Assessing Students\u27 Acquisition of Scientific Reasoning in an Experimental Psychology Class

This pilot study is an initial exploration of a theoretical rubric proposed to describe the progress of students’ acquisition of scientific inquiry (Halonen et al., 2003, p. 196), and an application of the utility of the rubric. Twenty-two undergraduates from a woman’s college participated in two sections of experimental psychology. Students consisted of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who completed general psychology courses. Consistent with the Halonen et al. (2003) model, results indicated that authentic research experiences in the first phase of the course were positively correlated with changes in scientific thinking in a second phase. In turn, experiences in the second phase were positively correlated with evidence of advanced thinking skills in a third phase. The findings suggest that much of the basic skill knowledge acquired in the beginning lectures, textbook readings, and writing instruction of the course enhanced students’ ability to apply that knowledge in later classes and the lab components. Further, the authentic learning experiences were instrumental in fine-tuning the skills learned from the lectures and textbooks readings. As a result, the current authors advocate the use of authentic experiences in teaching research methods, as a way for teachers to transform such classes in a beneficial and systematic way, in order to enhance acquisition of scientific thinking skills and to examine changes in scientific thinking as explicated in the Halonen et al. (2003) model

The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a hospital avoidance program in a residential aged care facility: a prospective cohort study and modelled decision analysis

Background Residential aged care facility residents experience high rates of hospital admissions which are stressful, costly and often preventable. The EDDIE program is a hospital avoidance initiative designed to enable nursing and care staff to detect, refer and quickly respond to early signals of a deteriorating resident. The program was implemented in a 96-bed residential aged care facility in regional Australia. Methods A prospective pre-post cohort study design was used to collect data on costs of program delivery, hospital admission rates and length of stay for the 12months prior to, and following, the intervention. A Markov decision model was developed to synthesize study data with published literature in order to estimate the costeffectiveness of the program. Quality adjusted life years (QALYs) were adopted as the measure of effectiveness. Results The EDDIE program was associated with a 19% reduction in annual hospital admissions and a 31% reduction in the average length of stay. The cost-effectiveness analysis found the program to be both more effective and less costly than usual care, with 0.06 QALYs gained and $249,000 health system costs saved in a modelled cohort of 96 residents. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis estimated that there was an 86% probability that the program was cost-effective after taking the uncertainty of the model inputs into account. Conclusions This study provides promising evidence for the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a nurse led, early intervention program in preventing unnecessary hospital admissions within a residential aged care facility. Further research in multi-site randomised studies is needed to confirm the generalisability of these results

Moderators of the effect of psychosocial interventions on fatigue in women with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer:Individual patient data meta-analyses

Objective Psychosocial interventions can reduce cancer-related fatigue effectively. However, it is still unclear if intervention effects differ across subgroups of patients. These meta-analyses aimed at evaluating moderator effects of (a) sociodemographic characteristics, (b) clinical characteristics, (c) baseline levels of fatigue and other symptoms, and (d) intervention-related characteristics on the effect of psychosocial interventions on cancer-related fatigue in patients with non-metastatic breast and prostate cancer. Methods Data were retrieved from the Predicting OptimaL cAncer RehabIlitation and Supportive care (POLARIS) consortium. Potential moderators were studied with meta-analyses of pooled individual patient data from 14 randomized controlled trials through linear mixed-effects models with interaction tests. The analyses were conducted separately in patients with breast (n = 1091) and prostate cancer (n = 1008). Results Statistically significant, small overall effects of psychosocial interventions on fatigue were found (breast cancer: beta = -0.19 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) = -0.30; -0.08]; prostate cancer: beta = -0.11 [95%CI = -0.21; -0.00]). In both patient groups, intervention effects did not differ significantly by sociodemographic or clinical characteristics, nor by baseline levels of fatigue or pain. For intervention-related moderators (only tested among women with breast cancer), statistically significant larger effects were found for cognitive behavioral therapy as intervention strategy (beta = -0.27 [95%CI = -0.40; -0.15]), fatigue-specific interventions (beta = -0.48 [95%CI = -0.79; -0.18]), and interventions that only targeted patients with clinically relevant fatigue (beta = -0.85 [95%CI = -1.40; -0.30]). Conclusions Our findings did not provide evidence that any selected demographic or clinical characteristic, or baseline levels of fatigue or pain, moderated effects of psychosocial interventions on fatigue. A specific focus on decreasing fatigue seems beneficial for patients with breast cancer with clinically relevant fatigue

