Enhancing the Graduate Nursing Student Experience Through Gamification.

Gamification, the use of game-styled learning methods in non-game contexts, encourages student participation, increases learning motivation, and maximizes the amount of information students can retain. An intervention was designed utilizing gamification principles to reinforce material learned during a week-long regional anesthesia intensive. Students participated in team-based competitions consisting of knowledge-based questions, critical thinking, and hands-on ultrasound skills.

Subcellular context-specific tuning of actomyosin ring contractility within a common cytoplasm.

The non-muscle actomyosin cytoskeleton generates contractile force through the dynamic rearrangement of its constituent parts. Actomyosin rings are a specialization of the non-muscle actomyosin cytoskeleton that drive cell shape changes during division, wound healing, and other events. Contractile rings throughout phylogeny and in a range of cellular contexts are built from conserved components including non-muscle myosin II (NMMII), actin filaments (F-actin), and crosslinking proteins.

A novel immunoassay technique using principal component analysis for enhanced detection of emerging viral variants.

Rapid diagnostics are critical infectious disease tools that are designed to detect a known biomarker using antibodies specific to that biomarker. However, a way to detect unknown disease variants has not yet been achieved in a paper test format. We describe here a route to make an adaptable paper immunoassay that can detect an unknown biomarker, demonstrating it on SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Mechanical and biochemical feedback combine to generate complex contractile oscillations in cytokinesis.

The actomyosin cortex is an active material that generates force to drive shape changes via cytoskeletal remodeling. Cytokinesis is the essential cell division event during which a cortical actomyosin ring closes to separate two daughter cells. Our active gel theory predicted that actomyosin systems controlled by a biochemical oscillator and experiencing mechanical strain would exhibit complex spatiotemporal behavior.

Comparison of Cardiovascular Health Between Parents and Non-Parents in NHANES 2011-2018.

Background And Objectives: We compared cardiovascular health for parents and non-parents using the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 (LE8).

Methods: This cross-sectional cohort analyzed 2011-2018 NHANES participants aged 20 to 54. The exposure was parenting, defined as living with a child.

Pitfalls in Respiratory Tract Cytopathology.

Background: Cytopathology is integral to the investigation and diagnosis of respiratory disease, and, in the last decade or so, transbronchial needle aspiration by endobronchial ultrasound has made possible diagnosis and staging of malignant thoracic tumours at a single procedure. In addition, interventional teams increasingly include cytopathologists and cytotechnologists who, by providing rapid onsite evaluation, ensure efficient sampling of intrathoracic targets with the ultimate goal of accurate diagnosis as well as sufficient material for comprehensive predictive testing. Nonetheless, "traditional" cytological investigations such as bronchial washings, brushings, and lavages are still carried out for investigation of both suspected neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions, and all these procedures still produce specimens in which florid benign cells mimic malignancy, while truly neoplastic cells lurk quietly in the background.

Acoustics and aerodynamic effects following glottal and infraglottal medialization in an excised larynx model.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the implant's vertical location during Type 1 Thyroplasty (T1T) on acoustics and glottal aerodynamics using excised canine larynx model, providing insights into the optimal technique for treating unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP).

Methods: Measurements were conducted in six excised canine larynges using Silastic implants. Two implant locations, glottal and infraglottal, were tested for each larynx at low and high subglottal pressure levels.

Molecular Atlas of HER2+ Breast Cancer Cells Treated with Endogenous Ligands: Temporal Insights into Mechanisms of Trastuzumab Resistance.

Trastuzumab therapy in HER2+ breast cancer patients has mixed success owing to acquired resistance to therapy. A detailed understanding of downstream molecular cascades resulting from trastuzumab resistance is yet to emerge. In this study, we investigate the cellular mechanisms underlying acquired resistance using trastuzumab-sensitive and -resistant cancer cells (BT474 and BT474R) treated with endogenous ligands EGF and HRG across time.

Communication and Birth Experiences Among Black Birthing People Who Experienced Preterm Birth.

Purpose: Physically or psychologically distressing birth experiences can influence postpartum health, parenting efficacy, and future pregnancy plans. Communication deficits contribute to negative birth experiences. This qualitative analysis explored themes related to communication and negative birth experiences among Black birthing people who experienced preterm birth.

Integrating Care for Mother-Infant Dyads After Preterm Birth: A Qualitative Study of Clinician Perspectives on Feasibility.

Objective: There are gaps in receipt of maternal preventive services in the interconception period. Yet mother-infant dyads have frequent health care visits. Health systems have opportunities to better capitalize on existing visits to address dyad needs, but this possibility has not been fully explored.

Mechanical positive feedback and biochemical negative feedback combine to generate complex contractile oscillations in cytokinesis.

Contractile force generation by the cortical actomyosin cytoskeleton is essential for a multitude of biological processes. The actomyosin cortex behaves as an active material that drives local and large-scale shape changes via cytoskeletal remodeling in response to biochemical cues and feedback loops. Cytokinesis is the essential cell division event during which a cortical actomyosin ring generates contractile force to change cell shape and separate two daughter cells.

Animal septins contain functional transmembrane domains.

