Are Students’ Being Distracted Drivers

The life of a nursing student can be very fast paced. Trying to keep up with friends and family while studying can be a challenge. Learn how frequently students are driving distracted, are on social media, and have personal devotions

Creating Positive Teams using Clifton Strengths

Our Creator has wired us to be in relations and nurturing teamwork and teambuilding is essential. One way to build cohesion is to have our team complete the Clifton Strengthsfinder survey to identify our top strengths. Once these strengths are identified then we can help people to work more in our strengths. Our school of nursing and online campus have monthly meetings to make sure we are all on the same page and moving in the same direction. All of the committee members have completed the Clifton Strengthsfinder survey and have shared their top five strengths

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Creating positive teams using Clifton Strengths

Our Creator has wired us to be in relations and nurturing teamwork and teambuilding is essential. One way to build cohesion is to have our team complete the Clifton Strengthsfinder survey to identify our top strengths. Once these strengths are identified then we can help people to work more in our strengths. Our school of nursing and online campus have monthly meetings to make sure we are all on the same page and moving in the same direction. All of the committee members have completed the Clifton Strengthsfinder survey and have shared their top five strengths

Clinical assessment of repeated propofol-associated anesthesia in cats

Objective—To assess the effects of repeated episodes of propofol-associated anesthesia on quality of recovery from anesthesia, clinical status, and erythrocyte physiology in cats. Design—Original study. Animals—37 cats undergoing short-duration anesthesia for radiotherapy. Procedures—Twice daily on 5 consecutive days, 13 cats with squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal planum (group 1) underwent anesthesia: first via administration of propofol or a midazolam (0.2 mg/kg [0.09 mg/lb])-propofol combination and then via administration of ketamine and midazolam each day (latter data were not analyzed). During a 19-day period, 24 cats with vaccineassociated sarcoma (group 2) were anesthetized 12 times with propofol or a midazolam-propofol combination. Anesthesia was maintained with propofol in both groups. Hematologic analysis was performed before, during, and on completion of radiotherapy; changes in Hct and hemoglobin concentration between groups were compared. Results—Mean duration of anesthesia was 8.1 minutes (range, 5 to 20 minutes); no adverse events were detected during recovery. Total dose of propofol administered did not differ between groups 1 (6.34 mg/kg [2.88 mg/lb]) and 2 (4.71 mg/kg [2.14 mg/lb]). Midazolam administration decreased the propofol dose by 26%. Overall decreases from baseline in Hct and hemoglobin concentration were not significantly different between the 2 groups, nor clinically important; however, compared with baseline, values in group 2 were significantly lower after 6 and 12 anesthetic episodes for both protocols. Heinz bodies were identified in low numbers in both groups during radiotherapy. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results indicated that repeated propofol-associated short-duration anesthesia does not lead to clinically relevant hematologic changes in cats undergoing short-duration radiotherapy

Combined alpha-beta blockade (doxazosin plus metoprolol) compared with beta blockade alone in chronic congestive heart failure.

There has been growing evidence for the benefits of beta blockers, but alpha blockers have not shown sustained benefits in chronic congestive heart failure (CHF). Thirty patients with moderate to severe CHF (New York Heart Association class II to IV) were sequentially assigned to receive metoprolol 6.25 mg with the alpha-1 antagonist doxazosin 4 mg/day or metoprolol alone. The dose of metoprolol was gradually increased to a target dose of 50 mg orally twice daily. Hemodynamic measurements were obtained before drug therapy, 2 hours after the first dose of combined alpha-beta therapy or metoprolol alone, and after 3 months of continuous treatment. Nuclear ejection fraction, plasma norepinephrine, and submaximal and maximal exercise capacity were also measured before and after chronic therapy. With initial combined drug administration, mean arterial pressure, left ventricular filling pressure, and systemic vascular resistance decreased significantly compared with results after metoprolol alone. However, after 3 months of continuous therapy, both treatment groups showed similar and significant reductions in systemic vascular resistance and heart rate, with significant increases in cardiac index, stroke volume index, stroke work index, ejection fraction, and exercise capacity. Furthermore, the next dose of chronic combined medication no longer showed vasodilating effects. Chronic therapy with fixed-dose doxazosin and increasing doses of metoprolol produced identical effects as those seen in patients receiving metoprolol alone