Daily Variation in Religious Activities, Spiritual Experiences, Alcohol Use, and Life Satisfaction Among Emerging Adults in the USA.

Research suggests that religious activity and spiritual experiences are associated with well-being among emerging adults. This research is primarily evaluated on the between-person level, leaving within-person effects largely unexplored. We examined relations between religious activity and spiritual experiences and their relation to life satisfaction and alcohol use among 383 college students at a moderately large university in the southwest USA.

Emergent themes from a quality improvement programme for CLABSI/CAUTI prevention in ICUs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention has been difficult for healthcare providers to maintain during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study summarises themes for maintaining infection prevention activities learnt from the implementation of a quality improvement (QI) programme during the pandemic.

Methods: We conducted qualitative analysis of participants' semistructured exit interviews, self-assessments on HAI prevention activities, participant-created action plans, chat-box discussions during webinars and informal correspondence.

Advancing Malaria Prevention and Control in Africa Through the Peace Corps-US President's Malaria Initiative Partnership.

Background: Peace Corps is a US government volunteer service agency which provides trained Volunteers to assist host countries in addressing critical development challenges at the community level. The US President's Malaria Initiative provides technical expertise and financial resources to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality in focus countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective: We aim to describe the nature of the collaboration between Peace Corps and President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and highlight examples of the partnership in select countries.

Use of electronic medical records to conduct surveillance of malaria among Peace Corps volunteers.

Objective: The Peace Corps' disease surveillance for Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) was incorporated into an electronic medical records (EMR) system in 2015. We evaluated this EMR-based surveillance system, focusing particularly on malaria as it is deadly but preventable.

Materials And Methods: In 2016, we administered a survey to Peace Corps Medical Officers (PCMOs), who manage PCVs' medical care, and semistructured phone interviews to headquarters staff.

Improvements in National Code Red transfusion practice in Scotland after adoption of recommendations from the Scottish National Code Red 2015 review.

Aims: The Scottish Transfusion and Laboratory Support in Trauma Group (TLSTG) previously reviewed all National Code Red activations between June 1st 2013 and October 31st 2015, generating a number of recommendations to be adopted to optimise the transfusion support given to patients following major trauma in Scotland. A repeat National survey was undertaken for all patients for whom Code Red was activated between 1st November 2015 and 31st December 2017.

Methods: A clinical and transfusion lead for each centre entered anonymised data onto a secure electronic database (REDCap).

An assessment of household water quality among Peace Corps volunteers in Guatemala.

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) illness is the most commonly reported health concern among Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) serving in Guatemala. This project identified water types and treatment and storage practices used by PCVs and measured select water quality parameters in their household water.

Methods: A survey about water types and practices was conducted of PCVs in Guatemala.

Long term health outcomes among Returned Peace Corps Volunteers after malaria prophylaxis, 1995-2014.

Background: A primary reason for non-adherence to malaria chemoprophylaxis is fear of latent side effects. We examined latent effects of malaria chemoprophylaxis among Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs).

Methods: During July 18-September 16, 2016, RPCVs who served during 1995-2014 with an e-mail address in Peace Corps' RPCV database were invited to take an internet-based survey on malaria prophylaxis and medical diagnoses.

Road traffic injuries in Peace Corps Volunteers, 1996-2014.

Introduction: Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Travellers are at risk given unfamiliarity with local road conditions and traffic rules. Peace Corps Volunteers are a unique population of long-term travellers who live and work in-country, often in remote settings, over a period of 27 months and use a range of transportation modes.

Healthy Volunteer 2020: Comparing Peace Corps Volunteers' health metrics with Healthy People 2020 national objectives.

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) provides a set of quantifiable objectives for improving the health and well-being of Americans. This study examines Peace Corps Volunteers' health metrics in comparison with the Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) in order to set baseline measures for Volunteers' health care and align our measurements with Healthy People 2020 standards. Health data from multiple internal Peace Corps datasets were compared with relevant LHIs and analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Dengue in Peace Corps Volunteers, 2000-14.

Background: Dengue is an arboviral disease estimated to cause 50-100 million infections each year in >100 tropical and subtropical countries. Urbanization, human population growth and expanded global travel have resulted in an increase in the incidence of dengue worldwide. International travellers to areas with endemic dengue are at risk of contracting dengue and US Peace Corps Volunteers are one specific group of long-term travellers who are exposed to environments where dengue can be contracted.

Seeking Sepsis in the Emergency Department- Identifying Barriers to Delivery of the Sepsis 6.

The Sepsis 6 is an internationally accepted management bundle that, when initiated within one hour of identifying sepsis, can reduce morbidity and mortality. This management bundle was advocated by the Scottish Patient Safety Programme as part of its Acute Adult campaign launched in 2008 and adopted by NHS Tayside in 2012. Despite this, the Emergency Department (ED) of Ninewells Hospital, a tertiary referral centre and major teaching hospital in Scotland, was displaying poor success in the Sepsis 6.

An independent replication of the Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach with justice-involved youth.

Background And Objectives: Substance use disorders among youth remain a serious public health problem. Although research has overwhelmingly supported the use of evidenced-based interventions, one of the primary limitations of the current evidence base is that for the vast majority of treatments, the developers of the treatments are also the ones conducting research on them, raising the possibility of allegiance bias.

Methods: The present study was an independently conducted randomized controlled trial (n = 126) comparing an evidenced-based treatment for adolescent substance use, Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA), and assertive continuing care (ACC), to services as usual (SAU) provided by a juvenile probation department.

Revisiting tuberculosis risk in Peace Corps Volunteers, 2006-13.

Background: Risk of tuberculosis (TB) is generally considered to be low for long-term travellers, though risk varies with travel destination, duration and purpose. Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) serve for 27 months as community-level development workers in various countries around the world and may be exposed to TB in the course of their service. This study examines recent trends in TB in PCVs and compares rates with a previous analysis published by Jung and Banks.

The live attenuated chimeric vaccine rWN/DEN4Δ30 is well-tolerated and immunogenic in healthy flavivirus-naïve adult volunteers.

WNV has become the leading vector-borne cause of meningoencephalitis in the United States. Although the majority of WNV infections result in asymptomatic illness, approximately 20% of infections result in West Nile fever and 1% in West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND), which causes encephalitis, meningitis, or flaccid paralysis. The elderly are at particular risk for WNND, with more than half the cases occurring in persons older than sixty years of age.

An update on tobacco control initiatives in comprehensive cancer control plans.

Introduction: Comprehensive cancer control (CCC) coalitions address tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, through formal plans to guide tobacco control activities and other cancer prevention strategies. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs (Best Practices) and The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) are used to assist with this effort. We examined CCC plans to determine the extent to which they followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) tobacco control and funding recommendations.

The patient-centered medical home: this primary care model offers RNs new practice—and reimbursement—opportunities.

The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 has helped reshape primary care by funding the development of care approaches that better integrate and coordinate services, such as the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). Primary care practices that adopt this model offer the comprehensive, patient-centered care that is especially needed by those who are chronically ill. In a significant change from traditional reimbursement policies, the ACA offers incentives and resources that allow for care coordinators-who are typically nurses-to be recognized and paid for their efforts.

A qualitative analysis of lung cancer screening practices by primary care physicians.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, but no scientific organization currently recommends screening because of limited evidence for its effectiveness. Despite this, physicians often order screening tests such as chest X-rays and computerized tomography scans for their patients. Limited information is available about how physicians decide when to order these tests.

Reduction in postsurgical adhesion formation after cardiac surgery by application of N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan.

Objective: The study objectives were to assess the efficacy of N,O carboxymethyl chitosan film in reducing postsurgical adhesion in a rabbit cardiac injury model and to confirm the efficacy of N,O carboxymethyl chitosan gel and film in reducing postsurgical adhesion formation in a pig cardiac injury model.

Methods: (1) Rabbit cardiac injury model: Cardiac injury was generated by abrading the anterior surface of the heart and desiccation with oxygen. N,O carboxymethyl chitosan solution and film were administered to the injured surface.

Phase 1 trial of the dengue virus type 4 vaccine candidate rDEN4{Delta}30-4995 in healthy adult volunteers.

rDEN4Delta30-4995 is a live attenuated dengue virus type 4 (DENV4) vaccine candidate specifically designed as a further attenuated derivative of the rDEN4Delta30 parent virus. In a previous study, 5 of 20 vaccinees who received 10(5) plaque-forming units (PFU) of rDEN4Delta30 developed a transient elevation of the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level and an asymptomatic maculopapular rash developed in 10 of 20. In the current study, 28 healthy adult volunteers were randomized to receive 10(5) PFU of rDEN4Delta30-4995 (20) or placebo (8) as a single subcutaneous injection.

Evaluation of the Langat/dengue 4 chimeric virus as a live attenuated tick-borne encephalitis vaccine for safety and immunogenicity in healthy adult volunteers.

With the steady rise in tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) infections in Europe, development of a live attenuated vaccine that will generate long-lasting immunity would be of considerable benefit. A chimeric flavivirus, designated LGT/DEN4, was previously constructed to have a genome containing the prM and E protein genes of Langat virus (LGT), a naturally attenuated member of the TBEV complex, and the remaining genetic sequences derived from dengue 4 virus (DEN4). LGT/DEN4 was highly attenuated in rodents and non-human primates, and clinical trials in humans were initiated.

Use of a sulfated chitosan derivative to reduce bladder inflammation in the rat.

Objectives: Interstitial cystitis is a chronic, debilitating disease of the bladder. Treatments using intravesicular inoculation of long-chain polysaccharide formulations, such as hyaluronic acid or anti-inflammatory agents, have been used to some effect. The objective of this study was to test a long-chain polysaccharide derivative of chitosan as a vehicle for delivery of the anti-inflammatory agent 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) for treatment of inflammation in the bladder.

An LRP8 variant is associated with familial and premature coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction.

Our previous genomewide linkage scan of 428 nuclear families (GeneQuest) identified a significant genetic susceptibility locus for premature myocardial infarction (MI) on chromosome 1p34-36. We analyzed candidate genes in the locus with a population-based association study involving probands with premature coronary artery disease (CAD) and/or MI from the GeneQuest families (381 cases) and 560 controls without stenosis detectable by coronary angiography. A nonconservative substitution, R952Q, in LRP8 was significantly associated with susceptibility to premature CAD and/or MI by use of both population-based and family-based designs.