312 research outputs found
Assessment of benefit of advanced inflammatory bowel disease training: Challenges and solutions
BACKGROUND: Advanced inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) fellowships are available for gastroenterologists who wish to increase their expertise in complex IBD. However, little is known about the outcomes of such training. The aims of this study were to assess clinical and academic outcomes following advanced training in IBD.
METHODS: We surveyed gastroenterologists who completed advanced IBD fellowships and compared competency and outcomes to gastroenterologists focusing in IBD who completed gastroenterology training alone. Participants completed a survey via REDCap. Continuous variables were compared using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Categorical variables were compared using chi-square or Fisher\u27s exact tests.
RESULTS: A total of 104 physicians participated in the study. IBD fellowships were completed by 31 physicians (30%), of whom 29 (94%) felt their training was excellent. Management of complicated IBD (84%), research mentoring (74%), and career mentoring (71%) were felt to contribute most highly to professional development. Compared to non-advanced trained physicians, advanced trained physicians expressed higher levels of comfort with management of IBD during pregnancy (
CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests there may be clinical benefit to advanced IBD training. Importantly, this study identified that there are also unique challenges to the assessment of clinical competency in IBD training. Efforts by the IBD community to establish a registry of advanced trainees and improve competency assessments are needed
Estrogen Receptor-Alpha in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Regulates Social Affiliation in Male Prairie Voles (Microtus Ochrogaster)
Estrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha) typically masculinizes male behavior, while low levels of ER alpha in the medial amygdala (MeA) and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) are associated with high levels of male prosocial behavior. In the males of the highly social prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), increasing ER alpha in the MeA inhibited the expression of spontaneous alloparental behavior and produced a preference for novel females. To test for the effects of increased ER alpha in the BST, a viral vector was used to enhance ER alpha expression in the BST of adult male prairie voles. Following treatment, adult males were tested for alloparental behavior with 1-3-day- old pups, and for heterosexual social preference and affiliation. Treatment did not affect alloparental behavior as 73% of ER alpha-BST males and 62.5% of control males were alloparental. Increasing ER alpha in the BST affected heterosexual affiliation, with ER alpha-BST males spending significantly less total time in side-by-side contact with females relative to time spent with control males. ER alpha-BST males did not show a preference for either the familiar or novel female. These findings differed significantly from those reported in ER alpha-MeA enhanced males, where ER alpha inhibited alloparental behavior and produced a preference for a novel female. The findings from this study suggest two things: first, that increased ER alpha in the BST decreases social affiliation and second, that altering ER alpha in different regions of the social neural circuit differentially impacts the expression of social behavior
Estrogen Receptor-α in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Regulates Social Affiliation in Male Prairie Voles (Microtus ochrogaster)
Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) typically masculinizes male behavior, while low levels of ERα in the medial amygdala (MeA) and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) are associated with high levels of male prosocial behavior. In the males of the highly social prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), increasing ERα in the MeA inhibited the expression of spontaneous alloparental behavior and produced a preference for novel females. To test for the effects of increased ERα in the BST, a viral vector was used to enhance ERα expression in the BST of adult male prairie voles. Following treatment, adult males were tested for alloparental behavior with 1â3-day-old pups, and for heterosexual social preference and affiliation. Treatment did not affect alloparental behavior as 73% of ERα-BST males and 62.5% of control males were alloparental. Increasing ERα in the BST affected heterosexual affiliation, with ERα-BST males spending significantly less total time in side-by-side contact with females relative to time spent with control males. ERα-BST males did not show a preference for either the familiar or novel female. These findings differed significantly from those reported in ERα-MeA enhanced males, where ERα inhibited alloparental behavior and produced a preference for a novel female. The findings from this study suggest two things: first, that increased ERα in the BST decreases social affiliation and second, that altering ERα in different regions of the social neural circuit differentially impacts the expression of social behavior
Does Age And Gender Really Play A Role In Faculty's Use Of Instructional And Assessment Technologies?
