The Development of Intercultural Competency in School Psychology Graduate Students

School psychologists often have the opportunity to work with students and families from varied backgrounds and cultures. While this can be an exciting and enriching part of the job, it can also be daunting for some practitioners, particularly those who are inadequately prepared. A number of strategies have been implemented in school psychology training programs to improve students’ intercultural competency. This exploratory study investigated the results of one university’s short-term study abroad program for school psychology graduate students. Pre- and post- intercultural development assessments were given to school psychology graduate students who completed a course abroad; results were compared to students who took the same course on campus in the United States. Findings indicated that there was no measurable growth in intercultural competence in either group. Implications for school psychology training programs, suggestions for future research, and ways to improve intercultural competency among school psychologists are discussed

Electronic health record data quality assessment and tools: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE: We extended a 2013 literature review on electronic health record (EHR) data quality assessment approaches and tools to determine recent improvements or changes in EHR data quality assessment methodologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We completed a systematic review of PubMed articles from 2013 to April 2023 that discussed the quality assessment of EHR data. We screened and reviewed papers for the dimensions and methods defined in the original 2013 manuscript. We categorized papers as data quality outcomes of interest, tools, or opinion pieces. We abstracted and defined additional themes and methods though an iterative review process. RESULTS: We included 103 papers in the review, of which 73 were data quality outcomes of interest papers, 22 were tools, and 8 were opinion pieces. The most common dimension of data quality assessed was completeness, followed by correctness, concordance, plausibility, and currency. We abstracted conformance and bias as 2 additional dimensions of data quality and structural agreement as an additional methodology. DISCUSSION: There has been an increase in EHR data quality assessment publications since the original 2013 review. Consistent dimensions of EHR data quality continue to be assessed across applications. Despite consistent patterns of assessment, there still does not exist a standard approach for assessing EHR data quality. CONCLUSION: Guidelines are needed for EHR data quality assessment to improve the efficiency, transparency, comparability, and interoperability of data quality assessment. These guidelines must be both scalable and flexible. Automation could be helpful in generalizing this process

Knowledge-Sharing Networks in Hunter-Gatherers and the Evolution of Cumulative Culture.

Humans possess the unique ability for cumulative culture [1, 2]. It has been argued that hunter-gatherer's complex social structure [3-9] has facilitated the evolution of cumulative culture by allowing information exchange among large pools of individuals [10-13]. However, empirical evidence for the interaction between social structure and cultural transmission is scant [14]. Here we examine the reported co-occurrence of plant uses between individuals in dyads (which we define as their "shared knowledge" of plant uses) in BaYaka Pygmies from Congo. We studied reported uses of 33 plants of 219 individuals from four camps. We show that (1) plant uses by BaYaka fall into three main domains: medicinal, foraging, and social norms/beliefs; (2) most medicinal plants have known bioactive properties, and some are positively associated with children's BMI, suggesting that their use is adaptive; (3) knowledge of medicinal plants is mainly shared between spouses and biological and affinal kin; and (4) knowledge of plant uses associated with foraging and social norms is shared more widely among campmates, regardless of relatedness, and is important for camp-wide activities that require cooperation. Our results show the interdependence between social structure and knowledge sharing. We propose that long-term pair bonds, affinal kin recognition, exogamy, and multi-locality create ties between unrelated families, facilitating the transmission of medicinal knowledge and its fitness implications. Additionally, multi-family camps with low inter-relatedness between camp members provide a framework for the exchange of functional information related to cooperative activities beyond the family unit, such as foraging and regulation of social life

Conspecific and heterospecific pheromones stimulate dispersal of entomopathogenic nematodes during quiescence

