Assessing Career Planning Courses without using test scores: another neglected issue?

Twenty years ago, in an article entitled “Assigning Grades in Career Planning Courses: A Neglected issue”[1], Rex Filer posed several important questions in terms of the practicalities of how we design and grade career planning courses. The challenge, he suggested, is that while teaching pedagogy often relies on Bloom’s traditional taxonomy where information and understanding act as an ‘anchor’ while synthesis and evaluation are goals achieved later, career course activities are naturally geared to the top of the pyramid – regardless of when the class is taught. This, he argues, poses particular issues in terms of career course objectives and outcomes. Even a cursory examination of the literature on career course assessment may offer some insight as to why Filer’s individual instructor/student level concerns have been ‘neglected’: most of the mainstream work in this area is based on various types of exams or pre and post test scores. One of the most common tools, the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) based on Cognitive Information Processing Theory, helps researchers determine ‘dysfunctional thinking’ in career problems and identify issues for specific populations as well as general ‘progress’ made in the course. While such tools are invaluable and have provided many crucial insights in terms of the value and impact of career courses, the suggestion here is that, for smaller schools and programs, there is a largely unmet need to discuss grading systems used for career courses and the assessment of career education at any given institution. This paper will examine the course design and assessment process, including specific rubrics and tools, used by an interdisciplinary program at our small liberal arts school in a remote, rural California campus of Humboldt State University (HSU). The goal, with Filer, will be to address (another) neglected issue of how we go about creating career development interventions, design specific courses, and assess career education at the level of the individual student, instructor/course and program. [1] Filer, Rex (1986) “Assigning Grades in Career Planning Courses: A Neglected issue”. The Career Development Quarterly. December. Vol 35. pp. 141-147

Career Planning and Curriculum Integration: millennials on the ‘lost’ coast

Career preparation during college is increasingly an area of interest and concern not only for the parents, family and friends of prospective students, but administrators, politicians, and even the average taxpayer. As costs continue to rise, the ‘value’ of higher education is no longer based primarily on the goal of preparing a future generation to participate in, and to lead a democratic civil society, but on how competitive students will be in the global marketplace as a result. Humboldt State University is located approximately 300 miles north of San Francisco in a relatively isolated region known as the ‘lost coast’, famous for old growth redwoods and a dramatic coastline. Over the past five years, HSU has started to take seriously the challenge of connecting the ideals of a relatively small, liberal arts school to the changing goals and aspirations of an increasingly diverse student body in the context of an ever more connected world. This paper seeks to do two things. First, to briefly outline current questions in the field of career development with a view to better understanding how the stated goals of the millennial generation affect their ideas of ‘career’ and ‘success’. Second, to offer Humboldt State University as a case study by examining the way these issues have influenced the development of career education in the HSU’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS), specifically the International Studies Program. The argument is that while the overarching goals of millennials are not so very unusual or different from their predecessors, career education needs to adapt to meet specific needs of our students. Further, that this is best done through a strategy that combines traditional ‘user activated’ services, with intentional ‘scaffolding’ designed by each college – ideally by each department or program. The objective is to offer other and/or similar institutions a framework that includes a range of approaches to embedding career education into the academic curriculum in a way that not only meets the range of needs of our students, but also connects the liberal arts education campus to the classroom of the world

Got Diabetes? With Us, You\u27ll Have Complete Diabetic Care

AIM: By April 2016, we aim to improve Complete Diabetic Care of Thursday JHAP Clinic\u27s patients with diabetes by 50%. * These authors contributed equallyhttps://jdc.jefferson.edu/patientsafetyposters/1007/thumbnail.jp

Phytophthora root and stem rot of soybean

Phytophthora sojae is a soil borne pathogen that in the past has caused very large economic losses. During the late 1970s, 300,000 soybean acres (approximately 10% of total soybean production in Ohio) were lost due to P. sojae. This disease has since been effectively managed predominately through the incorporation of single-gene mediated resistance but quantitative or partial resistance has been used as well. In fact, today, we can repeat 100% loss by planting soybean cultivars that were popular during earlier epidemics. Without high levels of resistance to this pathogen, many soybean acres would be lost each year to this disease. Phytophthora doesn’t forget and it doesn’t go away

Ultraviolet recall reaction after total body irradiation, etoposide, and methotrexate therapy.

Ultraviolet (UV) reactivation reactions are rare and can occur in areas of prior sunburn or UV light therapy after the administration of chemotherapy, antibiotics, and other medications. Reactions may occur within days, as described after methotrexate therapy, or may appear months later, as described with ampicillin. Such reactions have been variably termed UV recall, sunburn recall, photo recall, and photodermatitis reactivation, making classification difficult. We report a UV reactivation reaction in a patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia treated with total body irradiation, etoposide, and methotrexate. We propose the terms UV recall and UV enhancement be used in future reports to classify UV reactivation reactions in a scheme analogous to the terminology for cutaneous reactions after radiotherapy

Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Recipients of Male Unrelated Donor Compared with Parous Female Sibling Donor Transplants

Optimal donor selection is critical for successful allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Donor sex and parity are well-established risk factors for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), with male donors typically associated with lower rates of GVHD. Well-matched unrelated donors (URDs) have also been associated with increased risks of GVHD as compared with matched sibling donors. These observations raise the question of whether male URDs would lead to more (or less) favorable transplant outcomes as compared with parous female sibling donors. We used the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research registry to complete a retrospective cohort study in adults with acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or myelodysplastic syndrome, who underwent T-cell replete HCT from these 2 donor types (parous female sibling or male URD) between 2000 and 2012. Primary outcomes included grade 2 to 4 acute GVHD (aGVHD), chronic GVHD (cGVHD), and overall survival. Secondary outcomes included disease-free survival, transplant-related mortality, and relapse. In 2813 recipients, patients receiving male URD transplants (n = 1921) had 1.6 times higher risk of grade 2 to 4 aGVHD (P \u3c .0001). For cGVHD, recipient sex was a significant factor, so donor/recipient pairs were evaluated. Female recipients of male URD grafts had a higher risk of cGVHD than those receiving parous female sibling grafts (relative risk [RR] = 1.43, P \u3c .0001), whereas male recipients had similar rates of cGVHD regardless of donor type (RR = 1.09, P = .23). Donor type did not significantly affect any other end point. We conclude that when available, parous female siblings are preferred over male URDs

Gene discovery and comparative analysis of X-degenerate genes from the domestic cat Y chromosome☆☆Sequence data from this article have been deposited with the EMBL/GenBank Data Libraries under Accession No. EU879967-EU879988.

AbstractMammalian sex chromosomes are the remnants of an ancient autosomal pair present in the ancestral mammalian karyotype. As a consequence of random decay and chromosome rearrangements over evolutionary time, Y chromosome gene repertoires differ between eutherian lineages. To investigate the gene repertoire and transcriptional analysis of the domestic cat Y chromosome, and their potential roles in spermatogenesis, we obtained full-length cDNA sequences for all known Y genes and their X chromosome gametologues and used those sequences to create a BAC-based physical map of the X-degenerate region. Our results indicate the domestic cat Y chromosome has retained most X-degenerate genes that were present on the ancestral eutherian Y chromosome. Transcriptional analysis revealed that most feline X-degenerate genes have retained housekeeping functions shared by their X chromosome partners and have not been specialized for testis-specific functions. Physical mapping data indicate that the cat SRY gene is present as multiple functional copies and that very little of the felid Y chromosome may be single copy. X-Y gene divergence time estimates obtained using Bayesian methods confirm an early origin of Stratum 1 genes prior to the origin of therian mammals. We observed no statistical difference in the ages of Stratum 2 and Stratum 3 gene pairs, suggesting that eutherian and marsupial Stratum 2 genes may have been independently retained in each lineage

Acute Cholecystitis Is a Common Complication after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation and Is Associated with the Use of Total Parenteral Nutrition

AbstractThe incidence and risk factors for acute cholecystitis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are not well defined. Of 644 consecutive adult transplants performed at our institution between 2001 and 2011, acute cholecystitis occurred in the first year of transplant in 32 patients (5.0%). We conducted 2 retrospective case-control studies of this population to determine risk factors for cholecystitis after HSCT and to evaluate the performance of different methods of imaging to diagnosis cholecystitis in patients undergoing HSCT compared with non-HSCT patients. In the HSCT population, development of cholecystitis was associated with an increased 1-year overall mortality rate (62.5% versus 19.8%, P < .001). The risk of developing cholecystitis was higher in patients who received total parenteral nutrition (TPN) (adjusted odds ratio, 3.41; P = .009). There was a trend toward more equivocal abdominal ultrasound findings in HSCT recipients with acute cholecystitis compared with nontransplant patients (50.0% versus 30.6%, P = .06). However, hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scans were definitively positive for acute cholecystitis in most patients in both populations (80.0% of HSCT recipients versus 77.4% of control subjects, P = .82). In conclusion, acute cholecystitis is a common early complication of HSCT, the risk is increased in patients who receive TPN, and it is associated with high 1-year mortality. In HSCT recipients with findings suggestive of acute cholecystitis, especially those receiving TPN, early use of HIDA scan may be considered over ultrasound

BRAIN Initiative: Cutting-Edge Tools and Resources for the Community.

The overarching goal of the NIH BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative is to advance the understanding of healthy and diseased brain circuit function through technological innovation. Core principles for this goal include the validation and dissemination of the myriad innovative technologies, tools, methods, and resources emerging from BRAIN-funded research. Innovators, BRAIN funding agencies, and non-Federal partners are working together to develop strategies for making these products usable, available, and accessible to the scientific community. Here, we describe several early strategies for supporting the dissemination of BRAIN technologies. We aim to invigorate a dialogue with the neuroscience research and funding community, interdisciplinary collaborators, and trainees about the existing and future opportunities for cultivating groundbreaking research products into mature, integrated, and adaptable research systems. Along with the accompanying Society for Neuroscience 2019 Mini-Symposium, "BRAIN Initiative: Cutting-Edge Tools and Resources for the Community," we spotlight the work of several BRAIN investigator teams who are making progress toward providing tools, technologies, and services for the neuroscience community. These tools access neural circuits at multiple levels of analysis, from subcellular composition to brain-wide network connectivity, including the following: integrated systems for EM- and florescence-based connectomics, advances in immunolabeling capabilities, and resources for recording and analyzing functional connectivity. Investigators describe how the resources they provide to the community will contribute to achieving the goals of the NIH BRAIN Initiative. Finally, in addition to celebrating the contributions of these BRAIN-funded investigators, the Mini-Symposium will illustrate the broader diversity of BRAIN Initiative investments in cutting-edge technologies and resources

The Impact of Pandemic Management Strategies on Staff Mental Health, Work Behaviours, and Resident Care in One Long-Term Care Facility in British Columbia: A Mixed Method Study

Context: To slow the spread of COVID-19 within the Canadian long-term residential care (LTRC) sector, a series of pandemic management strategies were introduced, including restricted visitation and single site employment. These strategies were enacted to prevent and control infection, resulting in unknown impact on direct care staff and staff capacity to deliver quality care or service. Objective: To explore staff reports of outcomes associated with LTRC pandemic management strategies, particularly their impact on LTRC staff mental health, work behaviours and quality of care or service provision. Method: This was a case study using mixed methods including a longitudinal survey and interviews with staff from one LTRC site in British Columbia. Survey data from 68 staff who participated in both survey times were analyzed using regressions with relative weight analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 LTRC staff and analyzed using content analysis. Findings: Survey data demonstrated that staff perceived the sick time policy and staffing levels as the most inadequate pandemic management strategies. Survey data also showed the visitation policy, the sick time policy and the single site employment policy were most significantly associated with negative outcomes to staff mental health, work behaviours and quality of care or service delivery. Qualitative data suggested connections between these policies and inadequate staffing levels and heavy workloads. Limitations: The study design along with the low response rate and the small sample size limits the generalizability of the findings to other settings. Implications: The development and implementation of pandemic management strategies must be informed by and give consideration to working conditions of LTRC staff including long standing systemic issues such as staffing shortages and heavy workloads