Reflections on Experiences Abroad

Reflections on Experiences Abroad is a collection of essays written by Ouachita Baptist University faculty and staff who have lived outside of the United States. Students in Professor Margaret Reed\u27s Fall 2022 ENGL 3383 Editing class copyedited and helped prepare this volume. It is a one-time publication that gave Reed\u27s students an opportunity to demonstrate their editing skills at the end of the course. The student editors were Darby Jones, Sydney Motl, and Addie Woods

Key Topics on End-of-Life Care for African Americans

Racial classifications of human populations are politically and socially determined. There is no biological or genetic basis for these racial classifications. Health behaviors may be influenced by culture and poverty. Disparities in health outcomes, sometimes resulting in higher mortality rates for African-Americans appear to influence end of life decision-making attitudes and behaviors. To improve the quality of end of life care in African-American communities, health care professionals must better understand and work to eliminate disparities in health care, increase their own skills, knowledge and confidence in palliative and hospice care, and improve awareness of the benefits and values of hospice and palliative care in their patients and families

Building capacity on One Health in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: Connecting disciplines in the Philippines

Background and Aim: There have been limited capacity-building activities on One Health in the Philippines. To contribute to capacity development in One Health, the authors conducted the first short course on One Health in the country for health, allied health, and collaborating professionals. This study aimed to review the preparation and implementation of the One Health course and describe the challenges and opportunities of conducting the course during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Materials and Methods: The course curriculum was developed by a multidisciplinary group of experts. The objectives for the course were as follows: (1) Describe the concept, scope, and applications of One Health; (2) identify social and economic factors influencing food security and safety, control of zoonoses, and combating antimicrobial resistance; and (3) describe the challenges and opportunities in applying the One Health approach to achieve better public health outcomes. Recruitment of participants was based on predetermined criteria. The 3-day course was conducted online through Zoom. Pre- and post-tests as well as the evaluation of the course were administered through Google forms. Results: The 3-day online course was attended by 136 participants from 15 of the 17 administrative regions of the country. A multidisciplinary group of experts delivered a total of 11 lectures divided into the following sessions: (1) Fundamentals of One Health; (2) Interrelatedness of Human, Animal, and Environmental Health; and (3) Applications of One Health. Conclusion: As the first One Health course in the Philippines, this 3-day course demonstrated the feasibility of conducting capacity-building on One Health for a multidisciplinary group of participants during the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic. It may serve as a model for similar and more in-depth courses on One Health for specific groups in the future and has set the stage for intersectoral communication and education, providing an avenue for collaboration for professionals in various disciplines, and facilitating the expansion of One Health network in the Philippines

SARS-CoV-2 evolution during treatment of chronic infection

The spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is critical for virus infection through the engagement of the human ACE2 protein1 and is a major antibody target. Here we show that chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to viral evolution and reduced sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma, by generating whole-genome ultra-deep sequences for 23 time points that span 101 days and using in vitro techniques to characterize the mutations revealed by sequencing. There was little change in the overall structure of the viral population after two courses of remdesivir during the first 57 days. However, after convalescent plasma therapy, we observed large, dynamic shifts in the viral population, with the emergence of a dominant viral strain that contained a substitution (D796H) in the S2 subunit and a deletion (ΔH69/ΔV70) in the S1 N-terminal domain of the spike protein. As passively transferred serum antibodies diminished, viruses with the escape genotype were reduced in frequency, before returning during a final, unsuccessful course of convalescent plasma treatment. In vitro, the spike double mutant bearing both ΔH69/ΔV70 and D796H conferred modestly decreased sensitivity to convalescent plasma, while maintaining infectivity levels that were similar to the wild-type virus.The spike substitution mutant D796H appeared to be the main contributor to the decreased susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies, but this mutation resulted in an infectivity defect. The spike deletion mutant ΔH69/ΔV70 had a twofold higher level of infectivity than wild-type SARS-CoV-2, possibly compensating for the reduced infectivity of the D796H mutation. These data reveal strong selection on SARS-CoV-2 during convalescent plasma therapy, which is associated with the emergence of viral variants that show evidence of reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in immunosuppressed individuals

Superspreaders drive the largest outbreaks of hospital onset COVID-19 infections.

