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The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand how Black undergraduate music education students make meaning of their lived experiences in predominantly White schools of music (PWSOM). The study was guided by the overall research questions: (1) What makes the lived experience of Black undergraduate music education students unique? and (2) What meaning(s) and understanding(s) do Black undergraduate music education students ascribe to their experiences in PWSOM? Data were collected primarily through open-ended interviews with nine Black undergraduate music education students in PWSOM in the United States. Data analysis revealed seven emergent themes, including (a) navigating the negative perceptions of White people; (b) making White people comfortable; (c) working harder to prove myself; (d) "Do I belong here?"; (e) a climate of racial and cultural insensitivity; (f) distrust of White faculty; and (g) sacrifice and survival. Findings were interpreted using Du Bois's theory of double consciousness and van Manen's four existentials of lived experience. Interpretation revealed the essence of the phenomenon to be living a dissonant existence.

RationaleTreatments with the serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin are being investigated for multiple neuropsychiatric disorders. Because many patients with these disorders use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), understanding interactions between psilocybin and SSRIs is critical for evaluating the safety, efficacy, and scalability of psilocybin-based treatments. Current knowledge about these interactions is limited, as most clinical psilocybin research has prohibited concomittant SSRI use.ObjectivesWe aimed to explore potential interactions between psilocybin and SSRIs by characterizing peoples' real-world experiences using psilocybin mushrooms and SSRIs together.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search of Reddit for posts describing psilocybin mushroom and SSRI coadministration. We identified 443 eligible posts and applied qualitative content analysis to each.Results8% of posts reported negative physical or psychological effects resulting from coadministration. These included 13 reports that may reflect serotonin toxicity, and 1 concerning for a psychotic/manic episode. 54% of posts described reduced intensity of the acute psilocybin experience, but 39% reported unchanged intensity with SSRI coadministration.ConclusionsPsilocybin's interactions with SSRIs are likely complex and may depend on multiple factors. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate whether psilocybin treatments are reliably safe and effective in the setting of SSRI use.

Objective: As the number of individuals diagnosed with dementia increases, so does the need to understand the preferences of persons living with dementia (PLWD) and caregivers for how clinicians can deliver a dementia diagnosis effectively, which can be a difficult process. This study describes the diagnostic communication preferences of PLWD and caregivers. Methods: We conducted semi-structured individual phone interviews with two groups: PLWD who were diagnosed in the past two years (n = 11) and family caregivers of PLWD (n = 19) living in Florida. PLWD and caregivers were not recruited/enrolled as dyads. Results: The groups' communication preferences were largely similar. Data were analyzed thematically into five themes: communicate the diagnosis clearly, meet information needs, discuss PLWD/caregiver resources, prepare for continued care, and communicate to establish and maintain relationships. Conclusion: Participants wanted clear communication, information, and support, but differed in some details (e.g. the language used to describe the diagnosis and the amount/type of desired information). Clinicians can apply general principles but will need to tailor them to individual preferences of PLWD and caregivers. Innovation: Limited research has elicited PLWD and caregivers' communication preferences for receiving dementia diagnoses, particularly through an individualized data collection method allowing for richer descriptions and deeper understanding.

Abstract Reintroductions are often needed to recover carnivore populations and restore ecological processes. Felids are common subjects of reintroduction efforts, but published population models informing felid reintroduction plans are uncommon, and poor planning has sometimes caused issues in felid reintroduction programs. In the United States, ocelots (Leopardus pardalis pardalis) are classified as endangered, and recovery requires population expansion into historic habitat. A multi‐organization effort is underway to establish a new ocelot population in Texas by releasing ocelots into an area of 478 km2 of suitable habitat in ocelots' historic but now unoccupied range. In this study, we used population viability analyses to compare different ocelot reintroduction strategies for the identified reintroduction area. Based on a potential ocelot breeding program's limitations, we modeled reintroduction using a founding population of no more than six ocelots and no more than four ocelots released per year for no more than 15 subsequent years. Within these limitations, we assessed projected population abundances and extinction risks after 30 years for 20 different reintroduction strategies. We found that long‐term releases are necessary to establish a viable population; under conservative model assumptions, releasing six ocelots in the initial year and then releasing four individuals annually for an additional 10–15 years is necessary for attaining a projected population greater than 36.62 ocelots (baseline) with

