Detecting and managing cognitive impairment in cardiac patients: insights from qualitative interviews with nurses.

Cognitive impairment and cardiovascular disease often coexist, and nurses are ideally positioned to detect and manage cognitive impairment in cardiac patients. This study explored nurses' perspectives on understanding, detecting, and acting on cognitive impairment in cardiac patients. Using an exploratory descriptive design, nurses from acute and outpatient cardiac units were interviewed.

The use of interventional procedures for cancer pain. A brief review.

Context: Pain is a common experience in people living with cancer. Concerns around opioid prescribing have seen a move toward a multi-modality management approach, which includes interventional pain procedures.

Purpose: In this paper we discuss the interventional pain procedures used to treat cancer pain at two major tertiary centers in Australia.

Current Practices and Attitudes of Cardiac Nurses Regarding Cognitive Screening in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: Cognitive impairment (CI) is common in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) but is often undetected and may affect recovery and secondary prevention uptake. Nurses play a crucial role providing care for patients with ACS and promoting secondary prevention.

Aim: This study aimed to explore current nursing practices and barriers regarding CI screening in patients with ACS.

Management of pain in cancer patients- lessons from practices during the COVID-19: a qualitative study of cancer care providers' perspectives.

Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted health systems globally and affected managing many chronic conditions, including cancer. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of multi-disciplinary cancer care providers on how cancer pain management was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Participants were eligible if they were cancer care providers of any specialty and discipline from two tertiary hospitals in Australia.

Lower cardiac rehabilitation enrolment occurs in acute coronary syndrome patients who report low levels of physical activity at four weeks post-event: A prospective observational study using physical activity tracker data.

Background: Physical activity (PA) and cardiac rehabilitation (CR) attendance are important for recovery and prognosis following acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, PA patterns early post-ACS are not well known.

Objectives: Investigate the level of PA at 4-weeks post-ACS and any potential associations with CR enrolment.

Age and Marital Status Predict Mild Cognitive Impairment During Acute Coronary Syndrome Admission: An Observational Study of Acute Coronary Syndrome Inpatients.

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been reported after acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but it is uncertain who is at risk, particularly during inpatient admission.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to explore the prevalence and cognitive domains affected in MCI during ACS admission and determine factors that identify patients most at risk of MCI.

Methods: Inpatients with ACS were consecutively recruited from 2 tertiary hospital cardiac wards and screened with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test.

Segmentation-Assisted Fully Convolutional Neural Network Enhances Deep Learning Performance to Identify Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy.

With the progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR) from the non-proliferative (NPDR) to proliferative (PDR) stage, the possibility of vision impairment increases significantly. Therefore, it is clinically important to detect the progression to PDR stage for proper intervention. We propose a segmentation-assisted DR classification methodology, that builds on (and improves) current methods by using a fully convolutional network (FCN) to segment retinal neovascularizations (NV) in retinal images prior to image classification.

Cognitive Function and the Relationship With Health Literacy and Secondary Prevention in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome at Early Discharge: A Prospective Observational Study.

Background: Cognitive impairment (CI) may contribute to difficulties in understanding and implementing secondary prevention behavior change after acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but the association is poorly understood.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of CI in patients 4 weeks post ACS and the association with health literacy and secondary prevention.

Methods: Patients with ACS who were free from visual deficits, auditory impairment, and dementia diagnoses were recruited and assessed 4 weeks post discharge for cognitive function (Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test), health literacy (Newest Vital Sign), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire), physical activity (Fitbit Activity Tracker and Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly), and medication knowledge and adherence.

Effects of hypnosis versus enhanced standard of care on postoperative opioid use after total knee arthroplasty: the HYPNO-TKA randomized clinical trial.

Background: Hypnosis decreases perioperative pain and has opioid-sparing potential but has not been rigorously studied in knee arthroplasty. This trial investigates the impact of perioperative hypnosis on inpatient opioid use following total knee arthroplasty.

Methods: This prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted at a single academic medical center.

Sensitivity and specificity of 5 min cognitive screening tests in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Aims: This study aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the Canadian Stroke Network (CSN) brief (5 min) screen composed of three items of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients during hospital admission, relative to the full MoCA and potential alternative combinations of other items.

Methods And Results: Participants were consecutively recruited during ACS admission and administered the MoCA before discharge. The three NINDS-CSN screen items were extracted, collated and compared to the full MoCA.

Cognitive impairment and psychological state in acute coronary syndrome patients: A prospective descriptive study at cardiac rehabilitation entry, completion and follow-up.

Background: Cognitive impairment may limit the uptake of secondary prevention in acute coronary syndrome patients, but is poorly understood, including in cardiac rehabilitation participants.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore cognitive impairment in relation to psychological state in acute coronary syndrome patients over the course of cardiac rehabilitation and follow-up.

Methods: Acute coronary syndrome patients without diagnosed dementia were assessed on verbal learning, processing speed, executive function and visual attention, at cardiac rehabilitation entry, completion and follow-up and scores adjusted using normative data.

Testing Hypnotizability by Phone: Development and Validation of the Remote Hypnotic Induction Profile (rHIP).

Standard hypnotizability scales require physical contact or direct observation by tester and participant. The authors addressed this limitation by developing and testing the remote Hypnotic Induction Profile (rHIP), a hypnotizability test derived from the Hypnotic Induction Profile that is completed by telephone. To assess the validity of the rHIP, 56 volunteers naïve to hypnotizability testing completed both the HIP and the rHIP, with order of testing randomized.

Prevalence and patterns of cognitive impairment in acute coronary syndrome patients: A systematic review.

Background: Minimising risk factors through secondary prevention behaviour is challenging for patients following an acute coronary syndrome. Cognitive impairment can potentially make these changes more difficult. However, cognitive impairment prevalence in acute coronary syndrome patients is poorly understood.

Silica Exposure Differentially Modulates Autoimmunity in Lupus Strains and Autoantibody Transgenic Mice.

Inhalational exposure to crystalline silica is linked to several debilitating systemic autoimmune diseases characterized by a prominent humoral immune component, but the mechanisms by which silica induces autoantibodies is poorly understood. To better understand how silica lung exposure breaks B cell tolerance and unleashes autoreactive B cells, we exposed both wildtype mice of healthy C57BL/6 and lupus-prone BXSB, MRL, and NZB strains and mice carrying an autoantibody transgene on each of these backgrounds to instilled silica or vehicle and monitored lung injury, autoimmunity, and B cell fate. Silica exposure induced lung damage and pulmonary lymphoid aggregates in all strains, including in genetically diverse backgrounds and in autoantibody transgenic models.

A long wait: barriers to discharge for long length of stay patients.

Introduction: Reducing long length of stay (LLOS, or inpatient stays lasting over 30 days) is an important way for hospitals to improve cost efficiency, bed availability and health outcomes. Discharge delays can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars per patient, and LLOS represents a burden on bed availability for other potential patients. However, most research studies investigating discharge barriers are not LLOS-specific.

Two-color fluorescent in situ hybridization using chromogenic substrates in zebrafish.

Two-color fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is a widely used technique for comparing relative gene expression patterns. Current two-color FISH protocols are not ideal for detecting weakly expressed transcripts or monitoring signal strength and background levels during the course of the reaction. Here we describe an improved FISH protocol using the conventional highly sensitive chromogenic substrates nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT)/5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate (BCIP) and Vector Red in zebrafish embryos.

Distinct regulation of the anterior and posterior myeloperoxidase expression by Etv2 and Gata1 during primitive Granulopoiesis in zebrafish.

Neutrophilic granulocytes are the most abundant type of myeloid cells and form an essential part of the innate immune system. In vertebrates the first neutrophils are thought to originate during primitive hematopoiesis, which precedes hematopoietic stem cell formation. In zebrafish embryos, it has been suggested that primitive neutrophils may originate in two distinct sites, the anterior (ALPM) and posterior lateral plate mesoderm (PLPM).