Modeling the iron oxides and oxyhydroxides for the prediction of environmentally sensitive phase transformations

Iron oxides and oxyhydroxides are challenging to model computationally as competing phases may differ in formation energies by only several kJ/mol, they undergo magnetization transitions with temperature, their structures may contain partially occupied sites or long-range ordering of vacancies, and some loose structures require proper description of weak interactions such as hydrogen bonding and dispersive forces. If structures and transformations are to be reliably predicted under different chemical conditions, each of these challenges must be overcome simultaneously, while preserving a high level of numerical accuracy and physical sophistication. Here we present comparative studies of structure, magnetization, and elasticity properties of iron oxides and oxyhydroxides using density functional theory calculations with plane-wave and locally-confined-atomic-orbital basis sets, which are implemented in VASP and SIESTA packages, respectively. We have selected hematite, maghemite, goethite, lepidocrocite, and magnetite as model systems from a total of 13 known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides; and use same convergence criteria and almost equivalent settings in order to make consistent comparisons. Our results show both basis sets can reproduce the energetic stability and magnetic ordering, and are in agreement with experimental observations. There are advantages to choosing one basis set over the other, depending on the intended focus. In our case, we find the method using PW basis set most appropriate, and combine our results to construct the first phase diagram of iron oxides and oxyhydroxides in the space of competing chemical potentials, generated entirely from first principlesComment: 46 pages - Accepted for publication in PRB (19 journal pages), January 201

Assessing the Readability and Usability of Online H-E-L-P Intervention for IPV Survivors

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the readability and usability of an online HELP (Health, Education, and Legal Program) intervention for women experiencing IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) by asking graduate nursing students to review in class nine online HELP intervention modules. Design: A descriptive online survey administered to 15 graduate nursing students\ud was used to assess the readability and usability of an online HELP intervention. Methods: Participants were asked to perform the following activities: 1) reading the nine HELP modules on PowerPoint as posted on Blackboard (a web-based course management program), 2) filling in five blank lines under each heading (HEALTH, EDUCATION, LEGAL, and PROGRAM), by writing words or terms on the line after each heading, 3) ranking the words within each heading (with #1 as the highest and #5 as the lowest), 4) engaging in a class discussion of the rationale for the ranking, 5) re-ranking, and 6) voting on the ranking. The results were compiled to yield a master rank and vote order for each heading between 12 (received 12 votes) and 15 (received 15 votes) of the words that were ranked #1. Results: The words that were ranked #1 under each heading and the number of votes received were: Under HEALTH: Depression (15), Anger (14), Anxiety (13), and Pain (12); EDUCATION: Safety (15), Injury (14), Social Support (13) and Parenting/Child Care (12); LEGAL: Protection from Abuse (15), Attorney (14), Court/Hearing (13), and Rights (12); PROGRAM: Internet (15), Online (14), Intervention (13) and Resources (12). Conclusions: HELP intervention is readable and usable however, HELP needs to be piloted to ensure that survivors of IPV participants can access and benefit from HELP intervention

The formation of paranodal spirals at the ends of CNS myelin sheaths requires the planar polarity protein Vangl2

During axonal ensheathment, noncompact myelin channels formed at lateral edges of the myelinating process become arranged into tight paranodal spirals that resemble loops when cut in cross section. These adhere to the axon, concentrating voltage-dependent sodium channels at nodes of Ranvier and patterning the surrounding axon into distinct molecular domains. The signals responsible for forming and maintaining the complex structure of paranodal myelin are poorly understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that the planar cell polarity determinant Vangl2 organizes paranodal myelin. We show that Vangl2 is concentrated at paranodes and that, following conditional knockout of Vangl2 in oligodendrocytes, the paranodal spiral loosens, accompanied by disruption to the microtubule cytoskeleton and mislocalization of autotypic adhesion molecules between loops within the spiral. Adhesion of the spiral to the axon is unaffected. This results in disruptions to axonal patterning at nodes of Ranvier, paranodal axon diameter and conduction velocity. When taken together with our previous work showing that loss of the apico-basal polarity protein Scribble has the opposite phenotype—loss of axonal adhesion but no effect on loop–loop autotypic adhesion—our results identify a novel mechanism by which polarity proteins control the shape of nodes of Ranvier and regulate conduction in the CNS

