Evaluation of Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Graduate Nursing Students

Mental health issues are growing in the United States. Postgraduate school is widely known to increase the level of psychological difficulties (Dyrbye et al., 2006) experienced by students. There is a need to address mental health care in graduate nursing students. This project was a descriptive observational comparison pre-post-intervention design used to see if online modes of delivery would aid in decreasing mental health issues for nursing graduate students. Participants were provided with access to three podcasts and encouraged to use the Sanvello mobile application provided to all students at this university. The first podcast focused on using the Sanvello application, mindfulness and positive thinking, managing stress and incorporating healthy coping habits, the importance of sleep, and healthy eating and movement on mental well-being; the second focused on problem solving skills, setting goals, strategies to overcome barriers, strategies to improve sleep, dealing with emotions in healthy ways, and the importance of nutrition and physical activity; and the third integrated information from the previous podcasts and focused on setting long term goals. It occurred virtually over 12 weeks at a large Midwestern public urban university during the Spring 2021 semester. A convenience sample of 30 nursing graduate students who “opted in” completed the pre intervention survey and 7 students completed the post-survey. These surveys included a demographic survey, healthy lifestyle behaviors, use of Sanvello and the following validated evidence-based scales: the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Personal Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8), and The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Both the pre and post intervention surveys found participants had mild anxiety, mild depression, and moderate stress levels. This project did not result in any statistically significant results; however, the post-intervention survey means of the PHQ-8 and PSS decreased, indicating a clinically significant difference. All post-intervention participants did use the Sanvello application and 85% of those participants found it at least “somewhat helpful”. This result suggests that the Sanvello application could continue to be an effective mental health aid for graduate nursing students. Further research is needed to determine if podcasts could aid in delivering mental health care aid to graduate nursing students

Predictors of activity level and retention among African American lay health advisors (LHAs) from The National Witness Project: ...

Background Lay health advisor (LHA) programs are increasingly being implemented in the USA and globally in the context of health promotion and disease prevention. LHAs are effective in addressing health disparities when used to reach medically underserved populations, with strong evidence among African American and Hispanic women. Despite their success and the evidence supporting implementation of LHA programs in community settings, there are tremendous barriers to sustaining LHA programs and little is understood about their implementation and sustainability in “real-world” settings. The purpose of this study was to (1) propose a conceptual framework to investigate factors at individual, social, and organizational levels that impact LHA activity and retention; and (2) use prospective data to investigate the individual, social, and organizational factors that predict activity level and retention among a community-based sample of African American LHAs participating in an effective, evidence-based LHA program (National Witness Project; NWP). Methods Seventy-six LHAs were recruited from eight NWP sites across the USA. Baseline predictor data was collected from LHAs during a telephone questionnaire administered between 2010 and 2011. Outcome data on LHA participation and program activity levels were collected in the fall of 2012 from NWP program directors. Chi-square and ANOVA tests were used to identify differences between retained and completely inactive LHAs, and LHAs with high/moderate vs. low/no activity levels. Multivariable logistic regression models were conducted to identify variables that predicted LHA retention and activity levels. Results In multivariable models, LHAs based at sites with academic partnerships had increased odds of retention and high/moderate activity levels, even after adjusting for baseline LHA activity level. Higher religiosity among LHAs was associated with decreased odds of being highly/moderately active. LHA role clarity and self-efficacy were associated with retention and high/moderate activity in multivariable models unadjusted for baseline LHA activity level. Conclusions Organizational and role-related factors are critical in influencing the retention and activity levels of LHAs. Developing and fostering partnerships with academic institutions will be important strategies to promote successful implementation and sustainability of LHA programs. Clarifying role expectations and building self-efficacy during LHA recruitment and training should be further explored to promote LHA retention and participation

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of asthma in ethnically diverse North American populations.

