What Happens After Treatment: Improving Quality of Life in Adolescents and Young Adults

More children and adolescents are surviving a cancer diagnosis now than ever before, but with these encouraging survival rates come the need for improved survivorship care. As a result of treatment, AYA are suffering from physical setbacks such as issues with weight management and fertility (Nightingale, 2011), and psychosocial setbacks such as PTSS, anxiety, and depression (Butler, Rizzi, Hardwerger, 1999). These factors may contributed to the fact that adolescents and young adults (AYA) often report lower QOL than their healthy counterparts (Russell, Hudson, Long, Phipps, 2006), which highlights the need for interventions that address the unmet needs and QOL of AYA who have concluded cancer treatment. This study analyzes the PedsQL of AYA who have been diagnosed with cancer (n =126) and healthy controls (n = 103) in order to determine if healthy controls report a higher PedsQL score than AYA. Additionally, I hypothesized that AYA on treatment will have a lower PedsQL than those off treatment, education would vary by diagnosis code, and diagnosis code would impact PedsQL total scores. Independent t-tests, Chi-Square tests, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted to test these hypotheses. These tests revealed that while healthy controls did have a higher total PedsQL score than AYA, AYA off treatment had significantly higher PedsQL total scores than those on treatment. However, the hypotheses that education level would vary by diagnosis code and that diagnosis code would affect PedsQL were not supported

No One Flunks Museum: An Overview of Learning Theory and its Implementation in Formal and Informal History Education

The transition of museums from institutions for the knowledgeable to places for those seeking knowledge has brought about a need for those educating in museums to better understand the ways in which people learn. This paper introduces and explains theories, psychological and educational, that are applicable to learning such as Constructivism, Multiple Intelligences, and the Contextual Model of Learning. Observations of informal and formal history and social studies lessons or programs presented to students ages 3-16 provide the framework for understanding how well these theories of learning are being implemented in the museum. Comparison of history museum programs (informal education) with social studies school lessons (formal education) has demonstrated that both are succeeding as learning institutions, however the informal educational programs often have the ability to reach a more diverse audience of learners than formal educational programs do. If the goal of museums and schools is to educate each student/visitor equally then the future seems clear-museums and schools must work together to understand the strengths and restrictions each has to ultimately ensure that no child is left behind

Family Literacy Engagement: Parents’ Perceptions of Their Home Learning Practices

The researcher in this study examined parents’ perceptions of the engagement activities in their homes. Parents of elementary school students in one southeastern United States school district were asked to participate in this study. Findings related to literacy, academic, and family engagement. Parents’ preparedness to assist their children with reading and their related needs were also examined. Relationships between race and gender showed significance when considering children’s access to academic and literacy materials as well as family engagement in educational practices including literacy. Literacy program providers, including those that educate parents, may consider this information when providing literacy support to families as they engage in their children’s literacy development

Investigating Local Adaptation to Hypoxia Stress in the Eastern Oyster Through Comparative Transcriptomics

Climate change represents one of the most important challenges to biodiversity, therefore it is important to understand the mechanisms that allow species to respond to rapid environmental change. Here, we compared two populations of eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, from the Gulf of Mexico to study the mechanisms underlying hypoxia tolerance. Using a common garden experiment and comparative transcriptomics, we identified sets of genes involved in the hypoxia response and found differences in both the timing and baseline expression of hypoxia-responsive genes between tolerant and sensitive populations, consistent with a scenario of local adaptation. These genes include the signaling transcription factor wnt, previously associated with hypoxia resistance in insects but poorly explored in marine invertebrates. Notably, differences in gene expression levels between populations is greater in gill tissue compared to digestive gland, suggesting that environmental stressors affect these tissues differently. Our results provide important insights into the genetic, physiological, and evolutionary mechanisms underlying hypoxia resistance in marine species and provide sets of candidate genes that can inform future studies

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) production utilizing brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) flow-through aquaculture effluent

