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Abstract Insomnia and poor sleep are associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its precursors, including hypertension. In 2022, the American Heart Association (AHA) added inadequate sleep to its list of health behaviors that increase the risk for CVD. It remains unknown, however, whether the successful treatment of insomnia and inadequate sleep can reduce heightened CVD risk. SLEEPRIGHT is a single‐site, prospective clinical trial designed to evaluate whether the successful treatment of insomnia results in improved markers of CVD risk in patients with untreated hypertension and comorbid insomnia disorder. Participants (N = 150) will undergo baseline assessments, followed by a 6‐week run‐in period after which they will receive cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT‐I), comprised of 6 hourly sessions with an experienced CBT‐I therapist over a 6‐week period. In addition to measures of insomnia severity, as well as both subjective and objective measures of sleep, the primary outcome measures are nighttime blood pressure (BP) and BP dipping assessed by 24‐h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). Secondary outcomes include several CVD risk biomarkers, including clinic BP, lipid profile, vascular endothelial function, arterial stiffness, and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. Data analysis will evaluate the association between improvements in insomnia and sleep with primary and secondary CVD risk biomarker outcomes. The SLEEPRIGHT trial (ClinicalTrials.Gov NCT04009447) will utilize CBT‐I, the current gold standard treatment for insomnia disorder, to evaluate whether reducing insomnia severity and improving sleep are accompanied by improved biomarkers of CVD risk in patients with untreated hypertension.

Novel binary gene expression tools like the LexA-LexAop system could powerfully enhance studies of metabolism, development, and neurobiology in Drosophila. However, specific LexA drivers for neuroendocrine cells and many other developmentally relevant systems remain limited. In a unique high school biology course, we generated a LexA-based enhancer trap collection by transposon mobilization. The initial collection provides a source of novel LexA-based elements that permit targeted gene expression in the corpora cardiaca, cells central for metabolic homeostasis, and other neuroendocrine cell types. The collection further contains specific LexA drivers for stem cells and other enteric cells in the gut, and other developmentally relevant tissue types. We provide detailed analysis of nearly 100 new LexA lines, including molecular mapping of insertions, description of enhancer-driven reporter expression in larval tissues, and adult neuroendocrine cells, comparison with established enhancer trap collections and tissue specific RNAseq. Generation of this open-resource LexA collection facilitates neuroendocrine and developmental biology investigations, and shows how empowering secondary school science can achieve research and educational goals.

Critical care nurses experience high levels of workplace stress, which can lead to burnout. Many medical centers have begun offering wellness programs to address burnout in their nursing staff; however, most of these programs focus on reducing negative states such as stress, depression, and anxiety. A growing body of evidence highlights the unique, independent role of positive emotion in promoting adaptive coping in the face of stress. This article describes a novel approach for preventing burnout in critical care nurses: an intervention that explicitly aims to increase positive emotion by teaching individuals empirically supported skills. This positive emotion skills intervention has been used successfully in other populations and can be tailored for critical care nurses. Also discussed are recommendations for addressing burnout in intensive care unit nurses at both the individual and organizational levels., (©2020 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.)