Screening for Color Vision Deficiency in Health Science Students

Purpose: Various professions require employees to be able to detect different shades of color accurately when visually reading test results with colorimetric end points. To prepare health science students to better meet this requirement, a screening test for color vision deficiency (CVD) was administered to detect any major or minor errors as part of the undergraduate student experience. Method: Screening for color vision deficiency was administered using the Farnsworth D-15 Color Vision Test. Students completed the test and their results were scored and interpreted at the time of completion. Results: Students (n=85) from nine different health science programs completed the Farnsworth D-15 Color Vision Test. Ages of the participants ranged from 18-63 years with 70% of the participants in the age range of 18-23 years. Seventy-one percent of the participants identified as female, 28% identified as males, and 1% identified as non-binary. Two students (one female and one male) had a minor error resulting in a crossover within the test circle on the Gulden test score sheet. There were no major errors identified in the 85 participants. Conclusion: While two minor errors were detected in this population, this data is not consistent with other CVD studies. This most likely is due to screening predominately female students, and/or the amount of time allotted for each individual test to be completed. Future studies will include expanding the participant numbers, with a focus on testing more male participants, limiting the number of minutes to complete the screening process, and collecting additional demographic data

Transforming Caregiving: African American Custodial Grandmothers and the Child Welfare System

Growing numbers of African American grandmothers are raising grandchildren under the auspices of the child welfare system; however, little is known about the manner in which child welfare policies and practices impact custodial grandparenting. Based on focus groups with African American grandmothers who are raising grandchildren as formal kinship caregivers, this study explored the ways in which the new formalized relationship between the child welfare system and African American custodial grandmothers is transforming the meanings and practices related to intergenerational caregiving in African American families. Drawing on cultural and historical traditions, grandmothers forge a transformative partnership with child welfare that embodies the inherent tensions in the grandmothers\u27 private-public role as formal kinship caregivers. Implications of an intergenerational approach to child welfare policy and practices are discussed in this paper

Infusing a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) into an Allied Health Curriculum

Purpose: Infusion of a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) into an existing research design course in an applied science curriculum allowed medical laboratory science students (n=22) to each be a contributing team member in a hand’s-on research experience, where most of the work was completed during the class time on campus. This design allowed for equal access, an equitable experience, and inclusion of all students enrolled in the course. Methods: Students and instructors worked together to develop a research question. The group agreed that the research question would be to determine the number of environmental specimens that were positive for mycobacteria species in residential plumbing specimens from different faucets and showerheads within residences in local areas. Before the actual collection of specimens, students reviewed the literature and completed more traditional modules in research ethics and Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training. Once that was completed, students designed and assembled the collection kits, collected and processed the specimens, and reported their results. Results: Students completed most tasks during the designated class time, and those tasks that had to be completed outside of class were not overwhelming for the students either in time or effort. The students’ reflections as the human subjects in this CURE indicated that 1) 90% of the students agreed they had a better understanding of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process, 2) 100% of the students agreed the collection process was easily completed, 3) 100% of the students agreed the specimen testing was easily completed and interpreted, and 4) 100% of the students agreed the required parameters of a CURE were met. Conclusion: A CURE can be infused successfully into an applied science course allowing every student to become a contributing member of the research team

Pharmacotherapy for Chronic Insomnia: A Brief Survey of PCP Attitudes and Preferences

Purpose: To examine primary care professionals (PCP) attitudes and prescribing preferences toward hypnotic medications to treat chronic insomnia. Methods: An online survey was sent to members of the Dartmouth CO-OP, a practice-based primary care research network in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The survey begins with a case vignette of a 64-year old woman suffering from chronic insomnia. Clinicians were then presented with eight questions about management of the patient and their attitudes toward prescribing medications, focusing on benzodiazepines/benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BDZ/BZRAs). Results: 103 of 198 clinicians (52%) responded. Regarding choice of medication for the case vignette, 80% of respondents preferred the off-label use of hypnotics such as trazodone or melatonin; 11% stated they would choose BDZs and 21% would choose BZRAs. Strong majorities expressed that negative consequences would occur with use of BDZ/BZRAs, including tolerance (77%), dependence (68%), other side effects (53%), and addiction (51%). PCP preference for off- label prescribing was correlated to levels of concern about harms (addiction, dependence, tolerance, side effects) of BDZ/BZRAs as measured on a global medication risk score in this survey. In addition, 14% of respondents felt that pharmacotherapy was not an appropriate therapeutic option for chronic insomnia in the case vignette. Conclusion: Most of the clinicians surveyed acknowledged a legitimate role for hypnotic medications in chronic insomnia but expressed reservations toward BDZ/BZRAs despite their FDA approval and proven efficacy. There appears to be a gap between published guidelines for selection of sedative-hypnotic medications and PCP preferences

Algal food and fuel coproduction can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while improving land and water-use efficiency

The goals of ensuring energy, water, food, and climate security can often conflict.Microalgae (algae) are being pursued as a feedstockfor both food and fuels—primarily due to algae’s high areal yield and ability to grow on non-arable land, thus avoiding common bioenergy-food tradeoffs. However, algal cultivation requires significant energy inputs that may limit potential emission reductions.We examine the tradeoffs associated with producing fuel andfood from algae at the energy–food–water–climate nexus.We use the GCAM integrated assessment model to demonstrate that algalfood production can promote reductions in land-use change emissions through the offset of conventional agriculture. However,fuel production, either via co-production of algal food and fuel or complete biomass conversion to fuel, is necessary to ensure long-term emission reductions, due to the high energy costs of cultivation. Cultivation of salt– water algae for food products may lead to substantial freshwater savings; but, nutrients for algae cultivation will need to be sourced from waste streams to ensure sustainability. By reducing the land demand of food production, while simultaneously enhancingfood and energy security, algae can further enable the development of terrestrial bioenergy technologies including those utilizing carbon capture and storage. Our results demonstrate that large-scale algae research and commercialization efforts should focus on developing both food and energy products to achieve environmental goals.https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/11/114006/metaPublished versio

Adaptive carbon export response to warming in the Sargasso Sea

Ocean ecosystem models predict that warming and increased surface ocean stratification will trigger a series of ecosystem events, reducing the biological export of particulate carbon to the ocean interior. We present a nearly three-decade time series from the open ocean that documents a biological response to ocean warming and nutrient reductions wherein particulate carbon export is maintained, counter to expectations. Carbon export is maintained through a combination of phytoplankton community change to favor cyanobacteria with highcellular carbon-to-phosphorus ratios and enhanced shallow phosphorus recycling leading to increased nutrient use efficiency. These results suggest that surface ocean ecosystems may be more responsive and adapt more rapidly to changes in the hydrographic system than is currently envisioned in earth ecosystem models, with positive consequences for ocean carbon uptake

Development and Utility of Quality Metrics for Ambulatory Pediatric Cardiology in Kawasaki Disease.

The Adult Congenital and Pediatric Cardiology (ACPC) Section of the American College of Cardiology sought to develop quality indicators/metrics for ambulatory pediatric cardiology practice. The objective of this study was to report the creation of metrics for patients with Kawasaki disease. Over a period of 5 months, 12 pediatric cardiologists developed 24 quality metrics based on the most relevant statements, guidelines, and research studies pertaining to Kawasaki disease. Of the 24 metrics, the 8 metrics deemed the most important, feasible, and valid were sent on to the ACPC for consideration. Seven of the 8 metrics were approved using the RAND method by an expert panel. All 7 metrics approved by the ACPC council were accepted by ACPC membership after an "open comments" process. They have been disseminated to the pediatric cardiology community for implementation by the ACPC Quality Network