Search

Beach habitats are diminishing globally, particularly in urban areas, as sea-level rise, erosion, and shoreline hardening, along with reduced sediment inputs, combine to squeeze the coast. In California, USA an endemic marine fish, the California grunion, spawns on sandy beaches during late-night spring tides. Its unique recreational fishery is managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The City of Oceanside, CA contracts for annual harbor dredging and, after testing, places the sandy sediment on its public beach. The effects on local beach wildlife from this annual sand replenishment are not known. We examined the effect of this repeated activity as a case study over three years on the spawning runs of the California grunion. Some spawning runs occurred in all three years, but the fish avoided areas with high scarps in the intertidal zone that developed following sand placement activity. Grunion spawning runs have declined in the habitat range as a whole over the past two decades, and those in Oceanside have declined to an even greater extent. Increasing sandy beach habitat can be beneficial to wildlife, but the method of placement, timing of the project, and fate of the beach afterward can modulate or prevent beneficial effects. Frequent repetition of sand placement may accumulate impacts without allowing sufficient time for the ecosystem to recover. Rather than improving the habitat, these repeated projects in Oceanside may degrade the spawning habitat for the grunion. Alternative discharge methods and locations, slope and elevation designs, sediment volumes, and greater care in beach fill practices should be implemented to reduce future impacts.

Background: We aimed to: (1) examine relationships between the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS), Eating Assessment Tool‐10 (EAT‐10), and objective measures of swallowing (Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile [MBSImP©] and penetration‐aspiration scale [PAS]) in patients with head and neck cancer, (2) compare outcomes between oral intake vs tube‐dependent patients, and (3) compare outcomes across time points. Methods: A total of 58 patients with head and neck cancer completed the FOIS, EAT‐10, and underwent a standardized videofluoroscopy (VFSS). VFSS were analyzed using the PAS and MBSImP©. Nonparametric analyses were performed. Results: A relationship between the FOIS and EAT‐10 (r = −0.46; P < .001) was revealed. No other associations were observed (P < .05). Feeding status did not impact PAS or MBSImP©; however, patients with head and neck cancer who were tube dependent demonstrated higher (worse) EAT‐10 scores (P = .01). Conclusions: In this cohort, a relationship between patient‐perceived swallowing impairment and functional oral intake was revealed; however, no associations were observed between the FOIS and objective measures of swallowing impairment or swallowing safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authors analyzed data from counseling trainees in a skills course to examine self-efficacy and stigma. It was hypothesized that self-efficacy would increase, self-stigma would decrease, and that increased self-efficacy would decrease self-stigma in CTs. Increased self-efficacy was statistically significant, but self-efficacy changes did not predict decreased self-stigma. Increased self-efficacy was predictive of self-stigma related to help-seeking. Authors offer implications for counselor educators and counselors. What is the public significance of this article? This study suggests that self-efficacy increases in counseling trainees across a clinical skills course, and that this self-efficacy also predicts the stigma trainees felt about seeking help for a mental health concern. Although it was expected that a skills course would help increase self-efficacy, the study suggests that increased self-efficacy does not relate to the stigma that trainees feel about mental health treatment.

Faculty led-study abroad programs promote cultural competence and professional and personal development for students. However, students from historically marginalized and underrepresented groups do not participate in these experiences at the same rate as students from majority cultures. Counselor educators must seek ways to recruit diverse populations to promote equity in and access to international education experiences. Relational Cultural Theory (RCT) provides a guiding framework for counselor educators to diversify study abroad programs while also attending to cultural and power dynamics. Implications for counselor educators and recommendations for future research are also included.

A computer-based simulation, Hazelton High at REST (HHR), with embedded performance-based assessments and Likert-type survey questions was created to assess preservice teacher recognition of racial and gender intolerant behaviors. The simulation was modeled after the Racial Ethical Sensitivity Test (REST), a reliable video-based assessment, measuring professionals’ ethical sensitivity for cultural competence and recognition of intolerant behaviors in school settings. Ethical sensitivity skills, based on education professional ethics, are used to determine knowledge of ethical responsibility and professional attitudes and behaviors. A mixed-methods comparison study was conducted between HHR and the REST-video with 31 preservice science education students to investigate the effect of each on their ethical sensitivity. A post-simulation assessment was also conducted to determine and the usability and perception of HHR. It was hypothesized; HHR, an immersive simulation, would affect perspective taking of preservice science teachers and indirectly influence their ethical sensitivity. Data analysis determined ethical sensitivity score (EES) for HHR and REST-video using a survey and performance-based assessments. Post-simulation interview helped inform how a participant perceived the HHR. Results indicate the REST-video group had a significantly higher EES than the HHR group. Performance-based assessments within HHR showed a more comprehensive and complex picture of participant EES. The implication of this work for science education programs to use professional codes as a guide for evaluation and development of candidate disposition concerning cultural competency and the use of Serious Educational Games (SEGs) as ethical sensitivity assessments.

Too often research on Black boys emanate from deficit orientations and take a problem centered approach which overemphasizes stereotypes or pathologizes Black male students, overlooking their aspirations and successes. Utilizing the High School Longitudinal Survey of 2009 (HSLS: 09), we examine the postsecondary goals of Black male ninth graders as well as the relationships among their educational aspirations, college knowledge, and supportive school personnel using Community Cultural Wealth as the conceptual framework. We found that the educational aspirations of Black male ninth graders are high; however, their knowledge of college falls short of their educational aspirations and their relationships with teachers and school counselors. We discuss the strengths, attributes, and systems of support that are useful to rural Black male students as they transition through secondary education to post-secondary settings and call for a paradigmatic shift using family-school-community partnerships based on the findings

Nosocomial infections due to MDR P. aeruginosa are an increasing problem. Therapeutical options are few. We describe two haematological patients with severe neutropenia and systemic infection due to MDR P. aeruginosa treated successfully with colistin plus ceftazidime. Severe adverse events were not described.

Purpose: To investigate the use of a nonmyeloablative fludarabine-based immunosuppressive regimen to allow engraftment of HLA-sibling donors' mobilized stem cells and induction of a graft-versus-lymphoma effect for patients with advanced resistant Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma., Patients and Methods: Fifteen patients with Hodgkin's disease (n = 10) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (n = 5) were studied. All patients received cyclophosphamide and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor to mobilize autologous hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Subsequently, they received high-dose therapy with carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan and reinfusion of HSCs. At a median of 61 days after engraftment, patients were given fludarabine 30 mg/m(2) with cyclophosphamide 300 mg/m(2) daily for 3 days. Donor-mobilized HSC collections were prepared for fresh infusion and were not T-cell depleted. Methotrexate and cyclosporine were used to prevent graft rejection and as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis., Results: Combined treatment was well tolerated. After mini-allografting, hematologic recovery was prompt. Thirteen patients had 100% donor cell engraftment. Eleven patients achieved complete remission (CR) after the combined procedure. Nine patients, who were in partial remission after autografting, achieved CR after mini-allografting. Seven patients developed >/= grade 2 acute GVHD (aGVHD) and two developed extensive chronic GVHD (cGVHD). Three patients who received the highest number of donor lymphocyte infusions (DLIs) developed grade 3 GVHD (two patients) and extensive cGVHD (one patient). Ten patients are currently alive, and five are in continuous CR. Seven patients received DLI, with five CRs. Five patients died: one of progressive disease, two of progressive disease combined with aGVHD or cGVHD, one of extensive cGVHD, and one of infection., Conclusion: Fludarabine/cyclophosphamide was well tolerated and allowed consistent engraftment in lymphoma allografted patients. Response rates were high in this group of refractory and heavily pretreated patients. This dual procedure seems to be most promising in patients with end-stage malignant lymphomas.

