Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Education to Address Substance Use Disorders: Education in Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)

As substance use disorders (SUDs) continue to rise in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, occupational therapy practitioners are in a unique position to help individuals seek immediate screening, brief intervention, and referral for treatment upon first entry in a healthcare setting. Occupational therapy practitioners have helped individuals overcome SUDs since almost the beginning of the profession, however, there is a paucity of literature on entry-level practitioners’ preparedness for such work. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an entry-level occupational therapy curriculum module on Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), a universal public health approach by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services taught to occupational therapy students. Student participants were provided with classroom education, online learning materials, an interactive case study, an interprofessional education event, and debriefing with community members in recovery. These educational experiences demonstrated significant increases in pre-and post-score means of participants’ knowledge, confidence, competence, attitudes on SUDs, and readiness for conducting an SBIRT protocol. This study aims to illustrate how SBIRT educational practices can empower future practitioners to be effective agents of change in addressing substance use disorders in an evolving healthcare landscape

Starting with Howard Gardner’s five minds, adding Elliott Jaques’s responsibility time span: implications for undergraduate management education

This article offers a perspective on management education derived from Howard Gardner’s five minds framework and Elliott Jaques’s responsibility time span. We describe the five minds (disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful, and ethical) and discuss some of the criticisms raised about Gardner’s approach. We introduce Jaques’s time span concept and suggest its applicability to the structuring of roles in a school of management. Putting Jacques together with Gardner allows us to explore questions about the five minds that could be addressed by deans, department chairs, and faculty members, each with a different responsibility time span

Object detection networks and augmented reality for cellular detection in fluorescence microscopy

Object detection networks are high-performance algorithms famously applied to the task of identifying and localizing objects in photography images. We demonstrate their application for the classification and localization of cells in fluorescence microscopy by benchmarking four leading object detection algorithms across multiple challenging 2D microscopy datasets. Furthermore we develop and demonstrate an algorithm that can localize and image cells in 3D, in close to real time, at the microscope using widely available and inexpensive hardware. Furthermore, we exploit the fast processing of these networks and develop a simple and effective augmented reality (AR) system for fluorescence microscopy systems using a display screen and back-projection onto the eyepiece. We show that it is possible to achieve very high classification accuracy using datasets with as few as 26 images present. Using our approach, it is possible for relatively nonskilled users to automate detection of cell classes with a variety of appearances and enable new avenues for automation of fluorescence microscopy acquisition pipelines. © 2020 Waithe et al

Genetics and Pathogenesis of Feline Infectious Peritonitis Virus

Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is endemic in feral cat populations and cat colonies, frequently preceding outbreaks of fatal feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). FCoV exhibits 2 biotypes: the pathogenic disease and a benign infection with feline enteric coronavirus (FECV). Uncertainty remains regarding whether genetically distinctive avirulent and virulent forms coexist or whether an avirulent form mutates in vivo, causing FIP. To resolve these alternative hypotheses, we isolated viral sequences from FCoV-infected clinically healthy and sick cats (8 FIP cases and 48 FECV-asymptomatic animals); 735 sequences from 4 gene segments were generated and subjected to phylogenetic analyses. Viral sequences from healthy cats were distinct from sick cats on the basis of genetic distances observed in the membrane and nonstructural protein 7b genes. These data demonstrate distinctive circulating virulent and avirulent strains in natural populations. In addition, 5 membrane protein amino acid residues with functional potential differentiated healthy cats from cats with FIP. These findings may have potential as diagnostic markers for virulent FIP-associated FCoV

Rational design of a (S)-selective-transaminase for asymmetric synthesis of (1S)-1-(1,1′-biphenyl-2-yl)ethanamine

Amine transaminases offer an environmentally sustainable synthesis route for the production of pure chiral amines. However, their catalytic efficiency toward bulky ketone substrates is greatly limited by steric hindrance and therefore presents a great challenge for industrial synthetic applications. We hereby report an example of rational transaminase enzyme design to help alleviate these challenges. Starting from the Vibrio fluvialis amine transaminase that has no detectable catalytic activity toward the bulky aromatic ketone 2-acetylbiphenyl, we employed a rational design strategy combining in silico and in vitro studies to engineer the transaminase enzyme with a minimal number of mutations, achieving an high catalytic activity and high enantioselectivity. We found that, by introducing two mutations W57G/R415A, detectable enzyme activity was achieved. The rationally designed variant, W57F/R88H/V153S/K163F/I259M/R415A/V422A, showed an improvement in reaction rate by more than 1716-fold toward the bulky ketone under study, producing the corresponding enantiomeric pure (S)-amine (enantiomeric excess (ee) value of >99%)

Assessing Student Progress and Performance across the Curriculum

Evaluation of student learning is of paramount importance to the educational community and allows reflection on program successes and weaknesses; however, best practices are hotly debated. This project designed and implemented an assessment system in which an identical, mixed-format assessment was given to all levels of students in the Georgia Gwinnett College biology program at the start of the semester for academic years 2014-15, 2015-16 and Fall of 2016. The assessment contained multiple choice and free-response questions, and evaluated lab reports from core courses in the biology program. This system allows for longitudinal assessment of students, provides quick results for timely action, and can allow analysis of interesting demographic questions. We found student achievement on program goals was lower than previously assessed and student performance on multiple choice questions was higher than free-response questions. There was a modest, but temporary, gain in performance on the ability to effectively communicate science. Additionally, males outperformed their female counterparts and Hispanics underperformed their non-Hispanic peers

The Grizzly, November 8, 1985

Snyder Holds New Chair of Physics • Internships Problematic, but Necessary • Founder\u27s Day Filled with Science • Letters: The Good and Bad of Security • Science Makes its Stand in Liberal Arts Programs • In Search of Success: Jackson • Parsons Adds a Touch of Dutch Country • Playing Red/Gold in Recruitment • Freshman Urged to Begin Career Planning • Key Issues • Booters Play the Bridesmaid Again • Lady Bears Off to ECAC for Another Time • Bad Luck Strikes the Grizzlies • Box Lacrosse Popularity Grows • Successful Search for Liberal Arts Students • The Stand • Athlete of the Week • Education Department Offers Teaching Internshiphttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1151/thumbnail.jp

A Mobile Prenatal Care App to Reduce In-Person Visits: Prospective Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Risk-appropriate prenatal care has been asserted as a way for the cost-effective delivery of prenatal care. A virtual care model for prenatal care has the potential to provide patient-tailored, risk-appropriate prenatal educational content and may facilitate vital sign and weight monitoring between visits. Previous studies have demonstrated a safe reduction in the frequency of in-person prenatal care visits among low-risk patients but have noted a reduction in patient satisfaction. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of a mobile prenatal care app to facilitate a reduced in-person visit schedule for low-risk pregnancies while maintaining patient and provider satisfaction. METHODS: This controlled trial compared a control group receiving usual care with an experimental group receiving usual prenatal care and using a mobile prenatal care app. The experimental group had a planned reduction in the frequency of in-person office visits, whereas the control group had the usual number of visits. The trial was conducted at 2 diverse outpatient obstetric (OB) practices that are part of a single academic center in Washington, DC, United States. Women were eligible for enrollment if they presented to care in the first trimester, were aged between 18 and 40 years, had a confirmed desired pregnancy, were not considered high-risk, and had an iOS or Android smartphone that they used regularly. We measured the effectiveness of a virtual care platform for prenatal care via the following measured outcomes: the number of in-person OB visits during pregnancy and patient satisfaction with prenatal care. RESULTS: A total of 88 patients were enrolled in the study, 47 in the experimental group and 41 in the control group. For patients in the experimental group, the average number of in-person OB visits during pregnancy was 7.8 and the average number in the control group was 10.2 (P=.01). There was no statistical difference in patient satisfaction (P\u3e.05) or provider satisfaction (P\u3e.05) in either group. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a mobile prenatal care app was associated with reduced in-person visits, and there was no reduction in patient or provider satisfaction. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02914301; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02914301 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/76S55M517)

The Grizzly, November 15, 1985

Alcohol Policy Revisited: Campus Pub? • Landis Becomes UC\u27s First Full-Time Minister • Wellness Sponsors Adopt-A-Smoker Contest • Letters: Kane Downs Kegs; Security Remains Controversial • Reverant Reflections • In Search of Success: Linda Troutman Lands Job at Prudential • Berry Receives Fulbright Scholarship • Protheatre • Bears Take ECAC for Third Time • McCloskey Breaks TD Pass Record Another One • Cross Country: To Sum it Up • Women\u27s Field Hockey Falters in First Round • Amazons Too Tough • Lindbergh Tragedy: We Love You Pelle! • College Degree Becoming More Valuablehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1152/thumbnail.jp

Association of central adiposity with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional study of the UK Biobank

Objectives: To determine the independent association of central adiposity, assessed by waist circumference, with odds of psoriasis, PsA and RA prevalence after controlling for general adiposity (BMI). Methods: A cross-sectional study of UK Biobank participants aged 40–70 years was performed. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds of psoriasis, PsA and RA occurrence compared with controls without these conditions by waist circumference, adjusting for covariates: age, sex, smoking status, socioeconomic deprivation and self-reported physical activity (Model 1), followed additionally by BMI (Model 2). Results: A total of 502 417 participants were included; 5074 with psoriasis (1.02%), 905 with PsA (0.18%), 5532 with RA (1.11%) and 490 906 controls without these conditions. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) (Model 1) for psoriasis, PsA and RA, per S.D. (13.5 cm) higher waist circumference were 1.20 (95% CI 1.16, 1.23), 1.30 (95% CI 1.21, 1.39) and 1.21 (95% CI 1.17, 1.24), respectively (all P < 0.001). These ORs remained significant after further adjustment for BMI (Model 2) in psoriasis [OR 1.19 (95% CI 1.12, 1.27), P < 0.001] and RA [OR 1.19 (95% CI 1.12, 1.26), P < 0.001], but not in PsA [OR 1.11 (95% CI 0.95, 1.29), P = 0.127]. Conclusion: Central adiposity as measured by waist circumference is associated with greater odds of psoriasis and RA prevalence after adjustment for confounders and for BMI. Our findings add support for central adiposity as a long-term clinically relevant component of these conditions