Serotonin regulation of mitochondria in kidney diseases.

Serotonin, while conventionally recognized as a neurotransmitter in the CNS, has recently gained attention for its role in the kidney. Specifically, serotonin is not only synthesized in the kidney, but it also regulates glomerular function, vascular resistance, and mitochondrial homeostasis. Because of serotonin's importance to mitochondrial health, this review is focused on the role of serotonin and its receptors in mitochondrial function in the context of acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and diabetic kidney disease, all of which are characterized by mitochondrial dysfunction and none of which has approved pharmacological treatments.

Fostering federal and local disaster preparedness partnerships.

In this project, we describe the experience of utilizing six AmeriCorps volunteers deployed to an urban, coastal city over a six-week period in 2011 to assist with a CBDP needs assessment survey and pre-deployment disaster training of health care personnel. Volunteer accomplishments included (1) a regional database of care providers to identify optimal emergency preparedness training (EPT) distribution, (2) an EPT assessment survey to gauge current care provider disaster preparedness, and (3) a high-fidelity EPT training demonstration project in the university's human simulation center. In contrast to their more traditional roles of response and recovery, we believe that we have demonstrated a model of how volunteers can be utilized to support CBDP mitigation and planning stages of disaster.

High-fidelity multiactor emergency preparedness training for patient care providers.

Background: Providing comprehensive emergency preparedness training (EPT) for patient care providers is important to the future success of emergency preparedness operations in the United States. Disasters are rare, complex events involving many patients and environmental factors that are difficult to reproduce in a training environment. Few EPT programs possess both competency-driven goals and metrics to measure life-saving performance during a multiactor simulated disaster.