The Bellarmine Bee Bed: Organizing a Native Plant Garden Using Feedback from the Local Community

Animal pollinators are the cornerstone of healthy ecosystems. Their survival is essential for the persistence of entire food chains: from the flowers they cross-pollinate directly, to the animals who depend on those plants for nutrition. The establishment of pollinator gardens—particularly ones that consist of native plants—is an effective way to enhance their biodiversity, abundance, and well-being. The main goal of this thesis is to construct a pollinator garden that maximizes the benefits for animal pollinators using feedback from local gardeners. A survey was used to gather information about the popularity and preferences of 40 flowering plants, and after analyzing the 101 responses, 12 species were chosen along with 2 native grasses. The garden was constructed on Bellarmine University’s campus (October 2022) and is in bloom as of spring 2023

A study of Reactive Attachment Disorder symptoms in the youth justice population

Aim: To provide a systematic review of the evidence regarding the impact of paediatric brain injury on friendship and social participation. Method: The search used Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO and Web of Science databases and hand searched a key journal. Ten papers met inclusion criteria, five relating to friendship and five to social participation. The methodological quality of the articles was rated using set criteria. Results: Four of the ten papers were rated as high quality. The main results showed that social participation decreased following brain injury and greater injury severity was associated with less participation. Three studies found that friendship networks remained the same; however two papers noted there were changes in friendship quality. Conclusions: Brain injury has a negative impact on social participation in children and young people. Although the results on friendship are mixed, emotional problems amongst the brain injury group may cause difficulties in developing relationships over time. Further longitudinal studies may provide a greater understanding of this issue

A study of Attachment Disorders of young offenders attending specialist services

Attachment disorders, specifically Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED) are disorders associated with neglect and abuse in which people have significant difficulties relating to others. This study aims to explore Attachment Disorder symptoms and diagnoses in young offenders and factors that may be associated with them such as mental health problems. A cross-sectional design was used with 29 young people who were known to Intensive Services, aged 12–17 (M = 16.2, SD = 1.3), 29 carers and 20 teachers. They completed measures investigating symptoms of Attachment Disorders and psychopathology. Eighty-six percent of the young people had experienced some form of maltreatment and the rates of an actual or borderline Attachment Disorder was 52%. A positive correlation between Attachment Disorder symptoms and other mental health problems (as rated by carer-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Total Difficulties Score), accounting for 36% of the variance was found, with a large effect size (rs = 0.60). Attachment Disorder symptoms were associated with hyperactivity and peer relationship problems

Efficacy of six lactic acid bacteria strains as silage inoculants in forages with different dry matter and water-soluble carbohydrate content

The dry matter (DM), water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content, and epiphytic microbiota of forage during ensiling are critical for the production of high-quality preserved forage. This study tested the efficacy of six additive treatments (10(6) CFU/g FM Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus IMI 507023, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum [IMI 507026, IMI 507027, and IMI 507028] or Pediococcus pentosaceus [IMI 507024 and IMI 507025]) as ensiling agents for grass-clover preservation. Treated and untreated forages were ensiled in 1.75 L glass jars and stored for 90 days at 20 & PLUSMN; 2 & DEG;C. The effects of treatments on silage fermentation and aerobic stability were tested using grass-clover forage at low and high levels of DM (24.0%-40.1%) and WSC (1.78%-5.27%). Data analysis using a mixed-effects model and principal component analysis revealed improved silage fermentation in treated forages compared to that in the control. The fermentation-related analytes in the treated silages (low pH, ethanol, acetic acid, and high lactic acid) represented a typical homofermentative metabolic pathway. The silage inoculants significantly lowered DM losses and ammonia-N, % of total nitrogen content, ranging between 30.4%-52.5% and 30.5%-63.1% respectively, compared to the control. Additionally, forage type interacted with treatment, indicating that forage management is vital for ensiling and should be considered alongside inoculant use. The improvement in aerobic stability by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) was inconsistent. The principal component analysis of all analytes showed that aerobic stability was most closely correlated with acetic acid and butyric acid concentrations. In conclusion, all LAB strains successfully improved the preservation of forage materials

For Community's Sake: A (Self-Respecting) Kantian Account of Forgiveness

This paper sketches a Kantian account of forgiveness and argues that it is distinguished by three features. First, Kantian forgiveness is best understood as the revision of the actions one takes toward an offender, rather than a change of feeling toward an offender. Second, Kant’s claim that forgiveness is a duty of virtue tells us that we have two reasons to sometimes be forgiving: forgiveness promotes both our own moral perfection and the happiness of our moral community. Third, we have a duty to withhold forgiveness if with think forgiveness will cause or encourage our offender to wrong us again. This duty to sometimes withhold forgiveness stems from our duty of self-respect, which Kant repeatedly describes as a duty to ourselves to ensure that we are not harmed again

Sunitinib for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Real-World and Clinical Trials Data.

BACKGROUND: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have stringent inclusion criteria and may not fully represent patients seen in everyday clinical practice. Real-world data (RWD) can provide supportive evidence for the effectiveness of medical interventions in more heterogeneous populations than RCTs. Sunitinib is a widely used first-line treatment for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). OBJECTIVE: This is the first comprehensive meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of sunitinib using the novel approach of combining RCTs and RWD. METHODS: RCTs and RWD studies published between 2000 and 2017 were identified from PubMed, Ovid, MEDLINE, and EMBASE. Eligible studies contained a cohort of ≥ 50 adult patients with mRCC receiving first-line sunitinib treatment. The meta-analysis combined RWD and RCT treatment groups, adjusting for data type (RCT or RWD). Recorded outcomes were median progression-free survival (mPFS), median overall survival (mOS), and objective response rate (ORR). Publication bias was assessed via review of funnel plots for each outcome measure. A random effects model to account for study heterogeneity was applied to each endpoint. Sensitivity analyses evaluated the robustness of the overall estimates. RESULTS: Of the 3611 studies identified through medical database searches, 22 (15 RWD studies, 7 RCTs) met eligibility criteria and were analyzed. mPFS (18 studies), mOS (19 studies), and ORR (15 studies) were reported for aggregate measures based on 4815, 5321, and 4183 patients, respectively. Reported mPFS (RWD, 7.5-11.0 months; RCTs, 5.6-15.1 months) and ORR data (RWD, 14.0-34.6%; RCTs, 18.8-46.9%) were consistent with the overall confidence estimates (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 9.3 (8.6-10.2) months and 27.9% (24.2-32.0), respectively. Reported mOS showed greater variation in RWD (6.8-33.2 months) compared with RCTs (21.8-31.5 months), with an overall confidence estimate (95% CI) of 23.0 (19.2-27.6) months. Inspection of funnel plots and sensitivity analyses indicated that there was no publication bias for any efficacy endpoint. Sensitivity analyses showed no evidence of lack of robustness for mPFS, mOS, or ORR. Interpretation of these results is limited by differences in trial design, cohort characteristics, and missing data. CONCLUSIONS: This novel, comprehensive meta-analysis validates sunitinib as an effective first-line treatment for patients with mRCC in both RCTs and everyday clinical practice. The methodology provides a framework for future analyses combining data from RCTs and RWD

The Collimated Jet Source in IRAS 16547-4247: Time Variation, Possible Precession, and Upper Limits to the Proper Motions along the Jet Axis

The triple radio source detected in association with the luminous infrared source IRAS 16547-4247 has previously been studied with high angular resolution and high sensitivity with the Very Large Array at 3.6 cm wavelength. In this paper, we present new 3.6 cm observations taken 2.68 years after the first epoch that allow a search for variability and proper motions, as well as the detection of additional faint sources in the region. We do not detect proper motions along the axis of the outflow in the outer lobes of this source at a 4σ upper limit of ~160 $km s^{−1}$. This suggests that these lobes are probably working surfaces where the jet is interacting with a denser medium. However, the brightest components of the lobes show evidence of precession, at a rate of $0\mathring{.}08 yr^{−1}$ clockwise in the plane of the sky. It may be possible to understand the distribution of almost all the identified sources as the result of ejecta from a precessing jet. The core of the thermal jet shows significant variations in flux density and morphology. We compare this source with other jets in low- and high-mass young stars and suggest that the latter can be understood as a scaled-up version of the former.Astronom

Compromiso docente en tiempo de pandemia en Lima, 2021

El compromiso docente ha sido visto como la obligación importante en su labor de los educadores; donde se requería nuevos desafíos tecnológicos, innovación en conocimientos, plantear estrategias y materiales pertinentes para una enseñanza de calidad. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo describir la construcción del compromiso docente en tiempos de pandemia, 2021; se empleó el paradigma naturalista, enfoque cualitativo, de tipo básica, nivel comprensivo, diseño fenomenológico hermenéutico, con un grupo 25 informantes a quienes se les aplicó una entrevista semiestructurada a profundidad con el empleo de una guía de entrevista, los datos fueron sometidos al análisis de contenido, luego se codificaron y categorizaron y fueron tratados con el empleo de un software para investigación cualitativa. Los resultados mostraron que los deberes del docente, desempeño docente y competencias profesionales, y competencias socioemocionales construyen al compromiso docente en la modalidad virtual, por lo que se concluyó que el compromiso docente se construye desde la actualización profesional permanente, los deberes del docente requieren de la actualización para un buen manejo de las TIC, el desempeño docente y competencias profesionales facilita al docente el logro de aprendizajes mediante la elaboración de materiales y clases coherentes, y las competencias socioemocionales del docente donde debe desarrollar el docente clases interactivas para que los estudiantes puedan tener la curiosidad de aprender

The Collimated Jet Source in IRAS 16547-4247: Time Variation, Possible Precession, and Upper Limits to the Proper Motions Along the Jet Axis

The triple radio source detected in association with the luminous infrared source IRAS 16547-4247 has previously been studied with high angular resolution and high sensitivity with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 3.6-cm wavelength. In this paper, we present new 3.6 cm observations taken 2.68 years after the first epoch that allow a search for variability and proper motions, as well as the detection of additional faint sources in the region. We do not detect proper motions along the axis of the outflow in the outer lobes of this source at a 4-$\sigma$ upper limit of $\sim$160 km s$^{-1}$. This suggests that these lobes are probably working surfaces where the jet is interacting with a denser medium. However, the brightest components of the lobes show evidence of precession, at a rate of $0\rlap.^\circ08$ yr$^{-1}$ clockwise in the plane of the sky. It may be possible to understand the distribution of almost all the identified sources as the result of ejecta from a precessing jet. The core of the thermal jet shows significant variations in flux density and morphology. We compare this source with other jets in low and high mass young stars and suggest that the former can be understood as a scaled-up version of the latter.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure

Reactive attachment disorder, disinhibited social engagement disorder, adverse childhood experiences, and mental health in an imprisoned young offender population

Background A high proportion of young people in prison have a history of abuse and neglect, and/or of neurodevelopmental or psychiatric conditions.  Despite this, the only two conditions specifically associated with abuse and neglect, Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED), have never been included as part of a comprehensive prevalence study. Methods A cross sectional study, in 110 male inmates aged 16 to 23, examined the prevalence of, and associations between, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions, including RAD and DSED. Outcomes Virtually all of the young men (96 %) had one or more lifetime neurodevelopmental or mental health conditions, 85.5 % had a current condition, yet less than 3 % reported having received a mental health assessment in prison. High rates of RAD and/or DSED symptoms were found (53.6 %) and 74.5 % had experienced some form of abuse or neglect. Interpretation There is a high prevalence of ACEs, RAD/DSED, neurodevelopmental and other mental health conditions within this population. Comprehensive clinical assessments are required to ensure appropriate support and staff training is needed to ensure that the full implications of the high prevalence of neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions are understood as part of trauma informed care