Validation of the Medication Box Task Assessment

There are a limited number of validated occupation-based cognitive assessments that are feasible in clinical settings. For individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI), ecologically valid cognitive assessments are needed to understand how cognition influences functional performance. This study implemented a quantitative exploratory correlational design using a battery of gold standard tabletop cognitive assessments as criterion measurements against the Medication Box Task assessment, an occupation-based cognitive assessment. Eight participants completed the test battery. The student researchers used Pearson correlations to analyze each participant’s scores on the Medication Box Task assessment and the scores on the battery of gold standard assessments. Results indicated that no significant correlations existed between total scores of the battery of tabletop cognitive assessments and the Medication Box Task assessment. However significant correlations were found between scores of the total Type II errors made on the Tower of London and the total number of missing pills, extra pills, and total correct scores on the Medication Box Task assessment. Further findings indicated that seven out of eight participants made mistakes on the Medication Box Task assessment; six out of eight claimed that they managed their own medications

Validation of the Medication Box Task Assessment

Individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) may experience challenges in their everyday occupational performance due to cognitive impairments. Cognitive tabletop and occupation-based assessments are used to evaluate cognition in individuals with ABI. There is a need for cognitive occupation-based assessments as they possess ecological validity: a reflection of an individual’s occupational performance in daily life. This study aimed to validate the Medication Box Task assessment in its use as a cognitive occupation-based assessment. The results of the Medication Box Task assessment were compared against the results of a battery of five gold standard tabletop assessments. Pearson correlations showed significant correlations between type II errors of the Tower of London and the extra and missing pills of the Medication Box Task assessment. No other significant correlations were found between scores of the Medication Box Task assessment and the battery of cognitive tabletop assessments. More importantly, it was discovered that six out of seven participants, who indicated that they managed their own medication, made errors on the Medication Box Task assessment. Based on the results, no conclusion can be made about the Medication Box Task assessment as a valid cognitive occupation-based assessment.https://scholar.dominican.edu/ug-student-posters/1026/thumbnail.jp

Sunset haematology: improving the end-of-life journey for patients and caregivers, in patients with haematologic malignancies

BACKGROUND AND AIM Haematologic Malignancies (HM) are diverse diseases with differing illness trajectories and therapeutic pathways. Unfortunately HM patients may rapidly and unexpectedly clinically deteriorate, resulting in suboptimal engagement of palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care.  Compared to patients with solid tumours, HM patients have many different factors affecting their end-of-life (EOL) journey. Uniquely, a subset of HM patients with bone marrow failure (BMF) can be supported for significant, but highly variable, periods of time with red blood cell transfusions (RBCT), platelet transfusions (PT) and prophylactic antibiotics.  Availability of chronic RBCTs and PTs make HM patients with BMF similar to elderly and poor prognosis patients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD). Multidisciplinary Palliative Supportive Care programs have been shown to be effective for these EKSD patients and may serve as supportive care models for EOL journey in HM patients. This project is  a pilot study aiming to provide a template for management of EOL for patients with HM with BMF, and their care-givers. METHODS Three components are being developed: 1) Survey of patient opinions around treatment decision-making. 2) Analyses of the impact of patient, disease and treatment factors on the probability of survival from start of PT, to inform patients. 3) Collaborative involvement between Haematology and Palliative Care staff involved in the local ESKD program, to develop a template for earlier EOL pathway planning in HM patients. CONCLUSION Progress of work to date will be presented including preliminary findings and next steps

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans report symptoms consistent with chronic multisymptom illness one year after deployment

