Empowering Nurses Through Peer-Led Instruction to Increase Specialty Certification Rates.

Nursing specialty certification is an organizational, nursing, and professional goal for many stakeholders. Several types of review courses are available to support nurses. A peer-led certification review course was designed and implemented for medical/surgical and telemetry nurses. The peer-led instruction was the crux of empowering nurses to achieve certification. Assessment of the intervention was measured by quantitative data on pass rates. Evaluative information was gathered from the participants. Certification rates increased for applicable units.

A Randomized Pilot Study of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Improve Social Support for Veterans with PTSD.

Veterans with PTSD often have substantial interpersonal difficulties and low levels of social support, which puts them at increased risk of mortality, but few treatments address global social impairment for veterans with PTSD. This study is a pilot randomized trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Improve Social Support for Veterans with PTSD (ACT-SS), a psychotherapy that targets social avoidance and eroded social relationships, compared to Person-Centered Therapy (PCT), a non-directive psychotherapy. Participants were randomized to twelve sessions of either ACT-SS (n = 21) or PCT (n = 19). The results showed that veterans with PTSD had high ratings of satisfaction for both treatments. Contrary to the PCT group, participants in the ACT-SS group showed a significant improvement in the quality of social relationships, engagement in social and leisure activities, and PTSD symptoms from the baseline assessment to the end of treatment and a three-month follow-up. Veterans in the ACT-SS group, but not the PCT group, also showed significant improvements in mindfulness and valued living and a reduction in experiential avoidance from baseline to the end of treatment, with sustained improvements in valued living at the three-month follow-up. Overall, the present study demonstrated the feasibility, acceptability, and positive preliminary outcomes of ACT-SS for veterans with PTSD.

The Nursing Professional Development Practitioner During a Pandemic: Achieving the Hat Trick.

The nursing professional development practitioner's call to action at a large, acute care academic facility during the novel coronavirus pandemic required adaptability and resiliency. When rapid, unprecedented challenges altered nursing professional development workflow, a department of 16 practitioners split into three teams. The teams achieved goals by meeting the demand for education and training of frontline staff during the surge in novel coronavirus patients.

Effects of Changes in Background Colour on the Identification of Own- and Other-Race Faces.

The current study investigated whether small differences in the background colours between the lineup members would influence identification accuracy of own-race and other-race faces. Using the well-established 1-in-10 paradigm, half of the array faces had exactly the same backgrounds, and half were on backgrounds of slightly different hues of green. For target present arrays, participants were more accurate at identifying own-race faces when compared with the other-race faces when all backgrounds were the same. However, when backgrounds had slightly different hues, there was no difference in how accurate people were at identifying faces from both races. For target absent arrays, participants were more likely to incorrectly choose a face if the backgrounds were not all the same, regardless of the race of faces. Real-world implications from these findings are that using lineups where the backgrounds are slightly different hues may increase the likelihood of the false identification of innocent suspects.

Synthesis, molecular modelling and biological evaluation of 4-amino-2(1H)-quinazolinone and 2,4(1H,3H)-quinazolidone derivatives as antitumor agents.

A series of 6-benzoyl-, 6-arylthio- and 6-arylsulfonyl-4-amino-2(1H)-quinazolinones and -2,4(1H,3H)-quinazolinediones were prepared. They were evaluated in vitro for their cytotoxicity against the NCI-60 cancer cell lines.

Prognostic parameters, complications, and oncologic and functional outcome of salvage radical prostatectomy for locally recurrent prostate cancer after 21st-century radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Salvage radical prostatectomy (SRP) for radiorecurrent prostate cancer (PCa) is a second local treatment with curative intent in patients with true organ-confined recurrent PCa. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated preoperative prognostic risk factors to predict organ-confined, locally recurrent PCa after primary radiotherapy (RT). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-five men with biopsy-proven, locally recurrent PCa underwent SRP and extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) after external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or low- or high-dose brachytherapy. MEASUREMENTS: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), clinical stage, biopsy Gleason score prior to RT and SRP, PSA nadir, time to recurrence, PSA doubling time (PSA DT), PSA prior to surgery, and pathohistology of the SRP specimen were analysed to predict organ-confined recurrent disease. Uni- and multivariate statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Forty (72.7%) and 15 (27.3%) patients demonstrated organ-confined and locally advanced PCa, respectively. Eleven patients (20%) and seven patients (12.7%) had lymph node metastases and positive surgical margins (PSM), respectively. On multivariate analysis, biopsy Gleason score prior to SRP (p=0.02), <50% positive biopsy cores (p=0.001), PSA DT >12 mo (p=0.001), and low-dose brachytherapy (p=0.001) were significant predictors of organ-confined PCa with negative surgical margins (NSM). Limitations of the study are its retrospective nature and the relatively low number of patients. CONCLUSIONS: SRP is a surgically challenging but effective secondary local treatment of radiorecurrent PCa with curative intent. The identified predictive parameters will help to select patients most suitable for SRP with long-term cure and good functional outcome.

Male fish deceive competitors about mating preferences.

A fundamental question in animal communication is whether the information provided is honest or deceptive [1, 2]. This problem has received much attention, both in theoretical [1, 3] and experimental [4] work. Here we show that male Atlantic mollies (Poecilia mexicana), when observed during mate choice by another male, reduce their mating activity and no longer prefer mating with one of two females presented, which can be interpreted as an attempt to avoid unintended interception of information by the rival male. Most importantly, focal males directed their first sexual interaction (after they were presented with the rival male) toward the initially nonpreferred female, suggesting that males deceive other males about their mating preferences. Deception by the choosing male may be an adaptation to avoid sperm competition, because surrounding males may use public information and copy the focal male's mate choice.