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This article describes ethical issues related to the design and use of social robots in sensitive contexts like psychological interventions and provides insights from one user design study and two controlled experiments with adults and children. User expectations regarding privacy with a therapeutic robotic dog, Therabot, gathered from a 16 participant design study are presented. Furthermore, results from 142 forensic interviews about bullying experiences conducted with children (ages 8 to 17) using three different social robots (Nao, Female RoboKind, Male RoboKind) and humans (female and male) as forensic interviewers are examined to provide insights into child beliefs about privacy and social judgment in sensitive interactions with social robots. The data collected indicates that adult participants felt a therapeutic robotic dog would be most useful for children in comparison to other age groups, and should include privacy safeguards. Data obtained from children after a forensic interview about their bullying experiences shows that they perceive social robots as providing significantly more socially protective factors than adult humans. These findings provide insight into how children perceive social robots and illustrate the need for careful considerationwhen designing social robots that will be used in sensitive contexts with vulnerable users like children.

This study describes the first detailed linkage maps of two bermudagrass species, Cynodon dactylon (T89) and Cynodon transvaalensis (T574), based on single-dose restriction fragments (SDRFs). The mapping population consisted of 113 F1 progeny of a cross between the two parents. Loci were generated using 179 bermudagrass genomic clones and 50 heterologous cDNAs from Pennisetum and rice. The map of T89 is based on 155 SDRFs and 17 double-dose restriction fragments on 35 linkage groups, with an average marker spacing of 15.3 cM. The map of T574 is based on 77 SDRF loci on 18 linkage groups with an average marker spacing of 16.5 cM. About 16 T89 linkage groups were arranged into four complete and eight into four incomplete homologous sets, while 15 T574 linkage groups were arranged into seven complete homologous sets, all on the basis of multi-locus probes and repulsion linkages. Eleven T89 and three T574 linkage groups remain unassigned. In each parent consensus maps were built based on alignments of homologous linkage groups. Four ancestral chromosomes were inferred after aligning T89 and T574 parental consensus maps using multi-locus probes. The inferred ancestral marker orders were used in comparisons to a detailed Sorghum linkage map using 40 common probes, and to the rice genome sequence using 98 significant BLAST hits, to find regions of colinearity. Using these maps we have estimated the recombinational length of the T89 and T574 genomes at 3,012 and 1,569 cM, respectively, which are 61 and 62% covered by our maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To generate a national picture of performance in the area of preventive and developmental services for children aged 4 to 35 months using 4 composite quality measures in the areas of 1) anticipatory guidance and parental education, 2) screening for family psychosocial risks, 3) screening for smoking and drug and alcohol use in the home, and 4) provision of family-centered care. METHODS: Data from the National Survey on Early Childhood Health (N = 2068) were used to calculate the 4 composite performance measures, which, taken together, represent 23 topics included in the American Academy of Pediatrics health supervision guidelines. The reliability and degree of redundancy within and across these 4 measures were evaluated. Four methods for scoring these measures were used. Quality scores for subgroups of children were calculated, and logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association of demographic, health, and health system variables with receiving recommended care. RESULTS: Regardless of the scoring method used, performance is highest in areas of family-centered care and screening for smoking and drug and alcohol use in the home. Performance is lowest in the areas of anticipatory guidance and education and assessment for family psychosocial risks. Using a scoring method that takes into account parent preferences for guidance and beliefs about discussing psychosocial topics, composite quality measure scores ranged from 13.5% to 59.6% of parents of young children receiving recommended care. Overall, 94.0% of parents reported 1 or more unmet needs for parenting guidance, education, and screening by pediatric clinician(s) in 1 or more of the content of care areas evaluated. Uninsured children and children aged 18 to 35 months are disproportionately represented among the 15.3% of children whose parents indicated an unmet need in each of the 4 areas of care. Although the reliability of each composite measure was high, no single item in any composite was highly correlated with the remaining combined items. Performance on any 1 composite measure for a child was only somewhat predictive of performance for the other measures. There are significant variations in performance on the basis of child age, race, insurance status, maternal education, marital status, and parent language as well as other factors. CONCLUSIONS: National results using 4 complementary composite quality measures confirm the need for improving the quality of preventive and developmental services for young children in the United States. The 4 measures identify areas of care and subgroups of children for whom improvements in quality are most needed. The measures provide a parsimonious yet comprehensive assessment across distinct health supervision topics and 4 essential aspects of preventive and developmental services. Until valid measures of outcomes of preventive and developmental services are identified or 1 single process of care measure is shown to be highly predictive of these outcomes, assessing multiple aspects of recommended care will be necessary to assess performance of health care providers or systems of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-facial and non-verbal methods of affective expression are essential for social interaction in appearance-constrained robots such as those used in search and rescue, law enforcement, and military applications. This research identified five main methods of non-facial and non-verbal affective expression (body movements, postures, orientation, color, and sound). Based on an extensive review of literature, prescriptive design recommendations were developed for the appropriate non-facial and non-verbal affective expression methods for three proximity zones of interest (intimate, personal, and social). These design recommendations serve as guidelines to add retroactively affective expression through software with minimal or no physical modification to a robot. A large-scale, complex human-robot interaction study was conducted to validate these design recommendations using 128 participants and four methods of evaluation. The study was conducted in a high-fidelity, confined-space simulated disaster site with all robot interactions performed in the dark. Statistically significant results indicated that participants felt the robots that exhibited affective expressions were more calming, friendly, and attentive, which improved the social human-robot interactions.

