Integrating Family Caregivers Into Cancer Care: Implementation of Evidence-Based Caregiver Protocols Into Gynecologic Oncology Practice.

Purpose: Family caregivers (CGs) of individuals with cancer are increasingly relied upon to provide long-term, sometimes intense care, although their integration into clinical cancer care remains minimal. The Caregiver Advocacy, Research, and Education (CARE) Center is a novel nurse-led academic-clinical partnership to support family CGs of individuals with gynecologic cancer. This study aims to describe the implementation of the Center protocols and report metrics of CG needs and Center support.

Measuring Engagement in Provider-Guided Digital Health Interventions With a Conceptual and Analytical Framework Using Nurse WRITE as an Exemplar: Exploratory Study With an Iterative Approach.

Background: Limited guidance exists for analyzing participant engagement in provider-guided digital health interventions (DHIs). System usage is commonly assessed, with acknowledged limitations in measuring socio-affective and cognitive aspects of engagement. Nurse WRITE, an 8-week web-based nurse-guided DHI for managing symptoms among women with recurrent ovarian cancer, offers an opportunity to develop a framework for assessing multidimensional engagement.

Music therapy for supporting informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness pre- and post-bereavement; a mixed-methods systematic review.

Background: Music therapy interventions with informal carers of individuals with life-threatening illness at pre- and post-bereavement is an increasingly important clinical area. This systematic review is the first to synthesise and critically evaluate the international evidence associated with music therapy with adult informal carers pre- and post-bereavement. Specifically, the objectives were: i) to describe the characteristics and effectiveness of music therapy interventions which aim to improve health-related outcomes for adult informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness (pre- and post-bereavement), and ii) to describe the experience of music therapy for adult informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness (pre- and post-bereavement).

Developing a best-practice agenda for music therapy research to support informal carers of terminally ill patients pre- and post-death bereavement: a world café approach.

Background: Informal carers of terminally ill patients play a vital role in providing palliative care at home, which impacts on their pre- and post-death bereavement experience and presents an up to 50% greater risk for mental-health problems. However, developing and implementing effective bereavement support remains challenging. There is a need to build the evidence base for music therapy as a potentially promising bereavement support for this vulnerable population.

Nanotopography by chromatic confocal microscopy of the endothelium in Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy, pseudophakic bullous keratopathy and healthy corneas.

Aim: To investigate the interest of chromatic confocal microscopy (CCM) to characterise guttae in Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD).

Methods: Descemet's membranes (DM) were obtained during endothelial keratoplasty in patients with FECD and pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (PBK). They were compared with healthy samples obtained from body donation to science.

Feasibility of Implementing a Modified SENSE Program to Increase Positive Sensory Experiences for Preterm Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): A Pilot Study.

Aims: To evaluate the feasibility of implementing the Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE) program with adaptations to increase positive sensory exposure for infants born preterm, support neonatal neurodevelopment, and decrease parent stress.

Methods: Eight infants born between 28 and 33 weeks were recruited within one week of birth. Parents, trained in the program, delivered the SENSE protocol.

COVID-19 outcomes in patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases treated with rituximab: a cohort study.

Background: Various observations have suggested that the course of COVID-19 might be less favourable in patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases receiving rituximab compared with those not receiving rituximab. We aimed to investigate whether treatment with rituximab is associated with severe COVID-19 outcomes in patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.

Methods: In this cohort study, we analysed data from the French RMD COVID-19 cohort, which included patients aged 18 years or older with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases and highly suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

An integrative review of nurse practitioner practice and its relationship to the core competencies.

Background: Competency based education (CBE) has been suggested for nurse practitioner (NP) education reform. For this to occur, competencies should reflect the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that NPs need for independent practice.

Purpose: This integrative review examined the general practice activities of NPs across all population foci to determine the extent to which these activities are reflected in current NP competencies.

Immunization against poly--acetylglucosamine reduces neutrophil activation and GVHD while sparing microbial diversity.

Microbial invasion into the intestinal mucosa after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) triggers neutrophil activation and requires antibiotic interventions to prevent sepsis. However, antibiotics lead to a loss of microbiota diversity, which is connected to a higher incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). Antimicrobial therapies that eliminate invading bacteria and reduce neutrophil-mediated damage without reducing the diversity of the microbiota are therefore highly desirable.

Erratum: Sorafenib promotes graft-versus-leukemia activity in mice and humans through IL-15 production in FLT3-ITD-mutant leukemia cells.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nm.4484.

Neutrophils provide cellular communication between ileum and mesenteric lymph nodes at graft-versus-host disease onset.

Conditioning-induced damage of the intestinal tract plays a critical role during the onset of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Therapeutic interference with these early events of GVHD is difficult, and currently used immunosuppressive drugs mainly target donor T cells. However, not donor T cells but neutrophils reach the sites of tissue injury first, and therefore could be a potential target for GVHD prevention.

Sorafenib promotes graft-versus-leukemia activity in mice and humans through IL-15 production in FLT3-ITD-mutant leukemia cells.

