Impact of Childhood Neighborhood Deprivation on White Matter and Functional Connectivity During Adolescence.

Background And Purpose: Socioeconomic determinants of health impact childhood development and adult health outcomes. One key aspect is the physical environment and neighborhood where children live and grow. Emerging evidence suggests that neighborhood deprivation, often measured by the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), may influence neurodevelopment, but longitudinal and multimodal neuroimaging analyses remain limited.

Predicting venous thromboembolism among hospitalized adults: a protocol for development and validation of an implementable real-time prognostic model.

Background: Hospital-acquired venous thromboembolism (HA-VTE) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized adults. Numerous prognostic models have been developed to identify those patients with elevated risk of HA-VTE. None, however, has met the necessary criteria to guide clinical decision-making.

Injectable contraceptive continuation and user experiences in Punjab, Pakistan: a non-randomized prospective cohort study protocol.

Background: Evidence from multiple pilots and post-introduction scale-up initiatives have demonstrated that self-administered subcutaneous depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) has potential to improve contraceptive continuation rates and expand contraceptive access to populations with limited utilization of facility-based health services. Only a few of these studies have been conducted in South Asian countries, and none where most contraceptive use is of non-hormonal methods that require limited to no contact with the health system, leaving policymakers in countries like Pakistan with limited context-specific evidence to guide decisions on whether, how, and for whom to introduce DMPA-SC.

Methods: A prospective cohort study will be conducted in 41 health facilities and surrounding communities in Punjab, Pakistan.

Diet-microbiome synergy: unraveling the combined impact on frailty through interactions and mediation.

Objective: This study analyzed data from the US population to examine how oral microbiome diversity and diet quality individually and synergistically affect frailty.

Methods: This study included 6,283 participants aged 20 years or older from the 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 NHANES cycles. A frailty index (FI) consisting of 36 items was developed, with items related to nutritional status excluded.

Clinical and social determinants of survivorship clinic attendance in head and neck cancer.

Purpose: Despite its importance, little is known about the patterns and predictors of Survivorship Clinic attendance in head and neck cancer (HNC). We sought to determine the cumulative incidence of Survivorship Clinic attendance stratified by demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic factors, and to identify factors independently associated with attendance.

Methods: Our analysis population consisted of 2,252 patients diagnosed with primary HNC and seen at our institution's HNC Survivorship Clinic after completing treatment from 2016-2021.

Associations between comorbid conditions with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease by race-ethnicity and sex based on NACC data.

Introduction: We investigated the associations between diabetes (type 2), hypertension and hypercholesterolemia with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnoses by race-ethnicity and sex.

Methods: Data (n = 22,950) were derived via the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between each comorbid condition and MCI and AD.

Neutron diffraction reveals protonation states in pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-free and glycine external aldimine-bound serine hydroxymethyltransferase.

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is a critical enzyme in the one-carbon (1C) metabolism pathway catalyzing the reversible conversion of L-Ser into Gly and concurrent transfer of 1C unit to tetrahydrofolate (THF) to give 5,10-methylene-THF (5,10-MTHF), which is used in the downstream syntheses of biomolecules critical for cell proliferation. The cellular 1C metabolism is hijacked by many cancer types to support cancer cell proliferation, making SHMT a promising target for the design and development of novel small-molecule antimetabolite chemotherapies. To advance structure-assisted drug design, knowledge of SHMT catalysis is crucial, but can only be fully realized when the atomic details of each reaction step governed by the acid-base catalysis are elucidated by visualizing active site hydrogen atoms.

Advances in Understanding the Pathogenesis of Clostridioides difficile Infection.

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) remains a significant cause of infectious colitis in the United States. Susceptibility to CDI is associated with perturbation of the gut microbiota, the indigenous microbes in the gastrointestinal tract. Upon colonization, the production of toxins and the ability to produce spores for environmental dissemination contribute to C difficile pathogenicity.

Diagnostic Approaches for Clostridioides difficile Infection.

This article offers a clinically focused overview of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) diagnosis, emphasizing the need to test only symptomatic patients and to distinguish true infection from colonization. It reviews multistep diagnostic algorithms that pair glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) testing or nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) with toxin assays to improve accuracy. The limitations of PCR-only approaches are discussed, with a strong emphasis on clinical correlation.

The relationship among inflammatory biomarkers, hyperuricemia and chronic kidney disease: analysis of the NHANES 2015-2020.

Background: Inflammation and hyperuricemia are closely associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are emerging as novel biomarkers. While, the synergistic effects of these biomarkers with hyperuricemia on CKD remain unclear.

Adsorption-desorption behavior of difenoconazole onto soils: Kinetics, isotherms, and influencing factors.

Difenoconazole (DFC) is a commonly used triazole fungicide known for its high efficiency and environmental persistence. A thorough understanding of its environmental behavior, particularly sorption in soil, is critical to obtain a comprehensive assessment of the ecological risk of DFC. In this study, three soils with distinct physicochemical properties (brown soil, cinnamon soil, and fluvo-aquic soil) were used to elucidate the adsorption mechanisms of DFC on soil.

Lessons learned from a formalized peer mentoring program in a baccalaureate nursing curriculum.

Background: Formal mentoring within the nursing profession has been recognized as an effective approach in teaching critical thinking, leadership skills, communication, and professional socialization. Unfortunately, few baccalaureate nursing programs teach skills specific to mentoring, both as mentees and mentors within a formalized program.

Methods: A peer mentoring program with senior students mentoring sophomore students was developed based on Benner's (1984) novice-to-expert theory during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Practitioner-teacher model implementation within a newly integrated academic health system: Lessons learned.

