Keeping the Economy on Track: The Role of Mediation, Super Mediation, and the National Mediation Board in Rail Labor Disputes

The threat of strike action by America’s railway workers in late summer 2022, in response to an inability to agree to a new contract acceptable to both management and labor, raised fears of a national economic shutdown. Although an agreement is pending ratification by rail union membership, a potential rail strike in an already-fragile economy highlighted an inherent tension in the way collective bargaining in the rail industry is governed under the Rail Labor Act (“RLA”). The RLA established a procedure-heavy process with designated roles for multiple federal government actors and an emphasis on mediation, establishing a new, independent executive agency, tasked with handling rail labor disputes, called the National Mediation Board (“NMB”). The most recent round of rail labor contract negotiations showcased the importance of the neutral mediation stage and the NMB in preventing economic shutdown, while also underscoring the politicization of rail negotiations under the RLA. This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on November 22, 2022. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above

Inclusivity for children with autism spectrum disorders: Parent’s reflections of the school learning environment versus home learning during COVID-19.

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Whilst attendance in mainstream school helps encourage inclusivity, these environments are recognised as being particularly challenging for young people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The COVID-19 pandemic brought a novel transition as young people moved from school to home-learning. This study compared the experiences of parents of children with ASD and co-occurring health difficulties of school-learning environments with their home-learning environments during COVID-19 lockdown. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted on semi-structured interviews from six parents of children (aged 8-15 years old) with ASD. Four superordinate themes were generated: Interactions between Health, ASD and Learning Environments; School Support and Managing Health Needs; Seeking Solutions; and Learning from COVID-19 Lockdown. The study highlighted the impact of ASD and co-occurring health difficulties on learning where parents found ways to provide positive home-learning environments which could be used and/or transferred back into school environments. These results hold real-world implications where educators could treat sensory and ASD friendly environments as standard and include genuine adjustments for children with ASD and additional needs. A flexible home-learning approach using parental knowledge around environmental adjustments that support learning, wellbeing and a sense of inclusion should be prioritised for children’s overall development and wellbeing in these unprecedented times, and beyond.Peer reviewe

Medicare Fraud in the United States: Can it Ever be Stopped?

The majority of the United States health care fraud has been focused on the major public program, Medicare. The yearly financial loss from Medicare fraud has been estimated at about $54 billion. The purpose of this research study was to explore the current state of Medicare fraud in the United States, identify current policies and laws that foster Medicare fraud, and determine the financial impact of Medicare fraud. The methodology for this study was a literature review. Research was conducted using a scholarly online database search and government Web sites. The number of individuals charged with criminal fraud increased from 797 cases in fiscal year 2008 to 1430 cases in fiscal year 2011—an increase of more than 75$25.2 million of taxpayers’ money. Educating providers about the policies and laws designed to prevent fraud would help them to become partners. Many new programs and partnerships with government agencies have also been developed to combat Medicare fraud. Medicare fraud has been a persistent crime, and laws and policies alone have not been enough to control the problem. With investments in governmental partnerships and new systems, the United States can reduce Medicare fraud but probably will not stop it altogether

Robotic Joint Replacement Surgery: Does Technology Improve Outcomes

Introduction: Osteoarthritis is a common disease that leads patients to seek Total Joint Replacement (TJR). Component misalignments leads to failure of TJR. Computer navigation enhances the precision of component alignment, but the addition of robotic guidance, can boost TJR to a higher level of accuracy. Methodology: This literature reviewed 29 English language peer reviewed articles from 2002 – 2013 and one website. A conceptual framework was adapted to explain benefits and barriers of adoption of robotic TJR. Results: A total of ten studies were reviewed with focus on more precise alignment, outcomes, length of stay, and costs. Cost to obtain robotic surgical equipment was found to be about $1 million with maintenance costs approaching$350,000. Discussion: Robotic techniques compared to conventional orthopedic surgery showed slight variances, in favor of robotic procedures. While hospitals have the potential to reduce costs and improve outcomes with robotic TJR, but the expenditure and maintenance have not been proven a clear ROI. Conclusion: As surgical robotic technology evolves in accuracy and accessibility, joint replacement surgery may benefit from improved precision and decreased healthcare costs. But, costs of equipment purchase, upkeep and surgeon training may impact its full potential in orthopedic surgery in the United States

Freshwater sponge hosts and their green algae symbionts: A tractable model to understand intracellular symbiosis

