Institutional Title IX Requirements for Researchers Conducting Human Subjects Research on Sexual Violence and other Forms of Interpersonal Violence

The purpose of this white paper is to provide guidance on how university and college Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and IRB administrators can oversee, and researchers can conduct, research investigating the different aspects of Sexual Violence and other forms of Interpersonal Violence

It’s Not Just the What but the How

White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault looked to Prevention Innovations Research Center to evaluate efficacy of strategies for prevention and response to sexual violence on campus

Examining Obedience Training as a Physical Activity Intervention for Dog Owners: Findings from the Stealth Pet Obedience Training (SPOT) Pilot Study

Dog training may strengthen the dog–owner bond, a consistent predictor of dog walking behavior. The Stealth Pet Obedience Training (SPOT) study piloted dog training as a stealth physical activity (PA) intervention. In this study, 41 dog owners who reported dog walking ≤3 days/week were randomized to a six-week basic obedience training class or waitlist control. Participants wore accelerometers and logged dog walking at baseline, 6- and 12-weeks. Changes in PA and dog walking were compared between arms with targeted maximum likelihood estimation. At baseline, participants (39 ± 12 years; females = 85%) walked their dog 1.9 days/week and took 5838 steps/day, on average. At week 6, intervention participants walked their dog 0.7 more days/week and took 480 more steps/day, on average, than at baseline, while control participants walked their dog, on average, 0.6 fewer days/week and took 300 fewer steps/day (difference between arms: 1.3 dog walking days/week; 95% CI = 0.2, 2.5; 780 steps/day, 95% CI = −746, 2307). Changes from baseline were similar at week 12 (difference between arms: 1.7 dog walking days/week; 95% CI = 0.6, 2.9; 1084 steps/day, 95% CI = −203, 2370). Given high rates of dog ownership and low rates of dog walking in the United States, this novel PA promotion strategy warrants further investigation

Examining How Dog ‘Acquisition’ Affects Physical Activity and Psychosocial Well-Being: Findings from the BuddyStudy Pilot Trial

Dog owners are more physically active than non-dog owners, but evidence of a causal relationship between dog acquisition and increased physical activity is lacking. Such evidence could inform programs and policies that encourage responsible dog ownership. Randomized controlled trials are the ‘gold standard’ for determining causation, but they are prohibited in this area due to ethical concerns. In the BuddyStudy, we tested the feasibility of using dog fostering as a proxy for dog acquisition, which would allow ethical random assignment. In this single-arm trial, 11 participants fostered a rescue dog for six weeks. Physical activity and psychosocial data were collected at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks. At 6 weeks, mean change in steps/day was 1192.1 ± 2457.8. Mean changes on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale were −4.9 ± 8.7 and −0.8 ± 5.5, respectively. More than half of participants (55%) reported meeting someone new in their neighborhood because of their foster dog. Eight participants (73%) adopted their foster dog after the 6-week foster period; some maintained improvements in physical activity and well-being at 12 weeks. Given the demonstrated feasibility and preliminary findings of the BuddyStudy, a randomized trial of immediate versus delayed dog fostering is warranted

Microwave plasma-activated chemical vapour deposition of nitrogen-doped diamond, II:CH₄/N₂/H₂ plasmas

[Image: see text] We report a combined experimental and modeling study of microwave-activated dilute CH(4)/N(2)/H(2) plasmas, as used for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of diamond, under very similar conditions to previous studies of CH(4)/H(2), CH(4)/H(2)/Ar, and N(2)/H(2) gas mixtures. Using cavity ring-down spectroscopy, absolute column densities of CH(X, v = 0), CN(X, v = 0), and NH(X, v = 0) radicals in the hot plasma have been determined as functions of height, z, source gas mixing ratio, total gas pressure, p, and input power, P. Optical emission spectroscopy has been used to investigate, with respect to the same variables, the relative number densities of electronically excited species, namely, H atoms, CH, C(2), CN, and NH radicals and triplet N(2) molecules. The measurements have been reproduced and rationalized from first-principles by 2-D (r, z) coupled kinetic and transport modeling, and comparison between experiment and simulation has afforded a detailed understanding of C/N/H plasma-chemical reactivity and variations with process conditions and with location within the reactor. The experimentally validated simulations have been extended to much lower N(2) input fractions and higher microwave powers than were probed experimentally, providing predictions for the gas-phase chemistry adjacent to the diamond surface and its variation across a wide range of conditions employed in practical diamond-growing CVD processes. The strongly bound N(2) molecule is very resistant to dissociation at the input MW powers and pressures prevailing in typical diamond CVD reactors, but its chemical reactivity is boosted through energy pooling in its lowest-lying (metastable) triplet state and subsequent reactions with H atoms. For a CH(4) input mole fraction of 4%, with N(2) present at 1–6000 ppm, at pressure p = 150 Torr, and with applied microwave power P = 1.5 kW, the near-substrate gas-phase N atom concentration, [N](ns), scales linearly with the N(2) input mole fraction and exceeds the concentrations [NH](ns), [NH(2)](ns), and [CN](ns) of other reactive nitrogen-containing species by up to an order of magnitude. The ratio [N](ns)/[CH(3)](ns) scales proportionally with (but is 10(2)–10(3) times smaller than) the ratio of the N(2) to CH(4) input mole fractions for the given values of p and P, but [N](ns)/[CN](ns) decreases (and thus the potential importance of CN in contributing to N-doped diamond growth increases) as p and P increase. Possible insights regarding the well-documented effects of trace N(2) additions on the growth rates and morphologies of diamond films formed by CVD using MW-activated CH(4)/H(2) gas mixtures are briefly considered

Impact of hemoglobin levels and anemia on mortality in acute stroke: analysis of UK regional registry data, systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The impact of hemoglobin levels and anemia on stroke mortality remains controversial. We aimed to systematically assess this association and quantify the evidence. Methods and Results: We analysed data from a cohort of 8,013 stroke patients (mean (sd) 77.81±11.83 years) consecutively admitted over 11 years (January 2003–May 2015) using a UK Regional Stroke Register. The impact of hemoglobin levels and anemia on mortality was assessed by sex-specific values at different time points (7-day, 14-day, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, 1 year), using multiple regression models controlling for confounders. Anemia was present in 24.5% of the cohort on admission and was associated with increased odds of mortality at most of the time points examined up to 1 year following stroke. The association was less consistent for males with hemorrhagic stroke. Elevated haemoglobin was also associated with increased mortality, mainly within the first month. We then conducted a systematic review using the EMBASE and Medline databases. Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria. When combined with the cohort from the current study, this gave a pooled population of 29,943 patients with stroke. The evidence base was quantified in a meta-analysis. Anemia on admission was found to be associated with an increased risk of mortality in both ischemic stroke (8 studies); OR 1.97(1.56– 2.47) and hemorrhagic stroke (4 studies); OR 1.46(1.23–1.74). Conclusions: There is strong evidence that patients with anemia have increased mortality in stroke. Targeted interventions in this patient population may improve outcomes and therefore require further evaluation

Recommendations for the surveillance of education and employment outcomes in survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer: A report from the International Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Guideline Harmonization Group.

Educational achievement and employment outcomes are critical indicators of quality of life in survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) cancer. This review is aimed at providing an evidence-based clinical practice guideline (CPG) with internationally harmonized recommendations for the surveillance of education and employment outcomes in survivors of CAYA cancer diagnosed before the age of 30 years. The CPG was developed by a multidisciplinary panel under the umbrella of the International Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Guideline Harmonization Group. After evaluating concordances and discordances of 4 existing CPGs, the authors performed a systematic literature search through February 2021. They screened articles for eligibility, assessed quality, and extracted and summarized the data from included articles. The authors formulated recommendations based on the evidence and clinical judgment. There were 3930 articles identified, and 83 of them, originating from 17 countries, were included. On a group level, survivors were more likely to have lower educational achievement and more likely to be unemployed than comparisons. Key risk factors for poor outcomes included receiving a primary diagnosis of a central nervous system tumor and experiencing late effects. The authors recommend that health care providers be aware of the risk of educational and employment problems, implement regular surveillance, and refer survivors to specialists if problems are identified. In conclusion, this review presents a harmonized CPG that aims to facilitate evidence-based care, positively influence education and employment outcomes, and ultimately minimize the burden of disease and treatment-related late adverse effects for survivors of CAYA cancers. LAY SUMMARY: A multidisciplinary panel has developed guidelines for the surveillance of education and employment outcomes among survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer. On the basis of evidence showing that survivors are at risk for lower educational achievement and unemployment, it is recommended that all survivors receive regular screening for educational and employment outcomes

Biotransformation of Silver Released from Nanoparticle Coated Titanium Implants Revealed in Regenerating Bone

Antimicrobial silver nanoparticle coatings have attracted interest for reducing prosthetic joint infection. However, few studies report in vivo investigations of the biotransformation of silver nanoparticles within the regenerating tissue and its impact on bone formation. We present a longitudinal investigation of the osseointegration of silver nanoparticle-coated additive manufactured titanium implants in rat tibial defects. Correlative imaging at different time points using nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), histomorphometry, and 3D X-ray microcomputed tomography provided quantitative insight from the nano- to macroscales. The quality and quantity of newly formed bone is comparable between the uncoated and silver coated implants. The newly formed bone demonstrates a trabecular morphology with bone being located at the implant surface, and at a distance, at two weeks. Nanoscale elemental mapping of the bone−implant interface showed that silver was present primarily in the osseous tissue and colocalized with sulfur. TEM revealed silver sulfide nanoparticles in the newly regenerated bone, presenting strong evidence that the previously in vitro observed biotransformation of silver to silver sulfide occurs in vivo

Kailo: a systemic approach to addressing the social determinants of young people’s mental health and wellbeing at the local level [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is deteriorating. It is increasingly recognised that mental health is a systemic issue, with a wide range of contributing and interacting factors. However, the vast majority of attention and resources are focused on the identification and treatment of mental health disorders, with relatively scant attention on the social determinants of mental health and wellbeing and investment in preventative approaches. Furthermore, there is little attention on how the social determinants manifest or may be influenced at the local level, impeding the design of contextually nuanced preventative approaches. This paper describes a major research and design initiative called Kailo that aims to support the design and implementation of local and contextually nuanced preventative strategies to improve children's and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. The Kailo Framework involves structured engagement with a wide range of local partners and stakeholders - including young people, community partners, practitioners and local system leaders - to better understand local systemic influences and support programmes of youth-centred and evidence-informed co-design, prototyping and testing. It is hypothesised that integrating different sources of knowledge, experience, insight and evidence will result in better embedded, more sustainable and more impactful strategies that address the social determinants of young people’s mental health and wellbeing at the local level