Knowledge of Palliative Care among Bachelors Nursing Students

Background: Palliative care clinical nurse specialists play an important role in specialist palliative care. They spend time with patients and their families, helping them come to terms with an array of complex emotional and practical problems, facilitating communication, giving information and advice about treatments and also offering expertise in controlling pain and other distressing symptoms. Aim of the study: The purpose of this study was to assess the PC knowledge using PCQN of  BSN students in Arab American University/ Jenin, Palestine.Subjects and methods: Descriptive, cross sectional study was used for conducting the study, A convenience sample 198 nursing students were included  from the two respective nursing levels third year and fourth year. Data collected through; demographic characteristic and PC knowledge. The PCQN  scale was used as the tool to assess the PC knowledge level. Results:  The total percentage rate on the PCQN was 40.58% (SD=13.89011). There is no statistically significant difference at (p < 0.05) between PC knowledge and gender, academic level, personal or professional experience with palliative care, and course of palliative care (0.377, 0.896, 0.741, and 0.829) respectively. Highly statistically significant relation according age (p˃0.000).Conclusion: Clinical Relevance: third and fourth level BSN students had lack adequate information on palliative care, and did not meet the AACN expectation of a generalist registered nurse. Keywords: Knowledge, Nursing students, Palliative car

عزل بعض الجراثيم من الجلد وتوصيفها جزيئياً

تم عزل وتنميط ثلاثة أنواع من الجراثيم المعزولة من الجلد من عينات مرضية واردة إلى مشفى تشرين الجامعي في محافظة اللاذقية خلال الفترة الممتدة من (1/4-1/10/2022)، وميزت العزلات الجرثومية ببعض الخصائص اعتماداً على تلوينها بطريقة غرام, وتبعاً للخصائص اللونية على المستنبتات النوعية والانتقائية وبعض الخصائص الكيميائية الحيوية (API) وتقانة الـ PCR. بينت النتائج عزل ثلاثة أنواع من الجراثيم وهذه العزلات هي (A) المكورات العنقودية الذهبية, والنوع (B) المكورات العنقودية البشروية, والنوع (C) عصيات القيح الأزرق (الزائفة الزنجارية), عصيات سالبة صبغة غرام, وذلك خلال فترة حضانة استمرت (24-72) ساعة، وذلك عند درجة حرارة (37) مئوية

عزل بعض الجراثيم من الجلد وتوصيفها جزيئياً

تم عزل وتنميط ثلاثة أنواع من الجراثيم المعزولة من الجلد من عينات مرضية واردة إلى مشفى تشرين الجامعي في محافظة اللاذقية خلال الفترة الممتدة من (1/4-1/10/2022)، وميزت العزلات الجرثومية ببعض الخصائص اعتماداً على تلوينها بطريقة غرام, وتبعاً للخصائص اللونية على المستنبتات النوعية والانتقائية وبعض الخصائص الكيميائية الحيوية (API) وتقانة الـ PCR. بينت النتائج عزل ثلاثة أنواع من الجراثيم وهذه العزلات هي (A) المكورات العنقودية الذهبية, والنوع (B) المكورات العنقودية البشروية, والنوع (C) عصيات القيح الأزرق (الزائفة الزنجارية), عصيات سالبة صبغة غرام, وذلك خلال فترة حضانة استمرت (24-72) ساعة، وذلك عند درجة حرارة (37) مئوية

Interprofessional Competency Framework for Health Service Managers in Oman: An e-Delphi Study

Objectives: This study aimed to develop the required interprofessional competencies for health service managers in Oman. Methods: Experts (n = 20) were selected based on their years’ experience, position, fluency in English (both verbal and written), and who had completed higher education at either masters or doctorate levels in the relevant field. The data collection consisted of three rounds. Responses were collected and extracted from a web-based designed survey and subsequently analyzed. Results: Experts agreed on the nine interprofessional domains and 41 competencies based on the inclusion of means (M) ≥ 4.4, an interquartile distribution (IQD) ≤ 1.25, and > 80.0% agreement. Findings revealed that there were levels of agreement (90.0% to 95.0%) among the experts in the nine interprofessional competency domains namely: resilience (M = 4.7, IQD = 0.40), research leverage (M = 4.7, IQD = 0.60), interprofessional ethics (M = 4.7, IQD = 0.80), quality improvement (M = 4.7, IQD = 0.80), information technology (M = 4.6, IQD = 0.80), leadership (M = 4.5, IQD = 1.00), management skills (M = 4.5, IQD = 0.80), communication (M = 4.5, IQD = 1.00), and team dynamics (M = 4.5, IQD = 1.00). Conclusions: The development of interprofessional competencies for health service managers is an impetus to strengthen the human resources capabilities, sustain a high level of quality patient outcomes, and to achieve the Ministry of Health’s Health Vision 2050

Expression of the Splicing Factor Gene SFRS10 Is Reduced in Human Obesity and Contributes to Enhanced Lipogenesis

SummaryAlternative mRNA splicing provides transcript diversity and may contribute to human disease. We demonstrate that expression of several genes regulating RNA processing is decreased in both liver and skeletal muscle of obese humans. We evaluated a representative splicing factor, SFRS10, downregulated in both obese human liver and muscle and in high-fat-fed mice, and determined metabolic impact of reduced expression. SFRS10-specific siRNA induces lipogenesis and lipid accumulation in hepatocytes. Moreover, Sfrs10 heterozygous mice have increased hepatic lipogenic gene expression, VLDL secretion, and plasma triglycerides. We demonstrate that LPIN1, a key regulator of lipid metabolism, is a splicing target of SFRS10; reduced SFRS10 favors the lipogenic β isoform of LPIN1. Importantly, LPIN1β-specific siRNA abolished lipogenic effects of decreased SFRS10 expression. Together, our results indicate that reduced expression of SFRS10, as observed in tissues from obese humans, alters LPIN1 splicing, induces lipogenesis, and therefore contributes to metabolic phenotypes associated with obesity

Banff 2022 liver group meeting report: monitoring long term allograft health.

The Banff Working Group on Liver Allograft Pathology met in September 2022. Participantsincluded hepatologists, surgeons, pathologists, immunologists and histocompatibility specialists.Presentations and discussions focused on the evaluation of long-term allograft health, including noninvasive and tissue monitoring, immunosuppression optimisation and long-term structural changes.Potential revision of the rejection classification scheme to better accommodate and communicate lateT cell-mediated rejection patterns and related structural changes, such as nodular regenerativehyperplasia, were discussed. Improved stratification of long-term maintenance immunosuppression tomatch the heterogeneity of patient settings will be central to improving long-term patient survival.Such personalised therapeutics are in turn contingent on better understanding and monitoring ofallograft status within a rational decision-making approach, likely to be facilitated in implementationwith emerging decision support tools. Proposed revisions to rejection classification emerging fromthe meeting include incorporation of interface hepatitis and fibrosis staging. These will be opened toonline testing, modified accordingly and subject to consensus discussion leading up to the next Banffconference

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Characteristics of Adults in the Hepatitis B Research Network in North America Reflect Their Country of Origin and Hepatitis B Virus Genotype

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide; populations that migrate to the US and Canada might be disproportionately affected. The Hepatitis B Research Network (HBRN) is a cooperative network of investigators from the United States and Canada, created to facilitate clinical, therapeutic, and translational research in adults and children with hepatitis B. We describe the structure of the network and baseline characteristics of adults with hepatitis B enrolled in the network