Dental Education and Care for Underserved Patients: An Analysis of Students’ Intentions and Alumni Behavior

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153676/1/jddj002203372006704tb04094x.pd

EPS mid-career award 2014: the control of attention in visual search - cognitive and neural mechanisms

In visual search, observers try to find known target objects among distractors in visual scenes where the location of the targets is uncertain. This review article discusses the attentional processes that are active during search and their neural basis. Four successive phases of visual search are described. During the initial preparatory phase, a representation of the current search goal is activated. Once visual input has arrived, information about the presence of target-matching features is accumulated in parallel across the visual field (guidance). This information is then used to allocate spatial attention to particular objects (selection), before representations of selected objects are activated in visual working memory (recognition). These four phases of attentional control in visual search are characterized both at the cognitive level and at the neural implementation level. It will become clear that search is a continuous process that unfolds in real time. Selective attention in visual search is described as the gradual emergence of spatially specific and temporally sustained biases for representations of task-relevant visual objects in cortical maps

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

Men of color in the health professions: Proceedings from the 2022 ADEA President’s symposium

The purpose of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) President’s Symposium on men of color in the health professions, hosted at the 2022 ADEA Annual Session and Exhibition, was to draw attention to the need to address the low numbers of men of color not only entering dental education but also across medicine and health-related research careers and to identify strategies for change. Stakeholders in health professions education shared their professional insights and best practices. Highlights of the Symposium included discussions of funding for pathway programs, leveraging data-driven metrics through strategic partnerships, mentorship, and accountability among dental schools, medical schools, and health science research organizations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174917/1/jdd13075.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174917/2/jdd13075_am.pd

The status of climate studies in the United States and Canadian dental schools: Deans- perspectives

ObjectivesInstitutions with a positive cultural climate make community members from all backgrounds valued and included, and treated equitably. Such an environment is optimally suited to prepare future dentists well for leading a diverse team of staff members and addressing the oral health care needs of increasingly more diverse patient populations. The objectives were to assess how many United States and Canadian dental schools had participated in a climate study at their parent institution and/or had conducted their own climate study, which topics these studies had addressed, how they collected their data, from whom they collected data, and how the findings affected these academic units.MethodsIn January 2020, 54 of the 78 dental school deans in the United States and Canada responded to a web- based survey (response rate: 69%).ResultsForty- six parent institutions (85%) and 27 dental schools (50%) had conducted climate studies. Eighty- seven percent of parent institutions assessed the climate overall and the climate for specific groups (70%), such as for persons from underrepresented minority backgrounds (67%) or different religious backgrounds (59%). Most parent institution and dental school studies utilized surveys to collect data from faculty (parent institutions: 76%/dental schools: 96%), staff (74%/93%), administrators (72%/93%), and students (72%/89%). Overall, climate study results positively affected parent institutions- and dental schools- humanistic environment (61%/63%) and the recruitment of faculty (46%/50%), students (46%/46%), and staff (41%/43%).ConclusionsClimate studies are a widely accepted practice at dental schools and their parent institutions. Their results can play a vital role in shaping the climate of these academic units by fostering efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170811/1/jdd12704.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170811/2/jdd12704_am.pd

Human ureteric bud organoids recapitulate branching morphogenesis and differentiate into functional collecting duct cell types

Kidney collecting duct cells with physiologic functions are generated from human pluripotent stem cells. Directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into functional ureteric and collecting duct (CD) epithelia is essential to kidney regenerative medicine. Here we describe highly efficient, serum-free differentiation of hPSCs into ureteric bud (UB) organoids and functional CD cells. The hPSCs are first induced into pronephric progenitor cells at 90% efficiency and then aggregated into spheres with a molecular signature similar to the nephric duct. In a three-dimensional matrix, the spheres form UB organoids that exhibit branching morphogenesis similar to the fetal UB and correct distal tip localization of RET expression. Organoid-derived cells incorporate into the UB tips of the progenitor niche in chimeric fetal kidney explant culture. At later stages, the UB organoids differentiate into CD organoids, which contain >95% CD cell types as estimated by single-cell RNA sequencing. The CD epithelia demonstrate renal electrophysiologic functions, with ENaC-mediated vectorial sodium transport by principal cells and V-type ATPase proton pump activity by FOXI1-induced intercalated cells

Disruption in Blood Pressure Control With the COVID-19 Pandemic: The PCORnet Blood Pressure Control Laboratory

ObjectiveTo explore trends in blood pressure (BP) control before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Patients and methodsHealth systems participating in the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) Blood Pressure Control Laboratory Surveillance System responded to data queries, producing 9 BP control metrics. Averages of the BP control metrics (weighted by numbers of observations in each health system) were calculated and compared between two 1-year measurement periods (January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019, and January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020).ResultsAmong 1,770,547 hypertensive persons in 2019, BP control to <140/<90 mm Hg varied across 24 health systems (range, 46%-74%). Reduced BP control occurred in most health systems with onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; the weighted average BP control was 60.5% in 2019 and 53.3% in 2020. Reductions were also evident for BP control to <130/<80 mm Hg (29.9% in 2019 and 25.4% in 2020) and improvement in BP (reduction of 10 mm Hg in systolic BP or achievement of systolic BP <140 mm Hg; 29.7% in 2019 and 23.8% in 2020). Two BP control process metrics exhibited pandemic-associated disruption: repeat visit in 4 weeks after a visit with uncontrolled hypertension (36.7% in 2019 and 31.7% in 2020) and prescription of fixed-dose combination medications among those with 2 or more drug classes (24.6% in 2019 and 21.5% in 2020).ConclusionBP control decreased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a corresponding reduction in follow-up health care visits among persons with uncontrolled hypertension. It is unclear whether the observed decline in BP control during the pandemic will contribute to future cardiovascular events