Serum-deprivation response of ARPE-19 cells; expression patterns relevant to age-related macular degeneration.

ARPE-19 cells are derived from adult human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The response of these cells to the stress of serum deprivation mimics some important processes relevant to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Here we extend the characterization of this response using RNASeq and EGSEA gene set analysis of ARPE-19 cells over nine days of serum deprivation.

The interprofessional practice experiences of final-semester prelicensure BSN students completing clinical immersion: A descriptive qualitative study.

Background: The goal of interprofessional practice experiences in health professions programs is to develop interprofessional collaborative practice skills.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore the meaning final-semester Bachelor of Science in Nursing students attributed to interprofessional practice experiences during clinical immersion.

Methods: The theoretical framework for this descriptive qualitative study was experiential learning theory.

Determining the impact of vaccination on SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR cycle threshold values and infectious viral titres.

Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, efforts to better understand severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral shedding and transmission in both unvaccinated and vaccinated populations remain critical to informing public health policies and vaccine development. The utility of using real time RT-PCR cycle threshold values (C values) as a proxy for infectious viral litres from individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 is yet to be fully understood. This retrospective observational cohort study compares quantitative infectious viral litres derived from a focus-forming viral titre assay with SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR C values in both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals infected with the Delta strain.

Quantifying and Qualifying Nursing Professional Development Practitioner Workload.

Nursing professional development practitioners are integral leaders who continue to seek tangible ways to show their value. A tool was designed to capture workload based upon the scope and standards of nursing professional development practice and successfully captured the workload of over 200 practitioners. The measures used in this project can serve as a guide for others to describe nursing professional development practitioner workload.

Successful treatment of rhino-cerebral mucormycosis with dual antifungal therapy and minimal surgical debridement.

The authors report the case of a 42-year-old female with history of type I diabetes mellitus and recent episode of diabetic ketoacidosis who presented with symptoms of epistaxis, gastrointestinal upset, hyperglycemia, confusion, and a cough. She was found to have rhino-cerebral mucormycosis with associated multi-focal strokes and a left internal carotid artery pseudoaneurysm. Her infection was successfully treated with dual-antifungal therapy consisting of liposomal amphotericin B and isavuconazole, and required only minimal surgical debridement.

The Impact of Standardized Infectious Diseases Consultation on Postsplenectomy Care and Outcomes.

Background: Patients who receive splenectomy are at risk for overwhelming postsplenectomy infection (OPSI). Guidelines recommend that adult asplenic patients receive a complement of vaccinations, education on the risks of OPSI, and on-demand antibiotics. However, prior literature suggests that a majority of patients who have had a splenectomy receive incomplete asplenic patient care and thus remain at increased risk.

Honors students in the health professions: An academic-practice partnership for developing interprofessional competencies through simulation.

Abundant literature supports the value of interprofessional education (IPE) in health profession programs, but few studies focus on undergraduate honors students. The goals of this academic-practice partnership quality improvement project were to increase awareness of IPE, provide experiential opportunities to learn the principles of interprofessional practice, assess perceptions of readiness for practice, and to explore motivations and learning expectations of undergraduate nursing and pre-medical honors students. Average scores on the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) increased in several areas after the IPE simulation experiences, with small to medium effect sizes (Cohen's d) on individual items and two subscales (Teamwork & Collaboration and Positive Professional Identity).

Retbindin mediates light-damage in mouse retina while its absence leads to premature retinal aging.

Vision requires the transport and recycling of the pigment 11-cis retinaldehyde (retinal) between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptors. 11-cis retinal is also required for light-mediated photoreceptor death in dark-adapted mouse eye, probably through overstimulation of rod cells adapted for low light. Retbindin is a photoreceptor-specific protein, of unclear function, that is localized between the RPE and the tips of the photoreceptors.

Fear of Dependency and Life-Space Mobility as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Assistive Devices in Older Adults.

Assistive devices can help older adults remain independent; however, they may hesitate to use them due to fears of appearing dependent by embodying aging stereotypes. Reluctance to use assistive devices may lead to decreased life space mobility. The selective optimization with compensation (SOC) model posits that older adults employ strengths to accommodate for age-related functioning declines.

Endocarditis and systemic embolization from Whipple's disease.

Whipple's disease (WD), caused by infection with the organism , is a rare disease that classically presents with diarrhea, weight loss, and polyarthralgia. Less commonly, Whipple's Disease can presentation with endocarditis or neurologic infections. The authors report a patient with Whipple's Disease endocarditis whose initial presentation was acute lower extremity arterial occlusion, and review current literature regarding the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of Whipple's Disease endocarditis.

Sensors and Psychomotor Metrics: A Unique Opportunity to Close the Gap on Surgical Processes and Outcomes.

The surgical process remains elusive to many. This paper presents two independent empirical investigations where psychomotor skill metrics were used to quantify elements of the surgical process in a procedural context during surgical tasks in a simulated environment. The overarching goal of both investigations was to address the following hypothesis: Basic motion metrics can be used to quantify specific aspects of the surgical process including instrument autonomy, psychomotor efficiency, procedural readiness, and clinical errors.

Amelotin is expressed in retinal pigment epithelium and localizes to hydroxyapatite deposits in dry age-related macular degeneration.

Deposition of hydroxyapatite (HAP) basal to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is linked to the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Serum-deprivation of RPE cells in culture mimics some features of AMD. We now show that serum-deprivation also leads to the induction of amelotin (AMTN), a protein involved in hydroxyapatite mineralization in enamel.

Cautionary study on the effects of pay for performance on quality of care: a pilot randomised controlled trial using standardised patients.

Background: Due to the difficulty of studying incentives in practice, there is limited empirical evidence of the full-impact pay-for-performance (P4P) incentive systems.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of P4P in a controlled, simulated environment.

Design: We employed a simulation-based randomised controlled trial with three standardised patients to assess advanced practice providers' performance.

Can Virtual Reality Be Used to Track Skills Decay During the Research Years?

Background: Time away from surgical practice can lead to skills decay. Research residents are thought to be prone to skills decay, given their limited experience and reduced exposure to clinical activities during their research training years. This study takes a cross-sectional approach to assess differences in residents' skills at the beginning and end of their research years using virtual reality.

Creating Synergy between Academia and Practice: The Arizona State University and Mayo Clinic Arizona Model.

Background: The academic-practice partnership began in 2005 with a collaborative Pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. Since that time the partnership has broadened to include faculty development, evidence-based practice, interprofessional education, and research initiatives.

Purpose: The purpose is to share the outcomes of this academic-practice partnership and to provide a model for other institutions.

Screening surgical residents' laparoscopic skills using virtual reality tasks: Who needs more time in the sim lab?

Background: This study investigated the possibility of using virtual reality perceptual-motor tasks as a screening tool for laparoscopic ability. We hypothesized that perceptual-motor skills assessed using virtual reality will correlate with the quality of simulated laparoscopic ventral hernia repair.

Materials And Methods: Surgical residents (N = 37), performed 2 virtual reality perceptual-motor tasks: (1) force matching and (2) target tracking.

Shortcut assessment: Can residents' operative performance be determined in the first five minutes of an operative task?

Background: The aim was to validate the potential use of a single, early procedure, operative task as a predictive metric for overall performance. The authors hypothesized that a shortcut psychomotor assessment would be as informative as a total procedural psychomotor assessment when evaluating laparoscopic ventral hernia repair performance on a simulator.

Methods: Using electromagnetic sensors, hand motion data were collected from 38 surgery residents during a simulated laparoscopic ventral hernia repair procedure.

The klotho-related protein KLPH (lctl) has preferred expression in lens and is essential for expression of clic5 and normal lens suture formation.

KLPH/lctl belongs to the Klotho family of proteins. Expressed sequence tag analyses unexpectedly revealed that KLPH is highly expressed in the eye lens while northern blots showed that expression is much higher in the eye than in other tissues. In situ hybridization in mouse localized mRNA to the lens, particularly in the equatorial epithelium.

Serum starvation of ARPE-19 changes the cellular distribution of cholesterol and Fibulin3 in patterns reminiscent of age-related macular degeneration.

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has been implicated as key source of cholesterol-rich deposits at Bruch's membrane (BrM) and in drusen in aging human eye. We have shown that serum-deprivation of confluent RPE cells is associated with upregulation of cholesterol synthesis and accumulation of unesterified cholesterol (UC). Here we investigate the cellular processes involved in this response.