Abstract: This paper examines the use of technology by faculty at the higher education level. The data used was from a case study of a liberal arts college in the Northeastern United States. It examines whether there is a difference in use of technology for assessment purposes and instructional purposes based on age or gender. This study found there is no significant difference between genders regarding their use technology for assessment or instructional purposes, nor was there a difference between age groups and their use of technology for assessment purposes. The data did reveal interesting indications that suggested the possibility of age influencing the degree to which technology is used for instructional purposes. Namely, educators above the age of 55 used technology more often than educators between the ages of 40 and 55
POISSON project - II - A multi-wavelength spectroscopic and photometric survey of young protostars in L 1641
Characterising stellar and circumstellar properties of embedded young stellar
objects (YSOs) is mandatory for understanding the early stages of the stellar
evolution. This task requires the combination of both spectroscopy and
photometry, covering the widest possible wavelength range, to disentangle the
various protostellar components and activities. As part of the POISSON project,
we present a multi-wavelength spectroscopic and photometric investigation of
embedded YSOs in L1641, aimed to derive the stellar parameters and evolutionary
stages and to infer their accretion properties. Our database includes
low-resolution optical-IR spectra from the NTT and Spitzer (0.6-40 um) and
photometric data covering a spectral range from 0.4 to 1100 um, which allow us
to construct the YSOs spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and to infer the
main stellar parameters. The SED analysis allows us to group our 27 YSOs into
nine Class I, eleven Flat, and seven Class II objects. However, on the basis of
the derived stellar properties, only six Class I YSOs have an age of ~10^5 yr,
while the others are older 5x10^5-10^6 yr), and, among the Flat sources, three
out of eleven are more evolved objects (5x10^6-10^7 yr), indicating that
geometrical effects can significantly modify the SED shapes. Inferred mass
accretion rates (Macc) show a wide range of values (3.6x10^-9 to 1.2x10^-5
M_sun yr^-1), which reflects the age spread observed in our sample. Average
values of mass accretion rates, extinction, and spectral indices decrease with
the YSO class. The youngest YSOs have the highest Macc, whereas the oldest YSOs
do not show any detectable jet activity in either images and spectra. We also
observe a clear correlation among the YSO Macc, M*, and age, consistent with
mass accretion evolution in viscous disc models.Comment: 61 pages, 16 figures; A&A in pres
Metallicity and Temperature Indicators in M dwarf K band Spectra: Testing New & Updated Calibrations With Observations of 133 Solar Neighborhood M dwarfs
We present K band spectra for 133 nearby (d < 33 parsecs) M dwarfs, including
18 M dwarfs with reliable metallicity estimates (as inferred from an FGK type
companion), 11 M dwarf planet hosts, more than 2/3 of the M dwarfs in the
Northern 8 pc sample, and several M dwarfs from the LSPM catalog. From these
spectra, we measure equivalent widths of the Ca and Na lines, and a spectral
index quantifying the absorption due to H2O opacity (the H2O-K2 index). Using
empirical spectral types standards and synthetic models, we calibrate the
H2O-K2 index as an indicator of an M dwarf's spectral type and effective
temperature. We also present a revised relationship that estimates the [Fe/H]
and [M/H] metallicities of M dwarfs from their Na I, Ca I, and H2O-K2
measurements. Comparisons to model atmosphere provide a qualitative validation
of our approach, but also reveal an overall offset between the atomic line
strengths predicted by models as compared to actual observations. Our
metallicity estimates also reproduce expected correlations with Galactic space
motions and H alpha emission line strengths, and return statistically identical
metallicities for M dwarfs within a common multiple system. Finally, we find
systematic residuals between our H2O-based spectral types and those derived
from optical spectral features with previously known sensitivity to stellar
metallicity, such as TiO, and identify the CaH1 index as a promising optical
index for diagnosing the metallicities of near-solar M dwarfs.Comment: 132 pages, 48 figures. Paper resubmitted to Ap
A Candidate Dual AGN at z=1.175
The X-ray source CXOXBJ142607.6+353351 (CXOJ1426+35), which was identified in
a 172 ks Chandra image in the Bootes field, shows double-peaked rest-frame
optical/UV emission lines, separated by 0.69" (5.5 kpc) in the spatial
dimension and by 690 km s^-1 in the velocity dimension. The high excitation
lines and emission line ratios indicate both systems are ionized by an AGN
continuum, and the double-peaked profile resembles that of candidate dual AGN.
At a redshift of z=1.175, this source is the highest redshift candidate dual
AGN yet identified. However, many sources have similar emission line profiles
for which other interpretations are favored. We have analyzed the substantial
archival data available in this field, as well as acquired near-infrared (NIR)
adaptive optics (AO) imaging and NIR slit spectroscopy. The X-ray spectrum is
hard, implying a column density of several 10^23 cm^-2. Though heavily
obscured, the source is also one of the brightest in the field, with an
absorption-corrected 2-10 keV luminosity of ~10^45 erg s^-1. Outflows driven by
an accretion disk may produce the double-peaked lines if the central engine
accretes near the Eddington limit. However, we may be seeing the narrow line
regions of two AGN following a galactic merger. While the AO image reveals only
a single source, a second AGN would easily be obscured by the significant
extinction inferred from the X-ray data. Understanding the physical processes
producing the complex emission line profiles seen in CXOJ1426+35 and related
sources is important for interpreting the growing population of dual AGN
candidates.Comment: 18 pages and 9 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
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