Perceptions in Mentorship: The Mentor-Mentee Competency Discrepancy.

This study evaluated faculty mentoring competencies of 94 mentor-mentee pairs across institutions using the Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA-21). Results indicated consistent mentor self-assessments and mentee evaluations of mentors across sites, with no significant association of gender or race/ethnicity on competency scoring. Mentees rated mentors higher than mentor's self-assessments.

The Impact of COVID-19 Fear on Mental Health of Community Behavioral Health Providers.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted communities worldwide. Behavioral health providers are at the forefront providing services and are thus vulnerable to psychological sequalae. This study hypothesizes that the fear of COVID-19 predicts depression and anxiety among these providers.

A Longitudinal Assessment of Self-directed Learning Readiness and Development in Medical Students.

Objectives: Self-directed learning (SDL) competency is important for physicians to stay abreast of advances in their field and to provide the best available evidence-based care to their patients. Therefore, an essential responsibility of medical educators is to ensure the development of SDL skills in their students. The first objective of this study was to investigate longitudinally the degree to which medical students were ready to engage in SDL.

Pharmacist-social worker interprofessional relations and education in mental health: a scoping review.

Background: One in eight patients is affected by a mental health condition, and interprofessional mental health teams collaborate to improve patient care. While pharmacists and social workers are recognized as mental health team members, there is a lack of literature describing interprofessional relations and education between these professions, especially as it pertains to mental health. The purpose of this review was to identify and characterize reports describing pharmacist-social worker interprofessional relations and education within mental health.

Fear of COVID-19 among nonsmokers and smokers/former smokers: Implications for health promotion practice.

Introduction: Fear of COVID-19 may differ for individuals with compromised health and those with unhealthy behaviors, placing them at greater risk. Based on previous analysis of academic medical center faculty and staff, the authors predicted that workers who were smokers/previous smokers would express the greater fear of COVID-19 relative to nonsmokers.

Methods: The present study used the Fear of COVID-19 Scale to assess fear among nonsmokers (n = 1,489) and smokers/previous smokers (n = 272) from a larger population of academic medical center members (N = 1,761).

Sex Differences between Medical Students in the Assessment of the Fear of COVID-19.

Background: Differing expressions of the fear of COVID-19 between men and women can potentially increase both immediate and long-term physical health risks. We predicted that women students would express greater fear of COVID-19. Methods: We used an Internet-delivered Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to assess fear among men (n = 100) and women (n = 272) from a larger population of academic medical center members (n = 1761).

Fear of COVID-19 among nonsmokers and smokers/former smokers: Implications for health promotion practice.

Introduction: Fear of COVID-19 may differ for individuals with compromised health and those with unhealthy behaviors, placing them at greater risk. Based on previous analysis of academic medical center faculty and staff, the authors predicted that workers who were smokers/previous smokers would express the greater fear of COVID-19 relative to nonsmokers.

Methods: The present study used the Fear of COVID-19 Scale to assess fear among nonsmokers (n = 1,489) and smokers/previous smokers (n = 272) from a larger population of academic medical center members (N = 1,761).

Assessing fear of COVID-19 at an academic medical center.

Purpose: This study measured the degree of COVID-19-related fear among academic medical center employees, identified subsections with high COVID-19 fear, and validated the Fear of COVID-19 Scale with medical professionals in the United States.

Methods: This study is a cross-sectional, internet-based survey delivered by Qualtrics. The survey was conducted at the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center between May 21 and June 18, 2020.

Mentee Assessment of Mentoring Competencies at an Academic Health Sciences Center.

The Oklahoma Center for Mentoring Excellence (OCME) initiated faculty workshops to enhance their mentoring skills and establish an intercampus network for faculty specializing in clinical and biomedical sciences. The initial importance of mentoring competencies based on early career faculty members' perception and experience had not yet been determined. The Mentoring Competency Assessment validated by Fleming et al.

Bloodstream-To-Eye Infections Are Facilitated by Outer Blood-Retinal Barrier Dysfunction.

The blood-retinal barrier (BRB) functions to maintain the immune privilege of the eye, which is necessary for normal vision. The outer BRB is formed by tightly-associated retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells which limit transport within the retinal environment, maintaining retinal function and viability. Retinal microvascular complications and RPE dysfunction resulting from diabetes and diabetic retinopathy cause permeability changes in the BRB that compromise barrier function.