In many freshwater habitats, green algae form intracellular symbioses with a variety of heterotrophic host taxa including several species of freshwater sponge. These sponges perform important ecological roles in their habitats, and the poriferan:green algae partnerships offers unique opportunities to study the evolutionary origins and ecological persistence of endosymbioses. We examined the association between Ephydatia muelleri and its chlorophyte partner to identify features of host cellular and genetic responses to the presence of intracellular algal partners. Chlorella-like green algal symbionts were isolated from field-collected adult E. muelleri tissue harboring algae. The sponge-derived algae were successfully cultured and subsequently used to reinfect aposymbiotic E. muelleri tissue. We used confocal microscopy to follow the fate of the sponge-derived algae after inoculating algae-free E. muelleri grown from gemmules to show temporal patterns of symbiont location within host tissue. We also infected aposymbiotic E. muelleri with sponge-derived algae, and performed RNASeq to study differential expression patterns in the host relative to symbiotic states. We compare and contrast our findings with work in other systems (e.g., endosymbiotic Hydra) to explore possible conserved evolutionary pathways that may lead to stable mutualistic endosymbioses. Our work demonstrates that freshwater sponges offer many tractable qualities to study features of intracellular occupancy and thus meet criteria desired for a model system

Can the Use of Art and Active Learning Improve Retention and Observational Skill Confidence Among Audiology Graduate Students

Human anatomy and physiology is considered one of the most difficult courses a student can take in a pre-health professional major in the US (Slominski, et. al., 2017). Research has revealed benefits of the use of art and anatomy within medical education, including improved clinical observational skills, greater understanding of disease and patient perspectives, and greater ability to empathize (Bell & Evans, 2014). Bell and Evans (2014) argue that observational skills are often overlooked in medical education. Use of art assignments in a graduate anatomy and physiology course will be discussed with reference to design and learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between art and medical education for audiology students. This study aimed to incorporate STEAM education (art assignments, the teaching effect, and community outreach) into audiology curriculum. Auburn University’s Au.D. class of 2022 participated in this study, consisting of 10 students. The Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) questionnaire was conducted and provided qualitative and quantitative evidence supporting the integration of art in the Doctor of Audiology curriculum. BASE (pre) and SALG (post) outcomes assessed that the use of STEAM assignments can help improve the retention of the anatomy and physiology within of the auditory system. Cross-tabulations of pre and post course responses show a positive increase in student understanding of course material. A positive perception that art assignments enhanced student confidence and clinical observation skills related to the course was observed.  Many students felt they had a great gain in understanding covered topics. The effects of utilizing the teaching effect and community outreach were also positively seen by student participants. Students’ opinions following coursework and cross-tabulations support a place for art in health education and healthcare

Sperm DNA methylation mediates the association of male age on reproductive outcomes among couples undergoing infertility treatment

Parental age at time of offspring conception is increasing in developed countries. Advanced male age is associated with decreased reproductive success and increased risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring. Mechanisms for these male age effects remain unclear, but changes in sperm DNA methylation over time is one potential explanation. We assessed genome-wide methylation of sperm DNA from 47 semen samples collected from male participants of couples seeking infertility treatment. We report that higher male age was associated with lower likelihood of fertilization and live birth, and poor embryo development (p \u3c 0.05). Furthermore, our multivariable linear models showed male age was associated with alterations in sperm methylation at 1698 CpGs and 1146 regions (q \u3c 0.05), which were associated with \u3e 750 genes enriched in embryonic development, behavior and neurodevelopment among others. High dimensional mediation analyses identified four genes (DEFB126, TPI1P3, PLCH2 and DLGAP2) with age-related sperm differential methylation that accounted for 64% (95% CI 0.42–0.86%; p \u3c 0.05) of the effect of male age on lower fertilization rate. Our findings from this modest IVF population provide evidence for sperm methylation as a mechanism of age-induced poor reproductive outcomes and identifies possible candidate genes for mediating these effects

Methylation specific targeting of a chromatin remodeling complex from sponges to humans

DNA cytosine methylation and methyl-cytosine binding domain (MBD) containing proteins are found throughout all vertebrate species studied to date. However, both the presence of DNA methylation and pattern of methylation varies among invertebrate species. Invertebrates generally have only a single MBD protein, MBD2/3, that does not always contain appropriate residues for selectively binding methylated DNA. Therefore, we sought to determine whether sponges, one of the most ancient extant metazoan lineages, possess an MBD2/3 capable of recognizing methylated DNA and recruiting the associated nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex. We find that Ephydatia muelleri has genes for each of the NuRD core components including an EmMBD2/3 that selectively binds methylated DNA. NMR analyses reveal a remarkably conserved binding mode, showing almost identical chemical shift changes between binding to methylated and unmethylated CpG dinucleotides. In addition, we find that EmMBD2/3 and EmGATAD2A/B proteins form a coiled-coil interaction known to be critical for the formation of NuRD. Finally, we show that knockdown of EmMBD2/3 expression disrupts normal cellular architecture and development of E. muelleri. These data support a model in which the MBD2/3 methylation-dependent functional role emerged with the earliest multicellular organisms and has been maintained to varying degrees across animal evolution