Peer assisted learning (PAL) project for intern development

Description of How the Problem was Identified and Explored: A common complaint among our intern and upper level house staff is the lack of training interns receive regarding efficiency of the pre-rounding process and training with the EMR. Additionally, the ward teams are often burdened with work and find it difficlut to provide extra support to struggling team members. Description of the Innovation: A collaborative effort between the chief residents and senior residents identified as having scored high marks in efficiency and familiarity with the EMR resulted in a series of documents highlighting efficient pre-rounding techniques. Also, senior residents on electives were paired with interns starting an inpatient ward or critical care service for the first time and pre-rounded with those interns for two days at the start of their rotation, allowing a supportive environment in which to implement the efficient techniques. Results to date: Collection data is via a questionnaire, and results are still being acquired. We currently have two additional months in which we plan to observe this project. Initial data returned shows a signifant improvement in 1) Efficiency of the pre-rounding process, 2) Comfort with the pre-rounding process, 3) Quality of the pre-rounding process and 4) Familiarity with the EMR. Respondents have recommended that the project continue next year beginning at the start of intern year, and current interns who were included in the project have identified themselves as hoping to serve as future mentors in the PAL program. Discussion/Reflection/Lessons Learned: Though efficiency and the use of EMR are topics addressed in our intern orientation, it is difficult to retain this information without being able to immediately utilize or implement information. The busy nature of the inpatient ward teams can make it difficult for a particular ward team to provide additional support to struggling team members regarding ways to improve efficiency. By utilizing our house staff currently on elective rotations, the PAL project is able to provide this support prophylactically to all interns starting an unfamiliar rotation, resulting in improved performance for the intern and a more active educator experience for the senior resident

Conscription, of Secession. A Lecture, bv Tilqhman R. Vestal. [Caption title]

(CONFEDERATE.). VESTAL, TILGHMAN R. Conscription, of Secession. A Lecture, bv Tilqhman R. Vestal. [Caption title]. 8vo broadside; old breaks and frayed margins repaired. Rebacked. Little Compton, R.l: Press of P.F. Littie, [ca. 1866]. Some staining. $1,000.00 Highly unusual. An unwilling conscript for the Confederate Army. 20892 Confederate Pacifist"The subject includes unparalleled experience among the Rebels. The Lecturer was conscripted three times but sturdily refused to bear arms, in cgnsequence of which, various punishments were inflicted. The most important of which were seventeen stabs from the bayonet. Five months were spent in prison, during which time the lecture to be delivered was written." Pencil marks indicate that admittance was 20 cents, at the Villaqe Hall on March 16, presumably in Little Compton, R.l. The Confederacy established conscription on April 16, 1862, a full eleven months ahead of the Union, despite Southern state sovereignty beliefs, placing conscription power in the hands of the central government. Vestal resisted the call three times and evidently barely lived to tell about it

Alfalfa variety performance in central Texas

Last updated: 10/19/201

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Members\u27 Preferred Sources of Animal Health Information

The nation’s agriculture and food infrastructure is vulnerable to significant social disruption and economic loss from hazards. Biological hazards, such as animal disease epidemics, have resulted in millions of dollars of economic loss and the death of millions of livestock in the past, and it will happen again unless infrastructure stakeholders adopt proper preventative measures. From farm to plate, defense starts on the farm with producers. With the multitude of potential hazards, many factors influence livestock producers’ protective action decision process. A major factor in the decision to take a protective action is from where or from whom the threat information originates. By identifying preferred sources, perceived credible sources, and preferred formats of animal health information by producers, risk communicators can more effectively develop critical animal health warnings and messages to promote rapid detection of hazards. This study targeted 7,661 members of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. An online questionnaire developed from previous research with similar populations allowed TSCRA members to respond to questions related to the objectives of this study. A representative sample of TSCRA members from Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico responded and identified high levels of perceived trust and reliability in local veterinarians as a source of information along with livestock associations and county extension offices. TSCRA members also indicated they have multiple preferred formats for receiving animal health information. By using this information when communicating possible hazards, protective action from such threats will become more probable in this population

Psychosocial work environment stressors for school staff during the COVID-19 pandemic: Barriers and facilitators for supporting wellbeing

INTRODUCTION: After periods of remote and/or hybrid learning as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the return to in-person learning has been beneficial for both students and teachers, but it has not been without challenges. This study was designed to assess the impact of the return to in-person learning on the school experience, and efforts made to ease the transition in furthering a positive in-person learning environment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a series of listening sessions with 4 stakeholder groups: students ( RESULTS: Three main themes emerged around school staff experiences: (1) increased levels of stress and anxiety manifested in key ways, including students\u27 challenges with personal behavior management contributing to increased aggression and staff shortages; (2) school staff described key contributors to stress and anxiety, including feeling excluded from decision making and challenges with clear and consistent communication; and (3) school staff described key facilitators that supported their management of anxiety and stress, including adaptability, heightened attention and resources to wellbeing, and leveraging interpersonal relationships. DISCUSSION: School staff and students faced significant stress and anxiety during the 2021-2022 school year. Further exploration and identification of approaches to mitigate key contributors to increased stress and anxiety for school staff, along with increased opportunities for implementing key facilitators that were identified as important in managing and navigating the increased stress and anxiety offer valuable opportunities for helping to create a supportive work environment for school staff in the future

Magnetism, FeS colloids, and Origins of Life

A number of features of living systems: reversible interactions and weak bonds underlying motor-dynamics; gel-sol transitions; cellular connected fractal organization; asymmetry in interactions and organization; quantum coherent phenomena; to name some, can have a natural accounting via $physical$ interactions, which we therefore seek to incorporate by expanding the horizons of `chemistry-only' approaches to the origins of life. It is suggested that the magnetic 'face' of the minerals from the inorganic world, recognized to have played a pivotal role in initiating Life, may throw light on some of these issues. A magnetic environment in the form of rocks in the Hadean Ocean could have enabled the accretion and therefore an ordered confinement of super-paramagnetic colloids within a structured phase. A moderate H-field can help magnetic nano-particles to not only overcome thermal fluctuations but also harness them. Such controlled dynamics brings in the possibility of accessing quantum effects, which together with frustrations in magnetic ordering and hysteresis (a natural mechanism for a primitive memory) could throw light on the birth of biological information which, as Abel argues, requires a combination of order and complexity. This scenario gains strength from observations of scale-free framboidal forms of the greigite mineral, with a magnetic basis of assembly. And greigite's metabolic potential plays a key role in the mound scenario of Russell and coworkers-an expansion of which is suggested for including magnetism.Comment: 42 pages, 5 figures, to be published in A.R. Memorial volume, Ed Krishnaswami Alladi, Springer 201

Modular Mass Spectrometric Tool for Analysis of Composition and Phosphorylation of Protein Complexes

The combination of high accuracy, sensitivity and speed of single and multiple-stage mass spectrometric analyses enables the collection of comprehensive sets of data containing detailed information about complex biological samples. To achieve these properties, we combined two high-performance matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass analyzers in one modular mass spectrometric tool, and applied this tool for dissecting the composition and post-translational modifications of protein complexes. As an example of this approach, we here present studies of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae anaphase-promoting complexes (APC) and elucidation of phosphorylation sites on its components. In general, the modular concept we describe could be useful for assembling mass spectrometers operating with both matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) ion sources into powerful mass spectrometric tools for the comprehensive analysis of complex biological samples

Detailed Structural Analysis of Lipids Directly on Tissue Specimens Using a MALDI-SpiralTOF-Reflectron TOF Mass Spectrometer

Direct tissue analysis using a novel tandem time-of-flight (TOF-TOF) mass spectrometer is described. This system consists of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization ion source, a spiral ion trajectory TOF mass spectrometer “SpiralTOF (STOF)”, a collision cell, and an offset parabolic reflectron (RTOF). The features of this system are high precursor ion selectivity due to a 17-m flight path length in STOF and elimination of post-source decay (PSD) ions. The acceleration energy is 20 keV, so that high-energy collision-induced dissociation (HE-CID) is possible. Elimination of PSD ions allows observation of the product ions inherent to the HE-CID process. By using this tandem TOF instrument, the product ion spectrum of lipids provided detailed structural information of fatty acid residues