Nurses’ Perceptions of the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program

This study explores the knowledge and perceptions of the newborn hearing screening (NBHS) program from the perspective of nurses and nursing support staff. Registered nurses and nursing support staff (n = 84) completed a digitally administered survey that queried their understanding of JCIH guidelines, perceptions around NBHS administration, and parental anxiety. The results demonstrated that while most respondents felt comfortable and confident about NBHS administration, there was a significant difference in their understanding of appropriate screening milestones compared to JCIH recommendations. Participants further demonstrated an interest in additional learning opportunities related to the NBHS

Improving Extraction Processes of Crustacean Chitin Using Solid State Analytical Techniques

Solid state analytical techniques are becoming more widely used for the analysis of a range of organic products which demonstrate very poor solubility in both common organic and polar solvents and as such cannot be accurately characterised using solution based techniques. Primarily used as a secondary technique for qualitative analysis of insoluble intermediates and products in organic synthesis, 13C CP-MAS NMR can be utilised in tandem with a targeted extraction and clean up procedure for accurate quantitative analysis of insoluble bio-molecules of interest. Here solid state 13C CP-MAS NMR is utilised as the primary analytical technique in the characterisation of crustacean sourced chitin whereby Cancer pagurus crab shell chitin and Pandalus borealis shrimp shell chitin are shown to have a degree of acetylation greater than 90%. FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and DSC provide secondary structural, molecular and thermal analysis of the raw materials and extracted chitin

Predictors of Driving in Individuals with Relapsing–Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Evaluations on fitness-to-drive of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) usually involve the administration of several physical, visual, and cognitive tests. In some instances, a practical road test is also administered. The use of several tests, many of which are only remotely driving-related, increases the time, cost, and human resources involved in the evaluation process, and sometimes lead to erroneous decisions. In this study, we investigated the usefulness of using a short battery of a few highly predictive tests to predict fitness-to-drive of individuals with MS. Fortyfour individuals with relapsing–remitting MS (age = 46 ± 11 years, 37 females) and Expanded Disability Status Scale values between 1 and 7 were administered selected physical, visual and cognitive tests including the Stroke Driver Screening Assessment (SDSA) battery. Performance on 12 cognitive and three visual tests were significantly associated with participants’ performance on a practical road test. The Stroop Color test, Direction, Compass, and Road Sign Recognition tests from the SDSA, and the Speed of Processing test from Useful Field of View test battery together explained 59% of the variance and predicted the pass or fail outcome on the road test with 91% accuracy, 70% sensitivity, and 97% specificity. The five psychometric/off-road tests, which together can be administered in less than 45 minutes, cost approximately $150, and is 91% accurate, can be used as a screening battery. Those who pass should be further tested on-road to finally decide their fitness-to-drive while those of fail should be further evaluated, trained, or advised on alternative transportation means. Future studies are needed to confirm and validate the findings in this study

Female Genital Mutilation. Information for Health-Care Professionals Working in Ireland.

AkiDwA, the African and Migrant Women’s Network in Ireland, developed this resource as part of a project funded by the Office of the Minister for Integration, examining the health-care needs of women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in their countries of origin and who now reside in Ireland. As the project developed in 2008, it became apparent that there were few resources for health-care professionals working in Ireland encountering these women, who may have very specific and urgent health-care needs. As a result of successful collaboration between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s MSc Women\u27s Health course director and students, and the coordinator of the Migrant Women\u27s Health Services Project in AkiDwA, key information on FGM and related health-care needs was researched and developed. Irish FGM-prevalence statistics were collated during 2008 and are also contained in this resource. It is envisaged that this resource will be useful to a range of health-care professionals in a broad spectrum of possible settings. The removable image sheet is designed to be used with a patient or client to illustrate FGM typologies and FGM prevalence across Africa. This resource would not have been completed without the active participation and assistance of the AkiDwA FGM Health Forum members (listed below), the board and staff of AkiDwA, the significant contribution from the RCSI, and the courageous women who have endured FGM and are seeking supports and services in Ireland

