What We Say Matters: A Survey of Anesthesia Providers’ Knowledge and Beliefs

Pain is a serious concern and fear of patients. Due to the Joint Commission’s introduction of standards to address undertreatment of pain, it is now a focus of healthcare providers. Emerging research is focused on language in assessing pain. This study investigated the knowledge gap among anesthesia providers on positive language and pain assessment. The study objectives were to conduct a survey of Illinois Association of Nurse Anesthetists (IANA) members’ current knowledge and beliefs on Positive Language and the Nocebo Effect related to patient outcomes, and to educate anesthesia providers with an evidence-based fact sheet. The fact sheet and Qualtrics survey were created by the authors and distributed via email. Anonymity was maintained and consent was implied by completion of the survey. Data was analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics. Key findings included presence of a knowledge gap, increased scores after reading the fact sheet, and a difference in baseline knowledge between practice settings as evidenced by an H statistic of 10.457, df=2 and a p value of 0.005. This study is the first to report anesthesia providers’ knowledge toward Positive Language and the Nocebo Effect and may lead the way for the creation of a comfort scale

Making Disability a Part of Diversity

As part of Theme I of VCU’s Quest for Distinction, our project will help improve access to the services provided by Disability Student Services (DSS) office to students with disability. Recruitment and retention of qualified disabled students will increase. These students will achieve with higher graduation rates and contribute to a productive and skilled workforce. Improving the services provided to disabled students and better retention of these students at VCU will attract faculty members with expertise or a special interest in serving the disabled. Our project will also serve Theme I of Quest by continuing to make VCU a leader among national research universities in providing all students with quality learning/living experiences focused on inquiry, discovery and innovation in a global environment. VCU will be the central partner of a vibrant and enriched urban community. The improvement of DSS at VCU will demonstrate to the surrounding community that VCU is committed to make disability a part of diversity - (Quest, Theme IV). The development of new outreach programs and the expansion of existing programs involving the community will be critical. This partnership will develop a “bridge of excellence” between the community and the university and enrich the surrounding community and the commonwealth of Virginia

Research Project for Rokenbok Educational Foundation

Research project on Equipo de Ingenieros en Accion (Team of Engineers in Action), a collaborative program of Rokenbok Educational Foundation and Center for Academic and Social Advancement.https://digital.sandiego.edu/npi-bpl-programdesign/1006/thumbnail.jp

The Independent Probabilistic Firing of Transcription Factors: A Paradigm for Clonal Variability in the Zebrafish Retina.

Early retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) in vertebrates produce lineages that vary greatly both in terms of cell number and fate composition, yet how this variability is achieved remains unknown. One possibility is that these RPCs are individually distinct and that each gives rise to a unique lineage. Another is that stochastic mechanisms play upon the determinative machinery of equipotent early RPCs to drive clonal variability. Here we show that a simple model, based on the independent firing of key fate-influencing transcription factors, can quantitatively account for the intrinsic clonal variance in the zebrafish retina and predict the distributions of neuronal cell types in clones where one or more of these fates are made unavailable.BDS and SR acknowledge the support of the Wellcome Trust (098357/Z/12/Z). WAH and HB also acknowledge the support of the Wellcome Trust (100329/Z/12/Z). HB was also supported by the Swedish Research Council (2011-7054).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2015.08.01

Vibrational Excitations in Percolation: Localization and Multifractality

We discuss localized excitations on the incipient infinite percolation cluster. Assuming a simple exponential decay of the amplitudes ψi in terms of the chemical (minimal) path, we show theoretically that the ψ’s are characterized by a logarithmically broad distribution, and display multifractal features as a function of the Euclidean distance. The moments of ψi exhibit novel crossover phenomena. Our numerical simulations of fractons exhibit a nontrivial distribution of localization lengths, even when the chemical distance is fixed. These results are explained via a generalization of the theory

Integrating Financial Therapy within Family-Owned Businesses: A Theoretical Case Vignette with Recommended Strategies for Consulting with Copreneurs

Broadly speaking, finances are often one of the most strenuous aspects of a relationship. One potential contributing factor to financial conflict experienced by couples are having different beliefs or attitudes towards money, coined previously as money scripts (Klontz, Kahler, & Klontz, 2008). Differing money scripts between partners can cause a breach in understanding of their partner\u27s internal experience around money that may lead to misunderstanding and conflict. This may be magnified for copreneurs, or romantic partners, who integrate a personal and working relationship within a business’s ownership structure. In this unique arrangement of personal and professional relationships, the traditional lines separating work and home life are either nonexistent or blurred. This paper serves to explore the conflict through a hypothetical case study and provides detailed financial therapy interventions that may be used to help copreneurs who are experiencing money conflict. The outline of interventions serves to aid financial therapists in their work with clients who are part of a family-owned business by helping these clients better communicate through the unique dynamics of a copreneur relationship

