COVID Lessons Learned: From Response to Recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on all school staff. As a consequence of their role as frontline responders, school nurses experienced significant trauma and moral injury. The Washington State School Nurse Corps debriefed the pandemic response to plan for future disasters.

Investigating the potential of pyrazine dioxide based-compounds as organic electrodes for batteries.

Understanding structure-property relationship in redox-active molecular species is of central importance in various fields, including many medicinal and chemical applications. The quest for performant organic electrodes in the context of energy storage calls for pioneering studies to develop new and possibly optimal materials. Beyond modifying the molecular design of the existing compounds through functionalization, expansion of the search enabling the advent of efficient new backbones can potentially lead to breakthroughs in this research area.

The impact of COVID-19 on school nursing: A qualitative survey of stressors faced by school nurses.

Background: As students returned to school, school nurses were responsible for infection control, communication, and the preparation of supplies and facilities. School nurses in the Pacific Northwest US demonstrated a higher prevalence of mental health symptoms in the years since the pandemic began, suggesting that their experience may have been unique.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the stressors of school nurses in the Pacific Northwest at two time points.

Clinical characteristics of patients with epiretinal membrane-Foveoschisis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical and morphological characteristics of epiretinal membrane (ERM)-Foveoschisis.

Methods: Medical charts of 2088 patients diagnosed with idiopathic ERM were screened and eyes with ERM-Foveoschisis were included. All eyes underwent a complete ophthalmological examination including spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

A Retrospective Review of Patients' Response to Biologic Therapy for Psoriasis.

Background: Biologic treatments have taken the forefront in treating moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Although numerous randomized, controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy of these agents, there is limited data suggesting that clinical trial outcomes are reproducible in real-world patients.

Objective: Obtain real-world evidence for the use of biologics that target different segments of the immune system in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

Apremilast with Add-On Calcipotriene/Betamethasone Dipropionate for Treating Moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis.

Background: About 20% of patients taking apremilast alone obtain PASI 75 by week 8. This single-center, pilot study aimed to determine whether add-on topical therapy with calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate (C/BD) could improve responses of partial apremilast responders by week 12.

Methods: Adults (≥18 years of age) with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (baseline PGA ≥3, BSA affected ≥10%, PASI ≥12) took oral apremilast (30 mg twice daily) for 8 weeks.

Adjunctive Use of Calcipotriene/Betamethasone Dipropionate Foam in a Real-World Setting Curtails the Cost of Biologics Without Reducing Efficacy in Psoriasis.

Introduction: Although the efficacy of monotherapy with biologics for psoriasis is well established, many patients fail to achieve complete plaque clearance from their initial biologic treatment alone. Adjunctive treatment with topical calcipotriene plus betamethasone dipropionate (Cal/BD) foam may offer substantial clinical benefit and potential cost savings.

Methods: We conducted a 16-week, open-label, single-arm study of adjunctive therapy with Cal/BD foam in subjects who had been treated with etanercept or adalimumab for ≥ 24 weeks but had not obtained a satisfactory treatment response.

Implant for Augmentation of Cerebral Blood Flow Trial-1 (ImpACT-1). A single-arm feasibility study evaluating the safety and potential benefit of the Ischemic Stroke System for treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

Background: The Ischemic Stroke System is a novel device designed to deliver stimulation to the sphenopalatine ganglion(SPG).The SPG sends parasympathetic innervations to the anterior cerebral circulation. In rat stroke models, SPG stimulation results in increased cerebral blood flow, reduced infarct volume, protects the blood brain barrier, and improved neurological outcome.

Angioplasty in asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis vs. endarterectomy compared to best medical treatment: One-year interim results of SPACE-2.

Background: Treatment of individuals with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis is still handled controversially. Recommendations for treatment of asymptomatic carotid stenosis with carotid endarterectomy (CEA) are based on trials having recruited patients more than 15 years ago. Registry data indicate that advances in best medical treatment (BMT) may lead to a markedly decreasing risk of stroke in asymptomatic carotid stenosis.

Short-term external counterpulsation augments cerebral blood flow and tissue oxygenation in chronic cerebrovascular occlusive disease.

Background And Purpose: External counterpulsation improves cerebral perfusion velocity in acute stroke and may stimulate collateral artery growth. However, whether (non-acute) at-risk patients with high-grade carotid artery disease may benefit from counterpulsation needs to be validated.

Methods: Twenty-eight patients (71 ± 6.

Cerebrovascular reactivity predicts stroke in high-grade carotid artery disease.

Objective: To assess the usefulness of transcranial Doppler CO2 reactivity (CO2R) for prediction of ipsilateral ischemic stroke in carotid artery stenosis and occlusion with a meta-analysis of prospective studies based on individual patient data.

Methods: We searched Medline, Biosis Previews, Science Citation Index, The Cochrane Library, and EMBASE for studies in which patients with severe carotid artery stenosis or occlusion underwent Doppler CO2R testing (inhalation of CO2 or breath-holding) and were prospectively followed for ipsilateral ischemic stroke. Individual data from 754 patients from 9 studies were included.

Greater physiological and behavioral effects of interrupted stress pattern compared to daily restraint stress in rats.

