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To assess the national case logs of the first graduating urologic resident cohorts to have trained during the COVID-19 pandemic for effects on surgical volumes.The nationally aggregated Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education urology resident case logs were obtained for graduates of academic years (AYs) 2015-2016 through 2020-2021. Case volume differences for tracked index categories were compared between AYs with a 1-way analysis of variance. Data were then combined into pre-COVID and COVID-affected resident cohorts and differences in average cases logged were analyzed with 2-tailed student's t-tests.Graduating urology residents logged an average of 1322 (SD 24.8) cases over their residency during the examined period. Total cases had multiple statistical differences between AYs but the only index category with a statistically significant decrease for a COVID-affected AY compared to pre-COVID AY was pediatric majors: AY 2020-2021 logged fewer cases than AY 2015-2016 (53.9 vs 63.0, P = .004) and AY 2018-2019 (53.9 vs 61.2, P = .04). When aggregated into pre- and COVID-affected cohorts, both pediatric minor (123.4 vs 117.5, P = .049) and pediatric major (61.4 vs 56.8, P = .003) case averages decreased for the COVID-affected cohort of residents, but no adult index category decreased.National graduating urology resident surgical volume for adult index categories was maintained through the pandemic. Pediatric cases saw a statistical decrease in volume of questionable clinical significance. This does not eliminate concern that individuals may have experienced a detrimental impact on their resident education.

It is generally accepted that robotic ureteral reconstruction provides equivalent results to open and laparoscopic approaches while decreasing pain and length of stay. There is a rapid expansion of robotic ureteral reconstructive techniques, platforms, and adjunctive technologies, enabling more efficient, safer, and novel surgical approaches that could not be done in the past. For instance, indocyanine green use allows rapid, precise location of ureteral stenosis and determination of tissue perfusion. Multi-image display allows the surgeon to integrate the robotic field and ureteroscopic images. Novel robotic surgical techniques, such as buccal mucosa ureteroplasty, are changing the treatment algorithm for ureteral strictures.

Adherence to public health messaging recommending physical distancing in public outdoor spaces during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and strategies to promote physical distancing are currently unknown. This study examined the effectiveness of a point-of-decision prompt to increase physical distancing (maintaining at least 6 ft of distance) on greenways and rail-trails using systematic observation with passive infrared cameras. Results indicate that the intervention did not have a significant effect on interacting groups maintaining physical distance. However, groups maintaining physical distance increased from baseline (72%) to post-intervention (79%) and likelihood of maintaining physical distance at baseline and post-intervention was higher when: passing in the opposite direction compared to passing in the same direction; using 12-foot-wide trails compared to 10-foot-wide trails; and only one person was in each group. These results provide important implications for public health and parks and recreation professionals to promote physical distancing on multi-use trails.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities for indoor and sometimes outdoor recreation were restricted across the world. Despite restrictions, many greenways and rail-trails saw increased use. Messaging from the federal and state public health authorities stressed the importance of social distancing and other preventive measures in reducing spread of the coronavirus. Little is known about actual behaviors of individuals and groups using these outdoor recreational opportunities. This study used passive infrared cameras to systematically observe physical distancing behaviors on multi-user trails to assess safety implications of trail use during June 2020. Most interactions occurred with the recommended six feet of distance between users. Maintaining six feet of distance is more likely to occur when groups are no larger than one person, users pass while traveling in opposite directions, and trails are wider. Messaging on multi-user trails should target how groups pass other groups such as: ‘keep six feet’ and ‘pass single file’.

A 71-year-old woman with history of asthma presented with 2 months history of shortness of breath; on imaging an incidental left renal mass was noted. Subsequent renal protocol CT was obtained that showed a 4.5 cm left upper pole exophytic mass with renal vein thrombus extending into the inferior vena cava to the level of the caudate lobe concerning for renal cell carcinoma. She underwent an open left radical nephrectomy and IVC thrombectomy with subsequent postoperative pathology demonstrating xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis without renal cell carcinoma.

