Rising Student Debt and the 2020 Election

In this perspectives brief, authors James Kvaal and Jessica Thompson explore the challenge of college affordability and summarize the campaign proposals to address it. Driven by steadily rising college costs and student debt, the 2020 presidential campaign has put the issues of college costs and student debt on the agenda as never before. Many candidates are promising to transform the federal investment in college affordability, but there is great variety in how they would structure their initiatives. The debate on the strengths and weaknesses of these plans on the campaign trail is likely to have a substantial influence on future higher education policy

Addition of Sodium Bicarbonate to Irrigation Solution May Assist in Dissolution of Uric Acid Fragments During Ureteroscopy

Introduction: We hypothesized that adding sodium bicarbonate (bicarb) to normal saline (NS) irrigation during ureteroscopy in patients with uric acid (UA) nephrolithiasis may assist in dissolving small stone fragments produced during laser lithotripsy. In vitro testing was performed to determine whether dissolution of UA fragments could be accomplished within 1 hour. Materials and Methods: In total 100% UA renal calculi were fragmented, filtered, and separated by size. Fragment sizes were <0.5 mm and 0.5 to 1 mm. Similar amounts of stone material were agitated in solution at room temperature. Four solutions were tested (NS, NS +1 ampule bicarb/L, NS +2, NS +3). Both groups were filtered to remove solutions after fixed periods. Filtered specimens were dried and weighed. Fragment dissolution rates were calculated as percent removed per hour. Additional testing was performed to determine whether increasing the temperature of solution affected dissolution rates. Results: For fragments <0.5 mm, adding 2 or 3 bicarb ampules/L NS produced a dissolution rate averaging 91% ± 29% per hour. This rate averaged 226% faster than NS alone. With fragments 0.5 to 1 mm, addition of 2 or 3 bicarb ampules/L NS yielded a dissolution rate averaging 22% ± 7% per hour, which was nearly five times higher than NS alone. There was a trend for an increase in mean dissolution rate with higher temperature but this increase was not significant (p = 0.30). Conclusions: The addition of bicarbonate to NS more than doubles the dissolution rate of UA stone fragments and fragments less than 0.5 mm can be completely dissolved within 1 hour. Addition of bicarb to NS irrigation is a simple and inexpensive approach that may assist in the dissolution of UA fragments produced during ureteroscopic laser lithotripsy. Further studies are needed to determine whether a clinical benefit exists

New roles for Fc receptors in neurodegeneration-the impact on immunotherapy for Alzheimer's disease

There are an estimated 18 million Alzheimer's disease (AD) sufferers worldwide and with no disease modifying treatment currently available, development of new therapies represents an enormous unmet clinical need. AD is characterized by episodic memory loss followed by severe cognitive decline and is associated with many neuropathological changes. AD is characterized by deposits of amyloid beta (A?), neurofibrillary tangles, and neuroinflammation. Active immunization or passive immunization against A? leads to the clearance of deposits in transgenic mice expressing human A?. This clearance is associated with reversal of associated cognitive deficits, but these results have not translated to humans, with both active and passive immunotherapy failing to improve memory loss. One explanation for these observations is that certain anti-A? antibodies mediate damage to the cerebral vasculature limiting the top dose and potentially reducing efficacy. Fc gamma receptors (Fc?R) are a family of immunoglobulin-like receptors which bind to the Fc portion of IgG, and mediate the response of effector cells to immune complexes. Data from both mouse and human studies suggest that cross-linking Fc?R by therapeutic antibodies and the subsequent pro-inflammatory response mediates the vascular side effects seen following immunotherapy. Increasing evidence is emerging that Fc?R expression on CNS resident cells, including microglia and neurons, is increased during aging and functionally involved in the pathogenesis of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, we propose that increased expression and ligation of Fc?R in the CNS, either by endogenous IgG or therapeutic antibodies, has the potential to induce vascular damage and exacerbate neurodegeneration. To produce safe and effective immunotherapies for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases it will be vital to understand the role of Fc?R in the healthy and diseased brain. Here we review the literature on Fc?R expression, function and proposed roles in multiple age-related neurological diseases. Lessons can be learnt from therapeutic antibodies used for the treatment of cancer where antibodies have been engineered for optimal efficacy

Personality, Character Strengths, Empathy, Familiarity and the Stigmatization of Mental Illness

The stigma associated with mental illness is pervasive and detrimental. The aim of the current study was to assess individual characteristics that may be positively and negatively associated with the stigmatization of mental illness. Two-hundred fifty-nine undergraduate students from the University of Southern Mississippi completed measures of the Big Five personality traits (i.e., Agreeableness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience), Dark Triad personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy), selected character strengths (i.e., Open-mindedness, Perspective, Bravery, Integrity, Kindness, Social Intelligence, Fairness, Forgiveness and Mercy, and Hope), Empathy, and Familiarity with mental illness. Participants also completed measures of stigmatizing attitudes (i.e., perceived dangerousness, personal responsibility attributed, and desired social distance) associated with targets described in vignettes as having a mood disorder (i.e., Major Depressive Disorder), a personality disorder (i.e., Borderline Personality Disorder), a psychotic disorder (i.e., Schizophrenia), and a chronic medical illness (i.e., Leukemia). Results suggest higher order factors of stigmatization that encompass the different attitudes assessed for each condition and a higher order factor for stigmatization of mental illness that includes stigma of each mental illness assessed. Empathy, Narcissism, and Fairness were found to be related to the stigmatization of mental illness. Additionally, stigma levels, specific stigmatizing attitudes, and individual characteristics associated with stigmatizing attitudes were found to differ based on disorder assessed. Implications and future directions are discussed

Explicit, Implicit, and Behavioral Stigmatization of Mental Illness

Mental health concern is a public health concern that continues to be stigmatized. While the dual process model has been applied to other areas of social cognition (e.g., racism), this framework has not previously been frequently used to examine the stigmatization of mental illness. The current study sought to examine the stigmatization of mental illness within a dual process model to determine the relationship between explicit and implicit stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors. A total of 104 undergraduate students from the University of Southern Mississippi participated in this study. Participants completed multiple implicit and explicit measures of stigmatizing attitudes and behavioral intentions. First, a psychometric analysis of implicit measures found the Single-Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT) and the Approach/Avoidance Test (AAT) had acceptable split-half reliability while the Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT) did not. Furthermore, the SC-IAT and GNAT had poor convergent validity. The SC-IAT was found to have poor predictive validity of the AAT. Next, the relationship between implicit and explicit measures were evaluated and found to be weak suggesting the presence of two distinct processes – one implicit, automatic process and one explicit, deliberate process. Gender and race showed some small moderating effects. Limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed

Ammonia Emission BMP’s for Livestock Feeding: Identifying Benefits and Barriers to Adoption

Farm Management, Health Economics and Policy,

The Student Experience of In School and Out of School Suspension

The purpose of this study is to understand the student experience of in school and/or out of school suspension. It was a qualitative phenomenological study. The researcher individually interviewed high school students who have had experience with suspension. Each interview was audio-recorded in order for transcriptions to be completed for data to be analyzed and coded. Inquiries were made to help the researcher understand what the experiences of students were, the overall impact of suspension in students’ lives, what motivated their behaviors, and the experience of the disciplinary process at the school. A number of patterns emerged within the responses. A theme that emerged across the interviews was the importance of students feeling engaged in the classroom. Some discrepancies were identified as well, including the impact that suspension has on a student’s life. Based on the student responses, recommendations were made to change the suspension program