Predicting Emerald Ash Borer, \u3ci\u3eAgrilus Planipennis\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Landing Behavior on Unwounded Ash

Detection of emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), an invasive forest pest, is difficult in low density populations war- ranting continual development of various trapping techniques and protocols. Understanding and predicting landing behavior of A. planipennis may assist in the further development of trapping techniques and improvement of trapping protocols for widespread survey programs in North America. Three multiple regression models were developed using ash tree vigor and crown light exposure to predict the landing behavior of A. planipennis. These models were then used to predict the landing density of A. planipennis at separate sites and in separate years. Successful prediction of A. planipennis capture density at the test sites was limited. Even though the multiple regression models were not effective at predicting landing behavior of A. planipennis, tree characteristics were used to predict the likelihood of A. planipennis landing. Trees predicted as having high likelihood of landing had 3.5 times as many A. planipennis adults/m2 on stem traps than trees predicted as having low likelihood of landing. While the landing density of A. planipennis may not be efficiently predicted, the utility of these predictions may be in the form of identifying trees with a high likelihood of A. planipennis landing. Those high likelihood trees may assist in improving existing detection programs and techniques in North American forests

Responding to Opioid Use Disorder: Identifying the Therapeutic Commitment of Maine Nurse Practitioners

Background: Buprenorphine, an underutilized pharmacotherapy, can play a key role in closing the substantial opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment gap in the United States. Although 2016 US legislation authorized trained nurse practitioners (NPs) to obtain the Drug Enforcement Agency waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for OUD, many NPs do not have the waiver, and a large proportion of waivered NPs do not prescribe to capacity. Purpose: To identify the therapeutic commitment of Maine NPs to OUD as well as understand why Maine NPs do not adopt and utilize buprenorphine for the treatment of OUD. Review of Evidence: Commitment to OUD and adoption of buprenorphine in clinical practice is influenced by factors such as professional support and education. Few studies have examined NP commitment to OUD and adoption of buprenorphine. Project Design: A cross-sectional, Web-based survey measured the therapeutic commitment of Maine NPs to OUD with the Drug and Drug Problems Perceptions Questionnaire. Resources were identified that would encourage those without the buprenorphine waiver to obtain it and those with the waiver to accept more patients. Methods: The online survey was delivered to a convenience sample of NPs in Maine (N=299) in fall 2018. Results: Maine NPs have a moderately high degree of overall therapeutic commitment to OUD. Maine NPs in rural (p=.018) and urban (p=.024) practice settings and those with the buprenorphine waiver (p\u3c.001) had significantly higher overall therapeutic commitment scores than their suburban and non-waivered NP counterparts. Professional support and education were priority resources to increase buprenorphine adoption and utilization. Conclusion: To facilitate NP commitment to OUD as well as NP adoption and utilization of buprenorphine, a comprehensive approach with special emphasis on professional support and education is warranted

Ion-by-ion Cooling efficiencies

We present ion-by-ion cooling efficiencies for low-density gas. We use Cloudy (ver. 08.00) to estimate the cooling efficiencies for each ion of the first 30 elements (H-Zn) individually. We present results for gas temperatures between 1e4 and 1e8K, assuming low densities and optically thin conditions. When nonequilibrium ionization plays a significant role the ionization states deviate from those that obtain in collisional ionization equilibrium (CIE), and the local cooling efficiency at any given temperature depends on specific non-equilibrium ion fractions. The results presented here allow for an efficient estimate of the total cooling efficiency for any ionic composition. We also list the elemental cooling efficiencies assuming CIE conditions. These can be used to construct CIE cooling efficiencies for non-solar abundance ratios, or to estimate the cooling due to elements not explicitly included in any nonequilibrium computation. All the computational results are listed in convenient online tables.Comment: Submitted to ApJS. Electronic data available at http://wise-obs.tau.ac.il/~orlyg/ion_by_ion

Academic Impact of COVID-19 in Collegiate Athletes

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a pause to nearly all sporting activities in the spring of 2020, and collegiate athletes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated universities whose sporting seasons were affected by the pandemic were granted an extra year of athletic eligibility. The study was conducted to determine how collegiate athletes planned to use an additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA. Methods. The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of 632 athletes from two universities in the Midwestern United States, between August and September 2021. The athletes completed an anonymous, 9-item survey to assess the effect of the pandemic on athletic season, athletic eligibility, and potential change in an academic or professional career. Chi-square tests, generalized linear mixed models, and adjusted odds ratio were used for the analyses. Results. The participation rate was 74.5% (471 of 632). Nearly 63% (290 of 461) of the athletes received an additional year of eligibility because of the pandemic, with 193 (66.6%) planned to use their extra year for scholastic development. Male athletes (65.3% vs 34.7%; χ2[1, n=290]=11.66, P<.001, Φ=0.20), Division II athletes (59.6% vs 40.4%; χ2[1, n=290]=13.93, P<.001, Φ=0.22), and athletes who had not previously used redshirt (73.1% vs 26.9%; χ2[1, n=290] = 4.79, P=.029, Φ=0.32) where more likely to use their extra year of eligibility academically. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that most of the athletes planned to use their extra year of eligibility to pursue further scholastic or professional development, highlighting the positive part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies should investigate how these findings relate to athletes from universities in different geographical locations, intra-division schools

Prevalence of Transmitted HIV Drug Resistance Among Newly Diagnosed Antiretroviral Therapy-Naive Pregnant Women in Lilongwe and Blantyre, Malawi

In 2006, a survey of transmitted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug resistance (TDR) was conducted in Lilongwe, Malawi. The survey followed the World Health Organization method to classify TDR to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), and protease inhibitors (PIs) among primigravid women aged <25 years. Results of the 2006 survey showed <5% TDR in all drug classes. In 2009, TDR surveys using the same method were repeated in Lilongwe and expanded to Blantyre. Findings show that in Lilongwe TDR to NRTIs and PIs was <5%, whereas TDR to NNRTIs was 5%-15%. In Blantyre, TDR was <5% to all drug classes. Observed moderate TDR in Lilongwe is cause for concern and signals the need for closer monitoring of Malawi's antiretroviral therapy progra

Natural Categorization: Electrophysiological Responses to Viewing Natural Versus Built Environments

Environments are unique in terms of structural composition and evoked human experience. Previous studies suggest that natural compared to built environments may increase positive emotions. Humans in natural environments also demonstrate greater performance on attention-based tasks. Few studies have investigated cortical mechanisms underlying these phenomena or probed these differences from a neural perspective. Using a temporally sensitive electrophysiological approach, we employ an event-related, implicit passive viewing task to demonstrate that in humans, a greater late positive potential (LPP) occurs with exposure to built than natural environments, resulting in a faster return of activation to pre-stimulus baseline levels when viewing natural environments. Our research thus provides new evidence suggesting natural environments are perceived differently from built environments, converging with previous behavioral findings and theoretical assumptions from environmental psychology

A Retrospective Survey of HIV Drug Resistance Among Patients 1 Year After Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy at 4 Clinics in Malawi

In 2004, Malawi began scaling up its national antiretroviral therapy (ART) program. Because of limited treatment options, population-level surveillance of acquired human immunodeficiency virus drug resistance (HIVDR) is critical to ensuring long-term treatment success. The World Health Organization target for clinic-level HIVDR prevention at 12 months after ART initiation is ≥ 70%. In 2007, viral load and HIVDR genotyping was performed in a retrospective cohort of 596 patients at 4 ART clinics. Overall, HIVDR prevention (using viral load ≤ 400 copies/mL) was 72% (95% confidence interval [CI], 67%-77%; range by site, 60%-83%) and detected HIVDR was 3.4% (95% CI, 1.8%-5.8%; range by site, 2.5%-4.7%). Results demonstrate virological suppression and HIVDR consistent with previous reports from sub-Saharan Africa. High rates of attrition because of loss to follow-up were noted and merit attention

Innovative Education in Agroecology: Experiential Learning for a Sustainable Agriculture

The transdisciplinary field of agroecology provides a platform for experiential learning based on an expanded vision of research on sustainable farming and food systems and the application of results in creating effective learning landscapes for students. With increased recognition of limitations of fossil fuels, fresh water, and available farmland, educators are changing focus from strategies to reach maximum yields to those that feature resource use efficiency and resilience of production systems in a less benign climate. To help students deal with complexity and uncertainty and a wide range of biological and social dimensions of the food challenge, a whole-systems approach that involves life-cycle analysis and consideration of long-term impacts of systems is essential. Seven educational case studies in the Nordic Region and the U.S. Midwest demonstrate how educators can incorporate theory of the ecology of food systems with the action learning component needed to develop student potentials to create responsible change in society. New roles of agroecology instructors and students are described as they pursue a co-learning strategy to develop and apply technology to assure the productivity and security of future food system