Objectives Excessive mobile phone use contributes to distracted driving, may increase risk for automobile accidents, and a minority of mobile phone users exhibit behaviors consistent with technological addiction. The purpose of this study was to determine whether cell phone beliefs and behaviors could be changed by a brief educational encounter. The Theory of Reasoned Action provided a lens for viewing attitudes and behavior. Methods A one-week pre-post design with a thirty-day follow-up was used with participants (N = 215, 67.0% female, age = 20.0 + 1.6) assigned to a peer-led intervention or comparison group. The intervention included cell phone educational materials regarding the potential for negative health effects of mobile phone use. A short index of cell phone behavior was developed which showed good internal consistency with a Cronbach’s α of .81. Results The intervention group “agreed” or “strongly-agreed” more than the comparison group on five of the seven areas of cell phone beliefs and behaviors ( P < 0.05, item Cohen’s d = .32 to .47, total d = .50) at one week following receipt of educational materials. Conclusions We conclude that attitudes and behaviors regarding mobile phones are malleable and susceptible to change in young adults following a brief psychoeducational intervention.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted all aspects of healthcare including surgical training. Our objective was to assess the impact of the pandemic on surgical case volumes of graduating Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) fellows during the academic years 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021.Deidentified case logs for graduating SUO fellows from 2017 to 2021 were obtained from the SUO Education Committee. Cases are stratified by category and minimally invasive surgery (MIS) or open approach. Graduates of 2017, 2018, and 2019 were combined into a pre-COVID cohort and compared to COVID-affected 2020 and 2021 cohorts. Total case volumes, case category volumes, and surgical approach type were compared with Kruskal-Wallis test.A total of 173 graduating SUO fellow case logs were analyzed with 100, 38, and 35 in the pre-COVID and COVID-affected 2020 and 2021 cohorts, respectively. All fellow logs were obtained for 2017 to 2020 graduates while 5 of 40 were missing for the 2021 cohort. There was no statistical difference in median total cases across cohorts (P = 0.52). For the first COVID-affected cohort of 2020, they reported significantly fewer total MIS cases in 2020 compared to pre-COVID fellows (median 92.5 vs. 135 pre-COVID, P = 0.002). However, there were no significant differences among the tracked oncologic MIS categories except a statistically significant increase in MIS retroperitoneal lymph node dissection between 2020 and 2021 COVID-affected cohorts (0 vs. 2, P = 0.033) CONCLUSIONS: The oncologic case volumes of the initial SUO fellows graduating during COVID pandemic were minimally affected. This national deidentified data is reassuring that oncologic training has not been impacted by widespread decreases in case volume. However, impacts on individuals, programs or geographic regions may have varied.

BACKGROUND: Students with chronic absences tend to struggle academically and may not benefit fully from all school has to offer. A positive school climate has been shown to reduce absenteeism and promote academic success. In this study, we explored how a positive school climate and high satisfaction with school may influence absences and academic performance. METHODS: We used mediated path analysis to describe relationships involving school climate, school satisfaction, absences, and grades among 6839 middle school (49% female, 82% white) and 7470 high school (51% female, 85.0% white) students from 26 West Virginia schools. RESULTS: In the middle and high school samples, we found that a positive school climate and high satisfaction with school reduces school absenteeism. Findings also suggest students with more absences tend to perform less well academically; a positive school climate and school satisfaction may promote good grades. CONCLUSIONS: Missing a substantial amount of school days for any reason may hinder students academic success, but “skipping” may require added attention. Improving school climate and student satisfaction with school may contribute to better attendance and grades.

To assess whether a multimodal opioid-limiting protocol and patient education intervention can reduce postoperative opioid use following transurethral resection of the prostate.This prospective, non-blinded, single-institution, randomized controlled trial (NCT04102566) assigned 50 patients undergoing a transurethral resection of the prostate to either a standard of care control (SOC) or multimodal experimental group (MMG). The intervention included adding ibuprofen to the postoperative pain regimen, promoting appropriate opioid use while hospitalized, an educational intervention, and discharging without opioid prescription. Data regarding demographics, operative data, opioid use, pain scores, and patient satisfaction were compared.A total of 47 patients were included, n = 23 (MMG) and n = 24 (SOC). Demographic and operative findings were similar. Statistical analysis for noninferiority demonstrated non-inferior inpatient pain control (mean pain score 2.5 MMG vs 2.4 SOC, P = 0.0003). The multimodal group used significantly fewer morphine milligram equivalents after discharge (0 vs 4.1, P = 0.04). Inpatient use was reduced but did not reach statistical significance (6.0 vs 9.8, P = 0.2). Mean satisfaction scores with pain control were similar (9.6 MMG vs 9.2 SOC, P = 0.32). No opioid prescriptions were requested after discharge. Adverse events and medication side effects were infrequent and largely similar between groups.Implementation of an opioid-limiting postoperative pain protocol and patient education resulted in no outpatient opioid use while maintaining patient satisfaction with pain control. Eliminating opioids following a common urologic procedure will decrease risk of opioid-related adverse events and have a positive downstream impact.

