Insights in Health Administration Education: Understanding the Role of Personality in Teamwork

Background: Developing a health promotion program plan requires attention to the links between objectives, activities, and overall program goals. Instructors developed the “Connecting the Dots” worksheet to help students establish these linkages. Methods: The “Connecting the Dots” worksheet included six questions pertinent to the students’ health promotion program plans. The worksheet was given to the students in a flipped classroom setting. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the tool was based upon group presentations at the end of the semester. Results: Students developed more viable program plans that included stronger links between objectives and corresponding program activities. Conclusions: The “Connecting the Dots” worksheet is a promising tool for engaging public health students in the process of developing health promotion program plans

The smallest known Devonian tetrapod shows unexpectedly derived features.

A new genus and species of Devonian tetrapod, Brittagnathus minutus gen. et sp. nov., is described from a single complete right lower jaw ramus recovered from the Acanthostega mass-death deposit in the upper part of the Britta Dal Formation (upper Famennian) of Stensiö Bjerg, Gauss Peninsula, East Greenland. Visualization by propagation phase contrast synchrotron microtomography allows a complete digital dissection of the specimen. With a total jaw ramus length of 44.8 mm, Brittagnathus is by far the smallest Devonian tetrapod described to date. It differs from all previously known Devonian tetrapods in having only a fang pair without a tooth row on the anterior coronoid and a large posterior process on the posterior coronoid. The presence of an incipient surangular crest and a concave prearticular margin to the adductor fossa together cause the fossa to face somewhat mesially, reminiscent of the condition in Carboniferous tetrapods. A phylogenetic analysis places Brittagnathus crownward to other Devonian tetrapods, adjacent to the Tournaisian genus Pederpes. Together with other recent discoveries, it suggests that diversification of 'Carboniferous-grade' tetrapods had already begun before the end of the Devonian and that the group was not greatly affected by the end-Devonian mass extinction

Cloning, Expression, Sequence Analysis and Homology Modeling of the Prolyl Endoprotease from Eurygaster integriceps Puton

Eurygaster integriceps Puton, commonly known as sunn pest, is a major pest of wheat in Northern Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This insect injects a prolyl endoprotease into the wheat, destroying the gluten. The purpose of this study was to clone the full length cDNA of the sunn pest prolyl endoprotease (spPEP) for expression in E. coli and to compare the amino acid sequence of the enzyme to other known PEPs in both phylogeny and potential tertiary structure. Sequence analysis shows that the 5ꞌ UTR contains several putative transcription factor binding sites for transcription factors known to be expressed in Drosophila that might be useful targets for inhibition of the enzyme. The spPEP was first identified as a prolyl endoprotease by Darkoh et al., 2010. The enzyme is a unique serine protease of the S9A family by way of its substrate recognition of the gluten proteins, which are greater than 30 kD in size. At 51% maximum identity to known PEPs, homology modeling using SWISS-MODEL, the porcine brain PEP (PDB: 2XWD) was selected in the database of known PEP structures, resulting in a predicted tertiary structure 99% identical to the porcine brain PEP structure. A Km for the recombinant spPEP was determined to be 210 ± 53 µM for the zGly-Pro-pNA substrate in 0.025 M ethanolamine, pH 8.5, containing 0.1 M NaCl at 37 °C with a turnover rate of 172 ± 47 µM Gly-Pro-pNA/s/µM of enzyme

Mean shear flows generated by nonlinear resonant Alfven waves

In the context of resonant absorption, nonlinearity has two different manifestations. The first is the reduction in amplitude of perturbations around the resonant point (wave energy absorption). The second is the generation of mean shear flows outside the dissipative layer surrounding the resonant point. Ruderman et al. [Phys. Plasmas 4, 75 (1997)] studied both these effects at the slow resonance in isotropic plasmas. Clack et al. [Astron. Astrophys. 494}, 317 (2009)] investigated nonlinearity at the Alfven resonance, however, they did not include the generation of mean shear flow. In this present paper, we investigate the mean shear flow, analytically, and study its properties. We find that the flow generated is parallel to the magnetic surfaces and has a characteristic velocity proportional to $\epsilon^{1/2}$, where $\epsilon$ is the dimensionless amplitude of perturbations far away from the resonance. This is, qualitatively, similar to the flow generated at the slow resonance. The jumps in the derivatives of the parallel and perpendicular components of mean shear flow across the dissipative layer are derived. We estimate the generated mean shear flow to be of the order of $10{\rm kms}^{-1}$ in both the solar upper chromosphere and solar corona, however, this value strongly depends on the choice of boundary conditions. It is proposed that the generated mean shear flow can produce a Kelvin--Helmholtz instability at the dissipative layer which can create turbulent motions. This instability would be an additional effect, as a Kelvin--Helmholtz instability may already exist due to the velocity field of the resonant Alfven waves. This flow can also be superimposed onto existing large scale motions in the solar upper atmosphere.Comment: 11 page

