Developing geriatric nursing micro-credentials for undergraduate nursing students based on training objectives: A modified Delphi study.

BACKGROUND: China's population has begun to age rapidly in the past several years and this trend is predicted to continue. In the face of this growing older population, the existing number of aged care personnel, especially medical care professionals, can hardly meet the demand for aged care services. AIM: To develop geriatric nursing micro-credentials (MCs) for undergraduate nursing students based on standardized training objectives and to specify the learning goals and course modules that correspond to each specific MC. DESIGN: Modified Delphi study. METHODS: An initial set of geriatric nursing MCs were developed based on the training objectives. Expert group discussion (n=13) reviewed the clarity and intelligibility of the statements' wording and supplemented the framework. A three-round Delphi survey (n=15) was then employed to obtain a consensus on the learning goals and course modules via an online questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The final geriatric nursing MCs consisted of six courses, namely fundamentals of geriatric nursing (8 modules), geriatric sociology (6 modules), geriatric clinical nursing (3 modules), geriatric psychological nursing (8 modules), geriatric rehabilitation nursing (8 modules) and geriatric hospice care (10 modules). CONCLUSION: Nursing faculty can use the geriatric nursing MCs developed in this study to train current undergraduate nursing students to become backups for current, fully credentialed geriatric caregivers.

Association of cerebral spinal fluid copper imbalance in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

A plethora of environmental risk factors has been persistently implicated in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), including metal/metalloids. This study aimed to examine potential associations between cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) metal/metalloids and ALS risks. CSF concentrations of copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) in ALS (spinal- and bulbar-onset) patients and controls were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results from this study revealed marked differences between control, spinal-onset, and bulbar-onset groups. We report that Cu levels were lower in the ALS and spinal-onset groups compared to the control group. Ni level were higher in the spinal-onset group compared to the control and bulbar-onset groups. In addition, associations between CSF metal/metalloid levels with disease severity, sex, and serum triglycerides were also examined to broach the potential relevance of neurotoxic metal/metalloids in ALS disease heterogeneity.

Association of Exosomal miR-210 with Signaling Pathways Implicated in Lung Cancer.

MicroRNA is a class of non-coding RNA involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Aberrant expression of miRNAs is well-documented in molecular cancer biology. Extensive research has shown that miR-210 is implicated in the progression of multiple cancers including that of the lung, bladder, colon, and renal cell carcinoma. In recent years, exosomes have been evidenced to facilitate cell-cell communication and signaling through packaging and transporting active biomolecules such as miRNAs and thereby modify the cellular microenvironment favorable for lung cancers. MiRNAs encapsulated inside the lipid bilayer of exosomes are stabilized and transmitted to target cells to exert alterations in the epigenetic landscape. The currently available literature indicates that exosomal miR-210 is involved in the regulation of various lung cancer-related signaling molecules and pathways, including STAT3, TIMP-1, KRAS/BACH2/GATA-3/RIP3, and PI3K/AKT. Here, we highlight major findings and progress on the roles of exosomal miR-210 in lung cancer.

[A comparative analysis of health promotion demand in practitioners between urban and rural private enterprises].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the differences in the health promotion demand of practitioners between urban and rural private enterprises by a comparative analysis, and to probe into the more scientific and targeted health promotion measures. METHODS: Stratified cluster random sampling and self-designed questionnaire were adopted to survey 852 practitioners in urban and rural private enterprises of a Chinese city. RESULTS: There were significant differences in practitioners between the two sorts of enterprises in terms of age, length of service, educational level, and forms of employment (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The basic knowledge and skills of practitioners in rural private enterprises were worse than those in urban private enterprises(P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Practitioners in rural private enterprises were significantly less inclined to gain basic health promotion knowledge through enterprise training and network(P < 0.01). The demand of practitioners for health examination and hazard notification was significantly lower in rural private enterprises than in urban private enterprises (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Focused and targeted health promotion should be carried out based on different demand characteristics of practitioners in rural and urban private enterprises.