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Hypothesis Localized cooling of the external ear has a protective effect on the susceptibility to cisplatin-induced hearing loss. Background We previously demonstrated significant protection from cisplatin-induced hearing loss using cool water ear canal irrigation. However, the study was limited to a single bolus injection of cisplatin and an acute time period. Here, we examined the application of localized cooling of the ear canal with repeated doses of cisplatin, over an expanded period of time, and using two methods of cooling. Methods Twenty-four guinea pigs (12 male and 12 female) underwent auditory physiological testing (auditory brainstem response and distortion product otoacoustic emissions at 8-32 kHz) and pre/postadministration of cisplatin. Cisplatin (4 mg/kg i.p.) was administered in 3 weekly single injections for a total of 12 mg/kg. While anesthetized, the left ears of the guinea pigs were exposed to either cool water (22°C; ICS Water Caloric Irrigator), a cool ear bar (15°C, cooled by a Peltier device; TNM, Scion NeuroStim), or left uncooled as a sham control. The animals were tested 3 days post each dosage and 1 month post the final dose. At the end of the experiment the animals were euthanized for histological evaluation. Results We found that hearing loss was significantly reduced, and hair cell survival greatly improved, in animals that received cooling treatments compared to cisplatin-only control animals. No significant difference was observed between the two methods of cooling. Conclusion Localized cooling of the ear canal during administration of cisplatin mitigated loss of auditory function and loss of hair cells.

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are not monolithic as they differ in size, curriculum specializations, and a host of other characteristics. However, HBCUs share a mission of providing a higher education for Black students within the broader context of a discriminatory social environment. The ability to understand and articulate the fundamental characteristics, which shape Black colleges, can provide more nuanced conversations about these institutions’ contributions toward addressing equity and access for Black students in higher education. Historically, scholars have used social and cultural capital to explain the role HBCUs play in Black students’ academic careers. However, this article uses Community Cultural Wealth to discuss the various forms of capital that HBCUs impart to their students. Specifically, in this article, we argue that using such a lens when discussing HBCUs is important because it provides a more holistic and broader outlook regarding the forms of culture HBCUs provide to their students.

The study of college choice among all students continues to be crucial in higher education. More importantly, a critical examination of understanding the influences of college choice for ethnically...

ISBN: 9783700184416 Sanctity and the holy have been useful concepts for scholars seeking to compare religious cultures. This paper seeks to extend the project of comparisons by investigating the organisational contexts that produced collected biographies about holy women and men. It focuses on case studies from Latin and Byzantine Christianity and Buddhist China in the sixth century CE to highlight useful similarities in the authors’ conceptions of their work in the face of fluid traditions and contested religious environments. It also sketches some of the ways in which manuscript production and library organisation helped to generate the texts we have. Without consideration of these organisational factors, it is argued, the traditional project of comparing holy figures is on uncertain ground. Publisher PDF

Brookgreen Gardens, Georgetown County, South Carolina, includes the remains of Brookgreen Plantation and other historic rice plantations. The property contains archeological resources associated with enslaved African, African-American, and Native American people. Visitors are told that the piers and chimneys of the homes of the enslaved were made of local brick, from clay dug, processed, and fired on-site. The clay mining allegedly formed the ponds and water features still visible today. To test that assertion, the authors conducted experiments, including collecting and geochemically analyzing local clays from these water features, to better understand the brick-making practices of Brookgreen's enslaved workers. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, we determined that these ponds were not the source of clay used for bricks. Instead, a deposit of clay located closer to the historic rice fields, where much of the work on the plantation occurred, was geochemically consistent with the archeological bricks.

Coprolites (fossilized feces) can preserve a wide range of biogenic components. A mold of a hatchling turtle partial shell (carapace) referable to Taphrosphys sulcatus is here identified wi...

This study describes the use of three different nondestructive methods to determine whether or not nine artifacts belonging to the Karuk Tribe had been treated with common inorganic and organic pesticide agents. A portable X-Ray Fluorescence analyzer was used to estimate the concentrations of arsenic, mercury, and lead at two different locations on each artifact. Black beads on a necklace were found to contain 2.1% lead and 0.23% arsenic, which can be attributed to the natural composition of the beads. Leather on a drum mallet was found to contain 0.49% lead and 0.10% arsenic, which were due to the pigments used to decorate this item. Microwave Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry analysis of swab samples taken from the surfaces of an elk horn, bow, and musical drum showed nondetectable levels of arsenic and lead. Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry analysis of a second set of swab samples taken from the surface of each artifact showed nondetectable levels of p-dichlorobenzene, naphthalene, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, and other common organic pesticides. These results suggest that these artifacts were not treated with pesticides for preservation purposes, and hence they can be handled, worn, and used as intended.

This paper describes a method for determination of trihalomethanes (THMs) in drinking water via solid-phase microextraction (SPME) GC/MS as a means to develop and improve student understanding of the use of GC/MS for qualitative and quantitative analysis. In the classroom, students are introduced to SPME, GC/MS instrumentation, and the use of MS data for compound identification and quantification through traditional lectures and in-class problem solving. In the lab, they are introduced to GC/MS tuning and method development, learn how to use the GC/MS data system, and apply their knowledge to identify and quantify THMs in tap water samples. The method for this application is relatively simple, fast, and effective, and is based on the use of autosampler, SPME headspace sampling, a GC quadrupole ion trap MS instrument, and fluorobenzene as an internal standard. Data from analyses of standards demonstrated 1 ppb LODs, good linearity in the 5–100 ppb range, RSDs of 6% or lower, and good recoveries from spikes...

New technologies follow a predictable pattern of democratization over time. Specifically, a product that begins as merely useful over time often evolves into one that is usable, providing easy access to all functionality. If the technology survives the usability transition, it must become desirable. In this stage, the product evokes positive emotions from its users. This has been the case for the automotive industry as it moved from black colored cars driven by professional drivers and provided with its own toolbox to computers which initially required mathematicians and physicists to operate but which can now be operated by a four-year-old. This transition is now occurring before our eyes in healthcare, as medical diagnostic and treatment devices are taken out of the hands of specialized healthcare providers and placed into the hands, and homes, of patients. These useful devices now need to become usable and desirable. A successful transition will require the contributions of many disciplines, from environmental psychology, to user experience, from biomedical engineering to furniture design. It is exactly the kind of situation in which user experience thrives. This panel discusses the human capabilities, limitations, emotions and motivations which will determine whether this transition is a success. SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart (TAH) Freedom Driver is an example of a life-sustaining medical device that is used by patients and caregivers at-home. To design the next generation Freedom Driver, SynCardia has implemented a user centered design approach. A research team performed contextual interviews and participatory design sessions with current patients, former patients, caregivers, and experienced clinicians. The research uncovered the following design considerations to be addressed in the design of the new Freedom Driver.

This paper argues that the ways in which people talked about the natural world in the early Middle Ages significantly shaped responses to natural disasters and climate change beyond the effects of ...

Background: The seasonal influenza illness occurs every year in the United States during the cooler months from October to April, sometimes lasting longer. Although certain populations are more susceptible to this condition, data have shown that otherwise healthy individuals have experienced alarming rates of morbidity and mortality associated with these infections. Despite the CDC’s recommendation for influenza vaccination for all HCWs, compliance have been lagging among local health departments’ workforce. This practice arguably exposes a wide cross section of the U.S. population to the flu, while being served in these facilities. The utilitarian approach provides a framework to examine the ethical implications to the public of mandating influenza vaccination for these employees. Methods: A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted to address the following research questions: 1) Do local public health departments in Georgia mandate annual influenza vaccinations? 2) What are the ethical considerations for mandating influenza vaccinations for public health employees? and 3) What are the ethical considerations for mandating influenza vaccinations for the community? Twenty-five articles were included in the review. Results: Descriptive analysis shows that there is no mandatory vaccination policy in place for state or local departments in health in the state of Georgia. Most of the literature available relates to policy implementation within acute or long-term care facilities. A systematic review of mandatory influenza vaccination for public health workers focused on four areas: theoretical approaches to increase influenza vaccination coverage and support of, opposition to, and alternative strategies for influenza vaccinations. Conclusions: The utilitarian approach is sufficient for the influenza vaccination policy- making strategies and in the ethical approaches of mandating influenza vaccinations for local health department workforce in Georgia if need be, for vaccination targets are to be achieved. Keywords: Mandatory influenza vaccinations, local health departments, policy, ethics, utilitarian approach

