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In the last decade, geolocators have been implemented to track birds and have provided insights into the migration patterns of small birds not previously available. These devices have been assumed to have minimal impact on survival, although formal survival analyses are often not conducted when geolocators are used. We deployed geolocators on 29 Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and compared their survival rates over 2 subsequent seasons to 95 birds caught at the same time and site but that had standard aluminum bands only. We recovered 1 geolocator with usable data. The migratory track for this bird indicated stopover behavior, more rapid movement in spring than in fall, and significant over-water travel during spring migration. We found that birds with geolocators had an annual survival probability of 0.07, compared to 0.60 for birds without geolocators. Although this result should be interpreted with caution due to small sample sizes, it suggests that geolocators may affect survival of small aerial insectivore species. Geolocators provide invaluable information on migratory routes of birds, but the effects of geolocators on survival should be further studied. Received 13 February 2024. Accepted 25 June 2024. Key words: aerial insectivore, mark-recapture, migration, survival rates, tracking. (Spanish)--En la ultima decada, se han implementado geolocalizadores para seguimiento de aves y han dado nuevas perspectivas en patrones de migraciones de aves pequenas que no estaban disponibles anteriormente. Se ha asumido que estos aparatos tienen un impacto minimo en la sobrevivencia, aunque no se ha conducido frecuentemente analisis al usar geolocalizadores. Desplegamos geolocalizadores en 29 golondrinas Petrochelidon pyrrhonota y comparamos sus tasas de sobrevivencia en las 2 estaciones siguientes con la de 95 aves capturadas al mismo tiempo y sitios pero que solo tenian bandas estandar de aluminio. Recuperamos 1 geolocalizador con datos utilizables. El seguimiento migratorio para esta ave indicaba comportamiento de paradas migratorias, un movimiento mas rapido en primavera que en otono y un viaje migratorio de primavera significativamente sobre el agua. Encontramos que aves con geolocalizadores teman una tasa de probabilidad de sobrevivencia de 0.07, comparada con 0.60 para aves sin geolocalizador. Aunque este resultado debe de ser interpretado con cautela debido a muestras pequenas, sugiere que los geolocalizadores podrian afectar la sobrevivencia de especies insectivoras aereas pequenas. Los geolocalizadores proporcionan informacion invaluable de rutas migratorias de aves, pero los efectos de los geolocalizadores en la sobrevivencia deben de ser mas estudiados. Palabras clave: captura-recaptura, insectivoros aereos, migracion, seguimiento, tasas de sobrevivencia., Until recently, logistics of studying birds outside of the breeding season have been difficult as researchers are limited in the amount of time that can be spent observing individuals and [...]

Visualizing oneself joining imagined communities of target language (TL) use represents a potent motivation for language study. Given that rationales for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme include fostering internationalization, a student-centered classroom, and communicative skills, teaching to promote learners envisioning themselves gaining access to different imagined social groups via the TL is further warranted in this program. Yet no research has examined the actual role of imagined TL communities in JET teaching. This project responded by investigating how JET participants foster imagined communities of English use among learners. Materials produced by JET teachers from across Japan were collected with a content analysis being undertaken to determine how they portrayed connections between the language and social group participation. Results of this analysis of 5079 teaching materials indicated that most (2783) involved language practice divorced from social connections. The remainder ran the gamut from lessons in which social group information was tangential and not connected to particular language to a smaller number in which connections between language and potential future social group participation were strong. These results suggest that the possibility of leveraging connections between language and social group participation to promote imagined communities of TL use among learners is possible within the JET paradigm and that this avenue for learner motivation could be further exploited. Given the importance of these findings for motivation coupled with the adoption of initiatives similar to JET across Asia, these results have implications both within and outside of the JET Programme.

Abstract Human papillomavirus (HPV)‐related cervical and nasopharyngeal cancers differ in molecular mechanisms underlying the oncogenic processes. The disparity may be attributed to differential expression of oncoproteins. The current study investigated the host oncogenes expression pattern in HPV‐associated cervical and nasopharyngeal cancer. Formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissues originating from the nasopharyngeal and cervical regions were screened using Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. Genomic DNA and total RNA were extracted from confirmed cancer biopsies and non‐cancer tissues (NC). HPV was detected by PCR using MY09/GP5+/6+ primers. Protein expression levels of AKT, IQGAP1, and MMP16 in HPV‐infected cancers and controls were determined by immunohistochemistry. RT‐qPCR was used to profile mRNAs of the oncogenes. AKT and IQGAP1 proteins were highly expressed in the epithelial cancers compared with the non‐cancer tissues (p 0.05). The oncoproteins expression level between the HPV‐positive and HPV‐negative cancer biopsies showed no significant difference (p

Thelazia callipaeda eyeworm was considered an exotic parasite in North America until an autochthonous case was reported in a dog from New York, USA, in 2020 (1). T. callipaeda eyeworm [...]

A quantum system's energy landscape may have points where multiple energy surfaces are degenerate and that exhibit singular geometry of the wave function manifold, with major consequences for the system's properties. Ultracold atoms in optical lattices have been used to indirectly characterize such points in the band structure. We measured the non-Abelian transformation produced by transport directly through the singularities. We accelerated atoms along a quasi-momentum trajectory that enters, turns, and then exits the singularities at linear and quadratic band-touching points of a honeycomb lattice. Measurements after transport identified the topological winding numbers of these singularities to be 1 and 2, respectively. Our work introduces a distinct method for probing singularities that enables the study of non-Dirac singularities in ultracold-atom quantum simulators.

This study empirically investigated the invisibility, or symbolic annihilation, in Japanese English education of social groups at risk of marginalization. To do so, I assembled a corpus of 3746 English teaching materials selected because they involved world social group representation and because they were disseminated through the JET Program, a Japanese government initiative intended to promote internationalization and interculturalism in schools across Japan. Corpus analysis indicated various forms of symbolic annihilation. Most broadly, the world was portrayed as a dichotomy between Japan and countries of the Kachruvian Inner Circle. Europe was of secondary prominence while other regions were poorly represented. These materials reflected Christonormativity as well with adherents to other religions being symbolically annihilated. The visibility of those other than Anglos and Japanese was likewise highly attenuated. Stereotypes equating ethnicity and nationality were prevalent with Inner Circle dialog characters, for example, rarely having non-Anglo names. Not only did this corpus thus evidence lingering Inner Circle-centrism, but this was a Christonormative, white, Anglo, Inner Circle/Euro-centric imaginary. These results thus evinced a hidden curriculum reinscribing stereotypes and regimes of social power, one working at cross purposes to the stated purpose of the JET Program as promoting internationalization and interculturalism.

With increasing canonicity, particularly within higher education assessment, the demonstrable achievement of goals, or the delivery of a program, or as one scholar wryly deemed it, the "manipulation of the independent variable" (Moncher and Prinz 1991, p. 247), are commonly referred to as implementation fidelity or fidelity of implementation (FOI). FOI research examines what the influential study by Carroll et al. (2007) summarizes as any impactful "variation[s] affecting the credibility and utility of research" (p. 1). Assessment scholars emphasize that quality data should lead inexplicably to better plans, with the ultimate hope for consequence of enhancing learning. Some universities' assessment processes involve peer-to-peer coaching. Essentially, they ensure assigned departments' end-of-cycle compliance with meta-assessment protocols typically reified within universities' formal internal processes. Institutionalization of FOI practices would require those coaches to provide more formative coaching, specifically in the form of implementational intervention auditors for the value-added five FOI protocols (i.e., 1. Program differentiation; 2. Adherence; 3. Quality; 4. Exposure; and 5. Responsiveness). Contrary to some current inferences, some bureaucracy and standardization of assessment processes are needed. However, since the standardized algorithm is intentionally designed to demonstrate continuous improvement success or lack of success, the proposed model places the emphasis where it should be in modeling an enlarged process for demonstrating assessment of improvement.

Objective: Implementation science tools were used to identify facilitators and barriers to adopting a tobacco-free policy on a historically Black college/university (HBCU). Participants: Study participants included 13 University staff, two students, and two public health educators/school alumni. Data were collected in 2015-2016. Methods: The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to develop questions for focus groups and individual interviews. The CFIR was also used by two research team members to code transcripts independently, using an iterative deduction process to achieve [greater than or equal to]85% agreement on CFIR domains. Coded quotations were evaluated using the Qualitative Implementation Framework (QIF) to ascertain next adoption planning steps. Results: Qualitative data suggested that building capacity for tobacco control, linking policy to HBCU identity and priorities such as addressing marijuana use might facilitate adoption of a tobacco-free campus policy. Conclusions: Implementation science tools may be useful for planning adoption of comprehensive tobacco-free policies at HBCUs.