Neutron interferometry has played a distinctive role in fundamental science and characterization of materials. Moiré neutron interferometers are candidate next-generation instruments: they offer microscopy-like magnification of the signal, enabling direct camera recording of interference patterns across the full neutron wavelength spectrum. Here we demonstrate the extension of phase-grating moiré interferometry to two-dimensional geometries. Our fork-dislocation phase gratings reveal phase singularities in the moiré pattern, and we explore orthogonal moiré patterns with two-dimensional phase gratings. Our measurements of phase topologies and gravitationally induced phase shifts are in good agreement with theory. These techniques can be implemented in existing neutron instruments to advance interferometric analyses of emerging materials and precision measurements of fundamental constants.

SLC4A11 is the most abundant membrane transport protein in corneal endothelial cells. Its functional presence is necessary to support the endothelial fluid pump that draws fluid from the corneal stroma, preventing corneal edema. Several molecular actions have been proposed for SLC4A11 including H2O transport and cell adhesion. One of the most reproduced actions that SLC4A11 mediates is a H+ (or OH−) conductance that is enhanced in the presence of NH4Cl. The mechanism by which this occurs is controversial with some providing evidence in favor of NH3-H+ cotransport and others providing evidence for uncoupled H+ transport that is indirectly stimulated by the effects of NH4Cl upon intracellular pH and membrane potential. In the present study we provide new evidence and revisit previous studies, to support a model in which NH4Cl causes direct allosteric activation of SLC4A11 by means of an acidic shift in the intracellular pK (pKi) that governs the relationship between intracellular pH (pHi) and SLC4A11 H+-conductance. These findings have important implications for the assignment of a physiological role for SLC4A11.

Objectives Only 5–8% of adults with cancer participate in cancer clinical trials (CCTs), with even lower rates among underrepresented groups. Improving oncologists’ communication skills may enhance the frequency and quality of their discussions with patients about CCTs, consequently increasing participation. However, little is known about interest in or presence of CCT-related communication training during Hematology-Oncology (Hem-Onc) fellowships. This study aimed to describe, from the perspective of Hem-Onc fellowship program directors (PDs): (1) the current landscape of CCT education for Hem-Onc fellows; (2) the acceptability and feasibility of implementing a CCT communication skills workshop for Hem-Onc fellows. Methods We used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach. PDs were surveyed and interviewed about their graduate medical education (GME) programs’ current CCT curriculum, training challenges, fellows’ CCT knowledge and CCT communication skills, and preferences for a CCT communication workshop. Results PDs were surveyed (n = 40) and interviewed (n = 12). PDs reported that their institutions prioritize CCT accrual (M = 4.58, SD = .78; 1-5 scale, 5 = “Strongly Agree”) and clinical research training (M = 4.20, SD = .85). CCT skills that programs least often addressed were how to (1) discuss CCTs with newly diagnosed patients, (2) talk to patients about CCTs when none are available, and (3) help patients find CCTs at other institutions. PDs were interested in a CCT communication workshop for fellows (“yes” = 67.5%, “maybe” = 32.5%) and said training would be feasible (M = 4.28, SD = .78) and useful (M = 4.47, SD = .78). Qualitative results described programs’ current approaches to CCT education and insights about developing and implementing CCT communication training. Conclusions There is a clear need to improve CCT communication skills training in Hem-Onc fellowship programs and to implement and scale such training to increase CCT participation, especially among diverse patient populations. Furthermore, Hem-Onc GME PDs view such training as feasible and useful.

Abstract Plant diversity effects on community productivity often increase over time. Whether the strengthening of diversity effects is caused by temporal shifts in species-level overyielding (i.e., higher species-level productivity in diverse communities compared with monocultures) remains unclear. Here, using data from 65 grassland and forest biodiversity experiments, we show that the temporal strength of diversity effects at the community scale is underpinned by temporal changes in the species that yield. These temporal trends of species-level overyielding are shaped by plant ecological strategies, which can be quantitatively delimited by functional traits. In grasslands, the temporal strengthening of biodiversity effects on community productivity was associated with increasing biomass overyielding of resource-conservative species increasing over time, and with overyielding of species characterized by fast resource acquisition either decreasing or increasing. In forests, temporal trends in species overyielding differ when considering above- versus belowground resource acquisition strategies. Overyielding in stem growth decreased for species with high light capture capacity but increased for those with high soil resource acquisition capacity. Our results imply that a diversity of species with different, and potentially complementary, ecological strategies is beneficial for maintaining community productivity over time in both grassland and forest ecosystems.

