Review of Maurizio Isabella and Konstantina Zanou, eds, Mediterranean Diasporas: Politics and Ideas in the Long 19th Century

Maurizio Isabella and Konstantina Zanou, eds. Mediterranean Diasporas: Politics and Ideas in the Long 19th Century. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. xiii + 217 page

Review of Maurizio Isabella and Konstantina Zanou, eds, Mediterranean Diasporas: Politics and Ideas in the Long 19th Century

Maurizio Isabella and Konstantina Zanou, eds. Mediterranean Diasporas: Politics and Ideas in the Long 19th Century. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. xiii + 217 page

Altered Attitudes and Actions: Social-Emotional Effects of Multiple Arts Field Trips

In recent decades, institutions, teachers, and students report a decline in field trip attendance. The impact of this decline on educational and societal outcomes such as social-emotional skill acquisition is unknown. Social-emotional learning (SEL) are skills thought to be important to life and relationship success and are associated with better long-term student outcomes. This study describes the results of the first-ever longitudinal experiment of the effects of multiple arts- related field trips on elementary school students of color in a large urban school district. Treated students attended field trips to an art museum, a live theater production, and a symphony performance. We find significant educational benefits from attending multiple arts field trips on social-emotional outcomes, including increased feelings of tolerance and social perspective taking. Our findings also suggest that female treatment students exhibit increased conscientiousness as compared to their control group peers, however these effects dissipate when treatment ceases. Further, female students who receive three additional field trips in a second treatment year act more conscientious than in the prior year of treatment. Increased exposure to the arts through field trip experiences does not, however, appear to increase students’ desire to consume or participate in the arts, nor do we find an impact of treatment on empathy. These findings suggest that arts-related field trips elicit meaningful changes in students’ social- emotional attitudes and actions and that a decline in field trip attendance may be detrimental

Does Art Make You Smart? A Longitudinal Experiment of the Effects of Multiple Arts- Focused Field Trips

This paper presents second year results from the first ever multi-visit, longitudinal experiment on the benefits from arts-focused field trips. Students in fourth and fifth grades in ten elementary schools in a large urban school district were randomly assigned to receive three arts-related field trips throughout the school year, including an art museum, a live theater production, and a symphony performance or to serve as a control. We find that treatment students exhibit higher levels of school engagement as measured by students’ behavioral infractions and self-reported engagement. We also find that treatment students perform significantly better on their end of year standardized tests, up to 16% of a standard deviation increase. These effects are persistent even one year following treatment. However, the effects appear to be stronger for the first cohort of students in our sample

The Play’s the Thing: Experimentally Examining the Social and Cognitive Effects of School Field Trips to Live Theater Performances

Field trips to see theater performances are a long-standing educational practice, however, there is little systematic evidence demonstrating educational benefits. This article describes the results of five random assignment experiments spanning two years where school groups were assigned by lottery to attend a live theater performance, or for some groups, watch a movie-version of the same story. We find significant educational benefits from seeing live theater, including higher levels of tolerance, social perspective taking, and stronger command of the plot and vocabulary of those plays. Students randomly assigned to watch a movie did not experience these benefits. Our findings also suggest that theater field trips may cultivate the desire among students to frequent the theater in the future

Sleep disturbance in dementia or mild cognitive impairment: a realist review of general practice

Background: Sleep disturbance (SD) is a prevalent condition among people living with dementia (PLwD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Its assessment and management within primary care is complex due to the comorbidities, older age and cognitive impairment typical of this patient group. Aim: This study aimed to explore how primary care clinicians assess, understand, and manage SD for PLwD or MCI; if and why such initiatives work; and how people and their carers experience SD and its treatment. Design and setting: A realist review of existing literature was conducted in 2022. Methods: Six bibliographic databases were searched. Context-Mechanism-Outcome Configurations (CMOCs) were developed and refined. Results: Sixty records were included from 1,869 retrieved hits and 19 CMOCs were developed. Low awareness of and confidence in the treatment of SD among primary care clinicians and service users, combined with time and resource constraints, meant that identifying SD was difficult and not prioritised. Medication was perceived by clinicians and service users as the primary management tool, resulting in inappropriate or long-term prescription. Rigid nursing routines in care homes were reportedly not conducive to good quality sleep. Conclusion: In primary care, SD among PLwD or MCI is not adequately addressed. Over-reliance on medication, under-utilisation of non-pharmacological strategies, and inflexible care home routines were reported due to low confidence and resource constraints. This does not constitute effective and person-centred care. Future work should consider ways to tailor the assessment and management of SD to the needs of individuals and their informal carers without overstretching services

Ensuring due process in the IACUC and animal welfare setting: considerations in developing noncompliance policies and procedures for institutional animal care and use committees and institutional officials

Every institution that is involved in research with animals is expected to have in place policies and procedures for the management of allegations of noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act and the U.S. Public Health Service Policy on the Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. We present here a model set of recommendations for institutional animal care and use committees and institutional officials to ensure appropriate consideration of allegations of noncompliance with federal Animal Welfare Act regulations that carry a significant risk or specific threat to animal welfare. This guidance has 3 overarching aims: 1) protecting the welfare of research animals; 2) according fair treatment and due process to an individual accused of noncompliance; and 3) ensuring compliance with federal regulations. Through this guidance, the present work seeks to advance the cause of scientific integrity, animal welfare, and the public trust while recognizing and supporting the critical importance of animal research for the betterment of the health of both humans and animals.â Hansen, B. C., Gografe, S., Pritt, S., Jen, K.â L. C., McWhirter, C. A., Barman, S. M., Comuzzie, A., Greene, M., McNulty, J. A., Michele, D. E., Moaddab, N., Nelson, R. J., Norris, K., Uray, K. D., Banks, R., Westlund, K. N., Yates, B. J., Silverman, J., Hansen, K. D., Redman, B. Ensuring due process in the IACUC and animal welfare setting: considerations in developing noncompliance policies and procedures for institutional animal care and use committees and institutional officials. FASEB J. 31, 4216â 4225 (2017). www.fasebj.orgPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154293/1/fsb2fj201601250r.pd

K2-66b and K2-106b: Two Extremely Hot Sub-Neptune-size Planets with High Densities

We report precise mass and density measurements of two extremely hot sub-Neptune-size planets from the K2 mission using radial velocities, K2 photometry, and adaptive optics imaging. K2-66 harbors a close-in sub-Neptune-sized (2.49_(-0.24)^(+0.34)R_⊕) planet (K2-66b) with a mass of 21.3 ± 3.6 M_⊕. Because the star is evolving up the subgiant branch, K2-66b receives a high level of irradiation, roughly twice the main-sequence value. K2-66b may reside within the so-called "photoevaporation desert," a domain of planet size and incident flux that is almost completely devoid of planets. Its mass and radius imply that K2-66b has, at most, a meager envelope fraction (<5%) and perhaps no envelope at all, making it one of the largest planets without a significant envelope. K2-106 hosts an ultra-short-period planet (P = 13.7 hr) that is one of the hottest sub-Neptune-size planets discovered to date. Its radius (1.82_(-0.14)^(+0.20) R_⊕) and mass (9.0 ± 1.6 M_⊕) are consistent with a rocky composition, as are all other small ultra-short-period planets with well-measured masses. K2-106 also hosts a larger, longer-period planet (R_p = 2.77_(-0.23^(+0.37)R_⊕, P = 13.3 days) with a mass less than 24.4 M_⊕ at 99.7% confidence. K2-66b and K2-106b probe planetary physics in extreme radiation environments. Their high densities reflect the challenge of retaining a substantial gas envelope in such extreme environments

Improved reference genome for the domestic horse increases assembly contiguity and composition

Theodore Kalbfleisch et al. present an improved genome assembly for the domestic horse by combining short- and long-read data, as well as proximity ligation data. They improve contiguity of the assembly by 40-fold, with a 10-fold reduction in gaps