Speak: An Examination of Literacy in The Digital Age

The onset of the digital age has set about a number of changes within the social and economic spheres of contemporary society. Smart technology has entered the lives of contemporary youth, bringing with it copious opportunities. However, research regarding the effect said technology is having on people’s ability to operate in the academic realm is beginning to surface, and the results are concerning. It appears that contemporary youth is struggling within the realm of the humanities, particularly with their ability to read and comprehend literature. With this in mind, my project seeks to study the novel Speak, by Louisa Hall, as an example of a work of literature whose unorthodox form warns of digital media’s effect on the literary mind in a that caters to the implications the novel seeks to inspect

Effects of a multi-year experimental flood regime on macroinvertebrates downstream of a reservoir

We examined the response of stream macroinvertebrates to a multiple-year experimental flood regime downstream of a large reservoir. Benthic samples were collected from the River Spöl prior to the initial flood (1999) and at periodic intervals before and after eight floods from 2000 through 2002. Three artificial floods occurred each in 2000 and 2001, and two floods were implemented in 2002. We also sampled macroinvertebrates in an adjacent tributary (Val da l'Aqua) on the same dates as in the Spöl to assess the natural temporal variability in assemblage structure. The regulated baseflow discharge in the Spöl was 40 m3/s for a short period. Repeated measures ANOVA indicated that the floods significantly reduced macroinvertebrate densities in the Spöl, although recovery to pre-flood densities occurred within a matter of weeks to densities found in 1999. A principal components analysis revealed that assemblage composition shifted in response to the recurring floods, first from 1999 to 2000 and then from 2000 to 2001/2. Taxa that decreased in abundance due to the floods included the Gammaridae (Gammarus fossarum) and Turbellaria (Crenobia alpina). Taxa that increased in abundance included Baetidae, Chironomidae, and Simuliidae. Some Plecoptera, Trichoptera, and Heptageniidae that were negatively impacted by the floods in 2000, subsequently increased in abundance. Our data suggest that the response of macroinvertebrates to experimental floods occurs over a period of years rather than months, as species composition adjusts to the new and more variable habitat template. Future changes are expected as additional species begin to colonize the river from adjacent sources. The results clearly show that the experimental flood regime should be maintained if resource managers wish to sustain the development of a more natural macroinvertebrate assemblag

IMPORTANCE OF INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN THE PHARMACY CURRICULUM IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION

The profession of pharmacy has evolved gradually for more than a century and has seen many educational challenges and reforms. The pharmacy curriculum is science-based and varies widely in different parts of the world in both content and outcomes. The global pharmacy curriculum could be broadly categorized as product/industry-focused or patient-focused. In the United States (US), the baccalaureate degree has been replaced with the entry level Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) curriculum. This change was designed to enable practicing pharmacists to provide patient care services that optimize medication therapy outcomes and promote health, wellness and disease prevention. This shift from a product-centered to a patient-centered curriculum has offered tremendous benefits to patients, society and healthcare. It has further been realized that working as a collaborative team with an inter-professional approach produces effective patient-centered outcomes. Implementation of inter-professional education (IPE), practice and research was recognized by pharmacy educators and accreditation authorities in the US in the early part of 21st century. IPE is now considered a standard for pharmacy accreditation. This review will compare some of the pharmacy curriculums of the world and the difficulty in harmonization of pharmacy curricula. The factors that facilitate and hinder IPE, practice and research in the curriculum will be discussed

IMPORTANCE OF INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN THE PHARMACY CURRICULUM IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION

The profession of pharmacy has evolved gradually for more than a century and has seen many educational challenges and reforms. The pharmacy curriculum is science-based and varies widely in different parts of the world in both content and outcomes. The global pharmacy curriculum could be broadly categorized as product/industry-focused or patient-focused. In the United States (US), the baccalaureate degree has been replaced with the entry level Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) curriculum. This change was designed to enable practicing pharmacists to provide patient care services that optimize medication therapy outcomes and promote health, wellness and disease prevention. This shift from a product-centered to a patient-centered curriculum has offered tremendous benefits to patients, society and healthcare. It has further been realized that working as a collaborative team with an inter-professional approach produces effective patient-centered outcomes. Implementation of inter-professional education (IPE), practice and research was recognized by pharmacy educators and accreditation authorities in the US in the early part of 21st century. IPE is now considered a standard for pharmacy accreditation. This review will compare some of the pharmacy curriculums of the world and the difficulty in harmonization of pharmacy curricula. The factors that facilitate and hinder IPE, practice and research in the curriculum will be discussed

Long-Term Outcomes in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Systematic Review of Patellar Tendon Versus Hamstring Autografts.

BACKGROUND: Much controversy still exists surrounding graft choice in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Over the past decade, an increase in comparative studies with longer follow-up has enhanced our understanding of current graft options and outcomes. PURPOSE: To describe the long-term comparative outcomes of ACL reconstruction with autograft bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) versus autograft hamstring (HS) ACL reconstruction with regard to clinical and radiographic outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 2. METHODS: A search of the PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane, and Scopus databases was performed to identify studies in the English language with outcome data comparing ACL reconstruction utilizing autograft BPTB and autograft HS; only studies with a minimum 5-year follow-up were included. Outcome data included failure and complications, manual and instrumented laxity, patient-reported outcomes, and radiographic risk of osteoarthritis. RESULTS: Twelve studies with a total of 953 patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these studies, 8 were level 1 evidence and 2 were level 2. Mean follow-up was 8.96 years (range, 5-15.3 years). No differences in graft failure or manual or instrumented laxity were seen in any studies. Lower clinical outcomes scores and greater motion loss were seen in BPTB patients in 1 and 2 studies, respectively. Two of 4 studies reporting on anterior knee pain, and 3 of 7 that recorded kneeling pain found it more frequently among BPTB patients. One study found significantly increased reoperation rates in HS patients, while another found a similar result in BPTB, and 1 study reported a significant increase in contralateral ACL tears in BPTB patients. Three of 5 studies reporting on radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis noted significantly increased rates in BPTB patients. CONCLUSION: This systematic review comparing long-term outcomes after ACL reconstruction with either autograft BPTB or autograft HS suggests no significant differences in manual/instrumented laxity and graft failures between graft types. An increase in long-term anterior knee pain, kneeling pain, and higher rates of osteoarthritis were noted with BPTB graft use

Macroinvertebrate diversity in fragmented Alpine streams: implications for freshwater conservation

Abstract.: Lakes and reservoirs disrupt the longitudinal connectivity of streams, considerably affecting benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and diversity. Changes in assemblage composition within fragments can result from habitat alteration and reduced dispersal between fragments. We investigated the effects of habitat fragmentation in 10 Alpine streams, examining 69 taxa of benthic macroinvertebrates from 22 sites in fragmented and freeflowing streams. Total taxon richness (α-diversity) ranged from 6 to 27 in individual sites, and total richness was not significantly affected by fragmentation. However, Ephemeroptera and Diptera (excluding Simuliidae) richness was significantly reduced in stream fragments. Beta-diversity indicated a high degree of taxon turnover among sites within streams, but was not significantly different between fragmented and unfragmented streams. Characterizing the biological, physiological, and ecological traits of Ephemeroptera showed that communities in reservoir-fragmented streams had a higher affinity for fine sediments, increased temperatures, and reduced current velocity. Taxon assemblages in fragments were not nested subsets of unfragmented site assemblages. Thus, species turnover and species replacement in fragments is common, suggesting that most taxa are able to freely disperse among fragments. We suggest that habitat alteration was the primary cause of changes in assemblage structure in these streams. Consequently, habitat-based conservation is likely to be successful in maintaining populations of all but the weakest disperser

Sex-specific gene expression in the mosquito Culex pipiens f. molestus in response to artificial light at night

Background Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a typical feature of urban areas and most organisms living in urban or suburban habitats are exposed to low levels of ALAN. Light is one of the most important environmental cues that organisms use to regulate their activities. Studies have begun to quantify the influence of ALAN on the behavior and ecology of organisms, but research on the effects at the molecular level remains limited. Mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex (Diptera, Culicidae) are widespread and abundant in urban areas where they are potential disease vectors. It is thus of particular interest to understand how ALAN may influence biologically and ecologically relevant traits. Results We used RNAseq to evaluate the transcriptome response in a Cx. pipiens f. molestus laboratory population that was exposed to near- natural light conditions (light:dark L16:D8 hours, “control”) and ALAN conditions with 3 h of constant low-level light at night (L16 + Llow3:D5 hours, “low-light”). The resulting transcripts were mapped to the reference genome of the closely related Culex quinquefasciatus. Female expression patterns differed significantly between control and treatment conditions at five genes although none showed an absolute fold change greater than two (FC > 2). In contrast, male expression differed at 230 genes (74 with FC > 2). Of these, 216 genes (72 with FC > 2) showed reduced expression in the low-light treatment, most of which were related to gametogenesis, lipid metabolism, and immunity. Of the 14 genes (two with FC > 2) with increased expression, only five had any functional annotation. There was a pronounced sex-bias in gene expression regardless of treatment, with 11,660 genes (51 % of annotated genes; 8694 with FC > 2; 48 % of annotated genes) differentially expressed between males and females, including 14 genes of the circadian clock. Conclusion Our data suggest a stronger response to artificial light by males of Cx. pipiens f. molestus than by females, and that a wide range of physiological pathways may be affected by ALAN at the molecular level. The fact that differences in gene expression appear to be sex-specific may have a strong influence at the population level

Toward a DNA Taxonomy of Alpine Rhithrogena (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae) Using a Mixed Yule-Coalescent Analysis of Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA

Aquatic larvae of many Rhithrogena mayflies (Ephemeroptera) inhabit sensitive Alpine environments. A number of species are on the IUCN Red List and many recognized species have restricted distributions and are of conservation interest. Despite their ecological and conservation importance, ambiguous morphological differences among closely related species suggest that the current taxonomy may not accurately reflect the evolutionary diversity of the group. Here we examined the species status of nearly 50% of European Rhithrogena diversity using a widespread sampling scheme of Alpine species that included 22 type localities, general mixed Yule-coalescent (GMYC) model analysis of one standard mtDNA marker and one newly developed nDNA marker, and morphological identification where possible. Using sequences from 533 individuals from 144 sampling localities, we observed significant clustering of the mitochondrial (cox1) marker into 31 GMYC species. Twenty-one of these could be identified based on the presence of topotypes (expertly identified specimens from the species' type locality) or unambiguous morphology. These results strongly suggest the presence of both cryptic diversity and taxonomic oversplitting in Rhithrogena. Significant clustering was not detected with protein-coding nuclear PEPCK, although nine GMYC species were congruent with well supported terminal clusters of nDNA. Lack of greater congruence in the two data sets may be the result of incomplete sorting of ancestral polymorphism. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of both gene regions recovered four of the six recognized Rhithrogena species groups in our samples as monophyletic. Future development of more nuclear markers would facilitate multi-locus analysis of unresolved, closely related species pairs. The DNA taxonomy developed here lays the groundwork for a future revision of the important but cryptic Rhithrogena genus in Europe