Enhancing Nursing Perspectives and Support of Stroke Patient Satisfaction Survey

Problem A stroke diagnosis is associated with high mortality and increased morbidity that affect the quality of life of both patients and caregivers. Higher satisfaction with stroke care could alleviate both patient and caregiver stress, thereby positively affecting their quality of life. Regulatory guidelines underscore the need for a stroke-specific patient satisfaction survey (SPSS). Context Hospital X houses one of the few comprehensive stroke centers (CSC) in the San Francisco Bay Area, serving patients with various stroke etiologies and complexities. Its Neuro Observation Unit (NOU) currently does not administer a SPSS. Intervention An educational presentation using literature evidence in support of SPSS was presented to nursing staff during the monthly unit meeting. Measures The aim was to ensure 100% of nurses in the NOU acknowledged SPSS importance by April 18, 2024, to maintain safe, quality care for stroke patients and meet regulatory standards. Successful change in practice was evaluated through a questionnaire administered before and after the educational presentation. On a 5-point Likert scale, it gauged nurses’ perspectives on SPSS and their likelihood of encouraging patients or caregivers to complete a SPSS. Results The average pre-intervention ratings for the significance of patient satisfaction and likelihood to encourage were 4.4 and 3.6, respectively, and post-intervention ratings were 4.1 and 3.6, respectively. Optional comments from nurses implied confusion about their role in SPSS implementation. Conclusions These results suggest that nurses in the NOU at Hospital X are receptive to implementing a SPSS, but require clarification on their role

cAMP Signaling Enhances HIV-1 Long Terminal Repeat (LTR)-directed Transcription and Viral Replication in Bone Marrow Progenitor Cells.

CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells have been shown to be susceptible to HIV-1 infection, possibly due to a low-level expression of CXCR4, a coreceptor for HIV-1 entry. Given these observations, we have explored the impact of forskolin on cell surface expression of CXCR4 in a cell line model (TF-1). The elevation of intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) by forskolin through adenylyl cyclase (AC) resulted in transcriptional upregulation of CXCR4 with a concomitant increase in replication of the CXCR4-utilizing HIV-1 strain IIIB. Transient expression analyses also demonstrated an increase in CXCR4-, CCR5-, and CXCR4-/CCR5-utilizing HIV-1 (LAI, YU2, and 89.6, respectively) promoter activity. Studies also implicated the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway and the downstream transcription factor CREB-1 in interfacing with cAMP response elements located in the CXCR4 and viral promoter. These observations suggest that the cAMP signaling pathway may serve as a regulator of CXCR4 levels and concomitantly of HIV-1 replication in bone marrow (BM) progenitor cells. © 2017, © The Author(s) 2017

A Rho family GTPase controls actin dynamics and tip growth via two counteracting downstream pathways in pollen tubes.

Tip growth in neuronal cells, plant cells, and fungal hyphae is known to require tip-localized Rho GTPase, calcium, and filamentous actin (F-actin), but how they interact with each other is unclear. The pollen tube is an exciting model to study spatiotemporal regulation of tip growth and F-actin dynamics. An Arabidopsis thaliana Rho family GTPase, ROP1, controls pollen tube growth by regulating apical F-actin dynamics. This paper shows that ROP1 activates two counteracting pathways involving the direct targets of tip-localized ROP1: RIC3 and RIC4. RIC4 promotes F-actin assembly, whereas RIC3 activates Ca(2+) signaling that leads to F-actin disassembly. Overproduction or depletion of either RIC4 or RIC3 causes tip growth defects that are rescued by overproduction or depletion of RIC3 or RIC4, respectively. Thus, ROP1 controls actin dynamics and tip growth through a check and balance between the two pathways. The dual and antagonistic roles of this GTPase may provide a unifying mechanism by which Rho modulates various processes dependent on actin dynamics in eukaryotic cells

Depression, antidepressants and driving safety.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to review to review the reported associations of depression and antidepressants with motor vehicle crashes.PurposeA literature search for material published in the English language between January, 1995, and October, 2015, in bibliographic databases was combined with a search for other relevant material referenced in the retrieved articles.MethodsRetrieved articles were systematically reviewed for inclusion criteria: 19 epidemiological studies (17 case-control and 2 cohort studies) fulfilled the inclusion criteria by estimating the crash risk associated with depression and/or psychotropic medications in naturalistic settings.ResultsThe estimates of the odds ratio (OR) of crash involvement associated with depression ranged from 1.78 to 3.99. All classes of antidepressants were reported to have side effects with the potential to affect driving safety. The majority of studies of antidepressant effects on driving reported an elevated crash risk, and ORs ranged from 1.19 to 2.03 for all crashes, and 3.19 for fatal crashes. In meta-analysis, depression was associated with approximately 2-fold increased crash risk (summary OR = 1.90; 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.39), and antidepressants were associated with approximately 40% increased crash risk (summary OR = 1.40; 95%CI, 1.18 to 1.66).ConclusionBased on the findings of the studies reviewed, depression, antidepressants or the combination of depression and antidepressants may pose a potential hazard to driving safety. More research is needed to understand the individual contributions of depression and the medications used to treat depression

Functional Studies of CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein Site Located Downstream of the Transcriptional Start Site.

Previous studies have identified a CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) site located downstream of the transcriptional start site (DS3). The role of the DS3 element with respect to HIV-1 transactivation by Tat and viral replication has not been characterized. We have demonstrated that DS3 was a functional C/EBPβ binding site and mutation of this site to the C/EBP knockout DS3-9C variant showed lower HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) transactivation by C/EBPβ. However, it was able to exhibit similar or even higher transcription levels by Tat compared to the parental LTR. C/EBPβ and Tat together further enhanced the transcription level of the parental LAI-LTR and DS3-9C LTR, with higher levels in the DS3-9C LTR. HIV molecular clone viruses carrying the DS3-9C variant LTR demonstrated a decreased replication capacity and delayed rate of replication. These results suggest that DS3 plays a role in virus transcriptional initiation and provides new insight into C/EBP regulation of HIV-1

Effect of Commercial Hair Blockers on the UV Protection of Hair Fiber

The purpose of this research was to compare the UV protection of commercially available hair care products that contain vegetable oil or similar moisture protectors with that of the products containing known UV filters

Investigating Permeation Behavior of Flufenamic Acid Cocrystals Using a Dissolution and Permeation System

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link

Crescendo: Routine Learning App for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Crescendo is an ongoing project aimed to provide children with High Functioning Autism, their teachers and carers with a communication tool that bridges them. Crescendo guides carers in teaching and immersing their child in a virtual environment that mimics the real world, helping them to make sense of it and interact with objects and places in order to become self-reliant in atomized, step-by-step routines. Crescendo is a two-sided app design, one for carers and another for children. It provides both with tool for monitoring and incremental step-by-step learning.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Asymmetric spin-wave dispersion due to Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in an ultrathin Pt/CoFeB film

Employing Brillouin spectroscopy, strong interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions have been observed in an ultrathin Pt/CoFeB film. Our micromagnetic simulations show that spin-wave nonreciprocity due to asymmetric surface pinning is insignificant for the 0.8nmthick CoFeB film studied. The observed high asymmetry of the monotonic spin wave dispersion relation is thus ascribed to strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions present at the Pt/CoFeB interface. Our findings should further enhance the significance of CoFeB as an important material for magnonic, spintronic and skyrmionic applications.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Do low vision interventions, including prescription and training in the use of low vision devices, such as magnifiers, telescopes, selective transmission lenses, electronic devices, and computers, enhance older adults’ vision in reading standard labels on medication bottles?

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of low vision rehabilitation interventions on individuals with low vision, particularly on the ability to read standard labels on medication bottles