Girls Are Good At STEM: Opening Minds And Providing Evidence Reduce Boys\u27 Stereotyping Of Girls\u27 STEM Ability

Girls and women face persistent negative stereotyping within STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). This field intervention was designed to improve boys\u27 perceptions of girls\u27 STEM ability. Boys (N = 667; mostly White and East Asian) aged 9-15 years in Canadian STEM summer camps (2017-2019) had an intervention or control conversation with trained camp staff. The intervention was a multi-stage persuasive appeal: a values affirmation, an illustration of girls\u27 ability in STEM, a personalized anecdote, and reflection. Control participants discussed general camp experiences. Boys who received the intervention (vs. control) had more positive perceptions of girls\u27 STEM ability, d = 0.23, an effect stronger among younger boys. These findings highlight the importance of engaging elementary-school-aged boys to make STEM climates more inclusive

Advances in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs): challenges and road-map for future development

Recent advances in wireless communication technologies and auto-mobile industry have triggered a significant research interest in the field of vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) over the past few years. A vehicular network consists of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications supported by wireless access technologies such as IEEE 802.11p. This innovation in wireless communication has been envisaged to improve road safety and motor traffic efficiency in near future through the development of intelligent transportation system (ITS). Hence, governments, auto-mobile industries and academia are heavily partnering through several ongoing research projects to establish standards for VANETs. The typical set of VANET application areas, such as vehicle collision warning and traffic information dissemination have made VANET an interesting field of mobile wireless communication. This paper provides an overview on current research state, challenges, potentials of VANETs as well as the ways forward to achieving the long awaited ITS

Epidural Nerve Blocks Increase Intraoperative Vasopressor Consumption and Delay Surgical Start Time in Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Free Flap Breast Reconstruction

Background:. Epidural nerve blocks (EA) have been widely used in abdominal and thoracic surgery as an adjunct to general anesthesia (GA). The role for EA in microsurgical free flap breast reconstruction remains unclear with concerns regarding its impact on flap survival and operating room efficiency. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of epidural blocks in patients undergoing deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap breast reconstruction. Methods:. A retrospective analysis of patients undergoing DIEP breast reconstruction under GA alone was compared with those receiving EA/GA. Electronic records were analyzed for patient demographics, intraoperative data, and postoperative outcomes. The primary outcome was 48-hour narcotic usage and secondary outcomes were intraoperative vasopressor consumption, surgical delay, and safety profile. Results:. Sixty-one patients underwent DIEP reconstruction, 46 (75%) underwent EA/GA and 15 (25%) underwent GA alone. Epidural blocks were associated with a significant delay in operating room start time (67.8 min versus 45.6 min; P = 0.0004.) Patients in the EA/GA group also had a significant increase in vasopressor use (n = 38 versus n = 8; P = 0.037); however, there was no difference in flap complication rate [1 (2%) versus 2 (13%); P = 0.15]. Postoperatively, patients who received an epidural block had a reduced average pain score (1.1 versus 2.2; P = 0.0235), but there was no difference in 48-hour narcotic usage. Conclusions:. Although epidural blocks reduce postoperative pain following DIEP flap breast reconstruction, they increase intraoperative vasopressor use and delay the start time of the case. Further studies are required to elucidate whether the benefits of improved pain control outweigh the potential risk for increased surgical complications and increased health care costs

Tuning and Maximizing the Single-Molecule Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering from DNA-Tethered Nanodumbbells

We extensively, study the relationships between single-molecule surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SMSERS) intensity, enhancement factor (EF) distribution over many particles, Interparticle distance, particle size/shape/composition and excitation laser wavelength using the single-particle AFM-correlated Raman measurement method and theoretical calculations. Two different single-DNA-tethered Au-Ag core-shell nanodumbbell (GSND) designs with an engineerable nanogap were used In this study: the GSND-I with various interparticle nanogaps from similar to 4.8 nm to < 1 nm or with no gap and the GSND-II with the fixed interparticle gap size and varying particle size from a 23-30 nm pair to a 50-60 nm pair. From the GSND-I, we learned that synthesizing a < 1 um gap is a key to obtain strong SMSERS signals with a narrow EF value distribution. Importantly, in the case of the GSND-I with < 1 nm interparticle gap, an EF value of as high as 5.9 x 10(13) (average value = 1.8 x 10(12)) was obtained and the EF values of analyzed particles were narrowly distributed between 19 x 10(12) and 5.9 x 10(13). In the case of the GSND-II probes, a combination of > 50 nm Au cores and 514.5 nm laser wavelength that matches well with Ag shell generated stronger SMSERS signals with a more narrow EF distribution than < 50 nm Au. cores with 514.3 nm laser or the GSND-II structures with 632.8 nm laser. Our results show the usefulness and flexibility of these GSND structures In studying and obtaining SMSERS structures with a narrow distribution of high EF values and that the GSNDs with < 1 nm are promising SERS probes with highly sensitive and quantitative detection capability when optimally designed