Malignant Hyperthermia

Common anesthetic agents can trigger a pathological response in patients resulting in intracellular calcium release and hyper-metabolism. This condition is known as Malignant Hyperthermia (MH). It is vital for anesthesia professionals and critical care nurses to recognize MH and act quickly to limit rapid shifts of electrolytes which can ultimately lead to death. As soon as cardinal signs of malignant hyperthermia are identified, the medication dantrolene should be administered along with intensive nursing care. Significant signs and symptoms, the pathophysiology of MH, and implications for nursing care are all examined in greater detail

Called to service and finding a purpose: A mixed-method study of signed language interpreters volunteering in church and religious settings

Many non-professional interpreters volunteer their services in church and religious settings to give Deaf congregants access to the message. Church interpreting has been a unique way many interpreters have gained interest into the profession and entered the interpreting field. Although they continue to volunteer in religious settings on a regular basis out of a sense of calling and act of service (Berg, Grant, & Johnson, 2010; Hokkanen, 2014), according to the literature, interpreters in their first 10 years of work choose benevolence as their number one value for entering the interpreting field (Ramirez-Loudenback, 2015). Often that desire to help and provide a service precedes the knowledge and skills to provide the services of interpreting, which leads to a problem of “church interpreters” having a negative stigma within professional certified interpreting circles (James, 1998). There is interpreting work to be done in religious environments; this need creates a setting in which novice interpreters can gain practice. In this study, I collected quantitative and qualitative data to provide an accurate depiction of the professional interpreters who are working in these settings, their church environments, their stories of pursuing professionalism, the reasons for their pursuit, their experiences with professional interpreters, and their motivation for continuing to work in religious settings. These data could help the interpreting profession develop a greater awareness of the connection and mentorship gap between certified interpreters and volunteer interpreters working in religious settings and discover ways to partner in creating a cohesive environment to facilitate professional development

Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Health: NCAA Division I Coaches\u27 Experiences, Perceived Role, and Barriers

The opportunity for coaches to play an important role in supporting student-athlete mental health has been increasingly identified (Biggin et al., 2017; Gulliver et al., 2013; Henrikson et al., 2020). Findings suggest that coaches have the potential to help identify athletes who may benefit from mental health services, as well as foster an environment supportive of mental health and help-seeking (Bapat et al., 2009; Bissett et al., 2020). Recommendations have been set forth regarding how coaches may best engage in their role of supporting mental health, however, the literature lacks evidence of what collegiate coaches are actually doing to support student-athlete mental health, what they perceive their role to be, and barriers they face in fulfilling that role. The present study used a generic qualitative approach to explore the experiences of nine National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I coaches in supporting student-athlete mental health. Coaches discussed engaging in a variety of supportive behaviors consistent with recommendations for coaches. However, it appears coaches may lack engagement in supportive behaviors that take place after a referral is made. Coaches perceived multiple roles in supporting student-athlete mental health and discussed a variety of barriers including lack of self-efficacy and insufficient resources. Results of this study can be used to inform future research aimed at designing mental health education resources for coaches

Terror Management Theory and Entrepreneurship: Fear and Decision-Making

Terror management theory is a macropsychological theory that investigates the cognitive processes of individuals exposed to their own mortality. This research suggests that terror management theory could explain a number of decision-making behaviors in entrepreneurs. The central proposition of the current study is that entrepreneurs will respond similarly to firm failure salience as to mortality salience, and will, thereby, make more risk-averse decisions. The second proposition will explore whether the moderating effect of self-esteem between mortality salience and culture worldview posited by terror management theory is in accord with entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a moderator in the relationship between firm failure salience and risk-averse attitudes

Why do taste cells generate action potentials?

Taste cells regularly generate action potentials, but their functional significance in taste signaling is unclear. A paper in BMC Neuroscience reveals the identity of the voltage-gated Na+ channels underlying action potentials, providing the foundation for insights into their function

