Fostering medical students' lifelong learning skills with a dashboard, coaching and learning planning.

IntroductionTo develop lifelong learning skills, students need feedback, access to performance data, and coaching. A new medical curriculum incorporated infrastructural supports based on self-regulated learning theory and the Master Adaptive Learner framework to engage students in reflection and learning planning. This study examines students' experience with a performance dashboard, longitudinal coaching, and structured time for goal-setting.MethodsFocus groups with first-year medical students explored performance dashboard usage, coaching and learning planning. We analyzed findings using thematic analysis. Results informed development of a 29-item survey rated strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) to investigate experience with the dashboard, coaching and learning goals program. The survey was distributed to one first-year medical student class. We performed descriptive statistics and factor analysis.ResultsIn three focus groups with 21 participants, students endorsed using the dashboard to access performance information but had trouble interpreting and integrating information. They valued coaches as sources of advice but varied in their perceptions of the value of discussing learning planning. Of 152 students, 114 (75%) completed the survey. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 5 factors explaining 57% of the variance: learning goals development (α = 0.88; mean 3.25 (standard deviation 0.91)), dashboard usage (α = 0.82; 3.36 (0.64)), coaching (α = 0.71; 3.72 (0.64)), employment of learning strategies (α = 0.81; 3.67 (0.79)), and reflection (α = 0.63; 3.68 (0.64)).DiscussionThe student performance dashboard provides efficient feedback access, yet students' use of this information to guide learning is variable. These results can inform other programs seeking to foster lifelong learning skills

Enzymatic Activity in the Chorion for Hatching in the California Grunion

Leuresthes tenuis is a small, silverside fish that spawns on the beaches during some of the highest tides of the summer months. Of the many unique traits to the species including that the eggs develop fully out of water to the point of hatching competence but will not hatch until presented with an environmental cue, which causes them to hatch in less than a minute. The purpose of this study is to better understand the role of enzymes called chorionases, which act to break down the chorion (egg membrane). I hypothesize that the chorion begins to weaken in this species when it is hatching competent but before it receives the stimulus to hatch. Unlike most organisms, the grunion embryo reaches hatching competence when it is fully developed, once it reaches competence, it stalls development and waits for an environmental cue. Before this, the egg is not hatching competent and will not hatch even if the trigger is there. The fact that it hatches so quickly could be evidence that an enzyme is acting to break down the chorion and this is what I hypothesize causes hatching competence. Some related fish have two chorionases while some only have one. To see whether one or two enzymes act in hatching in the grunion, I made a solution of the hatching enzyme, concentrated it, ran both SDS-PAGE and native-PAGE gels to separate out the protein by size, and cut out and sent those bands away for sequencing. To test whether the egg weakens upon hatching competence, I measured change in diameter of eggs that were pressed under a weight. We found no significant difference in pliability between the two groups of eggs using this methodology. If there are two enzymes, one may be acting before the other. If there is only one enzyme, another mechanism is at play

Transitions of Care: Medication-Related Barriers Identified by Low Socioeconomic Patients of a Federally Qualified Health Center Following Hospital Discharge

This article describes a qualitative research study using a semi-structured interview process to describe barriers surrounding medication access, use, and adherence for recently discharged patients of a federally qualified health center. Common themes which emerged were: 1) Team assumptions regarding patient plans to access or appropriately use discharge medications negatively impact adherence; 2) Unmet expectation for care coordination between primary care physician (PCP) and hospital; 3) Disconnect between patients and health care workers leads to disengagement; and 4) Lack of personal contact hinders access to services

Whose Experiences Do We Understand? Generalizability Considerations When Analyzing Data about Massive Open Online Courses

