Live stream webcams on the neonatal unit: ‘An additional responsibility’ for nursing workload?

Introduction: Live stream webcams have been introduced to neonatal units to reduce the separation between parents and infants. However, this new technology has the potential to impact nursing workload. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of the new implementation of webcams on nursing workload. Method: A survey was developed to explore webcam related nursing activity. Workload evaluations were completed by each nurse per shift, over a three-month period. Results: A total of 85 nurses took part in the study, completing 765 workload surveys. Findings revealed 95% of camera related tasks took less than 15 min. Parent phone calls related to webcams and changes in workflow for infant handling were identified. Conclusion: The introduction of webcams did not negatively impact nursing workload. Education for nurses and parents, and a technological support nurse or team would help lessen some of the challenges nurses experienced

Life Course Socioeconomic Position and Mid-Late Life Cognitive Function in Eastern Europe.

Objectives.To investigate whether the positive relation between socioeconomic position (SEP) across the life course and later life cognitive function observed in Western populations exists in former communist countries with apparently smaller income inequalities.Method.Structural equation modeling analysis of cross-sectional data on 30,846 participants aged 45-78 years in four Central and Eastern European centers: Novosibirsk (Russia), Krakow (Poland), Kaunas (Lithuania), and six Czech towns from the HAPIEE (Health, Alcohol, and Psychosocial factors In Eastern Europe) study. SEP was measured using self-reported childhood (maternal education, household amenities), adult (education), and older adult (current material circumstances) indicators. Latent variable for cognition was constructed from word recall, animal naming, and letter search

Identification of a variant hotspot in MYBPC3 and of a novel CSRP3 autosomal recessive alteration in a cohort of Polish patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

INTRODUCTION Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a heart disorder caused by autosomal dominant alterations affecting both sarcomeric genes and other nonsarcomeric loci in a minority of cases. However, in some patients, the occurrence of the causal pathogenic variant or variants in homozygosity, compound heterozygosity, or double heterozygosity has also been described. Most of the HCM pathogenic variants are missense and unique, but truncating mutations of the MYBPC3 gene have been reported as founder pathogenic variants in populations from Finland, France, Japan, Iceland, Italy, and the Netherlands. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to assess the genetic background of HCM in a cohort of Polish patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty–nine Polish patients were analyzed by a next–generation sequencing panel including 404 cardiovascular genes. RESULTS Pathogenic variants were found in 41% of the patients, with ultra–rare MYBPC3 c.2541C>G (p.Tyr847Ter) mutation standing for a variant hotspot and correlating with a lower age at HCM diagnosis. Among the nonsarcomeric genes, the CSRP3 mutation was found in a single case carrying the novel c.364C>T (p.Arg122Ter) variant in homozygosity. With this finding, the total number of known HCM cases with human CSRP3 knockout cases has reached 3

Blood-Based Oxidative Stress Markers and Cognitive Performance in Early Old Age: The HAPIEE Study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Oxidative stress is involved in Alzheimer disease pathology, but its impact on cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults remains unknown. We estimated associations between serum oxidative stress markers and cognitive function in early old age. METHODS: Subjects aged 45-69 years recruited in urban centers in Central and Eastern Europe had memory, verbal fluency, and processing speed assessed at baseline (2002-2005) and 3 years later. Derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs), biological antioxidant potential (BAP), and total thiol levels (TTLs) were measured at baseline in a subsample. Linear regression was used to estimate associations of biomarkers with cognitive test scores cross-sectionally (n = 4,304) and prospectively (n = 2,882). RESULTS: Increased d-ROM levels were inversely associated with global cognition and verbal fluency cross-sectionally and in prospective analysis; observed effects corresponded to 3-4 years' higher age. TTL was inconsistently associated with memory. BAP was not related to cognitive function. CONCLUSION: This study found modest evidence for a relationship between serum d-ROMs and cognitive function in a population sample of older adults

Summation of reinforcement rates when conditioned stimuli are presented in compound

Three experiments used delay conditioning of magazine approach in rats to examine the summation of responding when two conditioned stimuli (CSs) are presented together as a compound. The duration of each CS varied randomly from trial-to-trial around a mean that differed between the CSs. This meant that the rats’ response rate to each CS was systematically related to the reinforcement rate of that CS, but remained steady as time elapsed during the CS (Harris & Carpenter, in press; Harris, Gharaei, & Pincham, in press). When the rats were presented with a compound of two CSs that had been conditioned separately, they responded more during the compound than during either of the CSs individually. More significantly, however, in all three experiments, the rats responded to the compound at the same rate as they responded to a third CS that had been reinforced at a rate equal to the sum of the reinforcement rates of the two CSs in compound. We discuss the implications of this finding for associative models (e.g., Rescorla & Wagner, 1972) and rate-based models (Gallistel & Gibbon, 2000) of conditioning.Grant DP1092695 from the Australian Research Counci

RGS14 is a mitotic spindle protein essential from the first division of the mammalian zygote.

