The Real Cost of a College Education

Increasing college costs are contributing to a myriad of deleterious issues for college students. Of the top five stressors experienced by college students, four are related to financial stress (Heckman, Lim, & Montalto, 2014). The financial learning curve associated with managing a budget while striving to meet educational goals (Britt, Mendiola, Schink, Tibbetts, & Jones, 2016) can be overwhelming in the best of circumstances. Yet, a college education, on average, leads to nearly twice as much in annual income. According to the 2005 census, members of the workforce who had completed a bachelor’s degree earned an average salary of $51,206 per year, while workers with only a high school diploma earned an average of$27,915 per year (Joo et al., 2008). But this comes at a cost. Over the 11 year period leading up to 2006, the cost of tuition and fees had risen more rapidly than both average family income and economic inflation (Joo, Durband, & Grable, 2008). Given the ever-increasing cost of a college education, practical considerations may make the completion of a degree impossible, creating the following no-win situation: according to Bousquet (2008) & Britt et al. (2016), in order for a student to be able to pay the average public college tuition fee, he or she must work at least 55 hours per week, but students working more than 20 hours per week are at a greater risk of dropping out of college (Joo et al., 2008)

Blood Sugar: A Collection of Essays on the Highs and Lows of Diabetes

As soon as I began working on this thesis project, I knew that I wanted this collection to focus on the different aspects of my life that have been affected by me having type one diabetes. The diabetic experience is one that has been underrepresented—and arguably, misrepresented—in popular media. The four non-fiction essays in my collection aim to add my personal experience to the existing literature, showing that while diabetics may have similar experiences, these experiences can also be vastly individualistic. Additionally, while I share my own stories, I explore the general chronic illness experience and how ableism and misunderstanding impacts larger societal systems such as healthcare and the educational system

Developing a Heat-Related Social Vulnerability Index for Correctional Facilities

Climate change, driven by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, has caused and will continue to cause increasing temperatures across the United States (Hayhoe et al. 2018). Extreme heat contributes to a variety of health complications and illnesses, as well as death (Jones 2019). Some populations are more vulnerable to its impacts than others – one such population is the incarcerated population (Crimmins et al. 2016). The U.S. is responsible for 20 percent of the world’s prisoners, and many correctional facilities lack adequate ventilation, air flow, and cooling equipment to protect incarcerated people from the life-threatening impacts of extreme heat (Holt 2015; Sawyer and Wagner 2020) This project develops a comparison tool to integrate historical and projected heat index data with social vulnerability data, called the Correctional Facilities Heat Vulnerability Index (CFHVI). A research review of available data was conducted to determine which states and which demographic factors to include in the CFHVI. Seven geographically representative states were selected from the contiguous 48 states, along with three factors for each category: incarcerated population factors, staff factors, and facility factors. The results of the tool indicate that states with high CFHVI results, corresponding with high vulnerability to heat, should be prioritized in receiving adaptive measures to avoid health complications from heat among inmates and staff in correctional facilities. Historical, mid-century, and late century data for the projected average number of days with a heat index of 90°F were used from the Union of Concerned Scientists, at the state level and at the county level for counties containing correctional facilities in each state (Dahl et al. 2019). The results indicate that observing just heat index data is an incomplete picture to assess the vulnerability of an incarcerated population, though significant data limitations did impact results. The paper makes recommendations about how to reduce heat-related health impacts in correctional facilities, by collecting and reporting data, implementing adaptive measures like air conditioning, and reducing the overall prison population in the United States

Depositional Environment and Trend of the Uppermost Part of the Vamoosa Formation and Lecompton Limestone in the Eastern Part of North-Central Oklahoma

The primary purpose of this study is to describe the geometry and internal features of the uppermost part of the Vamoosa Formation in north-central Oklahoma and interpret its trend and genesis. A secondary objective is to determine gross depositional trends in the overlying Lecompton Limestone. Included in the thesis are correlation sections, measured sections, thickness maps, paleocurrent diagrams, and petrographic features.Geolog

Differences in Research on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: How Trauma-Type and Sex Contribute to the Published Research

There is a pervasive and comprehensive history of sexism in the pursuit of scientific truth, extending back beyond the days of “hysteria” and continuing still. Herein, we discuss a disparity in scientific research on a disorder thought to affect less than 8% of the adult population in the USA with the number of women diagnosed with the disorder estimated to be two to three times higher than that of men. While post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more likely to be experienced by women, we find that the overwhelming majority of published scientific literature on PTSD involves male combat veterans. For example, since March 2019, according to a widely used medical research search engine, specifically the electronic database PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/), over 1,100 articles can be found with the keywords, “veteran and PTSD” while using the keywords, “sexual assault and PTSD” yields a little over 100 total articles. While not all victims of sexual assault are female and not all combat veterans are male, the majority sex in each category is such that much of the research on “veteran” was specifically carried out with male veterans and much of the work on “sexual abuse” was carried out exclusively with females. This creates a perception that both overinflates the incidence of PTSD experienced by male combat veterans and underemphasizes the experience of PTSD in female victims of sexual assault. Differences in symptoms of PTSD do vary by war and what little research exists on PTSD after sexual assault suggests that it is likely that symptoms as well as associated comorbidities will vary depending on the cause, type, number, and age at first trauma, among other factors. This study focuses on the specific comorbidities of pain, addiction, and immune function in those who experience PTSD following war-based or sexually-based traumas. It is our hope that in reviewing the currently available research, we spotlight the need for research focused on PTSD experienced after sexual assault. Doing so has the potential to lead to better and more tailored treatments for PTSD, thus enriching outcomes for all sufferers of PTSD

