Perceptions of Sleep Quality, Fatigue, and Cognition Among Women Shift Workers.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the perceptions of sleep quality, levels of fatigue, and cognitive executive function in women shift workers. DESIGN: Qualitative, descriptive study of a sample of participants who participated in a cross-sectional, mixed-methods study. SETTING: Online focus groups. PARTICIPANTS: Women shift workers (N = 14) recruited from the southeastern United States. METHODS: Four focus groups were conducted using the Zoom online videoconferencing platform. Transcripts were coded inductively, and data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: Five major themes were developed from the data: Lots of Sleep Lost, Day Sleep Difficulties, Negative Consequences, Missing Out, and Not in My Own Thoughts. CONCLUSION: Shift work is associated with sleep loss, which has a negative impact on women's emotional, mental, and physical health. Further nursing science investigation into strategies to enable women to improve their sleep quality, sleep quantity, and social/domestic environment is warranted. Education to increase sleep knowledge and decrease accidents and errors that can result from insufficient sleep is vital.

Sleep quality: An evolutionary concept analysis.

AIM: To clarify the meaning of the concept sleep quality. BACKGROUND: Sleep loss and sleep quality are global health concerns. Poor sleep quality has significant adverse health outcomes. A clarification of the term is necessary to inform patients and healthcare providers, promote consistent theoretical and operational definitions in research, and develop prevention and treatment strategies. DESIGN: Concept analysis. DATA SOURCES: Scientific literature from electronic databases (CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMED, Web of Science, and JSTOR) and definitions from online dictionaries. REVIEW METHODS: Rodgers' Evolutionary method was applied to guide the concept analysis to identify and determine the attributes, antecedents, and consequences. RESULTS: Sleep quality is defined as an individual's self-satisfaction with all aspects of the sleep experience. Sleep quality has four attributes: sleep efficiency, sleep latency, sleep duration, and wake after sleep onset. Antecedents include physiological (e.g., age, circadian rhythm, body mass index, NREM, REM), psychological (e.g., stress, anxiety, depression), and environmental factors (e.g., room temperature, television/device use), and family/social commitments. Good sleep quality has positive effects such as feeling rested, normal reflexes, and positive relationships. Poor sleep quality consequences include fatigue, irritability, daytime dysfunction, slowed responses, and increased caffeine/alcohol intake. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep quality is essential, and poor sleep quality contributes to disease and poor health outcomes. Given the extensive consequences of poor sleep quality, nurses and clinicians are vital in instructing the importance of good sleep.

Interventions to Improve Adherence to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Lack of adherence to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is a significant problem resulting in incomplete cytogenetic response and increased mortality in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Few studies have been conducted on interventions to improve adherence. The authors conducted a systematic review to explore studies that examined the impact of strategies to improve TKI adherence among individuals with CML. METHODS: The first 2 authors completed a systematic literature review according to the guidelines in Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). Studies (n=2633) conducted between 1980 and 2019 were identified through 3 databases and examined for inclusion/exclusion criteria. RESULTS: Fourteen studies were identified which met the eligibility criteria. The studies only examined adherence to imatinib, dasatinib, or nilotinib. Ten of the 14 used large data sets (commercial health insurance plans or Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results [SEER] data) for analysis. The majority of the studies used a cohort design. Adherence was defined and measured in a variety of ways with most studies using 80% or higher as adequate adherence. Strategies not focused on health care costs used a multidisciplinary team approach. CONCLUSION: Development of evidence to improve treatment adherence to TKIs for CML have relied on large data sets rather than prospective trials. Current studies lack patient focused interventions.

Genotyping of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) geographical isolates from Brazil and comparison to other isolates from the Americas.

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a viral pathogen that has caused significant economic losses in shrimp farming. Variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs) (open reading frame [ORF] 94, 125 and 75), a large deletion (ORF 23/24) and a transposase were proposed as molecular markers for genotyping. WSSV-infected shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei were collected in 2 Brazilian regions (Santa Catarina and Bahia) from 2005 to 2008. DNA was extracted and PCR of the variable regions was performed, followed by sequencing. All Santa Catarina samples showed the same number of repeats for the minisatellites analyzed. Bahia samples showed a different pattern for the regions, indicating that there are at least 2 different WSSV genotypes in Brazil. Both Brazilian isolates have an 11453 bp deletion in ORF 23/24 when compared with WSSV-TW (Taiwan), which has the full sequence for this locus. The Brazilian WSSV isolates were compared with WSSV isolates from other countries in the Americas (USA, Panama, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua); the repeat number patterns for the 3 VNTR regions analyzed were different between the Brazilian isolates and the other western-hemisphere isolates. This may be due to mutations in WSSV after its introduction into the different countries. Our results also show that WSSV found in Bahia and Santa Catarina very likely originated from different sources of contamination.

Phase I evaluation of sequential topoisomerase targeting with irinotecan/cisplatin followed by etoposide in patients with advanced malignancy.

PURPOSE: To investigate pharmacologically guided addition of etoposide to a weekly irinotecan/cisplatin chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with advanced nonhematologic malignancies were eligible. Treatment consisted of i.v. administration of 50 mg/m(2) irinotecan and 20 mg/m(2) cisplatin on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 of a 42-day cycle or on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. Etoposide was administered in a dose-escalating fashion 2 days after each dose of irinotecan/cisplatin, either i.v. as a single dose or p.o. as two doses administered 12 h apart. Pharmacologic analyses included measurement of plasma concentrations of irinotecan, SN-38, and SN-38 glucuronide, as well as quantitation of topoisomerase protein levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs). RESULTS: A total of 40 patients with a variety of malignancies received 122 cycles of therapy. Dose-limiting toxicities included neutropenia and diarrhea, with the 21-day cycle tolerated better than the 42-day cycle. For the 21-day cycle, the maximum tolerated dose was 75 mg/m(2) for i.v. etoposide and 85 mg/m(2) for oral etoposide. Objective responses were observed in four patients with previously treated mesothelioma, gastric, breast, and ovarian cancer, respectively. PBMNC levels of topoisomerase IIalpha were increased at the time of etoposide administration in two patients, with these patients having the highest SN-38 glucuronide peak-plasma-concentration and area-under-the-curve values among 15 patients with available pharmacokinetic data. One of these patients had a partial response to therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacologically guided administration of etoposide in combination with irinotecan/cisplatin using a 21-day cycle is associated with acceptable toxicity and significant antitumor activity. The finding that PBMNC topoisomerase IIalpha protein levels increased after irinotecan/cisplatin treatment in two of six patients supports the continued development of sequential topoisomerase targeting in the treatment of malignancy.

Different responses to infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) in Penaeus monodon and P. vannamei.

Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) is widespread in cultured Penaeus monodon and P. vannamei in Thailand. It causes runt-deformity syndrome that is characterized by physical abnormalities and stunted growth in P. vannamei, but causes no apparent disease in P. monodon. In both species, the virus may produce Cowdry Type A inclusions in tissues of ectodermal and mesodermal origin, but these are common in P. vannamei and rare in P. monodon. The virus can be more easily detected in both species by IHHNV-specific PCR primers. By in situ hybridization (ISH) using specific IHHNV probes, fixed phagocytes associated with myocardial cells tended to show strong positive reactions in both shrimp species. Ovarian and neural tissue (neurons in the nerve ganglia and glial cells in the nerve cord) were ISH positive for IHHNV only in P. vannamei. By transmission electron microscopy, necrotic cells were found in the gills of IHHNV-infected P. vannamei, while paracrystalline arrays of virions and apoptotic cells rather than necrotic cells were found in the lymphoid organ of IHHNV-infected P. monodon. Thus, it is possible that apoptosis in P. monodon contributes to the absence of clinical disease from IHHNV. These findings reveal different responses to IHHNV infection by the 2 shrimp species. A curious feature of IHHNV infection in P. monodon was inconsistency in the comparative viral load amongst tissues of different specimens, as detected by both ISH and real-time PCR. This inconsistency in apparent tissue preference and the reasons for different cellular responses between the 2 shrimp species remain unexplained.

Validation of a commercial insulated isothermal PCR-based POCKIT test for rapid and easy detection of white spot syndrome virus infection in Litopenaeus vannamei.

Timely pond-side detection of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) plays a critical role in the implementation of bio-security measures to help minimize economic losses caused by white spot syndrome disease, an important threat to shrimp aquaculture industry worldwide. A portable device, namely POCKIT™, became available recently to complete fluorescent probe-based insulated isothermal PCR (iiPCR), and automatic data detection and interpretation within one hour. Taking advantage of this platform, the IQ Plus™ WSSV Kit with POCKIT system was established to allow simple and easy WSSV detection for on-site users. The assay was first evaluated for its analytical sensitivity and specificity performance. The 95% limit of detection (LOD) of the assay was 17 copies of WSSV genomic DNA per reaction (95% confidence interval [CI], 13 to 24 copies per reaction). The established assay has detection sensitivity similar to that of OIE-registered IQ2000™ WSSV Detection and Protection System with serial dilutions of WSSV-positive Litopenaeus vannamei DNA. No cross-reaction signals were generated from infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV), monodon baculovirus (MBV), and hepatopancreatic parvovirus (HPV) positive samples. Accuracy analysis using 700 L. vannamei of known WSSV infection status shows that the established assayhassensitivity93.5% (95% CI: 90.61-95.56%) and specificity 97% (95% CI: 94.31-98.50%). Furthermore, no discrepancy was found between the two assays when 100 random L. vannamei samples were tested in parallel. Finally, excellent correlation was observed among test results of three batches of reagents with 64 samples analyzed in three different laboratories. Working in a portable device, IQ Plus™ WSSV Kit with POCKIT system allows reliable, sensitive and specific on-site detection of WSSV in L. vannamei.

Immortalisation of a mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIC fibroblast cell line via expression of SV40 T antigen.

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIC is caused by a deficiency of acetyl-CoA: alpha-glucosaminidase-N-acetyltransferase activity. This enzyme is unique among enzymes involved in the lysosomal degradation of glycosaminoglycans in that it catalyses an anabolic reaction, the addition of an acetyl group to glucosamine at the non-reducing terminus of heparan sulphate. We have identified a mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIC skin fibroblast cell line with undetectable levels of residual acetyl-CoA: alpha-glucosaminidase-N-acetyltransferase activity and immortalised it via expression of simian virus 40 large T antigen. Enzymatic analysis of two immortalised cell lines demonstrated that they both retained the original mucopolysaccharidosis IIIC phenotype. Variable number tandem repeat analysis confirmed that both were derived from the parental cell line.