Americans’ Views of Higher Education as a Public and Private Good

Citizen preferences play a key role in a democracy, and there is a substantial body of work that tries to understand the role that public preferences play in the policy process. Despite the important role public opinion plays, there are only limited efforts to document public opinion about education, psychology, and health. The Public Mind project seeks to address this gap by providing reliable, valid public opinion data to inform public debate. The Project includes a series of public opinion surveys on a variety of issues related to governance, policies, and practice that have the potential to affect human development. This research brief extends our understanding of public views of American higher education. Since their inception, American universities and colleges have been charged both with enabling talented individuals to advance through higher education and with enhancing the quality of American life through scientific discoveries and the invigoration of the American economy. To what extent do Americans believe these promises have been met

Opioid Tolerance Influences Outcomes after Lumbar Fusion in Patients with Degenerative Pathology

Introduction: Extended opioid use prior to surgery has been implicated in poorer postoperative outcomes. However, it remains unclear if there is a significant difference in postoperative outcomes among preoperative opioid-naïve and opioid-tolerant patients who undergo lumbar spinal fusion. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of preoperative opioid use on patient-reported outcome measures in patients undergoing lumbar spinal fusion. Methods: This retrospective cohort analysis identified 260 patients who underwent lumbar spinal fusion at a high-volume, single institution. There were two cohorts: patients who were opioid-naïve (defined as total opioid consumption of ≤ 7 days in the two months prior to surgery) and opioid-tolerant users (\u3e 7 days). Outcome measures were analyzed via the number of and duration of opioid tablets consumed, and patient-reported outcome measures (ODI, SF-12 PCS and MCS, and VAS Back and Leg pain scores). Results: Overall, opioid-naïve patients were prescribed significantly fewer tablets on average compared to opioid-tolerant users. The number of tablets prescribed prior to surgery was a predictor for prolonged opioid use—defined as greater than one script after surgery. Opioid-tolerant users had decreased improvement in outcomes postoperatively compared to opioid-naïve users. Discussion: This study suggests that preoperative opioid-tolerant usage was associated with worse outcome scores postoperatively. Opioid-tolerant users were found to have significantly more pain medication tablets preoperatively and for a longer duration postoperatively. Therefore, opioid-tolerant usage can adversely affect patient outcomes and is a modifiable risk factor prior to undergoing lumbar spinal fusion

American higher education widely viewed as a worthwhile investment benefiting individuals and society

American higher education is a hotly contested subject among the public. Building off our first public opinion study in 2017, this research brief seeks to extend our understanding of public views of American universities and colleges. We consider three related issues: (a) Americans' views towards public investment in higher education; (b) perceived contributions of higher education to American society (a public good) and to graduates (a private benefit); and (c) attitudes towards public spending on 2- and 4-year institutions. Using a representative sample of adults in the US (n=2,019), we show that most Americans (69%) view public spending on higher education as an excellent or good investment, and that majority of Americans recognize the positive contribution of colleges and universities to individuals and society. Public views vary by socio-demographic characteristics, with a sharp divide based on political ideology

Functional Outcomes after Lumbar Fusion in Opioid-Tolerant Patients

Introduction: Prolonged opioid use after lumbar fusion surgery is implicated with increased hospital readmissions, higher postoperative pain scores, and longer return to work time. There are several non-modifiable risk factors for postoperative opioid use including socioeconomic status and gender. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of opioid-tolerance on PROMs and to determine risk factors for prolonged opioid use after lumbar spine surgery. Method: Using retrospective cohort analysis, patients who underwent lumbar spinal fusion at TJUH were identified and determined to be either opioid-naïve or opioid-tolerant using the Pennsylvania PDMP. Outcomes included number of opioid tablets consumed, duration of time using opioids, and patient-reported outcome measures (ODI, PCS-12, MCS-12, VAS Back, VAS Leg). Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to compare outcomes between the two groups. Logistic regression was used to determine independent predictors for prolonged opioid use which was defined as greater than one postoperative opioid prescription script filled. Results: A total of 260 patients were included in the final cohort, of which, 138 were opioid-tolerant and 122 were opioid naïve. Opioid-tolerant patients showed decreased improvement in PROMs compared to the opioid-naïve patients (p=0.043). The number of preoperative pills prescribed was a significant predictor for prolonged opioid use after lumbar fusion. Conclusion: The number of pills prescribed preoperatively was found to be a predictor for prolonged opioid use after lumbar fusion surgery. Overall, our results demonstrated that naïve patients have improved health-related quality of life outcome scores compared to opioid-tolerant patients after lumbar fusion

Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity

Ice-free soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys select for taxa able to cope with challenging environmental conditions, including extreme chemical water activity gradients, freeze-thaw cycling, desiccation, and solar radiation regimes. The low biotic complexity of Dry Valley soils makes them well suited to investigate environmental and spatial influences on bacterial community structure. Water tracks are annually wetted habitats in the cold-arid soils of Antarctica that form briefly each summer with moisture sourced from snow melt, ground ice thaw, and atmospheric deposition via deliquescence and vapor flow into brines. Compared to neighboring arid soils, water tracks are highly saline and relatively moist habitats. They represent a considerable area (&sim;5&ndash;10 km2) of the Dry Valley terrestrial ecosystem, an area that is expected to increase with ongoing climate change. The goal of this study was to determine how variation in the environmental conditions of water tracks influences the composition and diversity of microbial communities. We found significant differences in microbial community composition between on- and off-water track samples, and across two distinct locations. Of the tested environmental variables, soil salinity was the best predictor of community composition, with members of the Bacteroidetes phylum being relatively more abundant at higher salinities and the Actinobacteria phylum showing the opposite pattern. There was also a significant, inverse relationship between salinity and bacterial diversity. Our results suggest water track formation significantly alters dry soil microbial communities, likely influencing subsequent ecosystem functioning. We highlight how Dry Valley water tracks could be a useful model system for understanding the potential habitability of transiently wetted environments found on the surface of Mars. &nbsp;</p

Approaches for advancing scientific understanding of macrosystems

The emergence of macrosystems ecology (MSE), which focuses on regional- to continental-scale ecological patterns and processes, builds upon a history of long-term and broad-scale studies in ecology. Scientists face the difficulty of integrating the many elements that make up macrosystems, which consist of hierarchical processes at interacting spatial and temporal scales. Researchers must also identify the most relevant scales and variables to be considered, the required data resources, and the appropriate study design to provide the proper inferences. The large volumes of multi-thematic data often associated with macrosystem studies typically require validation, standardization, and assimilation. Finally, analytical approaches need to describe how cross-scale and hierarchical dynamics and interactions relate to macroscale phenomena. Here, we elaborate on some key methodological challenges of MSE research and discuss existing and novel approaches to meet them

The LBNO long-baseline oscillation sensitivities with two conventional neutrino beams at different baselines

The proposed Long Baseline Neutrino Observatory (LBNO) initially consists of $\sim 20$ kton liquid double phase TPC complemented by a magnetised iron calorimeter, to be installed at the Pyh\"asalmi mine, at a distance of 2300 km from CERN. The conventional neutrino beam is produced by 400 GeV protons accelerated at the SPS accelerator delivering 700 kW of power. The long baseline provides a unique opportunity to study neutrino flavour oscillations over their 1st and 2nd oscillation maxima exploring the $L/E$ behaviour, and distinguishing effects arising from $\delta_{CP}$ and matter. In this paper we show how this comprehensive physics case can be further enhanced and complemented if a neutrino beam produced at the Protvino IHEP accelerator complex, at a distance of 1160 km, and with modest power of 450 kW is aimed towards the same far detectors. We show that the coupling of two independent sub-MW conventional neutrino and antineutrino beams at different baselines from CERN and Protvino will allow to measure CP violation in the leptonic sector at a confidence level of at least $3\sigma$ for 50\% of the true values of $\delta_{CP}$ with a 20 kton detector. With a far detector of 70 kton, the combination allows a $3\sigma$ sensitivity for 75\% of the true values of $\delta_{CP}$ after 10 years of running. Running two independent neutrino beams, each at a power below 1 MW, is more within today's state of the art than the long-term operation of a new single high-energy multi-MW facility, which has several technical challenges and will likely require a learning curve.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figure