Ascaroside pheromones stimulate dispersal, a key nematode behavior to find a new food source. Ascarosides produced by entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) drive infective juvenile (IJ) emergence from consumed cadavers and dispersal in soil. Without ascarosides from host cadavers, Steinernema feltiae (EPN) reduce dispersal substantially. To determine whether other Steinernema spp. exhibit the same behavior, we compared S. feltiae and S. carpocapsae IJs without host cadaver pheromones. Unlike S. feltiae, S. carpocapsae IJs continued to disperse. However, S. carpocapsae IJs exhibited a temperature-dependent quiescent period. The IJ quiescent period increased at ≤20 °C but did not appear at ≥25 °C. Consistent with this, S. carpocapsae IJ quiescence increased from 30 min to 24 h at ≤20 °C over 60 days. The quiescent period was overcome by dispersal pheromone extracts of their own, other Steinernema spp. and Heterorhabditis spp. Furthermore, S. carpocapsae IJ ambush foraging associated behaviors (tail standing, waving, and jumping) were unaffected by the absence or presence of host cadaver pheromones. For S. feltiae, IJ dispersal declined at all temperatures tested. Understanding the interaction between foraging strategies and pheromone signals will help uncover molecular mechanisms of host seeking, pathogenicity and practical applications to improve the EPN’s efficacy as biocontrol agents.AFRI (2018-67013-28064)Space Florida Israel Innovation Partnerships (018-057)USDA-ARS (58-6042-6-001)USDA-NIFA Agriculture and Food Research InitiativeU.S. Department of AgricultureNational Institute of Food and AgricultureSmall Business Innovation Research (2017-33610-26808

Ingested histamine and serotonin interact to alter Anopheles stephensi feeding and flight behavior and infection with Plasmodium parasites

Blood levels of histamine and serotonin (5-HT) are altered in human malaria, and, at these levels, we have shown they have broad, independent effects on Anopheles stephensi following ingestion by this invasive mosquito. Given that histamine and 5-HT are ingested together under natural conditions and that histaminergic and serotonergic signaling are networked in other organisms, we examined effects of combinations of these biogenic amines provisioned to A. stephensi at healthy human levels (high 5-HT, low histamine) or levels associated with severe malaria (low 5-HT, high histamine). Treatments were delivered in water (priming) before feeding A. stephensi on Plasmodium yoelii-infected mice or via artificial blood meal. Relative to effects of histamine and 5-HT alone, effects of biogenic amine combinations were complex. Biogenic amine treatments had the greatest impact on the first oviposition cycle, with high histamine moderating low 5-HT effects in combination. In contrast, clutch sizes were similar across combination and individual treatments. While high histamine alone increased uninfected A. stephensi weekly lifetime blood feeding, neither combination altered this tendency relative to controls. The tendency to re-feed 2 weeks after the first blood meal was altered by combination treatments, but this depended on mode of delivery. For blood delivery, malaria-associated treatments yielded higher percentages of fed females relative to healthy-associated treatments, but the converse was true for priming. Female mosquitoes treated with the malaria-associated combination exhibited enhanced flight behavior and object inspection relative to controls and healthy combination treatment. Mosquitoes primed with the malaria-associated combination exhibited higher mean oocysts and sporozoite infection prevalence relative to the healthy combination, with high histamine having a dominant effect on these patterns. Compared with uninfected A. stephensi, the tendency of infected mosquitoes to take a second blood meal revealed an interaction of biogenic amines with infection. We used a mathematical model to project the impacts of different levels of biogenic amines and associated changes on outbreaks in human populations. While not all outbreak parameters were impacted the same, the sum of effects suggests that histamine and 5-HT alter the likelihood of transmission by mosquitoes that feed on hosts with symptomatic malaria versus a healthy host

Cross-Species Transmission of a Novel Adenovirus Associated with a Fulminant Pneumonia Outbreak in a New World Monkey Colony

