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by Temitope Ruth Folorunso, Gabriel Silva, Marilis E. Girón, Tess Lindow, Micah Persyn, Lori Eckhardt, Janna R. Willoughby
Effective culturing and DNA extraction protocols are essential for advancing research on fungal pathogens of brown spot needle blight (BSNB) that infect loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and other Pinus species. We evaluated the performance of four widely used fungal media, including Sabouraud dextrose, malt extract, potato dextrose, and yeast extract peptone dextrose, in both solid (agar) and liquid (broth) formats, quantifying fungal growth through colony diameter and biomass accumulation over a three-week period. Sabouraud dextrose agar and broth consistently supported the most rapid and extensive growth in both formats, while potato dextrose underperformed across these metrics. To identify an optimal protocol for downstream molecular applications, we also compared four DNA extraction methods, three of which were modified variants of the CTAB (cetyl-trimethyl-ammonium bromide) chemistry as well as the Qiagen DNeasy kit following the yeast DNA extraction protocol. DNA yield, quantified by fluorometry, was highest for the high-salt CTAB polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) protocol and DNA purity (assessed by 260/280 absorbance ratio) was optimal for both PVP and Qiagen extractions. From these comparisons, we suggest that Sabouraud dextrose culturing combined with CTAB PVP extraction for use as a robust and accessible pipeline for generating high-quality fungal DNA.Graves’ disease (GD) is the most common form of hyperthyroidism in Sweden with an incidence of 21/100 000 individuals, the majority of whom are women of working age. GD can be overwhelming for the affected patient. A way to improve health outcomes is to better understand patients’ experiences of their illness. We therefore aimed to explore patients’ experiences of GD during the initial phase of the disease.
A qualitative study based on semistructured interviews was conducted and analysed using qualitative content analysis, following Graneheim and Lundman’s description of the method.
The study was carried out within specialised care at the secondary level in a Swedish healthcare context.
15 patients (12 women and 3 men; aged 29–74 years) within the first 3 months after GD diagnosis were included in the study.
Being affected by GD means facing a range of new and often incomprehensible symptoms contributing to an experience of change in one’s personality. In contact with healthcare, they experienced challenges such as an overwhelming amount of information, a lack of energy, and feelings of being a burden. These factors were described as having a negative impact on daily life, well-being, and psychological and psychosocial functioning. The participants highlighted the need to be listened to, to receive tailored information, to have continuous contact, and to have fatigue and other symptoms more thoroughly addressed.
The findings indicate that symptoms have a significant impact on patients with GD, influencing their care experience, information processing, decision-making abilities, and daily functioning. The application of person-centred care can be one way to support patients with GD, as it facilitates a collaborative approach and enhances the comprehension of each patient’s needs and resources. By acknowledging the patient’s experiences, situation, and expectations, as well as the comprehensive impact of the disease, and by modifying support strategies, patient well-being and health outcomes may be significantly improved.
Nursing as a profession remains underrepresented in research leadership, funding success and scholarly authorship globally, which limits its influence on policy and practice. Within this broader context, racially minoritised nursing academics, including Black academics, face additional inequities that further hinder their visibility and progression. Evidence from the United States, Canada and Australia highlights persistent barriers to research careers and leadership opportunities for Black nurses. In the United Kingdom, these disparities are particularly evident: Black nursing academics face barriers to conducting research while in the wider National Health Service workforce, Black nurses are twice less likely than their White counterparts to be promoted. Together, these patterns constrain career progression and hinder the development of culturally competent healthcare education and practice.
To explore the barriers to conducting research among Black nursing academics working in UK universities that are not traditionally research intensive, and to co-create pragmatic, theory-informed recommendations for enabling supportive and equitable research environments.
A qualitative multi-study design underpinned by Intersectionality Theory and The Silences Framework.
Two work packages are proposed. Work Package 1 will use semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences and barriers of conducting research among up to 15 Black nursing academics based at UK universities that are not research-intensive. Work Package 2 will adopt a modified Delphi methodology, engaging key collaborators in two rounds of online codesign workshops. Findings from Work Package 1 will inform structured discussions in which collaborators will develop theory-informed, pragmatic recommendations to strengthen research capacity and engagement among Black nursing academics.
This study will address the persistent underrepresentation of Black nursing academics in research. While grounded in the UK, the anticipated outputs will have wider applicability, informing policy, shaping institutional strategies and guiding future research priorities across diverse academic and healthcare systems worldwide.
This study sought to explore decision making among caregivers of children with cancer in Pakistan, one of the largest lower middle-income countries in the world.
Cross-sectional survey study
This study was conducted in Pakistan at Indus Hospital and Health Network in Karachi and Children’s Hospital of Lahore. Children’s Hospital of Lahore is a public sector hospital, and Indus Hospital has a foundation-based funding structure. Both are larger tertiary care centers. Over 2,500 new patients are seen at these centers annually, this accounts for almost 50% of all children with cancer in Pakistan
Eligible participants included bedside caregivers, defined as a parent or family member involved in communication with the medical team, of children with cancer (
Primary outcome measures included caregiver priorities and experiences related to communication including decision-making role, involvement of the paediatric patient and decisional regret.
Participants included 200 caregivers of children
Findings from this study highlight the importance of exploring preferences for decision making and empowering bedside caregivers while respecting cultural norms. In the Pakistani context, it may be specifically important to consider gender roles and the inclusion of extended family members. Future work should investigate paediatric patient involvement in diverse settings.
We aimed to describe clinical and diagnostic characteristics of primary care patients with heart failure and physicians’ adherence to guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) for treating chronic heart failure.
Cross-sectional study based on baseline data from the prospective primary care-based study Heart failure in Southern Sweden (HISS).
Patients with heart failure were included from 20 primary healthcare centres in the southernmost region of Sweden (Skåne).
Between 2020 and 2023, patients were included in HISS, resulting in a total of 587 participants. Of these, 558 patients (95% of the HISS participants) had available data on left ventricular ejection fraction and were included in this study. Adult patients aged 18 years or older diagnosed with heart failure (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes I50, I11.0, I42, I43) were considered eligible for inclusion in HISS. Community-dwelling patients with assisted care were excluded.
The primary outcome measures were distribution of heart failure subtypes and prescribed medications. The secondary outcomes were temporal trends in GDMT and the association between physicians’ adherence to GDMT and clinical characteristics of patients, using logistic regression models.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) was the most prevalent subtype (42%), followed by mildly reduced (30%) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF, 28%). Among patients with HFrEF, 20% were prescribed the recommended GDMT according to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2021 guidelines, which consisted of a renin-angiotensin system inhibitor, a beta-blocker, a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist and a sodium-glucose 2 inhibitor. We observed no significant change in the prescribing trends for the quadruple therapy in patients with HFrEF when comparing the 2 years before and after the publication of the ESC 2021 guidelines. Similarly, we observed no association between patient characteristics and the prescription of GDMT according to ESC 2021 for patients with HFrEF.
HFpEF was the most prevalent subtype, with conclusive and recent echocardiography data among two-thirds of the cohort. Temporal trends in prescription patterns showed no appreciable increase in the use of GDMT for HFrEF during the two years following guideline publication compared with the two preceding years. These findings indicate a need for inclusion of primary care patients as a basis for intensified medical recommendations and implementation strategies.
Objetivo principal: Identificar la evidencia disponible en la literatura sobre el efecto de la musicoterapia en el dolor de pacientes adultos durante el postoperatorio. Metodología: Revisión integradora de literatura realizada en las bases de datos CUIDEN, CINAHL, PubMed, LILACS, SCIELO, EBSCO, SCOPUS, Web of Science y Google Scholar considerando artículos desde 2019, al 2022, utilizando los descriptores “musicoterapia”, “dolor postoperatorio” y “adulto”. Los datos se presentan de forma descriptiva. Resultados principales: Se encontraron 314 artículos, una vez filtrados se analizaron 18. Todos los pacientes presentaron algún nivel de dolor durante su periodo postoperatorio, algunos además, experimentaron depresión, temor y ansiedad y la musicoterapia demostró disminuir todos estos síntomas, ningún estudio reportó la presencia de alguna complicación durante su implementación. Conclusión principal: La música bien utilizada produce efectos positivos en los pacientes con cáncer, dolor, depresión, estrés, temor durante el periodo postoperatorio y en pacientes sometidos a procesos invasivos, es una intervención económica, inocua. Se puede utilizar por los enfermeros como parte del cuidado holístico y como tratamiento complementario de la farmacología analgésica.
Objetivo principal: Elaboración y validación de un cuestionario sobre detección precoz de lesiones oculares en el paciente crítico pediátrico. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo de validación de contenido de un cuestionario. Se seleccionó bibliografía científica, se redactaron los ítems y se validó el contenido mediante un panel de 8 expertos con experiencia en unidades de cuidados intensivos pediátricos. Resultados principales: 53 artículos relacionados con la aparición de daño ocular en unidades de cuidados intensivos fueron seleccionados. Se agruparon los factores de riesgo y se incluyeron aquellos que superaron la valoración de un panel de expertos. Conclusión principal: el contenido de este cuestionario para detectar lesiones oculares en unidades de cuidados intensivos pediátricos es un instrumento repre-sentativo, por lo que puede usarse en estudios posteriores para establecer su fiabilidad, validez, viabilidad y sensibilidad al cambio.
Este artículo busca describir las vivencias de una estudiante de Enfermería de orientación sexual diversa, quien a través de un relato biográfico narra sus experiencias como estudiante frente a la discriminación en los espacios de formación. El análisis parte de un marco conceptual acerca de elementos reconocidos como modelos biomédicos y discursos conservadores que permean la cultura en general, y el actuar profesional de enfer-mería en particular. La lógica biomédica-conservadora se contrapone a la búsqueda de una profesión socio-humanista, pues mientras en la prime-ra se consolida un sujeto cuidador para otros(as) exclusivamente, en la segunda se reconocen a los y las profesionales y estudiantes como sujetos para sí. Así desde una práctica socio-humanista los discursos y comportamientos homofóbicos o de discriminación deben hacer parte de los ele-mentos primarios de des-aprendizaje con el ánimo de buscar construir una sociedad basada en la solidaridad y el reconocimiento del otro (a), desde perspectivas más humanas y éticas.
El tratamiento de pacientes pediátricos con cáncer es un proceso estresante que cursa con periodos de ansiedad. Para el pre y postratamiento, la musicoterapia tiene efectos significativos al reducir la ansiedad, mejorar el estado de ánimo y la calidad de vida, y aliviar moderadamente el dolor [fragmento de texto].
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