Athletic Training Assessment of Knowledge Inconsistent with Perceptions of Knowledge Needs: Part II

Purpose: Continuing education (CE) is intended to promote continued competence beyond the level required for entry-level practice. Previous research suggests that athletic trainers are unable to identify their knowledge gaps regarding their clinical practice. The purpose of this research study was to determine if athletic trainers’ perceived need for CE aligns with their performance on an actual knowledge assessment. Method: We used a correlational design conducted on Qualtrics, a web-based platform. Four hundred, forty-four (444) athletic trainers completed all the CE Needs Assessment and over 60% of the athletic training assessment of knowledge. The CE Needs Assessment determined participant’s perceived need for CE using a 5-point Likert scale on the 8 content areas within the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s educational competencies. The athletic training assessment of knowledge included 71 multiple-choice questions across the 5 domains of athletic training. Actual knowledge for each domain was determined by calculating the percent of correct answers within the domain. We used a Pearson’s correlation analysis to determine the relationship between perceived need for CE and actual knowledge for each domain. Results: We identified a poor, negative, significant correlation between orthopedic clinical assessment and diagnosis (r=-0.10, P=0.034) and domain 2 (clinical evaluation and diagnosis) total score. We also identified a poor, negative significant correlation between therapeutic interventions (r=-0.10, P=0.04) and domain 4 (treatment and rehabilitation). We identified non-significant correlations between perceived need for CE in evidence-based practice, prevention and health promotion, acute care of injury and illness, psychosocial strategies and referral, healthcare administration, and professional development and responsibility and their respective domain total scores. Conclusions: Athletic trainers are unable to consistently identify their need for CE in relation to their actual knowledge performance. This suggests that perceived need is not an effective means to identify areas of weakness in athletic training clinical practice and should not be used to guide CE choices

Salmonella immunization confers cross protection without confounding pre-harvest serologic monitoring

Food borne Salmonella Typhimurium is a valid concern for the global pork industry. An attenuated oral swine Salmonella Choleraesuis vaccine has proven to be an effective tool for the pre-harvest reduction of carrier rates for multiple Salmonella spp. Serum antibody assays are available to monitor exposure to wild-type Salmonella infection. This clinical study assessed protection induced by an attenuated oral Salmonella Choleraesuis vaccine against challenge infection with S. Typhimurium in swine. A serologic antibody assay was concurrently evaluated for its ability to differentiate vaccinated pigs from those challenged with Salmonella Typhimurium. Vaccination significantly improved clinical scores, pyrexia, and enteric lesion prevalence, while numerically improving average daily weight gain, and group body weight variation in comparison to unvaccinated/challenged pigs. Vaccination, while protecting pigs against disease, did not generate detectable serum antibodies prior to challenge. No vaccinated animals became seropositive prior to challenge, indicating that conventional ELISA tests could be used in vaccinated pigs to monitor wild-type exposure. Following challenge, there was no detectable difference between vaccinated/challenged and non-vaccinated/challenged animals. All strict control pigs remained serum antibody negative. These findings support the use of this vaccine to protect swine against S. Typhimurium, without confounding pre-harvest Salmonella serologic monitoring programs

Comprehensive Knowledge Assessment for Athletic Trainers: Part I

Purpose: Continuing education (CE) is intended to help clinicians maintain competence, develop and advance knowledge and skills, and enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities beyond the levels required for entry-level practice. Based on previous literature, the current mode of CE in athletic training does not appear to be helping clinicians maintain competence. The purpose of this research was to validate a comprehensive assessment based on the Role Delineation Study/Practice Analysis (6th ed.) through item analysis and estimates of reliability to be used to assess athletic trainers’ actual knowledge. Method: We conducted an instrumentation validation study using Qualtrics® web-based platform. Athletic trainers (n=191; age=31.5±8.1yrs; years of experience=8.9±11.1yrs) in good standing with the NATA and BOC completed both administrations of the assessment. Six experts developed 220 multiple-choice items for inclusion with broad application across the five domains of clinical practice (Injury/Illness and Wellness Protection [49 items], Clinical Evaluation and Diagnosis [63 items], Immediate and Emergency Care [29 items], Treatment and Rehabilitation [29 items], and Organizational and Professional Health and Wellbeing [50 items]). A random sample of NATA members were recruited via email, received weekly reminders, and then after four weeks, they completed a second administration of the assessment. We evaluated the assessment tool for item difficulty, item discrimination, internal consistency, item total statistics, and test-retest reliability. Results: We eliminated 42 items from the tool created by the experts that were too difficult (0.90). We eliminated 50 additional items due to point-biserial correlations between item performance and total domain score performance below 0.20. We identified additional weaknesses in 57 items through intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCConclusions: We developed a valid and reliable assessment tool to measure athletic trainers’ actual knowledge. Future research should utilize a validated assessment of actual knowledge to guide continuing education activities

