PRICE VERSUS QUOTA REDUCTIONS: U.S. FLUE-CURED TOBACCO POLICY

Declining domestic cigarette consumption, increased global competition, and loss of import restrictions indicate decreased demand for U.S. flue-cured tobacco. The effects of 10% declines in domestic and export demand are evaluated under a policy of reducing quota to maintain price versus a policy of allowing price to fall to maintain quota. Changes in prices, quantities, revenues, and economic rents are simulated. Losses to nonfarming quota owners are minimized under a policy of price maintenance, while losses in revenues to tobacco-producing areas are minimized by a policy of quota maintenance. Aggregate losses to tobacco growers are greater under a policy of quota maintenance.Flue-cured, Policy, Price reduction, Quota, Tobacco, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Lived Clinical Education Experiences of Professional Master’s Athletic Training Program Graduates

Purpose: Clinical education has been identified as a key aspect in the professional preparation of athletic trainers. The literature, however, has focused on clinical education at the undergraduate level rather than the graduate level, which is the future population of all CAATE-accredited athletic training programs. This study sought to describe the experiences of those who have completed athletic training clinical education at the master’s level, specifically focusing on the type of learning experiences they were granted and what influence the preceptor and the setting played in the overall experience. Method: This was a phenomenology study. Twelve graduates of CAATE-accredited professional master’s athletic training programs served as participants. All participants graduated after Spring 2014 and completed clinical education as a degree requirement. Three methods of data collection were utilized, including semi-structured interviews, prompted journaling and asynchronous online focus group discussion boards. Data was analyzed using a phenomenological reduction approach. Credibility of the data was confirmed with member checking, peer review and data triangulation. Results: Clinical education was determined to be a significant contributor to professional preparation of professional master’s athletic training students. Hands on-experiences, active preceptors and variety in clinical setting and opportunity were all cited as contributors to the success of clinical education. Participants described their experience as a significant commitment but valuable. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that clinical education should continue to be a requirement at the graduate level and that the clinical education curriculum should be designed to encourage hands-on learning and variety

Evaluation of a Sleep Knowledge Translation Strategy for Occupational Therapists Working with Persons who have Dementia

Introduction: Sleep deficiency is a significant, largely overlooked issue for persons with dementia (PWD), and is associated with physical and mental health problems, increased caregiver burden, and increased likelihood of institutionalization. Despite the high prevalence of sleep deficiency in PWD, most health care professionals lack knowledge of the relationship between sleep problems and dementia. This project aimed to determine the feasibility of an archived online presentation, a knowledge translation (KT) strategy to increase therapists’ understanding of the impact of blue-spectrum light on sleep in PWD. Method: Therapists who participated in a previous sleep and dementia survey were recruited via email. Participants completed a pre-knowledge test, accessed an online presentation regarding the relationship between sleep and light, and completed a post-test. Results: On average there was a 22% improvement in knowledge scores and participants were positive about the KT strategy being accessible, applicable, and evidence based. Conclusion: For a sample of therapists self-identified as specializing in geriatric rehabilitation, online audio-visual resources appear to be a feasible KT strategy to disseminate information and increase occupational therapists’ knowledge regarding the evidence-based relationship between blue-spectrum light and sleep in PWD. Further study is required to determine if this increased knowledge translates to practice settings

Inter-rater reliability of treatment fidelity and therapeutic alliance measures for psychological therapies for anxiety in young people with autism spectrum disorders

Objectives: This article presents work undertaken to establish inter-rater reliability for a measure of treatment fidelity and a measure of therapeutic alliance for therapies for anxiety for young people with autism spectrum disorders. The discussion and decision-making processes behind achieving consensus of raters are rarely published. Margolin et al. (1998) have highlighted this issue and called for researchers to communicate the details of their observational and rating procedures. This article is a response to their call for greater transparency so that these methods are readily accessible for comparison with other studies. Methods: Participants were young people with autism spectrum disorders receiving treatment for anxiety, clinical staff treating these young people and the independent raters assessing the treatment sessions. We report: (i) the processes involved in establishing inter-rater reliability for two instruments, (ii) the results obtained with a sample of young people with autism spectrum disorders using these instruments. Results and conclusions: Results demonstrate that it was possible to attain satisfactory inter-rater reliability with each of these two instruments with a client group with autism spectrum disorders, even though the instruments were originally designed for typically-developing populations

Inter-rater reliability of treatment fidelity and therapeutic alliance measures for psychological therapies for anxiety in young people with autism spectrum disorders

Objectives: This article presents work undertaken to establish inter-rater reliability for a measure of treatment fidelity and a measure of therapeutic alliance for therapies for anxiety for young people with autism spectrum disorders. The discussion and decision-making processes behind achieving consensus of raters are rarely published. Margolin et al. (1998) have highlighted this issue and called for researchers to communicate the details of their observational and rating procedures. This article is a response to their call for greater transparency so that these methods are readily accessible for comparison with other studies. Methods: Participants were young people with autism spectrum disorders receiving treatment for anxiety, clinical staff treating these young people and the independent raters assessing the treatment sessions. We report: (i) the processes involved in establishing inter-rater reliability for two instruments, (ii) the results obtained with a sample of young people with autism spectrum disorders using these instruments. Results and conclusions: Results demonstrate that it was possible to attain satisfactory inter-rater reliability with each of these two instruments with a client group with autism spectrum disorders, even though the instruments were originally designed for typically-developing populations

