Suitability of commercial certification assessments for film and video editing courses

A study on the microstructure development of as-cast Cu-Mn alloys based around the congruent minimum at 34.6 wt % Mn and 873 °C was performed. Initially, this was to evaluate the alloy as an alternative to wide freezing range Pb and Sn bronzes that are plagued with porosity. The shallow minimum and associated narrow freezing ranges around the congruent point result in a completely cellular (non-dendritic) solidification morphology for a composition range ~3 wt % Mn about the congruent composition (C c). The degree of cellular solidification was found to depend on the mold material. Increased mold conductivity lead to a narrower composition range of complete cellular solidification. By casting alloys of different compositions into a composite mold, the effect of the mold conductivity allowed an evaluation of the congruent point reported by Gokcen. These results fit well with the constitutional supercooling criterion. While solidification at a point ideally would be planar, this was not observed even with minor deviations from the Cc. An additional study of the microstructure development along the minimum trough in the liquidus surface between the Cu-Mn and Ni-Mn binary congruent points of the Cu-Mn-Ni ternary system was conducted. This study revealed that alloys near the binary congruent minima were more cellular than alloys near the middle of the phase diagram, along the trough. As the composition approached the center of the Cu-Mn-Ni diagram, the morphology became more dendritic, characteristic of an isomorphous system. Even though these alloys did not solidify in a completely cellular manner, they were free of any microshrinkage porosity. The alloys in this study (Cu-Mn and Cu-Mn-Ni) show promise for use in structural applications due to the lack of microshrinkage porosity, potent solution strengthening of manganese and strong aging response

Hydroxyl as a Tracer of H2 in the Envelope of MBM40

We observed 51 positions in the OH 1667 MHz main line transitions in the translucent, high latitude cloud MBM40. We detected OH emission in 8 out of 8 positions in the molecular core of the cloud and 24 out of 43 in the surrounding, lower extinction envelope and periphery of the cloud. Using a linear relationship between the integrated OH line intensity and E(B-V), we estimate the mass in the core, the envelope, and the periphery of the cloud to be 4, 8, and 5 solar masses. As much as a third of the total cloud mass may be found in the in the periphery (E(B-V) $<$ 0.12 mag) and about a half in the envelope (0.12 $\le$ E(B-V) $\le$ 0.17 mag). If these results are applicable to other translucent clouds the OH 1667 MHz line is an excellent tracer of gas in very low extinction regions and high-sensitivity mapping of the envelopes of molecular clouds may reveal the presence of significant quantities of molecular mass.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, and 5 table

Reducing Summer Heat Stress in Dairy Cows

Potential declines in milk production of as much as 20% or more are the reason we need to be concerned about heat stress in dairy cows. Heat stress can reduce feed intake, milk production and reproductive efficiency. There are several options available to Kentucky dairymen to combat heat stress in cows

Which pharmacists are performing antimicrobial stewardship: A national survey and a call for collaborative efforts

Abstract Objectives: To determine how pharmacists with formal antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) responsibilities prioritize their time and pharmacists without formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities contribute to ASP activities. Design: A nationwide survey. Respondents: Members of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy who subscribe to the following practice and research network e-mail listservs: infectious diseases, adult medicine, cardiology, critical care, hematology-oncology, immunology and transplantation, and pediatrics. Methods: A survey was distributed via listservs. Respondents were asked about their personal and institutional demographics and ASP activities. Results: In total, 245 pharmacists responded: 135 pharmacists with formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities; 110 pharmacists without formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities. Although most respondents had completed a general pharmacy residency (85%), only 20% had completed an infectious diseases (ID) specialty residency. Among pharmacists with formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities, one-third had no formal training or certification in ID or ASP. Pharmacists without formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities spent ∼12.5% of their time per week on ASP activities, whereas pharmacists with formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities spent 28% of their time performing non-ASP activities. Pharmacists with formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities were more likely than pharmacists without formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities to perform antibiotic guideline development (P \u3c.001), antibiotic-related education (P =.002), and direct notification of rapid diagnostic results (P =.018). Pharmacists with formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities without formal ID training or certification spent less time on ASP activities and were more likely to perform lower-level interventions. Conclusions: Many ASP activities are being performed by pharmacists without formal ID training. To ensure the future success of ASPs, pharmacists with formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities should have adequate training to meet more advanced metrics, and more pharmacists without formal antimicrobial stewardship program responsibilities should be included in basic interventions

Self-concealment: Integrative review and working model

An extensive empirical literature has focused on the self-concealment (SC) construct. In this article, we review 137 studies that used the Self-Concealment Scale (SCS) with varied populations (e.g., adolescent; intercultural; international; lesbian, gay, and bisexual; and intimate partner). We propose a working model for the psychology of SC and the mechanisms of action for its effects on well-being. A dual-motive conflict between urges to conceal and reveal is seen to play a central role in these health effects. Meta-analytic techniques identify significant associations for SC with 18 constructs falling into six general categories: antecedents, disclosure and concealment, emotion regulation, social well-being, psychological and physical health, and psychotherapy. We interpret these findings with reference to current research and theory on secret keeping and health as well as emotion- and self-regulatory processes. This first integrative review supports the construct validity of the SCS and demonstrates the value of the SC construct for the study of psychological phenomena in which secret keeping is a recognized issue

Real-world, multicentre evaluation of the incidence and risk factors for non-susceptible Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates

Background: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a cause of infection most commonly in the opportunistic host. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and levofloxacin are considered first-line treatment agents. With reports of increasing resistance to these first-line agents, it is important to determine risk factors associated with a non-susceptible isolate. Methods: This was a real-world, multicentre, retrospective case-control study from five centres in the southeast United States evaluating S. maltophilia. The primary outcome was risk factors associated with non-susceptibility of S. maltophilia isolates to ≥1 antimicrobial agents. Secondary outcomes include incidence of S. maltophilia non-susceptibility, all-cause mortality, and 30-day readmission rates. Results: There were 325 patients included in the study. For the primary outcome, the only factor associated with non-susceptibility per univariate analysis was isolation from urine culture (13.3% vs. 5.4%; P = 0.014), whereas the presence of mechanical ventilation (37.7% vs. 21.5%) and intensive care unit admission (35.3% vs. 18.4%) were associated with susceptibility (P \u3c 0.001). For the secondary outcomes, non-susceptibility was present in 49% of isolates with 43 of 325 (13.2%), 53 of 324 (16.4%), and 105 of 172 (61%) to TMP-SMX, levofloxacin, and ceftazidime, respectively. Resistance to chloramphenicol and tigecycline was observed among 5/26 and 11/16 of tested isolates, respectively. Sixty-six patients (20%) experienced all-cause, inpatient mortality (18% susceptible vs. 23% non-susceptible; P = 0.280) and 44 patients (17%) were readmitted within 30 days of discharge (16% susceptible vs. 18% non-susceptible; P = 0.673). Conclusion: S. maltophilia non-susceptibility had a prevalence of ∼50% to at least one first-line or commonly used agent. More research is needed to delineate risk factors for non-susceptible isolates

Identifying wildlife reservoirs of neglected taeniid tapeworms : non-invasive diagnosis of endemic Taenia serialis infection in a wild primate population

