Determining the Impact of Federal Antidiscrimination Policy on the Economic Status of Blacks: A Study of South Carolina

This paper assesses the contribution of federal antidiscrimination policy to the dramatic improvement of black economic status in manufacturing that occurred in South Carolina in the mid 1960's. Using a unique data source on wages and employment by race and sex in South Carolina we evaluate competing explanations. Human capital stories, supply shift stories and tight labor market stories do not account for the black breakthrough. Our study documents a significant contribution of federal antidiscrimination programs.

One Hour of Chemical Demonstrations

This article describes a diverse set of chemistry demonstrations especially selected to encourage student interaction and to be easily transported. The demonstrations may be presented at a level that can be tailored to any audience– from very young children to high school students planning careers in science. An ideal environment is a small classroom with 20-30 students where everyone can take part in the discussion. Once the chemicals are prepared, the collection of demonstrations takes about ten minutes to set-up, and one hour (or less) to perform. Very little is needed at the visiting site, no more than a table and a pitcher of water. A single electrical outlet is useful, but not essential. In Table 2 th

Constraining sub-grid physics with high-redshift spatially-resolved metallicity distributions

Aims. We examine the role of energy feedback in shaping the distribution of metals within cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of L* disc galaxies. While negative abundance gradients today provide a boundary condition for galaxy evolution models, in support of inside-out disc growth, empirical evidence as to whether abundance gradients steepen or flatten with time remains highly contradictory. Methods. We made use of a suite of L* discs, realised with and without "enhanced" feedback. All the simulations were produced using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code Gasoline, and their in situ gas-phase metallicity gradients traced from redshift z similar to 2 to the present-day. Present-day age-metallicity relations and metallicity distribution functions were derived for each system. Results. The "enhanced" feedback models, which have been shown to be in agreement with a broad range of empirical scaling relations, distribute energy and re-cycled ISM material over large scales and predict the existence of relatively "flat" and temporally invariant abundance gradients. Enhanced feedback schemes reduce significantly the scatter in the local stellar age-metallicity relation and, especially, the [O/Fe]-[Fe/H] relation. The local [O/Fe] distribution functions for our L* discs show clear bimodality, with peaks at [O/Fe] = -0.05 and +0.05 (for stars with [Fe/H] > -1), consistent with our earlier work on dwarf discs. Conclusions. Our results with "enhanced" feedback are inconsistent with our earlier generation of simulations realised with "conservative" feedback. We conclude that spatially-resolved metallicity distributions, particularly at high-redshift, offer a unique and under-utilised constraint on the uncertain nature of stellar feedback processes

Impacts of a flaring star-forming disc and stellar radial mixing on the vertical metallicity gradient

Using idealized N-body simulations of a Milky Way-sized disc galaxy, we qualitatively study how the metallicity distributions of the thin disc star particles are modified by the formation of the bar and spiral arm structures. The thin disc in our numerical experiments initially has a tight negative radial metallicity gradient and a constant vertical scaleheight. We show that the radial mixing of stars drives a positive vertical metallicity gradient in the thin disc. On the other hand, if the initial thin disc is flared, with vertical scaleheight increasing with galactocentric radius, the metal-poor stars, originally in the outer disc, become dominant in regions above the disc plane at every radii. This process can drive a negative vertical metallicity gradient, which is consistent with the current observed trend. This model mimics a scenario where the star-forming thin disc was flared in the outer region at earlier epochs. Our numerical experiment with an initial flared disc predicts that the negative vertical metallicity gradient of the mono-age relatively young thin disc population should be steeper in the inner disc, and the radial metallicity gradient of the mono-age population should be shallower at greater heights above the disc plane. We also predict that the metallicity distribution function of mono-age young thin disc populations above the disc plane would be more positively skewed in the inner disc compared to the outer disc

Everywhere and Nowhere: work-based learning in healthcare education

The shortage of healthcare professions is a global issue, which has highlighted the need to establish effective practice learning. In 2015 the UK government introduced a change to the way that healthcare education is funded. A subsequent fall in applications to healthcare programmes and high levels of vacancies across the sector in the UK have led to widespread concern about workforce shortages, especially nurses. Subsequently, initiatives that both address the shortage and aim to bridge the gap between registered nurse and healthcare support worker have been introduced, presenting opportunities to further develop the clinical workplace as a learning environment for employees. A sample of nine healthcare professionals was recruited; seven nurses and two allied health professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between March and June 2018. These were recorded verbatim, transcribed and thematically analysed. Respondents identified opportunities for work-based learning and factors for success. The importance of an effective learning culture, commitment to work-based learning and time were identified as factors for success. Despite the richness of learning opportunities in healthcare, respondents identified challenges for both learners and supervisors in identifying these opportunities in the workplace. These findings have immediate relevance to healthcare education systems internationally. Areas for future research include the relationship between supervisor and learner and further insight into why the busiest areas might be identified as more effective learning environments

Nutrient modulation in the management of disease-induced muscle wasting: evidence from human studies

Purpose of review: In addition to being essential for movement, skeletal muscles act as both a store and source of key macronutrients. As such, muscle is an important tissue for whole body homeostasis, undergoing muscle wasting in times of starvation, disease, and stress, for example, to provide energy substrates for other tissues. Yet, muscle wasting is also associated with disability, comorbidities, and mortality. As nutrition is so crucial to maintaining muscle homeostasis 'in health', it has been postulated that muscle wasting in cachexia syndromes may be alleviated by nutritional interventions. This review will highlight recent work in this area in relation to muscle kinetics, the acute metabolic (e.g. dietary protein), and longer-term effects of dietary interventions. Recent findings: Whole body and skeletal muscle protein synthesis invariably exhibit deranged kinetics (favouring catabolism) in wasting states; further, many of these conditions harbour blunted anabolic responses to protein nutrition compared with healthy controls. These derangements underlie muscle wasting. Recent trials of essential amino acid and protein-based nutrition have shown some potential for therapeutic benefit. Summary: Nutritional modulation, particularly of dietary amino acids, may have benefits to prevent or attenuate disease-induced muscle wasting. Nonetheless, there remains a lack of recent studies exploring these key concepts to make conclusive recommendations

Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori by carbon-13 urea breath test using a portable mass spectrometer

CONTEXT: In the non-invasive detection of markers of disease, mass spectrometry is able to detect small quantities of volatile markers in exhaled air. However, the problem of size, expense and immobility of conventional mass spectrometry equipment has restricted its use. Now, a smaller, less expensive, portable quadrupole mass spectrometer system has been developed. Helicobacter pylori has been implicated in the development of chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers and gastric cancer. OBJECTIVES: To compare the results obtained from the presence of H. pylori by a carbon-13 urea test using a portable quadrupole mass spectrometer system with those from a fixed mass spectrometer in a hospital-based clinical trial. METHODS: Following ethical approval, 45 patients attending a gastroenterology clinic at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital exhaled a breath sample into a Tedlar gas sampling bag. They then drank an orange juice containing urea radiolabelled with carbon and 30 min later gave a second breath sample. The carbon-13 content of both samples was measured using both quadrupole mass spectrometer systems. If the post-drink level exceeded the pre-drink level by 3% or more, a positive diagnosis for the presence of H. pylori was made. RESULTS: The findings were compared to the results using conventional isotope ratio mass spectrometry using a laboratory-based magnetic sector instrument off-site. The results showed agreement in 39 of the 45 patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that a portable quadrupole mass spectrometer is a potential alternative to the conventional centralised testing equipment. Future development of the portable quadrupole mass spectrometer to reduce further its size and cost is indicated, together with further work to validate this new equipment and to enhance its use in mass spectrometry diagnosis of other medical conditions

Pioneering new roles in healthcare: Nursing Associate students’ experiences of work-based learning in the United Kingdom

In order to address urgent workforce considerations and changing demographics, in 2017 the National Health Service in the United Kingdom introduced a new role in healthcare, the Nursing Associate. Education for the new role was delivered by work-based learning in partnership with local universities. This paper reports on a qualitative longitudinal study of a study which explored the experiences of work-based learners enrolled at a university in London. Data was collected in two stages over a six-month period: 17 work-based learners participated in interviews in stage 1 and seven in stage 2. Data was analysed using framework analysis; the framework was derived from a systematic literature review about introducing new roles in healthcare. Results have resonance for work-based learning programmes in healthcare and beyond and included the importance of adequate time for work-based learning; supervision by a skilled clinical educator; stakeholder engagement; a well-defined scope of practice and an appropriate and supportive educational programme. Participants valued the input of experienced qualified staff but appreciated the capacity issues that militated against their progress, as staff were not always able to support them. Participants also identified the necessity to take responsibility for their own learning in clinical practice. University-based learning was valued more highly than learning in practice, suggesting, as has been established elsewhere, that work-based learning opportunities in healthcare can be difficult to identify

The role of beta-lactamase-producing-bacteria in mixed infections

Beta-lactamase-producing bacteria (BLPB) can play an important role in polymicrobial infections. They can have a direct pathogenic impact in causing the infection as well as an indirect effect through their ability to produce the enzyme beta-lactamase. BLPB may not only survive penicillin therapy but can also, as was demonstrated in in vitro and in vivo studies, protect other penicillin-susceptible bacteria from penicillin by releasing the free enzyme into their environment. This phenomenon occurs in upper respiratory tract, skin, soft tissue, surgical and other infections. The clinical, in vitro, and in vivo evidence supporting the role of these organisms in the increased failure rate of penicillin in eradication of these infections and the implication of that increased rate on the management of infections is discussed