Dissolved nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) present in flow-through aquaculture effluent can pose the risk of eutrophication to receiving streams when discharged from flow-through systems. One potential solution to prevent nutrient loading is the establishment of an integrated system that cultures green plants in the effluent. The objectives of this research were to determine watercress\u27 (Nasturtium officinale) growth and nutrient contents in both a hydroponic controlled environment and a flow-through aquaponic production system utilizing brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) aquaculture effluent; and to evaluate various treatments to determine the best cultural conditions for watercress in the aquaponic system for optimization as a nutrient recovery option for and value-added by-product to fish production. A 6-week long hydroponic and three 12-week long aquaponic experiments were conducted to meet these objectives. The hydroponic experiment studied the effects of light intensity and nutrient solution concentration and the aquaponic experiments studied the effects of water velocity, plant density, growing media, location, and season on watercress growth and nutrient contents. Whole plants were sampled for growth data (fresh weights, lengths, and dry weights) and dried tissue was analyzed for total N and P content. All experiments were randomized complete block (RCB) designs with three replications per treatment. Growth and nutrient data were analyzed separately and all significance was determined using SAS software. Data from the hydroponic experiment indicated that watercress growth and nutrient contents were greatest in the intermediate light intensity. The half-strength Hoagland\u27s nutrient solution treatment resulted in significantly longer plants but had no significance on fresh weight or nutrient content versus the full-strength nutrient solution treatment. Overall, results from the aquaponic experiments provided that watercress growth was significantly greater when grown in the high water velocity, high plant density, paper growing medium, Aquaponic Production Greenhouse (APG), and spring season treatments. These treatments also resulted in greater nutrient contents in dry tissue, with the exception of greater nutrient contents in plants grown during the winter season. Nutrient sufficiency ranges may or may not have been met in the various experiments which suggest that the effluent may be nutrient limiting at times. In conclusion, watercress production is possible utilizing brook trout flow-through aquaculture effluent. The risk of nutrient loading from the system studied is insignificant because watercress growth and nutrient contents were not significant among treatments exposed and not exposed to effluent. Therefore, the focus of this integrated watercress and trout production system becomes a sustainable agriculture versus a phytoremediation approach that takes advantage of resources already available. Watercress could also serve as a secondary marketable crop for farmers to potentially increase farm income

End Felony Disenfranchisement and Restore the Right to Vote

In Minnesota, felony disenfranchisement is the withdrawal of voting rights of individuals with a criminal offense through incarceration, probation, parole, or supervised release. Current felony disenfranchisement laws prohibit roughly 55,000 Minnesotans\u27 right to vote long after their release from incarceration. This law specifically suppresses Minnesotans of color, vulnerable populations, and low-income communities. Promptly restoring the right to vote for individuals with felony convictions upon release from imprisonment will promote equality in voter representation for actively contributing members of society

In Praise of Habit: The Necessity of Habit for Consistent Moral Practice

In this interdisciplinary dissertation, I make and support the strong claim that habituation is necessary for consistent moral behavior. Philosophers have always been very concerned with habit and have taken various positions on the topic. Most notably, Aristotle claimed that habituation was imperative for the formation of good moral character. Others have decried habit as being desensitizing and creating a lack of clear though. The case for the importance of habit, regardless of moral ideal or theory has not been thoroughly expressed. As supported empirically, most people behave morally most of the time. Due to the psychological necessity of habitual thought and action and the inherent difficulties of intentional reflection, moral consistency, regardless of whether the agent is simply following moral norms or adhering to a particular theory or belief system, is not possible without habits. I will argue against the claims that moral consistency can be the result only of moral knowledge, reflection, and a strong will. Using empirical evidence from multiple fields including psychology, neurology, and social psychology, I will show that reflection and will are sufficient to explain some moral action but not sufficient to explain the consistency of moral action. Due to multiple psychological realities of the human mental faculty such as mental fatigue and error, and most importantly due to the fact that human attentional capability is too limited to allow for constant and consistent focus on moral matters, the consistency we experience requires an explanation beyond knowledge and a dedication to doing and being good. Further, even if we were capable of reflecting on every moral choice, studies have shown repeatedly that humans do not have conscious access to the reasons for behaviors in many cases. I contend that habituation provides sufficient explanation for moral consistency even given instances of absent mindedness, lack of access to moral reasons, and other normal cognitive limitations. The claim has several important implications for ethics, such as the practicability of multiple theories, for important practices of praise, blame, and punishment. The claim also lends support to moral psychology situationist theories