Despite the global distribution and public health consequences of Taenia tapeworms, the life cycles of taeniids infecting wildlife hosts remain largely undescribed. The larval stage of Taenia serialis commonly parasitizes rodents and lagomorphs, but has been reported in a wide range of hosts that includes geladas (Theropithecus gelada), primates endemic to Ethiopia. Geladas exhibit protuberant larval cysts indicative of advanced T. serialis infection that are associated with high mortality. However, non-protuberant larvae can develop in deep tissue or the abdominal cavity, leading to underestimates of prevalence based solely on observable cysts. We adapted a non-invasive monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect circulating Taenia spp. antigen in dried gelada urine. Analysis revealed that this assay was highly accurate in detecting Taenia antigen, with 98.4% specificity, 98.5% sensitivity, and an area under the curve of 0.99. We used this assay to investigate the prevalence of T. serialis infection in a wild gelada population, finding that infection is substantially more widespread than the occurrence of visible T. serialis cysts (16.4% tested positive at least once, while only 6% of the same population exhibited cysts). We examined whether age or sex predicted T. serialis infection as indicated by external cysts and antigen presence. Contrary to the female-bias observed in many Taenia-host systems, we found no significant sex bias in either cyst presence or antigen presence. Age, on the other hand, predicted cyst presence (older individuals were more likely to show cysts) but not antigen presence. We interpret this finding to indicate that T. serialis may infect individuals early in life but only result in visible disease later in life. This is the first application of an antigen ELISA to the study of larval Taenia infection in wildlife, opening the doors to the identification and description of infection dynamics in reservoir populations

Commensal transient searches in eight short gamma-ray burst fields

A new generation of radio telescopes with excellent sensitivity, instantaneous uv coverage, and large fields of view, are providing unprecedented opportunities for performing commensal transient searches. Here, we present such a commensal search in deep observations of short gamma-ray burst fields carried out with the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa at 1.3 GHz. These four hour observations of eight different fields span survey lengths of weeks to months. We also carry out transient searches in time slices of the full observations, at time-scales of 15 min and 8 s. We find 122 variable sources on the long time-scales, of which 52 are likely active galactic nuclei, but there are likely also some radio flaring stars. While the variability is intrinsic in at least two cases, most of it is consistent with interstellar scintillation. In this study, we also place constraints on transient rates based on state-of-the-art transient simulations codes. We place an upper limit of 2 × 10-4 transients per day per square degree for transients with peak flux of 5 mJy, and an upper limit of 2.5 × 10-2 transients per day per square degree for transients with a fluence of 10 Jy ms, the minimum detectable fluence of our survey

Using Open Public Meetings and Elections to Promote Inward Transparency and Accountability: Lessons from Zambia

BackgroundCommunity-led governance can ensure that leaders are accountable to the populations they serve and strengthen health systems for maternal care. A key aspect of democratic accountability is electing respective governance bodies, in this case community boards, and holding public meetings to inform community members about actions taken on their behalf. After helping build and open 10 maternity waiting homes (MWHs) in rural Zambia as part of a randomized controlled trial, we assisted community governance committees to plan and execute annual meetings to present performance results and, where needed, to elect new board members. MethodsWe applied a principally qualitative design using observation and analysis of written documentation of public meetings to answer our research question: how do governance committees enact inward transparency and demonstrate accountability to their communities. The analysis measured participation and stakeholder representation at public meetings, the types and purposes of accountability sought by community members as evidenced by questions asked of the governance committee, and responsiveness of the governance committee to issues raised at public meetings. ResultsPublic meetings were attended by 6 out of 7 possible stakeholder groups, and reports were generally transparent. Stakeholders asked probing questions focused mainly on financial performance. Governance committee members were responsive to questions raised by participants, with 59% of answers rated as fully or mostly responsive (showing understanding of and answering the question). Six of the 10 sites held elections to re-elect or replace governance committee members. Only 2 sites reached the target set by local stakeholder committees of 50% female membership, down from 3 at formation. To further improve transparency and accountability, community governance committees need to engage in advance preparation of reports, and should consult with stakeholders on broader measures for performance assessment. Despite receiving training, community-level governance committees lacked understanding of the strategic purpose of open public meetings and elections, and how these relate to democratic accountability. They were therefore not motivated to engage in tactics to manage stakeholders effectively. ConclusionWhile open meetings and elections have potential to enhance good governance at the community level, continuous training and mentoring are needed to build capacity and enhance sustainability