Educating Patients on Cannabidiol (CBD)

As the popularity of cannabidiol (CBD) increases, more patients are interested in trying a natural adjunct to more standard medications. But with no current FDA oversight, an estimated 70% of CBD products could be mislabeled. In Vermont, federal regulation requires hemp products to contain less than 0.3% THC, but this has only been tested one time at one location since the 2018 Farm Bill was passed. The goal of this project was to address common questions, recommend specific dosing, identify what to look for when purchasing, and list local and online resources for patients about CBD. An educational handout and a smartphrase were created to address these concerns.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1567/thumbnail.jp

Learning Leadership Across Generations In Family-Owned Enterprises

This study explores leadership development issues in family businesses. Family owned enterprises comprise a significant proportion of the business population. However, approximately half of family owned businesses do not survive generational transitions. The sheer number of ongoing leadership transitions begs greater understanding on how leadership is learned in the family business and how to improve the leadership development process. This study sought to understand how leadership is learned across generations by asking family business leaders about their own experience and perceptions. Family business leadership development themes and needs for education and research are identified

Metronome-Cued Stepping in Place after Hemiparetic Stroke: Comparison of a One- and Two-Tone Beat

Hemiparetic gait is characterised by temporal asymmetry and variability, and these variables are improved by auditory cueing. Stepping in place incorporates aspects of gait and may be a useful tool for locomotor training. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the use of a single-tone and dual-tone metronome to cue stepping in place after hemiparetic stroke. Eight participants completed an uncued baseline stepping condition and two cued stepping conditions utilising a single-tone and a dualtone metronome. Step times were determined from force plate data, and asymmetry and variability were calculated for the three conditions. Step time asymmetry was significantly reduced in the single-tone condition compared to baseline, and paretic step time variability was significantly reduced in both cued conditions.The single-tone metronome appeared to be preferred to the dual-tone metronome based on participant feedback.The results of this pilot study suggest that metronome cueing produces similar benefits on stepping in place to previously reported findings in walking. Further research on whether stepping in place to a metronome can be used for locomotor training is needed

Playing with Dolls: Masculinity and Desire in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

The paper argues that underlying the national narrative of the Doll is a compulsion to define and fix masculinity, femininity and heterosexuality

Relevance for Food Safety of Applications of Nanotechnology in the Food and Feed Industry

The application of nanotechnology in the food and feed industry offers many potential benefits for both consumers and manufacturers.The ultrafine dimensions of nanoparticles, and consequently their very large surface area, enable them to function more effectively than conventional macro-scale structures in many applications. Nanotechnology is however a relatively new area of science and the benefits and risks associated with its use in the food and feed industry are not fully understood at this time.This brings with it new challenges in ensuring the safety of food and feed that has been produced with the aid of nanotechnology. This report provides an overview of current and potential applications of nanotechnology in the food industry, which may equally be applied in the feed industry. The possible risks of nanotechnology, together with the adequacy of the existing EU regulatory framework in the control of any potential risks, are also examined with a view to determining what further legislative measures, if any, may be necessary to safeguard food safet

Altered visual perception near the hands: a critical review of attentional and neurophysiological models

Visual perception changes as a function of hand proximity. While various theoretical accounts have been offered for this alteration (attentional prioritisation, bimodal cell involvement, detailed evaluation, and magnocellular neuron input enhancement), the current literature lacks consensus on these mechanisms. The purpose of this review, therefore, is to critically review the existing body of literature in light of these distinct theoretical accounts. We find that a growing number of results support the magnocellular (M-cell) enhancement account, and are difficult to reconcile with general attention-based explanations. Despite this key theoretical development in the field, there has been some ambiguity with interpretations offered in recent papers, for example, equating the existing attentional and M-cell based explanations, when in fact they make contrasting predictions. We therefore highlight the differential predictions arising from the distinct theoretical accounts. Importantly, however, we also offer novel perspectives that synthesises the role of attention and neurophysiological mechanisms in understanding altered visual perception near the hands. We envisage that this theoretical development will ensure that the field can progress from documenting behavioural differences, to a consensus on the underlying visual and neurophysiological mechanisms.This research was supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE140101734) awarded to S.C.G., ARC Discovery Project (DP110104553) awarded to M.E, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants awarded S.F. and J.P

Comparison of Seven Extraction Kits for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been used to trace outbreaks and monitor populations for pathogenic viruses such as poliovirus. SARS-CoV-2 has been identified as a candidate for WBE as the virus can survive for prolonged periods in wastewater. The use of commercial extraction kits alongside polyethylene glycol separation, electrostatic membrane filtration, and ultracentrifugation have been used to analyze wastewater. However, the most consistent and versatile commercial kit has not been identified. In this study, previously analyzed wastewater was extracted using seven different commercial kits and quantified using cycle threshold (CT) values from PCR. Data was analyzed using ANOVA and pairwise comparisons at 95% confidence. Results reveal the use of ThermoFisher MagMax Microbiome Kit alongside proteinase K to be the most consistent kit when analyzing soil samples. Qiagen’s EnvironWater kit was identified as the kit of choice for liquid samples. ZymoBIOMICS DNA/RNA kit was identified as a versatile kit for analyzing both solids and liquids. Liquids were found to have higher quantities of virus on average, but solids had lower CT values on average. We conclude that isolating solids should be the primary focus when concentrating virus. MagMax Microbiome Kit with proteinase K was identified as the most consistent and accurate kit for analyzing wastewater. The MagMax Microbiome Kit was found to have significantly lower CT values when compared to other kits across all viral concentrations and sample types. The method used to concentrate water is inexpensive and uses less resources compared to previous methods, which allows WBE to be used at a larger scale in more areas. This will be important for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 variants and population health as the pandemic progresses. Further studies should focus on the efficiency of the kits when using a spiked positive control as well as variance between water samples.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/surp2021/1031/thumbnail.jp

Using RT-PCR to Determine the Presence of Various Viruses Found in Nebraska Wastewater

Detection of Adenovirus, Aichi virus, Influenza, Cytomegalovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and Hepatitis A in Nebraska wastewater using RT-PCR. Extraction of virus nucleic acid was done using Dynabead enrichment and MagMAX wastewater extraction kit.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/surp2022/1037/thumbnail.jp

Comparison of Nucleic Acid Extraction Kits for Detecting Pathogens in Spiked Human Serum

Nucleic acid extraction is a laboratory process by which DNA and RNA can be isolated for downstream applications. Currently, there are many commercial DNA and RNA extraction kits available to simplify this process. These kits vary in cost, processing time, and required materials. While most studies comparing commercial extraction kits analyze using real-time qPCR, DNA sequencing has become a popular technique for determining specific pathogens present in microbial communities. This study compares the ability of 11 different nucleic extraction kits to detect pathogens from samples spiked with known proportions of bacteria and yeast. Additionally, variations of the kits were performed, including different lysis techniques or addition of carrier RNA. Ultimately, the results of the study demonstrate that the use of mechanical or enzyme-based lysis techniques generally result in proportions that are more accurate to that of the known standard. Taking into consideration the required materials for each kit, some kits can also be identified as effective options for low-resource environments.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/surp2021/1029/thumbnail.jp