Role of Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase in Postischemic Recovery of Heart Contractile Function

Cytochrome P450 epoxygenases metabolize arachidonic acid to epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) which are converted to dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (DHETs) by soluble epoxide hydrolase (Ephx2, sEH). To examine the functional role of sEH in the heart, mice with targeted disruption of the Ephx2 gene were studied. Hearts from sEH null mice have undetectable levels of sEH mRNA and protein and cannot convert EETs to DHETs. sEH null mice have normal heart anatomy and basal contractile function, but have higher fatty acid epoxide:diol ratios in plasma and cardiomyocyte cell culture media compared with wild type (WT). sEH null hearts have improved recovery of left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and less infarction compared with WT hearts after 20 minutes ischemia. Perfusion with the putative EET receptor antagonist 14,15-epoxyeicosa-5(Z)-enoic acid (10 to 100 nmol/L) before ischemia abolishes this cardioprotective phenotype. Inhibitor studies demonstrate that perfusion with phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitors wortmannin (200 nmol/L) or LY294002 (5 μmol/L), the ATP-sensitive K+ channel (KATP) inhibitor glibenclamide (1 μmol/L), the mitochondrial KATP (mitoKATP) inhibitor 5-hydroxydecanoate (100 to 200 μmol/L), or the Ca2+-sensitive K+ channel (KCa) inhibitor paxilline (10 μmol/L) abolishes the cardioprotection in sEH null hearts. Consistent with increased activation of the PI3K cascade, sEH null mice exhibit increased cardiac expression of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) phospho-protein after ischemia. Together, these data suggest that targeted disruption of sEH increases the availability of cardioprotective EETs that work by activating PI3K signaling pathways and K+ channels

Effects and moderators of psychosocial interventions on quality of life, and emotional and social function in patients with cancer : an individual patient data meta-analysis of 21 RCTs

Objective: This individual patient data (IPD) meta‐analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of psychosocial interventions (PSI) on quality of life (QoL), emotional function (EF), and social function (SF) in patients with cancer, and to study moderator effects of demographic, clinical, personal, and intervention‐related characteristics. Methods: Relevant studies were identified via literature searches in 4 databases. We pooled IPD from 22 (n = 4217) of 61 eligible randomized controlled trials. Linear mixed‐effect model analyses were used to study intervention effects on the post‐intervention values of QoL, EF, and SF (z‐scores), adjusting for baseline values, age, and cancer type. We studied moderator effects by testing interactions with the intervention for demographic, clinical, personal, and intervention‐related characteristics, and conducted subsequent stratified analyses for significant moderator variables.Results: PSI significantly improved QoL (β = 0.14,95%CI = 0.06;0.21), EF (β = 0.13,95%CI = 0.05;0.20), and SF (β = 0.10,95%CI = 0.03;0.18). Significant differences in effects of different types of PSI were found, with largest effects of psychotherapy. The effects of coping skills training were moderated by age, treatment type, and targeted interventions. Effects of psychotherapy on EF may be moderated by cancer type, but these analyses were based on 2 randomized controlled trials with small sample sizes of some cancer types. Conclusions: PSI significantly improved QoL, EF, and SF, with small overall effects. However, the effects differed by several demographic, clinical, personal, and intervention‐related characteristics. Our study highlights the beneficial effects of coping skills training in patients treated with chemotherapy, the importance of targeted interventions, and the need of developing interventions tailored to the specific needs of elderly patients

Lack of Marburg virus transmission from experimentally infected to susceptible in-contact Egyptian fruit bats

Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) were inoculated subcutaneously (n = 22) with Marburg virus (MARV). No deaths, overt signs of morbidity, or gross lesions was identified, but microscopic pathological changes were seen in the liver of infected bats. The virus was detected in 15 different tissues and plasma but only sporadically in mucosal swab samples, urine, and fecal samples. Neither seroconversion nor viremia could be demonstrated in any of the in-contact susceptible bats (n = 14) up to 42 days after exposure to infected bats. In bats rechallenged (n = 4) on day 48 after infection, there was no viremia, and the virus could not be isolated from any of the tissues tested. This study confirmed that infection profiles are consistent with MARV replication in a reservoir host but failed to demonstrate MARV transmission through direct physical contact or indirectly via air. Bats develop strong protective immunity after infection with MARV.This work was supported by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.http://jid.oxfordjournals.orgam2016Paraclinical Science

International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10(-8)) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine-cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives