Project ATLANTIS: Applied Technology Learning Activities for Non-Traditional Instruction on Space

As commercial and governmental space endeavors increase in number and complexity, the need for people educated in space policy and law will also grow. In order to create this well-educated group of space professionals, a sophisticated space policy and law curriculum is needed. As accessibility of technology increases and more students are becoming digital natives, the importance of non-traditional curriculums increases. This paper describes an educational experiment in which students in an independent study course created space policy and law educational videos based on topics within the curriculum of an existing undergraduate space law course. Two educational models can be derived from this experiment: the creation of the videos as a special project within a traditional classroom or independent study course, or administering the completed videos as part of a flipped-classroom model. This paper proposes measures of success for both educational models derived from the experiment as well. Beyond engaging students in a flexible, non-traditional curriculum, the benefit of creating the videos was threefold: the activity taught the students the material, developed the digital literacies of the student-creators, and created materials that could be used in a flipped-classroom or a traditional educational setting, or as capacity-building materials. Capacity-building materials are not limited to students at the college levels, but are available through organizations like the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs for any situation in which subject matter expertise is lacking. The course materials created in this experiment could be used to complement space law capacity-building materials, for the benefit of all, regardless of gender, generation, or geography. A further benefit to the educational materials made in this project is that they could be used for space law outreach

Exploring Dietary Patterns with the Rapid Eating and Activity Assessment for Patients (REAP) Tool in a Dental School Clinic

Background: Dietary pattern assessment by healthcare providers leads to a better understanding of usual intake and evaluation of nutritional status, systemic health, and disease. Interprofessional team members can use such information to provide interventions leading to improved health outcomes. Objective: The aim was to explore the dietary patterns of adults seen in a dental clinic using the Rapid Eating and Activity Assessment for Patients (REAP) tool. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of data from 220 adult patients (aged 18-89 years) who had a diet evaluation completed in a dental school clinic. Demographic information and REAP responses were obtained from the electronic health record and reported using frequency distributions. Results: The study sample (N=220) was 50.0% male (n= 110). The median (IQR) age and BMI were 56.0 years (IQR=48.2, 66.0) and 28.0 kg/m2 (IQR= 24.3, 32.8 kg/m2), respectively; 73.5% had a BMI considered overweight or obese. Approximately one-third reported usually/sometimes eating sweets more than twice/day (n=74, 35.9%) and drinking more than 16 ounces of SSBs (n=74, 34.1%). Most reported usually/sometimes eating less than 3 servings of whole grains (n=165, 75.0%), 2-3 servings of fruit (n=155, 71.1%), or 3-4 servings of vegetables (n=121, 70.8%) daily. Seventy-two percent (n=156) indicated they were willing to make dietary changes. Conclusion: This study revealed that the dietary patterns of adults seen in a dental school clinic did not align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations. Diet assessment is feasible in this setting and may be an important part of interprofessional education

Project ATLANTIS (Applied Technology Learning Activities for Non-Traditional Instruction in Space)

As commercial and governmental space endeavors increase in number and complexity, the need for people educated in space policy and law will also grow. In order to create this well-educated group of space professionals, a sophisticated space policy and law curriculum is needed. As accessibility of technology increases and more students are becoming digital natives, the importance of non-traditional curriculums increases. This paper describes an educational experiment in which students in an independent study course created space policy and law educational videos based on topics within the curriculum of an existing undergraduate space law course. Two educational models can be derived from this experiment: the creation of the videos as a special project within a traditional classroom or independent study course, or administering the completed videos as part of a flipped-classroom model. This paper proposes measures of success for both educational models derived from the experiment as well. Beyond engaging students in a flexible, non-traditional curriculum, the benefit of creating the videos was threefold: the activity taught the students the material, developed the digital literacies of the student-creators, and created materials that could be used in a flipped-classroom or a traditional educational setting, or as capacity-building materials. Capacity-building materials are not limited to students at the college levels, but are available through organizations like the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs for any situation in which subject matter expertise is lacking. The course materials created in this experiment could be used to complement space law capacity-building materials, for the benefit of all, regardless of gender, generation, or geography. A further benefit to the educational materials made in this project is that they could be used for space law outreach

Smoking Enhances Risk for New External Genital Warts in Men

Repeat episodes of HPV-related external genital warts reflect recurring or new infections. No study before has been sufficiently powered to delineate how tobacco use, prior history of EGWs and HIV infection affect the risk for new EGWs. Behavioral, laboratory and examination data for 2,835 Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study participants examined at 21,519 semi-annual visits were evaluated. Fourteen percent (391/2835) of men reported or were diagnosed with EGWs at 3% (675/21,519) of study visits. Multivariate analyses showed smoking, prior episodes of EGWs, HIV infection and CD4+ T-lymphocyte count among the infected, each differentially influenced the risk for new EGWs

Smoking Enhances Risk for New External Genital Warts in Men

Repeat episodes of HPV-related external genital warts reflect recurring or new infections. No study before has been sufficiently powered to delineate how tobacco use, prior history of EGWs and HIV infection affect the risk for new EGWs. Behavioral, laboratory and examination data for 2,835 Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study participants examined at 21,519 semi-annual visits were evaluated. Fourteen percent (391/2835) of men reported or were diagnosed with EGWs at 3% (675/21,519) of study visits. Multivariate analyses showed smoking, prior episodes of EGWs, HIV infection and CD4+ T-lymphocyte count among the infected, each differentially influenced the risk for new EGWs

2018 Scholars at Work Conference Program

Program for the 2018 Scholars at Work Conference at Minnesota State University, Mankato on March 30, 2018

Multisociety statement on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination as a condition of employment for healthcare personnel

This consensus statement by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA), the Association for Professionals in Epidemiology and Infection Control (APIC), the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) recommends that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination should be a condition of employment for all healthcare personnel in facilities in the United States. Exemptions from this policy apply to those with medical contraindications to all COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States and other exemptions as specified by federal or state law. The consensus statement also supports COVID-19 vaccination of nonemployees functioning at a healthcare facility (eg, students, contract workers, volunteers, etc)

The genomic landscape of balanced cytogenetic abnormalities associated with human congenital anomalies

Despite the clinical significance of balanced chromosomal abnormalities (BCAs), their characterization has largely been restricted to cytogenetic resolution. We explored the landscape of BCAs at nucleotide resolution in 273 subjects with a spectrum of congenital anomalies. Whole-genome sequencing revised 93% of karyotypes and demonstrated complexity that was cryptic to karyotyping in 21% of BCAs, highlighting the limitations of conventional cytogenetic approaches. At least 33.9% of BCAs resulted in gene disruption that likely contributed to the developmental phenotype, 5.2% were associated with pathogenic genomic imbalances, and 7.3% disrupted topologically associated domains (TADs) encompassing known syndromic loci. Remarkably, BCA breakpoints in eight subjects altered a single TAD encompassing MEF2C, a known driver of 5q14.3 microdeletion syndrome, resulting in decreased MEF2C expression. We propose that sequence-level resolution dramatically improves prediction of clinical outcomes for balanced rearrangements and provides insight into new pathogenic mechanisms, such as altered regulation due to changes in chromosome topology

Harnessing the NEON data revolution to advance open environmental science with a diverse and data-capable community

It is a critical time to reflect on the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) science to date as well as envision what research can be done right now with NEON (and other) data and what training is needed to enable a diverse user community. NEON became fully operational in May 2019 and has pivoted from planning and construction to operation and maintenance. In this overview, the history of and foundational thinking around NEON are discussed. A framework of open science is described with a discussion of how NEON can be situated as part of a larger data constellation—across existing networks and different suites of ecological measurements and sensors. Next, a synthesis of early NEON science, based on >100 existing publications, funded proposal efforts, and emergent science at the very first NEON Science Summit (hosted by Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in October 2019) is provided. Key questions that the ecology community will address with NEON data in the next 10 yr are outlined, from understanding drivers of biodiversity across spatial and temporal scales to defining complex feedback mechanisms in human–environmental systems. Last, the essential elements needed to engage and support a diverse and inclusive NEON user community are highlighted: training resources and tools that are openly available, funding for broad community engagement initiatives, and a mechanism to share and advertise those opportunities. NEON users require both the skills to work with NEON data and the ecological or environmental science domain knowledge to understand and interpret them. This paper synthesizes early directions in the community’s use of NEON data, and opportunities for the next 10 yr of NEON operations in emergent science themes, open science best practices, education and training, and community building