Perceptions of 4-H Professionals on Proposed Solutions Towards Diversity Inclusive 4-H Youth Programs

This paper highlights findings from a web-based questionnaire used to explore and analyze [State] 4-H youth professional’s perceptions on proposed solutions to increasing diversity inclusion — particularly among youth of color and youth with disabilities — in 4-H youth programs. Descriptive statistics were used to report demographic and personal characteristics along with percentage agreements on proposed solutions. Respondents agreed that: “County 4-H youth professionals should become familiar with the youth with disabilities represented in their counties in order to promote an atmosphere of acceptance and cooperation;” “4-H youth instructional materials should reflect the diverse society that 4-H youth programs have;” and “for youth to become interested in joining 4-H, parents, 4-H youth professionals, and policymakers must develop strategies to address the different learning styles of all youth.” Finally, recommendations were identified for professionals who want to increase diversity inclusion in their respective 4-H youth programs

An Examination of Extension Professionals\u27 Demographic and Personal Characteristics Toward Fostering Diversity-Inclusive 4-H Programs

4-H youth professionals’ attitudes about the perceptions of diversity inclusion in their programs are variables that may have an influence on the number of youths that enroll in 4-H. This study examines the impact of Extension professionals’ demographic and personal characteristics on their perceptions of the benefits of diversity inclusion, perceived barriers to diversity inclusion, and proposed solutions to increase diversity inclusion in 4-H youth programs. Using a web-based questionnaire, the researchers employed a nonproportional stratified random sampling technique, and 117 Extension professionals participated. Through comparative analysis, the researcher found statistically significant differences existed in professionals’ perceptions toward the benefits of diversity inclusion, the perceived barriers toward diversity inclusion, and the proposed solutions to increase diversity inclusion in 4-H programs. Additional research should be conducted to understand better why these differences exist

Perceptions Of Texas Agricultural Education Teachers Regarding Diversity Inclusion In Secondary Agricultural Education Programs

While our schools across the United States evidently are witnessing an influx of students from diverse backgrounds, the need to address the issue of diversity among public school teachers is critical for inclusive and equitable schools. The purpose of this study was to explore and analyze Texas secondary agricultural education teachers' attitudes toward diversity inclusion in Texas secondary agricultural education programs. Using a web-based questionnaire, the researcher employed a nonproportional stratified random sampling technique, and 232 secondary agricultural education teachers participated in the study. Descriptive statistics were used for reporting the demographic and personal characteristics of respondents. Mean scores were used to assess teachers' perceptions of the benefits of diversity inclusion, perceptions of the barriers of diversity inclusion, and perceptions of proposed solutions to increase diversity inclusion in Texas secondary agricultural education programs. The sample consisted of 170 males and 45 females. The ethnic distribution of the sample was 90.5% White/European American, 6.2% Hispanic/Latino American, 1.9% Native American, 0.9% African American, and 0.5% Asian American. Respondents agreed that secondary agricultural education programs can benefit students of color and students with disabilities. Respondents also agreed that some of the barriers that prevent diversity inclusion in agricultural education include the lack of information about agricultural education, negative parental attitudes about agricultural education, and not being accepted by peers. Respondents indicated that the following is needed for all students to achieve in school: (a) educators, parents, and policymakers must develop strategies to address the different learning styles of all students; (b) agricultural educators should encourage and strive to increase students? of color membership in FFA; (c) teachers should become familiar with students of color represented in their classrooms in order to promote an atmosphere of acceptance and cooperation; and (d) agricultural educators should increase recruitment efforts to promote diversity inclusion must occur. The study also indicated that statistically significant differences in means scores existed based upon certain personal characteristics in regards to the Benefits, Barriers, and Solutions scales

Perceptions of 4-H Professionals on Proposed Solutions Towards Diversity Inclusive 4-H Youth Programs

This paper highlights findings from a web-based questionnaire used to explore and analyze [State] 4-H youth professional’s perceptions on proposed solutions to increasing diversity inclusion — particularly among youth of color and youth with disabilities — in 4-H youth programs. Descriptive statistics were used to report demographic and personal characteristics along with percentage agreements on proposed solutions. Respondents agreed that: “County 4-H youth professionals should become familiar with the youth with disabilities represented in their counties in order to promote an atmosphere of acceptance and cooperation;” “4-H youth instructional materials should reflect the diverse society that 4-H youth programs have;” and “for youth to become interested in joining 4-H, parents, 4-H youth professionals, and policymakers must develop strategies to address the different learning styles of all youth.” Finally, recommendations were identified for professionals who want to increase diversity inclusion in their respective 4-H youth programs

Satellite passive microwave sea-ice concentration data set inter-comparison for Arctic summer conditions

We report on results of a systematic inter-comparison of 10 global sea-ice concentration (SIC) data products at 12.5 to 50.0 km grid resolution from satellite passive microwave (PMW) observations for the Arctic during summer. The products are compared against SIC and net ice surface fraction (ISF) - SIC minus the per-grid-cell melt pond fraction (MPF) on sea ice - as derived from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite observations and observed from ice-going vessels. Like in Kern et al. (2019), we group the 10 products based on the concept of the SIC retrieval used. Group I consists of products of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) and European Space Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) algorithms. Group II consists of products derived with the Comiso bootstrap algorithm and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) SIC climate data record (CDR). Group III consists of Arctic Radiation and Turbulence Interaction Study (ARTIST) Sea Ice (ASI) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Team (NT) algorithm products, and group IV consists of products of the enhanced NASA Team algorithm (NT2). We find widespread positive and negative differences between PMW and MODIS SIC with magnitudes frequently reaching up to 20 %-25 % for groups I and III and up to 30 %-35 % for groups II and IV. On a pan-Arctic scale these differences may cancel out: Arctic average SIC from group I products agrees with MODIS within 2 %-5 % accuracy during the entire melt period from May through September. Group II and IV products overestimate MODIS Arctic average SIC by 5 %-10 %. Out of group III, ASI is similar to group I products while NT SIC underestimates MODIS Arctic average SIC by 5 %-10 %. These differences, when translated into the impact computing Arctic sea-ice area (SIA), match well with the differences in SIA between the four groups reported for the summer months by Kern et al. (2019). MODIS ISF is systematically overestimated by all products; NT provides the smallest overestimations (up to 25 %) and group II and IV products the largest overestimations (up to 45 %). The spatial distribution of the observed overestimation of MODIS ISF agrees reasonably well with the spatial distribution of the MODIS MPF and we find a robust linear relationship between PMW SIC and MODIS ISF for group I and III products during peak melt, i.e. July and August. We discuss different cases taking into account the expected influence of ice surface properties other than melt ponds, i.e. wet snow and coarse-grained snow/refrozen surface, on brightness temperatures and their ratios used as input to the SIC retrieval algorithms. Based on this discussion we identify the mismatch between the actually observed surface properties and those represented by the ice tie points as the most likely reason for (i) the observed differences between PMW SIC and MODIS ISF and for (ii) the often surprisingly small difference between PMW and MODIS SIC in areas of high melt pond fraction. We conclude that all 10 SIC products are highly inaccurate during summer melt. We hypothesize that the unknown number of melt pond signatures likely included in the ice tie points plays an important role - particularly for groups I and II - and recommend conducting further research in this field

Extracorporeal Treatment in Phenytoin Poisoning: Systematic Review and Recommendations from the EXTRIP Workgroup

The Extracorporeal Treatments in Poisoning (EXTRIP) Workgroup conducted a systematic literature review using a standardized process to develop evidence-based recommendations on the use of extracorporeal treatment (ECTR) in patients with phenytoin poisoning. The authors reviewed all articles, extracted data, summarized findings, and proposed structured voting statements following a predetermined format. A 2-round modified Delphi method was used to reach a consensus on voting statements, and the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method was used to quantify disagreement. 51 articles met the inclusion criteria. Only case reports, case series, and pharmacokinetic studies were identified, yielding a very low quality of evidence. Clinical data from 31 patients and toxicokinetic grading from 46 patients were abstracted. The workgroup concluded that phenytoin is moderately dialyzable (level of evidence = C) despite its high protein binding and made the following recommendations. ECTR would be reasonable in select cases of severe phenytoin poisoning (neutral recommendation, 3D). ECTR is suggested if prolonged coma is present or expected (graded 2D) and it would be reasonable if prolonged incapacitating ataxia is present or expected (graded 3D). If ECTR is used, it should be discontinued when clinical improvement is apparent (graded 1D). The preferred ECTR modality in phenytoin poisoning is intermittent hemodialysis (graded 1D), but hemoperfusion is an acceptable alternative if hemodialysis is not available (graded 1D). In summary, phenytoin appears to be amenable to extracorporeal removal. However, because of the low incidence of irreversible tissue injury or death related to phenytoin poisoning and the relatively limited effect of ECTR on phenytoin removal, the workgroup proposed the use of ECTR only in very select patients with severe phenytoin poisoning