Mi Casa, Su Casa: Librarians serving students from the comfort of their homes

To respond proactively to the pandemic, the Libraries moved many services and programs online. Providing online services is nothing new for librarians; using the technologies available to replicate and improve on the outcomes these services have on student learning has required creativity and new ways of thinking. To this end, we have increased our use of Zoom, Slack, and YouTube to offer support, allowing students to interact in ways that mimic F2F library services. To increase visibility we adapted popular events to an online modality such as Language Day conversations and open mic events to enrich student engagement. Several unique opportunities not feasible in a physical setting came to fruition, allowing us to enhance student success

STAN: a reappraisal of its clinical usefulness

The automatic analysis of fetal ECG in labor has been introduced as an adjunct of traditional cardiotocography with the aim to improve the identification of fetuses with intrapartum hypoxia. Several randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses have produced conflicting results, with the most recent randomized controlled trial not demonstrating any improvement in either neonatal outcomes or reduction in operative birth rates. The objective of this review article is to present the state of art about the use of STAN technology in labor ward

Antepartum evaluation of the obstetric conjugate at transabdominal 2D ultrasound: A feasibility study

Introduction: The obstetric conjugate represents the shortest anteroposterior diameter of the birth canal and it reflects the capacity of the pelvic inlet to allow the passage and the engagement of the fetal head. The antepartum evaluation of this parameter may be attempted at digital examination to predict the risk of cephalopelvic disproportion, but the accuracy of clinical pelvimetry is notoriously poor. The aim of our study was to describe the sonographic measurement of the obstetric conjugate at transabdominal 2D-ultrasound and to assess its reproducibility. Material and methods: This is a prospective cohort study conducted at a tertiary University hospital. A non-consecutive series of pregnant women with uncomplicated singleton pregnancies attending the antenatal clinic for routine booking from 34 weeks of gestation onward were included. The ultrasound probe was longitudinally placed above the level of the symphysis and the interpubic fibrocartilaginous disk was visualized. Then the promontory was identified as the most prominent segment of the sacral vertebral column. The obstetric conjugate was measured as the distance between the inner edge of the interpubic disk and the promontory. The inter- and intraobserver repeatability of this measurement was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Bland–Altman method. Results: In all, 119 women were considered eligible for the study; of these, 111/119 (93.3%) women were included in the analysis with a median gestational age of 36.0 (35.0–37.0) weeks. The mean obstetric conjugate measurement was 11.4 ± 0.93 mm for the first operator and 11.4 ± 0.91 mm for the second operator. The overall interobserver ICC was 0.95 (95% [confidence interval] CI 0.92–0.96) and the overall intraobserver ICC was 0.97 (95% CI 0.96–0.98). Limits of agreement ranged from −0.84 to 0.80 for interobserver measures and from −0.64 to 0.62 for intraobserver measures. The degree of reliability was also analyzed for women with a body mass index ≥30 and for women with a gestational age ≥37 weeks. The inter- and intraobserver ICCs were respectively 0.97 (95% CI 0.90–0.98) and 0.98 (0.95–0.99) in the former group and 0.96 (95% CI 0.93–0.98) and 0.97 (95% CI 0.95–0.98) in the latter group. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that among pregnant women at term gestation, sonographic measurement of the obstetric conjugate is feasible and reproducible

Prenatal diagnosis and outcome of fetuses with isolated agenesis of septum pellucidum: cohort study and meta-analysis

Objective: To evaluate the postnatal outcome of children with a prenatal diagnosis of apparently isolated agenesis of the septum pellucidum (ASP). Methods: A retrospective cohort study of cases of prenatally diagnosed ASP followed in two tertiary centers and a meta-analysis combining data from the cohort study with data from published studies identified in a systematic review were carried out. Only cases with apparently isolated ASP on antenatal ultrasound and/or magnetic resonance imaging and with available postnatal follow-up data were considered eligible for inclusion. The following outcomes were analyzed: incidence of chromosomal anomalies, agreement between antenatal and postnatal findings, overall incidence of septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) and incidence of major neurological disability (motor, language, coordination or behavioral disorder or epilepsy) in non-SOD children. The incidence of SOD in infants with apparently normal optic pathways on antenatal imaging was also evaluated. Results: Fifteen cases of isolated ASP, with median postnatal follow-up of 36 months (range, 12-60 months), were selected from the two centers. Six previously published studies met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review and a total of 78 cases were eligible for the analysis, including the 15 cases from our series. Genetic tests were carried out antenatally in 30 fetuses, of which two had an abnormal result (pooled proportion, 9.0% (95% CI, 1.8-20.7%); I2  = 0%). Additional or discordant imaging findings were noted postnatally in 9/70 (pooled proportion, 13.7% (95% CI, 3.5-29.0%); I2  = 63.9%) cases. Of all 78 neonates with available follow-up, SOD was diagnosed postnatally in 14 (pooled proportion, 19.4% (95% CI, 8.6-33.2%); I2  = 51.2%). In 60 cases, the optic pathways were considered to be normal on antenatal imaging, and six of these (pooled proportion, 9.1% (95% CI, 1.1-24.0%); I2  = 62.0%) were diagnosed postnatally with SOD. Of the 46 infants with available neurological follow-up who were not affected by SOD, a major neurological disability was diagnosed in three (pooled proportion, 6.5% (95% CI, 0.5-18.6%); I2  = 40.1%). Conclusions: In the vast majority of cases with a prenatal diagnosis of apparently isolated ASP, the prognosis is favorable. However, an additional anomaly is detected after birth in about 14% of cases and has a negative impact on clinical outcome. Detailed antenatal assessment of the brain and optic pathways is strongly recommended in order to identify the presence of associated anomalies. Antenatal visualization of apparently normal optic pathways does not rule out SOD. © 2021 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology