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In 2014, the Australian Government established the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) to advise on how teacher education programmes could ensure new teachers were adequately prepared for the classroom. Following this, the Australian Government endorsed a key recommendation of the TEMAG Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers report, the inclusion of specialisations in primary Initial Teacher Education (ITE). This research was conducted at an Australian public university that, in 2016, had embedded specialisations in a revised primary teacher programme structure and was one of the first ITE institutions in Australia to graduate primary teachers with a specialisation. Using a mixed-methods case study design with convenience sampling, this study sought to investigate these primary graduates' perceptions of undertaking a specialisation in relation to the development of content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge in the specialist area, as well as perceived employment advantages. This research took place over 4 years with participants having completed a Bachelor of Education (Primary) at least three months prior to participating. The participants reported benefits to having completed a primary specialisation but expressed concerns about their preparedness to teach their specialisation and whether it would result in any advantages for employment. Recommendations from the participants included teaching practice in their area of specialisation, consideration of specialist skills and changing the timetabling of the specialisation in the programme. Ultimately, there is a need for ongoing research in this area to determine the extent to which primary specialisations deliver the intended outcomes and impacts at both the policy driver level and the university level.

AimsGulf War Illness (GWI), a chronic debilitating disorder characterized by fatigue, joint pain, cognitive, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and skin problems, is currently diagnosed by self-reported symptoms. The Boston Biorepository, Recruitment, and Integrative Network (BBRAIN) is the collaborative effort of expert Gulf War Illness (GWI) researchers who are creating objective diagnostic and pathobiological markers and recommend common data elements for GWI research.Main methodsBBRAIN is recruiting 300 GWI cases and 200 GW veteran controls for the prospective study. Key data and biological samples from prior GWI studies are being merged and combined into retrospective datasets. They will be made available for data mining by the BBRAIN network and the GWI research community. Prospective questionnaire data include general health and chronic symptoms, demographics, measures of pain, fatigue, medical conditions, deployment and exposure histories. Available repository biospecimens include blood, plasma, serum, saliva, stool, urine, human induced pluripotent stem cells and cerebrospinal fluid.Key findingsTo date, multiple datasets have been merged and combined from 15 participating study sites. These data and samples have been collated and an online request form for repository requests as well as recommended common data elements have been created. Data and biospecimen sample requests are reviewed by the BBRAIN steering committee members for approval as they are received.SignificanceThe BBRAIN repository network serves as a much needed resource for GWI researchers to utilize for identification and validation of objective diagnostic and pathobiological markers of the illness.

BACKGROUND: Evidence about the impact of marital status before hematopoietic cell transplantation (hct) on outcomes after hct is conflicting. METHODS: We identified patients 40 years of age and older within the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research registry who underwent hct between January 2008 and December 2015. Marital status before hct was declared as one of: married or living with a partner, single (never married), separated or divorced, and widowed. We performed a multivariable analysis to determine the association of marital status with outcomes after hct. RESULTS: We identified 10,226 allogeneic and 5714 autologous hct cases with, respectively, a median follow-up of 37 months (range: 1-102 months) and 40 months (range: 1-106 months). No association between marital status and overall survival was observed in either the allogeneic (p = 0.58) or autologous (p = 0.17) setting. However, marital status was associated with grades 2-4 acute graft-versus-host disease (gvhd), p < 0.001, and chronic gvhd, p = 0.04. The risk of grades 2-4 acute gvhd was increased in separated compared with married patients [hazard ratio (hr): 1.13; 95% confidence interval (ci): 1.03 to 1.24], and single patients had a reduced risk of grades 2-4 acute gvhd (hr: 0.87; 95% ci: 0.77 to 0.98). The risk of chronic gvhd was lower in widowed compared with married patients (hr: 0.82; 95% ci: 0.67 to 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Overall survival after hct is not influenced by marital status, but associations were evident between marital status and grades 2-4 acute and chronic gvhd. To better appreciate the effects of marital status and social support, future research should consider using validated scales to measure social support and patient and caregiver reports of caregiver commitment, and to assess health-related quality of life together with health care utilization.

