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The house fly, Musca domestica L., is a significant human and livestock pest. Experiments used female adult house flies glued onto toothpicks for controlled exposure of their tarsi alone (tarsal assay) or their tarsi and proboscis (proboscis assay) with a sucrose solution containing imidacloprid at either a low (10 µg/mL) or high (4000 µg/mL) concentration. Proboscis extension response (PER) assays were used to characterize the response of imidacloprid-susceptible and behaviorally resistant house fly strains to contact with sucrose solutions containing either a low or high concentration of imidacloprid. In each assay, 150 female flies from each fly strain were individually exposed to sucrose solutions containing either a low or high concentration of imidacloprid by deliberate contact of the fly tarsi to the test solution. The PER for each fly was subsequently recorded at 0, 2, and 10 s following the initial tarsal contact. A significant and rapid reduction in PER was observed only for the behaviorally resistant fly strain and only following contact by the flies proboscis with the sucrose solution containing the high imidacloprid concentration. The results suggest that chemoreceptors on the fly labellum or internally on the pharyngeal taste organs are involved in the detection of imidacloprid and discrimination of the concentration, resulting in an avoidance behavior (proboscis retraction) only when imidacloprid is at sufficient concentration. Further research is needed to identify the specific receptor(s) responsible for imidacloprid detection.

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement is the latest "big thing" in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) which threatens to transform Higher Education. Both opportunities and threats are extensively discussed in literature, comprising issues on opening up education for the whole world, pedagogy and online versus campus education. Most of the literature focus on the origin of the MOOC movement in the US. The specific context of Europe with on the one hand autonomous countries and educational systems and on the other hand cross-border cooperation and regulations through the European Union differs from the US context. This specific context can influence the way in which the MOOC movement affect education in Europe, both reusing MOOCs from other continents (US) as publishing MOOCs, on a European platform or outside of Europe. In the context of the EU funded HOME project, a research was conducted to identify opportunities and threats of the MOOC movement on the European institutions of higher education. Three sources of data were gathered and analysed. Opportunities and threats were categorized in two levels. The macro level comprises issues related to the higher education system, European context, historical period and institutional level. The micro level covers aspects related to faculty, professors and courses, thus to the operational level. The main opportunities mentioned were the ECTS system as being a sound base for formal recognition of accomplishments in MOOCs, the tendency to cooperate between institutions, stimulated by EU funded programs and the many innovative pedagogical models used in MOOCs published in Europe. The main threats mentioned were a lacking implementation of the ECTS system, hindering bridging non/formal and formal education and too much regulation, hindering experimenting and innovation.

Much of the literature and the academic discussion about institutional strategic planning of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) has been centred on the U.S. context. Literature on MOOCs in Europe is still developing and just recently some empirical studies were conducted. However, these studies are not comparable, and it is hard to learn about differences between regions and types of educational institutions. Given the very different institutional, political and cultural contexts, it is interesting to analyse how in these two different regions Higher Education institutions (HEIs) are responding to the challenges of the MOOC phenomena and are integrating it in their own strategic planning. The current research presents the first attempt to conduct a comparative study of institutional MOOC strategies in Europe and U.S. It is based on a survey launched by the EU-funded HOME project and compares results with a similar survey conducted in U.S. Results show that there are significant differences in how the U.S. and European HEIs understand the impact of massive open education and also how they perceive the efficiency of digital education and online learning.

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between patient location at time of imaging and completion of relevant imaging follow-up for findings with indeterminate malignant potential.Methods: We used a mandatory hospital-wide standardized assessment categorization system to analyze all ultrasound, CT, and MRI examinations performed over a 7-month period. Multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for imaging modality, characteristics of patients, ordering clinicians, and interpreting radiologists, was used to evaluate the relationship between patient location (outpatient, inpatient, or emergency department) at the time of index examination and completion of relevant outpatient imaging follow-up.Results: Relevant follow-up occurred in 49% of index examinations, with a greater percentage among those performed in the outpatient setting compared with those performed in the inpatient or emergency department settings (62% versus 18% versus 17%, respectively). Compared with examinations obtained in the outpatient setting, examinations performed in the emergency department (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.03-0.19) and inpatient (aOR 0.14; 95% CI, 0.09-0.23) settings were less likely to be followed up. Black patients and those residing in lower-income neighborhoods were also less likely to receive relevant follow-up. Few lesions progressed to more suspicious lesions (4.6%).Conclusions: Patient location at time of imaging is associated with the likelihood of completing relevant follow-up imaging for lesions with indeterminate malignant potential. Future work should evaluate health system-level care processes related to care setting, as well as their effects on appropriate follow-up imaging. Doing so would support efforts to improve appropriate follow-up imaging and reduce health care disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aims of this study were to examine the association between radiologist-initiated verbal communication for abdominal imaging findings indeterminate for malignancy and receipt of relevant outpatient follow-up imaging and to evaluate the proportion of findings that progress from indeterminate to suspicious for malignancy.Methods: Using a mandatory standardized assessment coding system, 727 eligible outpatient abdominal CT, MRI, and ultrasound studies performed between July 1, 2013, and January 31, 2014, were identified. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between radiologist-initiated verbal communication and receipt of relevant outpatient imaging follow-up, adjusted for patient, ordering physician, interpreting radiologist, and imaging variables.Results: Sixty-two percent of patients (451 of 727) with imaging findings indeterminate for malignancy received relevant outpatient imaging follow-up. Radiologist-initiated verbal communication occurred in 4.8% of cases (35 of 727). Radiologist-initiated verbal communication (odds ratio [OR], 2.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-5.87) and existing cancer diagnosis (OR, 3.00; 95% CI, 2.11-4.26) were associated with a higher likelihood of receiving relevant imaging follow-up. Compared with those whose imaging studies were ordered by clinicians in a medical specialty, patients with studies ordered by clinicians in surgical (OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.49-0.99) or other (OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 20.24-0.83) specialties were less likely to receive relevant imaging follow-up. Progression of findings from indeterminate to suspicious for malignancy occurred in 5.4% of cases and was not associated with radiologist-initiated verbal communication.Conclusions: Radiologist-initiated verbal communication increases the likelihood that patients receive outpatient imaging follow-up for abdominal findings indeterminate for malignancy. Progression of these findings is relatively infrequent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]