Frequency and Types of Healthcare Encounters in the Week Preceding a Sepsis Hospitalization: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES: Early recognition and treatment are critical to improving sepsis outcomes. We sought to identify the frequency and types of encounters that patients have with the healthcare system in the week prior to a sepsis hospitalization. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library. STUDY SELECTION: Observational cohort studies of patients hospitalized with sepsis or septic shock that were assessed for an outpatient or emergency department encounter with the healthcare system in the week prior to hospital admission. DATA EXTRACTION: The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with a healthcare encounter in the time period assessed (up to 1 week) prior to a hospitalization with sepsis. DATA SYNTHESIS: Six retrospective observational studies encompassing 6,785,728 sepsis admissions were included for evaluation, ranging from a 263-patient single-center cohort to a large database evaluating 6,731,827 sepsis admissions. The average (unweighted) proportion of patients having an encounter with the healthcare system in the week prior to a sepsis hospitalization was 32.7% and ranged from 10.3% to 52.9%. These encounters commonly involved presentation or potential symptoms of infectious diseases, antibiotic prescriptions, and appeared to increase in frequency closer to a sepsis hospitalization admission. No consistent factors were identified that distinguished a healthcare encounter as more or less likely to precede a sepsis hospitalization in the subsequent week. CONCLUSIONS: Patients that present to the hospital with sepsis are frequently evaluated in the healthcare system in the week prior to admission. Further research is necessary to understand if these encounters offer earlier opportunities for intervention to prevent the transition from infection to sepsis, whether they merely reflect the comorbidities of sepsis patients with a high baseline rate of healthcare encounters, or the declining trajectory of a patient\u27s overall health in response to infection

Dataset associated with "Seeking congruity for agentic women: a longitudinal examination of college women's persistence in STEM"

Those interested in using these data are encouraged to contact Dr. Paul Hernandez ([email protected]) and Dr. Emily Fischer ([email protected]) for more information. Data Contacts: Paul R. Hernandez (primary), [email protected], 979-464-9229 Emily V. Fischer, [email protected], 970-491-8587.Survey data were collected via the online Qualtrics survey system twice yearly in the fall and spring semesters from fall 2015 through spring 2019. This repository contains the data file associated with all surveys utilized in the analyses presented in this research article.Format of Data Files: Data files are in .csv format. Files can be opened by most software (e.g., Notepad, WordPad, Excel) – anything that can read a comma delimited ASCII text file. Here, the file name is "Dataset." In addition, a codebook accompanies the data file. The codebook contains the variable names, variable labels, and value labels for all variables contained within the "Dataset.csv" file.An abundance of literature has examined barriers to women's equal representation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, with many studies showing that STEM fields are not perceived to afford communal goals, a key component of women's interest in future careers. Using Goal Congruity Theory as a framework, we tested the longitudinal impact of perceptions of STEM career goal affordances, communal and agentic goals, and their congruity on persistence in science from the second through fourth years of college among women in STEM majors. We found that women's intent to persist in science were highest in fall of their second year, that persistence intentions exhibited a sharp decline, and that eventually leveled off by their fourth year of college. This pattern was moderated by perceptions of agentic affordances in STEM, such that women with higher perceptions of agentic affordances experienced smaller declines. Similar to prior research, we found that higher perceptions of communal goal affordances in STEM consistently predicted higher persistence intentions. Finally, we found an agentic goal-affordance congruity interaction, such that higher perceptions of agentic affordances in STEM predicted higher persistence intentions; however, the positive relationship was stronger for women with higher agentic goals. We conclude that because STEM fields are stereotyped as affording agentic goals, women who identify interest in a STEM major during their first year of college may be drawn to these fields for this reason, and may benefit from perceptions that STEM affords both communal and agentic goals.Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation through grant number DUE- 1431795, DUE-1431823, and DUE-1460229

Investigation of fatigue by Australian General Practice Registrars: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is the most common undifferentiated problem presenting in general practice. Previous studies have shown that this presentation leads to multiple investigations. There is no published literature describing the management of patients with fatigue by general practice (GP) registrars. AIM: To document the investigation-ordering behaviour of GP registrars in managing patients with a new diagnosis of unexplained fatigue. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT), an ongoing cohort study of GP registrars’ consultations. We established the prevalence of new diagnoses of unexplained fatigue and associations with that diagnosis, the rate of test ordering and the number and types of investigations ordered. RESULTS: 644 registrars contributed data from 68 986 encounters. In 0.78% of patient encounters, a new diagnosis of unexplained fatigue was made. Pathology was ordered in 78.4% of these problems (versus 18.1% in non-fatigue problems), at a rate of 488 tests per 100 new fatigue problems. DISCUSSION: Our study suggests that unexplained fatigue elicits a non-rational approach to test ordering by registrars. These findings contribute to the understanding of GP registrar management of fatigue, and undifferentiated presentations more broadly, and suggest educational approaches to improve practice, including dealing with uncertainty

L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate supplementation increases blood folate concentrations to a greater extent than folic acid supplementation in Malaysian women