Adenoviruses are DNA viruses that naturally infect many vertebrates, including humans and monkeys, and cause a wide range of clinical illnesses in humans. Infection from individual strains has conventionally been thought to be species-specific. Here we applied the Virochip, a pan-viral microarray, to identify a novel adenovirus (TMAdV, titi monkey adenovirus) as the cause of a deadly outbreak in a closed colony of New World monkeys (titi monkeys; Callicebus cupreus) at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC). Among 65 titi monkeys housed in a building, 23 (34%) developed upper respiratory symptoms that progressed to fulminant pneumonia and hepatitis, and 19 of 23 monkeys, or 83% of those infected, died or were humanely euthanized. Whole-genome sequencing of TMAdV revealed that this adenovirus is a new species and highly divergent, sharing <57% pairwise nucleotide identity with other adenoviruses. Cultivation of TMAdV was successful in a human A549 lung adenocarcinoma cell line, but not in primary or established monkey kidney cells. At the onset of the outbreak, the researcher in closest contact with the monkeys developed an acute respiratory illness, with symptoms persisting for 4 weeks, and had a convalescent serum sample seropositive for TMAdV. A clinically ill family member, despite having no contact with the CNPRC, also tested positive, and screening of a set of 81 random adult blood donors from the Western United States detected TMAdV-specific neutralizing antibodies in 2 individuals (2/81, or 2.5%). These findings raise the possibility of zoonotic infection by TMAdV and human-to-human transmission of the virus in the population. Given the unusually high case fatality rate from the outbreak (83%), it is unlikely that titi monkeys are the native host species for TMAdV, and the natural reservoir of the virus is still unknown. The discovery of TMAdV, a novel adenovirus with the capacity to infect both monkeys and humans, suggests that adenoviruses should be monitored closely as potential causes of cross-species outbreaks

Dynamic, Large-Scale Profiling of Transcription Factor Activity from Live Cells in 3D Culture

phenotypes. Taken together, our objective was to develop cellular arrays for dynamic, large-scale quantification of TF activity as cells organized into spherical structures within 3D culture.TF-specific and normalization reporter constructs were delivered in parallel to a cellular array containing a well-established breast cancer cell line cultured in Matrigel. Bioluminescence imaging provided a rapid, non-invasive, and sensitive method to quantify luciferase levels, and was applied repeatedly on each sample to monitor dynamic activity. Arrays measuring 28 TFs identified up to 19 active, with 13 factors changing significantly over time. Stimulation of cells with β-estradiol or activin A resulted in differential TF activity profiles evolving from initial stimulation of the ligand. Many TFs changed as expected based on previous reports, yet arrays were able to replicate these results in a single experiment. Additionally, arrays identified TFs that had not previously been linked with activin A.This system provides a method for large-scale, non-invasive, and dynamic quantification of signaling pathway activity as cells organize into structures. The arrays may find utility for investigating mechanisms regulating normal and abnormal tissue growth, biomaterial design, or as a platform for screening therapeutics

Anoxia begets anoxia: a positive feedback to the deoxygenation of temperate lakes

Declining oxygen concentrations in the deep waters of lakes worldwide pose a pressing environmental and societal challenge. Existing theory suggests that low deep-water dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations could trigger a positive feedback through which anoxia (i.e., very low DO) during a given summer begets increasingly severe occurrences of anoxia in following summers. Specifically, anoxic conditions can promote nutrient release from sediments, thereby stimulating phytoplankton growth, and subsequent phytoplankton decomposition can fuel heterotrophic respiration, resulting in increased spatial extent and duration of anoxia. However, while the individual relationships in this feedback are well established, to our knowledge, there has not been a systematic analysis within or across lakes that simultaneously demonstrates all of the mechanisms necessary to produce a positive feedback that reinforces anoxia. Here, we compiled data from 656 widespread temperate lakes and reservoirs to analyze the proposed anoxia begets anoxia feedback. Lakes in the dataset span a broad range of surface area (1–126,909 ha), maximum depth (6–370 m), and morphometry, with a median time-series duration of 30 years at each lake. Using linear mixed models, we found support for each of the positive feedback relationships between anoxia, phosphorus concentrations, chlorophyll a concentrations, and oxygen demand across the 656-lake dataset. Likewise, we found further support for these relationships by analyzing time-series data from individual lakes. Our results indicate that the strength of these feedback relationships may vary with lake-specific characteristics: For example, we found that surface phosphorus concentrations were more positively associated with chlorophyll a in high-phosphorus lakes, and oxygen demand had a stronger influence on the extent of anoxia in deep lakes. Taken together, these results support the existence of a positive feedback that could magnify the effects of climate change and other anthropogenic pressures driving the development of anoxia in lakes around the world