Heterotrimeric G protein alpha subunits, RGS proteins, and GoLoco motif proteins have been recently implicated in the control of mitotic spindle dynamics in C. elegans and D. melanogaster. Here we show that regulator of G protein signaling-14 (RGS14) is expressed by the mouse embryonic genome immediately prior to the first mitosis, where it colocalizes with the anastral mitotic apparatus of the mouse zygote. Loss of Rgs14 expression in the mouse zygote results in cytofragmentation and failure to progress to the 2-cell stage. RGS14 is found in all tissues and segregates to the nucleus in interphase and to the mitotic spindle and centrioles during mitosis. Alteration of RGS14 levels in exponentially proliferating cells leads to cell growth arrest. Our results indicate that RGS14 is one of the earliest essential product of the mammalian embryonic genome yet described and has a general role in mitosis

Time trends in lifestyle, risk factor control, and use of evidence-based medications in patients With coronary heart disease in Europe: results from 3 EUROASPIRE surveys, 1999-2013

Background: The EUROASPIRE (European Action on Secondary and Primary Prevention by Intervention to Reduce Events) cross-sectional surveys describe time trends in lifestyle and risk factor control among coronary patients between 1999 and 2013 in Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom as part of the EuroObservational Research Programme under the auspices of European Society of Cardiology. Objectives: This study sought to describe time trends in lifestyle, risk factor control, and the use of evidence-based medication in coronary patients across Europe. Methods: The EUROASPIRE II (1999 to 2000), III (2006 to 2007), and IV (2012 to 13) surveys were conducted in the same geographical areas and selected hospitals in each country. Consecutive patients (≤70 years) after coronary artery bypass graft, percutaneous coronary intervention, or an acute coronary syndrome identified from hospital records were interviewed and examined ≥6 months later with standardized methods. Results: Of 12,775 identified coronary patients, 8,456 (66.2%) were interviewed. Proportion of current smokers was similar across the 3 surveys. Prevalence of obesity increased by 7%. The prevalence of raised blood pressure (≥140/90 mm Hg or ≥140/80 mm Hg with diabetes) dropped by 8% from EUROASPIRE III to IV, and therapeutic control of blood pressure improved with 55% of patients below target in IV. The prevalence of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥2.5 mmol/l decreased by 44%. In EUROASPIRE IV, 75% were above the target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol <1.8 mmol/l. The prevalence of self-reported diabetes increased by 9%. The use of evidence-based medications increased between the EUROASPIRE II and III surveys, but did not change between the III and IV surveys. Conclusions: Lifestyle habits have deteriorated over time with increases in obesity, central obesity, and diabetes and stagnating rates of persistent smoking. Although blood pressure and lipid management improved, they are still not optimally controlled and the use of evidence-based medications appears to have stalled apart from the increased use of high-intensity statins. These results underline the importance of offering coronary patients access to modern preventive cardiology programs

The Migration Policy Simulation: Engaging stakeholders in Austria’s migration future by linking an agent-based model with a policy exercise

This report fulfils the ABM2Policy project Deliverable 2.2: A scientific report describing the protocol and outcomes of the migration-focused gamification exercise and the usefulness of an agent-based model for policy assessment. The goals guiding the research of the ABM2Policy project are twofold: i) to advance macroeconomic agent-based model (ABM) methodology for a realistic and verifiable analysis of migration as an external economic shock to the Austrian national economy, and ii) to explore the usefulness of an ABM combined with a gamified user-interface to support the Austrian migration policymaking discussions and to enhance stakeholder engagement. This Deliverable reports on the second project goal. The ABM was ‘gamified’ by developing a model-based policy exercise (PE) in the complex policy setting of climate migration to Austria. The results of the simulations of a macroeconomic ABM informed (role-playing) stakeholder deliberations, and in some instances, consensus emerged on complex climate migration policy issues. The PE brought to the fore the diverse and often conflicting viewpoints regarding migration through a process of discussion and negotiation, which in turn helped the participants understand the complexities of migration issues in the Austrian context. Overall, the PE participants assessed the game to be an effective tool for gaining knowledge and understanding of the policy process on environmental migration. The preliminary trials show promise in combining an ABM with a PE to support stakeholder deliberations on the migration policy process. The next step is to conduct a similar policy exercise with relevant Austrian stakeholders, e.g., political party members and public officials, to inform actual policy processes