Ounce of Prevention: Internship Planning and Implementation for Students, University Advisors, and Site Supervisors

Internships in the health profession, specifically in public and community health education and promotion, are a valuable opportunity for students to acquire new skills, as well as implement their recently acquired academic knowledge. There are generally three key players in the internship process: the faculty advisor or coordinator, the site supervisor, and the student intern. There are processes and procedures that can greatly help facilitate a positive experience for all three parties. Essential to this internship process are good organization skills, meticulous planning abilities, and clear communication channels. This article provides easy steps that all three individuals can benefit from during the planning and implementation phases of the internship experiences

Peer assessment of outpatient consultation letters – feasibility and satisfaction

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Written correspondence is one of the most important forms of communication between health care providers, yet there is little feedback provided to specialists. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and satisfaction of a peer assessment program on consultation letters and to determine inter-rater reliability between family physicians and specialists.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A rating scale of nine 5-point Likert scale items including specific content, style items, education value of the letter and an overall rating was developed from a previous validated tool.</p> <p>Nine Internal Medicine specialists/subspecialists from two tertiary care centres submitted 10 letters with patient and physician identifiers removed. Two Internal Medicine specialists, and 2 family physicians from the other centre rated each letter (to protect writer anonymity). A satisfaction survey was sent to each writer and rater after collation of the results. A follow-up survey was sent 6–8 months later.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a high degree of satisfaction with the process and feedback. The rating scale information was felt to be useful and appropriate for evaluating the quality of consultation letters by 6/7 writers. 5/7 seven writers felt that the feedback they received resulted in immediate changes to their letters. Six months later, 6/9 writers indicated they had maintained changes in their letters.</p> <p>Raters rank ordered letters similarly (Cronbach's alpha 0.57–0.84) but mean scores were highly variant. At site 1 there were significant differences in scoring brevity (p < 0.01) between family physician and specialist raters; whereas, at site 2 there were differences in scoring of history (p < 0.01), physical examination (p < 0.01) and educational value (p < 0.01) of the letter.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Most participants found peer assessment of letters feasible and beneficial and longstanding changes occurred in some individuals. Family physicians and specialists appear to have different expectations on some items. Further studies on reliability and validity, with a larger sample, are required before high stakes professional assessments include consultation letters.</p

Single cell PCR amplification of diatoms using fresh and preserved samples

Single cell Chelex® DNA extraction and nested PCR amplification were used to examine partial gene sequences from natural diatom populations for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies at and above the level of species. DNA was extracted from cells that were either fresh collected or stored in RNAlater. Extractions from Lugol’s fixation were also attempted with limited success. Three partial gene sequences (rbcL, 18S and psbA) were recovered using existing and new primers with a nested or double nested PCR approach with amplification and success rates between 70–96%. An rbcL consensus tree grouped morphologically similar specimens and was consistent across the two primary sample treatments: fresh and RNAlater. This tool will greatly enhance the number of microscopic diatom taxa (and potentially other microbes) available for barcoding and phylogenetic studies. The near-term increase in sequence data for diatoms generated via routine single cell extractions and PCR will act as a multiproxy validation of longer-term next generation genomics

Perceived Barriers to Participation in a Supplemental Nutrition Program Among Low-Income Women on the US/Mexico Border

The benefits of supplemental nutrition programs have been well established. In order to gain an insight into perceived barriers to participation in such programs on the US/Mexico border, unstructured qualitative interviews were conducted with former participants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The main barrier to program participation was a lack of time. Other barriers to participation included confusion about program eligibility and the perceived stigma associated with receiving assistance from WIC. Generally, participants felt that WIC was a beneficial program and would recommend it to others. Expanded hours of operation that address the needs of working mothers were recommended in order to increase the recruitment and retention of program participants

Puberty development and reproductive performance in beef heifers fed rations supplemented with Oregon by-product feeds

In the majority of management scenarios, it is imperative that beef replacement heifers calve at two years of age. In order to achieve this goal, yearling heifers should reach 60 to 65% of their mature body weight by 13 months of age. Feed costs represent 75 to 80% of the total costs incurred by a beef producer in the development of replacement heifers. At current beef prices, it takes at least three live calves before the heifer development period is paid. Feed costs have become more problematic and volatile in recent years. Increasing pressure for the use of grains in brewing and for ethanol production has inflated feed prices. Demand for grain has also resulted in more ground being taken out of forage production which has resulted in much higher hay prices. However, the increased use of feedstuffs by fermentation industries results in by-product feeds that can be utilized best by beef cattle. Utilization of these by-product feedstuffs by cattle not only results in cheaper feed, and therefore production costs, but also enhances the sustainability of the fermentation industry. The objective of this research was to evaluate puberty onset and subsequent reproductive performance in heifers fed a traditional ration with grass hay to rations in which grass hay was substituted with either grass-seed straw or a grass seed straw-brewer's grain silage. Eighteen heifers (initial body weight = 561±11.4 lbs and age = 278±2.4 d) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: grass hay (HAY), grass seed straw (STRAW), or grass seed straw-brewer’s grain silage (SILAGE). Heifers were individually fed twice daily using Calan gates for 22 weeks. Heifers were weighed and 10-ml blood samples were recovered weekly. Plasma was recovered by centrifugation and stored at -20° C until analyzed for progesterone and Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) concentrations. Puberty onset was defined as plasma progesterone exceeding 1 ng/ml. At week 21, heifers were estrous-synchronized using a CIDR-Select Synch protocol. Heifers displaying estrus were inseminated 12 h after onset with one straw of frozen semen. Heifers not displaying estrus were injected with PGF₂α 10 d after the initial PGF₂α injection in the CIDR-Select Synch protocol and subsequently observed for estrus and inseminated as described. Mean ages and weights of heifers were similar (P>0.10) across all treatments at the start of the feeding period. Heifer ages at puberty did not differ (P>0.10) due to treatment. Average daily gain of heifers during the feeding trial fed SILAGE were lower (P0.10) were found in body weight at puberty onset. However, body weights of heifers fed SILAGE were lower (P0.10) in services per conception, calving ease scores, calf vigor scores, or calf birth weights were observed between treatments. These results suggest that heifers fed the less expensive, by-product STRAW ration have weight gain and reproductive performance similar to heifers fed a traditional HAY ration. Although heifers fed the SILAGE diet had lighter body weights, a negative impact on reproductive measurements was not observed, suggesting the ration was adequate to support reproductive performance similar to a traditional HAY ration