India is an extremely diverse and culturally unique nation that is characterized by a large and growing population. Amidst such potential, however, it is plagued by many levels of corruption and often ineffective governmental actions. Such conditions have given rise to a large human trafficking market that has pervasively spread throughout the region. Human Trafficking is a complex system defined by a multitude of endogenous and exogenous variables which drive an inhumane operation. From the human traffickers at the source nodes to the individual clients who visit and sexual exploit the girls through prostitution, human trafficking is often seen in India as a natural part of society or as a necessary evil. This paper aims at identifying the key variables which drive the human trafficking market in order to explain how such dynamics and structures contribute to the system and to what extent.

In aquatic environments, plastic debris accumulates chemical pollutants from the surrounding water, potentially altering the fate of xenobiotics in these ecosystems. The effects of biofouling on the potential for plastic to sorb environmental pollutants remain poorly understood. In this study, we test the hypothesis that concentrations of metals are directly related to biofilm accumulation on microplastics submerged in natural estuarine waters. Two types of pre-production plastic pellets (polylactic acid (PLA) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE)) and glass pellets, were suspended for up to 28 days in an urbanized estuary (San Francisco Bay, California) to investigate how biofilm affects the accumulation of metals on these materials. During the initial weeks of the experiment, biofilm growth differed between locations, but after 28 days, PLA and LDPE had similar amounts of biofilm at the two field sites. Biofilm was the only significant predictor variable for Ba, Cs, Fe, Ga, Ni and Rb, and simple regressions of these metals after one month of submersion predicted much of the variability in the data (respective adjusted R2 values: 0.46, 0.90, 0.86, 0.81, 0.87, 0.90; p

ObjectivesThe aims of the present study were to assess the association and interactions of physical workload and poor health with health-related job loss (HRJL) among older workers, and the association and interactions of occupational social class and poor health with HRJL.MethodsData were used from an existing prospective cohort study, Health and Employment after Fifty, where employed or self-employed workers aged 50–64 years (n=4909) were followed-up between 2014 and 2016. Associations between potential determinants (self-perceived health status, physical workload and occupational social class) and 2-year HRJL were examined by Cox regression analyses. To study whether physical workload or occupational social class moderates the influence of poor health on HRJL, additive and multiplicative interactions were calculated.ResultsOlder workers with poor self-perceived health status had increased risk of HRJL during the 2-year follow-up period (men: HR 2.57 (95%CI: 1.68 to 3.92); women: HR 3.26 (95%CI: 2.33 to 4.55)). Furthermore, men with high physical workload were at increased risk for HRJL (HR 1.63 (95%CI: 1.09 to 2.43)). No significant interactions (pConclusionOur study indicates that older workers in poor health, and older workers with a physically demanding job, are at increased risk of HRJL. Having a physically demanding job or working in routine/manual occupations does not moderate the association between poor health and HRJL.

This chapter introduces the premise of this book and reflects on its intent to not reproduce or repeat the deficit narrative that is often focused on Minority-Serving Institutional (MSI) leadership in general and Historically Black College and University (HBCU) leadership specifically. This chapter also briefly discusses MSIs and situates their importance in the wider context of society.

The VVR (Variational Variance Reduction) method has been tested extensively on criticality problems and has proven to be effective, but its application for shielding problems has been limited. In this work, the VVR method is tested on source-detector type problems that are of interest in nonproliferation applications. A 3D multigroup Monte Carlo code that uses parts of the framework of Attila, a production deterministic code for radiation transport problems, was developed to prototype hybrid (Deterministic/Monte Carlo) variance reduction techniques. The VVR method is applied to the forward Monte Carlo simulations based on a deterministically calculated adjoint solution using Attila. The performance of the VVR method when applied with 3 different configurations of the forward simulation are tested: (1) Monte Carlo calculation with implicit absorption, (2) Monte Carlo calculation with the Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) based weight windows method and (3) Monte Carlo calculatio...

While research has shown that the racial diversity of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is increasing, the efforts of student affairs professionals to foster racial inclusivity are under examined. This case study discusses findings from student affairs professionals at one HBCU to understand what they are doing to foster a supportive environment for non-Black students. Findings presented in this article are critical as HBCUs seek to increase the racial diversity of their student bodies.

BackgroundEnhanced patient outcomes and accreditation criteria have led schools to integrate interprofessional education (IPE). While several studies describe IPE curricula at individual institutions, few examine practices across multiple institutions.PurposeTo examine the IPE integration at different institutions and determine gaps where there is potential for improvement.MethodIn this mixed methods study, we obtained survey results from 16 U.S. medical schools, 14 of which reported IPE activities.ResultsThe most common collaboration was between medical and nursing schools (93%). The prevalent format was shared curriculum, often including integrated modules (57%). Small group activities represented the majority (64%) of event settings, and simulation-based learning, games and role-play (71%) were the most utilized learning methods. Thirteen schools (81.3%) reported teaching IPE competencies, but significant variation existed. Gaps and barriers in the study include limitations of using a convenience sample, limited qualitative analysis, and survey by self-report.ConclusionsMost IPE activities focused on the physician role. Implementation challenges included scheduling, logistics and financial support. A need for effective faculty development as well as measures to examine the link between IPE learning outcomes and patient outcomes were identified.

Background/Context Transfer is a core function of community colleges; this is a critical point given that these institutions serve as the primary pathway into postsecondary education for Black men. However, too few Black men identify transfer as a primary goal and/or eventually transfer to a 4-year college or university. Purpose Using Nora and Rendón's (1990) research on transfer predisposition as a theoretical guide, this study investigated determinants of Black male community college students’ predisposition to transfer from a community college to a 4-year university. This research sought to determine whether student-level and institutional-level measures of engagement were predictive of transfer intent. This research also examined whether engagement predictors at the student level had randomly varying slopes across colleges. Population This study employed a quantitative analysis of secondary data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). A total of 11,384 Black men nested within 259 community colleges were included in the analytic sample. Research Design Data were analyzed using multilevel, multinomial logistic regression. Students’ predisposition to transfer was modeled in three categories, transfer as a primary goal, secondary goal, or not a goal. The first analysis examined predictors of students’ intent to transfer using student-level variables while the second analysis added institutional-level variables. In the third analysis, the researchers’ constructed random slopes and intercepts models to investigate whether the student-level engagement slopes on the outcome differed across the nested structure. Findings/Results Students with transfer as a primary goal (as opposed to not being a goal) were more likely to be younger, have earned more credits, non-first-generation, full-time enroll-ees, and to have taken developmental education courses. They were also more likely to spend more hours per week studying and involved in extracurricular activities. These students were also more engaged in active and collaborative learning and used student services on campus. Conclusions/Recommendations This research has shown that that the factors influencing Black men's predisposition toward transfer largely mirror that of their White and Hispanic peers. Findings from this study demonstrated that social integration was a positive predictor of students’ intent to transfer; the finding diverges from prior research on Black men in the community college, which have shown social integration to serve as a negative predictor of success outcomes.

