Food Insecurity Status and Health Care Utilization Among COPD Patients: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Government programs-targeting chronic disease patients with high health care costs-focus on clinical conditions, factors internal to the health care system, and individual patient education, not on addressing modifiable social determinants of health to reduce health care utilization.

Objective: To evaluate differences in sociodemographic variables and health care utilization between patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who reported food insecurity and those who did not.

Methods: This descriptive retrospective cross-sectional study used data from the electronic health records of a convenience sample of 854 participants with a discharge diagnosis of COPD or COPD with acute exacerbation, admitted via the emergency department of participating hospitals in Southern California.

Nurses and Respiratory Therapists Lived Experience During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

Introduction: Nurses and respiratory therapists working on the frontline during the pandemic surge were short-staffed and worked extended hours while adding new tasks to already demanding workloads. As the world watched news covering COVID-19's effect, nurses and respiratory therapists lived through the daily stress of treating each patient with care, dignity, and compassion. Limited studies have focused on this population, which is vital to providing care and saving lives; research is needed to understand nurses' and respiratory therapists' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thirteen years of experience with eslicarbazepine acetate in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland: A safety perspective.

Objective: Eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) is a once-daily oral antiseizure medication. Its safety and tolerability from clinical trials have been mostly confirmed by real-world data. The main purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the safety profile of ESL in the United Kingdom (UK) and Republic of Ireland (ROI).

Understanding the Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccine Among Hispanic/Latinx Communities.

Objective: COVID-19 disproportionally affected Hispanic/Latinx populations exacerbating systemic health inequities. The pilot study aimed to explore barriers to COVID-19 vaccination across Hispanic/Latinx communities in Southern California.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 200 participants to identify common barriers to vaccine hesitancy among Hispanics/Latinx individuals in Southern California utilizing a 14-item survey and questionnaire in English and Spanish.

Oncology Nurse Navigator Effect on Emergency Department Visits and Hospital Admissions of Adults With Cancer Post-Outpatient Chemotherapy.

Objectives: To examine the effect of oncology nurse navigators (ONNs) on the number of emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions (HAs) of adults with cancer post-outpatient chemotherapy.

Sample & Setting: 1,370 patients with cancer between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019, in a comprehensive community cancer center in southern California.

Methods & Variables: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using retrospective electronic health records.

Patient Perception of Fall Risk and Fall Risk Screening Scores.

Background: Falls are the most prevalent adverse event among hospitalized patients. Multilevel risk factors are associated with falls, yet falls continue.

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between the Johns Hopkins Fall Risk instrument, patient characteristics, and perception of fall risk.

Role of the CrcB transporter of Pseudomonas putida in the multi-level stress response elicited by mineral fluoride.

The presence of mineral fluoride (F ) in the environment has both a geogenic and anthropogenic origin, and the halide has been described to be toxic in virtually all living organisms. While the evidence gathered in different microbial species supports this notion, a systematic exploration of the effects of F salts on the metabolism and physiology of environmental bacteria remained underexplored thus far. In this work, we studied and characterized tolerance mechanisms deployed by the model soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida KT2440 against NaF.

A Nonconventional Archaeal Fluorinase Identified by In Silico Mining for Enhanced Fluorine Biocatalysis.

Fluorinases, the only enzymes known to catalyze the transfer of fluorine to an organic molecule, are essential catalysts for the biological synthesis of valuable organofluorines. However, the few fluorinases identified so far have low turnover rates that hamper biotechnological applications. Here, we isolated and characterized putative fluorinases retrieved from systematic in silico mining and identified a nonconventional archaeal enzyme from sp.

Examining the effects of chronic pain on work performance in the military.

Background: Effectively managing pain is a unique challenge for the U.S. military.

Depression and Anxiety, Stigma, and Social Support Among Women in the Postpartum Period.

Objective: To examine the relationships among depression and anxiety symptomatology, stigma of mental illness, levels of social support, and select demographics among hospitalized women in the postpartum period.

Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational.

Setting: A convenience sample of 105 English-speaking and Spanish-speaking women was recruited and enrolled from a 208-bed free-standing Southern California women's community hospital postpartum unit serving a diverse community.

Oligomerization engineering of the fluorinase enzyme leads to an active trimer that supports synthesis of fluorometabolites in vitro.

The fluorinase enzyme represents the only biological mechanism capable of forming stable C-F bonds characterized in nature thus far, offering a biotechnological route to the biosynthesis of value-added organofluorines. The fluorinase is known to operate in a hexameric form, but the consequence(s) of the oligomerization status on the enzyme activity and its catalytic properties remain largely unknown. In this work, this aspect was explored by rationally engineering trimeric fluorinase variants that retained the same catalytic rate as the wild-type enzyme.

Self-care: A concept analysis.

Objectives: There is extensive literature from various disciplines on , an important aspect of nursing intervention via evaluation and education, but its meaning remains unprecise due to the difficulty integrating the diverse definitions developed over time across disciplines. Therefore, it is vital to clarify the meaning of self-care and formulate the defining attributes, antecedents, and consequences to self-care.

Methods: Walker and Avant's concept analysis approach was used to analyze the concept of self-care.