Asthma is a common disease with a complex risk architecture including both genetic and environmental factors. We performed a meta-analysis of North American genome-wide association studies of asthma in 5,416 individuals with asthma (cases) including individuals of European American, African American or African Caribbean, and Latino ancestry, with replication in an additional 12,649 individuals from the same ethnic groups. We identified five susceptibility loci. Four were at previously reported loci on 17q21, near IL1RL1, TSLP and IL33, but we report for the first time, to our knowledge, that these loci are associated with asthma risk in three ethnic groups. In addition, we identified a new asthma susceptibility locus at PYHIN1, with the association being specific to individuals of African descent (P = 3.9 × 10(-9)). These results suggest that some asthma susceptibility loci are robust to differences in ancestry when sufficiently large samples sizes are investigated, and that ancestry-specific associations also contribute to the complex genetic architecture of asthma

Desmoglein-1 is a minor autoantigen in dogs with pemphigus foliaceus

The majority of human patients with pemphigus foliaceus (PF) have circulating IgG autoantibodies that target conformational epitopes on the desmosomal cadherin desmoglein-1 (dsg1). Limited studies using immunoblot techniques suggested that the principal autoantigen in dogs with PF might also be dsg1. It was the objective of this study to test this hypothesis. A comprehensive survey of canine PF sera was conducted using a novel screening strategy that detects conformational epitopes. This method consists of the ectopic expression of canine dsg1 at the surface of human 293T epithelial kidney cells and their live screening, i.e. prior to fixation. Out of seven control human PF sera that bound to canine epidermis, three (57%) contained IgG autoantibodies that recognized ectopically expressed canine dsg1 with a membrane and punctate pattern. Out of 83 canine PF sera only five (6%) contained IgG that recognized canine dsg1. Consistent with findings for human PF sera obtained in this study, autoantibody binding was conformation- and glycosylation-dependent as demonstrated by calcium chelation with EDTA and tunicamycin or wheat germ agglutinin treatment, respectively. In conclusion, these studies establish canine dsg1 as a minor autoantigen for canine PF. Antigenic epitopes appear to be conformation- and glycosylation-dependent

African ancestry is a risk factor for asthma and high total IgE levels in African admixed populations

Oliveira, Ricardo Riccio; Carvalho Filho, Edgar Marcelino “Documento produzido em parceria ou por autor vinculado à Fiocruz, mas não consta à informação no documento”. Candelaria Vergara1, Tanda Murray2, Nicholas Rafaels1, Rachel Lewis1, Monica Campbell1, Cassandra Foster1, Li Gao1, Mezbah Faruque3, Ricardo Riccio Oliveira4, Edgar Carvalho4, Maria Ilma Araujo4, Alvaro A. Cruz5, Harold Watson6, Dilia Mercado7, Jennifer Knight- Madden8, Ingo Ruczinski9, Georgia Dunston3, Jean Ford2, Luis Caraballo7, Terri H. Beaty2, Rasika A. Mathias1, and Kathleen C. Barnes1,* - 1Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Baltimore, Maryland 2Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 3National Genome Center at Howard University, Washington, DC 4Servico de Imunologia, Hospital Universitario Professor Edgard Santos, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil 5ProAR – Nucleo de Excelencia em Asma, Federal University of Bahia and CNPq, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil 6Faculty of Medicine, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados 7Institute for Immunological Research, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia 8Tropical Medicine Research Institute, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica, West Indies 9Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MarylandSubmitted by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio ([email protected]) on 2017-05-26T16:43:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Vergara C African ancestry is a Risk....pdf: 387125 bytes, checksum: 44b9ae46aa441a6991c3d5f290b6f0b8 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio ([email protected]) on 2017-05-26T17:06:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Vergara C African ancestry is a Risk....pdf: 387125 bytes, checksum: 44b9ae46aa441a6991c3d5f290b6f0b8 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-26T17:06:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vergara C African ancestry is a Risk....pdf: 387125 bytes, checksum: 44b9ae46aa441a6991c3d5f290b6f0b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013Contract grant sponsor: National Institutes of Health; Contract grant number: HL087699; Contract grant sponsor:The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Contract grant sponsor: COLCIENCIAS; Contract grant number:680-2009. Contract grant sponsor: Health Research Council. Contract grant sponsor: Caribbean Cardiac Society. Contract grant sponsor: University Hospital of West Indies. Contract grant sponsor: The Cultural Arts Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund. Contract grant sponsor: National Health Fund. Contract grant sponsor:National Health Fund Phase 2, 2007–2008. Contract grant sponsor: Mary Beryl Patch Turnbull Scholar Program. Contract grant sponsor: Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq).Múltipla - ver em NotasCharacterization of genetic admixture of populations in the Americas and the Caribbean is of interest for anthropological, epidemiological, and historical reasons. Asthma has a higher prevalence and is more severe in populations with a high African component. Association of African ancestry with asthma has been demonstrated. We estimated admixture proportions of samples from six trihybrid populations of African descent and determined the relationship between African ancestry and asthma and total serum IgE levels (tIgE). We genotyped 237 ancestry informative markers in asthmatics and nonasthmatic controls from Barbados (190/277), Jamaica (177/529), Brazil (40/220), Colombia (508/625), African Americans from New York (207/171), and African Americans from Baltimore/Washington, D.C. (625/757). We estimated individual ancestries and evaluated genetic stratification using Structure and principal component analysis. Association of African ancestry and asthma and tIgE was evaluated by regression analysis. Mean ± SD African ancestry ranged from 0.76 ± 0.10 among Barbadians to 0.33 ± 0.13 in Colombians. The European component varied from 0.14 ± 0.05 among Jamaicans and Barbadians to 0.26 ± 0.08 among Colombians. African ancestry was associated with risk for asthma in Colombians (odds ratio (OR) = 4.5, P = 0.001) Brazilians (OR = 136.5, P = 0.003), and African Americans of New York (OR: 4.7; P = 0.040). African ancestry was also associated with higher tIgE levels among Colombians (β = 1.3, P = 0.04), Barbadians (β = 3.8, P = 0.03), and Brazilians (β = 1.6, P = 0.03). Our findings indicate that African ancestry can account for, at least in part, the association between asthma and its associated trait, tIgE levels

Genetic Epidemiology

Texto completo: acesso restrito. p. 393–401Characterization of genetic admixture of populations in the Americas and the Caribbean is of interest for anthropological, epidemiological, and historical reasons. Asthma has a higher prevalence and is more severe in populations with a high African component. Association of African ancestry with asthma has been demonstrated. We estimated admixture proportions of samples from six trihybrid populations of African descent and determined the relationship between African ancestry and asthma and total serum IgE levels (tIgE). We genotyped 237 ancestry informative markers in asthmatics and nonasthmatic controls from Barbados (190/277), Jamaica (177/529), Brazil (40/220), Colombia (508/625), African Americans from New York (207/171), and African Americans from Baltimore/Washington, D.C. (625/757). We estimated individual ancestries and evaluated genetic stratification using Structure and principal component analysis. Association of African ancestry and asthma and tIgE was evaluated by regression analysis. Mean ± SD African ancestry ranged from 0.76 ± 0.10 among Barbadians to 0.33 ± 0.13 in Colombians. The European component varied from 0.14 ± 0.05 among Jamaicans and Barbadians to 0.26 ± 0.08 among Colombians. African ancestry was associated with risk for asthma in Colombians (odds ratio (OR) = 4.5, P = 0.001) Brazilians (OR = 136.5, P = 0.003), and African Americans of New York (OR: 4.7; P = 0.040). African ancestry was also associated with higher tIgE levels among Colombians (β = 1.3, P = 0.04), Barbadians (β = 3.8, P = 0.03), and Brazilians (β = 1.6, P = 0.03). Our findings indicate that African ancestry can account for, at least in part, the association between asthma and its associated trait, tIgE levels

Assembly of a pan-genome from deep sequencing of 910 humans of African descent

We used a deeply sequenced dataset of 910 individuals, all of African descent, to construct a set of DNA sequences that is present in these individuals but missing from the reference human genome. We aligned 1.19 trillion reads from the 910 individuals to the reference genome (GRCh38), collected all reads that failed to align, and assembled these reads into contiguous sequences (contigs). We then compared all contigs to one another to identify a set of unique sequences representing regions of the African pan-genome missing from the reference genome. Our analysis revealed 296,485,284 bp in 125,715 distinct contigs present in the populations of African descent, demonstrating that the African pan-genome contains ~10% more DNA than the current human reference genome. Although the functional significance of nearly all of this sequence is unknown, 387 of the novel contigs fall within 315 distinct protein-coding genes, and the rest appear to be intergenic

Correction to: Assembly of a pan-genome from deep sequencing of 910 humans of African descent (Nature Genetics, (2019), 51, 1, (30-35), 10.1038/s41588-018-0273-y)

In the version of this article initially published, the statement “there are no pan-genomes for any other animal or plant species” was incorrect. The statement has been corrected to “there are no reported pan-genomes for any other animal species, to our knowledge.” We thank David Edwards for bringing this error to our attention. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article

Author Correction: Assembly of a pan-genome from deep sequencing of 910 humans of African descent

In the version of this article initially published, the statement there are no pan-genomes for any other animal or plant species was incorrect. The statement has been corrected to there are no reported pan-genomes for any other animal species, to our knowledge. We thank David Edwards for bringing this error to our attention. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article