No significant interactions were detected between year of birth and age at death, suggesting that the decline in limb bone strength was mainly due to changes in skeletal maturation rather than severity of age-related bone loss. DISCUSSION Limb bone strength is thus potentially another feature of the skeletal biology of South African Africans that was compromised by poor living conditions during the 19th and 20th centuries. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Conotruncal heart defects (CTD) are an important subtype of congenital heart disease that occur due to abnormality in the development of the cardiac outflow tract (OFT). FOXH1 is a transcription factor that participates in the morphogenesis of the right ventricle and OFT. In this study, we confirmed the expression of FOXH1 in mouse and human embryos during OFT development. We also scanned the coding exons and splicing regions of the FOXH1 gene in 605 patients with sporadic CTD and 300 unaffected controls, from which we identified seven heterozygous FOXH1 gene mutations. According to bioinformatics analysis results, they were predicted potentially deleterious at conserved amino acid sites. Western blot was used to show that all the variants decreased the expression of FOXH1 protein, while dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that six of them, with an exception of p.P35R, had enhanced abilities to modulate the expression of MEF2C, which interacts with NKX2.5 and is involved in cardiac growth. The electrophoretic mobility shift assays result showed that two mutations altered DNA-binding abilities of mutant FOXH1 proteins. Phenotype heterogeneity was found in patients with the same mutation. These results indicate that FOXH1 mutations lead to disease-causing functional changes that contribute to the occurrence of CTD. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.BACKGROUND Nurse educators have used peer teaching as a means of providing effective learning to peer learners and enhancing peer teachers’ comfort with teaching. There is a lack of evidence related to providing feedback to peer teachers. Receiving feedback may enhance peer teachers’ knowledge synthesis and understanding of the teaching process. METHODS We utilized a mixed methods approach to determine if an evaluation instrument was valid and helpful to peer teachers. Both peer learners and educators completed evaluations of peer teachers, which were then compared. After receiving summarized feedback, peer teachers completed a survey regarding their experience. RESULTS There were no statistical differences between peer learner and educator ratings of peer teachers. Peer learners indicated they found peer teachers to be helpful in the high fidelity simulation setting. GS-4224 Peer teachers indicated satisfaction with the experience. Analysis of qualitative comments on peer-teacher surveys resulted in the identification of three themes (a) validation of knowledge growth; (b) increased comfort with teaching; and (c) enhanced appreciation of teaching. CONCLUSIONS Peer teaching may enhance knowledge gain and synthesis for both peer teachers and peer learners. Enhanced comfort with teaching may lead to enhanced comfort in teaching both patients and peers in future practice. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.INTRODUCTION Recent evidence indicates strong relationships exist between authentic leadership, employee engagement, and reduced burnout. However, little is known regarding the relationship between nursing staff engagement and absenteeism. This article describes how leadership implemented engagement strategies are used to reduce absenteeism on a general surgery unit in a Southeastern community hospital. METHODS The aim of this Quality Improvement (QI) project was to decrease absenteeism by 15% using employee engagement strategies derived from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs over a 5-month timeframe. Employee attendance software was used to track absences pre-intervention from January to June 2018 and post-intervention from January to June 2019. RESULTS Sixty-seven percent of unit employees (n = 32) were eligible for data collection as they were staff during the pre- and post-intervention timeframes. There were 51 staff absences pre-intervention, compared with 37 absences post-intervention, resulting in a decrease in absenteeism by 27.5%. DISCUSSION This QI project illustrates strategies for nurse leaders to consider implementing to engage their employees and reduce burnout. These findings suggest that burnout is related to absenteeism, which can affect the quality of patient care. This QI project is the foundation for a future study that explores employee engagement strategies in reducing absenteeism to improve patient care. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.BACKGROUND Electronic cigarettes (E-cigs) have been gaining popularity, increasingly used to help reduce or cease smoking traditional cigarettes (T-cigs). Although E-cigs are considered a far less harmful alternative to T-cigs, there is not enough information regarding the effects of vaping E-cigs on periodontal health. AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of vaping E-cigs, smoking T-cigs and smoking cessation on oxidative stress markers, proinflammatory cytokines levels and periodontal clinical parameters in patients with periodontitis. METHODS The study included a total of 57 individuals who were divided into three groups T-cig smokers (Group I, n = 19), E-cig vapers (Group II, n = 19) and former smokers (Group III, n = 19). Full-mouth clinical periodontal parameters were recorded and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were collected. RESULTS The mean interleukin-8 (IL-8) level of Group I (70.47 ± 2.76) was significantly lower than in Groups II and III. The mean tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level of Group I (4.20 ± 0.14) was significantly higher than in Groups II and III. CONCLUSIONS T-cigs and vaping E-cigs had the same unfavourable effects on the markers of oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines. © 2020 Australian Dental Association.in English, Arabic, الحركة من أجل الصحة موجز سياسات يتناول البيئة العمرانية والنشاط البدني في عُمان.