Pulsed wind-driven control of phytoplankton biomass at a groundwater-enriched nearshore environment.

Along some Mediterranean coastal areas and other world regions, nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations often show gradient increases of up to one order of magnitude perpendicular to the coast. This nearshore stripe, extending a few hundred meters from the coast, is enriched by submarine groundwater discharges (SGD) containing elevated nutrient concentrations that may eventually sustain high biomass phytoplankton blooms. During a survey carried out in the summer of 2018, we examined the short-term (hours) variability of the phytoplankton biomass (measured as chlorophyll; Chl) in response to environmental changes associated with SGD and wind forcing in the nearshore waters of Palma Beach (Mediterranean Sea).

Lowered cameras reveal hidden behaviors of Antarctic krill.

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba, hereafter 'krill') exemplify the methodological challenges of studying small, mobile, aggregating pelagic organisms. Krill are a central species in the Southern Ocean food web, provide important biogeochemical functions and support a valuable commercial fishery. Most of what we know about krill has been derived from acoustic surveys and net samples, the former being essential for estimating krill biomass and catch limits.

Using Group Concept Mapping to Develop a Conceptual Model of Housing and Community-Based Residential Settings for Adults With Severe Mental Illness.

Background: Most existing conceptual models of residential environments and housing programs were developed over a decade ago or lack comprehensiveness. The attributes to be used to describe housing programs with adequate specification remain unclear including the attributes that mediate service user outcomes. In this study, group concept mapping was used to develop a conceptual model of housing and community-based residential settings for adults with severe mental illness based on stakeholder perceptions and values.

Core Competencies for Chronic Disease Prevention Practice.

Chronic disease prevention practice is an important specialization within public health and health care that connects chronic conditions, causes, prevention tactics, and population-based health promotion modalities. Required competencies for successful chronic disease prevention and health promotion encompass leadership, epidemiology, program practice, and evaluation, among others. In 2007, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) developed and codified the Core Chronic Disease Prevention Competencies (Competencies), a standard set of competencies for professionals in chronic disease prevention and control.

Memantine ER Maintains Patient Response in Moderate to Severe Alzheimer's Disease: Post Hoc Analyses From a Randomized, Controlled, Clinical Trial of Patients Treated With Cholinesterase Inhibitors.

Memantine extended release (ER) significantly outperformed placebo on co-primary endpoints of Clinician's Interview-based Impression of Change Plus Caregiver Input (CIBIC-Plus) and baseline to endpoint changes on the Severe Impairment Battery (SIB) in a 24-week, randomized trial (NCT00322153) in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease taking a cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI). A post hoc analysis compared patients receiving memantine ER/ChEI to placebo/ChEI for time to onset of response and if the response was maintained (achieving improvement at weeks 8, 12, or 18 and maintaining through endpoint/week 24) on the SIB, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), CIBIC-Plus, and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) using Fisher exact test. A second post hoc analysis compared percentages of patients for all possible combinations of 2 to 4 assessments with either no decline or clinically notable response using Wald χ.

Bringing voice in policy building.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of group concept mapping (GCM) as a tool for developing a conceptual model of an episode of acute, unscheduled care from illness or injury to outcomes such as recovery, death and chronic illness. Design/methodology/approach After generating a literature review drafting an initial conceptual model, GCM software (CS Global MAX) is used to organize and identify strengths and directionality between concepts generated through feedback about the model from several stakeholder groups: acute care and non-acute care providers, patients, payers and policymakers. Through online and in-person population-specific focus groups, the GCM approach seeks feedback, assigned relationships and articulated priorities from participants to produce an output map that described overarching concepts and relationships within and across subsamples.

A comparison of three methods to generate a conceptual understanding of a disease based on the patients' perspective.

Background: The Food and Drug Administration patient-reported outcome (PRO) guidance provides standards for PRO development, but these standards bring scientific and logistical challenges which can result in a lengthy and expensive instrument development process. Thus, more pragmatic methods are needed alongside traditional approaches.

Methods: Partnering with the National Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) Society, we compared three methods for eliciting patient experiences: 1) concept elicitation (CE) interviews with 12 individuals with AS, 2) "group concept mapping" (GCM) with 16 individuals with AS, 3) a social media review (SMR) of AS online chatrooms.

Deconstructing tolerance with clobazam: Post hoc analyses from an open-label extension study.

Objective: To evaluate potential development of tolerance to adjunctive clobazam in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Methods: Eligible patients enrolled in open-label extension study OV-1004, which continued until clobazam was commercially available in the United States or for a maximum of 2 years outside the United States. Enrolled patients started at 0.

Optimizing the DNA yield for molecular analysis from cytologic preparations.

Background: Cytology smears and cytospin preparations are increasingly being used for molecular testing. With these limited samples, optimizing tissue extraction to maximize the DNA yield is, therefore, critical. This study examined 2 common methods of tissue extraction and compared DNA yields from different types of glass slides.

Bioregulatory systems medicine: an innovative approach to integrating the science of molecular networks, inflammation, and systems biology with the patient's autoregulatory capacity?

Bioregulatory systems medicine (BrSM) is a paradigm that aims to advance current medical practices. The basic scientific and clinical tenets of this approach embrace an interconnected picture of human health, supported largely by recent advances in systems biology and genomics, and focus on the implications of multi-scale interconnectivity for improving therapeutic approaches to disease. This article introduces the formal incorporation of these scientific and clinical elements into a cohesive theoretical model of the BrSM approach.

Concept mapping and network analysis: an analytic approach to measure ties among constructs.

Group concept mapping is a mixed-methods approach that helps a group visually represent its ideas on a topic of interest through a series of related maps. The maps and additional graphics are useful for planning, evaluation and theory development. Group concept maps are typically described, interpreted and utilized through points, clusters and distances, and the implications of these features in understanding how constructs relate to one another.

The suitcase simulation: an effective and inexpensive psychiatric nursing teaching activity.

A tabletop simulation was developed as a patient safety activity that involved checking in a patient admitted to a psychiatric care unit. Students were second-degree (n = 79) and traditional (n = 53) BSN students. They were given suitcases or backpacks containing various items, and following a fictional hospital policy, they had to decide whether to give the items to the patient, place them in a secured area, or send them to the pharmacy or security personnel.

Quality and rigor of the concept mapping methodology: a pooled study analysis.

The use of concept mapping in research and evaluation has expanded dramatically over the past 20 years. Researchers in academic, organizational, and community-based settings have applied concept mapping successfully without the benefit of systematic analyses across studies to identify the features of a methodologically sound study. Quantitative characteristics and estimates of quality and rigor that may guide for future studies are lacking.

Developing a conceptual framework for an evaluation system for the NIAID HIV/AIDS clinical trials networks.

Globally, health research organizations are called upon to re-examine their policies and practices to more efficiently and effectively address current scientific and social needs, as well as increasing public demands for accountability.Through a case study approach, the authors examine an effort undertaken by the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (part of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services, United States Government) to develop an evaluation system for its recently restructured HIV/AIDS clinical trials program. The challenges in designing, operationalizing, and managing global clinical trials programs are considered in the context of large scale scientific research initiatives.

Live kidney donations and the ethic of care.

In this paper, we seek to re-conceptualize the ethical framework through which ethicists and medical professionals view the practice of live kidney donations. The ethics of organ donation has been understood primarily within the framework of individual rights and impartiality, but we show that the ethic of care captures the moral situation of live kidney donations in a more coherent and comprehensive way, and offers guidance for practitioners that is more attentive to the actual moral transactions among donors and recipients. A final section offers guidelines for the practice of live kidney transplants that emerge from an ethic of care.

Concept mapping as a tool to engage a community in health disparity identification.

Objectives: To engage a community to critically examine local health disparities.

Design: Concept mapping is a tool used to rapidly assess the variations in thinking of large stakeholder groups' about a particular topic.

Setting: Jackson, Mississippi.

Building a local agenda for dissemination of research into practice.

Across North America and in other parts of the world, there has been a growing recognition that a large gap exists between public health knowledge generated through scientific discovery and its application in individual, community, organizational, and policy innovation. An academic-funder partnership sought to identify potential actions to improve the translation of public health research to practice in Missouri. Concept mapping, a structured conceptualization process, was used to develop information to support a local action planning effort to improve research translation to practice in Missouri.

Development of public health priorities for end-of-life initiatives.

Objective: Recently, end-of-life (EOL) issues have captured the attention of the public health community. This study reports a project to help state health departments better understand their potential role in addressing EOL issues and develop initial priorities for EOL activities.

Methods: The project involved two studies.

Using concept mapping to develop a logic model for the Prevention Research Centers Program.

Introduction: Concept mapping is a structured conceptualization process that provides a visual representation of relationships among ideas. Concept mapping was used to develop a logic model for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Prevention Research Centers Program, which has a large and diverse group of stakeholders throughout the United States. No published studies have used concept mapping to develop a logic model for a national program.

Mitochondrial signal transduction in accelerated wound and retinal healing by near-infrared light therapy.

Photobiomodulation by light in the red to near infrared range (630-1000 nm) using low energy lasers or light-emitting diode (LED) arrays has been shown to accelerate wound healing, improve recovery from ischemic injury in the heart and attenuate degeneration in the injured optic nerve. Recent evidence indicates that the therapeutic effects of red to near infrared light result, in part, from intracellular signaling mechanisms triggered by the interaction of NIR light with the mitochondrial photoacceptor molecule cytochrome c oxidase. We have demonstrated that NIR-LED photo-irradiation increases the production of cytochrome oxidase in cultured primary neurons and reverses the reduction of cytochrome oxidase activity produced by metabolic inhibitors.

The role of state public health agencies in addressing less prevalent chronic conditions.

Introduction: State-based chronic disease programs typically focus on the most prevalent chronic conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, but interest in less prevalent chronic conditions (LPCCs), such as epilepsy, is growing. In our study, we examined the perceived roles of state health departments in addressing LPCCs and used this information to develop recommendations for state health departments that are considering developing LPCCs programs. We also compared the identified state health department roles for LPCCs with roles related to healthy aging, as well as to the essential elements of existing state-based chronic disease programs, to determine whether future LPCCs programs would have any unique requirements.

Concept mapping: an introduction to structured conceptualization in health care.

Structured conceptualization is a specific form of concept mapping that is a mixed methods participatory approach that combines group processes (brainstorming, sorting, group interpretation) with a sequence of multivariate statistical analyses (multidimensional scaling, hierarchical cluster analysis). Concept mapping's relevance to health care quality and services is described. The basic steps and analysis sequence in the concept mapping method are outlined and a brief example of the results for a health planning project are presented.

Photobiomodulation directly benefits primary neurons functionally inactivated by toxins: role of cytochrome c oxidase.

Far red and near infrared (NIR) light promotes wound healing, but the mechanism is poorly understood. Our previous studies using 670 nm light-emitting diode (LED) arrays suggest that cytochrome c oxidase, a photoacceptor in the NIR range, plays an important role in therapeutic photobiomodulation. If this is true, then an irreversible inhibitor of cytochrome c oxidase, potassium cyanide (KCN), should compete with LED and reduce its beneficial effects.

Prelinguistic communication and subsequent language acquisition in children with cochlear implants.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between prelinguistic communication behaviors and subsequent language development after cochlear implantation in deaf children. Evaluative tools with predictive validity for language potential in very young deaf children remain elusive.

Setting: A tertiary care cochlear implant center and a preschool setting of spoken language immersion in which oral language development is emphasized through auditory and oral motor subskill practice.