International Research Symposium on Talent Education, Part 5: The challenges of offering group class

This is the fifth installment in a series of articles reporting on a large‐scale demographic survey of North American Suzuki teachers. The last article in this series examined some of the perceived benefits of group class. In this article, we will review participants’ perceptions of the challenges of group class. Participating teachers were asked to respond to the open‐ended question, "What is the greatest challenge of group class?" Their responses were coded and analyzed for important themes

International Research Symposium on Talent Education, Part 6: Parent education in Suzuki studios

This is the sixth installment in a series of articles reporting on a large‐scale demographic survey of North American Suzuki teachers. The previous article in this series examined some of the perceived challenges of group class. In this article, we will review teachers' descriptions of the parent education offerings within their studios. Teachers were asked to provide information about the structure, content, and intensity of their parent education programs. The survey questions included both initial education for new families entering their studios, as well as ongoing education for returning families

International Research Symposium on Talent Education, Part 4: The joys and benefits of Suzuki group class

This is the fourth article in a series reporting the findings of a large-scale demographic study of Suzuki teachers in Canada and the United States. Previous articles introduced the research, reporting on basic demographic statistics, teacher training, studio size, and structure of group classes. In this article we report on the results of an open-ended response question regarding the benefits of student participation in Suzuki group class

International Research Symposium on Talent Education, Part 3: What do Suzuki studios look like?

This is the third article in a series reporting the findings of a large-scale demographic study of 1128 North American SAA member teachers. The first article introduced the International Research Symposium on Talent Education and the group's current research interests. The second installment in the series focused on Suzuki teachers and included basic demographic information and information on teachers' training. In this article, we will explore what Suzuki studios look like, examining data such as studio size and structure of group classes

Model thrombi formed under flow reveal the role of factor XIII-mediated cross-linking in resistance to fibrinolysis

Background: Activated factor XIII (FXIIIa), a transglutaminase, introduces fibrin-fibrin and fibrin-inhibitor cross-links, resulting in more mechanically stable clots. The impact of cross-linking on resistance to fibrinolysis has proved challenging to evaluate quantitatively. Methods: We used a whole blood model thrombus system to characterize the role of cross-linking in resistance to fibrinolytic degradation. Model thrombi, which mimic arterial thrombi formed in vivo, were prepared with incorporated fluorescently labeled fibrinogen, in order to allow quantification of fibrinolysis as released fluorescence units per minute. Results: A site-specific inhibitor of transglutaminases, added to blood from normal donors, yielded model thrombi that lysed more easily, either spontaneously or by plasminogen activators. This was observed both in the cell/platelet-rich head and fibrin-rich tail. Model thrombi from an FXIII-deficient patient lysed more quickly than normal thrombi; replacement therapy with FXIII concentrate normalized lysis. In vitro addition of purified FXIII to the patient's preprophylaxis blood, but not to normal control blood, resulted in more stable thrombi, indicating no further efficacy of supraphysiologic FXIII. However, addition of tissue transglutaminase, which is synthesized by endothelial cells, generated thrombi that were more resistant to fibrinolysis; this may stabilize mural thrombi in vivo. Conclusions: Model thrombi formed under flow, even those prepared as plasma 'thrombi', reveal the effect of FXIII on fibrinolysis. Although very low levels of FXIII are known to produce mechanical clot stability, and to achieve ?-dimerization, they appear to be suboptimal in conferring full resistance to fibrinolysis

Intensive care doctors and nurses personal preferences for intensive Care, as compared to the general population: a discrete choice experiment

Background To test the hypothesis that Intensive Care Unit (ICU) doctors and nurses differ in their personal preferences for treatment from the general population, and whether doctors and nurses make different choices when thinking about themselves, as compared to when they are treating a patient. Methods Cross sectional, observational study conducted in 13 ICUs in Australia in 2017 using a discrete choice experiment survey. Respondents completed a series of choice sets, based on hypothetical situations which varied in the severity or likelihood of: death, cognitive impairment, need for prolonged treatment, need for assistance with care or requiring residential care. Results A total of 980 ICU staff (233 doctors and 747 nurses) participated in the study. ICU staff place the highest value on avoiding ending up in a dependent state. The ICU staff were more likely to choose to discontinue therapy when the prognosis was worse, compared with the general population. There was consensus between ICU staff personal views and the treatment pathway likely to be followed in 69% of the choices considered by nurses and 70% of those faced by doctors. In 27% (1614/5945 responses) of the nurses and 23% of the doctors (435/1870 responses), they felt that aggressive treatment would be continued for the hypothetical patient but they would not want that for themselves. Conclusion The likelihood of returning to independence (or not requiring care assistance) was reported as the most important factor for ICU staff (and the general population) in deciding whether to receive ongoing treatments. Goals of care discussions should focus on this, over likelihood of survival

Association of State COVID-19 Vaccination Prioritization With Vaccination Rates Among Incarcerated Persons

Risk of COVID-19 transmission is increased in prisons and surrounding communities. COVID-19 can spread rapidly in these facilities owing to crowding, inability to socially distance, poor ventilation, continuous admissions and releases, and daily work staff. High rates of chronic and immunocompromising conditions such as HIV among incarcerated persons are associated with greater risk of COVID-19

Localization dynamics in a binary two-dimensional cellular automaton: the Diffusion Rule

We study a two-dimensional cellular automaton (CA), called Diffusion Rule (DR), which exhibits diffusion-like dynamics of propagating patterns. In computational experiments we discover a wide range of mobile and stationary localizations (gliders, oscillators, glider guns, puffer trains, etc), analyze spatio-temporal dynamics of collisions between localizations, and discuss possible applications in unconventional computing.Comment: Accepted to Journal of Cellular Automat

Reactions to messages about smoking, vaping and COVID-19: Two national experiments

Introduction The pace and scale of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with ongoing efforts by health agencies to communicate harms, have created a pressing need for data to inform messaging about smoking, vaping, and COVID-19. We examined reactions to COVID-19 and traditional health harms messages discouraging smoking and vaping. Methods Participants were a national convenience sample of 810 US adults recruited online in May 2020. All participated in a smoking message experiment and a vaping message experiment, presented in a random order. In each experiment, participants viewed one message formatted as a Twitter post. The experiments adopted a 3 (traditional health harms of smoking or vaping: Three harms, one harm, absent) × 2 (COVID-19 harms: one harm, absent) between-subjects design. Outcomes included perceived message effectiveness (primary) and constructs from the Tobacco Warnings Model (secondary: Attention, negative affect, cognitive elaboration, social interactions). Results Smoking messages with traditional or COVID-19 harms elicited higher perceived effectiveness for discouraging smoking than control messages without these harms (all p <0.001). However, including both traditional and COVID-19 harms in smoking messages had no benefit beyond including either alone. Smoking messages affected Tobacco Warnings Model constructs and did not elicit more reactance than control messages. Smoking messages also elicited higher perceived effectiveness for discouraging vaping. Including traditional harms in messages about vaping elicited higher perceived effectiveness for discouraging vaping (p <0.05), but including COVID-19 harms did not. Conclusions Messages linking smoking with COVID-19 may hold promise for discouraging smoking and may have the added benefit of also discouraging vaping