Urban and rural sanitation in the Solomon Islands:How resilient are these to extreme weather events?

The Solomon Islands, like other small island developing states in the Pacific, face significant challenges from a changing climate, and from increasing extreme weather events, while also lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services. In order to support planning for the implementation of national WaSH strategies and policies, this study contextualizes representative urban and rural baselines for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 (“by 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation”). We highlight specific threats to the current sanitation services under extreme weather events such as flooding and drought, both of which are commonly observed in the country, and provide suggestions for structural improvements to sanitation facilities to increase resiliency. As the first detailed nationally representative cross-sectional sanitation study in urban and rural areas in the Solomon Islands, the results of this paper inform national WaSH policy, strategic planning and programming by the Solomon Islands Government and stakeholders

A Motivational Interviewing Intervention to Improve Adherence to ACEIs/ARBs among Nonadherent Older Adults with Comorbid Hypertension and Diabetes

Background Hypertension and diabetes mellitus are independent risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Due to the cardioprotective nature of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), they are recommended for patients with comorbid hypertension and diabetes. However, poor adherence to ACEIs/ARBs among older adults is a major public health concern. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a telephonic motivational interviewing (MI) intervention conducted by pharmacy students among a nonadherent older population (≥ 65 years old) with diabetes and hypertension. Methods Patients continuously enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan who received an ACEI/ARB prescription between July 2017 and December 2017 were identified. Group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) was used to identify distinct patterns of ACEI/ARB adherence during the 1-year baseline period: adherent, gaps in adherence, gradual decline, and rapid decline in adherence. Patients from the three nonadherent trajectories were randomized into MI intervention or control group. The intervention consisted of an initial call and five follow-up calls administered by MI-trained pharmacy students and tailored to the baseline ACEI/ARB adherence trajectories. The primary outcome was adherence to ACEI/ARB during the 6- and 12-month periods post-MI implementation. The secondary outcome was discontinuation, defined as no refills for ACEI/ARB during the 6- and 12-month periods post-MI implementation. Multivariable regression analyses examined the impact of MI intervention on ACEI/ARB adherence and discontinuation while adjusting for baseline covariates. Results A total of 240 patients in the intervention group and 480 patients as randomly selected controls were included in this study. At 6 months, patients receiving the MI intervention had significantly better adherence (β = 0.06; p = 0.03) compared with the controls. Linear and logistic regression models also showed patients in the intervention group were more likely to be adherent than controls within 12 months of intervention implementation (β = 0.06; p = 0.02 and OR: 1.46; 95% CI 1.05–2.04, respectively). MI intervention did not have any significant impact on the ACEI/ARB discontinuation. Conclusion Patients who received the MI intervention were more likely to be adherent at 6 and 12 months following the intervention initiation, despite gaps in the follow-up calls due to COVID-19. Pharmacist-led MI intervention is an effective behavioral strategy to improve medication adherence among older adults and tailoring the intervention to past adherence patterns may enhance the intervention effectiveness

Patient-Reported Barriers to Adherence Among ACEI/ARB Users from a Motivational Interviewing Telephonic Intervention

Purpose: Hypertension is a common comorbidity among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients, which increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Despite the proven benefit of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in this population, poor medication adherence is prevalent, resulting in higher complications and mortality rate. Motivational interviewing (MoI) has demonstrated effectiveness in improving medication adherence and identifying barriers. This study aimed to assess and identify patient-reported barriers to adherence to ACEI/ARB from an MoI telephonic intervention conducted by student pharmacist interns. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted within an MoI intervention customized by past ACEI/ARB adherence trajectories for nonadherent patients with T2DM and hypertension enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Adherence barriers were extracted from the interviewers’ notes by two independent researchers. Descriptive analysis was performed to summarize the overall frequency of barriers as well as across trajectory groups, identified from the initial and follow-up calls. Results: In total, 247 patients received the initial MoI call from which 41% did not communicate any barrier for ACEI/ARB use despite having low adherence. About 59% of the patients reported at least one barrier during the initial call. The most common barriers included forgetfulness, discontinuation by physicians, side effects, multiple comorbidities, polypharmacy, lack of knowledge about disease/medication, and cost issues. The follow-up calls helped with uncovering at least one new barrier for 28 patients who previously communicated a different issue with their medication during the first call. Additionally, 18 patients with initial denial for having any barrier to adherence reported at least one barrier throughout the follow-up calls. Conclusion: This study summarized patient-reported barriers to ACEI/ARB adherence from an MoI telephonic intervention performed among nonadherent patients. Identifying specific barriers for patients may help to further design tailored interventions that address the barriers and improve adherence

Urban and rural sanitation in the Solomon Islands: How resilient are these to extreme weather events?

The Solomon Islands, like other small island developing states in the Pacific, face significant challenges from a changing climate, and from increasing extreme weather events, while also lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services. In order to support planning for the implementation of national WaSH strategies and policies, this study contextualizes representative urban and rural baselines for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 (“by 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation”). We highlight specific threats to the current sanitation services under extreme weather events such as flooding and drought, both of which are commonly observed in the country, and provide suggestions for structural improvements to sanitation facilities to increase resiliency. As the first detailed nationally representative cross-sectional sanitation study in urban and rural areas in the Solomon Islands, the results of this paper inform national WaSH policy, strategic planning and programming by the Solomon Islands Government and stakeholders

Geographical inequalities in drinking water in the Solomon Islands

Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 seeks to “by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water”, which is challenging particularly in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Pacific Island Countries (PIC). We report drinking water sources and services in the Solomon Islands and examine geographical inequalities. Based on two quantitative baseline datasets of n = 1,598 rural and n = 1,068 urban households, we analyzed different drinking water variables (source type, collection time, amount, use, perceived quality, storage, treatment) and a composite index, drinking water service level. We stratified data by urban and rural areas and by province, mapped, and contextualized them. There are substantive rural–urban drinking water inequalities in the Solomon Islands. Overall, urban households are more likely to: use improved drinking water sources, need less time to collect water, collect more water, store their water more safely, treat water prior to consumption, perceive their water quality as better and have an at least basic drinking water service than rural households. There are also provincial and center-periphery inequalities in drinking water access, with more centrally located provinces using piped water supplies and more distant and remote provinces using rainwater and surface water as their primary source. There are also inter-national inequalities. Out of all PICs, the Solomon Islands have among the lowest access to basic drinking water services: 92% of urban and 55% of rural households. Of all SIDS, PICs are least serviced. This study shows that drinking water inequality is a critical issue, and highlights that all identified dimensions of inequality - rural–urban, provincial, center-periphery and inter-national - need to be explicitly recognized and addressed and included in pro-equity monitoring, policy and programming efforts by the Solomon Islands Government and stakeholders to reduce inequalities as per the Agenda 2030

Case report: Androgen-secreting adrenocortical tumors in eight cats

Urine marking, aggression, and other behavioral concerns are common reasons for cat owners to seek veterinary care. Empiric treatment for lower urinary tract disease or primary behavior disorders are commonly pursued, especially in those cases with normal routine laboratory evaluations. Herein, we report the clinicopathologic findings in eight sexually altered cats that were diagnosed with androgen-secreting adrenocortical tumors. Nearly all cats (n = 7) initially were evaluated for inappropriate urination and pungent urine, with additional behavioral concerns including aggression (n = 3) and excess vocalization (n = 4) commonly reported. Penile barbs (n = 5) were identified in all five male cats, and an enlarged clitoris was observed in one female cat. Testing of serum androgen concentrations revealed abnormally high androstenedione (n = 1) or testosterone (n = 7) concentrations. In the five cases with available adrenal tissue, histopathologic evaluation identified either an adrenocortical adenoma (n = 3) or adrenocortical carcinoma (n = 2). Hormonal abnormalities resolved and clinical signs improved in the four cats that underwent surgical adrenalectomy, with each of these cats surviving >1 year. However, clinical signs were minimally impacted with medical treatments, including one cat in which trilostane treatment failed to improve clinical signs or testosterone concentrations. This collection of cases underscores the importance of a detailed physical examination as well as the consideration of endocrine disturbances in cats undergoing evaluation for inappropriate urination or aggression. Furthermore, this report adds to the growing body of evidence that sex-hormone secreting adrenal tumors in cats may be an under-recognized syndrome

