Confusion in the courtroom: the effect of confusing questions on eye-witness recall.

This paper examines the influence of confusing questions on the accuracy and confidence of adolescents' recall of a mock crime by answering either simple or confusing questions in written form. One hundred and twenty four adolescents (aged between 13 and 17 years) viewed a brief video of an unusual criminal event and were then asked to complete a question booklet addressing what they had seen. Half of the participants were given four categories of confusing questions (negatives, double negatives, complex syntax, and complex vocabulary - all question types typically used within courtroom examinations); the other half were asked simpler forms of the same questions. The confusing questions did reduce accurate recall of an unusual event. The results also suggested that confusing questions weakened the relationship between confidence and accuracy. Poorly worded questions, exacerbated by repetition, potentially corrupt eyewitness memory and derail investigations. The interaction of retrieval access dynamics with traditionally complicated and intimidating courtroom questioning is also addressed

Perceptions Of A Master Of Science Degree In Agricultural Communication By Agricultural communicators In Education (ACE): A National Study

A sample of 254 ACE members was surveyed to determine the components of a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Communication

Do Health Sciences Libraries and Librarians Have an Impact on the Cost of Health Care and Research? A Systematic Review

Objectives: The team worked on a systematic review to answer the question: Do health sciences libraries and librarians have any measurable (statistically significant) positive impacts on consumer health, the outcomes of medical care, the productivity of biomedical researchers, and the knowledge obtained by graduates of biomedical and health sciences training programs, and at what total cost? Methods: The team used a Google site to collaborate on the review. A spreadsheet was used to brainstorm keywords and list suggestions for subject headings. Databases searched included: PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, LISTA, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. The team searched grey literature and conducted a citation search, and hand searched bibliographies and journal contents. Although the team preferred to use only research reports, the main inclusion criteria was articles that mentioned the cost factor of the library or librarian impact

Ablation of the Sam68 RNA Binding Protein Protects Mice from Age-Related Bone Loss

The Src substrate associated in mitosis of 68 kDa (Sam68) is a KH-type RNA binding protein that has been shown to regulate several aspects of RNA metabolism; however, its physiologic role has remained elusive. Herein we report the generation of Sam68-null mice by homologous recombination. Aged Sam68(−/−) mice preserved their bone mass, in sharp contrast with 12-month-old wild-type littermates in which bone mass was decreased up to approximately 75%. In fact, the bone volume of the 12-month-old Sam68(−/−) mice was virtually indistinguishable from that of 4-month-old wild-type or Sam68(−/−) mice. Sam68(−/−) bone marrow stromal cells had a differentiation advantage for the osteogenic pathway. Moreover, the knockdown of Sam68 using short hairpin RNA in the embryonic mesenchymal multipotential progenitor C3H10T1/2 cells resulted in more pronounced expression of the mature osteoblast marker osteocalcin when differentiation was induced with bone morphogenetic protein-2. Cultures of mouse embryo fibroblasts generated from Sam68(+/+) and Sam68(−/−) littermates were induced to differentiate into adipocytes with culture medium containing pioglitazone and the Sam68(−/−) mouse embryo fibroblasts shown to have impaired adipocyte differentiation. Furthermore, in vivo it was shown that sections of bone from 12-month-old Sam68(−/−) mice had few marrow adipocytes compared with their age-matched wild-type littermate controls, which exhibited fatty bone marrow. Our findings identify endogenous Sam68 as a positive regulator of adipocyte differentiation and a negative regulator of osteoblast differentiation, which is consistent with Sam68 being a modulator of bone marrow mesenchymal cell differentiation, and hence bone metabolism, in aged mice

Fine-mapping identifies multiple prostate cancer risk loci at 5p15, one of which associates with TERT expression

Associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 5p15 and multiple cancer types have been reported. We have previously shown evidence for a strong association between prostate cancer (PrCa) risk and rs2242652 at 5p15, intronic in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene that encodes TERT. To comprehensively evaluate the association between genetic variation across this region and PrCa, we performed a fine-mapping analysis by genotyping 134 SNPs using a custom Illumina iSelect array or Sequenom MassArray iPlex, followed by imputation of 1094 SNPs in 22 301 PrCa cases and 22 320 controls in The PRACTICAL consortium. Multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis identified four signals in the promoter or intronic regions of TERT that independently associated with PrCa risk. Gene expression analysis of normal prostate tissue showed evidence that SNPs within one of these regions also associated with TERT expression, providing a potential mechanism for predisposition to disease