Sex-specific natural selection on SNPs in Silene latifolia

Selection that acts in a sex-specific manner causes the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Sex-specific phenotypic selection has been demonstrated in many taxa and can be in the same direction in the two sexes (differing only in magnitude), limited to one sex, or in opposing directions (antagonistic). Attempts to detect the signal of sex-specific selection from genomic data have confronted numerous difficulties. These challenges highlight the utility of “direct approaches,” in which fitness is predicted from individual genotype within each sex. Here, we directly measured selection on Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in a natural population of the sexually dimorphic, dioecious plant, Silene latifolia. We measured flowering phenotypes, estimated fitness over one reproductive season, as well as survival to the next year, and genotyped all adults and a subset of their offspring for SNPs across the genome. We found that while phenotypic selection was congruent (fitness covaried similarly with flowering traits in both sexes), SNPs showed clear evidence for sex-specific selection. SNP-level selection was particularly strong in males and may involve an important gametic component (e.g., pollen competition). While the most significant SNPs under selection in males differed from those under selection in females, paternity selection showed a highly polygenic tradeoff with female survival. Alleles that increased male mating success tended to reduce female survival, indicating sexual antagonism at the genomic level. Perhaps most importantly, this experiment demonstrates that selection within natural populations can be strong enough to measure sex-specific fitness effects of individual loci

Body Image Dissatisfaction Among Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade Children

Body image dissatisfaction has become increasingly more prevalent among the preadolescent population over recent years. This study examines the level of body image dissatisfaction among 261 third, fourth, and fifth grade girls and boys. A pictorial scale was used to assess how the participants viewed their current body shape, their ideal body shape, and what they believed to be the ideal body shape of the opposite gender. Overall results indicated that 50.6% of the children surveyed were dissatisfied with their current body shape, 41.8% wanted to be thinner, while 8.8% wanted to be larger. Fifty percent of the girls were dissatisfied with their current body shape, with 45.1% wishing to be thinner. Boys showed similar trends, with 48.9% dissatisfied and 38.9% wishing to be thinner. A greater percentage of boys wanted to be larger than their current body shape (12.3%) compared to girls (4.9%). A significant difference was found between genders regarding the difference between scores of their current self and ideal self, where girls selected a smaller ideal body shape than the boys. An encouraging finding was that the level of body dissatisfaction decreased from third grade to fifth grade among both genders. Girls, however, still wished to be thinner over time. Boys, on the other hand, indicated a preference for a somewhat larger body shape over time. These results indicate that body image dissatisfaction exists prior to adolescence among this sample of children. Prevention strategies and education are encouraged among this age group

Herschel Extreme Lensing Line Observations: Dynamics of two strongly lensed star forming galaxies near redshift z = 2

We report on two regularly rotating galaxies at redshift z=2, using high resolution spectra of the bright [CII] 158 micron emission line from the HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory. Both SDSS090122.37+181432.3 ("S0901") and SDSS J120602.09+514229.5 ("the Clone") are strongly lensed and show the double-horned line profile that is typical of rotating gas disks. Using a parametric disk model to fit the emission line profiles, we find that S0901 has a rotation speed v sin(i) = 120 +/- 7 km/s and gas velocity dispersion sigma < 23 km/s. The best fitting model for the Clone is a rotationally supported disk having v sin(i) = 79 +/- 11 km/s and sigma < 4km/s. However the Clone is also consistent with a family of dispersion-dominated models having sigma = 92 +/- 20 km/s. Our results showcase the potential of the [CII] line as a kinematic probe of high redshift galaxy dynamics: [CII] is bright; accessible to heterodyne receivers with exquisite velocity resolution; and traces dense star-forming interstellar gas. Future [CII] line observations with ALMA would offer the further advantage of spatial resolution, allowing a clearer separation between rotation and velocity dispersion.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures; in press at The Astrophysical Journa