Background Hospital-led community health needs assessments (CHNAs) are intended to help medical care organizations assess determinants of health within the communities they serve. This study demonstrates the utility of data from non-profit hospital CHNAs to monitor complex health issues such as adverse childhood events (ACEs) at the local-level. Methods CHNA data were collected from August to November 2019 and analyzed July 2021. A series of logistic regressions were used to analyze associations between ACEs, mental health conditions, and self-rated health from a convenience sample of 2,831 adults from two regional hospitals that service five counties located in central Appalachia. Results ACEs were associated with increased odds of experiencing all metal health conditions after adjusting for other exposures and demographics, including: bipolar disorder (AOR: 2.42, CL: 1.78, 3.30), chronic pain (AOR: 1.61, CL: 1.438, 1.87), depression (AOR: 2.05, CL: 1.76, 2.36), PTSD (AOR: 3.83, CL: 2.95, 4.98), and poor self-rated health (AOR: 1.88, CL: 1.65, 2.15). Conclusion Findings suggest hospital CHNAs are a useful way to assess local data and should include factors known to antecede disease including associated risks and outcomes. CHNAs may provide an opportunity to fill important gaps in community surveillance and inform local prevention and treatment strategies.

Background: Rural U.S. adults’ prevalence of meeting physical activity (PA) guidelines is lower than urban adults, yet rural-urban differences in environmental influences of adults’ PA are largely unknown. The study’s objective was to identify rural-urban variations in environmental factors associated with the prevalence of adults meeting PA guidelines. Methods: County-level data for non-frontier counties (n = 2697) were used. A five-category rurality variable was created using the percentage of a county’s population living in a rural area. Factor scores from Factor Analyses (FA) were used in subsequent Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analyses stratified by rurality to identify associations between environmental factor scores and the prevalence of males and females meeting PA guidelines. Results: FA revealed a 13-variable, four-factor structure of natural, social, recreation, and transportation environments. MLR revealed that natural, social, and recreation environments were associated with PA for males and females, with variation by sex for social environment. The natural environment was associated with PA in all but urban counties, the recreation environment was associated with PA in the urban counties and the two most rural counties. Conclusions: Variations across the rural-urban continuum in environmental factors associated with adults’ PA, highlight the uniqueness of rural PA and the need to further study what succeeds in creating active rural places.

Background Emergent evidence suggests a positive school climate may be a promising population-level intervention to promote academic achievement and student well-being. However, researchers have called for expanding the school climate evidence-base to better describe how the construct is associated with student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between 10 school climate domains and academic achievement among middle and high school students. Methods ANOVAs were used to analyze survey data from 6-12 grade students in a Mid-Atlantic US state (n = 2405, response rate: middle school = 82.4%, 50.5% female; high school = 62.5%, 56.1% female). Results Significant main effects were found for all school climate domains and varied between middle and high school students apart from academic support. Effect sizes ranged from small to medium, with academic support demonstrating the strongest effects among both middle and high school students. Conclusions Findings suggest school climate is associated with academic achievement for both middle and high school students. Correctly identifying the role of key aspects of school climate by grade-level may provide improved and developmentally appropriate recommendations for the delivery of instruction and school-based interventions that promote positive school well-being and student performance.

Initiation of substance use often starts during adolescence, with tobacco and alcohol use frequently preceding the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs. Studies suggest that a positive school climate may prevent substance use while promoting healthy student behaviors. The purpose of this study was to determine the longitudinal associations between school climate and substance use initiation in a group of middle school students. Parallel latent growth curve modeling was used to examine changes among study variables longitudinally using a sample of 2,097 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students across 16 regional schools located in three counties in West Virginia. Results suggest that a positive school climate may prevent substance use initiation (β = −0.07 to −0.25, p < .01). However, perceptions of school climate decreased on their own over time (β = −0.28 to −0.66, p < .01). Furthermore, substance use initiation also increased as students grew older (β = 0.96 to 0.99, p < .01) and reduced the effects of school climate longitudinally (β = −0.07 to −0.24, p < .01). Early substance use initiation may be a warning sign of other underlying student issues and requires additional school support to foster student success. Findings suggest that a positive school climate may delay substance use initiation and promote school success. School climate may, therefore, be useful as an intervention to support school-based health promotion.

Excessive cell phone use contributes to distracted driving, may increase risk for automobile accidents, and a minority of mobile phone users exhibit behaviors consistent with technological addiction. The purpose of this study was to determine whether cell phone beliefs and behaviors could be changed by a brief educational encounter. The Theory of Reasoned Action provided a lens for viewing attitudes and behavior. A one-week pre-post design with a thirty-day follow-up was used with participants (N = 215, 67.0% female, age = 20.0 + 1.6) assigned to a peer led intervention or comparison groups. The intervention included cell-phone educational materials. A short index of cell phone behavior was developed which showed good internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha of .81. The intervention group “agreed” or “strongly-agreed” more than the comparison group on five of the seven areas of cell phone beliefs and behaviors ( p < 0.05, item Cohen’s d = .32 to .47, total d = .50) at one-week following receipt of informational materials. We conclude that attitudes and behaviors regarding cell phones are malleable and susceptible to change in young-adults following a brief psychoeducational intervention.

Evaluations that incorporate students’ perceptions of school climate and their quality of life are receiving increased interest. This study investigated the magnitude of relationships between 10 school climate domains, and three subjective quality of life measures, specifically overall life satisfaction, school-specific satisfaction, and self-rated health (SRH) among a large, diverse sample of public high school adolescents (N = 1643) from Arizona. Structural equation modeling techniques determined model fit. The model fit the data well: χ2 (n = 1643, 34) = 117.83, CFI = .98, TLI = .96, RMSEA = .039). Consistent with expectations, students’ perceptions of school climate predicted school satisfaction most strongly (β = .40, p

Full list of authors: Fukui, A.; Korth, J.; Livingston, J. H.; Twicken, J. D.; Osorio, M. R. Zapatero; Jenkins, J. M.; Mori, M.; Murgas, F.; Ogihara, M.; Narita, N.; Pallé, E.; Stassun, K. G.; Nowak, G.; Ciardi, D. R.; Alvarez-Hernandez, L.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Casasayas-Barris, N.; Crouzet, N.; de Leon, J. P.; Esparza-Borges, E.; Soto, D. Hidalgo; Isogai, K.; Kawauchi, K.; Klagyivik, P.; Kodama, T.; Kurita, S.; Kusakabe, N.; Luque, R.; Madrigal-Aguado, A.; Rodriguez, P. Montanes; Morello, G.; Nishiumi, T.; Orell-Miquel, J.; Oshagh, M.; Parviainen, H.; Sánchez-Benavente, M.; Stangret, M.; Terada, Y.; Watanabe, N.; Chen, G.; Tamura, M.; Bosch-Cabot, P.; Bowen, M.; Eastridge, K.; Freour, L.; Gonzales, E.; Guerra, P.; Jundiyeh, Y.; Kim, T. K.; Kroer, L. V.; Levine, A. M.; Morgan, E. H.; Reefe, M.; Tronsgaard, R.; Wedderkopp, C. K.; Wittrock, J.; Collins, K. A.; Hesse, K.; Latham, D. W.; Ricker, G. R.; Seager, S.; Vanderspek, R.; Winn, J.; Bachelet, E.; Bowman, M.; McCully, C.; Daily, M.; Harbeck, D.; Volgenau, N. H., We report the discovery of one super-Earth- (TOI-1749b) and two sub-Neptune-sized planets (TOI-1749c and TOI-1749d) transiting an early M dwarf at a distance of 100 pc, which were first identified as planetary candidates using data from the TESS photometric survey. We have followed up this system from the ground by means of multiband transit photometry, adaptive optics imaging, and low-resolution spectroscopy, from which we have validated the planetary nature of the candidates. We find that TOI-1749b, c, and d have orbital periods of 2.39, 4.49, and 9.05 days, and radii of 1.4, 2.1, and 2.5 R ⊕, respectively. We also place 95% confidence upper limits on the masses of 57, 14, and 15 M ⊕ for TOI-1749b, c, and d, respectively, from transit timing variations. The periods, sizes, and tentative masses of these planets are in line with a scenario in which all three planets initially had a hydrogen envelope on top of a rocky core, and only the envelope of the innermost planet has been stripped away by photoevaporation and/or core-powered mass-loss mechanisms. These planets are similar to other planetary trios found around M dwarfs, such as TOI-175b,c,d and TOI-270b,c,d, in the sense that the outer pair has a period ratio within 1% of 2. Such a characteristic orbital configuration, in which an additional planet is located interior to a near 2:1 period-ratio pair, is relatively rare around FGK dwarfs. © 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved., Funding for the TESS mission is provided by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. We acknowledge the use of public TESS data from pipelines at the TESS Science Office and at the TESS Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC). Resources supporting this work were provided by the NASA High-End Computing (HEC) Program through the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division at Ames Research Center for the production of the SPOC data products. This research has made use of the Exoplanet Follow-up Observation Program website, which is operated by the California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under the Exoplanet Exploration Program. This paper includes data collected by the TESS mission that are publicly available from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). This paper is based on observations made with the MuSCAT3 instrument, developed by the Astrobiology Center and under financial supports by JSPS KAKENHI (JP18H05439) and JST PRESTO (JPMJPR1775), at Faulkes Telescope North on Maui, HI, operated by the Las Cumbres Observatory. Based on observations obtained with the Samuel Oschin 48 inch Telescope at the Palomar Observatory as part of the Zwicky Transient Facility project. Z.T.F. is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. AST-1440341 and a collaboration including Caltech, IPAC, the Weizmann Institute for Science, the Oskar Klein Center at Stockholm University, the University of Maryland, the University of Washington, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron and Humboldt University, Los Alamos National Laboratories, the TANGO Consortium of Taiwan, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. Operations are conducted by COO, IPAC, and UW. This work is partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant Nos. JP17H04574, JP18H01265, and JP18H05439, Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows grant No. JP20J21872, JST PRESTO grant No. JPMJPR1775, and a University Research Support Grant from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). This work is also partly financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness through grants PGC2018-098153-B-C31 and PID2019-109522GB-C53. J.K. gratefully acknowledges the support of the Swedish National Space Agency (DNR 2020-00104). G.M. has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 895525. M.T. is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant Nos.18H05442, 15H02063, and 22000005., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