This qualitative study contributes an original holistic understanding of the perceptions and experiences of non-Black students (e.g., Asian American, Latino, and White) as they matriculate into historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), persist to graduation, and reflect on their experiences as graduates at HBCUs. Findings from this study confirm, challenge, and extend existing research regarding the preenrollment experience, institutional experience, and culminating outcomes of non-Black students enrolled in HBCUs. Implications are offered for researchers, practitioners, and current and future non-Black HBCU students.

Issue : Medical educators and educational researchers continue to improve their processes for managing medical student and program evaluation data using sound ethical principles. This is becoming even more important as curricular innovations are occurring across undergraduate and graduate medical education. Dissemination of findings from this work is critical, and peer-reviewed journals often require an institutional review board (IRB) determination. Approach : IRB data repositories, originally designed for the longitudinal study of biological specimens, can be applied to medical education research. The benefits of such an approach include obtaining expedited review for multiple related studies within a single IRB application and allowing for more flexibility when conducting complex longitudinal studies involving large datasets from multiple data sources and/or institutions. In this paper, we inform educators and educational researchers on our analysis of the use of the IRB data repository approach to manage ethical considerations as part of best practices for amassing, pooling, and sharing data for educational research, evaluation, and improvement purposes. Implications : Fostering multi-institutional studies while following sound ethical principles in the study of medical education is needed, and the IRB data repository approach has many benefits, especially for longitudinal assessment of complex multi-site data. Keywords: educational research; ethical review; program evaluation; longitudinal assessment (Published: 20 July 2016) Citation: Med Educ Online 2016, 21 : 32021 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/meo.v21.32021

In this paper we present a reconceptualization of the social dimension of the human niche and the evolutionary process that brought it into existence. We agree with many other evolutionary approaches that a key aspect of the human niche is a social environment consisting primarily of cooperating and altruistic individuals, not a Hobbesian social environment of “war of all against all.” However, in contrast to the conception of this social environment as consisting of individuals who, in Boyd and Richerson’s words, “cooperate with large groups of unrelated individuals,” we propose that it is more accurately described as consisting of cooperating individuals who currently are often nonkin but who, until relatively recently in human existence, were primarily, and in many cases almost exclusively, kin. In contrast to the conception of this social environment coming into existence by way of a process of selection within and between groups, we propose that it is the result of selection operating on traditions o...

Proprotein convertase (PC) subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibits the clearance of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from plasma by directly interacting with the LDL receptor (LDLR). As the interaction promotes elevated plasma LDL cholesterol levels and a predisposition to cardiovascular disease (CVD), it has attracted much interest as a therapeutic target. While anti-PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies have been successful in the treatment of hypercholesteremia by decreasing CVD risk, their high cost and a requirement for injection have prohibited widespread use. The advent of an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of the PCSK9-LDLR interaction is an attractive alternative, however efforts have been tempered as the binding interface is unfavourable for binding by small organic molecules. Despite its challenging nature, we report herein the discovery of compound 3f as a small molecule inhibitor of PCSK9. The kinase inhibitor nilotinib emerged from a computational screen that was applied to identify compounds that may bind to a cryptic groove within PCSK9 and proximal to the LDLR-binding interface. A subsequent in vitro PCSK9-LDLR binding assay established that nilotinib was a bona fide but modest inhibitor of the interaction (IC50 = 9.8 µM). Through multiple rounds of medicinal chemistry, 3f emerged as a lead-like molecule by demonstrating disruption of the PCSK9-LDLR interaction at nanomolar levels in vitro (IC50 = 537 nM) with no inhibitory activity (IC50 > 10 µM) against a small panel of kinases. Compound 3f restored LDL uptake by liver cells at sub-micromolar levels and demonstrated excellent bioavailability when delivered subcutaneously in mice. Most significantly, compound 3f lowered total cholesterol levels in the plasma of wild-type mice, thereby providing proof-of-concept that the notion of a small molecule inhibitor against PCSK9 is therapeutically viable.