The Effects of Music on Mood and Perception of a Visual Stimulus

We examined the influence of music on mood by instructing 81 undergraduate students to complete the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List–Revised (MAACLR) both before and after watching a 15-min video that was or was not paired with a piece of music. The 2 music categories were pleasant or depressing. Participants from the depressing group experienced a drop in positive affect, whereas participants from the pleasant group showed an increase on this measure. Men from the pleasant group had the highest pretreatment and lowest post treatment anxiety scores, whereas the women displayed no change in anxiety. The results indicate that music has only a slight impact on mood

Patient experiences of cancer care: scoping review, future directions, and introduction of a new data resource: Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results-Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (SEER-CAHPS)

The shift towards providing high value cancer care has placed increasing importance on patient experiences. This scoping review summarizes patient experience literature, highlights research gaps, and provides future research directions. We then introduce a new resource that links the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey and longitudinal medical claims data. We conducted a scoping review to identify relevant research within the Medicare CAHPS domain that examine factors associated with patient-reported experiences with their cancer care. Gaps indicate a need for population-based research to explore relationships between cancer patient experiences, healthcare utilization, and subsequent patient outcomes. SEER-CAHPS, a publicly accessible data resource, may assist in addressing these gaps by linking cancer registry (SEER), survey data reported by Medicare beneficiaries (CAHPS), and Medicare claims, providing unique insight into quality of care. Linked data include 231,089 surveys from patients with a cancer diagnosis, and 4,236,529 surveys from patients without a cancer diagnosis. Results indicate substantial gaps in our knowledge of patient experiences and the need for additional resources. SEER-CAHPS links direct patient feedback with cancer registry and Medicare claims, making it an important source of information on experiences and healthcare utilization. Increasing recognition of the importance of patient-centeredness points to the need for population-based studies. Findings from SEER-CAHPS will inform initiatives to improve care delivery

Growth Factor Binding Peptides in Poly (Ethylene Glycol) Diacrylate (PEGDA)-Based Hydrogels for an Improved Healing Response of Human Dermal Fibroblasts

Growth factors (GF) are critical cytokines in wound healing. However, the direct delivery of these biochemical cues into a wound site significantly increases the cost of wound dressings and can lead to a strong immunological response due to the introduction of a foreign source of GFs. To overcome this challenge, we designed a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel with the potential capacity to sequester autologous GFs directly from the wound site. We demonstrated that synthetic peptide sequences covalently tethered to PEGDA hydrogels physically retained human transforming growth factor beta 1 (hTGFβ1) and human vascular endothelial growth factor (hVEGF) at 3.2 and 0.6 ng/mm2, respectively. In addition, we demonstrated that retained hTGFβ1 and hVEGF enhanced human dermal fibroblasts (HDFa) average cell surface area and proliferation, respectively, and that exposure to both GFs resulted in up to 1.9-fold higher fraction of area covered relative to the control. After five days in culture, relative to the control surface, non-covalently bound hTGFβ1 significantly increased the expression of collagen type I and hTGFβ1 and downregulated vimentin and matrix metalloproteinase 1 expression. Cumulatively, the response of HDFa to hTGFβ1 aligns well with the expected response of fibroblasts during the early stages of wound healing

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Nuclear Physics

University of Dallas (UD) physics majors are offered a variety of undergraduate research opportunities in nuclear physics through an established program at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory (UKAL). The 7-MV Model CN Van de Graaff accelerator and the neutron production and detection facilities located there are used by UD students to investigate how neutrons scatter from materials that are important in nuclear energy production and for our basic understanding of how neutrons interact with matter. Recent student projects include modeling of the laboratory using the neutron transport code MCNP to investigate the effectiveness of laboratory shielding, testing the long-term gain stability of C6D6 liquid scintillation detectors, and deducing neutron elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections for 12C. Results of these student projects are presented that indicate the pit below the scattering area reduces background by as much as 30%; the detectors show no significant gain instabilities; and new insights into existing 12C neutron inelastic scattering cross-section discrepancies near a neutron energy of 6.0 MeV are obtained

0\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e States in \u3csup\u3e130,132\u3c/sup\u3eXe: A Search for E(5) Behavior

The level structures of 130,132Xe were studied with the inelastic neutron scattering reaction followed by γ-ray detection. Level lifetimes were measured using the Doppler-shift attenuation method and low-lying excited states in these nuclei were characterized. With a focus on the decay properties of the 0+ states, these nuclei were examined as representations of the E(5) critical-point symmetry

Neutron Scattering Cross Section Measurements for \u3csup\u3e56\u3c/sup\u3eFe

Elastic and inelastic differential cross sections for neutron scattering from 56Fe have been measured for several incident energies from 1.30 to 7.96 MeV at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory. Scattered neutrons were detected using a C6D6 liquid scintillation detector using pulse-shape discrimination and time-of-flight techniques. The deduced cross sections have been compared with previously reported data, predictions from evaluation databases ENDF, JENDL, and JEFF, and theoretical calculations performed using different optical model potentials using the TALYS and EMPIRE nuclear reaction codes. The coupled-channel calculations based on the vibrational and soft-rotor models are found to describe the experimental (n,n0) and (n,n1) cross sections well

Undergraduate Biology Education Research Gordon Research Conference: A Meeting Report

The 2019 Undergraduate Biology Education Research Gordon Research Conference (UBER GRC), titled “Achieving Widespread Improvement in Undergraduate Education,” brought together a diverse group of researchers and practitioners working to identify, promote, and understand widespread adoption of evidence-based teaching, learning, and success strategies in undergraduate biology. Graduate students and postdocs had the additional opportunity to present and discuss research during a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) that preceded the GRC. This report provides a broad overview of the UBER GRC and GRS and highlights major themes that cut across invited talks, poster presentations, and informal discussions. Such themes include the importance of working in teams at multiple levels to achieve instructional improvement, the potential to use big data and analytics to inform instructional change, the need to customize change initiatives, and the importance of psychosocial supports in improving undergraduate student well-being and academic success. The report also discusses the future of the UBER GRC as an established meeting and describes aspects of the conference that make it unique, both in terms of facilitating dissemination of research and providing a welcoming environment for conferees

Identification of Significant \u3cem\u3eE\u3c/em\u3e0 Strength in the 2\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e → 2\u3csub\u3e1\u3c/sub\u3e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e Transitions of \u3csup\u3e58,60,62\u3c/sup\u3eNi

The E0 transition strength in the 22+ → 21+ transitions of 58,60,62Ni have been determined for the first time following a series of measurements at the Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Kentucky (UK). The CAESAR Compton-suppressed HPGe array and the Super-e solenoid at ANU were used to measure the δ(E2/M1) mixing ratio and internal conversion coefficient of each transition following inelastic proton scattering. Level half-lives, δ(E2/M1) mixing ratios and γ-ray branching ratios were measured at UK following inelastic neutron scattering. The new spectroscopic information was used to determine the E0 strengths. These are the first 2+ → 2+ E0 transition strengths measured in nuclei with spherical ground states and the E0 component is found to be unexpectedly large; in fact, these are amongst the largest E0 transition strengths in medium and heavy nuclei reported to date

Abraham Model Correlations for Triethylene Glycol Solvent Derived from Infinite Dilution Activity Coefficient, Partition Coefficient and Solubility Data Measured at 298.15 K

This article describes the use of a gas chromatographic headspace analysis method to experimentally determine gas-to-liquid partition coefficients and infinite dilution activity coefficients for 29 liquid organic solutes dissolved in triethylene glycol at 298.15 K