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Science communication skills are increasingly emphasized as an important skill for undergraduate STEM students. In our science communication podcast project, students use the fundamentals of science communication to research a topic related to their inquiry-based lab project. Groups then create a podcast that presents the current science to a general audience. This project has been run in an integrated introductory biology and chemistry course each semester since 2018. Student course evaluations indicate that they enjoy having autonomy over the topic and style of their podcast. Students' confidence in their science communication skills increased after completion of this multiweek scaffolded project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before attempting to answer the question 'Why study First World War poetry?", it is worth asking what we take 'First World War poetry' to be. Like any generic term such […]

A proposal is presented for incorporating patient behaviour in a discrete event simulation model of breast cancer and breast cancer screening policies. The behaviour of health care systems is dramatically influenced by the behaviour of the individuals within it. When comparing different health interventions or outcomes it may then be useful to measure the effects of patient behaviour upon the result. It is anticipated that psychological literature may be used to inform the behaviour of entities within a simulation model of breast cancer in order to compare different screening strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While nearly 1 in 5 Americans receives health insurance coverage through Medicare, literature suggests that Medicare reimbursement is lagging behind inflation for many plastic surgery procedures. Aim: This article evaluates trends in Medicare reimbursement for gender affirmation procedures. Methods: The most common gender affirmation procedures performed at an urban academic medical center were identified in this cross-sectional study (level 4 evidence). Five nongender surgery codes were evaluated for reference. A standardized formula utilizing relative value units (RVUs) was used to calculate monetary data. Differences in reimbursement between 2014 and 2021 were calculated for each procedure. Outcome: The main outcome was inflation-adjusted difference of charges from 2014 to 2021. Results: Between 2014 and 2021, Medicare reimbursement for gender affirmation procedures had an inflation-unadjusted average change of –0.09% (vs +5.63% for the selected nongender codes) and an inflation-adjusted change of –10.03% (vs –5.54% for the selected nongender codes). Trends in reimbursement varied by category of gender-affirming procedure. The overall average compound annual growth rate had a change of –0.99% (vs –0.53% for the selected nongender codes). The average changes in work, facility, and malpractice RVUs were –1.05%, +9.52%, and –0.93%, respectively. Clinical Implications: Gender surgeons and patients should be aware that the decrease in reimbursement may affect access to gender-affirming care. Strengths and Limitations: Our study is one of the first evaluating the reimbursement rates associated with the full spectrum of gender affirmation surgery. However, our study is limited by its cross-sectional nature. Conclusions: From 2014 to 2021, Medicare reimbursement for gender affirmation procedures lagged inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last twenty years, critical attention devoted to Paul Muldoon has proliferated dramatically, and critics remain divided on how best to read his poetry How seriously should we take him? As Fran Brearton observed recently, technological changes often mean that: 'What might once have entailed weeks of research now requires little more than an afternoon with Google', and for her, the great virtue of this 'is not the ease with which Muldoon is now "elucidated"; rather, we can now shortcut to a recognition that such elucidations and explications … don't really help that much at all.' Taking a contrary stance, by examining Muldoon's densely intertextual Madoc: A Mystery, this article argues we should recognise that turning to source materials may help considerably with appreciating Muldoon's work. A detailed analysis of Madoc draws attention to some neglected aspects of the collection, and is designed to encourage scholarly readings of other Muldoon texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]