SARS-CoV-2 is notable both for its rapid spread, and for the heterogeneity of its patterns of transmission, with multiple published incidences of superspreading behaviour. Here, we applied a novel network reconstruction algorithm to infer patterns of viral transmission occurring between patients and health care workers (HCWs) in the largest clusters of COVID-19 infection identified during the first wave of the epidemic at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK. Based upon dates of individuals reporting symptoms, recorded individual locations, and viral genome sequence data, we show an uneven pattern of transmission between individuals, with patients being much more likely to be infected by other patients than by HCWs. Further, the data were consistent with a pattern of superspreading, whereby 21% of individuals caused 80% of transmission events. Our study provides a detailed retrospective analysis of nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and sheds light on the need for intensive and pervasive infection control procedures

Nation-Building Through Compulsory Schooling During the Age of Mass Migration

By the mid-19th century, America was the most educated nation on Earth: significant financial investments in education were being undertaken and the majority of children voluntarily attended public schools. So why did states across America start introducing compulsory schooling laws at this time in history? We provide qualitative and quantitative evidence that states adopted compulsory schooling laws as a nation-building tool to instill civic values to the tens of millions of culturally diverse migrants who arrived during the ‘Age of Mass Migration’ between 1850 and 1914. We show the adoption of state level compulsory schooling laws occurred significantly earlier in states that hosted a subgroup of European migrants with lower exposure to civic values in their home countries. We then use cross-county data to show the same subgroup of European migrants had significantly lower demand for American common schooling pre-compulsion, and so would have been less exposed to the kinds of civic value or discipline instilled by the American education system had compulsory schooling not been passed. By studying the link between mass migration and the endogenous policy responses of American-born voters in receiving states, our analysis provides new micro-foundations for compulsory schooling laws, the legislative bedrock on which all future developments of the American schooling system were built

International patent families: from application strategies to statistical indicators

This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of international patent families, including their domestic component. We exploit a relatively under-studied feature of patent families, namely the number of patents covering the same invention within a given jurisdiction. Using this information, we highlight common patterns in the structure of international patent families, which reflect both the patenting strategies of innovators and the peculiarities of the different patent systems. While the literature has extensively used family size, i.e. the number of countries in which a given invention is protected, as a measure of patent value, our results suggest that the number of patent filings in the priority country within a patent family as well as the timespan between the first and last fillings within a family are other insightful indicators of the value of patented innovations

Identification of G1-Regulated Genes in Normally Cycling Human Cells

BACKGROUND: Obtaining synchronous cell populations is essential for cell-cycle studies. Methods such as serum withdrawal or use of drugs which block cells at specific points in the cell cycle alter cellular events upon re-entry into the cell cycle. Regulatory events occurring in early G1 phase of a new cell cycle could have been overlooked. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS: We used a robotic mitotic shake-off apparatus to select cells in late mitosis for genome-wide gene expression studies. Two separate microarray experiments were conducted, one which involved isolation of RNA hourly for several hours from synchronous cell populations, and one experiment which examined gene activity every 15 minutes from late telophase of mitosis into G1 phase. To verify synchrony of the cell populations under study, we utilized methods including BrdU uptake, FACS, and microarray analyses of histone gene activity. We also examined stress response gene activity. Our analysis enabled identification of 200 early G1-regulated genes, many of which currently have unknown functions. We also confirmed the expression of a set of genes candidates (fos, atf3 and tceb) by qPCR to further validate the newly identified genes. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: Genome-scale expression analyses of the first two hours of G1 in naturally cycling cells enabled the discovery of a unique set of G1-regulated genes, many of which currently have unknown functions, in cells progressing normally through the cell division cycle. This group of genes may contain future targets for drug development and treatment of human disease

Veterans walk to beat back pain: study rationale, design and protocol of a randomized trial of a pedometer-based Internet mediated intervention for patients with chronic low back pain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic back pain is a significant problem worldwide and may be especially prevalent among patients receiving care in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system. Back pain affects adults at all ages and is associated with disability, lost workplace productivity, functional limitations and social isolation. Exercise is one of the most effective strategies for managing chronic back pain. Yet, there are few clinical programs that use low cost approaches to help patients with chronic back pain initiate and maintain an exercise program.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>We describe the design and rationale of a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of a pedometer-based Internet mediated intervention for patients with chronic back pain. The intervention uses an enhanced pedometer, website and e-community to assist these patients with initiating and maintaining a regular walking program with the primary aim of reducing pain-related disability and functional interference. The study specific aims are: 1) To determine whether a pedometer-based Internet-mediated intervention reduces pain-related functional interference among patients with chronic back pain in the short term and over a 12-month timeframe. 2) To assess the effect of the intervention on walking (measured by step counts), quality of life, pain intensity, pain related fear and self-efficacy for exercise. 3) To identify factors associated with a sustained increase in walking over a 12-month timeframe among patients randomized to the intervention.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Exercise is an integral part of managing chronic back pain but to be effective requires that patients actively participate in the management process. This intervention is designed to increase activity levels, improve functional status and make exercise programs more accessible for a broad range of patients with chronic back pain.</p> <p>Trial Registration Number</p> <p>NCT00694018</p