This project addressed the role of foreign language (FL) classes in a successful first-year student experience at one Japanese university. I assessed six dimensions of this experience: Match between high school FL classes and university FL classes, role of first-year FL course grades for academic progress, role of first-year FL classes in later studies, students' attitudes toward the classes, promotion of language learning, and the success of these classes in fostering international peer interactions. Employing a mixed methods approach with one year of on-site fieldwork, I observed 78 FL classes, interviewed 40 students, five university and nine high school FL teachers, and analyzed teaching materials, homework, and student grades from 58 FL classes. Results indicated that, although these classes did not detract from students' overall academic goals mainly due to the classes' modest aims and lack of connections to later academic work, they largely failed to promote robust language learning, positive affect, and international peer interaction. This study especially indicates the need for improved connections between high school English and college-level EMI courses. Also, students with previous costly English learning opportunities fared better in English classes which suggests the importance of greater attention to equity in language education.

Introduction: Prehospital pediatric endotracheal intubation has lower first-pass success rates compared to adult intubations and in general may not offer a survival benefit. Increasingly, emergency medical services (EMS) systems are deploying prehospital extraglottic airways (EGA) for primary pediatric airway management, yet little is known about their efficacy. We evaluated the impact of a pediatric prehospital airway management protocol change, inclusive of EGAs, on airway management and patient outcomes in children in cardiac arrest or respiratory failure.Methods: Using data from a large, metropolitan, fire-based EMS service, we performed an observational study of pediatric patients with respiratory failure or cardiac arrest who were transported by EMS before and after implementation of an evidence-based airway management protocol inclusive of the addition of the EGA. The primary outcome was change in frequency of intubation attempts when paired with an initial EGA. Secondary outcomes included EGA and intubation success rates and patient survival to hospitalization and discharge.Results: We included 265 patients age

Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) populations have been in apparent decline across their native range in North America for decades. Several hypotheses exist for the causes of these declines, including loss of wetlands. We used time‐to‐detection data from 925 surveys from 276 sites across Rhode Island, USA, between 2021–2023 to fit an occupancy model that related the probability of muskrat occupancy at a site to land cover classification. We found that muskrat occupancy was higher in areas with more open water, urban land cover, or a second‐order or larger stream, and lower in areas with salt water. We estimated changes in wetland area throughout Rhode Island using the National Land Cover Database classifications from 2001 and 2019 and found a net loss in wetland cover of 219 ha. We calculated the distance between wetland patches in each of these periods and found that patches were closer together than the dispersal distance of muskrats, suggesting isolation is unlikely to be driving muskrat declines. Additionally, when we used our model to predict changes in muskrat occupancy between 2001 and 2019, both mean and median predicted occupancy changed by <0.005. These results indicate that muskrat declines are not driven by habitat loss, and suggest future research is needed that focuses on other hypothesized mechanisms of muskrat declines such as disease, declining habitat quality, predation, and competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliability engineering faces many of the same challenges today that it did at its inception in the 1950s. The fundamental issue remains uncertainty in system representation, specifically related to performance model structure and parameterization. Details of a design are unavailable early in the development process and therefore performance models must either account for the range of possibilities or be wrong. Increasing system complexity has compounded this uncertainty. In this work, we seek to understand how the reliability engineering literature has shifted over time. We exe cute a systematic literature review of 30,543 reliability engineering papers (covering roughly a third of the reliability papers indexed by Elsevier's Engineering Village. Topic modeling was performed on the abstracts of those papers to identify 279 topics. The hierarchical topic reduction resulted in the identification of eight top‐level method topics (prognostics, statistics, maintenance, quality control, management, physics of failure, modeling, and risk assessment) as well as three domain‐specific topics (nuclear, infrastructure, and software). We found that topics more associated with later phases in the development process (such as prognostics, maintenance, and quality control) have increased in popularity over time relative to other topics. We propose that this is a response to the challenges posed by model uncertainty and increasing complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]