Many Veterans returning from service in Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) experience chronic pain. What is not known is whether for some OIF/OEF Veterans this pain is part of a larger condition of diffuse multisystem symptoms consistent with chronic multisymptom illness (CMI). We use data from a prospective longitudinal study of OIF/OEF Veterans to determine the frequency of CMI. We found that 1 yr after deployment, 49.5% of OIF/OEF Veterans met criteria for mild to moderate CMI and 10.8% met criteria for severe CMI. Over 90% of Veterans with chronic pain met criteria for CMI. CMI was not completely accounted for either by posttraumatic stress disorder or by predeployment levels of physical symptoms. Veterans with symptoms consistent with CMI reported significantly worse physical health function than Veterans who did not report symptoms consistent with CMI. This study suggests that the presence of CMI should be considered in the evaluation of OIF/OEF Veterans. Further, it suggests that the pain management for these Veterans may need to be tailored to take CMI into consideration

DHX15 regulates CMTR1-dependent gene expression and cell proliferation

CMTR1 contributes to mRNA cap formation by methylating the first transcribed nucleotide ribose at the O-2 position. mRNA cap O-2 methylation has roles in mRNA stabilisation and translation, and self-RNA tolerance in innate immunity. We report that CMTR1 is recruited to serine-5–phosphorylated RNA Pol II C-terminal domain, early in transcription. We isolated CMTR1 in a complex with DHX15, an RNA helicase functioning in splicing and ribosome biogenesis, and characterised it as a regulator of CMTR1. When DHX15 is bound, CMTR1 activity is repressed and the methyltransferase does not bind to RNA pol II. Conversely, CMTR1 activates DHX15 helicase activity, which is likely to impact several nuclear functions. In HCC1806 breast carcinoma cell line, the DHX15–CMTR1 interaction controls ribosome loading of a subset of mRNAs and regulates cell proliferation. The impact of the CMTR1–DHX15 interaction is complex and will depend on the relative expression of these enzymes and their interactors, and the cellular dependency on different RNA processing pathways.</jats:p

The Effects of Blood Flow Restriction Training on Measures of Strength and Body Composition in College Age Females

Blood flow restriction (BFR) training is a non-invasive technique that uses wraps, bands, or inflated blood pressure cuffs to alter blood flow within targeted muscles. BFR has been seen as a means to potentially help people build muscle mass and strength faster while they are exercising. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the body composition and strength changes resulting from traditional resistance training without BFR to the changes resulting from resistance training combined with BFR. METHODS: 21 females with at least one year of resistance training experience were recruited to participate in the study. Participants were randomly split into two different groups: occluded (OC) and non-occluded (NOC). Each participant was provided with a 4 days/week training protocol for 8 weeks of total training under either OC or NOC conditions. Participants underwent a DEXA scan, thigh girth measurement, blood draw pre- and post-workout, one-repetition max testing, and an acute bout of lower extremity exercise using a hammer strength leg press at weeks 0, 4, and 8. Participants assigned to the OC group had their 50% occlusion percentage determined during each testing session and were required to utilize BFR cuffs during all training sessions with 50% occlusion on all lower extremity exercises. RESULTS: Data are presented as change over time. After data analysis, there was a statistically significant time effect between pre- and post-performance testing on muscular strength (OC = 124 ± 54, NOC = 171 ± 43, p = 0.00) and body fat (OC = -1.517 ± 1.377, NOC = -1.138 ± 1.544, p = 0.022). However, there was no significant difference between groups (p \u3e 0.05). There was no time or interaction effect for weight (OC = 0.627 ± 0.946, NOC = 0.725 ± 1.414, p = 0.183) or thigh girth (OC = 0.514 ± 1.137, NOC = -0.369 ± 2.022, p = 0.146). CONCLUSION: Eight weeks of lower-body BFR training at 50% occlusion does not appear to have an added effect on measures of muscular strength or body composition in resistance-trained females

Designing and Developing Core Physiology Learning Outcomes for Pre-registration Nursing Education Curriculum

