Analysis Of The Gut-Specific Microbiome Of Field-Captured Tsetse Flies, And Its Potential Relevance To Host Trypanosome Vector Competence

The tsetse fly (Glossinasp.) gut is colonized by maternally transmitted and environmentally acquired bacteria. Maternally transmitted symbionts are well characterized, but little is known about the origin and function of environmentally acquired bacteria inhabiting the tsetse midgut. To address this shortcoming, culture dependent and independent methods were used to characterize and quantify bacterial communities that reside within the midgut of tsetse flies collected at five geographically isolated locations in Kenya and Uganda. Bacteria were isolated from 83.33% of flies using culture dependent methods. In total, 38 strains were isolated. To increase the depth of this analysis, Illumina-based deep-sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was used to determine the relationship between the type and number of bacteria present in Glossina pallidipes midguts and geographic location. The midgut was dominated by the obligate endosymbiont, Wigglesworthia, but a diversity of other microbiota in individuals that were unique to each location was also observed. This was consistent between trypanosome infected and uninfected samples. The results of this study will increase the understanding of the breadth and depth of tsetse\u27s midgut bacterial communities as they relate to the environmental acquisition of the fly\u27s microbiome and its correlation to trypanosome vectorial capacity. Future studies can then be performed to determine the specific molecular mechanisms that underlie bacteria-mediated trypanocidal immunity in tsetse\u27s gut

Development and usability testing of a data visualisation platform for an African trauma data registry

Introduction Trauma is a significant contribution to the global burden of mortality and disease, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The methods for tracking, recording, and analysing the incidence and causes of trauma are underdeveloped. To address this, The African Federation for Emergency Medicine (AFEM) developed a trauma form and Trauma Data Registry to collect trauma data in multiple sites in sub-Saharan Africa. We undertook a study to create, and assess the usability and functionality of, a trauma data visualisation platform for use in conjunction with the Trauma Data Registry. Methods We created a web-based trauma data visualisation platform for use with the AFEM Trauma Data Registry. This study involves a usability assessment of the AFEM Trauma Data Visualisation Platform to determine the specific website features and analytical needs of African trauma research facilities. This was done by surveying individuals from healthcare facilities that are currently using the AFEM Trauma Form. Two types of questionnaires were administered: Questionnaire I gathered information on the study population and their expectations for the platform, and Questionnaire II assessed the usability of the platform after it was introduced. Surveys took place in person and online, with the last group of questionnaires being administered on-site at the healthcare facility. Data were captured via Survey Monkey online and paper survey. The results were entered into Excel and analysed using descriptive statistics using Stata Version 14. Results A total of 45 healthcare practitioners from eight countries participated in the background survey. The greatest proportion were trained in Tanzania (14, 31.1%) and Ethiopia (14, 31.1%). The mean age of participants was 32.6 (SD=6.6). The mean number of years reported for working at their current facility is 3.7 (SD=3.5). The greatest number of participants in the survey were physicians (22, 48.9%) and specialists (11, 24.4%). Over half (53.3%, n=24) selected that they had moderate experience with data analysis, and the majority reported that they had less than three publications. A total of 34 HCPs participated in the usability study. The mean scores for the usability questionnaire portion were high, with all of the scores being above 6. Major positive themes of the participant comments included easy to use and time saving, major negative themes included feasibility concerns, and comments specific variable to add were common. Discussion There is a lot of heterogeneity in the data analysis and technology experience of participants. The participants were overall satisfied with the Trauma Data Platform. Participants’ comments and suggestions on elements to add indicate that there is still work to be done to design a Trauma Data Platform that is suitable for this setting. Conclusions Overall satisfaction with the Trauma Data Platform was high, and the user comments and suggestions will be incorporated into future versions of the platform. This research highlights the importance of considering the feasibility of health technology in its introduction

Cutting Edge, Valid, School-Based Interventions: 2020-2021 Year in Review

School counselors need to be aware of the most cutting-edge evidence-based practices, though locating quality interventions can be a complex process. The presenters of this session have gladly done the heavy lifting, and will provide a review of the best of the best in outcomes research published over the past year. With the goal of linking research to practice, we will discuss the potential integration of these studies into comprehensive guidance programs. Special attention also will be given to the search process itself, with a brief review of the markers of quality research, as well as an overview of the journals, clearinghouses, and search terms school counseling practitioners can utilize themselves in locating future school-based interventions

School Counseling Intervention Research on College Readiness, College Access, and Postsecondary Success: A 10-Year Content Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Research

Recent demands from educators and policymakers require school counselors to ensure that students are college and career ready. In this 10‐year content analysis of peer reviewed research, investigators sought to review and describe the available intervention research designed to improve post‐secondary success. Ten (n = 10) articles published between 2007‐2016 met the inclusion criteria and were coded across the dimensions of project leadership, program goals, and research rigor. All ten intervention studies identified were implemented in high school settings, and five of the ten were large‐scale, multi‐modal collaborative interventions. None of the articles were published in counseling journals, and various levels of rigor were represented across the studies. Implications for researchers and school counselors are discussed

Frail older adults' experience of participating in clinical trials

Thesis advisor: Callista L. RoyPurpose: The purpose of this research was to address the gap in the literature related to frail older adults' experience of participating in clinical trials. Background: Frail older adults are generally underrepresented in the population of research volunteers from which evidence-based guidelines are derived. To improve care for frail older adults, research must be expanded to specifically target this population. Most of the users of healthcare today are greater than 65 years old, use more health care services than any other age cohort and suffer from coexisting illnesses for which they take several prescribed medications. Since the number of elders is increasing within the general population, it is important to reach a more thorough understanding of frail older adults' experience. Acquiring a better understanding of their experience will give the investigator more insight into barriers of recruitment, retention, and factors affecting elders' decision to participate in research. Method: Using a qualitative descriptive approach involving semi-structured interviews, a cohort of participants age 65 and older was asked about their experience of participating in research studies. Data analysis used an interpretive paradigm involving the methods of Miles, Huberman, and Saldana (2014). Results: Participants identified the main factors influencing their decision to participate as the opinions and encouragement of family members with the strongest influence being a recommendation from their doctor. Participants were varied in the emotions evoked by their participation in the study procedures. The majority of participants stressed how important it was to them to receive feedback in the form of results of studies in which they had participated. The majority of participants stated that receiving feedback or research results was the exception. Conclusions: Data generated from this study related to the experience of frail elder participation in clinical trials will be useful in designing future clinical trials to be more inclusive of this patient population. Keywords: frail elders, research participation, clinical trials, chronic illness, qualitative, multmorbidityThesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015.Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing.Discipline: Nursing

Social Media and Professional School Counselors: Ethical and Legal Considerations

The use of social media continues to expand in prevalence and is a medium of communication for individuals of all ages. Schools are using social media to engage their stakeholders at increasing rates. Therefore, school counselors require the knowledge and appreciation of ethical and legal issues regarding the use of such technology. The purpose of this manuscript is to: (a) introduce the development and prevalence of social media; (b) review legal and ethical issues related to social media use in schools; and (c) present strategies in which school counselors can engage in ethical interactions via social media

Orbital contribution to the magnetic properties of iron as a function of dimensionality

The orbital contribution to the magnetic properties of Fe in systems of decreasing dimensionality (bulk, surfaces, wire and free clusters) is investigated using a tight-binding hamiltonian in an $s, p,$ and $d$ atomic orbital basis set including spin-orbit coupling and intra-atomic electronic interactions in the full Hartree-Fock (HF) scheme, i.e., involving all the matrix elements of the Coulomb interaction with their exact orbital dependence. Spin and orbital magnetic moments and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) are calculated for several orientations of the magnetization. The results are systematically compared with those of simplified hamiltonians which give results close to those obtained from the local spin density approximation. The full HF decoupling leads to much larger orbital moments and MAE which can reach values as large as 1$\mu_B$ and several tens of meV, respectively, in the monatomic wire at the equilibrium distance. The reliability of the results obtained by adding the so-called Orbital Polarization Ansatz (OPA) to the simplified hamiltonians is also discussed. It is found that when the spin magnetization is saturated the OPA results for the orbital moment are in qualitative agreement with those of the full HF model. However there are large discrepancies for the MAE, especially in clusters. Thus the full HF scheme must be used to investigate the orbital magnetism and MAE of low dimensional systems