Mathematical model for rod outer segment dynamics during retinal detachment.

Retinal detachment (RD) is the separation of the neural layer from the retinal pigmented epithelium thereby preventing the supply of nutrients to the cells within the neural layer of the retina. In vertebrates, primary photoreceptor cells consisting of rods and cones undergo daily renewal of their outer segment through the addition of disc-like structures and shedding of these discs at their distal end. When the retina detaches, the outer segment of these cells begins to degenerate and, if surgical procedures for reattachment are not done promptly, the cells can die and lead to blindness.

"They Don't Have Time, But It Would Be Wonderful": Residents' Views of Their Relationships With Staff.

Resident-staff relationships is a component of person-centered care (PCC); positive relationships are associated with positive outcomes. The current article explores the finding that residents living in different types of long-term care assigned the lowest ratings of importance to the PCC domain "relationships with staff " (one of eight domains studied). Thematic analysis of spontaneous comments made by residents during interviews identified two themes, (for privacy, boundaries, engagement) and (staff busyness, staff interactions).

The Resident VIEW in Community-Based Care Residential Settings.

The Resident VIEW is a measure of person-centered care (PCC) from residents' perspectives and was previously studied in nursing homes. The current study presents descriptive data for the Resident VIEW in community-based care settings including assisted living, residential care (AL/RC), and adult foster homes (AFH). Using a two-stage sampling design, we recruited 31 AL/RC and 119 AFH in Oregon and completed face-to-face structured interviews with 227 and 195 residents, respectively.

Modeling optimal reopening strategies for COVID-19 and its variants by keeping infections low and fixing testing capacity.

Since early March 2020, government agencies have utilized a wide variety of non-pharmaceutical interventions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and have struggled to determine when it is appropriate to return to in-person activities after an outbreak is detected. At many universities, fundamental issues related to understanding the spread of the disease (e.g.

Modeling microtubule dynamic instability: Microtubule growth, shortening and pause.

Microtubules (MTs) are protein polymers found in all eukaryotic cells. They are crucial for normal cell development, providing structural support for the cell and aiding in the transportation of proteins and organelles. In order to perform these functions, MTs go through periods of relatively slow polymerization (growth) and very fast depolymerization (shortening), where the switch from growth to shortening is called a catastrophe and the switch from shortening to growth is called a rescue.

A machine-learning approach to predict success of a biocontrol for invasive Eurasian watermilfoil reduction.

Myriophyllum spicatum, more commonly known as Eurasian watermilfoil (EWM), is one of the most invasive aquatic plants in North America, causing negative ecological and economic impacts in ecosystems where it proliferates. Many control strategies have been developed and implemented to mitigate EWM growth and spread, although the results are mixed and there is no consensus on lake-specific strategies. Here, we describe the development of a predictive model using a support vector technique, that predicts the success of biological pest control using Euhrychiopsis lecontei (the milfoil weevil), a milfoil specialist, to reduce EWM in lakes.

Person-centered care practices in nursing homes: Staff perceptions and the organizational environment.

Person-centered care (PCC) is considered the standard to assure quality of care and quality of life in long-term care, benefiting both residents and staff. This study examines the associations between nursing home staff perceptions of person-centered care practices, the organizational system, and work-related attitudes in a sample of 340 nurses and direct care workers across 32 nursing homes in Oregon. Random-intercepts regression models were used to estimate within- and between-nursing home variation in staff perceptions of PCC practices as measured by the Staff Assessment of Person-Directed Care (SA-PDC), and identify characteristics associated with these perceptions.

The Resident VIEW in Nursing Homes.

This article presents the Resident VIEW (Voicing Importance, Experience, and Well-Being), a measure designed to learn directly from long-term care residents the extent to which they experience support that matters most to them. The Resident VIEW contains 63 items across eight domains developed through cognitive interviews with residents in different types of residential settings (e.g.

The Impact of Communication Impairments on the Social Relationships of Older Adults: Pathways to Psychological Well-Being.

Purpose Social contact is known to be vital for older adults' mental and physical health but, because communication impairments often co-occur with other types of disability, it is difficult to generalize about the relative impact of a communication impairment on the social relationships of older adults. Specific aims of the study were to examine whether the severity of a communication impairment was associated with a range of social measures and to examine the association between these characteristics and psychological well-being. Method Community-dwelling older adults ranging in age from 65 to 94 were recruited for the study of Communication, Health, Aging, Relationship Types and Support.

A Growth-Fragmentation Approach for Modeling Microtubule Dynamic Instability.

Microtubules (MTs) are protein filaments found in all eukaryotic cells which are crucial for many cellular processes including cell movement, cell differentiation, and cell division. Due to their role in cell division, they are often used as targets for chemotherapy drugs used in cancer treatment. Experimental studies of MT dynamics have played an important role in the development and administration of many novel cancer drugs; however, a complete description of MT dynamics is lacking.

Methods for determining key components in a mathematical model for tumor-immune dynamics in multiple myeloma.

In this work, we analyze a mathematical model we introduced previously for the dynamics of multiple myeloma and the immune system. We focus on four main aspects: (1) obtaining and justifying ranges and values for all parameters in the model; (2) determining a subset of parameters to which the model is most sensitive; (3) determining which parameters in this subset can be uniquely estimated given certain types of data; and (4) exploring the model numerically. Using global sensitivity analysis techniques, we found that the model is most sensitive to certain growth, loss, and efficacy parameters.

Perceived Preparedness of Health Care Students for Providing Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment and Management.

