To Nudge or Not to Nudge: Promoting Environmentally Beneficial Behaviors

In order to mitigate the effects of climate change, humans need to change how they act toward the environment. Unfortunately, as much as we may want to act in ways that would be best for us and for the environment, we often struggle to do just that due to cognitive biases. Nudge theory attempts to remedy this problem by helping us make the decision that would be in our best interests. To explore this issue, I conduct an extended review of the literature to examine how well nudge theory can be applied to the realm of environmental policy. Specifically, I investigate its ability to successfully influence individuals toward environmentally beneficial decisions. There are several documented instances in which different nudging tools have been implemented effectively. I also examine the discussion of the ethical issues surrounding the use of nudge theory—even in situations in which nudge theory can be used, should it be used? Based on my findings, I recommend that the default option, a type of nudge, be set to the environmentally beneficial option wherever a default option is available. I also recommend creating a nudge unit to determine how nudges can be used in policies where other methods of behavior change (for example, tax incentives) may fail

Interview with Emma Cooper Cockfield

In her 1977 interview with Ann Yarborough Evans, Emma Cockfield describes her time as a student at Winthrop from 1910-1914. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections Oral History Program.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/oralhistoryprogram/1055/thumbnail.jp

Interventions, barriers and facilitators associated with return to work in adults following stroke: a scoping review protocol. [Protocol]

Objective: The purpose of this scoping review is to map what has been reported on interventions, barriers, and facilitators associated with return to work for adults with and without communication disorders following a stroke. Introduction: Difficulties in returning to work following a stroke can have a significant impact on people's lives, not only in terms of the individual's finances (and the economy as a whole), but also in terms of the person's psychosocial adjustment, for example, their sense of role and purpose and their self-esteem. This scoping review aims to map the literature examining interventional approaches, barriers, and facilitators relevant to this topic. Inclusion criteria: This review will include literature on the return to work for adults aged 16 years or older who have had a stroke. It will be restricted to research conducted in developed countries. Methods: Databases that will be searched include MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, AMED, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PEDRo, and OTSeeker. Gray literature or unpublished studies will be searched in OpenGrey and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, as well as professional bodies and organizations whose remit includes stroke and vocational rehabilitation. The search will be limited to studies written in English since 2010. Titles and abstracts will be screened by two independent reviewers and full-text articles assessed against the inclusion criteria by two independent reviewers. Data will be extracted and the findings will be presented in tabular and graphical format along with a narrative summary

5-Year survival of pediatric anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with living donor hamstring tendon grafts

Background: It is well accepted that there is a higher incidence of repeat anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in the pediatric population after ACL reconstruction (ACLR) with autograft tissue compared with adults. Hamstring autograft harvest may contribute to the risk for repeat ACL injuries in this high functional demand group. A novel method is the use of a living donor hamstring tendon (LDHT) graft from a parent; however, there is currently limited research on the outcomes of this technique, particularly beyond the short term. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose was to determine the medium-term survival of the ACL graft and the contralateral ACL (CACL) after primary ACLR with the use of an LDHT graft from a parent in those aged less than 18 years and to identify factors associated with subsequent ACL injuries. It was hypothesized that ACLR with the use of an LDHT provides acceptable midterm outcomes in pediatric patients. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Between 2005 and 2014, 247 (of 265 eligible) consecutive patients in a prospective database, having undergone primary ACLR with the use of an LDHT graft and aged less than 18 years, were included. Outcomes were assessed at a minimum of 2 years after surgery including data on ACL reinjuries, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scores, and current symptoms, as well as factors associated with the ACL reinjury risk were investigated. Results: Patients were reviewed at a mean of 4.5 years (range, 24-127 months [10.6 years]) after ACLR with an LDHT graft. Fifty-one patients (20.6%) sustained an ACL graft rupture, 28 patients (11.3%) sustained a CACL rupture, and 2 patients sustained both an ACL graft rupture and a CACL rupture (0.8%). Survival of the ACL graft was 89%, 82%, and 76% at 1, 2, and 5 years, respectively. Survival of the CACL was 99%, 94%, and 86% at 1, 2, and 5 years, respectively. Survival of the ACL graft was favorable in patients with Tanner stage 1-2 at the time of surgery versus those with Tanner stage 3-5 at 5 years (87% vs 69%, respectively; hazard ratio, 3.7; P = .01). The mean IKDC score was 91.7. A return to preinjury levels of activity was reported by 59.1%. Conclusion: After ACLR with an LDHT graft from a parent in those aged less than 18 years, a second ACL injury (ACL graft or CACL injury) occurred in 1 in 3 patients. The 5-year survival rate of the ACL graft was 76%, and the 5-year survival rate of the CACL was 86%. High IKDC scores and continued participation in sports were maintained over the medium term. Importantly, there was favorable survival of the ACL graft in patients with Tanner stage 1-2 compared with patients with Tanner stage 3-5 over 5 years. Patients with Tanner stage 1-2 also had a significantly lower incidence of second ACL injuries over 5 years compared with those with Tanner stage 3-5, occurring in 1 in 5 patients. Thus, an LDHT graft from a parent is an appropriate graft for physically immature children