Physiology is a key element of ‘bioscience’ education within pre-registration nursing programmes, but there is a lack of clarity on what is included. Physiology and bioscience content and delivery is highly varied across both higher education institutions and the related programmes in the UK. Despite evidence highlighting concerns over nurses lack of bioscience knowledge and unsafe practice, there is no universally agreed curriculum with detailed outcomes of minimum levels of knowledge to support nurses in practice and patient care. This study aimed to inform the construction of discipline specific physiology learning outcomes to clarify relevant physiological topics required in pre-registration nursing. Initially, 360 learning outcomes were identified from various sources. Using a modified Delphi approach, an expert panel from the Bioscience in Nurse Education group reviewed and modified the list to 195 proposed outcomes. These were circulated to Universities in the UK who teach Nursing (n=65). Outcomes which had 80% consensus were automatically included to the next round with others recommended with modification (response rate 22%). The panel reviewed the modifications and 182 outcomes were circulated in the second questionnaire (response rate 23%) and further panel review resulting in 177 outcomes agreed. These learning outcomes do not suggest how they should be delivered but gives the basic level required for qualification as a nurse commensurate with the Nursing and Midwifery Council new standards for the 'future nurse'

‘A Chain of Creation, Continuation, Continuity’ : Feminist dramaturgy and the matter of the sea

This article considers what remnants of the imaginary link established between the maternal and the sea might still be useful in feminist performance practice and theory. It does so by discussing a practice-as-research experiment that adapted strategies from Hélène Cixous’s écriture féminine–which performs a liquification of ordering structures in prose writing–into a dramaturgical form based on the logic of waves. The article goes on to suggest that such a dramaturgy recasts creation as a fluid state of becoming ex tempore, resisting the masculine-connoted vision of creation as an act of the singular genius ex nihilo. It further argues that drawing on a non-human phenomenon, the sea, to describe and theorise a type of dramaturgical composition might be read as a twofold attempt on the hegemony of patriarchal culture: through its associative link with the maternal body the creative potential of the feminine is revalued while at the same time the generative capacity of the non-human is recognised via Gaston Bachelard’s notion of the material imagination. The article concludes by proposing that the sea, together with its analogic association to the maternal, can be instated as a figure that gives temporary shape to an alternative vision of cultural production

Reconstitution of a functional IS608 single-strand transpososome: role of non-canonical base pairing

Single-stranded (ss) transposition, a recently identified mechanism adopted by members of the widespread IS200/IS605 family of insertion sequences (IS), is catalysed by the transposase, TnpA. The transposase of IS608, recognizes subterminal imperfect palindromes (IP) at both IS ends and cleaves at sites located at some distance. The cleavage sites, C, are not recognized directly by the protein but by short sequences 5′ to the foot of each IP, guide (G) sequences, using a network of canonical (‘Watson–Crick’) base interactions. In addition a set of non-canonical base interactions similar to those found in RNA structures are also involved. We have reconstituted a biologically relevant complex, the transpososome, including both left and right ends and TnpA, which catalyses excision of a ss DNA circle intermediate. We provide a detailed picture of the way in which the IS608 transpososome is assembled and demonstrate that both C and G sequences are essential for forming a robust transpososome detectable by EMSA. We also address several questions central to the organization and function of the ss transpososome and demonstrate the essential role of non-canonical base interactions in the IS608 ends for its stability by using point mutations which destroy individual non-canonical base interactions

The Lantern Vol. 51, No. 2, Spring 1985

• Electric Pink • Derby Day • Conversation • Seasons of Sonnets • Long After Killing Us • Haunting Memory • Sacrifice • Is This Positive Enough? • My Teddy Bear • A Gentleman of Ten • Hartman Center • Yesterday\u27s Child • Mors Pueris • Momentary Reflections • Children Sleeping • There\u27s No Place Like Home • I Set My Pleasures Adrift • The Beer Can • Fragments of an Epic • Actaeon • She Sleeps • Chicago • Death Light • Tea With Louise • Balance • The Rivers • Chapel • The Hour of Prayer • Une Fille / Une Femme • A One-Way Mirror • Nonconformity • Cada Noche, Lloro • Reflections on an Empty House Down the Street • Evening Melancholy • Abandoned Road • Big Boy • Baby Brothers • Metro Oscuro • Chuchoterhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1126/thumbnail.jp