Early assessment and management of risk factors is known to have significant impact in preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its associated burden. Cardiovascular disease risk assessment and management (CVDRAM) is best approached by teamwork across health care professionals. This study aimed at assessing health care students' (HCSs) knowledge about the parameters needed for estimating CVD risk, their self-assessed preparedness/confidence and perceived barriers for the provision of CVDRAM services through a survey administered to third and fourth year pharmacy, medical, and nursing students in Qatar.

Exploring the effect of end-binding proteins and microtubule targeting chemotherapy drugs on microtubule dynamic instability.

Microtubules (MTs) play a key role in normal cell development and are a primary target for many cancer chemotherapy MT targeting agents (MTAs). As such, understanding MT dynamics in the presence of such agents, as well as other proteins that alter MT dynamics, is extremely important. In general, MTs grow relatively slowly and shorten very fast (almost instantaneously), an event referred to as a catastrophe.

Existence and uniqueness for a coupled PDE model for motor-induced microtubule organization.

Microtubules (MTs) are protein filaments that provide structure to the cytoskeleton of cells and a platform for the movement of intracellular substances. The spatial organization of MTs is crucial for a cell's form and function. MTs interact with a class of proteins called motor proteins that can transport and position individual filaments, thus contributing to overall organization.

Building a 3D Virtual Liver: Methods for Simulating Blood Flow and Hepatic Clearance on 3D Structures.

In this paper, we develop a spatio-temporal modeling approach to describe blood and drug flow, as well as drug uptake and elimination, on an approximation of the liver. Extending on previously developed computational approaches, we generate an approximation of a liver, which consists of a portal and hepatic vein vasculature structure, embedded in the surrounding liver tissue. The vasculature is generated via constrained constructive optimization, and then converted to a spatial grid of a selected grid size.

Mathematical and computational modeling in biology at multiple scales.

A variety of topics are reviewed in the area of mathematical and computational modeling in biology, covering the range of scales from populations of organisms to electrons in atoms. The use of maximum entropy as an inference tool in the fields of biology and drug discovery is discussed. Mathematical and computational methods and models in the areas of epidemiology, cell physiology and cancer are surveyed.

Geometrical comparison of two protein structures using Wigner-D functions.

In this article, we develop a quantitative comparison method for two arbitrary protein structures. This method uses a root-mean-square deviation characterization and employs a series expansion of the protein's shape function in terms of the Wigner-D functions to define a new criterion, which is called a "similarity value." We further demonstrate that the expansion coefficients for the shape function obtained with the help of the Wigner-D functions correspond to structure factors.

Microtubule patterning in the presence of stationary motor distributions.

In this paper, we construct a novel nonlocal transport model that describes the evolution of microtubules (MTs) as they interact with stationary distributions of motor proteins. An advection term accounts for directed MT transport (sliding due to motor protein action), and an integral term accounts for reorientation of MTs due to their interactions with cross-linking motor proteins. Simulations of our model show how MT patterns depend on boundary constraints, as well as model parameters that represent motor speed, cross-linking capability (motor activity), and directionality.

Direct care worker's perceptions of job satisfaction following implementation of work-based learning.

The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of a work-based learning program on the work lives of Direct Care Workers (DCWs) at assisted living (AL) residences. The research questions were addressed using focus group data collected as part of a larger evaluation of a work-based learning (WBL) program called Jobs to Careers. The theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism was used to frame the qualitative data analysis.

Efficacy of work-based training for direct care workers in assisted living.

This article reports on the efficacy of a work-based learning program for direct care workers in assisted living. The program goal was to improve skills and facilitate career development. The training program had positive impacts at both individual and organizational levels.

Molecular epidemiology of gonorrhoea in Wales (UK).

Objectives: After a trend of increasing incidence of gonorrhoea in the 1990s, by 2004 the incidence was declining in England, but continuing to increase in Wales. This prompted an investigation of the epidemiology of gonorrhoea in Wales to inform future prevention and control measures.

Methods: As an extension to Gonococcal Resistance to Antimicrobials Surveillance Programme, between May 2005 and September 2006, 540 consecutive gonococcal isolates were collected from three microbiology laboratories in South Wales.

Long-term care nurse role models in clinical nursing education: the ECLEPs experience.

This article describes the partnership formed between long-term care (LTC) staff nurses and clinical nursing faculty to provide students with excellent clinical experiences in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The nurses, called Clinical Education Liaisons, contributed to faculty understanding about LTC and served as resources for students. Faculty provided ongoing mentorship about current trends in clinical education.

Campylobacterjejuni cholecystitis: a rare but significant clinical entity.

Cholecystitis caused by Campylobacter is rare with only 14 cases found in the literature. This case describes a 71-year-old man who presented with right hypochondrial abdominal pain due to a gangrenous gallbladder identified at laparotomy. Culture of a bile sample identified a slow-growing gram-negative bacterium identified as Campylobacter jejuni.

Intergenerational family support following infant death.

The death of a child is a traumatic, nonnormative family life event. Although parental bereavement has received substantial attention, little research has focused on extended family members affected by a child's death, and still less on how multiple family members perceive and respond to one another following the loss. Guided by a life course perspective, this article examines social support between grandparents and their adult children in the aftermath of infant death.

Development and initial testing of a measure of person-directed care.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to empirically test items of a new measure designed to assess person-directed care (PDC) practices in long-term care.

Design And Methods: After reviewing the literature, we identified five areas related to PDC: personhood, comfort care, autonomy, knowing the person, and support for relationships. We also identified an additional component of environmental support.