Involving patients and clinicians in the development of a randomised clinical trial protocol to assess spinal manual therapy versus nerve root injection for patients with lumbar radiculopathy: a patient and public involvement project to inform the SALuBRITY trial design

Background Spinal manual therapy and corticosteroid nerve root injection are commonly used to treat patients with lumbar radiculopathy. The SALuBRITY trial - a two parallel group, double sham controlled, randomised clinical trial - is being developed to compare their effectiveness. By gathering patients’ and clinicians’ perspectives and involving them in discussions related to the trial research question and objectives, proposed trial recruitment processes, methods, and outcome measures, we aimed to improve the relevance and quality of the SALuBRITY trial. Methods We involved patients with lived experience of lumbar radiculopathy (n = 5) and primary care clinicians (n = 4) with experience in the treatment of these patients. Involvement activities included an initial kick-off event to introduce the project, establishing a shared purpose statement, and empowering patient and clinician advisors for their involvement, followed by semi-structured group and individual interviews, and questionnaires to evaluate the experience throughout the project. Results Both patient and clinician advisors endorsed the significance and relevance of the trial’s objectives. Patients assessed the proposed trial methods as acceptable within the context of a trusting patient-clinician relationship. A trial recruitment and enrolment target time of up to five days was regarded as acceptable, although patients with chronic radiculopathy may need more time to consider their trial participation decision. All advisors reached consensus on the acceptability of a medication washout phase of 12- to 24-h before pain outcome measurement, with the inclusion of a rescue medication protocol. Both advisory groups preferred leg pain over back pain as the primary clinical outcome, with patient advisors advocating for personalized primary pain localization. Furthermore, patients requested expanding the pain, enjoyment, and general activity scale with peak pain intensity, rather than average pain alone. Patient and clinician advisors evaluated their engagement in clinical research as meaningful and impactful. Conclusion Patient and public involvement resulted in important and relevant considerations for the SALuBRITY trial, spanning all research phases. These findings hold promise for enhancing the trial’s quality and relevance and improving its translation into clinical practice

Involving patients and clinicians in a pilot randomised clinical trial of spinal manual therapy versus nerve root injection for lumbar radiculopathy: protocol of a patient and public involvement project

INTRODUCTION A patient and public involvement (PPI) project will be embedded within the SALuBRITY pilot trial, a two parallel group, double sham controlled, randomised clinical trial. The study aims to compare the effectiveness of spinal manual therapy and corticosteroid nerve root injections, two methods commonly used to treat patients with lumbar radiculopathy. We aim to gather patients' and clinicians' perspectives and involve them in decisions related to the research question and objectives, proposed trial recruitment processes and methods, and proposed outcome measures. METHODS AND ANALYSIS A small group of patients with lived experience of lumbar radiculopathy and primary care clinicians with experience in the treatment of patients with lumbar radiculopathy are involved. An initial kickoff event will prepare and empower the advisors for involvement in the project, followed by semistructured patient group and one-on-one clinician interviews. We will follow the Critical Outcomes of Research Engagement framework for assessing the impact of patient engagement in research. We will summarise and feedback PPI content to the patient and clinician advisors during a member-checking process to ensure accurate interpretation of patient and clinician inputs. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis will be used for the qualitative analysis of the interviews. Two surveys will be completed at different points along the trial to track the advisors' and researchers' experiences over the course of the PPI project. Any modifications to the SALuBRITY trial methods due to PPI inputs will be thoroughly documented and recorded in an impact log. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION The independent research ethics committee of Canton Zurich confirmed that ethical approval for this PPI subproject was not required. PPI results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences

Bulk Band Gaps in Divalent Hexaborides

Complementary angle-resolved photoemission and bulk-sensitive k-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering of divalent hexaborides reveal a >1 eV X-point gap between the valence and conduction bands, in contradiction to the band overlap assumed in several models of their novel ferromagnetism. This semiconducting gap implies that carriers detected in transport measurements arise from defects, and the measured location of the bulk Fermi level at the bottom of the conduction band implicates boron vacancies as the origin of the excess electrons. The measured band structure and X-point gap in CaB_6 additionally provide a stringent test case for proper inclusion of many-body effects in quasi-particle band calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; new RIXS analysis; accepted for publication in PR

Enzymes as Feed Additive to Aid in Responses Against Eimeria Species in Coccidia-Vaccinated Broilers Fed Corn-Soybean Meal Diets with Different Protein Levels

This research aimed to evaluate the effects of adding a combination of exogenous enzymes to starter diets varying in protein content and fed to broilers vaccinated at day of hatch with live oocysts and then challenged with mixed Eimeria spp. Five hundred four 1-d-old male Cobb-500 chickens were distributed in 72 cages. The design consisted of 12 treatments. Three anticoccidial control programs [ionophore (IO), coccidian vaccine (COV), and coccidia-vaccine + enzymes (COV + EC)] were evaluated under 3 CP levels (19, 21, and 23%), and 3 unmedicated-uninfected (UU) negative controls were included for each one of the protein levels. All chickens except those in unmedicated-uninfected negative controls were infected at 17 d of age with a mixed oral inoculum of Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria maxima, and Eimeria tenella. Live performance, lesion scores, oocyst counts, and samples for gut microflora profiles were evaluated 7 d postinfection. Ileal digestibility of amino acids (IDAA) was determined 8 d postinfection. Microbial communities (MC) were analyzed by G + C%, microbial numbers were counted by flow cytometry, and IgA concentrations were measured by ELISA. The lowest CP diets had poorer (P ≤ 0.001) BW gain and feed conversion ratio in the preinfection period. Coccidia-vaccinated broilers had lower performance than the ones fed ionophore diets during pre- and postchallenge periods. Intestinal lesion scores were affected (P ≤ 0.05) by anticoccidial control programs, but responses changed according to gut section. Feed additives or vaccination had no effect (P ≥ 0.05) on IDAA, and diets with 23% CP had the lowest (P ≤ 0.001) IDAA. Coccidial infection had no effect on MC numbers in the ileum but reduced MC numbers in ceca and suppressed ileal IgA production. The COV + EC treatment modulated MC during mixed coccidiosis infection but did not significantly improve chicken performance. Results indicated that feed enzymes may be used to modulate the gut microflora of cocci-vaccinated broiler chickens

Nonlinear theory of resonant slow waves in anisotropic and dispersive plasmas

The solar corona is a typical example of a plasma with strongly anisotropic transport processes. The main dissipative mechanisms in the solar corona acting on slow magnetoacoustic waves are the anisotropic thermal conductivity and viscosity [Ballai et al., Phys. Plasmas 5, 252 (1998)] developed the nonlinear theory of driven slow resonant waves in such a regime. In the present paper the nonlinear behavior of driven magnetohydrodynamic waves in the slow dissipative layer in plasmas with strongly anisotropic viscosity and thermal conductivity is expanded by considering dispersive effects due to Hall currents. The nonlinear governing equation describing the dynamics of nonlinear resonant slow waves is supplemented by a term which describes nonlinear dispersion and is of the same order of magnitude as nonlinearity and dissipation. The connection formulas are found to be similar to their nondispersive counterparts

The Addition of Arachidin 1 or Arachidin 3 to Human Rotavirus-infected Cells Inhibits Viral Replication and Alters the Apoptotic Cell Death Pathway

Rotavirus (RV) infections are a leading cause of severe gastroenteritis in infants and children under the age of five. There are two vaccines available in the United States and one in India that can be administered early in childhood, however they only protect against specific strains1. From our previous work, both arachidin-1 (A1) and arachidin-3 (A3) from peanut (Arachis hypogaea) hairy root cultures significantly inhibit simian RV replication2,3,4. The purpose of this study was to determine if a human intestinal cell line, HT29.f8, infected with a human RV, Wa, was affected by A1 and A3. Cell viability assays were utilized to determine if A1 and A3 affect the HT29.f8 cells with/without RV infections. At eighteen hours post infection (hpi), supernatants from the RV-infected HT29.f8 cells with/without the arachidins were used in plaque forming assays to quantify and compare the amount of infectious RV particles that are produced during an infection. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to visualize cell ultrastructure and individual RV particles. Additionally, tunable resistive pulse sensing technology (TRPS) using the qNano system by IZON was employed to quantify and measure virus particle sizes, and display the size distribution of RV particles. Likewise, quantitative real time polymerase chain reactions (qRT-PCR) were performed to determine if A1 and A3 regulated cell death pathways in the HT29.f8 cell line. This data will guide our future studies to determine the antiviral mechanism(s) of action of A1 and A3