Volume 03

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross Little Shop of Horrors by Longwood Theater Department Who Has the Hottest Hotsauce in Farmville: A Quantitative Comparison of Sauces from Local Restaurants by Cheryl Peck and Charles Hoever Precipitation Effects on the Growth of White Oaks and Virginia Pines on the Mt. Vernon Plantation by Brittany Anderson Design and Synthesis of Novel Ion Binding Molecules for Self-Assembly and Sensing Applications by J. Ervin Sheldon A Statistical Analysis of Algorithms for Playing SameGame by Richard Hayden Intersecting Cylinders at Arbitrary Angles by Yuri Calustro Putting a Foot in the Revolving Door: Strategies for Reducing Teacher Attrition by Candice Fleming and Rebecca Franklin The Effect of Presentation on Spanish Vocabulary Recall by Ashley Yocum How Attractive Are You? Individuals Sensitivity to Number of Sexual Partners by Danielle M. Jagoda and Cristina M. Valdivieso Culturally Relevant Practices for Teaching Code-Switching to African-American Students in Kindergarten Classrooms by Jameka Jones Two Poems – “Dust” and “Check Out Girls” by Amy Ellis Three Poems – “Rosewood Massacre, 1923”, “Jarring” and “Reverence” by Ashley Maser Three Poems – “Dirty Thunderstorm”, “Summer Hide \u27N Seek Car Tag” and “Bliss” by Erikk Shupp Analysis of the Wilton Diptych by Jamie Yurasits “Nod”, “Corriline” “Flying” “Familiar” by Alexander Leonhart Papermaking by Kenny Wolfe and Sally Meadows “Plant” by J. Haley, Amy Jackson, and Morgan Howard “Dare to Dart” by Amy Jackson, Adrienne Heinbaugh and Melissa Dorton Untitled Photographs by Hopson “Lockets” by Morgan Howard Graphic Designs and Untitled Photographs by Ciarra Stalker Selections from a Senior Recital by Joshua Davi

A new accuracy measure based on bounded relative error for time series forecasting

Many accuracy measures have been proposed in the past for time series forecasting comparisons. However, many of these measures suffer from one or more issues such as poor resistance to outliers and scale dependence. In this paper, while summarising commonly used accuracy measures, a special review is made on the symmetric mean absolute percentage error. Moreover, a new accuracy measure called the Unscaled Mean Bounded Relative Absolute Error (UMBRAE), which combines the best features of various alternative measures, is proposed to address the common issues of existing measures. A comparative evaluation on the proposed and related measures has been made with both synthetic and real-world data. The results indicate that the proposed measure, with user selectable benchmark, performs as well as or better than other measures on selected criteria. Though it has been commonly accepted that there is no single best accuracy measure, we suggest that UMBRAE could be a good choice to evaluate forecasting methods, especially for cases where measures based on geometric mean of relative errors, such as the geometric mean relative absolute error, are preferred

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

Final Targeting Strategy for the SDSS-IV APOGEE-2N Survey

APOGEE-2 is a dual-hemisphere, near-infrared (NIR), spectroscopic survey with the goal of producing a chemo-dynamical mapping of the Milky Way Galaxy. The targeting for APOGEE-2 is complex and has evolved with time. In this paper, we present the updates and additions to the initial targeting strategy for APOGEE-2N presented in Zasowski et al. (2017). These modifications come in two implementation modes: (i) "Ancillary Science Programs" competitively awarded to SDSS-IV PIs through proposal calls in 2015 and 2017 for the pursuit of new scientific avenues outside the main survey, and (ii) an effective 1.5-year expansion of the survey, known as the Bright Time Extension, made possible through accrued efficiency gains over the first years of the APOGEE-2N project. For the 23 distinct ancillary programs, we provide descriptions of the scientific aims, target selection, and how to identify these targets within the APOGEE-2 sample. The Bright Time Extension permitted changes to the main survey strategy, the inclusion of new programs in response to scientific discoveries or to exploit major new datasets not available at the outset of the survey design, and expansions of existing programs to enhance their scientific success and reach. After describing the motivations, implementation, and assessment of these programs, we also leave a summary of lessons learned from nearly a decade of APOGEE-1 and APOGEE-2 survey operations. A companion paper, Santana et al. (submitted), provides a complementary presentation of targeting modifications relevant to APOGEE-2 operations in the Southern Hemisphere.Comment: 59 pages; 11 Figures; 7 Tables; 2 Appendices; Submitted to Journal and Under Review; Posting to accompany papers using the SDSS-IV/APOGEE-2 Data Release 17 scheduled for December 202