In a recent study[Phys. Rev. B 92 (2015) 125427], a hyperspherical approach has been developed to study of few-body fractional quantum Hall states. This method has been successfully applied to the exploration of few boson and fermion problems in the quantum Hall region, as well as the study of inter-Landau level collective excitations. However, the hyperspherical method as it is normally implemented requires a subsidiary (anti-)symmetrization process, which limits its computational effectiveness. The present work overcomes these difficulties and extends the power of this method by implementing a represen- tation of the hyperspherical many-body basis space in terms of Slater determinants of single particle eigenfunctions. A clear connection between the hyperspherical representation and the conventional single particle picture is presented, along with a compact operator representation of the theoretical framework., 28 pages, 4 figures

Background Mini-grants have been used to stimulate multisector collaboration in support of public health initiatives by funding non-traditional partners, such as economic development organizations. Such mini-grants have the potential to increase access to healthy foods and places for physical activity through built environment change, especially in small and rural towns in the United States. Although a promising practice, few mini-grant evaluations have been done. Therefore, our purpose was to conduct an Evaluability Assessment (EA), which is a process that can help promising programs that lack evidence advance toward full-scale evaluation. Specifically, we conducted an Evaluability Assessment of a statewide mini-grant program, called “Growing Healthy Communities” (GHC), to determine if this program was ready for evaluation and identify any changes needed for future implementation and evaluation that could also inform similar programs. Methods Telephone interviews with directors of six past mini-grant recipient organizations were conducted to assess implementation and evaluability. The six interviews were split equally among agencies receiving funding for food-oriented projects and physical activity-oriented projects. Within- and cross-case thematic analyses of interview transcripts were conducted. Results Organizational capacity was a universal theme, reflecting other key themes (described in detail in the manuscript) that affected program implementation and evaluation, including collaboration, limited time and measurement integration. Conclusions. The EA process provided pilot data that suggest that other state, regional, and national funders should provide centralized assistance for data collection and evaluation from the outset of a mini-grant award program. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-7156-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Low-energy elastic and inelastic scattering in the Ps($1s$)-Ps($2s$) channel is treated in a four-body hyperspherical coordinate calculation. Adiabatic potentials are calculated for triplet-triplet, singlet-singlet, and singlet-triplet spin symmetries in the spin representation of coupled electrons and coupled positrons, with total angular momentum $L=0$ and parity equal to $+1$. The $s$-wave scattering lengths for the asymptotic Ps($1s$)-Ps($2s$) channel are calculated for each spin configuration. Results obtained for the $s$-wave scattering lengths are ${a}_{\mathrm{TT}}=7.3(2){a}_{0}\ensuremath{-}i0.02(1){a}_{0}, {a}_{\mathrm{SS}}=13.2(2){a}_{0}\ensuremath{-}i0.9(2){a}_{0}$, and ${a}_{\mathrm{ST}}=9.7(2){a}_{0}$ for each spin configuration. Spin recoupling is implemented to extract the scattering lengths for collisions of Ps in different spin configurations through properly symmetrized unitary transformations. Calculations of experimentally relevant scattering lengths and cross sections are carried out for Ps atoms initially prepared in different uncoupled spin states.

Different early childhood home visitation program models include prenatal physical activity (PA) modules within their curricula. This study’s intent was to examine home visitors’ knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) in delivering these modules, by conducting three focus groups and one interview with home visitors, “Outreach Workers” (OWs), and five interviews with Site Leaders from the Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) home visitation program. Findings showed: (1) OWs’ depth of knowledge on prenatal PA information and the modules varied; (2) over half the OWs discussed implementing PA, rapport building, communication, adaptability, and/or problem-solving skills; (3) over half the OWs felt comfortable delivering the modules; and (4) OWs’ KSAs were influenced by their life experiences and by their clients either directly or indirectly. These findings suggest prenatal PA is an important aspect of the MIHOW program and that OWs’ KSAs could be enhanced through a prenatal PA focused competency and trainings.