Patient Activation and Glycemic Control Among Filipino Americans.

Increasing patient activation facilitates self-management of health, improves health outcomes, and lowers health care expenditures. Extant research notes mixed findings in patient activation by race/ethnicity. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among patient activation, select patient characteristics, and glycemic control among Filipino Americans.

A fluoride-responsive genetic circuit enables in vivo biofluorination in engineered Pseudomonas putida.

Fluorine is a key element in the synthesis of molecules broadly used in medicine, agriculture and materials. Addition of fluorine to organic structures represents a unique strategy for tuning molecular properties, yet this atom is rarely found in Nature and approaches to integrate fluorometabolites into the biochemistry of living cells are scarce. In this work, synthetic gene circuits for organofluorine biosynthesis are implemented in the platform bacterium Pseudomonas putida.

Biotransformation of 2,4-dinitrotoluene in a phototrophic co-culture of engineered Synechococcus elongatus and Pseudomonas putida.

In contrast to the current paradigm of using microbial mono-cultures in most biotechnological applications, increasing efforts are being directed towards engineering mixed-species consortia to perform functions that are difficult to programme into individual strains. In this work, we developed a synthetic microbial consortium composed of two genetically engineered microbes, a cyanobacterium (Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942) and a heterotrophic bacterium (Pseudomonas putida EM173). These microbial species specialize in the co-culture: cyanobacteria fix CO through photosynthetic metabolism and secrete sufficient carbohydrates to support the growth and active metabolism of P.

Correlates of Perinatal Post-Traumatic Stress among Culturally Diverse Women with Depressive Symptomatology.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an important and often neglected comorbidity of pregnancy; left untreated, it can lead to serious health complications for the mother and developing fetus. Structured interviews were conducted to identify risk factors of PTSD among culturally diverse women with depressive symptomatology receiving perinatal services at community obstetric/gynecologic clinics. Women abused as adults, with two or more instances of trauma, greater trauma severity, insomnia, and low social support were more likely to present perinatal PTSD symptoms.

Chasing bacterial chassis for metabolic engineering: a perspective review from classical to non-traditional microorganisms.

The last few years have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of novel bacterial species that hold potential to be used for metabolic engineering. Historically, however, only a handful of bacteria have attained the acceptance and widespread use that are needed to fulfil the needs of industrial bioproduction - and only for the synthesis of very few, structurally simple compounds. One of the reasons for this unfortunate circumstance has been the dearth of tools for targeted genome engineering of bacterial chassis, and, nowadays, synthetic biology is significantly helping to bridge such knowledge gap.

The stringent response promotes biofilm dispersal in Pseudomonas putida.

Biofilm dispersal is a genetically programmed response enabling bacterial cells to exit the biofilm in response to particular physiological or environmental conditions. In Pseudomonas putida biofilms, nutrient starvation triggers c-di-GMP hydrolysis by phosphodiesterase BifA, releasing inhibition of protease LapG by the c-di-GMP effector protein LapD, and resulting in proteolysis of the adhesin LapA and the subsequent release of biofilm cells. Here we demonstrate that the stringent response, a ubiquitous bacterial stress response, is accountable for relaying the nutrient stress signal to the biofilm dispersal machinery.

Neuron-astrocyte signaling is preserved in the aging brain.

Astrocytes play crucial roles in brain homeostasis and are emerging as regulatory elements of neuronal and synaptic physiology by responding to neurotransmitters with Ca elevations and releasing gliotransmitters that activate neuronal receptors. Aging involves neuronal and astrocytic alterations, being considered risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. Most evidence of the astrocyte-neuron signaling is derived from studies with young animals; however, the features of astrocyte-neuron signaling in adult and aging brain remain largely unknown.

Complex Interplay between FleQ, Cyclic Diguanylate and Multiple σ Factors Coordinately Regulates Flagellar Motility and Biofilm Development in Pseudomonas putida.

Most bacteria alternate between a free living planktonic lifestyle and the formation of structured surface-associated communities named biofilms. The transition between these two lifestyles requires a precise and timely regulation of the factors involved in each of the stages that has been likened to a developmental process. Here we characterize the involvement of the transcriptional regulator FleQ and the second messenger cyclic diguanylate in the coordinate regulation of multiple functions related to motility and surface colonization in Pseudomonas putida.

Broad-Host-Range ProUSER Vectors Enable Fast Characterization of Inducible Promoters and Optimization of p-Coumaric Acid Production in Pseudomonas putida KT2440.

Pseudomonas putida KT2440 has gained increasing interest as a host for the production of biochemicals. Because of the lack of a systematic characterization of inducible promoters in this strain, we generated ProUSER broad-host-expression plasmids that facilitate fast uracil-based cloning. A set of ProUSER-reporter vectors was further created to characterize different inducible promoters.

The c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase BifA regulates biofilm development in Pseudomonas putida.

We previously showed the isolation of biofilmpersistent Pseudomonas putida mutants that fail to undergo biofilm dispersal upon entry in stationary phase. Two such mutants were found to bear insertions in PP0914, encoding a GGDEF/EAL domain protein with high similarity to Pseudomon asaeruginosa BifA. Here we show the phenotypic characterization of a ΔbifA mutant in P.