Physician assistant/associate career flexibility: factors associated with specialty transitions.

Background: Physician assistants/associates (PAs), due to their broad medical education and certification, have the flexibility to change specialties throughout their careers. Prior studies suggest that between half and three-quarters exercise this option at some point in their career, and a third do so within the first decade. However, more research is needed to understand the factors associated with PAs changing vs.

The effect of education debt on PAs' specialty choice or preference.

Objective: This study investigated educational debt, repayment strategies, and other factors potentially related to recently certified physician associates/assistants' (PAs') choice or preference for primary care versus all other specialties.

Methods: A national dataset from 2023 of recently certified PAs was used to conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses. Analyses were conducted separately for PAs who had accepted a clinical position and those who had not accepted a clinical position.

Public experience with and perspectives on medical care provided by PAs.

Objective: We sought to assess public experiences with and perspectives about physician associates/assistants (PAs), who are taking on increasingly important roles in healthcare.

Methods: We conducted a survey using a Qualtrics panel assessing whether participants (N = 1,388) received care from PAs, their perceptions of the care received, and their intentions of seeking care from PAs in the future.

Results: About 67% of participants reported receiving care from PAs; 61.

The association of physician assistant/associate demographic and practice characteristics with perceptions of value of certification.

Background: To determine physician assistant/associate (PA) perceptions of the value of certification and explore how they vary across demographic and practice characteristics.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey between March and April 2020 with PAs participating in the longitudinal pilot program for recertification administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). The survey was distributed to 18,147 PAs, of which 10,965 participated (60.

Inter-Rater and Intra-Rater Reliability of the Kansas University Sitting Balance Scale.

Kluding et al., created (KUSSBS) in 2006 to meet the need for objective documentation of balance and for a tool without a floor effect. Rater reliabilities were established by Kluding for the standing scale, but not for the sitting balance scale (KUSitBS).

Choosing a Provider: What Factors Matter Most to Consumers and Patients?

Enhancing consumer and patient choice has been proposed as a means to improve care quality and reduce health-related costs. Choosing a medical provider is one of the most critical and often complex decisions patients make about their health care. We investigated the perceived importance of factors patients may consider when selecting a practitioner and if rated importance of the factors varies with their characteristics and prior experiences with different types of clinicians (physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners).

The role of PAs in providing mental health care.

The prevalence of psychiatric and substance use disorders in the United States is rising and of growing concern. Because such behavioral conditions are widespread, one approach is to collaborate with various medical professionals to help offset this demand. To address this issue, the frequency and types of mental health conditions encountered by physician assistants (PAs) were assessed.

PA practice analysis: Multidisciplinary tasks, knowledge, and skills.

In conducting its practice analysis, the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants incorporated new approaches in 2015. Twelve groups of PAs identified knowledge, tasks, and skills required for practice not only in primary care, but also in 11 practice focus areas (specialties). In addition, a list of diseases and disorders likely to be encountered was identified for each specialty.

DNA-PK-dependent binding of DNA ends to plasmids containing nuclear matrix attachment region DNA sequences: evidence for assembly of a repair complex.

We find that nuclear protein extracts from mammalian cells contain an activity that allows DNA ends to associate with circular pUC18 plasmid DNA. This activity requires the catalytic subunit of DNA-PK (DNA-PKcs) and Ku since it was not observed in mutants lacking Ku or DNA-PKcs but was observed when purified Ku/DNA-PKcs was added to these mutant extracts. Purified Ku/DNA-PKcs alone did not produce association of DNA ends with plasmid DNA suggesting that additional factors in the nuclear extract are necessary for this activity.

The first total synthesis of lipid II: the final monomeric intermediate in bacterial cell wall biosynthesis.

Bacterial peptidoglycan is composed of a network of beta-[1,4]-linked glyan strands that are cross-linked through pendant peptide chains. The final product, the murein sacculus, is a single, covalently closed macromolecule that precisely defines the size and shape of the bacterial cell. The recent increase in bacterial resistance to cell wall active agents has led to a resurgence of activity directed toward improving our understanding of the resistance mechanisms at the molecular level.

Mutation in the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase gene leads to inactivation of Ku DNA end binding during oxidative stress.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), the rate-limiting enzyme of the oxidative pentose phosphate cycle, regulates the NADPH/NADP(+) ratio in eukaryotic cells. G6PD deficiency is one of the most common mutations in humans and is known to cause health problems for hundreds of millions worldwide. Although it is known that decreased G6PD functionality can result in increased susceptibility to oxidative stress, the molecular targets of this stress are not known.

The total synthesis of lipid I.

A total synthesis of lipid I (4), a membrane-associated intermediate in the bacterial cell wall (peptidoglycan) biosynthesis pathway, is reported. This highly convergent synthesis will enable further studies on bacterial resistance mechanisms and may provide insight toward the development of new chemotherapeutic agents with novel modes of action.

Radiation-induced recombination is dependent on Ku80.

We have recently shown that irradiating cells prior to transfection induces recombination, as manifested by increased stable transduction of both plasmid and adenoviral vectors. We hypothesized that Ku proteins, which have previously been shown to be involved in both recombination and the repair of DNA damage after irradiation, would likely be important mediators of radiation-induced recombination. The present work demonstrates that Ku80 is essential for radiation-induced recombination.

Activation of NF-kappaB is necessary for the restoration of the barrier function of an epithelium undergoing TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) induces apoptosis in confluent LLC-PK1 epithelial cells, but also activates NF-kappaB, a negative regulator of apoptosis. The presence of increased TNF-induced apoptosis causes a transient increase in epithelial permeability, but the epithelial barrier function recovers, as assessed by measuring the transepithelial electrical resistance, the paracellular flux of mannitol and by the electron microscopic evaluation of the penetration of the electron-dense dye ruthenium red across the tight junctions. The integrity of the epithelial cell layer is maintained by rearrangement of non-apoptotic cells in the monolayer and by the phagocytosis of apoptotic fragments.

Differential repair of UV damage in a developmentally regulated gene of Dictyostelium discoideum.

The repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers was measured under non-replicating conditions in a 2054-bp fragment of a cAMP-inducible cysteine proteinase (CP2) gene in D. discoideum. Overall genomic repair was unaffected by cAMP.

Inhibition of human leukocyte elastase (HLE) by N-substituted peptidyl trifluoromethyl ketones.

A series of tripeptides possessing trifluoromethyl or aryl ketone residues at P1 were prepared and evaluated both in vitro and in vivo as potential inhibitors of human leukocyte elastase (HLE). Tripeptides containing non naturally occurring N-substituted glycine residues at the P2-position have been demonstrated to be potent in vitro inhibitors of HLE, with IC50 values in the submicromolar range. Sterically demanding substituents on the P2-nitrogen have no detrimental effect on in vitro potency.

Novel non-nucleoside inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. 1. Tricyclic pyridobenzo- and dipyridodiazepinones.

Novel pyrido[2,3-b][1,4]benzodiazepinones (I), pyrido[2,3-b][1,5]benzodiazepinones (II), and dipyrido[3,2-b:2',3'-e][1,4]diazepinones (III) were found to inhibit human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase in vitro at concentrations as low as 35 nM. In all three series, small substituents (e.g.

Role of carrier ligand in platinum resistance in L1210 cells.

We have examined the effect of carrier ligands on platinum accumulation, incorporation of platinum into DNA, cytotoxicity of Pt-DNA adducts, and repair of Pt-DNA adducts in three L1210 cell lines: L1210/0, which is sensitive to most types of platinum compounds; L1210/DDP, which is resistant to platinum compounds with the ethylenediamine (en) carrier ligand but sensitive to those with the diaminocyclohexane (dach) ligand; and L1210/DACH, which is resistant to dach-Pt compounds but sensitive to en-Pt compounds. There was a selective decrease in accumulation of dach-Pt in the L1210/DACH line and of en-Pt in the L1210/DDP line. Intracellular dach-Pt was incorporated into DNA to a lesser extent than en-Pt in both resistant cell lines.

Intracellular biotransformation of platinum compounds with the 1,2-diaminocyclohexane carrier ligand in the L1210 cell line.

We have previously reported the development of a two-column high performance liquid chromatography system for separation of platinum(II) complexes with the 1,2-diaminocyclohexane (DACH) carrier ligand (Mauldin et al., Anal. Biochem.

Displacement of the bidentate malonate ligand from (d,l-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane)malonatoplatinum(II) by physiologically important compounds in vitro.

Previous studies of platinum(II) compounds with bidentate leaving ligands have emphasized the contrast between the stability of the bidentate leaving ligand in vitro (T1/2 greater than 11 days in water) and the apparent reactivity of these bidentate platinum compounds in vivo. However, none of these studies actually measured the stability of these compounds in tissue culture medium (or in any other reaction mixture resembling in vivo conditions). The experiments described in this paper were designed to measure the stability and fate of (d,l-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane)malonatoplatinum(II) [Pt(mal)(trans-dach)] in RPMI-1640 tissue culture medium.