Individuals with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harboring an internal tandem duplication (ITD) in the gene encoding Fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) who relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) have a 1-year survival rate below 20%. We observed that sorafenib, a multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, increased IL-15 production by FLT3-ITD leukemia cells. This synergized with the allogeneic CD8 T cell response, leading to long-term survival in six mouse models of FLT3-ITD AML.

Testing the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis: Testosterone manipulation does not affect wound healing in male salamanders.

In vertebrates, a bidirectional relationship exists between the immune system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. In addition, sexual dimorphism in immunity has been documented in many vertebrates as well as some invertebrates, and males are generally less immunocompetent than their female counterparts. A possible explanation for this is described by the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH), which proposes that elevated testosterone (T) levels direct resources towards the promotion of secondary sexual characteristics at a cost to immune function.

Testing hypotheses about individual variation in plasma corticosterone in free-living salamanders.

In vertebrates, many responses to stress as well as homeostatic maintenance of basal metabolism are regulated by plasma glucocorticoid hormones (GCs). Despite having crucial functions, levels of GCs are typically variable among individuals. We examined the contribution of several physiological factors to individual variation in plasma corticosterone (CORT) and the number of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the magnocellular preoptic area of the brain in free-living Allegheny Mountain dusky salamanders.

Treatment with corticosterone delays cutaneous wound healing in male and female salamanders.

In vertebrates, exposure to stressors and stress hormones has a number of physiological effects including modulation of immune function. These effects on immune function have been well studied in mammals, but less is known in other groups, in particular amphibians. To analyze the effects of exposure to stressors and the stress hormone corticosterone, we monitored cutaneous wound healing as a measure of integrated immunity in male and female semi-terrestrial salamanders (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) that were chased to induce endogenous release of corticosterone or were treated with physiologically relevant doses of corticosterone.

Mapping the protein profile involved in the biotransformation of organoarsenicals using an arsenic metabolizing bacterium.

Alkaliphilus oremlandii strain OhILAs, a gram-positive bacterium, has been shown to ferment lactate as well as use arsenate and roxarsone as a terminal electron acceptor. This study examines the proteome expressed under four growth conditions to further elucidate the bacterial metabolism of inorganic and organic arsenic. The four growth conditions include, sodium lactate (as fermentative control), sodium lactate with 3-nitro-4-hydroxybenzenearsonic acid (roxarsone), sodium lactate with 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzenearsonic acid (3A4HBAA), and sodium lactate with sodium arsenate.

Structural dynamics of the monoamine transporter homolog LeuT from accelerated conformational sampling and channel analysis.

The bacterial leucine transporter LeuT retains significant secondary structure similarities to the human monoamine transporters (MAT) such as the dopamine and serotonin reuptake proteins. The primary method of computational study of the MATs has been through the use of the crystallized LeuT structure. Different conformations of LeuT can give insight into mechanistic details of the MAT family.

Nitrite reductase and nitric-oxide synthase activity of the mitochondrial molybdopterin enzymes mARC1 and mARC2.

Mitochondrial amidoxime reducing component (mARC) proteins are molybdopterin-containing enzymes of unclear physiological function. Both human isoforms mARC-1 and mARC-2 are able to catalyze the reduction of nitrite when they are in the reduced form. Moreover, our results indicate that mARC can generate nitric oxide (NO) from nitrite when forming an electron transfer chain with NADH, cytochrome b5, and NADH-dependent cytochrome b5 reductase.

Examining the Associations Among Home-School Dissonance, Amotivation, and Classroom Disruptive Behavior for Urban High School Students.

The current study examined the association among home-school dissonance, amotivation, and classroom disruptive behavior among 309 high school juniors and seniors at two urban high schools in the Southern region of the country. Students completed two subscales of the Patterns of Learning Activities Scales (PALS) and one subscale of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). ANCOVA analyses revealed significant differences in classroom disruptive behaviors for the gender independent variable.

Analysis of a rapid, simple, and inexpensive technique used to obtain platelet-rich plasma for use in clinical practice.

The use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has become more generally accepted, and implant dentists are using PRP more frequently to promote the healing of oral surgical and/or periodontal wounds. Critical elements of PRP are thought to be growth factors contained within the concentrated platelets. These growth factors are known to promote soft-tissue healing, angiogenesis and osteogenesis.

Cardiorespiratory adjustments of homing pigeons to steady wind tunnel flight.

We made detailed cardiorespiratory measurements from homing pigeons during quiet rest and steady wind tunnel flight. Our pigeons satisfied their 17.4-fold increase in oxygen consumption during flight with a 7.

Metabolic and ventilatory adjustments and tolerance of the bat Pteropus poliocephalus to acute hypoxic stress.

We have investigated the maximum tolerance and the ventilatory responses of a bat, P. poliocephalus (PP), to normobaric hypoxic stress. PP can tolerate inspired PO2s (PiO2) down to 30 torr.

Influence of air temperature on ventilation rates and thermoregulation of a flying bat.

To assess the involvement of the ventilatory system in thermoregulation during flight, breathing frequencies and tidal volumes were measured from three Phyllostomus hastatus undertaking steady wind tunnel flights at a constant speed over a range of air temperatures (Ta) from 17.7 to 31.1 degrees C.