COMFORT communication in the ICU: Pilot test of a nurse-led communication intervention for surrogates.

Aim: This study was designed to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a nurse-led communication intervention among surrogates in the intensive care unit (ICU) guided by the COMFORT (Connect; Options; Making meaning; Family caregivers; Openings; Relating; Team) communication model.

Background: As frontline communicators, nurses experience communication difficulties with surrogates who face complex informational and emotional barriers when making decisions for critically ill patients in the ICU. However, research on effective nurse communication focusing on both curative and end-of-life (EOL) care is lacking in the literature.

Prospective Associations of Discrimination, Race, and Sexual Orientation with Substance Use in Adolescents.

Adolescents are at high risk for alcohol and cannabis use. Emerging evidence suggests that discrimination exposure is prospectively associated with risk for alcohol use among adolescents of marginalized race, sexual orientation, or gender identity. However, it is unknown whether prospective discrimination-substance use associations among marginalized adolescents are also present for cannabis use.

Burnout and depression in nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Nurses work in stressful and demanding settings and often suffer from depression and burnout. Despite overlapping symptoms, research has been inconclusive regarding the discriminant validity of measures of burnout with regard to measures of depression. Such inconclusive discriminant validity might cause clinicians to fail to recognize and manage depression separately from burnout.

Regulating off-centering distortion maximizes photoluminescence in halide perovskites.

Metal halide perovskites possess unique atomic and electronic configurations that endow them with high defect tolerance and enable high-performance photovoltaics and optoelectronics. Perovskite light-emitting diodes have achieved an external quantum efficiency of over 20%. Despite tremendous progress, fundamental questions remain, such as how structural distortion affects the optical properties.

Inhibiting endocytosis in CGRP nociceptors attenuates inflammatory pain-like behavior.

The advantage of locally applied anesthetics is that they are not associated with the many adverse effects, including addiction liability, of systemically administered analgesics. This therapeutic approach has two inherent pitfalls: specificity and a short duration of action. Here, we identified nociceptor endocytosis as a promising target for local, specific, and long-lasting treatment of inflammatory pain.

Novel phosphatidylserine-binding molecule enhances antitumor T-cell responses by targeting immunosuppressive exosomes in human tumor microenvironments.

Background: The human tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex and dynamic milieu of diverse acellular and cellular components, creating an immunosuppressive environment, which contributes to tumor progression. We have previously shown that phosphatidylserine (PS) expressed on the surface of exosomes isolated from human TMEs is causally linked to T-cell immunosuppression, representing a potential immunotherapeutic target. In this study, we investigated the effect of ExoBlock, a novel PS-binding molecule, on T-cell responses in the TME.

An agent-based model of spread of a pandemic with validation using COVID-19 data from New York State.

We introduce a novel agent based model where each agent carries an effective viral load that captures the instantaneous state of infection of the agent. We simulate the spread of a pandemic and subsequently validate it by using publicly available COVID-19 data. Our simulation tracks the temporal evolution of a virtual city or community of agents in terms of contracting infection, recovering asymptomatically, or getting hospitalized.

A multilevel scenario based predictive analytics framework to model the community mental health and built environment nexus.

The built environment affects mental health outcomes, but this relationship is less studied and understood. This article proposes a novel multi-level scenario-based predictive analytics framework (MSPAF) to explore the complex relationships between community mental health outcomes and the built environment conditions. The MSPAF combines rigorously validated interpretable machine learning algorithms and scenario-based sensitivity analysis to test various hypotheses on how the built environment impacts community mental health outcomes across the largest metropolitan areas in the US.

COVID 19-transformed nursing education and communication competency: Testing COMFORT educational resources.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought a disruption to nurse education for both nursing faculty and students as all non-clinical nurse education courses worldwide moved to distance or online learning. The sudden shift to online education meant the loss of traditional activities for students to learn communication skills creating a critical demand for open educational resources for students and nursing faculty. Tools to support nursing faculty development for teaching communication are nearly non-existent and pedagogical content knowledge is needed.

A Distributed System Improves Inter-Observer and AI Concordance in Annotating Interstitial Fibrosis and Tubular Atrophy.

Histologic examination of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA) is critical to determine the extent of irreversible kidney injury in renal disease. The current clinical standard involves pathologist's visual assessment of IFTA, which is prone to inter-observer variability. To address this diagnostic variability, we designed two case studies (CSs), including seven pathologists, using HistomicsTK- a distributed system developed by Kitware Inc.

Well-being: Diversified perspectives in search of operational definitions.

well-being is a multi-faceted concept that should be an operational domain. The territory is claimed by many disciplines and professionals who usually emphasize their own unique perspective. Economists and politicians focus on finance, prosperity, per-capita product and jobs.

After the initial fracture in postmenopausal women, where do subsequent fractures occur?

Background: The locations of subsequent fractures after initial fracture in postmenopausal women are poorly characterized.

Methods: We conducted a prospective analysis of subsequent fractures after initial fracture in Women's Health Initiative (1993-2018) participants who provided follow-up (mean 15.4 years, SD 6.

Brief alcohol interventions in U.S. medical settings: A systematic review of the implementation literature.

This systematic review provides a synthesis of the literature on brief alcohol intervention (BAI) implementation in medical settings. We utilized the Proctor et al. (2011) taxonomy of eight implementation outcomes (acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity, implementation cost, penetration, and sustainability) to organize and describe the qualitative and quantitative literature regarding BAI implementation.

The effects of media narratives about failures and discoveries in science on beliefs about and support for science.

This study examines the effects of exposure to media narratives about science on perceptions pertaining to the reliability of science, including trust, beliefs, and support for science. In an experiment ( = 4497), participants were randomly assigned to read stories representing ecologically valid media narratives: the honorable quest, counterfeit quest, crisis or broken, and problem explored. Exposure to stories highlighting problems reduced trust in scientists and induced negative beliefs about scientists, with more extensive effects among those exposed to the "crisis/broken" accounts and fewer for those exposed to "counterfeit" and "problem explored" stories.

Engineering new limits to magnetostriction through metastability in iron-gallium alloys.

Magnetostrictive materials transduce magnetic and mechanical energies and when combined with piezoelectric elements, evoke magnetoelectric transduction for high-sensitivity magnetic field sensors and energy-efficient beyond-CMOS technologies. The dearth of ductile, rare-earth-free materials with high magnetostrictive coefficients motivates the discovery of superior materials. FeGa alloys are amongst the highest performing rare-earth-free magnetostrictive materials; however, magnetostriction becomes sharply suppressed beyond x = 19% due to the formation of a parasitic ordered intermetallic phase.

Characterizing the role of early alcohol reexposure in associations of prenatal alcohol exposure with adolescent alcohol outcomes.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure has been linked to a host of negative outcomes, although it is largely unknown whether prenatal exposure leads to an earlier age of initiation of alcohol use or exacerbates early alcohol initiation. The current study examined whether adolescents exposed to heavy drinking during gestation began drinking earlier than their nonexposed peers and whether an earlier age of alcohol reexposure in adolescence exacerbated associations with adverse alcohol outcomes.

Methods: Adolescents (17 years of age; 57% female; 96% White) from a longitudinal, population-based cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, reported on the age they first consumed a whole drink and other alcohol behaviors.

Employment status monitoring in an Argentinian population of patients with multiple sclerosis: Particularities of a developing country.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological chronic disease that causes a number of physical, cognitive and emotional symptoms. The identification of these factors will allow mitigating unemployment and improve quality of life of patients. The Buffalo Vocational Monitoring Survey (BVMS) is a tool to characterize Work-Challenged patients.

Annexin A1 Expression Is Associated with Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), Cell Proliferation, Prognosis, and Drug Response in Pancreatic Cancer.

Annexin A1 () is a calcium-dependent phospholipid-binding protein overexpressed in pancreatic cancer (PC). expression has been shown to take part in a wide variety of cancer biology, including carcinogenesis, cell proliferation, invasion, apoptosis, and metastasis, in addition to the initially identified anti-inflammatory effect in experimental settings. We hypothesized that expression is associated with cell proliferation and survival in PC patients.

Body Weight Perception and Health-Related Behaviors Among U.S. Adolescents: Mediating Effects of Body Weight Control Behaviors.

This study examined mediating effects of body weight control behaviors in the relationship between body weight perception and health-related behaviors among 11,458 U.S. adolescents from the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey.

Automated Computational Detection of Interstitial Fibrosis, Tubular Atrophy, and Glomerulosclerosis.

Background: Interstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy (IFTA), and glomerulosclerosis are indicators of irrecoverable kidney injury. Modern machine learning (ML) tools have enabled robust, automated identification of image structures that can be comparable with analysis by human experts. ML algorithms were developed and tested for the ability to replicate the detection and quantification of IFTA and glomerulosclerosis that renal pathologists perform.

Mapping access to endovascular stroke care in the USA and implications for transport models.

Background: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the percentage of the US population with 60 min ground or air access to accredited or state-designated endovascular-capable stroke centers (ECCs) and non-endovascular capable stroke centers (NECCs) and the percentage of NECCs with an ECC within a 30 min drive.

Methods: Stroke centers were identified and classified broadly as ECCs or NECCs. Geographic mapping of stroke centers was performed.

Opportunities to improve COVID-19 provider communication resources: A systematic review.

Objective: Communication related to COVID-19 between provider and the patient/family is impacted by isolation requirements, time limitations, and lack of family/partner access. Our goal was to determine the content of provider communication resources and peer-reviewed articles on COVID-19 communication in order to identify opportunities for developing future COVID-19 communication curricula and support tools.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted using the UpToDate clinical decision support resource database, CINAHL, PubMed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science.

Association of vitamin D with incident glaucoma: findings from the Women's Health Initiative.

The relationship between vitamin D and glaucoma is controversial. The objective of this study was to examine women from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) to determine if there is an association between vitamin D and incident glaucoma in postmenopausal women. We examined the association between dietary vitamin D intake, vitamin D supplements and serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and the risk of developing glaucoma.

Heterogeneity in DSM-5 Symptom Criteria: Phenotypes of Alcohol Use Disorder in a Sample Seeking Alcohol Treatment.

Aims: This study sought to identify phenotypic variations among individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) that may, in part, help improve the effectiveness of existing AUD interventions.

Methods: Latent class analysis was conducted to examine the potential heterogeneity of AUD in a sample (N = 220; Mage = 51.19 years, standard deviation = 9.