Microglia in aging and Alzheimer’s disease: A comparative species review

Microglia are the primary immune cells of the central nervous system that help nourish and support neurons, clear debris, and respond to foreign stimuli. Greatly impacted by their environment, microglia go through rapid changes in cell shape, gene expression, and functional behavior during states of infection, trauma, and neurodegeneration. Aging also has a profound effect on microglia, leading to chronic inflammation and an increase in the brain’s susceptibility to neurodegenerative processes that occur in Alzheimer’s disease. Despite the scientific community’s growing knowledge in the field of neuroinflammation, the overall success rate of drug treatment for age-related and neurodegenerative diseases remains incredibly low. Potential reasons for the lack of translation from animal models to the clinic include the use of a single species model, an assumption of similarity in humans, and ignoring contradictory data or information from other species. To aid in the selection of validated and predictive animal models and to bridge the translational gap, this review evaluates similarities and differences among species in microglial activation and density, morphology and phenotype, cytokine expression, phagocytosis, and production of oxidative species in aging and Alzheimer’s disease

Anomalous buoyancy of quantum bubbles in immiscible Bose mixtures

Buoyancy is a well-known effect in immiscible binary Bose-Einstein condensates. Depending on the differential confinement experienced by the two components, a bubble of one component sitting at the center of the other eventually floats to the surface, around which it spreads either totally or partially. We discuss how quantum fluctuations may significantly change the volume and position of immiscible bubbles. We consider the particular case of two miscible components, forming a pseudo-scalar bubble condensate with enhanced quantum fluctuations (quantum bubble), immersed in a bath provided by a third component, with which they are immiscible. We show that in such a peculiar effective binary mixture, quantum fluctuations change the equilibrium of pressures that define the bubble volume and modify as well the criterion for buoyancy. Once buoyancy sets in, in contrast to the mean-field case, quantum fluctuations may place the bubble at an intermediate position between the center and the surface. At the surface, the quantum bubble may transition into a floating self-bound droplet.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Behavioral and neurochemical studies of inherited manganese-induced dystonia-parkinsonism in Slc39a14-knockout mice

Inherited autosomal recessive mutations of the manganese (Mn) transporter gene SLC39A14 in humans, results in elevated blood and brain Mn concentrations and childhood-onset dystonia-parkinsonism. The pathophysiology of this disease is unknown, but the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system of the basal ganglia has been implicated. Here, we describe pathophysiological studies in Slc39a14-knockout (KO) mice as a preclinical model of dystonia-parkinsonism in SLC39A14 mutation carriers. Blood and brain metal concentrations in Slc39a14-KO mice exhibited a pattern similar to the human disease with highly elevated Mn concentrations. We observed an early-onset backward-walking behavior at postnatal day (PN) 21 which was also noted in PN60 Slc39a14-KO mice as well as dystonia-like movements. Locomotor activity and motor coordination were also impaired in Slc39a14-KO relative to wildtype (WT) mice. From a neurochemical perspective, striatal dopamine (DA) and metabolite concentrations and their ratio in Slc39a14-KO mice did not differ from WT. Striatal tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry did not change in Slc39a14-KO mice relative to WT. Unbiased stereological cell quantification of TH-positive and Nissl-stained estimated neuron number, neuron density, and soma volume in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) was the same in Slc39a14-KO mice as in WT. However, we measured a marked inhibition (85–90%) of potassium-stimulated DA release in the striatum of Slc39a14-KO mice relative to WT. Our findings indicate that the dystonia-parkinsonism observed in this genetic animal model of the human disease is associated with a dysfunctional but structurally intact nigrostriatal dopaminergic system. The presynaptic deficit in DA release is unlikely to explain the totality of the behavioral phenotype and points to the involvement of other neuronal systems and brain regions in the pathophysiology of the disease

Enrichment or maceration influence post harvest isolation of Salmonella from mesenteric lymph nodes

Two enhanced microbiological methods were evaluated for recovery of Salmonella species from samples collected at slaughter, with a focus on ileocecal lymph nodes. Samples from one hundred and sixty two animals (vaccinated = 79, non-vaccinated = 83) were collected along with 25 pooled environmental samples (pen, truck, lairage). Animal sample types included ileocecal lymph nodes, peritoneal sponges and shoulder sponges. Initially, swabs from all samples were used to directly inoculate hektoen enteric (HE) plates

Post harvest reduction of Salmonella by use of vaccination in growing pigs

This study was a randomized, blinded trial to evaluate effect of vaccine on post harvest Salmonella contamination rate of pig carcasses. Pig was the experimental unit. Litters were assigned to treatment by farrowing date and parity. Piglets were double tagged, sex recorded and entire litters were either vaccinated (oral drench) or left as non-vaccinated controls. No movement of piglets between treatments was allowed. At weaning, control litters were placed on the top level of a truck, vaccinated pigs on the bottom level, transported to a wean-finish barn, and mixed within pen at the wean-finish barn

Influence of Aromatic Structure on the Thermal Behaviour of Lignin

Lignin, a natural biopolymer and abundant by-product, is a particularly promising feedstock for carbon-based materials and a potentially sustainable alternative to phenolic resins, which are typically derived from crude oil. The source and method used to isolate lignin have a large impact on the thermal properties of the polymer, and can affect resultant materials prepared from lignin. Previous investigations into lignin characterisation often utilise a variety of feedstocks and isolation methods, which can make robust comparisons challenging. We present a systematic investigation into the chemical composition of lignins extracted using an identical Organosolv isolation method but from different biomass feedstocks: hemp hurds, eucalyptus chips, flax straw, rice husk and pine. We show how the aromatic structure of lignin can affect the thermal behaviour of the polymer, which correlates to the structure of resulting carbons. Carbons from lignins with a high syringyl unit content display a pronounced foaming behaviour which, on activation, results in a high-surface area material with hierarchical porosity