218 research outputs found

    Temple: The Story of an Urban University

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    This article provides a brief history of the formation of Temple College in the late 19th century and its official recognition as a university during the early years of the 20th century. The institution evolved from very humble origins of private tutoring sessions in a Baptist pastor’s office. In only a few decades, the institution attracted faculty with reputable academic credentials, offered undergraduate degrees in practical and scholarly fields, and provided graduate and professional education to men and women of the working class, various racial and national heritages, and wealthy families. Despite numerous obstacles, Temple’s founder, Russell Conwell, turned his dream into reality by providing a viable postsecondary educational opportunity to the residents of Philadelphia and beyond

    Methodology to prospect electronics compositions and flows, illustrated by material trends in printed circuit boards

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    Raw Materials are crucial in the development, production, and improvement of modern-day technology. Reliable access to critical, scarce, and valuable materials used in electronics is becoming a worldwide concern. Therefore, the quantification of material recovery from the urban mine is currently pursued worldwide. Commonly, data on (Waste) Electrical and Electronic Equipment is scattered, not harmo-nized, and uses different types of classifications and terminology. This provides a big challenge of a structured mapping of secondary raw materials in the urban mine. To address these issues, a state-of -the-art methodology has been developed and is presented by analyzing and tracking printed circuit boards in different key Electrical and Electronic Equipment over time. A total of 4051 composition data records where analyzed to extract the concentration of 19 elements in printed circuit boards between 1990 until 2020. The methodology harmonizes urban mine data, provides structured information that can be used to analyze and monitor the impact of product trends on their components and concentration of the elements in electronics. The resulting database and harmonization protocols are made freely available at the urban mine platform. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Thrombosis and Hemostasi

    Unravelling the link between sleep and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

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    The emergence of COVID-19 brought unparalleled changes in people's lifestyle, including sleep. We aimed to assess the bidirectional association between sleep quality and mental health and describe how sleep and mental health were affected in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic (between June 2020 and September 2021). Data were obtained from the Omtanke2020 study. Participants who completed the baseline survey and each of the 8 monthly follow-up surveys were included (N = 9035). We described the distribution of sleep and mental health in the different Swedish regions using maps and over the study period with longitudinal graphs adjusting for sex, age, recruitment type (self-recruitment or invitation), and COVID-19 status. The inner relationships between mental health, sleep and Covid infection were described through relative importance networks. Finally, we modelled how mental health affects sleep and vice versa using generalized estimating equations with different adjustments. Seasonal and north-south regional variations were found in sleep and mental health outcomes at baseline and attenuated over time. The seasonal variation of sleep and mental health correlated moderately with the incidence rate of COVID-19 in the sample. Networks indicate that the relationship between COVID-19 incidence and mental health varies over time. We observed a bidirectional relationship between sleep quality and quantity at baseline and mental health at follow-up and vice versa. Sleep quality and quantity at baseline was associated with adverse symptom trajectories of mental health at follow-up, and vice versa, during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was also a weak relationship between COVID-19 incidence, sleep, and mental health

    Short-term improvement of mental health after a COVID-19 vaccination

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    Introduction The role of COVID-19 vaccination on the mental health of the general population remains poorly understood. This study aims to assess the short-term change in depressive and anxiety symptoms in relation to COVID-19 vaccination among Swedish adults. Methods A prospective study of 7,925 individuals recruited from ongoing cohort studies at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, or through social media campaigns, with monthly data collections on self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms from December 2020 to October 2021 and COVID-19 vaccination from July to October 2021. Prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms (defined as a self-reported total score of ≥10 in PHQ-9 and GAD-7, respectively) was calculated one month before, one month after the first dose, and, if applicable, one month after the second dose. For individuals not vaccinated or choosing not to report vaccination status (unvaccinated individuals), we selected three monthly measures of PHQ-9 and GAD-7 with 2-month intervals in-between based on data availability. Results 5,079 (64.1%) individuals received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, 1,977 (24.9%) received one dose, 305 (3.9%) were not vaccinated, and 564 (7.1%) chose not to report vaccination status. There was a lower prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among vaccinated, compared to unvaccinated individuals, especially after the second dose. Among individuals receiving two doses of vaccine, the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms was lower after both first (aRR = 0.82, 95%CI 0.76–0.88 for depression; aRR = 0.81, 95%CI 0.73–0.89 for anxiety) and second (aRR = 0.79, 95%CI 0.73–0.85 for depression; aRR = 0.73, 95%CI 0.66–0.81 for anxiety) dose, compared to before vaccination. Similar results were observed among individuals receiving only one dose (aRR = 0.76, 95%CI 0.68–0.84 for depression; aRR = 0.82, 95%CI 0.72–0.94 for anxiety), comparing after first dose to before vaccination. Conclusions We observed a short-term improvement in depressive and anxiety symptoms among adults receiving COVID-19 vaccines in the current pandemic. Our findings provide new evidence to support outreach campaigns targeting hesitant groups