Portland State University Spring Symposium Report

The 2023 Spring Symposium arose in response to a request to PSU administrators in a Faculty Senate Resolution. That resolution noted the high level of interest by the Faculty Senate in both understanding and engaging in the university’s budgeting processes. The Symposium offered an opportunity for all PSU employees to come together to identify priorities and shared purpose regarding the university’s approach to long term financial planning. The recommendations created during the symposium are being shared with incoming president Ann Cudd to inform her thinking as PSU pursues a path toward financial sustainability. Table of Contents 04 Statement from President and Faculty Senate 05 2023 Faculty & Staff Spring Symposium Event Overview 08 Collaborative Governance Overview 10 Report Purpose & Intention 11 Process Recommendations 13 Next Steps 15 Acknowledgements 16 Appendix: Process Recommendation Too

ESRRB regulates glucocorticoid gene expression in mice and patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Synthetic glucocorticoids (GCs), such as dexamethasone and prednisone, remain key components of therapy for patients with lymphoid malignancies. For pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), response to GCs remains the most reliable prognostic indicator; failure to respond to GC correlates with poor event-free survival. To uncover GC resistance mechanisms, we performed a genome-wide, survival-based short hairpin RNA screen and identified the orphan nuclear receptor estrogen-related receptor-beta (ESRRB) as a critical transcription factor that cooperates with the GC receptor (GR) to mediate the GC gene expression signature in mouse and human ALL cells. Esrrb knockdown interfered with the expression of genes that were induced and repressed by GR and resulted in GC resistance in vitro and in vivo. Dexamethasone treatment stimulated ESRRB binding to estrogen-related receptor elements (ERREs) in canonical GC-regulated genes, and H3K27Ac Hi-chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed increased interactions between GR- and ERRE-containing regulatory regions in dexamethasone-treated human T-ALL cells. Furthermore, ESRRB agonists enhanced GC target gene expression and synergized with dexamethasone to induce leukemic cell death, indicating that ESRRB agonists may overcome GC resistance in ALL, and potentially, in other lymphoid malignancies

Age-related Differences in Idiom Production in Adulthood

To investigate whether idiom production was vulnerable to age-related difficulties, we asked 40 younger (ages 18–30) and 40 older healthy adults (ages 60–85) to produce idiomatic expressions in a story-completion task. Younger adults produced significantly more correct idiom responses (73%) than did older adults (60%). When older adults generated partially correct responses, they were less likely than younger participants to eventually produce the complete target idiom (old: 32%; young: 70%); first-word cues after initial failure to retrieve an idiom resulted in more correct idioms for older (24%) than younger (15%) participants. Correlations between age and idiom correctness were positive for the young group and negative for the older group, suggesting mastery of familiar idioms continues into adulthood. Within each group, scores on the Boston Naming Test correlated with performance on the idiom task. Findings for retrieving idiomatic expressions are thus similar to those for retrieving lexical items

Epithelial-Associated Inflammatory Pathways Underlie Residual Asthma Exacerbations in Urban Children Treated with Mepolizumab Therapy

Rationale: Identification of airway inflammatory pathways in asthma has proven essential to understanding mechanisms of disease and has led to effective personalized treatment with biologic therapies. However, relatively little is known about patterns of airway inflammation at the time of respiratory illnesses and how such patterns relate to responsiveness to biologic therapies. Methods: The MUPPITS-1 (n=106) and MUPPITS-2 (n=290) studies investigated asthma exacerbations in urban children with exacerbation-prone asthma and ≥150/microliter blood eosinophils. Children in both studies received guidelines-based asthma care; in MUPPITS-2, participants were additionally randomized (1:1) to placebo or mepolizumab. Nasal lavage samples were collected during respiratory illnesses for RNA-sequencing and analyzed by modular analysis to assess genome-wide expression patterns associated with exacerbation illnesses. Results: Among 284 illnesses, exacerbations that occurred in the absence of mepolizumab therapy showed significantly higher upregulation of eosinophil associated inflammatory pathways (fold change values [FC]=1.27-1.43, p-values\u3c0.05), including a Type-2 inflammation module composed of eosinophil, mast cell, and IL-13 response genes. In contrast, exacerbations that occurred while on mepolizumab therapy showed significantly higher upregulation of several epithelial inflammatory pathways (FC=1.36-1.64, p-values\u3c0.05) including TGF-β/Smad3 signaling, extracellular matrix production, and epidermal growth factor receptor signaling. Conclusions: These results indicate that novel inflammatory pathways, likely originating from the airway epithelium and distinct from Type-2 or eosinophilic inflammation, drive residual exacerbations that occur in children treated with mepolizumab therapy added to guideline-based care. These findings identify likely mechanisms of persistent disease expression in these children despite significant depletion of eosinophils and can identify novel treatment targets for future studies