This paper proposes a linear algebra-based supervised machine learning algorithm for the symbolic representation of arbitrarily non-linear and recursive systems. It introduces multiple extensions to the algorithmic class of “Forward Orthogonal Least Squares Regressions” (FOrLSR), which performs dictionary-based sparse symbolic regressions. The regression, being only provided with the system’s input and output, performs variable combinations and non-linear transformations from a given dictionary of analytic expressions and selects the optimal ones to represent the unknown system. This yields a “symbolic” system representation, having the minimum number of terms to enforce sparsity ( $L_{0}$ -norm), while keeping the highest possible precision. The first proposed algorithm (rFOrLSR) restructures the FOrLSR to be in matrix form (for large scale GPU and BLAS-like optimizations), recursive (to reduce the computational complexity from quadratic in model length to linear) and allows regressors to be imposed (to include user expertise and perform tree-searches). Furthermore, the dictionary search is restructured into a breadth-first arborescence traversal kept sparse by five proposed theorems, four corollaries and one pruning mechanism, while adding a validation procedure for the final model selection. The proposed arborescence (AOrLSR) scans large search-space segments, significantly increasing the probability of finding an optimal system representation, while only computing a marginal fraction of the search-space. The regression and arborescence are solvers for arbitrarily-determined linear equation systems which maximize sparsity in the solution vectors.

Our study is among the first to provide a comprehensive review of cross-national patterns of gender differences in various STEM-related constructs--achievement, beliefs, attitudes, aspirations, and participation, concerning country-level gender equality. We complement our review with empirical analyses utilizing rigorous methodologies and richer datasets from individual and country levels. Specifically, we examine gender differences in relative strength measures (e.g., strength in science relative to math and reading) and STEM aspirations and graduation, using PISA 2015 and PISA 2018 data from 78 countries/regions (N = 941,475). Our analysis corroborates our literature review, indicating that support for both the gender stratification hypothesis and the gender equality paradox (i.e., whether gender gaps favoring male students are smaller or larger in more gender-equal countries) is generally inconsistent and weak. Various factors contribute to this inconsistency, including specific outlier countries, different years of data collection, diverse data sources, a range of composite and domain-specific measures of gender equality, and statistical models. Our study also introduces a robust statistical model to compare performances in three subjects and evaluate the predictive power of relative strength measures for STEM aspirations at the student level. Our analyses reveal that general academic achievement and math achievement relative to reading are key predictors of STEM aspirations, compared with science achievement relative to math and reading. By juxtaposing both levels of analysis, our findings offer a more nuanced understanding of gender differences in decision-making processes that lead to careers in STEM-related fields.

Introduction Although limited, recent research suggests that contact sport participation might have an adverse long-term effect on brain health. Further work is required to determine whether this includes an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease and/or subsequent changes in cognition and behaviour. The Advanced BiomaRker, Advanced Imaging and Neurocognitive Health Study will prospectively examine the neurological, psychiatric, psychological and general health of retired elite-level rugby union and association football/soccer players.Methods and analysis 400 retired athletes will be recruited (200 rugby union and 200 association football players, male and female). Athletes will undergo a detailed clinical assessment, advanced neuroimaging, blood testing for a range of brain health outcomes and neuropsychological assessment longitudinally. Follow-up assessments will be completed at 2 and 4 years after baseline visit. 60 healthy volunteers will be recruited and undergo an aligned assessment protocol including advanced neuroimaging, blood testing and neuropsychological assessment. We will describe the previous exposure to head injuries across the cohort and investigate relationships between biomarkers of brain injury and clinical outcomes including cognitive performance, clinical diagnoses and psychiatric symptom burden.Ethics and dissemination Relevant ethical approvals have been granted by the Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 17/LO/2066). The study findings will be disseminated through manuscripts in clinical/academic journals, presentations at professional conferences and through participant and stakeholder communications.