Emergency Department Escalation in Theory and Practice: A Mixed-Methods Study Using a Model of Organizational Resilience

Study objective Escalation policies are used by emergency departments (EDs) when responding to an increase in demand (eg, a sudden inflow of patients) or a reduction in capacity (eg, a lack of beds to admit patients). The policies aim to maintain the ability to deliver patient care, without compromising safety, by modifying “normal” processes. The study objective is to examine escalation policies in theory and practice. Methods This was a mixed-method study involving a conceptual analysis of National Health Service escalation policies (n=12) and associated escalation actions (n=92), as well as a detailed ethnographic study of escalation in situ during a 16-month period in a large UK ED (n=30 observations). Results The conceptual analysis of National Health Service escalation policies found that their use requires the ability to dynamically reconfigure resources (staff and equipment), change work flow, and relocate patients. In practice, it was discovered that when the ED is under pressure, these prerequisites cannot always be attained. Instead, escalation processes were adapted to manage pressures informally. This adaptive need (“work as done”) was found to be incompletely specified in policies (“work as imagined”). Conclusion Formal escalation actions and their implementation in practice differed and varied in their effectiveness. Monitoring how escalation works in practice is essential in understanding whether and how escalation policies help to manage workload

Precision health: A nursing perspective

Precision health refers to personalized healthcare based on a person's unique genetic, genomic, or omic composition within the context of lifestyle, social, economic, cultural and environmental influences to help individuals achieve well-being and optimal health. Precision health utilizes big data sets that combine omics (i.e. genomic sequence, protein, metabolite, and microbiome information) with clinical information and health outcomes to optimize disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention specific to each patient. Successful implementation of precision health requires interprofessional collaboration, community outreach efforts, and coordination of care, a mission that nurses are well-positioned to lead. Despite the surge of interest and attention to precision health, most nurses are not well-versed in precision health or its implications for the nursing profession. Based on a critical analysis of literature and expert opinions, this paper provides an overview of precision health and the importance of engaging the nursing profession for its implementation. Other topics reviewed in this paper include big data and omics, information science, integration of family health history in precision health, and nursing omics research in symptom science. The paper concludes with recommendations for nurse leaders in research, education, clinical practice, nursing administration and policy settings for which to develop strategic plans to implement precision health

Maternal alcohol intake prior to and during pregnancy and risk of adverse birth outcomes: evidence from a British cohort

Background: Evidence is conflicting regarding the relationship between low maternal alcohol consumption and birth outcomes. This paper aimed to investigate the association between alcohol intake before and during pregnancy with birth weight and gestational age and to examine the effect of timing of exposure. Methods: A prospective cohort in Leeds, UK, of 1303 pregnant women aged 18–45 years. Questionnaires assessed alcohol consumption before pregnancy and for the three trimesters separately. Categories of alcohol consumption were divided into ≤2 units/week and >2 units/week with a non-drinking category as referent. This was related to size at birth and preterm delivery, adjusting for confounders including salivary cotinine as a biomarker of smoking status. Results: Nearly two-thirds of women before pregnancy and over half in the first trimester reported alcohol intakes above the Department of Health (UK) guidelines of ≤2 units/week. Associations with birth outcomes were strongest for intakes >2 units/week before pregnancy and in trimesters 1 and 2 compared to non-drinkers. Even women adhering to the guidelines in the first trimester were at significantly higher risk of having babies with lower birth weight, lower birth centile and preterm birth compared to non-drinkers, after adjusting for confounders (p<0.05). Conclusions: We found the first trimester to be the period most sensitive to the effect of alcohol on the developing fetus. Women adhering to guidelines in this period were still at increased risk of adverse birth outcomes. Our findings suggest that women should be advised to abstain from alcohol when planning to conceive and throughout pregnanc