Optimal distribution and utilization of donated human breast milk: a novel approach

Background: The nutritional content of donated expressed breast milk (DEBM) is variable. Using DEBM to provide for the energy requirements of neonates is challenging. Objective: The authors hypothesized that a system of DEBM energy content categorization and distribution would improve energy intake from DEBM. Methods: We compared infants’ actual cumulative energy intake with projected energy intake, had they been fed using our proposed system. Eighty-five milk samples were ranked by energy content. The bottom, middle, and top tertiles were classified as red, amber, and green energy content categories, respectively. Data on 378 feeding days from 20 babies who received this milk were analyzed. Total daily intake of DEBM was calculated in mL/kg/day and similarly ranked. Infants received red energy content milk, with DEBM intake in the bottom daily volume intake tertile; amber energy content milk, with intake in the middle daily volume intake tertile; and green energy content milk when intake reached the top daily volume intake tertile. Results: Actual median cumulative energy intake from DEBM was 1612 (range, 15-11 182) kcal. Using DEBM with the minimum energy content from the 3 DEBM energy content categories, median projected cumulative intake was 1670 (range 13-11 077) kcal, which was not statistically significant (P = .418). Statistical significance was achieved using DEBM with the median and maximum energy content from each energy content category, giving median projected cumulative intakes of 1859 kcal (P = .0006) and 2280 kcal (P = .0001), respectively. Conclusion: Cumulative energy intake from DEBM can be improved by categorizing and distributing milk according to energy content

Constructing Opportunities: A Multiple Case Study of the Semiotic Demands and Supports in Elementary Classroom Curricula

Limited evidence supports how multimodal pedagogy considers how modes, as constructed by teachers and children, vary across disciplines. This literature gap is potentially problematic for connections arising between facilitation of modes by educators to semiotic demands placed on children. Literature identifies multimodal pedagogy as a way to expand on traditional notions of literacy to assist children in representing meaning through modal constructions. Research focusing on spaces across curriculum available for explicit teaching of semiotics through multimodal pedagogy, and consequences when these spaces are and are not capitalized upon, is needed; it is hoped the study makes its contributions here. The study’s goal was to create new knowledge about types of semiotic demands placed on children in classroom curricula (Doyle, 1992) and recommendations for educators to strengthen pedagogies supporting children’s meaning making to promote inclusive classrooms. This descriptive multiple case study (Baxter & Jack, 2008; Yin, 2009, 2012) included two separate cases of a grade 1 and 5 teacher participant and their students. Methods of a modal checklist, photographs, ethnographic methods, audio-recordings, and interviews examined semiotic demands and multimodal instruction within classroom curricula. Data were analysed by multimodal analysis (Jewitt, 2009). A curriculum document analysis (Bowen, 2009) was also conducted. The study found educators instrumental in constructing classroom curricula. They exercised their agency within an ecological context (e.g., Biesta, Priestley, & Robinson, 2015) to interpret and enact institutional and programmatic (Doyle, 1992) curricula. The study identified classroom curricula as fluid. Educators selected and used a variety of modes and resources to enact classroom curricula. Pedagogical supports for children to meet semiotic demands of the curricula were not commensurate. Supports were either not sufficiently explicit or focused on a specific mode. The study recommendations advocate all levels of curricula to explicitly support multimodal literacy and commensurate multimodal pedagogy. They suggest educators identify semiotic demands and ensure pedagogies and assessment practices provided to children match demands. The study recommends curricula contextualize modal affordances and constraints across disciplines, provide children with metalanguage to acquire and express situated knowledge of multimodality, and illustrations of how to construct and convey meaning leveraging multimodal resources

Spontaneous Pneumothorax: A Rare Complication of Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Associated Diffuse Lung Disease

The visually striking neurocutaneous findings of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) are well recognized and have been well documented throughout scientific literature. While not uncommon, the pulmonary manifestations of NF1 are unknown to many physicians. Complications of NF1 associated diffuse lung disease (NF-DLD) include pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary artery stenosis, subpleural cysts, and spontaneous pneumothorax. We present a case of a 34-year-old male with NF-DLD found incidentally in adolescence with previous apical bleb repair, presenting nearly twenty years later with spontaneous pneumothorax. In NF1 patients with pulmonary complaints, NF-DLD should be assessed with computed tomography (CT) and physicians should be familiar with associated complications

F22RS SGR No. 2 (Prime Time Class Scheduling)

To Urge and Request that the University Registrar halts the reimplementation of a policy that limits departments to scheduling no more than 55% of their course sections within prime-time hour