Background: United States healthcare systems face an imminent need to recruit and retain direct care registered nurses (RNs), driven in part by high nurse turnover rates, which contribute to substantial economic and non-economic burdens. The pandemic exacerbated nurse turnover rates, while colleges of nursing simultaneously experienced a faculty shortage lending to fewer baccalaureate prepared RNs entering the workforce. Our large academic health system experienced similar challenges while the College of Nursing (CON) rapidly increased student enrollment to meet the need for additional RNs requiring an immediate and creative solution.

Bridging the diversity gap: Leveraging social determinants of learning to support nursing student success.

Background: Despite decades of initiatives to increase nursing workforce diversity, gaps persist between patient population and nursing workforce demographics.

Problem: Emphasis on NCLEX pass rates as a program quality indicator, combined with systemic barriers, creates complex challenges that influence admission and progression policies in nursing education. Evidence suggests these factors disproportionately affect underrepresented minority (URM) students, impacting both academic success and workforce diversity.

Perception of scholarly collaboration and its influencing factors among doctoral-prepared and -preparing nurses: A regional nursing society-based survey.

Background: Nurses with research- and practice-focused doctorate degrees complement each other's work and contribute to the advancement of nursing profession. Understanding perceived scholarly collaboration and its influencing factors can facilitate effective teamwork, benefit the nursing profession, and improve patient outcomes.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the perceived scholarly collaboration and its influencing factors among nurses with or pursing doctoral degrees.

Prelicensure peer mentoring: An integrative review.

Background: Peer mentoring is a recommended intervention to enhance students' emotional and academic success. Effective understanding of peer-to-peer mentoring by faculty is necessary to promote student success.

Purpose: The purpose of this integrative review is to summarize and synthesize the literature regarding prelicensure peer mentoring relationships and methods in nursing education.

Exploring baccalaureate degree nursing students' first semester experiences in post-pandemic classrooms: An exploratory descriptive study.

Background: Covid-19 pandemic restrictions created unique challenges for nursing students. Little is known about how pandemic restrictions affected nursing students who spent their early years of pre-licensure education in virtual environments.

Purpose: Explore traditional junior-level baccalaureate degree nursing students' experiences in post-Covid face-to-face classrooms during their first semester in nursing major courses.

How to guide students through a DNP project: A practical guide for faculty.

Background: There has been a rapid increase in Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs throughout the country. As such, there are more students conducting DNP projects, necessitating the need for more faculty members to serve as DNP project team leaders (also known as chairs or mentors). However, evidence suggests some faculty may not feel comfortable or confident in guiding students through the DNP project process.

Workforce development: An academic-practice partnership journey.

The nursing workforce shortage demands comprehensive, innovative solutions across academic and clinical settings. Beginning in 2019, a strategic partnership was created between a large Midwestern university school of nursing and its associated academic health center to address workforce challenges and implement targeted initiatives. Key initiatives included student apprenticeships to support new graduate nurses, the development of functional teams to ease critical workforce shortages during Covid-19, and the implementation of 'red carpet clinicals' to facilitate student experiences in the clinical arena.

A new academic-practice partnership in a rural healthcare setting: Leading change with an intentional process.

Academic-Practice Partnerships (APPs) are formal relationships between academic institutions and healthcare organizations that aim to improve healthcare delivery by preparing practice-ready nurses who readily transition into the workforce. The purpose of this article is to describe the intentional process used to create a new APP between a healthcare organization in a rural setting with a medium sized Midwestern university. The focus of the APP is to enhance leadership experiences for prelicensure students from the academic setting and make the meaningful work and impact of the practice partner nurse leaders visible to students.

Increasing nursing student diversity with diversity, equity, and inclusion recruitment, admissions, and enrollment practices.

Increasing the diversity of nursing students is an essential step toward diversifying the nursing workforce. There is a growing number of publications on ways to utilize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles to better attract, admit, and enroll students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. This paper presents a synthesis of 31 articles found on this topic.

Understanding the phenomenon of failure to fail in unsafe prelicensure nursing students in the clinical setting: A grounded theory approach.

Background: Failure to fail involves assigning passing grades to students who have not achieved course or clinical objectives at a satisfactory level. The literature has shown that this phenomenon occurs more frequently in the clinical setting due to several issues, including the increased subjectivity of clinical evaluation tools and processes, unclear policies, and lack of administrative support to fail students. The question remains: What is the thought process that is used by faculty to determine if a student passes or fails in a clinical experience?

Purpose: To explore the decision-making process used by pre-licensure clinical nursing faculty when they are determining whether to pass or fail an unsafe student enrolled in a clinical course.

Influence of underrepresented leaders on recruiting and retaining underrepresented faculty and students in nursing programs.

The U.S. population is undergoing a considerable transformation as individuals become substantially older and more racially and ethnically diverse.

TriNetX Dataworks-USA: Overview of a Multi-Purpose, De-Identified, Federated Electronic Health Record Real-World Data and Analytics Network and Comparison to the US Census.

Introduction: Many clinical data networks often focus on a single use-case or disease. By contrast, the TriNetX Dataworks-USA Network contains real-world clinical information that can be applied to multiple research questions and use cases. The purpose of this study is to describe the Network's characteristics, as well as its generalizability to the US population, particularly the healthcare-seeking population.

Brainstem Cavernous Malformations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Brainstem cavernous malformations (BSCMs) are rare yet high-risk vascular lesions with a complex clinical course due to their eloquent location. Optimal treatment remains a topic of debate. This review aims to evaluate the outcomes of different management strategies for BSCMs, with a focus on rebleeding, functional recovery, and mortality.