Temporal Use Patterns of Wintering Starlings at a Southeastern Livestock Farm: Implications for Damage Control

The farm use patterns of individually marked and transmitter-equipped starlings at a livestock farm in south-central Kentucky were studied each month during the principal damage period (December-February) of 1982-83 and 1984-85 following a pilot study in January and February of 1980. In addition to intensive observation at the farm, sightings of tagged starlings away from the farm were solicited from the public and mapped. For each year of data on individual starlings that used the farm at least once after marking, the expected frequencies of farm occurrence were calculated and compared to observed frequencies. In all 3 years, there was a significant (P \u3c 0.01) heterogeneity among birds in their frequency of farm use. The observed frequencies of daily farm use appeared bimodal suggesting starling subpopulations of frequent versus infrequent farm users. The preponderance of individuals occurred at the farm infrequently. Analysis of starling foraging patterns indicated that frequent farm visitors were also likely to use livestock feed sites more often than infrequent visitors. In 1984-85 the monthly starling turnover at the farm was calculated at 70.3% from December to January and 67.4% from January to February. Data on marked starling sightings away from the farm indicated that these individuals only moved a median distance of only 2.7 km from the farm suggesting a strong fidelity to their foraging area near the farm. The management implications of these data are discussed relative to integrated strategies of starling damage reduction at livestock farms in the southeastern United States

ASPECT: A Survey to Assess Student Perspective of Engagement in an Active-Learning Classroom

This paper describes the development and validation of a survey to measure students? self-reported engagement during a wide variety of in-class active-learning exercises. The survey provides researchers and instructors alike with a tool to rapidly evaluate different active-learning strategies from the perspective of the learner

Evaluation of a new Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility system for Gram-negative and Gram-positive bloodstream infections: speed and accuracy of Alfred 60AST.

BACKGROUND: Blood stream infections (BSIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The time from taking blood cultures to obtain results of antibiotic sensitivity can be up to five days which impacts patient care. The Alfred 60 AST™ can reduce laboratory time from positive culture bottle to susceptibility results from 16 to 25 h to 5-6 h, transforming patient care. To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a rapid antimicrobial susceptibility system, the Alfred 60 AST™, in clinical isolates from patients with BSIs and confirm time to results. 301 Gram-negative and 86 Gram-positive isolates were analysed directly from positive blood culture bottles following Gram staining. Antimicrobial susceptibility results and time-to-results obtained by rapid Alfred 60 AST system and BD Phoenix were compared . RESULTS: A total of 2196 antimicrobial susceptibility test results (AST) were performed: 1863 Gram-negative and 333 Gram-positive. AST categorical agreement (CA) for Alfred 60 AST™ was 95% (1772/1863) for Gram-negative and 89% (295/333) for Gram-positive isolates. Gram-negative CA: ampicillin 96% (290/301); ciprofloxacin 95% (283/297); ceftriaxone 96% (75/78); meropenem 97% (288/297); piperacillin-tazobactam 95% (280/295); gentamicin 94% (279/297) and amikacin 93% (277/298). The median time to susceptibility results from blood culture flagging positive was 6.3 h vs 20 h (p < 0.01) for Alfred system vs BD Phoenix™. CONCLUSION: Alfred 60 AST system greatly reduced time to antimicrobial susceptibility results in Gram-negative and Gram-positive BSIs with good performance and cost, particularly for Gram-negative bacteraemia

BioSkills Guide: Development and National Validation of a Tool for Interpreting the Vision and Change Core Competencies

To excel in modern science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers, biology majors need a range of transferable skills, yet competency development is often a relatively underdeveloped facet of the undergraduate curriculum. We have elaborated the Vision and Change core competency framework into a resource called the BioSkills Guide, a set of measurable learning outcomes that can be more readily implemented by faculty. Following an iterative review process including more than 200 educators, we gathered evidence of the BioSkills Guide’s content validity using a national survey of more than 400 educators. Rates of respondent support were high (74.3–99.6%) across the 77 outcomes in the final draft. Our national sample during the development and validation phases included college biology educators representing more than 250 institutions, including 73 community colleges, and a range of course levels and biology subdisciplines. Comparison of the BioSkills Guide with other science competency frameworks reveals significant overlap but some gaps and ambiguities. These differences may reflect areas where understandings of competencies are still evolving in the undergraduate biology community, warranting future research. We envision the BioSkills Guide supporting a variety of applications in undergraduate biology, including backward design of individual lessons and courses, competency assessment development, and curriculum mapping and planning

Predicting Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase and Carbapenem Resistance in Enterobacteriaceae Bacteremia: A Diagnostic Model Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Enterobacteriaceae bacteremia, particularly when associated with antimicrobial resistance, can result in increased mortality, emphasizing the need for timely effective therapy. Clinical risk prediction models are promising tools, stratifying patients based on their risk of resistance due to ESBL and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in bloodstream infections (BSIs) and, thereby, improving therapeutic decisions. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized the literature on the performance of these models. Searches of PubMed and EMBASE led to the identification of 10 relevant studies with 6106 unique patient encounters. Nine studies concerned ESBL prediction, and one focused on the prediction of carbapenemases. For the two ESBL model derivation studies, the discrimination performance showed sensitivities of 53–85% and specificities of 93–95%. Among the four ESBL model derivation and validation studies, the sensitivities were 43–88%, and the specificities were 77–99%. The sensitivity and specificity for the subsequent external validation studies were 7–37% and 88–96%, respectively. For the three external validation studies, only two models were evaluated across multiple studies, with a pooled AUROC of 65–71%, with one study omitting the sensitivity/specificity. Only two studies measured clinical utility through hypothetical therapy assessments. Given the limited evidence on their interventional application, it would be beneficial to further assess these or future models, to better understand their clinical utility and ensure their safe and impactful implementation

An Asphaltum Coiled Basket Impression, Tarring Pebbles, and Middle Holocene Water Bottles from San Miguel Island, California

A stratified and deeply buried Middle Holocene shell midden (CA-SMI-396) on San Miguel Island recently produced evidence of the earliest securely dated water bottle and tarring pebbles in southern California. Several asphaltum basketry impressions, including what appears to be a fragment of a coiled basket, and two tarring pebble features were found eroding from shell midden deposits dating as early as 5130 cal BP. We suggest that water bottle production may have developed during the Middle Holocene on the Channel Islands, where fresh water resources were scarce, as a response to the relatively warm and dry periods of the Middle Holocene. The coiled basketry impression is unique for this time period in the Chumash area and its implications are difficult to assess

BioSkills Guide: Development and National Validation of a Tool for Interpreting the Vision and Change Core Competencies

To excel in modern science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers, biology majors need a range of transferable skills, yet competency development is often a relatively underdeveloped facet of the undergraduate curriculum. We have elaborated the Vision and Change core competency framework into a resource called the BioSkills Guide, a set of measurable learning outcomes that can be more readily implemented by faculty. Following an iterative review process including more than 200 educators, we gathered evidence of the BioSkills Guide’s content validity using a national survey of more than 400 educators. Rates of respondent support were high (74.3–99.6%) across the 77 outcomes in the final draft. Our national sample during the development and validation phases included college biology educators representing more than 250 institutions, including 73 community colleges, and a range of course levels and biology subdisciplines. Comparison of the BioSkills Guide with other science competency frameworks reveals significant overlap but some gaps and ambiguities. These differences may reflect areas where understandings of competencies are still evolving in the undergraduate biology community, warranting future research. We envision the BioSkills Guide supporting a variety of applications in undergraduate biology, including backward design of individual lessons and courses, competency assessment development, and curriculum mapping and planning