Online learning for infectious disease fellows-A needs assessment

BACKGROUND: Online resources and social media have become increasingly ubiquitous in medical education. Little is known about the need for educational resources aimed at infectious disease (ID) fellows. METHODS: We conducted an educational needs assessment through a survey that aimed to describe ID fellows\u27 current use of online and social media tools, assess the value of online learning, and identify the educational content preferred by ID fellows. We subsequently convened focus groups with ID fellows to explore how digital tools contribute to fellow learning. RESULTS: A total of 110 ID fellows responded to the survey. Over half were second-year fellows (61, 55%). Although many respondents were satisfied with the educational resources provided by their fellowship program (70, 64%), the majority were interested in an online collaborative educational resource (97, 88%). Twitter was the most popular social media platform for education and the most valued online resource for learning. Focus groups identified several themes regarding social medial learning: broadened community, low barrier to learning, technology-enhanced learning, and limitations of current tools. Overall, the focus groups suggest that fellows value social media and online learning. CONCLUSIONS: ID fellows are currently using online and social media resources, which they view as valuable educational tools. Fellowship programs should consider these resources as complementary to traditional teaching and as a means to augment ID fellow education

Real-world evaluation of the impact of implementation of the Virtuo blood culture system in a tertiary care hospital

The bioMérieux BacT/Alert Virtuo blood culture system used in combination with resin-containing media may enhance the growth of microorganisms. Our objective was to assess the impact of transitioning to the Virtuo system in comparison to the VersaTREK blood culture system at a tertiary care medical center. We retrospectively reviewed all blood cultures performed at a 1,250-bed academic medical center between January and December 2018 (VersaTREK) and January and December 2019 (Virtuo). Blood culture positivity rates and contamination rates were compared before and after Virtuo implementation. Of 101,438 blood cultures performed during the study period, 48,839 (48.1%) were processed preimplementation and 52,599 (51.9%) postimplementation. The blood culture positivity rate increased from 8.1% preimplementation to 11.7% postimplementation

Get privacy trending: Best practices for the social media educator

Social media is an increasingly popular forum for medical education. Many educators, including those in infectious diseases, are now creating and sharing unique and educational patient cases online. Unfortunately, some educators unknowingly threaten patient privacy and open themselves to legal liability. Further, the use of published figures or tables creates risk of copyright infringement. As more and more infectious diseases physicians engage in social media, it is imperative to create best practices to protect both patients and physicians. This summary will define the legal requirements of patient de-identification as well as other practical recommendations as they relate to use of clinical case information, patient images, and attribution of primary references on social media

Arquitectura y paisaje urbano en la fotografía de Fernando García Mercadal

El medio fotográfico se generalizó durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX como soporte para documentar un pasado en vías de desaparición debido al avance del progreso y la modernidad. Los catálogos fotográficos ayudaron a preservar la memoria de una realidad en transformación pero también a reflejar el debate sobre el diálogo entre nueva arquitectura y ciudad consolidada. A través de una selección de fotografías del Fondo Fotográfico del arquitecto Fernando García Mercadal, custodiado por el Servicio Histórico de la Fundación COAM, que reflejan sus heterogéneos planteamientos en el período de su tópica adscripción a las doctrinas del racionalismo, se plantea una reflexión sobre su preocupación por el papel que la arquitectura y la ciudad histórica y moderna debían adquirir como organismos evolutivos, en los cuales, frente a un mundo de singularidades arquitectónicas, Mercadal proclama la protección de los tejidos históricos y el valor perceptivo de las formas urbanas.The photographic support became widespread during the second half of the nineteenth century to document a disappearing past due to the advance of progress and modernity. Photographic catalogs helped to preserve the memory of a changing reality, but also contributed to reflect the dialogue between new architecture and consolidated city. Through a selection of photographs of the architect Fernando Garcia Mercadal Photographic Archives, preserved in the Historical Service of the COAM Foundation, which reflect his heterogeneous approaches in the period of his topical attachment to rationalism principles, it is proposed a reflection on his concerns about the role that architecture and historical and modern city should acquire as evolutionary organisms, and, in opposition to a world of architectural singularities, the protection of historical, skyline and the perceptive value of urban forms

Open Issues on the Synthesis of Evolved Stellar Populations at Ultraviolet Wavelengths

In this paper we briefly review three topics that have motivated our (and others') investigations in recent years within the context of evolutionary population synthesis techniques. These are: The origin of the FUV up-turn in elliptical galaxies, the age-metallicity degeneracy, and the study of the mid-UV rest-frame spectra of distant red galaxies. We summarize some of our results and present a very preliminary application of a UV grid of theoretical spectra in the analysis of integrated properties of aged stellar populations. At the end, we concisely suggest how these topics can be tackled once the World Space Observatory enters into operation in the midst of this decade.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science, UV Universe special issu