Oral abstracts 3: RA Treatment and outcomesO13. Validation of jadas in all subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis in a clinical setting

Background: Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (JADAS) is a 4 variable composite disease activity (DA) score for JIA (including active 10, 27 or 71 joint count (AJC), physician global (PGA), parent/child global (PGE) and ESR). The validity of JADAS for all ILAR subtypes in the routine clinical setting is unknown. We investigated the construct validity of JADAS in the clinical setting in all subtypes of JIA through application to a prospective inception cohort of UK children presenting with new onset inflammatory arthritis. Methods: JADAS 10, 27 and 71 were determined for all children in the Childhood Arthritis Prospective Study (CAPS) with complete data available at baseline. Correlation of JADAS 10, 27 and 71 with single DA markers was determined for all subtypes. All correlations were calculated using Spearman's rank statistic. Results: 262/1238 visits had sufficient data for calculation of JADAS (1028 (83%) AJC, 744 (60%) PGA, 843 (68%) PGE and 459 (37%) ESR). Median age at disease onset was 6.0 years (IQR 2.6-10.4) and 64% were female. Correlation between JADAS 10, 27 and 71 approached 1 for all subtypes. Median JADAS 71 was 5.3 (IQR 2.2-10.1) with a significant difference between median JADAS scores between subtypes (p < 0.01). Correlation of JADAS 71 with each single marker of DA was moderate to high in the total cohort (see Table 1). Overall, correlation with AJC, PGA and PGE was moderate to high and correlation with ESR, limited JC, parental pain and CHAQ was low to moderate in the individual subtypes. Correlation coefficients in the extended oligoarticular, rheumatoid factor negative and enthesitis related subtypes were interpreted with caution in view of low numbers. Conclusions: This study adds to the body of evidence supporting the construct validity of JADAS. JADAS correlates with other measures of DA in all ILAR subtypes in the routine clinical setting. Given the high frequency of missing ESR data, it would be useful to assess the validity of JADAS without inclusion of the ESR. Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest. Table 1Spearman's correlation between JADAS 71 and single markers DA by ILAR subtype ILAR Subtype Systemic onset JIA Persistent oligo JIA Extended oligo JIA Rheumatoid factor neg JIA Rheumatoid factor pos JIA Enthesitis related JIA Psoriatic JIA Undifferentiated JIA Unknown subtype Total cohort Number of children 23 111 12 57 7 9 19 7 17 262 AJC 0.54 0.67 0.53 0.75 0.53 0.34 0.59 0.81 0.37 0.59 PGA 0.63 0.69 0.25 0.73 0.14 0.05 0.50 0.83 0.56 0.64 PGE 0.51 0.68 0.83 0.61 0.41 0.69 0.71 0.9 0.48 0.61 ESR 0.28 0.31 0.35 0.4 0.6 0.85 0.43 0.7 0.5 0.53 Limited 71 JC 0.29 0.51 0.23 0.37 0.14 -0.12 0.4 0.81 0.45 0.41 Parental pain 0.23 0.62 0.03 0.57 0.41 0.69 0.7 0.79 0.42 0.53 Childhood health assessment questionnaire 0.25 0.57 -0.07 0.36 -0.47 0.84 0.37 0.8 0.66 0.4