Importance: A predictive tool to support academic and practice outcomes for occupational therapy students is needed for use in advising students. Objective: To determine whether characteristics of academic and professional behavior across cohorts could indicate the likelihood of student success in passing the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy® examination. Design: Causal–comparative research. Participants: Master of occupational therapy students (N = 315; eight cohorts). Measures: Demographics, college entrance exams, grade point average, program benchmarks (i.e., specific course grades, fieldwork grades, Occupational Therapy Knowledge Exam scores), licensure exam. Results: Baseline and in-program characteristics were used to determine success; for each unit increase in the success score, the odds of passing the exam were 4.11 (95% confidence interval [2.23, 7.60]). Conclusions and Relevance: Case studies that have used this success score suggest that additional resources and targeted interventions could be allocated to help students at highest risk of not passing the licensure exam. What This Article Adds: Using a predictive tool to support student success can enable more effective academic advising throughout an occupational therapy program and result in positive outcomes on the licensure exam.

BACKGROUND: Preventing student academic failure is crucial to student health and life success. Previous studies suggest a positive school climate may reduce students’ risk for academic failure and contribute to academic success. The purpose of this study was to determine the longitudinal associations between school climate and academic grades in a group of middle school students who transition into high school. METHODS: Parallel latent growth curve modeling was used to examine changes among study variables longitudinally using a sample of 2604 in 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students across 16 regional schools located in 3 counties in West Virginia. RESULTS: Students with higher perceptions of a positive school climate exhibited sustained or improved academic achievement over time (β = 0.22 to 0.30, p < .01). Higher positive perceptions of school climate appear to sustain students who earn As/Bs (β = 0.20 to 0.27, p < .01) and strengthen students who earn Cs/Ds/Fs (β = −0.16 to −0.46, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Positive student perceptions of school climate may sustain high academic performance while strengthening students who earn Cs/Ds/Fs. School climate may be useful as an intervention to support school-based health promotion to reduce the achievement gap in the United States.

In this study, the authors investigated the viability of endoscopic bursectomy as a treatment for septic prepatellar and olecranon bursitis. Conventional treatment of septic bursitis consists of aspiration, antibiotics, and rest. When conservative treatment fails, however, surgical intervention is sometimes required to resolve the infection. Typical surgical intervention consists of open bursectomy, in which the infected bursa is excised via an incision in the region of the skin directly above the bursa. The tenuous nature of the blood supply to this region of the skin results in a rather high rate of wound healing issues such as necrosis and wound dehiscence. Recently, endoscopy has been proposed as a less invasive means of bursectomy, although initially it was only recommended for cases of aseptic bursitis. A degree of uncertainty has persisted in the literature as to whether endoscopic bursectomy allows for sufficient debridement of the infected tissue to avoid recurrence of bursitis. The authors report on 27 cases in which endoscopic bursectomy was performed for recalcitrant septic bursitis. Fourteen of these cases were septic olecranon bursitis and 13 were septic prepatellar bursitis. The authors reported good results, with no wound healing complications and only 1 minor recurrence. They also reported much shorter hospital stays than have been reported both for more conservative treatments of septic bursitis and in other case series on endoscopic bursectomy. The authors conclude that endoscopic bursectomy is a superior alternative to open bursectomy for the treatment of recalcitrant septic prepatellar and olecranon bursitis. [ Orthopedics. 2019; 42(4):e381–e384.]

We present a detailed analysis of the charged four-body system in hyperspherical coordinates in the large hyperradial limit. In powers of $R^{-1}$ for any masses and charges, the adiabatic Hamiltonian is expanded to third order in the dimer-dimer limit and to first order in the particle-trimer limit., Comment: 10 pages, 0 figures

The emphasis in discussions on the Common Core Standards in public education in the United States is usually on knowledge or content. Some attention is also paid to the twelve constructivist pedago...