Blood-Retinal Barrier Compromise and Endogenous Staphylococcus aureus Endophthalmitis.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that blood-retinal barrier compromise is associated with the development of endogenous Staphylococcus aureus endophthalmitis.

Methods: To compromise the blood-retinal barrier in vivo, streptozotocin-induced diabetes was induced in C57BL/6J mice for 1, 3, or 5 months. Diabetic and age-matched nondiabetic mice were intravenously injected with 108 colony-forming units (cfu) of S.

The diabetic ocular environment facilitates the development of endogenous bacterial endophthalmitis.

Purpose: We tested the hypothesis that changes in the diabetic ocular environment facilitate the development of endogenous bacterial endophthalmitis (EBE).

Methods: C57BL/6J mice were rendered diabetic with streptozotocin (STZ) for 1, 3, or 5 months' duration. Diabetic and age-matched nondiabetic mice were tail vein-injected with 10(8) CFU of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a common cause of EBE in diabetics.

The role of the anteriolateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in stress-induced nociception.

Activation of the central amygdala (CeA) by corticosterone (CORT) induces somatic and colonic hypersensitivity through corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF)-dependent mechanisms. However, the importance of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), part of the extended amygdala, on nociception remains unexplored. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that stimulation of the CeA by CORT induces somatic and colonic hypersensitivity through activation of the anteriolateral BNST (BNST(AL)).

Efficacy of vitrectomy in improving the outcome of Bacillus cereus endophthalmitis.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of vitrectomy with vancomycin for the treatment of experimental Bacillus cereus endophthalmitis.

Methods: Endophthalmitis was initiated in rabbits via intravitreal injection of 100 colony-forming unit B. cereus.

The aging colon: the role of enteric neurodegeneration in constipation.

Constipation is a common problem in the elderly, and abnormalities in the neural innervation of the colon play a significant role in abnormalities in colonic motility leading to delayed colonic transit. The scope of this review encompasses the latest advances to enhance our understanding of the aging colon with emphasis on enteric neurodegeneration, considered a likely cause for the development of constipation in the aging gut in animal models. Neural innervation of the colon and the effects of aging on intrinsic and extrinsic nerves innervating the colonic smooth muscle is discussed.

Rate of bacterial eradication by ophthalmic solutions of fourth-generation fluoroquinolones.

Introduction: Antibacterial activity of ophthalmic fourth-generation fluoroquinolones has traditionally been evaluated by comparing only their active ingredients, gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin. However, ophthalmic formulations of fourth-generation fluoroquinolones differ in terms of the inclusion of preservatives. While gatifloxacin ophthalmic solution 0.

Diabetes reduces autophosphorylation of retinal insulin receptor and increases protein-tyrosine phosphatase-1B activity.

Purpose: Protein-tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP1B) has been implicated in the negative regulation of insulin signaling. The expression, activity, and functional role of PTP1B in the retina are unknown. In this study, the authors examined the relationship between the retinal insulin receptor (IR) and PTP1B in normal and diabetic mouse retinas.

Hypermucoviscosity as a virulence factor in experimental Klebsiella pneumoniae endophthalmitis.

Purpose: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common cause of endogenous bacterial endophthalmitis, a disease that frequently results in a poor visual outcome. Hypermucoviscosity has been identified as a virulence factor among clinical bacteremia isolates of K. pneumoniae.

Toward improving therapeutic regimens for Bacillus endophthalmitis.

Purpose: Bacillus cereus causes the most virulent and refractory form of endophthalmitis. The authors analyzed the effectiveness of early treatment with vancomycin or gatifloxacin, with or without dexamethasone, for experimental B. cereus endophthalmitis.

Bacterial endophthalmitis: therapeutic challenges and host-pathogen interactions.

Endophthalmitis is an infection of the posterior segment of the eye that frequently results in loss of vision. This devastating result occurs despite prompt and often aggressive therapeutic and surgical intervention. Over the past decade, research has centered on determining the bacterial and host factors involved in this potentially blinding disease.