Measuring moral distress and moral injury: A systematic review and content analysis of existing scales.

Background: Moral distress (MD) and moral injury (MI) are related constructs describing the negative consequences of morally challenging stressors. Despite growing support for the clinical relevance of these constructs, ongoing challenges regarding measurement quality risk limiting research and clinical advances. This study summarizes the nature, quality, and utility of existing MD and MI scales, and provides recommendations for future use.

Academics' Experiences in Veterinary Educational Research: Results of an International Survey.

Research conducted by the veterinary education community is critical to continual improvement of educational outcomes. Additionally, research productivity is one metric in promotion and tenure decisions. We sought to identify challenges encountered or anticipated when undertaking or planning veterinary educational research (VER), to learn how these challenges might be overcome, and to synthesize tips for success from those who have performed VER.

Capture and storage of plant genomic DNA on a readily available cellulose matrix.

Whatman FTA Cards are a fast and efficient method for capturing and storing nucleic acids but can be cost-prohibitive for large numbers of samples. We developed a method that substitutes a readily-available cellulose matrix and homemade washing buffer for commercial FTA Cards and FTA Purification Reagent. This method is suitable for long-term storage of DNA from many plant species prior to PCR.

Battlefield ethics training: integrating ethical scenarios in high-intensity military field exercises.

There is growing evidence that modern missions have added stresses and ethical complexities not seen in previous military operations and that there are links between battlefield stressors and ethical lapses. Military ethicists have concluded that the ethical challenges of modern missions are not well addressed by current military ethics educational programs. Integrating the extant research in the area, we propose that scenario-based operational ethics training in high-intensity military field training settings may be an important adjunct to traditional military ethics education and training.

Modification of a tumor antigen determinant to improve peptide/MHC stability is associated with increased immunogenicity and cross-priming a larger fraction of CD8+ T cells.

Altered peptide ligands (APLs) with enhanced binding to MHC class I can increase the CD8(+) T cell response to native Ags, including tumor Ags. In this study, we investigate the influence of peptide-MHC (pMHC) stability on recruitment of tumor Ag-specific CD8(+) T cells through cross-priming. Among the four known H-2(b)-restricted CD8(+) T cell determinants within SV40 large tumor Ag (TAg), the site V determinant ((489)QGINNLDNL(497)) forms relatively low-stability pMHC and is characteristically immunorecessive.

Effects of sleep loss on team decision making: motivational loss or motivational gain?

Objective: To examine the effects of 30 hr of sleep loss and continuous cognitive work on performance in a distributed team decision-making environment.

Background: To date, only a few studies have examined the effect of sleep loss on distributed team performance, and only one other to our knowledge has examined the relationship between sleep loss and social-motivational aspects of teams (Hoeksema-van Orden, Gaillard, & Buunk, 1998).

Method: Sixteen teams participated; each comprised 4 members.

Rating the severity of ALS by caregivers over the telephone using the ALSFRS-R.

We tested the hypothesis that the ALSFRS-R can be accurately administered exclusively to the spouse/caregiver over the telephone (phone) in 31 patients with clinically possible, probable, or definite ALS (El Escorial criteria) by comparing the phone response to the consensus assessment during a clinic visit using a standardized script. We also compared the responses of the spouse/caregiver, during a private assessment, to the consensus assessment. Both the phone and private assessments were highly correlated with the consensus assessment, even considering that the evaluations were performed by multiple phone assessors and, in three instances, multiple home assessors.

Hearing and performance during a 70-h exposure to noise simulating the space station environment.

Introduction: Elevated hearing thresholds have been documented in some astronauts after long-term spaceflights although noise levels were lower than those normally associated with noise-induced hearing loss in ground-based operations. The present study was conducted to determine whether prolonged exposure (70 h) to levels (72 dBA) recorded on the International Space Station (ISS) service module would impact diverse measures of auditory function, as well as cognition and memory, motivation, and cardiovascular function.

Method: Five mixed gender subgroups of five normal-hearing subjects, aged 20-50 yr, were sequestered for 70 h in an environment that modeled conditions on the ISS.