Background: Folic acid fortification of grains is mandated in many countries to prevent neural tube defects. Concerns regarding excessive intakes of folic acid have been raised. A synthetic analog of the circulating form of folate, l-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (l-5-MTHF), may be a potential alternative. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of folic acid or l-5-MTHF supplementation on blood folate concentrations, methyl nutrient metabolites, and DNA methylation in women living in Malaysia, where there is no mandatory fortification policy. Methods: In a 12-wk, randomized, placebo-controlled intervention trial, healthy Malaysian women (n = 142, aged 20–45 y) were randomly assigned to receive 1 of the following supplements daily: 1 mg (2.27 μmol) folic acid, 1.13 mg (2.27 μmol) l-5-MTHF, or a placebo. The primary outcomes were plasma and RBC folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations. Secondary outcomes included plasma total homocysteine, total cysteine, methionine, betaine, and choline concentrations and monocyte long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) methylation. Results: The folic acid and l-5-MTHF groups had higher (P < 0.001) RBC folate (mean ± SD: 1498 ± 580 and 1951 ± 496 nmol/L, respectively) and plasma folate [median (25th, 75th percentiles): 40.1 nmol/L (24.9, 52.7 nmol/L) and 52.0 nmol/L (42.7, 73.1 nmol/L), respectively] concentrations compared with RBC folate (958 ± 345 nmol/L) and plasma folate [12.6 nmol/L (8.80, 17.0 nmol/L)] concentrations in the placebo group at 12 wk. The l-5-MTHF group had higher RBC folate (1951 ± 496 nmol/L; P = 0.003) and plasma folate [52.0 nmol/L (42.7, 73.1 nmol/L); P = 0.023] at 12 wk than did the folic acid group [RBC folate, 1498 ± 580 nmol/L; plasma folate, 40.1 nmol/L (24.9, 52.7 nmol/L)]. The folic acid and l-5-MTHF groups had 17% and 15%, respectively, lower (P < 0.001) plasma total homocysteine concentrations than did the placebo group at 12 wk; there were no differences between the folic acid and l-5-MTHF groups. No differences in plasma vitamin B-12, total cysteine, methionine, betaine, and choline and monocyte LINE-1 methylation were observed. Conclusion: These findings suggest differential effects of l-5-MTHF compared with folic acid supplementation on blood folate concentrations but no differences on plasma total homocysteine lowering in Malaysian women. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01584050

Australian general practice trainees’ exposure to ophthalmic problems and implications for training: A cross-sectional analysis

INTRODUCTION: Eye conditions are common presentations in Australian general practice, with the potential for serious sequelae. Pre-vocational ophthalmology training for General Practitioner (GP) trainees is limited. AIM: To describe the rate, nature and associations of ophthalmic problems managed by Australian GP trainees, and derive implications for education and training. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis from an ongoing cohort study of GP trainees’ clinical consultations. Trainees recorded demographic, clinical and educational details of consecutive patient consultations. Descriptive analyses report trainee, patient and practice demographics. Proportions of all problems managed in these consultations that were ophthalmology-related were calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Associations were tested using simple logistic regression within the generalised estimating equations (GEE) framework. RESULTS: In total, 884 trainees returned data on 184,476 individual problems or diagnoses from 118,541 encounters. There were 2649 ophthalmology-related problems, equating to 1.4% (95% CI: 1.38-1.49) of all problems managed. The most common eye presentations were conjunctivitis (32.5% of total problems), eyelid problems (14.9%), foreign body (5.3%) and dry eye (4.7%). Statistically significant associations were male trainee; male patient and patient aged 14 years or under; the problem being new and the patient being new to both trainee and practice; urban and of higher socioeconomic status practice location; the practice nurse not being involved; planned follow up not arranged; referral made; in-consultation information sought; and learning goals generated. DISCUSSION: Trainees have comparable ophthalmology exposure to established GPs. However, associations with referral and information-seeking suggest GP trainees find ophthalmic problems challenging, reinforcing the critical importance of appropriate training

Role modeling is a viable retention strategy for undergraduate women in the geosciences

Gender diversity leads to better science; however, a number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, including many geoscience subdisciplines, show a persistent gender gap. PROmoting Geo- science Research, Education, and SuccesS (PROGRESS) is a theory-driven role modeling and mentoring program aimed at supporting undergraduate women interested in geoscience-related degree and career pathways. This study is unique because it is being conducted in a long-term applied setting, rather than as a laboratory exercise. We compare female STEM majors in PROGRESS to a matched control group (N = 380) using a longitudinal prospec- tive multisite quasi-experimental design. College women in PROGRESS par- ticipated in a mentoring and role-modeling weekend workshop with follow- up support, while women in the control group participated in neither the workshop nor the follow-up support. PROGRESS members identified more female STEM career role models than controls (60% versus 42%, respectively), suggesting that deliberate interventions can develop the networks of under- graduate women. Undergraduate women that participate in PROGRESS have higher rates of persistence in geoscience-related majors (95% versus 73%), although the rates of switching into a geoscience-related major did not differ across groups. More strikingly, we also find that the persistence of undergrad- uate women in geoscience-related majors is related to the number of female STEM career role models they identify, as their odds of persisting approxi- mately doubles for each role model they identify. We conclude that our ability to retain undergraduate women in the geosciences will depend, in part, on helping them to identify same-gender career role models. Further, the suc- cess of PROGRESS points to steps universities and departments can take to sustain their students’ interest and persistence, such as hosting interactive panels with diverse female scientists to promote the attainability and social relevance of geoscience careers