Septins, a conserved family of filament-forming proteins, contribute to eukaryotic cell division, polarity, and membrane trafficking. Septins scaffold other proteins to cellular membranes, but it is unknown how septins associate with membranes. We identified and characterized an isoform of septin UNC-61 that was predicted to contain a transmembrane domain (TMD).

Acceptability of Dyad Care Management After Preterm Birth: A Qualitative Study.

Objectives: Care management programs for medically complex infants interact with parents after complicated pregnancies, when gaps in maternal health care are well documented. These care managers may have the relationships and skills to promote postpartum and interconception health and health care access. It is unknown whether expanding these care management models to address maternal needs would be acceptable.

Model-based trajectory classification of anchored molecular motor-biopolymer interactions.

During zygotic mitosis in many species, forces generated at the cell cortex are required for the separation and migration of paternally provided centrosomes, pronuclear migration, segregation of genetic material, and cell division. Furthermore, in some species, force-generating interactions between spindle microtubules and the cortex position the mitotic spindle asymmetrically within the zygote, an essential step in asymmetric cell division. Understanding the mechanical and molecular mechanisms of microtubule-dependent force generation and therefore asymmetric cell division requires identification of individual cortical force-generating units .

Caenorhabditis elegans septins contribute to the development and structure of the oogenic germline.

Oocytes must be exceptionally large cells in order to support embryonic development. Throughout animal phylogeny, a specialized cell called a syncytium, wherein many nuclei share a continuous cytoplasm, achieves oogenesis. The syncytial nature of germline architecture is key to its function and depends on conserved components of the cortical cytoskeleton.

A Qualitative Study of Perspectives of Black Women on Autonomy and Motivational Interviewing.

Purpose: Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based strategy to modify health behaviors, including some risk factors for adverse birth outcomes. Black women, who have disproportionately high rates of adverse birth outcomes, have reported mixed preferences on MI. This study explored the acceptability of MI among Black women who are at high risk for adverse birth outcomes.

Occupational Violence Experienced by Care Workers in the Australian Home Care Sector When Assisting People with Dementia.

Background: People with advancing dementia may be dependent on community services from home care workers and nurses to be supported at home. However, these care workers face difficulty undertaking their roles due to challenging behaviours or occupational violence. This study aimed to explore the challenges faced by home care workers and nurses working with people diagnosed with dementia in the community, to identify job demands contributing to their vulnerability to occupational violence, and to determine ways to help manage occupational violence.

Contractile ring composition dictates kinetics of in silico contractility.

Constriction kinetics of the cytokinetic ring are expected to depend on dynamic adjustment of contractile ring composition, but the impact of ring component abundance dynamics on ring constriction is understudied. Computational models generally assume that contractile networks maintain constant total amounts of components, which is not always true. To test how compositional dynamics affect constriction kinetics, we first measured F-actin, non-muscle myosin II, septin, and anillin during Caenorhabditis elegans zygotic mitosis.

Acoustic Screening of the "Wet voice": Proof of Concept in an ex vivo Canine Laryngeal Model.

Background: Current protocols for bedside swallow evaluation have high rates of false negative results. Though experts are not consistently able to screen for aspiration risk by assessing vocal quality, there is emerging evidence that vocal acoustic parameters are significantly different in patients at risk of aspiration. Herein, we aimed to determine whether the presence of material on the vocal folds in an excised canine laryngeal model may have an impact on acoustic and aerodynamic measures.

Phase 2 of extracellular RNA communication consortium charts next-generation approaches for extracellular RNA research.

The extracellular RNA communication consortium (ERCC) is an NIH-funded program aiming to promote the development of new technologies, resources, and knowledge about exRNAs and their carriers. After Phase 1 (2013-2018), Phase 2 of the program (ERCC2, 2019-2023) aims to fill critical gaps in knowledge and technology to enable rigorous and reproducible methods for separation and characterization of both bulk populations of exRNA carriers and single EVs. ERCC2 investigators are also developing new bioinformatic pipelines to promote data integration through the exRNA atlas database.

Motivational interviewing to promote interconception health: A scoping review of evidence from clinical trials.

Background: Promoting interconception health can improve birth outcomes and long-term women's health. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based behavior change strategy that can address interconception health behaviors and health care engagement.

Objective: This scoping review assessed the evidence for using MI to promote interconception health and assessed features of successful MI interventions.

Molecular Assessment of HER2 to Identify Signatures Associated with Therapy Response in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer.

Trastuzumab, the prototype HER2-directed therapy, has markedly improved survival for women with HER2-positive breast cancers. However, only 40-60% of women with HER2-positive breast cancers achieve a complete pathological response to chemotherapy combined with HER2-directed therapy. The current diagnostic assays have poor positive-predictive accuracy in identifying therapy-responsive breast cancers.

An Ex-vivo Model Examining Acoustics and Aerodynamic Effects Following Medialization With and Without Arytenoid Adduction.

Objectives/hypothesis: Quantify differences in acoustics and intraglottal flow fields between Thyroplasty Type 1 (TT1) with and without arytenoid adduction (AA) using excised canine larynx model.

Study Design: Basic science experiments using excised larynges.

Methods: Surgical procedures were implemented in eight excised canine larynges.