Expanding the Repertoire of ceDAF-12 Ligands for Modulation of the Steroid Endocrine System in C. Elegans.

Steroid hormones are essential for the biological processes of eukaryotic organisms. The steroid endocrine system of C. elegans, which includes dafachronic acids (DA) and the nuclear receptor ceDAF-12, provides a simple model for exploring the role of steroid hormone signaling pathways in animals.

Synthesis and biological activity of fluorinated analogues of the DAF-12 receptor antagonist 24-hydroxy-4-cholen-3-one.

The DAF-12 receptor is a ligand-activated transcription factor that in its ligand-bound form allows the expression of target genes needed to support the reproductive life cycle of the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, whereas unbound DAF-12 receptor leads to the developmentally arrested "dauer larvae", specialized for survival and dispersal. The endogenous ligands of the DAF-12 receptor are 3-keto-cholestenoic acids dubbed dafachronic acids. In a previous publication we reported that oxysterols with a shorter side chain (C) modulate the DAF-12 receptor activity either as partial agonists or, in the case of the C alcohol 24-hydroxy-4-cholen-3-one, as an antagonist both in vitro and in vivo.

Securing and Managing Nursing Home Resources: Director of Nursing Tactics.

Purpose Of The Study: Shrinking resources and increasing demands pose managerial challenges to nursing homes. Little is known about how directors of nursing (DON) navigate resource conditions and potential budget-related challenges. This paper describes the demands-resources tensions that DONs face on a day-to-day basis and the tactics they use to secure and manage resources for the nursing department.

Managing up, down, and across the nursing home: roles and responsibilities of directors of nursing.

The director of nursing (DON) is an essential member of the top management team in nursing homes and in a key position to improve the quality and value of care. This article describes and examines the roles and responsibilities of DONs as perceived by a convenience sample of current/previous DONs and nursing home administrators (n = 29). Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews and analyzed using content analysis and thematic analysis.

Recruiting rural participants for a telehealth intervention on diabetes self-management.

Purpose: Recruiting rural and underserved participants in behavioral health interventions is challenging. Community-based recruitment approaches are effective, but they are not always feasible in multisite, diverse community interventions. This study evaluates the feasibility of a rapid, multisite approach that uses rural clinic site coordinators to recruit study participants.