Do Marriage and Cohabitation Provide Benefits to Health in Mid-Life? The role of childhood selection mechanisms and partnership characteristics across countries

Extensive research has found that marriage provides health benefits to individuals, particularly in the U.S. The rise of cohabitation, however, raises questions about whether simply being in an intimate co-residential partnership conveys the same health benefits as marriage. Here, we use OLS regression to compare differences between partnered and unpartnered, and cohabiting and married individuals with respect to self-rated health in mid-life, an understudied part of the lifecourse. We pay particular attention to selection mechanisms arising in childhood and characteristics of the partnership. We compare results in five countries with different social, economic, and policy contexts: the U.S. (NLSY), U.K. (UKHLS), Australia (HILDA), Germany (SOEP), and Norway (GGS). Results show that living with a partner is positively associated with self-rated health in mid-life in all countries, but that controlling for children, prior separation, and current socio-economic status eliminates differences in Germany and Norway. Significant differences between cohabitation and marriage are only evident in the U.S. and the U.K., but controlling for childhood background, union duration, and prior union dissolution eliminates partnership differentials. The findings suggest that cohabitation in the U.S. and U.K., both liberal welfare regimes, seems to be very different than in the other countries. The results challenge the assumption that only marriage is beneficial for health

Nutritional quality of foods and non-alcoholic beverages advertised on Mexican television according to three nutrient profile models

Abstract Background Evidence supports that television food advertisements influence children’s food preferences and their consumption. However, few studies have examined the extent and nature of food marketing to children in low and middle income countries. This study aims to assess the nutritional quality of foods and beverages advertised on Mexican TV, applying the Mexican, World Health Organization (WHO) European and United Kingdom (UKNPM) nutrient profile models, before the Mexican regulation on food marketing came into effect. Methods We recorded 600 h on the four national public and free TV channels with the highest national ratings, from December 2012 to April 2013. Recordings were done for 40 randomly selected (week, weekend, school and vacation) days, from 7 am to 10 pm. Nutritional information per 100 g/ml of product was obtained from the product labels or company websites. Results A total of 2,544 food and non-alcoholic beverage advertisements were broadcast, for 275 different products. On average, the foods advertised during cartoon programming had the highest energy (367 kcal) and sugar (30.0 g) content, while foods advertised during sport programming had the highest amount of total fat (9.5 g) and sodium (412 mg) content. More than 60 % of the foods advertised did not meet any nutritional quality standards. 64.3 % of the products did not comply with the Mexican nutritional standards, as compared with 83.1 % and 78.7 % with WHO Europe and UKNPM standards, respectively. The food groups most frequently advertised were beverages (24.6 %), followed by chocolate and confectionery sugar (19.7 %), cakes, sweet biscuits and pastries (12.0 %), savory snacks (9.3 %), breakfast cereals (7.1 %), ready-made food (6.4 %) and dairy products (6.0 %). Conclusion The majority of foods and beverages advertised on Mexican TV do not comply with any nutritional quality standards, and thus should not be marketed to children. The nutritional quality standards applied by the Mexican regulation are much weaker than those applied by the WHO Europe and United Kingdom. The Mexican government should improve the nutrition standards in its new regulation, especially the sugar cut off points

Structure and efflux mechanism of the yeast pleiotropic drug resistance transporter Pdr5.

Pdr5, a member of the extensive ABC transporter superfamily, is representative of a clinically relevant subgroup involved in pleiotropic drug resistance. Pdr5 and its homologues drive drug efflux through uncoupled hydrolysis of nucleotides, enabling organisms such as baker's yeast and pathogenic fungi to survive in the presence of chemically diverse antifungal agents. Here, we present the molecular structure of Pdr5 solved with single particle cryo-EM, revealing details of an ATP-driven conformational cycle, which mechanically drives drug translocation through an amphipathic channel, and a clamping switch within a conserved linker loop that acts as a nucleotide sensor. One half of the transporter remains nearly invariant throughout the cycle, while its partner undergoes changes that are transmitted across inter-domain interfaces to support a peristaltic motion of the pumped molecule. The efflux model proposed here rationalises the pleiotropic impact of Pdr5 and opens new avenues for the development of effective antifungal compounds.Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL