Symptoms Reported by Young Adults With Asthma During Wildfire Smoke Season.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the relationship between exposure to poor air quality (AQ) and self-reported symptoms among young adults with asthma during wildfire smoke season.

Methods: Sixty seven young adults (aged 18-26 years) completed the Asthma Control Test and reported asthma symptoms at three time points (baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks) during wildfire season as part of a clinical trial. Bivariate correlations between Asthma Control Test and AQ measures were examined followed by predictive linear regression.

Perspectives on Online Resources for People Experiencing Pain: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Innovations in technology offer potential solutions to address pain care inequities. To maximize impacts, greater understanding is needed regarding preferences and priorities of people experiencing or treating pain.

Objectives: This study conducted focus groups to investigate the perspectives of people with pain and healthcare workers regarding online resources for pain management.

The Impact of Moral Injury on Self-reported Work Performance in Hospital Nurses Following the Global Pandemic Surge.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine relationships between moral injury (MI) and self-reported nurse work performance (NWP) among hospital nurses after the COVID-19 pandemic surges.

Background: Previously studied in the military, nurse MI became evident due to the pandemic. No previous studies have examined the impact of MI on NWP.

Differences in nutritional profile by chronotype among 12-h day shift and night shift nurses.

Acute care nurses may suffer substantial fatigue if working night shift or if assigned a shift contrasting their preferred sleep-wake patterns, called chronotype. Nurses are at higher risk for diet-related, metabolic diseases compared to other healthcare professionals. Yet, the impact of preferred chronotype and mismatch to assigned shift on nutritional intake and risk for metabolic disease among acute care nurses is unclear.

A videoconferencing verification method for enrollment of breastfeeding dyads to an online prospective mixed methods study during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aims: To apply videoconferencing as a new verification method prior to enrollment for an online survey-based study.

Design: A prospective-observational, mixed methods, three group, repeated measures study involved recruiting a population-based sample of breastfeeding mothers and infants (N = 81). Twenty-seven mothers were recruited for each group: mothers returning to work outside of the home, mothers returning to work from home and mothers staying home with their infants full-time.

Using Aromatherapy to Improve Nighttime Comfort in Hospitalized Patients With Cancer: A Pilot Study.

Background: Sleep disturbances have been shown to have negative health effects leading to inferior well-being, increased fatigue, and impaired performance. For hospitalized patients receiving oncology care, improving nighttime comfort may positively affect well-being and health outcomes, leading to decreased length of stay. Aromatherapy can improve sleep quantity and quality.

Interprofessional Education to Address Substance Use among Adults with Persistent Pain: A Pre-Post Program Evaluation.

Background: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are highly prevalent among adults with persistent pain. Yet, standard competencies for integrating pain and SUD content are lacking across health science student curricula. Additionally, pharmacotherapies to treat SUDs are underutilized.

Experiencing COMFORT: Perceptions of Virtually-delivered Nonpharmacologic Therapies in Adults Prescribed Opioids for Chronic Pain.

Background: An opioid task force within an urban public health district sought to increase access to, and utilization of, non-opioid, nonpharmacologic alternatives for pain management.

Aims: The COMFORT (Community-engaged Options to Maximize and Facilitate Opioid ReducTion) study was designed to provide virtual multidimensional integrated nonpharmacologic therapies via a cloud-based videoconferencing platform over six weeks to adults with chronic pain who were prescribed an opioid to investigate measurable health improvements.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive analysis explored participants' experiences of a novel pain management intervention.

Direct oral anticoagulants and warfarin safety in rural patients with obesity.

Background: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are often used in patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter instead of warfarin and although supporting evidence is limited, available studies suggest this may be an acceptable route of care. Our study assessed the question: are DOACs as effective and safe as warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation and class III obesity specifically in a rural population?

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted by examining the first 6-12 months of therapy with a DOAC (apixaban or rivaroxaban) or warfarin in patients with weight >120kg or class III obesity. Events of interest, thrombosis and bleeding, were documented for analysis.

Exercise, diet, and sleep habits of nurses working full-time during the COVID-19 pandemic: An observational study.

Background: Healthy diet, exercise, and sleep practices may mitigate stress and prevent illness. However, lifestyle behaviors of acute care nurses working during stressful COVID-19 surges are unclear.

Purpose: To quantify sleep, diet, and exercise practices of 12-hour acute care nurses working day or night shift during COVID-19-related surges.

Feasibility and acceptability of home monitoring with portable spirometry in young adults with asthma.

Objective: Self-monitoring asthma control is a key component of asthma management. Few studies have reported usability and acceptability of portable spirometry among young adults with asthma. Portable spirometry offers a practical solution to monitoring airway narrowing at home.

Nurse practitioner practice under the COVID-19 public health emergency: Did policy change persist?

The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) offers opportunities to study legislative and policy changes to nurse practitioner (NP) practice limitations, including factors that affect persistence. We evaluated states with restricted or reduced practice as identified by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. This analysis 1) identified and correlated key changes in policy during the PHE with state regulatory, governmental, and practice variables; 2) modeled predictive characteristics that facilitate or impede policy persistence; and 3) explored the lived experience of NPs working in eligible states with policy changes during the PHE.

Drug-Drug Interaction Between Orally Administered Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen and Inhalation of Cannabis Smoke: A Case Report.