It is easy to dismiss staying with a bad plan as foolish, but most people are at risk of falling into this trap under the right circumstances. Plan continuation bias and escalation of commitment are two traps that have doomed many a project and plan. Thoughtfully applying design thinking can help overcome these obstacles and lead to successful outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid surgical approach was utilized to address cor triatriatum sinister in a 10-month-old castrated male domestic shorthair cat. Prior to surgery, open-mouth breathing occurred with exertion. The procedure was guided by transesophageal echocardiography and fluoroscopy. A minithoracotomy was performed, and the left atrial membrane was accessed via an introducer placed through the left ventricular apex. Sequential balloon dilations were performed, and the mean transmembrane gradient under anesthesia was reduced from 16 mmHg to 2.23 mmHg. Four months after surgery, the transmembrane mean gradient remained lower than prior to intervention. The cat tolerated surgery well and remains free of clinical signs nine months after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LUX is a two-phase (liquid/gas) xenon time projection chamber designed to detect nuclear recoils resulting from interactions with dark matter particles. Signals from the detector are processed with an FPGA-based digital trigger system that analyzes the incoming data in real-time, with just a few microsecond latency. The system enables first pass selection of events of interest based on their pulse shape characteristics and 3D localization of the interactions. It has been shown to be >99% efficient in triggering on S2 signals induced by only few extracted liquid electrons. It is continuously and reliably operating since its full underground deployment in early 2013. This document is an overview of the systems capabilities, its inner workings, and its performance.

Identification and analysis of faunal and botanical remains provide important insight into paleodiet, but tend to average dietary behaviors over many individuals and large windows of time. Stable isotope analyses of human bone collagen and apatite, while less specific regarding diet, nicely complement faunal and macrobotanical analyses by giving glimpses into the diets of individuals, but still time-average diet over large windows (ca. 5-20 years). Recent advances in micro-sectioning of teeth provide the opportunity to examine intra-individual changes in diet over small windows of time, as small as 1 year or less. We use stable isotope data from human third molar dentin as a window into examining intra-individual variation in diet at a hunter-gatherer archeological site in Central California (CA-SOL-11). Data show significant dietary variation between individuals, suggesting there were many ways that individuals met basic dietary needs at the site. Data also show that some individuals significantly altered their diet in the course of their lives, with pulses of high brackish-water exploitation lasting between 1 and 4 years. We suggest one of three scenarios to explain these fluctuations: that brackish water foods served as fallback resources, that some individuals shifted their place of residence, or that changing trade relations may have caused fluctuations in consumption of brackish-water foods.

Chung-Shien Lee,1,2 Sandhya Sharma,3 Emily Miao,4 Cheryl Mensah,5 Kevin Sullivan,2 Nagashree Seetharamu2 1Department of Clinical Health Professions, St. John’s University, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Queens, NY 11439, USA; 2Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Northwell Health Cancer Institute, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Lake Success, NY 11042, USA; 3Department of Hematology and Oncology, Denver Health, Denver, CO 80204, USA; 4Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; 5Weil Cornell School of Medicine, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Weill Cornell of Medicine, New York, NY, USACorrespondence: Nagashree SeetharamuDivision of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Northwell Health Cancer Institute, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, 450 Lakeville Road, Lake Success, NY 11042, USATel +1 516-734-8855Email nseetharamu@northwell.eduAbstract: Mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are common amongst those with non-small cell lung cancer and represent a major factor in treatment decisions, most notably in the advanced stages. Small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) that target the EGFR, such as erlotinib, gefitinib, icotinib, afatinib, dacomitinib and osimertinib, have all shown to be effective in this setting. Osimertinib, a third-generation EGFR TKI, is a favorable option, but almost all patients develop resistance at some time point. There are no effective treatment options for patients who progress on osimertinib, but ongoing trials will hopefully address this unmet need. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive review of the data with EGFR TKIs, management of the toxicities and the ongoing trials with this class of agents.Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, epidermal growth factor receptor, tyrosine kinase inhibitor

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. The LUX (Large Underground Xenon) experiment aims at the direct detection of dark matter particles via their collisions with xenon nuclei. The 370. kg two-phase liquid xenon time projection chamber measures simultaneously the scintillation and ionization from interactions in the target. The ratio of these two signals provides very good discrimination between potential nuclear recoil and electronic recoil signals to search for WIMP-nucleon scattering. The LUX detector operates at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Lead, South Dakota, USA) since February 2013. First results were presented in late 2013 setting the world's most stringent limits on WIMP-nucleon scattering cross-sections over a wide range of WIMP masses. A 300 day run beginning in 2014 will further improve the sensitivity and new calibration techniques will reduce systematics for the WIMP signal search.

The aims of this study were to examine differences in self-schemas between persons living with HIV/AIDS with and without depressive symptoms, and the degree to which these self-schemas predict depressive symptoms in this population. Self-schemas are beliefs about oneself and include self-esteem, HIV symptom management self-efficacy, and self-compassion. Becks cognitive theory of depression guided the analysis of data from a sample of 1766 PLHIV from the USA and Puerto Rico. Sixty-five percent of the sample reported depressive symptoms. These symptoms were significantly (p ≤ 0.05), negatively correlated with age (r = -0.154), education (r = -0.106), work status (r = -0.132), income adequacy (r = -0.204, self-esteem (r = -0.617), HIV symptom self-efficacy (r = - 0.408), and self-kindness (r = - 0.284); they were significantly, positively correlated with gender (female/transgender) (r = 0.061), white or Hispanic race/ethnicity (r = 0.047) and self-judgment (r = 0.600). Fifty-one percent of the variance (F = 177.530 (df = 1524); p < 0.001) in depressive symptoms was predicted by the combination of age, education, work status, income adequacy, self-esteem, HIV symptom self-efficacy, and self-judgment. The strongest predictor of depressive symptoms was self-judgment. Results lend support to Becks theory that those with negative self-schemas are more vulnerable to depression and suggest that clinicians should evaluate PLHIV for negative self-schemas. Tailored interventions for the treatment of depressive symptoms in PLHIV should be tested and future studies should evaluate whether alterations in negative self-schemas are the mechanism of action of these interventions and establish causality in the treatment of depressive symptoms in PLHIV.

[This corrects the article on p. 162 in vol. 5, PMID: 24795713.].

The objective of this study was to extend the psychometric evaluation of a brief version of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). A secondary analysis of data from an international sample of 1967 English-speaking persons living with HIV disease was used to examine the factor structure, and reliability of the 12-item Brief Version Self-Compassion Inventory (BVSCI). A Maximum Likelihood factor analysis and Oblimin with Kaiser Normalization confirmed a two-factor solution, accounting for 42.58% of the variance. The BVSCI supported acceptable internal consistencies, with 0.714 for the total scale and 0.822 for Factor I and 0.774 for Factor II. Factor I (lower self-compassion) demonstrated strongly positive correlations with measures of anxiety and depression, while Factor II (high self-compassion) was inversely correlated with the measures. No significant differences were found in the BVSCI scores for gender, age, or having children. Levels of self-compassion were significantly higher in persons with HIV disease and other physical and psychological health conditions. The scale shows promise for the assessment of self-compassion in persons with HIV without taxing participants, and may prove essential in investigating future research aimed at examining correlates of self-compassion, as well as providing data for tailoring self-compassion interventions for persons with HIV.

Janet Fraser Hale,1 Jill M Terrien,1 Mark Quirk,2 Kate Sullivan,2 Mitchell Cahan3 1Graduate School of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; 2Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; 3Department of Surgery, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA Purpose: Critical thinking underlies several Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)-defined core entrustable professional activities (EPAs). Critical-thinking ability affects health care quality and safety. Tested tools to teach, assess, improve, and nurture good critical-thinking skills are needed. This prospective randomized controlled pilot study evaluated the addition of deliberate reflection (DR), guidance with Web Initiative in Surgical Education (WISE-MD™) modules, to promote surgical clerks’ critical-thinking ability. The goal was to promote the application of reflective awareness principles to enhance learning outcomes and critical thinking about the module content.Participants and methods: Surgical clerkship (SC) students were recruited from two different blocks and randomly assigned to a control or intervention group. The intervention group was asked to record responses using a DR guide as they viewed two selected WISE-MD™ modules while the control group was asked to view two modules recording free thought. We hypothesized that the intervention group would show a significantly greater pre- to postintervention increase in critical-thinking ability than students in the control group.Results: Neither group showed a difference in pre- and posttest free-thought critical-thinking outcomes; however, the intervention group verbalized more thoughtful clinical reasoning during the intervention.Conclusion: Despite an unsupported hypothesis, this study provides a forum for discussion in medical education. It took a sponsored tool in surgical education (WISE-MD™) and posed the toughest evaluation criteria of an educational intervention; does it affect the way we think? and not just what we learn, but how we learn it? The answer is significant and will require more resources before we arrive at a definitive answer. Keywords: simulation, clinical reasoning, medical education strategies