Background Previous research on the effectiveness of needle exchange programs (NEP) in preventing hepatitis C virus (HCV) in people who inject drugs (PWID) has shown mixed findings. The purpose of this study was to use the meta-analytic approach to examine the association between NEP use and HCV prevention in PWIDs. Methods Study inclusion criteria were (1) observational studies, (2) PWIDs, (3) NEP use, (4) HCV status ascertained by serological testing, (5) studies published in any language since January 1, 1989, and (6) data available for measures of association. Studies were located by searching four electronic databases and cross-referencing. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa (NOS) scale. A ratio measure of association was calculated for each result from cohort or case–control studies and pooled using a random effects model. Odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) models were analyzed separately. Results were considered statistically significant if the 95% confidence interval (CI) did not cross 1. Heterogeneity was estimated using Q and I 2 with alpha values for Q ≤ 0.10 considered statistically significant. Results Of the 555 citations reviewed, 6 studies containing 2437 participants were included. Studies had an average NOS score of 7 out of 9 (77.8%) stars. Concerns over participant representativeness, unclear adjustments for confounders, and bias from participant nonresponse and loss to follow-up were noted. Results were mixed with the odds ratio model indicating no consistent association (OR, 0.51, 95% CI, 0.05–5.15), and the hazard ratio model indicating a harmful effect (HR, 2.05, 95% CI, 1.39–3.03). Substantial heterogeneity (p ≤ 0.10) and moderate to large inconsistency (I 2 ≥ 66%) were observed for both models. Conclusions The impact of NEPs on HCV prevention in PWIDs remains unclear. There is a need for well-designed research studies employing standardized criteria and measurements to clarify this issue. Trial registration PROSPERO CRD42016035315 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12954-017-0156-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

There is a bright future in the development and utilization of nanoscale systems based on intelligent materials that can respond to external input providing a beneficial function. Specific functional groups can be incorporated into polymers to make them responsive to environmental stimuli such as pH, temperature, or varying concentrations of biomolecules. The fusion of such “intelligent” biomaterials with nanotechnology has led to the development of powerful therapeutic and diagnostic platforms. For example, targeted release of proteins and chemotherapeutic drugs has been achieved using pH-responsive nanocarriers while biosensors with ultra-trace detection limits are being made using nanoscale, molecularly imprinted polymers. The efficacy of therapeutics and the sensitivity of diagnostic platforms will continue to progress as unique combinations of responsive polymers and nanomaterials emerge.

In 1946, the French Antilles were “assimilated” to France as constituent departments of the Republic. With assimilation, hundreds of Antilleans traveled to France to attend college, university, and technical schools. When they arrived in the metropole, they were confronted by racism, discrimination, and “incomprehension,” confined to immigrant quarters, refused lodging and service, and even attacked by far-right activists. This article examines how the encounter with the racial reality of postwar France radicalized a generation of Antillean students. These students formed organizations, from Catholic student groups to militant youth organizations, that questioned the gains of assimilation, the realities of French citizenship, and their own cultural and social identities. Former student militants would go on to play an important role in both Antillean politics and in Antillean culture. En 1946, les Antilles françaises sont « assimilées » à la France comme départements de la République à part entière. Après l’adoption de la loi de départementalisation de 1946, des centaines d’étudiants antillais se rendent en France pour étudier. Dès leur arrivée, ils sont confrontés au racisme, à la discrimination et à l’incompréhension. Ils sont confinés aux quartiers d’immigrés et on leur refuse logement et services ; certains se font même attaquer par des militants d’extrême-droite. Cet article examine comment la rencontre de la réalité raciale de la France métropolitaine d’après-guerre a radicalisé une génération d’étudiants antillais. Les organisations que forment ces étudiants (allant des associations catholiques à des organisations nettement plus à gauche) remettent en question les acquis de l’assimilation, les réalités de la citoyenneté française et les identités culturelles et sociales des étudiants antillais eux-mêmes. Leurs études terminées, ces activistes allaient jouer un rôle important dans la politique et la culture des Antilles.

The quantum Hall effect arises from the quantum behavior of two-dimensional, strongly-interacting electrons exposed to a strong, perpendicular magnetic field [1, 2]. Conventionally treated from a many-body perspective, we instead treat the system from the few-body perspective using collective coordinates and the hyperspherical adiabatic technique developed originally for atomic systems [3]. The grand angular momentum K from K -harmonic few-body theory, is shown to be an approximate good collective quantum number in this system, and is shown to correlate with known fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states at experimentally observed filling factors.

Dispositional Need for Closure (DNFC; Webster and Kruglanski 1994) concerns the propensity to seek and process information before reaching a judgment. Psychology researchers have demonstrated consistent effects on hypothesis generation and confidence in lay-judgment settings. Although psychology literature, in a validation sample, identifies accounting students as a group high in DNFC, we find professional auditors significantly lower in DNFC than reported in their sample of accounting students, and progressively lower in DNFC at higher professional ranks. Yet, substantial variance in this critical characteristic persists even at higher ranks, to potentially affect judgment. Since findings concerning lay decision makers are not always applicable to accounting professionals, we investigate the effects of DNFC on the hypothesis generation and confidence of experienced auditors. Auditors higher in DNFC generate fewer, lower-quality hypotheses, yet express greater confidence in their hypothesis set. Broader implications are discussed.

A key driver for 3-D device integration has been through-silicon via (TSV) technology that enables through-chip communication between vertically integrated layers. The TSVs typically have an electrical isolation using a dielectric layer between the silicon and the interconnect metal (e.g., copper). Recently, polymers have been proposed for use as the dielectric isolation layer, and polymers have been shown to increase device reliability by reducing “copper pumping,' where copper pops out from the TSV holes during thermal cycling. Traditionally, spinor spray-coating techniques have been used to fill TSVs with polymer material. However, using those techniques to fill and planarize very deep trenches (∼ 400 μm) and high-aspect-ratio structures has many limitations and usually results in voids, nonplanar surfaces, and lack of polymer flow to the requisite depths. Here, we present a novel process and a tool to completely fill and planarize deep trenches with a polymeric material. We use a combination of a traditional spin-coating process together with a physical planarization and fill process using the contact planarization tool to evacuate the trenches or vias on the wafer and then force the polymeric material inside the features. Using this process, we successfully filled and planarized trenches and vias 180 μm deep with 50-μm wide patterns as well as 400-μm deep trenches with ∼ 400-μm wide patterns. Initial results show complete filling and planarization of the material in the trenches without any voids.

The Martinican psychiatrist and theorist Frantz Fanon’s work is foundational to studies of imperialism, decolonization, and postcolonial studies, with new articles, books, and conferences dedicated to his thought appearing year after year. Yet, despite his outsized influence and impact in the academy, observers have suggested that in his native Antilles Fanon was largely forgotten. Close attention to the archival record casts doubt on this reading of his legacy in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Guyane. Rather than disappearing into obscurity following his premature death in 1961, Fanon’s work and his life shaped French Caribbean students, activists, intellectuals, and writers. His sharp critique of the Antillean situation and the Antillean psyche, as well as his committed revolutionary example, proved a fecund resource for Antillean student activists, whether Marxist or Catholic, for poets and writers such as Maryse Conde, Sonny Rupaire, Bertene Juminer, and Daniel Boukman, and for critics and social scientists like Edouard Glissant, Roland Suvelor, Michel Giraud, and others. Fanon’s work was not forgotten, but remained explosive and provocative, the subject of intense political and intellectual organization and debate.

By separating the Schr\"odinger equation for $N$ noninteracting spin-polarized fermions in two-dimensional hyperspherical coordinates, we demonstrate that fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states emerge naturally from degeneracy patterns of the antisymmetric free-particle eigenfunctions. In the presence of Coulomb interactions, the FQH states split off from a degenerate manifold and become observable as distinct quantized energy eigenstates with an energy gap. This alternative classification scheme is based on an approximate separability of the interacting $N$-fermion Schr\"odinger equation in the hyperradial coordinate, which sheds light on the emergence of Laughlin states as well as other FQH states. An approximate good collective quantum number, the grand angular momentum $K$ from $K$-harmonic few-body theory, is shown to correlate with known FQH states at many filling factors observed experimentally., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables

Using the hyperspherical adiabatic method with the realistic nuclear potentials Argonne V14, Argonne V18, and Argonne V18 with the Urbana IX three-body potential, we calculate the adiabatic potentials and the triton bound state energies. We find that a discrete variable representation with the slow variable discretization method along the hyperradial degree of freedom results in energies consistent with the literature. However, using a Laguerre basis results in missing energy, even when extrapolated to an infinite number of basis functions and channels. We do not include the isospin $T=3/2$ contribution in our analysis., 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 table

We study the $2e^-2e^+$ equal-mass charge-neutral four-body system in the adiabatic hyperspherical framework. The lowest few adiabatic potentials are calculated for zero orbital angular momentum, positive parity, and charge conjugation symmetries. Propagating the R-matrix, the low-energy $s$-wave scattering lengths of the singlet-singlet and triplet-triplet spin configurations are calculated. Lastly, we calculate the S-matrix for energies above the ionic threshold to estimate the transition rates between the single ionic fragmentation channel and the lowest few dimer-dimer fragmentation channels.

In this study, we examine those factors generally considered to impact IPO performance to assess the extent to which investment bankers might utilize this information in determining the spread within which the offering price is likely to be set and in setting the offering price. Interestingly, we find no evidence that the variables investigated are related to either IPO offer price spread or the IPO offer price. The implications of these findings are notable, as they raise the issue of what information might account for investment bankers' valuation decisions, as captured in the offer price spread and offer price.

Not since the passage of the Securities and Exchange Commission Act of 1934 have matters of corporate governance received such concentrated attention. The failures of a series of notable US companies, beginning with Enron Corporation, have reignited attention toward effective corporate governance. The single most remarkable governance‐related outcome of the Enron failure is the passage of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002. Congress passed this legislation as a means for remedying the types of governance failures that are believed to have significantly contributed to Enron’s downfall.