateral gonadectomy appears to be the first choice approach as leaves no visible incision and diminishes the psychological impact of surgery in a patient with CAIS absolutely reassured as female. KeyPort, a single port access with duo-rotate instruments developed by Richard Wolf facilitates this surgery and allows excellent cosmetic results.

The influence of preoperative anxiety on postoperative pain in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Patients undergoing cardiac surgery represent a challenge in terms of pain management due to multiple factors relating to the patients and to the procedure itself. Our aim was to identify the influence of levels of preoperative anxiety on postoperative pain in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and explore associations between preoperative anxiety, postoperative pain, analgesic requirements, and sex. We present a prospective cohort study of 116 patients undergoing cardiac surgery between January and April 2020. Preoperative anxiety was evaluated using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the amount of morphine needed to keep pain intensity below 4 on the verbal numerical rating scale was recorded for 48 h post-surgery. Given the extracorporeal circulation time, type of surgery and body surface, it was observed that every percentile increase in preoperative state anxiety led to an extra 0.068 mg of morphine being administered. For each extra year of age, the amount of morphine needed decreased by 0.26 mg, no difference was observed between men and women in terms of preoperative anxiety or postoperative analgesics requirements. It may be concluded that in cardiac surgery, postoperative analgesic requirements increased with higher levels of preoperative state anxiety and decreased for every extra year of age.

Development of critical thinking skills of undergraduate students throughout the 4 years of nursing degree at a public university in Spain: a descriptive study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the critical thinking skills of students enrolled in the four academic years of the nursing degree at a public university belonging to the European Higher Education Area. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive study. Using the Critical Thinking Questionnaire to analyse the critical thinking skills in their substantive and dialogic dimension. SETTING: Faculty of Nursing, Valladolid Public University in Spain, belonging to the European Higher Education Area. PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 215 first-year, second-year, third-year and fourth-year undergraduate nursing students. MAIN OUTCOMES: The students of the four academic years were positively disposed towards critical thinking. The students of the final courses obtained higher average scores. RESULTS: The study sample was 215 students, 19.1% men/80.9% women. The average score in the substantive dimension (3.81±0.53 points) was higher than that in the dialogic dimension (3.48±0.51 points) (p<0.001). They had a greater ability in listening and speaking (3.77±0.61 points) with respect to writing (3.65±0.61 points) and reading (3.52±0.43 points) (p<0.001). There are significant differences in the critical thinking average scores across academic years. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing students displayed a greater critical thinking ability in its substantive dimension compared with the dialogic one. This reflects a greater ability in actions related to provide reasons and evidence that support their point of view. Identifying critical thinking skills in nursing students will help establish specific teaching methodologies focused on improving these skills.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Levels of Adherence to the Completion of Nursing Records for Inpatients in Isolation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased workload for nurses and organisational and structural changes, which have been necessary to meet the needs of inpatients in isolation. AIM: To describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on levels of adherence to the completion of nursing records that document the risk of developing pressure ulcers, falling, and social vulnerability among hospitalised patients in isolation. METHODS: Observational pre-post comparison study. Comparison between nursing records (the Braden, Downton, and Gijón scales) belonging to 1205 inpatients took place in two phases. Phase 1: 568 patients admitted in February 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, vs. phase 2: 637 patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in March-April 2020, during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic. This research adheres to the STROBE guidelines for the reporting of observational studies. RESULTS: The degree of completion of the Braden, Downton, and Gijón scales decreased significantly in phase 2 vs. phase 1 (p < 0.001). The mean Downton and Gijón scale scores for patients admitted in phase 1 were higher compared to those of patients admitted in phase 2 (p < 0.001). The mean Braden scale score in phase 2 was higher than in phase 1 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a decrease in the completion of nursing records in the clinical records of patients in isolation. The levels of risk of developing PUs, falling, and social vulnerability of patients admitted to hospital were lower during the first wave of the pandemic.

Rhomboidal heterometallic alkynyl based Pt2Cd2 clusters: structural, photophysical, and theoretical studies.

Reactions between [Pt(C[triple bond]CR)(4)](2-) (R = Tol a, C(6)H(4)OMe-4 b, C(6)H(4)OMe-3 c) and Cd(2+) depend on the media and the alkynyl substituent, leading to the formation of yellow tetranuclear solvate complexes [Pt(C[triple bond]CR)(4)Cd(acetone)](2) 1a,b(acetone)(2) and [Pt(C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)OMe-3)(4)Cd(dmso)](2) 1c(dmso)(2) or white polymeric solvate-free species [Pt(C[triple bond]CR)(4)Cd](x) 1'a-c. Treatment of 1a,b(acetone)(2) or 1'a-c with N-donor ligands affords a series of tetranuclear clusters [Pt(C[triple bond]CR)(4)CdL](2) (L = py; 2a-c. R = Tol; L = NC(5)H(4)CH(3)-4 3, NC(5)H(4)CF(3)-4 4, pzH 5). X-ray crystallographic studies reveal that, in the tolyl complexes (2a, 4, and 5), the Cd-L(2+) unit is closely bonded to one Pt-C(alpha)(acetylide) bond (Pt-Cd = 2.7, Cd-C(alpha) approximately 2.48 A), and the resulting "Pt(C[triple bond]CTol)(4)CdL" unit dimerizes by two additional eta(2)-Cd-acetylide and a weaker Pt...Cd bonding interaction leading to a planar unsymmetrical rhomboidal metal core. By contrast, the m-methoxyphenyl derivatives (2c, 1c(dmso)(2)) form symmetrical Pt(2)Cd(2) cores, with each Cd bonded (coordination number, C.N. = 5) to the incoming ligand (pyridine 2c, dmso 1c(dmso)(2)) and four Pt-C(alpha) bonds (Pt-Cd approximately 2.85; Cd-C(alpha) 2.470(10)-2.551(5) A) of different Pt(II) fragments. Evidence of ligand dissociation was found for the solvate (1a,b(acetone)(2), 1c(dmso)(2)) and NC(5)H(4)CF(3)-4 (4) derivatives by NMR and UV-vis absorption spectra. All tetranuclear aggregates exhibit bright blue to green luminescence in the solid state. Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were performed to shed light on the nature of the electronic transitions. In the solvate 1a,b(acetone)(2) and 1c(dmso)(2), emissions have been assigned to a platinum-alkynyl to cadmium charge transfer ((3)MLM'CT), mixed with some intraligand (3)IL(C[triple bond]CR) character. In the imine derivatives 2-5, they are suggested to come from an excited state of large Pt(d)/piC[triple bond]CR-->pi*(imine) MLL'CT character, mixed with some Pt(d)/pi(C[triple bond]CR)-->Pt(2)Cd(2)/pi*C[triple bond]CR (ML'M'CT) contribution.

Prevalence, pain management and registration in Internal Medicine units. / Prevalencia, manejo y registro del dolor en unidades de Medicina Interna.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence and management of pain episodes, their evaluation and recording in internal medicine hospitalization units in a third level public hospital of the regional health service of Castilla y León. METHOD: A descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population comprised patients hospitalized in internal medicine units. Pain prevalence was detected by the Brief Pain Inventory questionnaire. The management of pain episodes was analyzed as recorded in the clinical records. RESULTS: 83 patients were included, 73.5% of them reported pain and 67.2% did not know their analgesia regimen. More episodes of pain were identified in the women (P=.006) than in the men. The pharmacological administration was recorded in all cases; however, nurses recorded the episode in the clinical history of 29.5% of the patients. In no case, was the pain intensity or degree of relief recorded using the visual analogical scale. CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence of a high prevalence of pain in hospitalized patients and deficiencies in the management of pain episodes by nurses, both in evaluation and recording. This implies the need for pain control protocols and the implementation of evidence-based best practice guidelines to provide nurses with the means and support for adequate pain management.

The impact of an educational intervention on nursing students' critical thinking skills: A quasi-experimental study.

AIM: In this study, we identified the impact of educational activities that focused on improving the competence and critical thinking skills of university nursing students. DESIGN: A prospective quasi-experimental study was conducted, and assessments were conducted before and after the educational intervention, which consisted of seminars, lectures, case studies, and problem-solving activities. METHODS: The Critical Thinking Questionnaire was used to collect data before and after the educational intervention between September 2017 and May 2018. The sample consisted of 112 first-year undergraduate students. To examine the data that were collected as a part of this quasi-experimental study, inferential statistics were used, and the results were tested against a significance level of P < 0.05. RESULTS: The students obtained higher scores on the substantive dimension than on the dialogic one, and women scored higher than men. The educational intervention led to an improvement in every critical thinking skill across both dimensions, except listening and speaking skills, whereby men demonstrated a greater change in average scores for critical thinking skills. CONCLUSIONS: The educational intervention improved the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students and had a greater impact on men than on women. This finding underscores the need for educational interventions that can enhance critical thinking skills. Developing these skills will improve future nurses' ability to make health care management decisions in a reflective, agile, and evidence-based manner.

Impact of Nursing Methodology Training Sessions on Completion of the Virginia Henderson Assessment Record.

The Virginia Henderson model, integrated in the computer application GACELA Care, helps to standardise the nursing assessment and establish precise and personalised nursing diagnoses. The aim was to determine the extent of completion of the initial patient assessment record after nurses following a training programme on nursing methodology. A quasi-experimental, retrospective, randomised, observational, single-group study was performed in two stages: pre-training and post-training. Voluntary training sessions were held for the nurses that work with GACELA Care. The completion of the initial patient assessment using the needs of Virginia Henderson and the Norton scale was evaluated before and after the training sessions. Completion of the needs of Virginia Henderson in the initial patient assessment increased from 94.2% to 100% (p = 0.014). Completion of "hygiene/skin" increased significantly from 83.3% to 95.8% (pre-training and post-training, respectively). The remaining needs did not show statistical significance. Recording of the Norton scale increased from 63.13% to 92.5% (p < 0.001). The training sessions on nursing methodology have improved the completion of records and inclusion of normal characteristics, defining characteristics and risk factors, and improving pressure ulcer risk assessment through the Norton scale.

Self-assembly of luminescent alkynyl-based platinum-cadmium complexes containing auxiliary diimine or terpyridine ligands.

Reaction of different "Cd(N-N)(2)(2+)" (N-N = bpy, dmbpy, phen) or "Cd(trpy)(2+)" fragments with cis- or trans- (5) dianionic bis(alkynyl)platinate substrates [Pt(C(6)F(5))(2)(C[triple bond]CR)(2)](2-) (R = Ph a, Tol b) leads to the generation of novel bimetallic neutral Platinum-Cadmium derivatives, which show photoluminescence (PL) strongly influenced by the structure and the media. In complexes [cis-Pt(C(6)F(5))(2)(C[triple bond]CR)(2)Cd(N-N)(2)] (N-N = bpy (1), dmbpy (2), phen (3)), the dianionic cis-bis(alkynyl)platinate fragment interacts with the "Cd(N-N)(2)(+2)" unit mainly through both the C(alpha) atoms (d(Cd-C(alpha)) = 2.417(5)-2.554(5) A) and the Pt center (d(Pt-Cd) approximately 3.10 A); while in complexes [cis-Pt(C(6)F(5))(2)(C[triple bond]CR)(2)Cd(trpy)] (4), probably because of the presence of only three Cd-N bonds, the Pt-Cd interaction is enhanced (d(Pt-Cd) approximately 3.00 A), the Cd(II) atom being additionally solvated with acetone or H(2)O. By contrast, in complexes [trans-Pt(C(6)F(5))(2)(C[triple bond]CR)(2)Cd(bpy)(2)] (6) the Cd center is found to be in a distorted trigonal-bipyramid coordination, interacting with one of the Pt-C(alpha) bonds of the platina-bis(alkynyl) unit with very short Cd-C(alpha) (2.376(10) A) and Pt-Cd (2.8931(6) A) bond distances. Bimetallic complexes 1-4, having cis-configured platinum fragments, exhibit, in solid state, blue and/or green phosphorescence with contribution of close emissive states of different natures: metal (Pt, Cd) perturbed pi pi* intraligand (alkynyl, polyimine) manifolds mixed, to a greater (trpy complexes 4) or lesser extent, with (Pt-Cd) charge transfer (MM'CT). In glassy state (2-MeTHF, 77 K), complexes 1b-4b exhibit structured emissions mainly ascribed to (diimine 1b-3b, trpy 4b) (3)pi pi phosphorescence, likely mixed with some ligand (alkyne) to ligand (imine) charge transfer ((3)LL'CT). Complexes 6 are not emissive in solid state at room temperature. At 77 K they display a high energy (3)IL/(3)MLCT (L = C[triple bond]CR) blue-shifted emission relative to 5 and, in the case of 6b, an additional low energy feature, tentatively ascribed to pi pi stacking interactions, in accordance with the presence of very short pi...pi contacts (3.25 A) found in the extended lattice of 6b.

[Pt]2Pb trinuclear systems: impact of the anionic platinum fragment on the lead environment and photoluminescence.

A comparison of the solid structures of three novel trinuclear sandwich Pt 2Pb systems (NBu 4) 2[{Pt(C identical withCTol) 4} 2Pb(OH 2) 2] 1, [{Pt(bzq)(C identical withCPh) 2} 2Pb] 2, and (NBu 4)[{Pt(bzq)(C identical withCC 6H 4-CF 3-4) 2} 2Pb(O 2ClO 2)] 4 (NBu 4[ 3.(O 2ClO 2)]) with that of the previously reported (NBu 4) 2[{Pt(C 6F 5) 4} 2Pb] 5 showed that the local environment of Pb (II) is highly sensitive to the nature of the anionic platinate(II) precursors. The photoluminescence (PL) studies of all 1- 5 complexes revealed a dependence of PL on the structure type. Thus, complexes 1 and 5 exhibit metal centered emissions ( 1, 497 nm, 77 K; 5, 539 nm, varphi = 0.43, 298 K) related to the linear ( 5) or bent ( 1 Pt-Pb-Pt 149.9 degrees ) trinuclear entities. However, in complexes 2- 4, that have unprecedented Pb (II)...eta (1)(C identical withCR) bonding interactions and very short Pt...Pb and Pt...Pt distances, the emissive state in solid state (77 K) is attributed to a (3)MLM'CT [Pt(1)pi(C identical withCR)-->Pt(2)/Pb(sp)pi*(C identical withCR)] state mixed with some pipi* excimeric character in neutral complexes 2 (R = Ph) and 3 (R = C 6H 4-CF 3-4), and in the case of the adduct (NBu 4)[{Pt(bzq)(C identical withCC 6H 4-CF 3-4) 2} 2Pb(O 2ClO 2)] 4 modified also by Pb (II)...O (O 2ClO 2 (-)) contacts.

Response Assessment of 223Ra Treatment: Should a Fluorocholine PET/CT Be Performed?

We present 3 cases of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases treated with Ra, belonging to our prospective and multicenter ChoPET-Rad study. All patients underwent clinical, hematological, and biochemical monitoring between each Ra administration. Initial and follow-up F-fluorocholine PET/CT and Tc-biphosphonate bone scintigraphy were performed previously and after the third Ra administration. Both techniques correctly established the response to treatment, in agreement to the biochemical response, although differences in the disease expression (concordant and discordant patterns) were found because of the different radiotracer biodistribution and molecular information derived from them.

Radioembolization using 90Y-resin microspheres for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To investigate the antitumor effect of resin microspheres loaded with 90-yttrium against hepatocellular carcinoma and their safety in the setting of liver cirrhosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data from 24 consecutive patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated by radioembolization in the period from September 2003 to February 2005 were reviewed. Patients received no further antineoplastic therapy. A comprehensive evaluation was performed to prevent the risk of damage due to microsphere misplacing. Patients were discharged the day after microspheres injection. RESULTS: Serious liver toxicity observed among cirrhotic patients in a first period was subsequently prevented by modifying the selection criteria and the method for calculating the activity to be administered. Among 21 patients evaluable for response using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria, a reduction in size of target lesions was observed in all but 1 patient. When considering only target lesions, disease control rate and response rate were 100% and 23.8%, respectively. However, 43% of patients progressed in the liver in the form of new lesions appearing a median time of 3 months after radioembolization. CONCLUSION: Our experience in these series of patients indicates that radioembolization using resin microspheres has a significant antitumor effect against HCC and that using stringent selection criteria and conservative models for calculating the radiation activity to be administered, radioembolization can be performed safely even in cirrhotic patients.