From the Ouachitonian : Morgan Masengale

It is not uncommon to hear of a student who went on a mission trip during the summer months as a Ouachita student. Morgan Masengale, a junior communication sciences and disorders major from West Memphis, Ark., experienced something that you will not hear when talking about mission trip experiences

Detrital zircon fission-track thermochronology and U-Pb geochronology of syn-rift, Lower Cretaceous Hibernia Formation strata, Jeanne d’Arc basin, offshore Newfoundland

The Newfoundland margin was established after Mesozoic continental rifting broke up supercontinent Pangea and opened the North Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe. Normal faults cut through the lithosphere to accommodate extension and created a dynamic landscape that shifted as the rift system evolved over ~150 million years. Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rock units of the Jeanne d’Arc basin, Grand Banks, offshore Newfoundland, have been broadly correlated to rift processes, however, the precise timing of riftrelated exhumation and details of ancient drainage systems were uncertain. New stratigraphic and sediment provenance results for Lower Cretaceous Hibernia Formation strata, including those that are known reservoir units at the Hibernia oil field, confirm rift-related exhumation was occurring in the Grand Banks during the Triassic to Jurassic and Early Cretaceous and can be tied to rift processes occurring further offshore in deep-water settings. North-flowing, Early Cretaceous rivers and delta systems drained highlands that were located south of the Jeanne d’Arc basin and comprised both uplifted rocks of the Appalachian orogen and active, syn-rift volcanic centers

Having a MHEC of a Time with SARA and State Authorization!

Session participants will hear an update on the status of SARA (State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement); learn the benefits of joining SARA and how institutions join SARA through KBOR. Representatives from Cowley College will share how they have successfully achieved approval in 49 states and three territories, with the last state in final stages of approval

The Family Navigator: A pilot intervention to support intensive care unit family surrogates

Background Although communication problems between family surrogates and intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians have been documented, there are few effective interventions. Nurses have the potential to play an expanded role in ICU communication and decision making. Objectives To conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial of the Family Navigator (FN), a distinct nursing role to address family members’ unmet communication needs early in an ICU stay. Methods An inter-disciplinary team developed the FN protocol. A randomized controlled pilot intervention trial of the FN was performed in a tertiary referral hospital ICU to test the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. The intervention addressed informational and emotional communication needs through daily contact using structured clinical updates, emotional and informational support modules, family meeting support and follow-up phone calls. Results Twenty-six surrogate/patient pairs (13 per study arm) were enrolled. Surrogates randomized to the intervention had contact with the FN 90% or more of eligible patient days. All surrogates agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend the FN to other families. Open-ended comments from both surrogates and clinicians were uniformly positive. For both groups, 100% of baseline data collection interviews and 81% of 6–8 week follow-up interviews were completed. Conclusions A fully integrated nurse empowered to facilitate decision making is a feasible intervention in the ICU setting. It is well-received by ICU families and staff. A larger randomized controlled trial is needed to demonstrate an impact on important outcomes, such as surrogate well-being and decision quality

LGBT community, social network characteristics, and smoking behaviors in young sexual minority women.

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106605/1/LGBT community, social network characteristics, and smoking behaviors in young sexual minority women.pd

Misdiagnosis of narcolepsy

BACKGROUND: Narcolepsy is a chronic primary sleep disorder, characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and sleep dysfunction with or without cataplexy. Narcolepsy is uncommon, with a low prevalence rate which makes it difficult to diagnose definitively without a complex series of tests and a detailed history. The aim of this study was to review patients referred to a tertiary sleep centre who had been labelled with a diagnosis of narcolepsy prior to referral in order to assess if the diagnosis was accurate, and if not, to determine the cause of diagnostic misattribution. METHODS: All patients seen at a sleep centre from 2007–2013 (n = 551) who underwent detailed objective testing including an MSLT PSG, as well as wearing an actigraphy watch and completing a sleep diary for 2 weeks, were assessed for a pre-referral and final diagnosis of narcolepsy. RESULTS: Of the 41 directly referred patients with a diagnostic label of narcolepsy, 19 (46 %) were subsequently confirmed to have narcolepsy on objective testing and assessment by a sleep physician using ICSD-2 criteria. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of narcolepsy was incorrectly attributed to almost 50 % of patients labelled with a diagnosis of narcolepsy who were referred for further opinion by a variety of specialists and generalists. Accurate diagnosis of narcolepsy is critical for many reasons, such as the impact it has on quality of life, driving, employment, insurance and pregnancy in women as well as medication management

Simultaneous prenatal ethanol and nicotine exposure affect ethanol consumption, ethanol preference and oxytocin receptor binding in adolescent and adult rats

Ethanol consumption and smoking during pregnancy are common, despite the known adverse effects on the fetus. The teratogenicity of each drug independently is well established; however, the effects of concurrent exposure to ethanol and nicotine in preclinical models remain unclear. This study examined the impact of simultaneous prenatal exposure to both ethanol and nicotine on offspring ethanol preference behaviors and oxytocin system dynamics. Rat dams were given liquid diet (17% ethanol derived calories(EDC)) on gestational day (GD) 5 and 35% EDC fromGD 6-20 and concurrently an osmotic minipump delivered nicotine (3-6 mg/kg/day) from GD 4 - postpartum day 10. Offspring were tested for ethanol preference during adolescence (postnatal day (PND) 30-43) and again at adulthood (PND 60-73), followed by assays for oxytocin mRNA expression and receptor binding in relevant brain regions. Prenatal exposure decreased ethanol preference in males during adolescence, and decreased consumption and preference in females during adulthood compared to controls. Oxytocin receptor binding in the nucleus accumbens and hippocampus was increased in adult prenatally exposed males only. Prenatal exposure to these drugs sex-specifically decreased ethanol preference behavior in offspring unlike reports for either drug separately. The possible role of oxytocin in reduction of ethanol consumption behavior is highlighted

Challenges in quantifying changes in the global water cycle

Human influences have likely already impacted the large-scale water cycle but natural variability and observational uncertainty are substantial. It is essential to maintain and improve observational capabilities to better characterize changes. Understanding observed changes to the global water cycle is key to predicting future climate changes and their impacts. While many datasets document crucial variables such as precipitation, ocean salinity, runoff, and humidity, most are uncertain for determining long-term changes. In situ networks provide long time-series over land but are sparse in many regions, particularly the tropics. Satellite and reanalysis datasets provide global coverage, but their long-term stability is lacking. However, comparisons of changes among related variables can give insights into the robustness of observed changes. For example, ocean salinity, interpreted with an understanding of ocean processes, can help cross-validate precipitation. Observational evidence for human influences on the water cycle is emerging, but uncertainties resulting from internal variability and observational errors are too large to determine whether the observed and simulated changes are consistent. Improvements to the in situ and satellite observing networks that monitor the changing water cycle are required, yet continued data coverage is threatened by funding reductions. Uncertainty both in the role of anthropogenic aerosols, and due to large climate variability presently limits confidence in attribution of observed changes