Objective: To determine if a 2-day protocol measuring pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics can demonstrate drug-drug interactions when smoked cannabis is added to orally administered hydrocodone/acetaminophen combination products.

Case Summary: A 51-year-old non-Hispanic white male with chronic pain diagnoses participated in a 2-day pilot protocol. The participant attended two 7-hour in-lab days where he received 10 blood draws each day and completed self-administered pain and anxiety surveys.

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Burnout, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Compassion Satisfaction Among Emergency Nurses in Southern California Working Through the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction scores in emergency nurses after working through the COVID-19 pandemic using the Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5 and compare those scores with similar studies conducted before the pandemic.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of a descriptive survey including the Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5 questionnaire was sent to nurses working in the emergency department before 2021 from urban, adult, and pediatric receiving hospitals in Southern California. Results were analyzed to provide insight into the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the levels of burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction compared with prepandemic studies found in the literature using the same Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5 instrument.

Norway spruce postglacial recolonization of Fennoscandia.

Contrasting theories exist regarding how Norway spruce (Picea abies) recolonized Fennoscandia after the last glaciation and both early Holocene establishments from western microrefugia and late Holocene colonization from the east have been postulated. Here, we show that Norway spruce was present in southern Fennoscandia as early as 14.7 ± 0.

Promoting risk reduction among young adults with asthma during wildfire smoke: A feasibility study.

Objective(s): This study explored the feasibility, acceptability, preliminary impact, and functionality of two risk reduction mobile application (app) interventions on asthma outcomes as compared to a control arm during wildfire season.

Design: Three-arm, 8-week randomized clinical trial.

Sample: Sixty-seven young adults with asthma were enrolled.

Ask Your Provider About Cannabis: Increasing Nurse Practitioner Knowledge and Confidence.

Nurse practitioners (NPs) are authorizing providers for medical cannabis in many states, and may serve as a primary care clinician. We report findings from a nationally distributed 2-h continuing education (CE) module aimed to improve knowledge, confidence, and willingness to communicate with patients about cannabis. Data were electronically obtained from the CE platform pre- and post-test (=289) and a follow-up survey sent within 3 months postcompletion (=184, 63%).

Late glacial (17,060-13,400 cal yr BP) sedimentary and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Sekhokong Range (Drakensberg), southern Africa.

Southern Africa sits at the junction of tropical and temperate systems, leading to the formation of seasonal precipitation zones. Understanding late Quaternary paleoclimatic change in this vulnerable region is hampered by a lack of available, reliably-dated records. Here we present a sequence from a well-stratified sedimentary infill occupying a lower slope basin which covers 17,060 to 13,400 cal yr BP with the aim to reconstruct paleoclimatic variability in the high Drakensberg during the Late Glacial.

Landscape Setting Drives the Microbial Eukaryotic Community Structure in Four Swedish Mountain Lakes over the Holocene.

On the annual and interannual scales, lake microbial communities are known to be heavily influenced by environmental conditions both in the lake and in its terrestrial surroundings. However, the influence of landscape setting and environmental change on shaping these communities over a longer (millennial) timescale is rarely studied. Here, we applied an 18S metabarcoding approach to DNA preserved in Holocene sediment records from two pairs of co-located Swedish mountain lakes.

Structural equation modeling of long-term controls on mercury and bromine accumulation in Pinheiro mire (Minas Gerais, Brazil).

The application of statistical modeling is still infrequent in mercury research in peat, despite the ongoing debate on the weight of the diverse factors (climate, peat decomposition, vegetation changes, etc.) that may affect mercury accumulation. One of the few exceptions is the Hg record of Pinheiro mire (souheast Brazil).

Shared Decision-Making for Patients Using Cannabis for Pain Symptom Management in the United States.

Objectives: Gaps in research evidence and inconsistent policies regarding use of cannabis for pain and associated symptoms result in confusion for healthcare providers and patients. The objective of this review was to synthesize information on cannabis use for pain with legal and policy implications to create a shared decision-making model that can be used to guide patient care interactions.

Approach: Current cannabis policies, state laws, research, and patient care practices related to medical and recreational cannabis in the United States were reviewed, along with best practices in shared decision-making.

BMI influences relationships among health factors for adults with persistent pain who use prescription opioids.

Background: Long-term use of prescription opioids for pain results in negative health outcomes. Overweight and pain are related, and adults with either condition commonly report poor sleep quality, high levels of depression, low levels of self-efficacy, and high pain interference and intensity. Insufficient research exists regarding how weight may influence pain outcomes in the context of common symptoms.

Human bones tell the story of atmospheric mercury and lead exposure at the edge of Roman World.

Atmospheric metal pollution is a major health concern whose roots pre-date industrialization. This study pertains the analyses of ancient human skeletons and compares them with natural archives to trace historical environmental exposure at the edge of the Roman Empire in NW Iberia. The novelty of our approach relies on the combination of mercury, lead and lead isotopes.

Environmental archives of atmospheric Hg deposition - A review.

Environmental archives offer an opportunity to reconstruct temporal trends in atmospheric Hg deposition at various timescales. Lake sediment and peat have been the most widely used archives; however, new records from ice, tree rings, and the measurement of Hg stable isotopes, are offering new insights into past Hg cycling. Preindustrial Hg deposition has been studied over decadal to millennial timescales extending as far back as the late Pleistocene.