Qualitative and quantitative differences between taste buds of the rat and mouse

BACKGROUND: Numerous electrophysiological, ultrastructural, and immunocytochemical studies on rodent taste buds have been carried out on rat taste buds. In recent years, however, the mouse has become the species of choice for molecular and other studies on sensory transduction in taste buds. Do rat and mouse taste buds have the same cell types, sensory transduction markers and synaptic proteins? In the present study we have used antisera directed against PLCβ2, α-gustducin, serotonin (5-HT), PGP 9.5 and synaptobrevin-2 to determine the percentages of taste cells expressing these markers in taste buds in both rodent species. We also determined the numbers of taste cells in the taste buds as well as taste bud volume. RESULTS: There are significant differences (p < 0.05) between mouse and rat taste buds in the percentages of taste cells displaying immunoreactivity for all five markers. Rat taste buds display significantly more immunoreactivity than mice for PLCβ2 (31.8% vs 19.6%), α-gustducin (18% vs 14.6%), and synaptobrevin-2 (31.2% vs 26.3%). Mice, however, have more cells that display immunoreactivity to 5-HT (15.9% vs 13.7%) and PGP 9.5 (14.3% vs 9.4%). Mouse taste buds contain an average of 85.8 taste cells vs 68.4 taste cells in rat taste buds. The average volume of a mouse taste bud (42,000 μm(3)) is smaller than a rat taste bud (64,200 μm(3)). The numerical density of taste cells in mouse circumvallate taste buds (2.1 cells/1000 μm(3)) is significantly higher than that in the rat (1.2 cells/1000 μm(3)). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that rats and mice differ significantly in the percentages of taste cells expressing signaling molecules. We speculate that these observed dissimilarities may reflect differences in their gustatory processing

Immunocytochemical evidence for co-expression of Type III IP(3) receptor with signaling components of bitter taste transduction

BACKGROUND: Taste receptor cells are responsible for transducing chemical stimuli into electrical signals that lead to the sense of taste. An important second messenger in taste transduction is IP(3), which is involved in both bitter and sweet transduction pathways. Several components of the bitter transduction pathway have been identified, including the T2R/TRB taste receptors, phospholipase C β2, and the G protein subunits α-gustducin, β3, and γ13. However, the identity of the IP(3) receptor subtype in this pathway is not known. In the present study we used immunocytochemistry on rodent taste tissue to identify the IP(3) receptors expressed in taste cells and to examine taste bud expression patterns for IP(3)R3. RESULTS: Antibodies against Type I, II, and III IP(3) receptors were tested on sections of rat and mouse circumvallate papillae. Robust cytoplasmic labeling for the Type III IP(3) receptor (IP(3)R3) was found in a large subset of taste cells in both species. In contrast, little or no immunoreactivity was seen with antibodies against the Type I or Type II IP(3) receptors. To investigate the potential role of IP(3)R3 in bitter taste transduction, we used double-label immunocytochemistry to determine whether IP(3)R3 is expressed in the same subset of cells expressing other bitter signaling components. IP(3)R3 immunoreactive taste cells were also immunoreactive for PLCβ2 and γ13. Alpha-gustducin immunoreactivity was present in a subset of IP(3)R3, PLCβ2, and γ13 positive cells. CONCLUSIONS: IP(3)R3 is the dominant form of the IP(3) receptor expressed in taste cells and our data suggest it plays an important role in bitter taste transduction

Mouse taste cells with G protein-coupled taste receptors lack voltage-gated calcium channels and SNAP-25

BACKGROUND: Taste receptor cells are responsible for transducing chemical stimuli from the environment and relaying information to the nervous system. Bitter, sweet and umami stimuli utilize G-protein coupled receptors which activate the phospholipase C (PLC) signaling pathway in Type II taste cells. However, it is not known how these cells communicate with the nervous system. Previous studies have shown that the subset of taste cells that expresses the T2R bitter receptors lack voltage-gated Ca(2+ )channels, which are normally required for synaptic transmission at conventional synapses. Here we use two lines of transgenic mice expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) from two taste-specific promoters to examine Ca(2+ )signaling in subsets of Type II cells: T1R3-GFP mice were used to identify sweet- and umami-sensitive taste cells, while TRPM5-GFP mice were used to identify all cells that utilize the PLC signaling pathway for transduction. Voltage-gated Ca(2+ )currents were assessed with Ca(2+ )imaging and whole cell recording, while immunocytochemistry was used to detect expression of SNAP-25, a presynaptic SNARE protein that is associated with conventional synapses in taste cells. RESULTS: Depolarization with high K(+ )resulted in an increase in intracellular Ca(2+ )in a small subset of non-GFP labeled cells of both transgenic mouse lines. In contrast, no depolarization-evoked Ca(2+ )responses were observed in GFP-expressing taste cells of either genotype, but GFP-labeled cells responded to the PLC activator m-3M3FBS, suggesting that these cells were viable. Whole cell recording indicated that the GFP-labeled cells of both genotypes had small voltage-dependent Na(+ )and K(+ )currents, but no evidence of Ca(2+ )currents. A subset of non-GFP labeled taste cells exhibited large voltage-dependent Na(+ )and K(+ )currents and a high threshold voltage-gated Ca(2+ )current. Immunocytochemistry indicated that SNAP-25 was expressed in a separate population of taste cells from those expressing T1R3 or TRPM5. These data indicate that G protein-coupled taste receptors and conventional synaptic signaling mechanisms are expressed in separate populations of taste cells. CONCLUSION: The taste receptor cells responsible for the transduction of bitter, sweet, and umami stimuli are unlikely to communicate with nerve fibers by using conventional chemical synapses