Repeated stress can trigger a range of psychiatric disorders, including anxiety. The propensity to develop abnormal behaviors after repeated stress is related to the severity, frequency and number of stressors. However, the pattern of stress exposure may contribute to the impact of stress.

Cav1.3 channels control D2-autoreceptor responses via NCS-1 in substantia nigra dopamine neurons.

Dopamine midbrain neurons within the substantia nigra are particularly prone to degeneration in Parkinson's disease. Their selective loss causes the major motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but the causes for the high vulnerability of SN DA neurons, compared to neighbouring, more resistant ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons, are still unclear. Consequently, there is still no cure available for Parkinson's disease.

The factorial and discriminant validity of the German version of the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory in stroke patients.

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is the experience of positive changes that can follow a traumatic event. The current study examined the factorial as well as the discriminant validity of the German version of the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-G) in stroke patients. A total of 188 adult stroke patients (63.

Distinct effects of repeated restraint stress on basolateral amygdala neuronal membrane properties in resilient adolescent and adult rats.

Severe and repeated stress has damaging effects on health, including initiation of depression and anxiety. Stress that occurs during development has long-lasting and particularly damaging effects on emotion. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) plays a key role in many affective behaviors, and repeated stress causes different forms of BLA hyperactivity in adolescent and adult rats.

The inhibition of the potassium channel TASK-1 in rat cardiac muscle by endothelin-1 is mediated by phospholipase C.

Aims: The two-pore-domain potassium channel TASK-1 is robustly inhibited by the activation of receptors coupled to the Gα(q) subgroup of G-proteins, but the signal transduction pathway is still unclear. We have studied the mechanisms by which endothelin receptors inhibit the current carried by TASK-1 channels (I(TASK)) in cardiomyocytes.

Methods And Results: Patch-clamp measurements were carried out in isolated rat cardiomyocytes.

Effects of early corticosteroid treatment on magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasonography findings in giant cell arteritis.

Objective: To compare the impact of initial corticosteroid treatment on high-resolution MRI and colour-coded duplex sonography (CCDS) findings in patients with GCA (temporal).

Methods: Sensitivity and specificity of CCDS and high-resolution contrast-enhanced MRI studies of 59 patients with suspected GCA were retrospectively analysed. Patients were grouped according to the duration of steroid treatment before imaging: 0-1 day, 2-4 days and >4 days.

Description of a novel approach for intraperitoneal drug delivery and the related device.

Background: Two significant limitations of intraperitoneal drug therapy are limited drug distribution and poor penetration into peritoneal nodules. A possible solution is the application of the so-called "therapeutic pneumoperitoneum," taking advantage of the gaseous nature and the pressure of capnoperitoneum during laparoscopy. Our objective was to develop a device able to apply such therapeutic pneumoperitoneum.

Grading carotid stenosis using ultrasonic methods.

The controversy as to whether Doppler ultrasonic methods should play a role in clinical decision-making in the prevention of stroke is attributable to reported disagreement between angiographic and ultrasonic results and the lack of internationally accepted ultrasound criteria for describing the degree of stenosis. Foremost among the explanations for both is the broad scatter of peak systolic velocities in the stenosis, the criterion that has so far received most attention. Grading based on a set of main and additional criteria can overcome diagnostic errors.

Effect of amphetamine place conditioning on excitatory synaptic events in the basolateral amygdala ex vivo.

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) plays an important role in the formation of associations between context and drug. BLA activity and BLA-dependent drug-seeking behavior are driven by excitatory inputs. Drug-seeking behavior driven by context involves participation of the BLA, and plasticity of excitatory inputs to the BLA may contribute to this behavior.

The course of dynamic cerebral autoregulation during cervical internal carotid artery occlusion.

Objectives: The selection of patients with cervical internal carotid artery occlusion (ICAO) for extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery is based on exhausted cerebrovascular reactivity to vasodilatory stimuli. However, a spontaneous increase in this reactivity can occur with time, questioning the ideal time for bypass surgery. In contrast, the natural course of dynamic cerebral autoregulation is not known in these patients.

Therapeutic approach of human peritoneal carcinomatosis with Dbait in combination with capnoperitoneum: proof of concept.

Background: Peritoneal carcinomatosis is an unmet medical need. Laparoscopy offers a unique opportunity to control and to steer the operating environment during surgery by loading carbon dioxide with a therapeutic substance and creating the so-called therapeutic capnoperitoneum. We have treated a human sample of peritoneal carcinomatosis from an endometrial adenocarcinoma ex vivo just after surgery.

Dynamic cerebral autoregulation associates with infarct size and outcome after ischemic stroke.

Objectives: Cerebral autoregulation is particularly challenged in acute ischemic stroke. We investigated (1) clinical and radiological factors related to dynamic cerebral autoregulation (DCA) in acute stroke and (2) the relationship between DCA and clinical outcome of stroke.

Methods: A total of 45 patients with middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke were analyzed pooling two previous studies.

Improvement of exhausted cerebral vasoreactivity in carotid occlusion: benefit of statins?

In internal carotid artery occlusion (ICAO), a spontaneous increase of cerebral vasoreactivity (CVR) may occur over time. Statins are known to increase CVR. We analyzed the influence of statin treatment and other cofactors on CVR improvement in patients with ICAO.