The GALEX View of "Boyajian's Star" (KIC 8462852)

The enigmatic star KIC 8462852, informally known as "Boyajian's Star", has exhibited unexplained variability from both short timescale (days) dimming events, and years-long fading in the Kepler mission. No single physical mechanism has successfully explained these observations to date. Here we investigate the ultraviolet variability of KIC 8462852 on a range of timescales using data from the GALEX mission that occurred contemporaneously with the Kepler mission. The wide wavelength baseline between the Kepler and GALEX data provides a unique constraint on the nature of the variability. Using 1600 seconds of photon-counting data from four GALEX visits spread over 70 days in 2011, we find no coherent NUV variability in the system on 10-100 second or months timescales. Comparing the integrated flux from these 2011 visits to the 2012 NUV flux published in the GALEX-CAUSE Kepler survey, we find a 3% decrease in brightness for KIC 8462852. We find this level of variability is significant, but not necessarily unusual for stars of similar spectral type in the GALEX data. This decrease coincides with the secular optical fading reported by Montet & Simon (2016). We find the multi-wavelength variability is somewhat inconsistent with typical interstellar dust absorption, but instead favors a R$_V$ = 5.0 $\pm$ 0.9 reddening law potentially from circumstellar dust.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, ApJ Accepte

Forced convection and transport effects during hyperbaric laser chemical vapor deposition

This work explores mass transport processes during HP-LCYD, including the transverse forced-flow of precursor gases through a nozzle to enhance fiber growth rates. The use of laser trapping and suspension of nano-scale particles in the precursor flow is also described, providing insights into the nature of the gas flow, including jetting from the fiber tip and thermodiffusion processes near the reaction zone. The effects of differing molecular-weight buffer gases is also explored in conjunction with the Soret effect, and it is found that nucleation at the deposit surface (and homogeneous nucleation in the gas phase) can be enhanced/ retarded, depending on the buffer gas molecular weight. To demonstrate that extensive microstructures can be grown simultaneously, three-dimensional fiber arrays are also grown in-parallel using diffractive optics--without delatory effects from neighboring reaction sites

Dust Populations in the Iconic Vega Planetary System Resolved by ALMA

The Vega planetary system hosts the archetype of extrasolar Kuiper belts, and is rich in dust from the sub-au region out to 100's of au, suggesting intense dynamical activity. We present ALMA mm observations that detect and resolve the outer dust belt from the star for the first time. The interferometric visibilities show that the belt can be fit by a Gaussian model or by power-law models with a steep inner edge (at 60-80 au). The belt is very broad, extending out to at least 150-200 au. We strongly detect the star and set a stringent upper limit to warm dust emission previously detected in the infrared. We discuss three scenarios that could explain the architecture of Vega's planetary system, including the new {ALMA} constraints: no outer planets, a chain of low-mass planets, and a single giant planet. The planet-less scenario is only feasible if the outer belt was born with the observed sharp inner edge. If instead the inner edge is currently being truncated by a planet, then the planet must be $\gtrsim$6 M$_{\oplus}$ and at $\lesssim71$ au to have cleared its chaotic zone within the system age. In the planet chain scenario, outward planet migration and inward scattering of planetesimals could produce the hot and warm dust observed in the inner regions of the system. In the single giant planet scenario, an asteroid belt could be responsible for the warm dust, and mean motion resonances with the planet could put asteroids on star-grazing orbits, producing the hot dust.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

La Importancia de la logística, la distribución física nacional, con miras a potencializar la competitividad para la organizaciones

La gestión administrativa y contable se presenta a través de operaciones que se generan en la Distribución Físicas Internacional y se relacionan con la logística de las organizaciones y las naciones adquiere relevancia a partir de la economía de mercado y los TLC, Tratados de Libre Comercio, ya que una adecuado uso de DFI , permite el orden específico para la gestión de la movilidad y permite liderar costos en el aprovisionamiento, claves con una debida gestión haciendo énfasis en la documentación y el justo a tiempo, no es posible entonces sin el flujo adecuado de los materiales o la provisión que se desea enviar y el flujo de la información, si se tiene en cuenta lo anterior, los agentes y actores involucrados en la cadena logística, permitirán menores costos de operación y mayor calidad en cada servicio, manteniendo los clientes claves y llevando el proceso al cambio y mejora