Campus Climate For LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits At A Midwestern Tribal College

Very little is known regarding campus climate for LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). The first aim of this dissertation research study was to ascertain if there was a population of LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits at one Midwestern Tribal and Community College. The second aim was to uncover if the campus climate for LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits was warm or chilly. Once the campus climate was discovered, the third and final aim of the study was to determine if there was a significant difference between individual perceptions of campus climate for LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits verses the perceptions of heterosexuals.An online survey was sent to all members of a TCU. Respondents were asked to provide demographic data and were also asked to either agree or disagree on a 6-point Likert-type scale on 21 questions in the categories of Campus Support, Policy Inclusion, Academic Life, Student Life and Campus Safety. The results showed that there was a population of LGBTQIA+/Two Spirit individuals on campus and that the campus climate was chilly toward those individuals. Responses between heterosexual and LGBTQIA+/Two Spirit individuals’ perceptions were analyzed using a two-sample t-test. The result showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups\u27 perceptions of campus climate, although this result was likely the outcome of a small sample size

Chrono: A System for Normalizing Temporal Expressions

The Chrono System: Chrono is a hybrid rule-based and machine learning system written in Python and built from the ground up to identify temporal expressions in text and normalizes them into the SCATE schema. Input text is preprocessed using Python’s NLTK package, and is run through each of the four primary modules highlighted here. Note that Chrono does not remove stopwords because they add temporal information and context, and Chrono does not tokenize sentences. Output is an Anafora XML file with annotated SCATE entities. After minor parsing logic adjustments, Chrono has emerged as the top performing system for SemEval 2018 Task 6. Chrono is available on GitHub at https://github.com/AmyOlex/Chrono. Future Work: Chrono is still under development. Future improvements will include: additional entity parsing, like “event”; evaluating the impact of sentence tokenization; implement an ensemble ML module that utilizes all four ML methods for disambiguation; extract temporal phrase parsing algorithm to be stand-alone and compare to similar systems; evaluate performance on THYME medical corpus; migrate to UIMA framework and implement Ruta Rules for portability and easier customization

Expressive writing as a therapeutic intervention for people with advanced disease: A systematic review

© The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background Expressive writing involves writing about stressful or traumatic experiences. Despite trials in people with advanced disease, no systematic review to date has critiqued the evidence on expressive writing in this population. To synthesise the evidence of the effects of expressive writing on pain, sleep, depression and anxiety in people with advanced disease. Methods A systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. CINAHL, CENTRAL, PsycINFO and PubMed were searched from January 1986 to March 2018. Other sources included clinical data registers and conference proceedings. Studies were included if they were randomised controlled trials that assessed the impact of an intervention involving expressive writing for adults with advanced disease and/or studies involving linguistic analysis on the expressive writing output. Methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation tool was used to assess the level of evidence for the outcomes of interest. The protocol of this systematic review has been registered on PROSPERO (CRD42017058193). Results Six eligible studies with a total of 288 participants were identified, including four randomised controlled trials. All of the trials were in cancer and recruited predominantly women. None of the interventions were tailored to the population. Studies had methodological shortcomings and evidence was generally of low quality. Combined analysis of the four trials, involving 214 participants in total, showed no clear difference in the effect of expressive writing on sleep, anxiety or depression compared to an active control. Pain was not evaluated in the trials. In contrast, analysis of the four studies that included linguistic analysis alluded to linguistic mechanisms for potential effects. Conclusion Although the trial results suggest there is no benefit in expressive writing for people with advanced disease, the current evidence is limited. There is a need for more rigorous trials. It would be of benefit first to undertake exploratory research in trial design including how best to measure impact and in tailoring of the intervention to address the specific needs of people with advanced disease.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Ethics of Ancillary Care in Clinical Trials in Low Income Countries: A Nigerian Case Study

The ethical conduct of HIV prevention researchers is subject to scrutiny. Many clinical trials take place in low and middle income countries where HIV incidence is high, but the benefits of research are often first enjoyed in high income countries. The provision of ancillary care – medical care provided to clinical trial participants during a trial, which is not related to the research question – is one way in which trial  participants can receive direct benefits from their participation in research. We argue that such care is a legitimate benefit of research participation. This care does not constitute ‘undue inducement’ if the research study itself involves minimal risk and is subject to ethical and regulatory oversight. We also  argue that research teams working with populations who have sub-optimal healthcare access have a duty to provide ancillary care within agreed limits. These limits should be negotiated to ensure that the  research remains feasible and economically viable. (Afr J Reprod Health 2014; 18[3]: 135-142)Keywords: Ancillary care; ethics, HIV prevention, undue inducementLa conduite éthique des chercheurs dans le domaine de la prévention du VIH est soumise au contrôle. De nombreux essais cliniques ont lieu dans les pays à faible et moyen revenu où l'incidence du VIH est élevée, mais les avantages de la recherche sont souvent d'abord appréciés dans les pays à revenu élevé. La prestation de soins auxiliaires – les soins médicaux fournis aux participants des essais cliniques au cours d'un procès, qui n'est pas liée à la question de la recherche - est une façon pour les participants à l'essai de recevoir des prestations directes pour leur participation à la recherche. Nous soutenons que ces soins constituent un bénéfice légitime de participation à la recherche. Ce soin ne constitue pas «une incitation indue» si l'étude elle-même implique un risque minimal et elle est soumise à la surveillance éthique et réglementaire. Nous soutenons également qu’il incombe aux équipes de recherche qui  travaillent avec les populations qui ont accès à des soins de santé sous-optimal de leur fournir des soins auxiliaires dans les limites convenues. Ces limites doivent être négociées pour s'assurer que la recherche demeure réalisable et économiquement viable. (Afr J Reprod Health 2014; 18[3]: 135-142)Mots-clés: Soins auxiliaires, éthique, prévention du VIH, incitations indue

A National Survey to Characterize Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Production Challenges Under Protected Cultivation

A nationwide internet survey (n = 134) was conducted to establish the current status of industrial hemp (IH; Cannabis sativa L.) cultivation and characterize protected culture production challenges in the United States. Of the total participants, 65.7% (n = 88) of the subjects reported current production of IH. These participants were asked to identify all production systems and included growing IH indoors (e.g., shipping containers, buildings or warehouses; 15.9%), in greenhouses (29.5%), in hoop houses or high tunnels (15.9%), or in outdoor fields in-ground (62.5%). Of the respondents who identified as growing under protected culture (e.g., indoors, greenhouses, and hoop houses/ high tunnels), most grew IH in soilless substrate and provided mineral nutrition, electrical lighting, and monitored plant health. Participants reported the most important production challenges of IH cultivation were at or post-harvest and included drying, harvesting and handling, processing, and CBD oil enhancement; several key production challenges including insect pest management strategies and environmental growing conditions; and variety/cultivar evaluations. Furthermore, respondents reported that the most important economic topic or challenge was return on investment. Results characterize current cultivation practices of IH, identify knowledge gaps, and prioritize education and research areas for the successful production and marketing of IH

Estate Planning for Cannabis Business Owners: An Introduction

As more states legalize cannabis sales, estate planners may increasingly be called upon to advise clients with interests in cannabis-related businesses. This essay seeks to assist estate planners in two ways. First, it aims to raise general awareness of cannabis business owners\u27 unique concerns. Second, the essay provides an overview of some of the fundamental issues about which cannabis business owners are likely to seek estate planning advice: business formation matters, wealth transfers, the ability of trusts to own cannabis-related businesses, and gift, estate, and income tax considerations. In most states that permit legal cannabis sales, there is limited (or no) guidance to provide answers to many basic questions about wealth transfers involving cannabis businesses. At the federal level, while there is a clear prohibition on income tax deductions by cannabis businesses, the gift and estate tax rules are entirely silent on most basic matters. With the introductory information contained in this essay, forward-thinking estate planners may be better equipped to advise clients about how much is still unknown about the legal landscape for cannabis business owners and to follow future developments in this burgeoning area of law

Basis and Bargain Sales: Income Tax and Other Concerns

In this article, the authors explain the income tax consequences of the sale during lifetime and at death of property for less than fair market value. The authors focus in particular on the tax consequences of a bargain sale by a transferor who wishes to confer some financial benefit on a family member, but leave the rest of her estate to charity. Generally speaking, death-time bargain sales may be preferable to similar transactions during lifetime, if the assets have a low basis pre-death, because of the step up in income tax basis under section 1014. The authors also discuss in detail an under-studied provision of section 1015 that requires adjustments to the basis of property acquired in a lifetime bargain sale to an individual. Basis must be increased by a certain portion of the gift tax paid by the transferor. Different rules govern the allocation of the transferor’s basis in lifetime bargain sales to individuals on the one hand, and charity, on the other. This difference gives rise to a statutory ambiguity that the authors believe should be resolved in a way that gives the transferee the greatest increase in basis. The authors conclude their discussion by noting multiple other contexts in which bargain sales might be part of an effective estate plan. As a policy matter, a pro rata basis rule would simplify tax administration and lead to parity in treatment between bargain sales to individuals and to charities

A pilot investigation of load-carrying on the head and bone mineral density in premenopausal, black African women

Although the influence of weight bearing activity on bone mass has been widely investigated in white women, few studies have been conducted in black, African populations. We investigated bone mineral density (BMD) in black South African women, with and without a history of load-carrying on the head. We also investigated whether load carrying may offer protection against low BMD in users of injectable progestin contraception (IPC). Participants were 32 black, South African women (22.4±3.2 yrs). Load carrying history was determined by questionnaire and interview and participants were grouped as load carriers (LC; n=18) or non load carriers (NLC; n=14). Ten women were using IPC and 6 were load-carriers. Total body (TB), lumbar spine (LS) and total hip (H) BMD were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. There were no differences in BMD between LC and NLC, and after controlling for age and BMI using two-tailed partial correlations. IPC users had lower BMD at all sites compared to non IPC users (p<0.05) and there were no associations between load carrying and BMD in this group. When IPC users were excluded from analysis, LC had higher LS BMD than NLC (p<0.005). Correlations were found between the weight of load carried and LS BMD (r=0.743, p<0.005), and between years of load carrying and LS and TB BMD (r=0.563, r=0.538 respectively; both p<0.05). Load carrying on the head may offer osteogenic benefits to the spine but these benefits did not appear in women using IPC

Mapping and Making Meaning from Undergraduate Student Engagement in High-Impact Educational Practices

Institutions of higher education often have multiple entry points for first-time and transfer college students to engage in high-impact educational practices (HIPs), well documented to advance student learning outcomes. Some students may seek out repeated opportunities while others engage very little or not at all in activities such as student-faculty research, study abroad, internships, first-year cohort programs, service-learning, and the like. When institutions maintain decentralized data and records on students’ participation, obtaining a true understanding of the who, what, when, and where of HIPs can be difficult. In this paper, we present an institutional strategy for longitudinal collection of data for nearly 5,000 entering students across six years and nine different categories of HIPs, and we discuss the opportunities and implications of performing such a study. Additionally, we provide examples of how disaggregation of student data is crucial for using the results to improve curriculum and resource alignment for institutional research and institutional change purposes, supporting the goal of inclusive and equitable college engagement portfolios for all students