Implementing a Critical Thinking Tool to Evaluate Educational Needs for Inpatient Rehabilitation Nurses.

Background: Most critical thinking assessment tools are resource intensive and require significant time and money to administer. Moreover, these tools are not tailored to evaluate critical thinking skills among inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) nurses. This pilot study explores the efficacy of using short videos to evaluate critical thinking for nurses working in an IRF.

Implementing a Critical Thinking Tool to Evaluate Educational Needs for Inpatient Rehabilitation Nurses.

BACKGROUND: Most critical thinking assessment tools are resource intensive and require significant time and money to administer. Moreover, these tools are not tailored to evaluate critical thinking skills among inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) nurses. This pilot study explores the efficacy of using short videos to evaluate critical thinking for nurses working in an IRF.

Use of Family Photographs Reduces Restlessness in Neurocritical Care Patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients admitted to the neuroscience intensive care unit often experience varying states of confusion and restlessness. The purpose of this study was to examine restlessness in acutely confused patients through use of familiar photographs. METHODS : This randomized prospective pilot study placed family photographs (photos) on the bedrail of confused patients during the night shift (8 pm to 4 am ) in a neuroscience intensive care unit.

Family Presence May Reduce Postoperative Delirium After Spinal Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Delirium is associated with worse outcomes, but there is a gap in literature identifying nurse-led interventions to reduce delirium in postoperative (postop) surgical spine patients. Because family presence has been associated with a variety of beneficial effects, we aimed to examine whether family presence in the spine intensive care unit (ICU) during the night after surgery was associated with less confusion or delirium on postop day 1. METHODS: This is a prospective nonrandomized pilot clinical trial with pragmatic sampling.

Pupillary light reflex measured with quantitative pupillometry has low sensitivity and high specificity for predicting neuroworsening after traumatic brain injury.

Background: Triage and neurological assessment of the 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries occurring annually is often done by nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the emergency department. Subjective assessments, such as the neurological examination that includes evaluation of the pupillary light reflex (PLR), can contain bias.

Original Research: Practice Variations in Documenting Neurologic Examinations in Non-Neuroscience ICUs.

Background: In critical care units, the neurologic examination (neuro exam) is used to detect changes in neurologic function. Serial neuro exams are a hallmark of monitoring in neuroscience ICUs. But less is known about neuro exams that are performed in non-neuroscience ICUs.

Deciphering the Role of miRNAs in Endometriosis Pathophysiology Using Experimental Endometriosis Mouse Models.

Endometriosis is an enigmatic disease for which we still have a poor understanding on how and why the disease develops. In recent years, miRNAs, small noncoding RNAs which regulate gene expression posttranscriptionally, have been evaluated for their role in endometriosis pathophysiology. This review will provide a brief summary on the role of miRNAs in endometrial physiology and pathophysiology as related to endometriosis.

Regulation of proto-oncogene Orai3 by miR18a/b and miR34a.

Store Operated Ca Entry (SOCE) mediated by Orai channels is a ubiquitous Ca influx pathway that regulates several cellular functions. We have earlier reported that Orai3, the mammalian specific Orai1 homolog, plays a critical role in breast cancer progression. More recently, Orai3 was demonstrated to regulate prostate and lung tumorigenesis.

STIM1 activation of adenylyl cyclase 6 connects Ca and cAMP signaling during melanogenesis.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-plasma membrane (PM) junctions form functionally active microdomains that connect intracellular and extracellular environments. While the key role of these interfaces in maintenance of intracellular Ca levels has been uncovered in recent years, the functional significance of ER-PM junctions in non-excitable cells has remained unclear. Here, we show that the ER calcium sensor protein STIM1 (stromal interaction molecule 1) interacts with the plasma membrane-localized adenylyl cyclase 6 (ADCY6) to govern melanogenesis.

STIM and Orai proteins as novel targets for cancer therapy. A Review in the Theme: Cell and Molecular Processes in Cancer Metastasis.

Calcium (Ca(2+)) regulates a plethora of cellular functions including hallmarks of cancer development such as cell cycle progression and cellular migration. Receptor-regulated calcium rise in nonexcitable cells occurs through store-dependent as well as store-independent Ca(2+) entry pathways. Stromal interaction molecules (STIM) and Orai proteins have been identified as critical constituents of both these Ca(2+) influx pathways.