Accuracy of Nasal Nitric Oxide Measurement as a Diagnostic Test for Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

RATIONALE: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare disorder causing chronic otosinopulmonary disease, generally diagnosed through evaluation of respiratory ciliary ultrastructure and/or genetic testing. Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) measurement is used as a PCD screening test because patients with PCD have low nNO levels, but its value as a diagnostic test remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To perform a systematic review to assess the utility of nNO measurement (index test) as a diagnostic tool compared with the reference standard of electron microscopy (EM) evaluation of ciliary defects and/or detection of biallelic mutations in PCD genes. DATA SOURCES: Ten databases were searched for reference sources from database inception through July 29, 2016. DATA EXTRACTION: Study inclusion was limited to publications with rigorous nNO index testing, reference standard diagnostic testing with EM and/or genetics, and calculable diagnostic accuracy information for cooperative patients (generally >5 yr old) with high suspicion of PCD. SYNTHESIS: Meta-analysis provided a summary estimate for sensitivity and specificity and a hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curve. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool was used to assess study quality, and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation was used to assess the certainty of evidence. In 12 study populations (1,344 patients comprising 514 with PCD and 830 without PCD), using a reference standard of EM alone or EM and/or genetic testing, summary sensitivity was 97.6% (92.7-99.2) and specificity was 96.0% (87.9-98.7), with a positive likelihood ratio of 24.3 (7.6-76.9), a negative likelihood ratio of 0.03 (0.01-0.08), and a diagnostic odds ratio of 956.8 (141.2-6481.5) for nNO measurements. After studies using EM alone as the reference standard were excluded, the seven studies using an extended reference standard of EM and/or genetic testing showed a summary sensitivity of nNO measurements of 96.3% (88.7-98.9) and specificity of 96.4% (85.1-99.2), with a positive likelihood ratio of 26.5 (5.9-119.1), a negative likelihood ratio of 0.04 (0.01-0.12), and a diagnostic odds ratio of 699.3 (67.4-7256.0). Certainty of the evidence was graded as moderate. CONCLUSIONS: nNO is a sensitive and specific test for PCD in cooperative patients (generally >5 yr old) with high clinical suspicion for this disease. With a moderate level of evidence, this meta-analysis confirms that nNO testing using velum closure maneuvers has diagnostic accuracy similar to EM and/or genetic testing for PCD when cystic fibrosis is ruled out. Thus, low nNO values accompanied by an appropriate clinical phenotype could be used as a diagnostic PCD test, though EM and/or genetics will continue to provide confirmatory information

The programming of sequences of saccades

Saccadic eye movements move the high-resolution fovea to point at regions of interest. Saccades can only be generated serially (i.e., one at a time). However, what remains unclear is the extent to which saccades are programmed in parallel (i.e., a series of such moments can be planned together) and how far ahead such planning occurs. In the current experiment, we investigate this issue with a saccade contingent preview paradigm. Participants were asked to execute saccadic eye movements in response to seven small circles presented on a screen. The extent to which participants were given prior information about target locations was varied on a trial-by-trial basis: participants were aware of the location of the next target only, the next three, five, or all seven targets. The addition of new targets to the display was made during the saccade to the next target in the sequence. The overall time taken to complete the sequence was decreased as more targets were available up to all seven targets. This was a result of a reduction in the number of saccades being executed and a reduction in their saccade latencies. Surprisingly, these results suggest that, when faced with a demand to saccade to a large number of target locations, saccade preparation about all target locations is carried out in paralle