Background and Objective: The positive results of high-dose chemotherapy followed by rescue with bone marrow progenitor cell transplantation are generally ascribed to the high dose size (DS) of the drugs given. However, a concomitant marked increase in dose intensity (DI) is always involved. With the aim of comparing the role of DS and DI in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, a variant of Fisher's ProMACE-CytaBOM regimen was designed in which the projected cumulative drug DIs remained the same as in the original schedule but the DSs were tripled., Design and Methods: Dosages in mg/m(2), route and days of administration were the following: cyclophosphamide 1,950 i.v. on days 1, 64; methotrexate 360 i.v. days 15, 78; vincristine 1.4 iv days 15, 78, 43, 106; etoposide 360 i.v. days 29, 92; epirubicin 120 i.v. days 29, 92; bleomycin 15 i.v. days 43, 106; cytarabine 900 i.v. days 50, 113. Thirty-six outpatients with intermediate- and high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas entered the pilot study; 29 were untreated and 7 had relapse disease. Clinical stage was I in 1 patient, II in 7, III in 5 and IV in 23; 10 had B symptoms; the IPI score was 0-2 in 29 cases and > or =3 in the remaining 7., Results: Of the 29 previously untreated patients, 16 achieved complete remission, 8 partial remission, 4 developed progressive disease and 1 was withdrawn early from the study because of acute viral hepatitis; subsequently 4 relapsed and 3 died (2 of disease progression, 1 of causes unrelated to the disease). In the pre-treated group 3 patients obtained complete remission, 2 partial remission and in 1 patient the disease progressed; 3 of these pre-treated patients died (1 of progressive disease, 1 of a new relapse, 1 of myocardial infarction during therapy). With a 20-month median follow-up, the 30-month overall and relapse-free survival were 0.58 and 0.70, respectively. G-CSF was administered to all but 2 patients, with median delivery throughout the whole regimen of 8, 400 microg per patient. Actual cumulative DI was 0.82+/-0.11. Grade 3-4 hematologic toxicity consisted of anemia in 3 cases, of leukopenia in 8 and of thrombocytopenia in 2; the same grade of non-hematologic toxicity involved the liver in 2 cases, the heart in 1 (the above mentioned death), the digestive mucosa in 2 and the peripheral nerves in 1 patient., Interpretation and Conclusions: The iso-DI sequential variant of the ProMACE-CytaBOM regimen can be considered feasibile, relatively non-toxic, and can be given on an out-patient basis. Limited use of G-CSF is required (about 3 vials after each drug administration). Thus, a randomized trial with the original ProMACE-CytaBOM regimen can be designed.

The hydrocortisone test has been performed on 20 patients with lymphoproliferative disease (MH, LNH, CLL, MM, BMG) and 12 patients with solid neoplasm to study the "recirculating" lymphocytic population (mainly T lymphocytes with "helper" function). Therefore, as proposed by Fauci and Dale, we counted the basal venous blood lymphocytes in the morning after fasting and then 4 h after the administration of hydrocortisone 400 mg. While the test did not appear to be statistically modified in patients with solid neoplasms as compared to normal controls, it appears particularly compromised in lymphoproliferative diseases, but with different values in each disease. The results are discussed on the basis of lymphocytic kinetic data.

Circulating immune complexes have been studied with a competitive immune-enzymatic method on 9 controls, on 34 patients with lymphoproliferative disease (41.6 +/- 26.8) and in those with myeloproliferative disease (62.1 +/- 30) have been found significantly higher than in controls (20.3 +/- 14.1). The percentage of incidence of circulating immune complexes with values greater than 35 (normal value greater than 35) is found to be 58.8% in lymphoproliferative disease and 77.7% in myeloproliferative disease. Higher values of circulating immune complexes have been observed in patients with a depressed count of circulating monocytes, of lymphocytes with a dot-like alpha-naphthyl-acetate-esterase reaction and of nitroblue tetrazolium positive granulocytes, suggesting that circulating immune complexes can modulate cellular immune response as blocking factors.