Introduction To determine the association of fruit and vegetable consumption with overall sleep duration among pregnant women. Methods Data from the 2011 and 2012 Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS) were used. All women (n = 2951) of childbearing age (18-44 years) who were pregnant and responded to all fruit and vegetable consumption and sleep duration questions were included. Covariates included age, race, education level, exercise, and marital status. Data were analyzed using linear and ordinal logistic regression. Results Total daily fruit and vegetable consumption was not associated with sleep duration among pregnant women, controlling for confounders [[beta] = -0.03, (-0.07, 0.00)]. Orange and green vegetable consumption were both inversely associated with sleep duration [[beta] = -0.19, (-0.38, -0.01) and [beta] = -0.20, (-0.33, -0.08) respectively]. Ordinal logistic regression found that the odds of meeting or exceeding sleep time recommendations increased slightly with each unit increase in total fruit and vegetable consumption [OR = 1.05 (1.003, 1.092)] and for every unit increase in fruit consumption [OR = 1.12 (1.038, 1.208)]. Women who exercised within the past 30 days reported approximately 20 min of additional sleep compared to those who did not [[beta] = 0.32 (0.16, 0.49)]. Age, employment status, and marital status were also independently associated with sleep duration. Discussion Sleep duration in pregnant women was associated with exercise and other demographic factors, but only mildly associated with fruit and vegetable consumption. Future research should investigate the effects of additional factors including sleep quality, gestational age, family status and other medications as potential confounders., Author(s): C. H. Duke [sup.1] , J. A. Williamson [sup.1] , K. R. Snook [sup.1] , K. C. Finch [sup.1] , K. L. Sullivan [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.256302.0Department of [...]

Background/Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency in children remains a global concern. Although literature exists on the vitamin D status and its risk factors among children in the Middle East, findings have yielded mixed results, and large, representative community studies are lacking. Subjects/Methods: In a nationally representative survey of 1077 Jordanian children of preschool age (12-59 months) in Spring 2010, we measured 25(OH)D.sub.3 concentrations by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and calculated prevalence ratios for deficiency associated with various factors. Results: Results showed 19.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 16.4-23.3%) deficiency ( Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency pose significant public health problems in Jordanian children with female children disproportionately affected. Strong associations between vitamin D status in children and urban residency and maternal vitamin D status suggest that the behaviors related to sun exposure in urban mothers likely also affect the sun exposure and thus vitamin D status of their children., Author(s): E K Nichols [sup.1] , I M D Khatib [sup.2] , N J Aburto [sup.3] , M K Serdula [sup.3] , K S Scanlon [sup.3] , J P Wirth [...]

Few studies have focused on the application of the Tl isotopic system for geochemical exploration. We report ε 205Tl values of rock samples from the TL Deposit, British Columbia, Canada – a sediment-hosted massive sulfide (SHMS) deposit with characteristics of a Broken Hill-type deposit – and investigate relationships with major and trace element geochemistry. Maps generated using Tl isotope and trace element data indicate that ε 205Tl values can potentially be used to fingerprint ore mineralization at the TL Deposit. The sources of Tl and other metals (Ag, Pb, Zn) are assessed using Tl isotope data. Measured ε 205Tl values exhibit positive correlations with Pb, sedimentary exhalative metal index (Zn + 100*Pb + 100*Tl), and the redox proxy, U/Th, and negative correlations with Be, Cd, Ce, La, Ni and Th. Individual lithologies have distinct Tl isotopic compositions. Metal-rich heavily altered samples have relatively high ε 205Tl values (−5.0 to −2.5 ε -units) reflecting the euxinic conditions of the global Paleoproterozoic ocean and hydrothermal influence. Samples with lower ε 205Tl values (−15 to −7.6 ε -units) reflect a combination of their mineralogy (phyllosilicate minerals such as biotite and clinochlore), Tl from sediments reflecting the Tl isotopic composition of modern seawater, and possible low-temperature alteration processes. Samples with high Pb and Ag contents have high ε 205Tl values, indicating a hydrothermal origin of these metals, whereas Zn is highest in samples with low ε 205Tl values, indicating a low-temperature or sedimentary origin. Thallium isotopes, paired with conventional geochemical data, show promise as a useful tool for exploration of SHMS deposits with Broken Hill-type characteristics. Supplementary material: Major, minor and trace element contents of samples and reference materials, blank values, correlation coefficient values, and XRD patterns are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6370671 Thematic collection: This article is part of the Geochemical processes related to mined, milled, or natural metal deposits collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/topic/collections/geochemical-processes-related-to-mined-milled-or-natural-metal-deposits [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]