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have generated considerable excitement and considerable skepticism since their recent inception (e.g., Kim, 2014; Perna et al., 2014). By fall 2015, approximately 35 million people had participated in 4200 courses offered by over 550 institutions (Shah, 2015). In addition to MOOCs’ potential for expanding access to higher education offerings, scholars have touted their potential for facilitating research about online learning (Eichhorn & Matkin, 2016; Haywood, 2016). However, many questions remain about what participants are actually learning from MOOCs and how researchers can best make use of the huge amount of data the courses generate. In Fall 2014, Oregon State University launched its first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Supporting English Language Learners Under New Standards. Funded by the Oregon Department of Education and created in partnership with Stanford University, this course was designed to provide K-12 teachers with specific professional development on fostering English learners’ skills in argumentation, a key practice emphasized in new education standards. As we have worked to understand what participants learned from this MOOC, we have encountered methodological issues that likely impact a wide variety of research on MOOCs. Specifically, because many participants in our MOOC began but did not complete the course, analyzing data collected at the end of the course provides information about a potentially nonrepresentative sample of participants that likely does not generalize to the full group who started the course. After describing the generalizability issues that arose in our own research, we describe potential approaches for addressing these issues in MOOC research more broadly

Epigenetic age acceleration in adolescence associates with BMI, inflammation and risk score for middle age cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND: 'Accelerated ageing', assessed by adult DNA methylation predicts cardiovascular disease (CVD). Adolescent accelerated aging might predict CVD earlier. We investigated whether epigenetic age acceleration (assessed age 17-years) associated with adiposity/CVD-risk measured (ages 17, 20, 22-years), and projected CVD by middle-age. METHODS: DNA methylation measured in peripheral blood provided 2 estimates of epigenetic age acceleration; intrinsic (IEAA, (preserved across cell types) and extrinsic (EEAA, dependent on cell admixture and methylation levels within each cell type).Adiposity was assessed by anthropometry, ultrasound and DEXA (ages 17, 20, 22 years). CVD-risk factors (lipids, HOMA-IR, blood pressure, inflammatory markers) were assessed at age 17-years. CVD development by age 47 years was calculated by Framingham algorithms. Results are presented as regression coefficients/5-year epigenetic age acceleration (IEAA/EEAA) for adiposity, CVD-risk factors and CVD development. RESULTS: In 995 participants (49.6% female, age 17.3+/-0.6 years), EEAA (/5-years) was associated with increased BMI of 2.4% (95%CI 1.2-3.6%) and 2.4% (0.8-3.9%) at 17 and 22 years, respectively. EEAA was associated with increases of 23% (3-33%) in hsCRP, 10% (4-17%) in interferon-gamma induced protein (IP-10) and 4% (2-6%) in tumour necrosis factor receptor 2 (sTNFR2), adjusted for BMI and HOMA-IR. EEAA(/5-years) results in a 4% increase in hard endpoints of CVD by 47 years old and a 3% increase, after adjustment for conventional risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Accelerated epigenetic age in adolescence was associated with inflammation, BMI measured 5 years later, and probability of middle-age CVD. Irrespective whether this is cause or effect, assessing epigenetic age might refine disease prediction

Measurement of the top quark forward-backward production asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic moments in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric (d̂ t) and chromomagnetic (μ̂ t) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The linearized variable AFB(1) is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate t t ¯ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for t t ¯ final states. The values found for the parameters are AFB(1)=0.048−0.087+0.095(stat)−0.029+0.020(syst),μ̂t=−0.024−0.009+0.013(stat)−0.011+0.016(syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of | d̂ t| < 0.03 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

Peer reviewe

An embedding technique to determine ττ backgrounds in proton-proton collision data

An embedding technique is presented to estimate standard model tau tau backgrounds from data with minimal simulation input. In the data, the muons are removed from reconstructed mu mu events and replaced with simulated tau leptons with the same kinematic properties. In this way, a set of hybrid events is obtained that does not rely on simulation except for the decay of the tau leptons. The challenges in describing the underlying event or the production of associated jets in the simulation are avoided. The technique described in this paper was developed for CMS. Its validation and the inherent uncertainties are also discussed. The demonstration of the performance of the technique is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected by CMS in 2017 at root s = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 41.5 fb(-1).Peer reviewe

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe