To Lecture or Not Lecture: A Correlational Nursing Education Research Study.

Lecturing has been a primary method for delivering knowledge and information to nursing students from the early days of nursing education. Recent literature on the effectiveness of lecturing is based on literature published more than 10 years ago; current data on the influence of lecturing on learning outcomes are sparse. Our graduate nursing faculty program conducted a retrospective correlational study to evaluate if the addition of lectures influenced graduate students' learning outcomes.

Self-Regulation and Shame as Mediators Between Childhood Experiences and Young Adult Health.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-regulation and shame mediated the relationship between adverse and positive childhood experiences (ACEs and PCEs) and young adult health. Data came from the Flourishing Families Project (FFP), a 10-year longitudinal study. Adolescent participants ( = 489; 51% female) completed an annual survey.

Concurrent Childhood Experiences Impact Underage Substance Use.

Adverse and advantageous childhood experiences (ACEs and counter-ACEs) during adolescence are understudied. This study examined how childhood experiences affect youth tobacco/alcohol use. Participants included 489 U.

Evaluating whether changes in utilization of hospital outpatient services contributed to lower Medicare readmission rate.

Objective: Descriptive analysis comparing changes in hospital inpatient readmissions to emergency department visits and observation stays that occurred within 30 days of an inpatient stay.

Population: Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries that had at least one acute hospital inpatient stay.

Data Source: Using 100 percent of claims in the Chronic Condition Data Warehouse, we compare growth in annual readmission stays to post-hospitalization emergency department visits and observation stays that were not accompanied by an inpatient stay.

Medicare-Medicaid eligible beneficiaries and potentially avoidable hospitalizations.

Objective: Potentially avoidable hospitalizations have been identified by experts as leading to poor health outcomes and costly care. Potentially avoidable hospitalizations are particularly common among full-benefit dual eligible beneficiaries. This paper examines potentially avoidable hospitalizations rates by setting, state, and medical condition, and the average cost of these events.

An α-smooth muscle actin (acta2/αsma) zebrafish transgenic line marking vascular mural cells and visceral smooth muscle cells.

Mural cells of the vascular system include vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and pericytes whose role is to stabilize and/or provide contractility to blood vessels. One of the earliest markers of mural cell development in vertebrates is α smooth muscle actin (acta2; αsma), which is expressed by pericytes and SMCs. In vivo models of vascular mural cell development in zebrafish are currently lacking, therefore we developed two transgenic zebrafish lines driving expression of GFP or mCherry in acta2-expressing cells.

Medicare readmission rates showed meaningful decline in 2012.

Objective: Descriptive analysis of 30-day, all-cause hospital readmission rate patterns from 2007-2012.

Population: Medicare FFS beneficiaries experiencing at least one acute inpatient hospital stay.

Methods: Using Chronic Condition Data Warehouse claims, we estimate unadjusted, monthly, readmission rates for the nation, within the Dartmouth Hospital Referral Regions (HRR), and compare participating and non-participating hospitals in the Partnership for Patients (P4P) program (overall and by number of inpatient beds at each facility).

Generation of a high-affinity Fcgamma receptor by Ig-domain swapping between human CD64A and CD16A.

A recombinant soluble version of the human high-affinity receptor for IgG, rh-FcgammaRIA or CD64A, was expressed in mammalian cells and purified from their conditioned media. As assessed by circular dichroism, size exclusion chromatography and dynamic light scattering, incubation of rh-FcgammaRIA at 37 degrees C resulted in time-dependent formation of soluble aggregates caused by protein unfolding and loss of native structure. Aggregate formation was irreversible, temperature-dependent and was independent of rh-FcgammaRIA concentration.

Syk and Zap-70 function redundantly to promote angioblast migration.

Spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) plays critical roles in B-cell and T-cell development, the maintenance of vascular integrity, and proper partitioning of the blood vascular and lymphatic vascular system. Here, we utilize the zebrafish as an in vivo system to demonstrate novel roles for Syk and the related kinase Zeta associated protein (Zap-70) in promoting angioblast migration. Partial knockdown of either gene results in early angiogenic delay of the intersegmental vessels, dorsal intersegmental vessel patterning defects, and partial loss of the thoracic duct.

Ambient environmental profile for the Savannah River Site.

One of the steps that has been taken to expedite the radiation dose reconstruction process is the development of "site profiles." These reports, one of which has been prepared for each of the major U.S.

A betaPix Pak2a signaling pathway regulates cerebral vascular stability in zebrafish.

The vasculature tailors to the needs of different tissues and organs. Molecular, structural, and functional specializations are observed in different vascular beds, but few genetic models give insight into how these differences arise. We identify a unique cerebrovascular mutation in the zebrafish affecting the integrity of blood vessels supplying the brain.

Spatiotemporal expression of smooth muscle markers in developing zebrafish gut.

Smooth muscle is important for the contractility and elasticity of visceral organs. The zebrafish is an excellent model for understanding embryonic development, yet due to a lack of appropriate markers, visceral smooth muscle development remains poorly characterized. Here, we develop markers and trace the development of gut and swim bladder smooth muscle in embryonic and juvenile fish.

Assembly of an A kinase-anchoring protein-beta(2)-adrenergic receptor complex facilitates receptor phosphorylation and signaling.

Phosphorylation of G-protein-coupled receptors by second-messenger-stimulated kinases is central to the process of receptor desensitization [1-3]. Phosphorylation of the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (beta(2)-AR) by protein kinase A (PKA), in addition to uncoupling adenylate cyclase activation, is obligatory for receptor-mediated activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) cascades [4] [5]. Although mechanisms for linking G-protein-coupled receptor kinases to the activated receptor are well established, analogous mechanisms for targeting second messenger kinases to the beta(2)-AR at the plasma membrane have not been elucidated.

Mechanism of A-kinase-anchoring protein 79 (AKAP79) and protein kinase C interaction.

The A-kinase-anchoring protein AKAP79 co-ordinates the location of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, phosphatase 2B (PP2B/calcineurin) and protein kinase C (PKC) at postsynaptic sites in neurons. In this report we focus on the mechanism of interaction between AKAP79 and PKC. We show that neither lipid activators nor kinase activation are required for association with AKAP79.

Cerebral cortex does not modulate "regulated" decrease in core temperature during hypoxemia in rats.

In newborns and adults of a number of species including humans, exposure to acute hypoxemia produces a "regulated" decrease in core temperature, the mechanism of which is unknown. Considering that various cortical areas participate in autonomic regulation including thermoregulation, the present experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that the cerebral cortex plays a role in modulating the regulated decrease in core temperature during acute hypoxemia. This hypothesis was tested by determining the core temperature response to acute hypoxemia in chronically instrumented adult Sprague-Dawley rats before and after cortical spreading depression (i.

Dealing with death and dying.

We instituted two thanatology seminars for medical students and residents which emphasized feelings more than objective data. The seminars began with students filling out a death certificate on themselves. Eighty-four per cent predicted that their own probable cause of death would be from an acute illness.

The platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase from human erythrocytes. Purification and properties.

Platelet-activating factor (PAF, 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3- phosphocholine) is a biologically active phospholipid. Tissues, blood cells, and plasma contain PAF acetylhydrolases (calcium independent phospholipase A2 activities) that catalyze the hydrolysis of phospholipids containing short chain sn-2 acyl groups. They inactivate PAF and thereby determine PAF accumulation.

Angiography is useful in detecting the source of chronic gastrointestinal bleeding of obscure origin.

The treatment of patients with chronic gastrointestinal bleeding can be a frustrating diagnostic challenge. In the past 10-15 years, a variety of new diagnostic procedures (e.g.

Choledochoscopic stone removal through a T-tube tract: experience in 75 consecutive patients.

Retained biliary stones remain a common clinical problem in patients after surgery. Since 1984, the authors have used choledochoscopy in the treatment of suspected retained biliary stones in 75 patients. These procedures were performed in the radiology department with use of local anesthesia supplemented by an intravenously administered sedative and analgesic.

A practical method of image enhancement by interactive digital filtering.

A generalized form of the Wiener digital filter is described in which the user interactively varies two filter parameters to produce any desired number of filtered versions of a given image with differing blends of sharpening and smoothing qualities. Filtering is performed sufficiently rapidly, even without use of an array processor, to make application of the filter truly interactive. Use of the filter is illustrated with typical nuclear medicine images.