Abstract Background β-lactam resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is a significant clinical problem in the community, long-term care facilities, and hospitals. In these organisms, β-lactam resistance most commonly results from the production of β-lactamases. In Gram-negative bacilli, TEM-, SHV-, and CTX-M-type β-lactamases predominate. Therefore, new and accurate detection methods for these β-lactamase producing isolates are needed. Results E. coli DH10B cells producing SHV-1 β-lactamase and a clinical isolate of K. pneumoniae producing SHV-5 β-lactamase were rendered membrane permeable, fixed and adhered to poly-L-lysine coated slides, and stained with purified polyclonal anti-SHV antibodies that were fluorescein labeled. E. coli DH10B cells without a blaSHV gene were used as a negative control. The procedure generated a fluorescence signal from those slides containing cells expressing SHV β-lactamase that was sufficient for direct imaging. Conclusion We developed a rapid and accurate method of visualizing the SHV family of enzymes in clinical samples containing Gram-negative bacilli using a fluorescein-labeled polyclonal antibody.

Abstract Background Multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa nosocomial infections are increasingly recognized worldwide. In this study, we focused on the virulence of multi-drug resistant clinical strains P. aeruginosa against the intestinal epithelial barrier, since P. aeruginosa can cause lethal sepsis from within the intestinal tract of critically ill and immuno-compromised patients via mechanisms involving disruption of epithelial barrier function. Methods We screened consecutively isolated multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa clinical strains for their ability to disrupt the integrity of human cultured intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2) and correlated these finding to related virulence phenotypes such as adhesiveness, motility, biofilm formation, and cytotoxicity. Results Results demonstrated that the majority of the multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa clinical strains were attenuated in their ability to disrupt the barrier function of cultured intestinal epithelial cells. Three distinct genotypes were found that displayed an extreme epithelial barrier-disrupting phenotype. These strains were characterized and found to harbor the exoU gene and to display high swimming motility and adhesiveness. Conclusion These data suggest that detailed phenotypic analysis of the behavior of multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa against the intestinal epithelium has the potential to identify strains most likely to place patients at risk for lethal gut-derived sepsis. Surveillance of colonizing strains of P. aeruginosa in critically ill patients beyond antibiotic sensitivity is warranted.

Nursing is a profession with high rates of workplace injuries, hazards, and turnover. Improving the health and safety of nurses at work is vital to retain and grow the workforce to meet future demands. The purpose of this study was to describe the breadth of pain among American nurses and explore the relationships between this pain and modifiable work factors and perceived work performance. We used a cross-sectional descriptive design of 2312 nurses from across the United States. Nurses completed a survey containing questions about demographics, the presence of pain in the past week, the number of pain sites, pain locations, severity, and the impact on work performance. The median number of pain locations reported was 2, back pain was the most reported pain site, and average pain severity ranged from 4 to 5. Significant modifiable work factors associated with pain were average patient load and shift length. Many participants indicated that their pain impacted work performance, while a smaller proportion acknowledged that their pain impacted patient care. Pain among nurses spans multiple locations, is moderately severe, and impacts work performance. Addressing related modifiable work factors may decrease pain and the impact on the health, safety, and work performance of the nursing workforce., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Leishmaniasis is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the protozoan Leishmania spp. parasites. Leishmaniasis is endemic in 98 countries around the world, and resistance to current anti-leishmanial drugs is rising. Our work has identified and characterised a previously unstudied galactokinase-like protein (GalK) in Leishmania donovani, which catalyses the MgATP-dependent phosphorylation of the C-1 hydroxyl group of d-galactose to galactose-1-phosphate. Here, we report the production of the catalytically active recombinant protein in E. coli, determination of its substrate specificity and kinetic constants, as well as analysis of its molecular envelope using in solution X-ray scattering. Our results reveal kinetic parameters in range with other galactokinases with an average apparent Km value of 76 μM for galactose, V max and apparent K cat values with 4.46376 × 10 -9  M/s and 0.021 s -1 , respectively. Substantial substrate promiscuity was observed, with galactose being the preferred substrate, followed by mannose, fructose and GalNAc. LdGalK has a highly flexible protein structure suggestive of multiple conformational states in solution, which may be the key to its substrate promiscuity. Our data presents novel insights into the galactose salvaging pathway in Leishmania and positions this protein as a potential target for the development of pharmaceuticals seeking to interfere with parasite substrate metabolism., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Working in the nursing profession is hazardous, and nurses report poor health. Risk factors associated with poor health outcomes have been documented. However, the extent of literature exploring the prevalence of health conditions among American nurses that may be attributable to their work has not been examined., Method: A scoping review following the Joanna Briggs Institute recommendations was conducted of peer-reviewed quantitative studies to answer the question: What are health conditions experienced by American nurses that may be attributable to their work as nurses?, Results: Thirty articles met the inclusion criteria. Due to the methods used in many articles, studies of the prevalence of health conditions among the nursing population were lacking. Health conditions studied broke into six categories: (a) work-related injuries and hazards; (b) unhealthy lifestyles; (c) mental health conditions; (d) burnout; (e) fatigue, sleep, and migraines; and (f) reproductive health. The role of work in the health conditions studied varied from an immediate impact on health (e.g., a needlestick or injury) to a cumulative impact (e.g., scheduling or workplace demands). Within the work demands, the physical environment; physical, emotional, and cognitive demands of work; and shiftwork were all frequently identified as antecedents that could be further explored and addressed to improve nurse health., Conclusions: Healthcare systems should seek to address the hazards and exposures that may be linked to health conditions in the nursing workforce. Understanding and mitigating the impact of the pandemic and nursing work on the workforce's health is crucial to the solvency of the workforce. Occupational health practitioners should assess for workplace hazards and exposures., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Background: Fluid responsiveness should be assessed in patients with septic shock because only 50% of patients are fluid responsive. Dynamic measures of fluid responsiveness, like pulse pressure variation measured after a passive leg raise maneuver, are recommended to guide fluid administration in patients with sepsis after initial fluid resuscitation., Local Problem: The purpose of the project was to evaluate outcomes after implementing a nurse-driven fluid responsiveness evaluation using passive leg raise and pulse pressure variation measurement in patients with septic shock., Methods: The project included 30 adult patients with septic shock in a 24-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit at a community hospital. A new nursing process was initiated for bedside fluid responsiveness evaluation (pulse pressure variation measurement after passive leg raise). Staff members received in-person individual training sessions. Preintervention and 20-week postintervention patient outcomes data were collected to estimate the project's impact on incidence of fluid overload and acute kidney injury, duration of mechanical ventilation, and intensive care unit length of stay. Preintervention and postintervention staff satisfaction surveys assessed nurses' perception of the project's value., Results: Before intervention, 24 of 37 patients (65%) met criteria of fluid overload. The project resulted in a 28% decrease in the incidence of fluid overload. Staff satisfaction surveys revealed a significant increase in nurses' feelings of empowerment to positively affect patient outcomes; all nurses agreed that the new process was efficient., Conclusion: The results indicate that the project had a positive impact on patient outcomes and nurse autonomy., (©2024 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in negative consequences for nurse well-being, patient care delivery and outcomes, and organizational outcomes., Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of nurses working during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States., Design: This study used a qualitative descriptive design., Settings: The setting for this study was a national sample of nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States over a period of 18 months., Participants: Convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit 81 nurses via social media and both national and state listservs., Methods: Using a single question prompt , voicemail and emails were used for nurses to share their experiences anonymously working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Voicemails were transcribed and each transcript was analyzed using content analysis with both deductive and inductive coding., Results: The overarching theme identified was Unbearable Suffering. Three additional themes were identified: 1) Facilitators to Nursing Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2) Barriers to Nursing Practice During the COVID-19 pandemic, with the sub-themes of Barriers Within the Work Environment, Suboptimal Care Delivery, and Negative Consequences for the Nurses; and lastly, 3) the Transitionary Nature of the Pandemic.., Conclusions: The primary finding of this study was that nurses experienced and witnessed unbearable suffering while working during the COVID-19 pandemic that was transitionary in nature. Future research should consider the long-term impacts of this unbearable suffering on nurses. Intervention research should be considered to support nurses who have worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, and mitigate the potential long-term effects., Tweetable Abstract: A study on nurses experiences during the pandemic reveals their unbearable suffering. Read here about the reasons nurses are leaving., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Aims and Objectives: To describe the experience of nurses working while in pain and the potential impact on work performance. Pain is described more broadly and inclusive of musculoskeletal injuries, psychological and emotional pain., Background: Nurse have been recognised as developing pain and injuries; however, the experience of nurses working while in pain and its impact is not well-described., Design: A qualitative descriptive analysis of interviews from an explanatory mixed methods study., Methods: Twenty direct care nurses who experienced pain in the past week participated in the semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using content analysis. Guidelines for reporting following the COREQ checklist., Results: Categories identified: (1) pain provocation, quality of pain, refers, severity, and time (PQRST); (2) Avoiding pain at work; (3) Hiding pain's impact; (4) Tools at Work; (5) Pain recovery at home; (6) Career consequences; and (7) 'Supernurse' culture; (8) Stigma and its impact on pain management; and (9) Dream work environment., Conclusions: Pain was described as part of nursing and impacted nurses' career plans and performance. Nurses described minimising the direct impact on their patient care but admitted that there was an impact on teamwork and thinking which have been linked to negative patient outcomes., Relevance to Clinical Practice: Clinical practice was an aggravating factor for all nurses in the study and impacted their performance and career trajectory. Workplace tools to decrease nurse injury and pain exist; however, tools were not used often due to lack of resources and training. The culture of nursing that accepts pain as part of the job needs to be addressed., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In recent decades, the number of pre-term infants born each year has been on the rise as mortality rates decline with improvements in technology and medical care. As a result, many preterm infants are successfully discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). However, with prematurity comes the increased risk of ongoing health and development needs. Special attention must be given to certain chronic conditions by the outpatient provider, including growth and nutrition; gastroesophageal reflux; immunizations; vision and hearing impairments; chronic lung diseases, including bronchopulmonary dysplasia and pulmonary hypertension; and neurodevelopmental outcomes. This article will detail some of these topics to better inform the primary care provider of appropriate strategies to manage these chronic conditions and sequalae on NICU discharge. [ Pediatr Ann . 2023;52(6):e200-e205.] .

Book clubs are a cost-effective strategy for professional development and to foster relationships. In 2022, hospital leaders at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Community Osteopathic hospital created an interdisciplinary leadership book club. Communication, collaboration, and support among the leaders improved as a result., Competing Interests: The author declares no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

A technology-enhanced approach to competency checklists provides many benefits over paper checklists. The Informatics Research Organizing Model provides a conceptual framework to guide vision technology-enhanced competency checklists. Electronic integration of competency checklists with online policies and procedures information has the potential to enable nurses to practice in accordance with hospital policies and procedures, despite constant change in the healthcare system, and in turn impact nurse-sensitive patient outcomes., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Universities are at risk for COVID-19 and Fall semester begins in August 2020 for most campuses in the United States. The Southern States, including Mississippi, are experiencing a high incidence of COVID-19. Aims: The objective of this study is to model the impact of face masks and hybrid learning on the COVID-19 epidemic on Mississippi State University (MSU) campus. Methods: We used an age structured deterministic mathematical model of COVID-19 transmission within the MSU campus population, accounting for asymptomatic transmission. We modeled facemasks for the campus population at varying proportions of mask use and effectiveness, and Hyflex model of partial online learning with reduction of people on campus. Results: Facemasks can substantially reduce cases and deaths, even with modest effectiveness. Even 20% uptake of masks will halve the epidemic size. Facemasks combined with Hyflex reduces epidemic size even more. Conclusions: Universal use of face masks and reducing the number of people on campus may allow safer universities reopening.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the delivery of nursing care in U.S. critical care settings. The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' perceptions of the critical care work system during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. We conducted interviews with experienced critical care nurses who worked during the pandemic and analyzed these data using deductive content analysis framed by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) 2.0 model. Concepts include the critical care work system structures, nursing care processes, outcomes, and adaptations during the pandemic. Our findings revealed a description of the critical care work system framed by the SEIPS 2.0 model. We suggest how human factors engineers can utilize a human factors and engineering approach to maximize the adaptations critical care nurses made to their work system during the pandemic., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on nursing care delivery in critical care work systems is urgently needed. Theoretical frameworks guide understanding of phenomena in research. In this paper, we critique four theoretical frameworks (Donabedian's Quality Model, the Quality Health Outcomes Model, the Systems Research Organizing Model, and the Systems Engineering (SEIPS) 2.0 Model) using (blinded) (2018) Intermodern philosophical perspective of nursing science. (blinded) (2018) Intermodern approach to theory critique was selected for its pragmatic perspective and focus on personal and professional health and wellbeing. The SEIPS 2.0 Model was ultimately selected to guide the study of the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on nursing care delivery in the critical care work systems., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, colleges and universities have implemented multiple strategies including testing, isolation, quarantine, contact tracing, masking, and vaccination. In April 2021, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) was notified of a large cluster of students with COVID-19 at an urban university after spring break. A total of 158 cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed among undergraduate students during March 15-May 3, 2021; the majority (114; 72.2%) lived in on-campus dormitories. CDPH evaluated the role of travel and social connections, as well as the potential impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants, on transmission. Among 140 infected students who were interviewed, 89 (63.6%) reported recent travel outside Chicago during spring break, and 57 (40.7%) reported indoor social exposures. At the time of the outbreak, undergraduate-aged persons were largely ineligible for vaccination in Chicago; only three of the students with COVID-19 (1.9%) were fully vaccinated. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of 104 specimens revealed multiple distinct SARS-CoV-2 lineages, suggesting several nearly simultaneous introductions. Most specimens (66; 63.5%) were B.1.1.222, a lineage not widely detected in Chicago before or after this outbreak. These results demonstrate the potential for COVID-19 outbreaks on university campuses after widespread student travel during breaks, at the beginning of new school terms, and when students participate in indoor social gatherings. To prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, colleges and universities should encourage COVID-19 vaccination; discourage unvaccinated students from travel, including during university breaks; implement serial COVID-19 screening among unvaccinated persons after university breaks; encourage masking; and implement universal serial testing for students based on community transmission levels., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Mary K. Hayden reports participation on a clinical adjudication panel for Sanofi related to investigational COVID-19 vaccines. No other potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Objectives: To report our institutional experience in devising and implementing a pooling protocol and process for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing over a 3-month period in the fall of 2020., Methods: The widespread testing implemented in the United States for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to a significant shortage of testing supplies and therefore has become a major impediment to the public health response. To date, several institutions have implemented sample pooling, but publications documenting these experiences are sparse. Nasal and nasopharyngeal samples collected from low-positivity (<5%) areas were tested in pools of five on the Roche cobas 6800 analyzer system. Routine SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR turnaround times between sample collection to result reporting were monitored and compared before and after sample pooling implementation., Results: A total of 4,131 sample pools were tested over a 3-month period (during which 39,770 RT-PCR results were reported from the Roche system), allowing our laboratory to save 13,824 tests, equivalent to a conservation rate of 35%. A 48-hour or less turnaround time was generally maintained throughout the pooling period., Conclusions: Sample pooling offers a viable means to mitigate shortfalls of PCR testing supplies in the ongoing pandemic without significantly compromising overall turnaround times., (© American Society for Clinical Pathology, 2021. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)