Heart failure symptom burden,dietary intake,and inflammation:An integrative review of the literature

Heart failure(HF)is characterized by high symptom burden including,but not limited to fatigue,dyspnea,and edema.Up to 21.5%of HF patients experience significant depressive symptoms,much higher than 7.1%in adults without HF.Diet,metabolites,and other inflammatory mechanisms have gained notable attention in recent studies for contributions to symptoms in HF.Symptoms for black adults(B/As)with HF are often influenced by lifestyle factors,which may influence their higher mortality rates;few studies address these factors.Distinguishing the links between key elements with diet,inflammation,and symptoms may bring clarity for new dietary strategies in HF clinical care.The purpose of this integrative review is to examine the existing literature regarding relationships among physiologic pathways in HF along with physical and emotional symptoms in the context of inflammation,dietary intake,tumor necrosis factor‑alpha(TNF‑a),a biomarker of inflammation,and trimethylamine‑N‑Oxide(TMAO).Based on available evidence,inflammation may be a key link between physical symptoms,diet,depression,TMAO,and TNF‑a in persons with HF and warrants further examination to clarify pathological links to solidify evidence for better guidance with dietary modifications.The literature reviewed in this study demonstrates that more work is needed to examine dietary planning,social support,and differences between men and women in the B/A community.Results of this literature review call attention to the essential,personalized care needs related to symptom monitoring and dietary planning which is expected to decrease symptom burden in the HF population.

Collection,curation and the use of humidification to restore nest shape in a research museum bird nest collection

Background:Bird nests are an important part of avian ecology.They are a powerful tool for studying not only the birds that built them,but a wide array of topics ranging from parasitology,urbanisation and climate change to evolu-tion.Despite this,bird nests tend to be underrepresented in natural history collections,a problem that should be redressed through renewed focus by collecting institutions.Methods:Here we outline the history and current best practice collection and curatorial methods for the nest col-lection of the Australian National Wildlife Collection(ANWC).We also describe an experiment conducted on nests in the ANWC using ultrasonic humidification to restore the shape of nests damaged by inappropriate storage.Results:The experiment showed that damaged nests can be successfully reshaped to close to their original dimen-sions.Indeed,restored nests were significantly closer to their original shape than they were prior to restoration.Thus,even nests damaged by years of neglect may be fully incorporated into active research collections.Best practice techniques include extensive note taking and photography in the field,subsampling of nests that cannot or should not be collected,appropriate field storage,metadata management,and prompt treatment upon arrival at the collec-tion facility.Conclusions:Renewed focus on nest collections should include appropriate care and restoration of current col-lections,as well as expansion to redress past underrepresentation.This could include collaboration with researchers studying or monitoring avian nesting ecology,and nest collection after use in bird species that rebuild anew each nesting attempt.Modern expansion of museum nest collections will allow researchers and natural history collections to fully realise the scientific potential of these complex and beautiful specimens.