Keys to academic success for under-represented minority young investigators: recommendations from the Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID) National Advisory Committee.

BackgroundAlthough Latinos, African-Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives comprise 34% of Americans, these under-represented minorities (URMs) account for only 7% of US medical-school faculty. Even when URMs become faculty, they face many substantial challenges to success. Little has been published, however, on keys to academic success for URM young faculty investigators.MethodsThe Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID) goal is to enhance the professional advancement of URM junior faculty pursuing research careers in general academic pediatrics. One important RAPID component is the annual mentoring/career-development conference, which targets URM residents, fellows, and junior faculty, and has included 62 URM participants since its 2013 inception. A conference highlight is the panel discussion on keys to academic success for URM young investigators, conducted by the RAPID National Advisory Committee, a diverse group of leading senior researchers. The article aim was to provide a guide to academic success for URM young investigators using the 2018 RAPID Conference panel discussion. A modified Delphi technique was used to provide a systematic approach to obtaining answers to six key questions using an expert panel: the single most important key to success for URM young investigators; ensuring optimal mentorship; how to respond when patients/families say, "I don't want you to see my child because you are ____"; best strategies for maximizing funding success; how to balance serving on time-consuming committees with enough time to advance research/career objectives; and the single thing you wish someone had told you which would have substantially enhanced your success early on.Results/conclusionsThis is the first published practical guide on keys to academic success for URM young investigators. Identified keys to success included having multiple mentors, writing prolifically, being tenaciously persistent, having mentors who are invested in you, dealing with families who do not want you to care for their child because of your race/ethnicity by seeking to understand the reasons and debriefing with colleagues, seeking non-traditional funding streams, balancing committee work with having enough time to advance one's research and career by using these opportunities to generate scholarly products, and asking for all needed resources when negotiating for new jobs

Hot topics, urgent priorities, and ensuring success for racial/ethnic minority young investigators in academic pediatrics.

BackgroundThe number of racial/ethnic minority children will exceed the number of white children in the USA by 2018. Although 38% of Americans are minorities, only 12% of pediatricians, 5% of medical-school faculty, and 3% of medical-school professors are minorities. Furthermore, only 5% of all R01 applications for National Institutes of Health grants are from African-American, Latino, and American Indian investigators. Prompted by the persistent lack of diversity in the pediatric and biomedical research workforces, the Academic Pediatric Association Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID) was initiated in 2012. RAPID targets applicants who are members of an underrepresented minority group (URM), disabled, or from a socially, culturally, economically, or educationally disadvantaged background. The program, which consists of both a research project and career and leadership development activities, includes an annual career-development and leadership conference which is open to any resident, fellow, or junior faculty member from an URM, disabled, or disadvantaged background who is interested in a career in academic general pediatrics.MethodsAs part of the annual RAPID conference, a Hot Topic Session is held in which the young investigators spend several hours developing a list of hot topics on the most useful faculty and career-development issues. These hot topics are then posed in the form of six "burning questions" to the RAPID National Advisory Committee (comprised of accomplished, nationally recognized senior investigators who are seasoned mentors), the RAPID Director and Co-Director, and the keynote speaker.Results/conclusionsThe six compelling questions posed by the 10 young investigators-along with the responses of the senior conference leadership-provide a unique resource and "survival guide" for ensuring the academic success and optimal career development of young investigators in academic pediatrics from diverse backgrounds. A rich conversation ensued on the topics addressed, consisting of negotiating for protected research time, career trajectories as academic institutions move away from an emphasis on tenure-track positions, how "non-academic" products fit into career development, racism and discrimination in academic medicine and how to address them, coping with isolation as a minority faculty member, and how best to mentor the next generation of academic physicians

Study Habits of LORMA Senior High School Students Engaged in Online Learning

With the emerging paradigm shift as a result of the rise of the online learning framework during the COVID-19 pandemic, factors like study habits can change Herewith, this study aimed to determine the study habits the LORMA Senior High School students have developed in online learning, the significant changes in the study habits before and during the implementation of online learning, and the most effective study habits of students engaged in online learning. Twenty-five (25) students were selected using simple random sampling. Qualitative-Descriptive Research Design was used which allowed the respondents to explain their perceptions in their own terms and to understand how those behaviors developed. Thematization was used in the data analysis, in which the gathered responses were categorized into various themes. The research results revealed the different study habits developed using online learning. The findings also indicated substantial differences in practices before and after the introduction of online learning. Changes in schedule and learning materials, decreased enthusiasm, and other behaviors were discovered to have changed due to the transition to online classes. Furthermore, the researchers identified four (4) most effective study habits among various responses: time management, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, concentrating, and reviewing lectures

Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and Amazon carbon balance

Forest inventory studies in the Amazon indicate a large terrestrial carbon sink. However, field plots may fail to represent forest mortality processes at landscape-scales of tropical forests. Here we characterize the frequency distribution of disturbance events in natural forests from 0.01 ha to 2,651 ha size throughout Amazonia using a novel combination of forest inventory, airborne lidar and satellite remote sensing data. We find that small-scale mortality events are responsible for aboveground biomass losses of B1.28 Pg C y 1 over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of B0.01 Pg C y 1 , and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of B0.003 Pg C y 1 . Simulation of growth and mortality indicates that even when all carbon losses from intermediate and large-scale disturbances are considered, these are outweighed by the net biomass accumulation by tree growth, supporting the inference of an Amazon carbon sink

Simulando el análisis de hacinamiento sectorial en empresas colombianas

El objetivo de este trabajo es hacer una interpretación de la herramienta “hacinamiento estratégico” la cual fue propuesta por el profesor Luis F. Restrepo P. y Hugo A. Rivera en el año 2006 a través del Centro de Estudios Empresariales para la Perdurabilidad. El análisis de hacinamiento es una herramienta que hace parte complementaria del Análisis Estructural de Sectores Estratégicos (AESE), la cual muestra la percepción de imitación que tiene una empresa sobre un sector estratégico determinado. En este trabajo se presenta una interpretación formal de los planteamientos teóricos en los cuales se basa el hacinamiento; luego de la formalización se desarrolla una simulación que muestra nuevas formas de observar la imitación en un sector estratégico. Las técnicas utilizadas para la nueva observación son el análisis de discriminante, y la probabilidad condicional

Contribution of sex on the underlying mechanism of the gambling disorder severity

Significant increasing prevalences have been observed in gambling disorder (GD) in the last decades. This study analyzed the underlying mechanisms of the gambling severity with path analysis (implemented through Structural Equation Modeling, SEM), and assessed the potential moderator effect of the patients' sex. A sample of n=512 treatment-seeking patients was assessed for sociodemographics and clinical state previously to the treatment. Results obtained in two separate SEM (for men and women) revealed differences in the direct effects and the mediational links. Among the male subsample, higher GD severity was directly related to the higher cognitive bias and the younger age of onset of the problematic gambling, while impulsivity levels and age of onset achieved an indirect effect on the disordered gambling mediated by the cognitive bias. Among females, GD severity was directly increased by younger age of onset, higher cognitive bias and lower self-directedness, while lower socioeconomic positions, and higher levels in harm avoidance achieved an indirect effect on the gambling severity mediated also by the distortions related to the gambling activity. These results provide new empirical evidence for a better understanding of the GD etiology, suggesting that the underlying complex links mediating the GD severity are strongly related to the patients' sex. The results can also contribute to design more effectiveness and precise therapy programs of patient-centered care

Inhibiting the stringent response blocks Mycobacterium tuberculosis entry into quiescence and reduces persistence

The stringent response enables Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to shut down its replication and metabolism under various stresses. Here we show that Mtb lacking the stringent response enzyme RelMtb was unable to slow its replication rate during nutrient starvation. Metabolomics analysis revealed that the nutrient-starved relMtb-deficient strain had increased metabolism similar to that of exponentially growing wild-type bacteria in nutrient-rich broth, consistent with an inability to enter quiescence. Deficiency of relMtb increased the susceptibility of mutant bacteria to killing by isoniazid during nutrient starvation and in the lungs of chronically infected mice. We screened a pharmaceutical library of over 2 million compounds for inhibitors of RelMtb and showed that the lead compound X9 was able to directly kill nutrient-starved M. tuberculosis and enhanced the killing activity of isoniazid. Inhibition of RelMtb is a promising approach to target M. tuberculosis persisters, with the potential to shorten the duration of TB treatment.This work was supported by R01AI083125, R21AI122922, and R21AI114507A to P.C.

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured