Validation Study of a Nursing Education and Competency Tool.

Distinguishing competency and education in clinical healthcare education is complex. The NYU Langone Health Nursing Education and Competency Algorithm (NE-CA) was developed as a tool for competency identification and sustainment. A mixed-methods design national research study was employed to evaluate the validity of the NE-CA.

Perceived Dying Experience and Compassion in Oncology Patients and Nurses Following Implementation of the Forever Heart Program: A Pilot Study.

This pilot study explored the feasibility of a Forever Heart Program and the impact it has on oncology nurses' perception of the dying experience and their own compassion competence. Guided by Kubler-Ross's framework, the Forever Heart Program consists of a gemstone keepsake offered to patients and families during end-of-life care to support the grieving process. A mixed-methods approach utilized pretest/posttest design in a convenience sample of oncology nurses in an academic medical center over a 3-month period.

Activation of PKR by a short-hairpin RNA.

Recognition of viral infection often relies on the detection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), a process that is conserved in many different organisms. In mammals, proteins such as MDA5, RIG-I, OAS, and PKR detect viral dsRNA, but struggle to differentiate between viral and endogenous dsRNA. This study investigates an shRNA targeting DDX54's potential to activate PKR, a key player in the immune response to dsRNA.

Dicer acts with the RIG-I-like helicase DRH-1 and RDE-4 to cleave dsRNA.

Invertebrates use the endoribonuclease Dicer to cleave viral dsRNA during antiviral defense, while vertebrates use RIG-I-like Receptors (RLRs), which bind viral dsRNA to trigger an interferon response. While some invertebrate Dicers act alone during antiviral defense, Dicer acts in a complex with a dsRNA binding protein called RDE-4, and an RLR ortholog called DRH-1. We used biochemical and structural techniques to provide mechanistic insight into how these proteins function together.

Adenosine deaminases that act on RNA, then and now.

In this article, I recount my memories of key experiments that led to my entry into the RNA editing/modification field. I highlight initial observations made by the pioneers in the ADAR field, and how they fit into our current understanding of this family of enzymes. I discuss early mysteries that have now been solved, as well as those that still linger.

Adult use cannabis legalization and cannabis use disorder treatment in California, 2010-2021.

Introduction: Many nations and jurisdictions have legalized non-medical adult use of cannabis, or are considering doing so. This paper contributes to knowledge of adult use legalization's associations with cannabis use disorder (CUD) treatment utilization.

Methods: This study collected data from a dataset of all publicly funded substance use disorder treatment delivered in California from 2010 to 2021 (1,460,066 episodes).

Clinical pharmacist intervention to ensure safe stimulant prescribing practices at a Veterans Affairs facility.

Introduction: The Psychotropic Drug Safety Initiative (PDSI) is a national Veterans Affairs program that recommends obtaining cardiovascular vital signs semiannually and urine toxicology screening annually for veterans prescribed stimulants. The PDSI also recommends a risk review of concurrent central nervous system (CNS) depressants to ensure the benefits of coadministration with stimulants outweigh the risks. This project's purpose was to evaluate the occurrence of coprescriptions for CNS depressants and stimulants and encourage compliance with the PDSI recommendations to increase safe and appropriate management of veterans prescribed the combination.

The competitive landscape of the dsRNA world.

The ability to sense and respond to infection is essential for life. Viral infection produces double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) that are sensed by proteins that recognize the structure of dsRNA. This structure-based recognition of viral dsRNA allows dsRNA sensors to recognize infection by many viruses, but it comes at a cost-the dsRNA sensors cannot always distinguish between "self" and "nonself" dsRNAs.

Surgeon Sex and Health Care Costs for Patients Undergoing Common Surgical Procedures.

Importance: Prior research has shown differences in postoperative outcomes for patients treated by female and male surgeons. It is important to understand, from a health system and payer perspective, whether surgical health care costs differ according to the surgeon's sex.

Objective: To examine the association between surgeon sex and health care costs among patients undergoing surgery.

Association between patient-surgeon gender concordance and mortality after surgery in the United States: retrospective observational study.

Objective: To determine whether patient-surgeon gender concordance is associated with mortality of patients after surgery in the United States.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Setting: Acute care hospitals in the US.

Reading Between the Lines: Navigating Nuance in Medical Literature to Optimize Clinical Decision-Making and Health Care Outcomes.

Research-based articles published in medical journals are key to communicating the results of clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. But there are challenges inherent in the communication process. While clinicians rely on the information they read in medical journals to help guide clinical decision-making, most are overwhelmed by the amount of information being published and many receive only limited training on how to critically assess what they read.

Dicer acts with the RIG-I-like helicase DRH-1 and RDE-4 to cleave dsRNA.

Invertebrates use the endoribonuclease Dicer to cleave viral dsRNA during antiviral defense, while vertebrates use RIG-I-like Receptors (RLRs), which bind viral dsRNA to trigger an interferon response. While some invertebrate Dicers act alone during antiviral defense, Dicer acts in a complex with a dsRNA binding protein called RDE-4, and an RLR ortholog called DRH-1. We used biochemical and structural techniques to provide mechanistic insight into how these proteins function together.

Surgeon Sex and Long-Term Postoperative Outcomes Among Patients Undergoing Common Surgeries.

Importance: Sex- and gender-based differences in a surgeon's medical practice and communication may be factors in patients' perioperative outcomes. Patients treated by female surgeons have improved 30-day outcomes. However, whether these outcomes persist over longer follow-up has not been assessed.

Early tracheostomy in patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke.

Purpose: Respiratory failure following mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is a known complication, and requirement of tracheostomy is associated with worse outcomes. Our objective is to evaluate characteristics associated with tracheostomy timing in AIS patients treated with MT.

Methods: The National Inpatient Sample was queried for adult patients treated with MT for AIS from 2016 to 2019.

Ancestral protein reconstruction reveals evolutionary events governing variation in Dicer helicase function.

Antiviral defense in ecdysozoan invertebrates requires Dicer with a helicase domain capable of ATP hydrolysis. But despite well-conserved ATPase motifs, human Dicer is incapable of ATP hydrolysis, consistent with a muted role in antiviral defense. To investigate this enigma, we used ancestral protein reconstruction to resurrect Dicer's helicase in animals and trace the evolutionary trajectory of ATP hydrolysis.

The Effect of the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System 1115 Demonstration Waiver on Substance Use Disorder Treatment Access: Evidence from California.

Background: In August 2015, the California Department of Health Care Services created the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System 1115 demonstration waiver (DMC-ODS waiver) to improve service delivery to Medi-Cal-eligible individuals with a substance use disorder (SUD). We examine if implementing the DMC-ODS waiver across California counties improved patient access to SUD treatment services.

Methods: We use administrative data from 2016 to 2020 from a reporting system for all publicly-funded SUD treatment services delivered in California and employ difference-in-differences and event study empirical strategies exploiting the differential timing of DMC-ODS waiver adoption across counties.

Modern Sedation and Analgesia Strategies in Neurocritical Care.

Purpose Of Review: Patients with acute neurologic injury require a specialized approach to critical care, particularly with regard to sedation and analgesia. This article reviews the most recent advances in methodology, pharmacology, and best practices of sedation and analgesia for the neurocritical care population.

Recent Findings: In addition to established agents such as propofol and midazolam, dexmedetomidine and ketamine are two sedative agents that play an increasingly central role, as they have a favorable side effect profile on cerebral hemodynamics and rapid offset can facilitate repeated neurologic exams.

Association Between Surgeon and Anesthesiologist Sex Discordance and Postoperative Outcomes: A Population-based Cohort Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of surgeon-anesthesiologist sex discordance on postoperative outcomes.

Summary Background Data: Optimal surgical outcomes depend on teamwork, with surgeons and anesthesiologists forming two key components. There are sex and sex-based differences in interpersonal communication and medical practice which may contribute to patients' perioperative outcomes.

Medical conditions of primary care patients with documented cannabis use and cannabis use disorder in electronic health records: a case control study from an academic health system in a medical marijuana state.

Background: Approximately 3.8% of adults worldwide have used cannabis in the past year. Understanding how cannabis use is associated with other health conditions is crucial for healthcare providers seeking to understand the needs of their patients, and for health policymakers.

Homelessness and publicly funded substance use disorder treatment in California, 2016-2019: Analysis of treatment needs, level of care placement, and outcomes.

Introduction: Both homelessness and substance use have increased in recent years. People experiencing homelessness (PEH) are at increased risk for health problems and early mortality, both of which can be exacerbated by substance use disorders (SUD). Specialty SUD treatment is likely needed to address substance use among PEH, and more than 232,000 PEH received treatment from U.