Introduction. Clinical experiences are an integral part of professional physical therapist (PT) education programs. Hands-on engagement helps foster the critical thinking skills necessary to successfully navigate the complexity of clinical practice during a PT student's final clinical internships. As PT students advance through an entry-level professional program, their clinical decision-making skills improve; however, they lack self-confidence in working with both adult and pediatric patients presenting with neurological impairments. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of experiential learning using community volunteers (both adults and children) with activity and participation restrictions as a result of neurological insult or developmental delay on PT student perceived self-confidence. Methods. A convenience sample of 128 students currently enrolled in a PT education program were recruited. A pretest–posttest survey assessed the students' self-perceived confidence in the evaluation and treatment of a neurologically involved individual across the lifespan. The students completed 4 weeks of experiential learning with one adult and one pediatric community volunteer with a neurological condition in small groups. The four sessions included an initial evaluation, two treatment sessions and one discharge reassessment. An exploratory factor analysis was completed to validate the tool and to determine the factors that make up the survey. Qualitative data (open-ended questions) were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Results. On average, students reported more self-perceived confidence in the posttest survey than in the pretest survey. This difference was significant t(127) = −13.841, P < .001. Conclusion. Students expressed that more exposure and increased time spent with neurologically involved adults and children could improve their confidence. This study supports the use of experiential learning in PT education programs.
Background: Mental health conditions are prevalent in people experiencing homelessness. This population may seek care in student-run free clinics (SRFCs), but screening for mental health conditions may not be consistent in this setting. The primary objective of our study was to implement a screening tool and determine the gap in identifying mental health conditions between History and Physical (H&P) examinations and the new screening tool. Secondary objectives were to assess its impact on patient volume and workflow. Methods: Adult patients at a homeless shelter-based SRFC completed a mental health screening survey, separate from acute-care visits, aimed at identifying “high-risk†mental health conditions using validated questionnaires for identifying domestic violence, alcohol use, depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. Chart review was conducted to identify concordance between patients who screened positive for a high-risk condition using the survey and those with a high-risk condition documented in the acute-care H&P. Visit volume was tabulated and compared between the pre- and post-intervention periods using a t-test. A survey for volunteers was used to gather experiential feedback. Results: Of 354 patients treated at Central Arizona Shelter Services, 123 (34.7%) were evaluated by the research team. Sixty (48.8%) of screened patients were identified as high-risk for at least one mental health condition through the screening tool, and 26 (43.3%) charts were reviewed. Of the patients that were screened as high-risk and reviewed, 15 (57.7%) were not documented as high-risk in the acute-care visit H&P. The clinic volume averaged 11 patients, regardless of whether screening occurred during clinic (p = 0.95). Of clinic volunteers, 191 (97.4%) reported no noticeable impact on clinic operations. Conclusions: The screening survey identified more cases of mental health conditions than the previous standard medical interview. There were no adverse effects on the clinic workflow.
In the classical model of eukaryotic translation, a 7‐methylguanosine cap at the 5’ end of the messenger RNA (mRNA) acts as the recognition signal to recruit the ribosome to the RNA strand. The ribosome then scans the mRNA for the translation initiation codon, AUG. However, under stressful circumstances—such as apoptosis or viral infection—the recognition signal can be lost. Despite this, there is increasing evidence that translation still seems to proceed under certain circumstances. This cap‐independent mode of translation has been seen to occur through various regulatory elements along the mRNA. In an attempt to identify sequences that drive cap‐independent translation, the human genome was surveyed using mRNA display. The results of this survey led to the identification of many translation enhancing elements (TEEs) scattered throughout the genome. Further characterization of these TEEs provided evidence that they are able to recruit the ribosome to internal mRNA sequences, therefore bypassing the cap structure. A combination of sequence function and phylogenetic analysis led to the isolation of a short 13 nucleotide motif within several TEEs that is capable of driving cap‐independent translation. Further evaluation of the 13mer suggests that the functional motif maybe larger than originally thought, and the sequence context surrounding the 13mer can influence its effectiveness. When exploring the sequence around the 13mer, protein translation appeared to be the most efficient when the upstream nucleotides, preceding the start site, followed a triplicate pattern. To further investigate this phenomenon, we have explored exact start codon usage, performed cryptic promoter analysis, and conducted mutational mapping of the sequence the 13mer was originally discovered within. The results of our study suggest that the ribosomal binding site is larger than 13 nucleotides and translation initiation likely occurs at a position other than the original ribosomal binding site. Support or Funding Information Midwestern University Intramural funds
In eukaryotes, production of proteins is an essential biological process that typically occurs by a mechanism dependent on the 7‐methylguanosine cap at the 5′ end of an mRNA transcript. During normal cellular processes, it is this cap‐dependent (CD) mechanism that synthesizes proteins in three phases: initiation, elongation, and termination. The initiation phase is dependent upon recognition of the cap structure and attachment of the ribosomal pre‐initiation complex (PIC) to facilitate scanning of the mRNA 5′ ‐ untranslated region (UTR) in search for the initiation codon. Translation then proceeds with elongation after the initiation codon is identified. Current research indicates an alternative to the CD translation initiation mechanism, referred to as cap‐independent (CI) translation. In CI translation, recognition of the 5′ cap structure is not required for initiation of translation to occur. Several studies have demonstrated the CI mechanism to function during circumstances including stress conditions of apoptosis, hypoxia, mitosis, or inhibition of the CD mechanism. The literature suggests an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) is one possible mode CI translation can occur. An IRES directly recruits the ribosome to that specific site, regardless of its location within the RNA strand. In efforts to address the uncertainty of IRES occurrences within RNA leader sequences in human transcripts, a recent study revealed a library of human translation enhancing elements (TEEs) that can stimulate the CI mechanism. Detailed comparative functional sequence alignment analysis of the TEEs revealed a common 13‐nucleotide (13mer) motif capable of stimulating translation initiation. In order to evaluate the potential of the 13mer to function as an IRES, a series of RNA leader sequences were constructed in a reporter plasmid system containing a stable hairpin loop in the 5′‐UTR. In this system, the hairpin loop blocks ribosomal scanning due to CD initiation, resulting in reporter expression as evidence of the 13mer functioning as an IRES downstream of the hairpin loop. A series of TEEs were evaluated in this system with and without the 13mer motif. The presence of the 13mer up‐regulated translational activity, however only in certain sequence contexts. The IRES activity of the 13mer was then confirmed in a dual luciferase reporter plasmid (dlp), with the RNA leader sequences located internally between the renilla luciferase and firefly luciferase genes. In addition, translational activity was observed when CD translation was specifically inhibited using a eIF4E/eIF4G‐1 protein interaction inhibitor. Results of this study elucidate the capacity for the CI mode of translation from the human genome by demonstrating IRES activity. The identification of the 13mer as an IRES provides an opportunity to explore the mechanistic details of human IRESs and the contributions to protein production from the human genome.Support or Funding InformationIntramural Midwestern University funds awarded to BPW, and by an NIH grant awarded to JCC (Eureka Award; GM085530)This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.