Spatial distribution and ecological niches of non-breeding planktivorous petrels

According to niche theory, mechanisms exist that allow co-existence of organisms that would otherwise compete for the same prey and other resources. How seabirds cope with potential competition during the non-breeding period is poorly documented, particularly for small species. Here we investigate for the first time the potential role of spatial, environmental (habitat) and trophic (isotopic) segregation as niche-partitioning mechanisms during the non-breeding season for four species of highly abundant, zooplanktivorous seabird that breed sympatrically in the Southern Ocean. Spatial segregation was found to be the main partitioning mechanism; even for the two sibling species of diving petrel, which spent the non-breeding period in overlapping areas, there was evidence from distribution and stable isotope ratios for differences in habitat use and diving depth

Hybridization of invasive \u3ci\u3ePhragmites australis\u3c/i\u3e with a native subspecies in North America

Interspecific hybridization can lead to the extinction of native populations and increased aggressiveness in hybrid forms relative to their parental lineages. However, interbreeding among subspecies is less often recognized as a serious threat to native species. Phragmites australis offers an excellent opportunity to investigate intraspecific hybridization since both native and introduced lineages occur in North America. Introduced Phragmites is a highly successful estuarine plant invader throughout North America, but native Phragmites populations are declining in the eastern US. Despite range overlaps, hybridization has not yet been detected between the native and introduced lineages in the wild, suggesting that phenological or physiological barriers preclude cross-pollination. We demonstrate, for the first time, that native and introduced populations of Phragmites can hybridize. There is substantial overlap in flowering period between native and introduced populations from the same geographic locations. We manually cross-pollinated native individuals with pollen from introduced Phragmites and recovered viable offspring. We then used microsatellite markers to prove that alleles unique to the pollen parent were transferred to progeny. Our results imply a mechanism for the further decline of native Phragmites in North America and a potential for the formation of aggressive hybrid offspring

How medical students screen for HIV with standardized patients establishing care.

How Medical Students Screen for HIV with Standardized Patients Establishing Care AUTHORS Christopher J. Brown, B.S., B.A. Candidate; Emily J Noonan, PhD, MA; Laura A. Weingartner, PhD, MS BACKGROUND Approximately 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends HIV testing for everyone 15-65 years old at least once regardless of sexual activity, with more frequent testing for those considered at risk. METHODS Rising third-year medical students were recorded taking health histories from standardized patients. These recordings were coded for HIV screening, including: risk factors such as unprotected sex, intravenous drug usage, multiple partners, patient/partner HIV status; contextualization by student as to how screening questions related to HIV; and discussion tone (accusatory, informative, or non-judgmental). RESULTS Of the 71 sampled encounters, students identified whether the patient knew their STI status without mentioning HIV status, and 10 students explicitly identified whether the patient knew their HIV status. Similarly, 13 students discussed the STI status of the patient’s partner(s) without mentioning HIV, while only 4 students discussed the HIV status of the patient’s partner(s). In total, only 7 out of 71 students recommended HIV testing to their patient. When discussing patient status, most students (34) were non-judgmental, but one used an accusatory tone while eight were informative. DISCUSSION The results show a lack of explicit HIV discussions and testing recommendations to patients despite USPSTF recommendations that all patients be tested. This study highlights that even when STI status is discussed, many students do not specify HIV status, an important distinction when providing preventive care. Future studies should address how perceived patient risk for HIV and patient identity impact HIV testing recommendations

Hybridization of invasive \u3ci\u3ePhragmites australis\u3c/i\u3e with a native subspecies in North America

Interspecific hybridization can lead to the extinction of native populations and increased aggressiveness in hybrid forms relative to their parental lineages. However, interbreeding among subspecies is less often recognized as a serious threat to native species. Phragmites australis offers an excellent opportunity to investigate intraspecific hybridization since both native and introduced lineages occur in North America. Introduced Phragmites is a highly successful estuarine plant invader throughout North America, but native Phragmites populations are declining in the eastern US. Despite range overlaps, hybridization has not yet been detected between the native and introduced lineages in the wild, suggesting that phenological or physiological barriers preclude cross-pollination. We demonstrate, for the first time, that native and introduced populations of Phragmites can hybridize. There is substantial overlap in flowering period between native and introduced populations from the same geographic locations. We manually cross-pollinated native individuals with pollen from introduced Phragmites and recovered viable offspring. We then used microsatellite markers to prove that alleles unique to the pollen parent were transferred to progeny. Our results imply a mechanism for the further decline of native Phragmites in North America and a potential for the formation of aggressive hybrid offspring

Complete Genome Sequence of Pelosinus fermentans JBW45, a Member of a Remarkably Competitive Group of Negativicutes in the Firmicutes Phylum.

The genome of Pelosinus fermentans JBW45, isolated from a chromium-contaminated site in Hanford, Washington, USA, has been completed with PacBio sequencing. Nine copies of the rRNA gene operon and multiple transposase genes with identical sequences resulted in breaks in the original draft genome and may suggest genomic instability of JBW45