    Therapeutic drug monitoring in inflammatory bowel disease : implementation, utilization, and barriers in clinical practice in Scandinavia

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    Background and aims Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may optimize biologic and thiopurine therapies in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The study aimed to investigate implementation and utilization of TDM in Scandinavia. Methods A web-based questionnaire on the use of TDM was distributed to Scandinavian gastroenterologists via the national societies. Results In total, 297 IBD physicians prescribing biologic therapies, equally distributed between community and university hospitals, were included (response rate 42%) (Norway 118 (40%), Denmark 86 (29%), Sweden 50 (17%), Finland 33 (11%), Iceland 10 (3%)). Overall, TDM was applied during biologic therapies by 87%, and for TNF-inhibitors >90%. Among the users, reactive and proactive TDM were utilized by 90% and 63%, respectively. Danish physicians were significantly less inclined to use TDM compared to other Scandinavian countries; (58% vs 98%); OR 0.03 [0.01-0.09], p 10 IBD patients/week (p = 0.005). TDM scenarios were interpreted in accord with available evidence but with discrepancies for proactive TDM. The main barriers to TDM were lack of guidelines (51%) and time lag between sampling and results (49%). TDM of thiopurines was routinely used by 87%. Conclusion TDM of biologic and thiopurine therapies has been broadly implemented into clinical practice in Scandinavia. However, physicians call for TDM guidelines detailing indications and interpretations of test results along with improved test response times.Peer reviewe

    Updating risk management recommendations to limit exposure of non-target Lepidoptera of conservation concern in protected habitats to Bt-maize pollen

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    Using mathematical model ling , the EFSA GMO Panel ha s previously quantified the risk to non - target (NT) Lepidoptera of conservation concern, potentially occurring within protected habitats, associated with the ingestion of Bt - maize pollen deposited on their host plants. To reduce the estimated larval mortality to a negligible level, an isolation distance of 20 and 30 m was recommended between protected habitats and the nearest fields of maize MON 810/Bt11 and 1507, respectively. Here , the EFSA GMO Panel refines its model predictions , accounting for new ly reported information on maize pollen deposition over long distances . For its calculations , the EFSA GMO Panel considered three exposure scenarios at a range of isolation distances, at two protection levels and for a range of lepidopteran species, including hypothetical ones, with a wide spectrum of sensitivities to Bt toxins . An analysis of various sources of uncertainties affecting the exposure of NT Lepidoptera to Bt - maize pollen was conducted, in order to provide quantitative estimates of realistic exposure levels. The EFSA GMO Panel therefore provides risk managers with a tool to estimate and mitigate the risk for NT Lepidoptera of conservation concern. In contrast to its previous o utcomes obtained for unrealistically large levels of exposure that would not be expected in practice, the EFSA GMO Panel reports here mortality estimates for a more realistic level of exposure. The EFSA GMO Panel concludes that its previous recommendation for a 20 m isolation distance around protected habitats, within which maize MON810/Bt11 should not be cultivated, remains valid. New calculations show that the previously recommended isolation distance of 30 m from the nearest maize 1507 field would still protect NT Lepidoptera with known levels of sensitivity, including the ‘highly - sensitive’ Plutella xylostella . Should hypothetical species with greater sensitivities exist, larger isolation distances would be needed to ensure the desired level of protection

    Scientific Opinion on a request from the European Commission related to the prolongation of prohibition of the placing on the market of genetically modified oilseed rape event GT73 for import, processing and feed uses in Austria

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    Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA GMO Panel) evaluated the documentation provided by Austria to support the prolongation of the safeguard clause measure prohibiting the placing on the market of the genetically modified oilseed rape event GT73 for import, processing and feed uses in Austria. The EFSA GMO Panel assessed whether the submitted documentation comprised new scientific information that would change or invalidate the conclusions of its previous risk assessments on oilseed rape GT73. The EFSA GMO Panel also considered the relevance of the concerns raised by Austria in the light of the most recent data published in the scientific literature. The authorised uses of oilseed rape GT73 exclude cultivation, but data on gene flow, persistence and invasiveness derived from cultivation were considered as a worst case, representing conditions where exposure and potential impact are expected to be the highest, to assess possible environmental impacts resulting from seed import spills. In the documentation provided by Austria and in the scientific literature, the EFSA GMO Panel could not identify new scientific evidence that indicates that the import, processing and feed uses of oilseed rape GT73 in the EU pose a significant and imminent risk to the environment. The EFSA GMO Panel does not consider the occurrence of occasional feral oilseed rape GT73 plants, pollen dispersal and consequent cross-pollination as environmental harm in itself. In conclusion, the EFSA GMO Panel considers that, based on the documentation supplied by Austria and a review of recent scientific literature, there is no specific scientific evidence in terms of risk to the environment that would support the notification of a safeguard clause measure under Article 23 of Directive 2001/18/EC nor its prolongation, and that would invalidate its previous risk assessments of oilseed rape GT73
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