Adherence to Guideline Recommendations in Patients with Thyroid Nodules

Introduction. Thyroid nodules are common and fine-needleaspiration (FNA) biopsy is the standard of care for workupto exclude thyroid cancer. In this study, we examinedthe discrepancy between daily practice and recommendeddiagnostic approach for management of thyroid nodules,based on history taking, laboratory, and imaging studies. Methods. This was a retrospective chart review of 199 patientswho had ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration(UGFNA) performed at a Midwest academic medicalcenter from January 2010 to December 2011. Thequality measures were selected based on recommended clinicalpractice guidelines, including family history, history of neckradiation, neck symptoms, TSH test, and thyroid ultrasound. Results. The majority of patients were Caucasian females. Familyhistory of thyroid cancer and childhood neck radiation exposurewere documented in 79 subjects (40%) and 76 subjects(38%), respectively. Neck symptoms were documented in mostsubjects, including dysphonia (56.8%), dysphagia (69.9%), anddyspnea (41.2%). Most subjects had a TSH measured and an ultrasoundperformed prior to biopsy (75% and 86%, respectively). Conclusions. It appears there is a gap between current patientcare and clinical practice guidelines for management of thyroidnodules. Clinical history and ultrasound features for risk stratificationof UGFNA were lacking, which could reflect physicians’unfamiliarity with the guidelines. As thyroid nodules are common,enhancing knowledge of the current guidelines could improveappropriate work-up. Further studies are needed to identifyfactors associated with the poor compliance with clinical guidelinesin management of thyroid nodules. KS J Med 2017;10(1):1-2

Restricted Rotational Flexibility of the C5α-Methyl-Substituted Carbapenem NA-1-157 Leads to Potent Inhibition of the GES-5 Carbapenemase

Carbapenem antibiotics are used as a last-resort treatment for infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. The wide spread of carbapenemases in Gram-negative bacteria has severely compromised the utility of these drugs and represents a serious public health threat. To combat carbapenemase-mediated resistance, new antimicrobials and inhibitors of these enzymes are urgently needed. Here, we describe the interaction of the atypically C5α-methyl-substituted carbapenem, NA-1-157, with the GES-5 carbapenemase. MICs of this compound against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter baumannii producing the enzyme were reduced 4–16-fold when compared to MICs of the commercial carbapenems, reaching clinically sensitive breakpoints. When NA-1-157 was combined with meropenem, a strong synergistic effect was observed. Kinetic and ESI-LC/MS studies demonstrated that NA-1-157 is a potent inhibitor of GES-5, with a high inactivation efficiency of (2.9 ± 0.9) × 105 M–1 s–1. Acylation of GES-5 by NA-1-157 was biphasic, with the fast phase completing within seconds, and the slow phase taking several hours and likely proceeding through a reversible tetrahedral intermediate. Deacylation was extremely slow (k3 = (2.4 ± 0.3) × 10–7 s–1), resulting in a residence time of 48 ± 6 days. MD simulation of the GES-5-meropenem and GES-5-NA-1-157 acyl-enzyme complexes revealed that the C5α-methyl group in NA-1-157 sterically restricts rotation of the 6α-hydroxyethyl group preventing ingress of the deacylating water into the vicinity of the scissile bond of the acyl-enzyme intermediate. These data demonstrate that NA-1-157 is a potent irreversible inhibitor of the GES-5 carbapenemase