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In this case study we describe how Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) Disability Inclusion and Advice Service (DIAS) provided support to disability group homes during the COVID-19 Delta and Omicron waves. The study provides insights into group home providers' experience of supports implemented by SLHD and other stakeholders. A mixed method approach was undertaken that included analysing data from a database and electronic medical records and a survey of disability group home managers. DIAS developed a range of processes to support prevention, outbreak preparedness and response. This included developing a Disability Shared Living COVID-19 Pathway, engaging with group home providers through a fortnightly Community of Practice, assisting with improving vaccination status and procuring personal protective equipment. During an outbreak DIAS provided a 24 h, 7 days per week on call support, coordinated outbreak management team meetings and collaborated with several internal and external stakeholders. SLHD infection prevention and control nurses were recruited to undertake a process of reviewing outbreak management plans and providing support during an outbreak. Most disability providers (86%) reported that they felt very prepared to manage outbreaks at the time of the survey (August 2022) compared with the pre-Delta wave, for which 36% reported feeling 'not prepared'. The proportion who rated the support from the stakeholders as very supportive/supportive was as follows: SLHD (100%), NSW Health (64%), National Disability Insurance Agency (50%) and National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality & Safeguards Commission (37%). Our case study provides insights into the support that LHDs can provide to disability homes in response to future outbreaks. What is known about the topic? People with a disability (PWD) are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality following COVID-19 infection but little is known about how PWD were supported during the COVID-19 pandemic. What does this paper add? Describes one local health district (LHD's) approach to prevent, manage and minimise COVID-19 outbreaks in disability group homes along with insights from the disability group home managers on their experience of support provided by the LHD and other stakeholders. What are the implications for practitioners? Awareness of effective strategies supporting PWD that could be replicated in health organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bone-eating worm Osedax is a speciose and globally distributed clade, primarily found on whale carcasses in marine environments. The earliest fossil evidence for Osedax borings was previously described in plesiosaur and sea turtle bones from the mid-Cretaceous of the United Kingdom, representing the only unequivocal pre-Oligocene occurrences. Confirming through CT scanning, we present new evidence of Osedax borings in three plesiosaur specimens and, for the first time, identify borings in two mosasaur specimens. All specimens are from the Late Cretaceous: one from the Cenomanian of the United Kingdom, two from the Campanian of the southeastern United States, and two from the Maastrichtian of Belgium. This extends the geographic range of Osedax in the Cretaceous to both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean. The bones contain five borehole morphotypes, potentially created by different species of Osedax, with the Cenomanian specimen containing three morphotypes within a single tooth. This combined evidence of heightened species diversity by the Cenomanian and broad geographic range by the Campanian potentially indicates an earlier origin and diversification for this clade than previously hypothesized. Preservational biases indicate that Osedax was probably even more widely distributed and speciose in the Cretaceous than apparent in the fossil record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invertebrate bioerosion on fossil bone can contribute to reconstructions of benthic taxonomic assemblages and inform us about oxygenation levels, water depth and exposure time on the seafloor prior to burial. However, these traces are not commonly described in the fossil record. To date, there have been only 13 published studies describing a total of 15 instances of invertebrate bioerosion on marine reptile fossil bones from the Mesozoic globally. We surveyed the collections of several UK museums with substantial occurrences of Mesozoic marine reptiles for evidence of invertebrate bioerosion. Here, we document 153 specimens exhibiting 171 newly recorded instances of invertebrate bioerosion on Jurassic and Cretaceous marine reptile bones. Several major bioeroding taxonomic groups are identified. Within the geological strata of the United Kingdom, there is a higher prevalence of bioerosion in the Cretaceous relative to the Jurassic, despite greater sampling of specimens from the Jurassic. Although biotic turnover and food web restructuring might have played a role, potentially pertaining to heightened productivity during the later stages of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution, we consider it more likely that this temporal change corresponds to differences in depositional environment and taphonomic history between the sampled rock units. In particular, the Cretaceous deposits are characterized by heightened oxygenation levels relative to their Jurassic counterparts, as well as reworking, which would have allowed two phases of bioerosion. A spatiotemporally broader dataset on invertebrate bioerosion on vertebrate bone will be important in further testing this and other hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine formative first-year practices and motivating factors that encouraged first-year college students to pursue peer mentorship roles. The examination of peer mentorship within undergraduate populations owes much to Jacobi's (1991) study on mentoring and academic success, which more recently has been continued by Nora and Crisp (2007), Crisp and Cruz (2009), and Crisp et al. (2017). Peer mentorship bolsters both individual student development and undergraduate enrollment (Crisp et al., 2017; Yomtov et al., 2017), and assuming a peer mentor role contributes in meaningful ways to a college learning environment (Kuh et al., 2011). Although a significant amount of research has been conducted on peer mentorship, there has been less focus on motivating factors during the first year of college that prompt peer mentors to seek such roles in their second year of undergraduate education. The results of this study indicated students were motivated to pursue peer mentorship roles for four reasons: the desire for community, their sense of self-efficacy, a vocational connection, and the opportunity to impact incoming students' experiences. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of implementing formative best practices into first-year experiences as a means of encouraging and recruiting second-year peer mentors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jurassic ichthyosaurs dominated upper trophic levels of marine ecosystems. Many species coexisted alongside each another, and it is uncertain whether they competed for the same array of food or divided dietary resources, each specializing in different kinds of prey. Here, we test whether feeding differences existed between species, applying finite element analysis to ichthyosaurs for the first time. We examine two juvenile ichthyosaur specimens, referred to Hauffiopteryx typicus and Stenopterygius triscissus, from the Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte, a shallow marine environment from the Early Jurassic of southern England (Toarcian, ~183 Ma). Snout and cranial robusticity differ between the species, with S. triscissus having a more robust snout and cranium and specializing in slow biting of hard prey, and H. typicus with its slender snout specializing in fast, but weaker bites on fast‐moving, but soft prey. The two species did not differ in muscle forces, but stress distributions varied in the nasal area, reflecting differences when biting at different points along the tooth row: the more robustly snouted Stenopterygius resisted increases or shifts in stress distribution when the bite point was shifted from the posterior to the mid‐point of the tooth row, but the slender‐snouted Hauffiopteryx showed shifts and increases in stress distributions between these two bite points. The differences in cranial morphology, dentition and inferred stresses between the two species suggest adaptations for dietary niche partitioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) is recommended for all patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), yet clear implementation guidelines do not exist. Methods: The University of North Carolina Adult CF Care Team developed a process to implement semistructured multidisciplinary outpatient ACP meetings as routine care for patients with CF. Premeeting and post-meeting surveys were used to elicit patients' attitudes toward ACP. Results: Twenty-seven adults with CF completed a face-to-face ACP meeting, and 13 completed both surveys. Following the multidisciplinary ACP meeting, overall scores for understanding of ACP topics improved by 4.5 points (p = 0.003). Conclusion: We successfully implemented sustainable ACP meetings for adults with CF and found increased comfort with ACP and documentation of wishes after ACP meetings. It is important for CF care providers to meet the needs of this patient population by ensuring that ACP is in place before crisis situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the problems and potential of funded short-term cross-sector partnerships to address technological deficits in the nonprofit sector by engaging with the partners of a concluded project. The partnership case study that forms the backbone of this article was a three-year nationally funded nonprofit-industry-academic partnership. The objective of the partnership was to increase the data collection capacity of a national nonprofit organization and its affiliate centres through the development of a web-based app. This article highlights the challenges and differing experiences of nonprofit-industry-academic partnerships more generally, and technology-development partnerships more specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While clinical social work has a strong conceptual understanding of uncertainty, there is a lack of empirical data on how practitioners navigate uncertainty in practice. This paper reports findings of the data generated from a simulation-based pilot study designed to explore clinical social workers' encounters with uncertainty and the strategies they use to navigate it. Experienced clinicians (n = 4), recent graduates (n = 4) and graduate students (n = 3) participated in a 30-min video recorded case-based simulated session with a live standardized client (SC). Using standardized clients, simulation-based research methodology allowed us to capture moment-to-moment practice behaviours and decisions among social workers. Following each simulation, participants reviewed the video-recorded sessions and engaged in an audio-recorded reflective dialogue with a researcher. Two themes emerged from the data sets: (1) there is a variation between less experienced participants who navigated uncertainty in pragmatic, task focused ways and more experienced practitioners who focused on the wider relationship with the client; and (2) less experienced practitioners tended towards struggling against uncertainty while more experienced practitioners demonstrated an ability to sit and wade within it. These findings offer several implications for clinical social work research and practice, including the important role that simulation methodologies have in exploring clinical practice and the need to understand specific aspects of uncertainty in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older women have a worse prognosis with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and comorbidities likely contribute to poor outcomes. We sought to identify comorbid conditions and treatment-related factors in older women. A retrospective chart review identified 351 patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery (CRS). 100/351 (28.5%) were ≥ 70 years old. Demographic and clinicopathologic information was collected. Crude progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) estimates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate hazard ratios and adjustments for confounders. Study subjects ≥70 years old had significantly: higher Cumulative Illness Rating Scale-Geriatric (CIRS-G) score (5.9 vs 4.3; p = 0.0001), less completion of adjuvant chemotherapy (24% vs 15.1%; p = 0.049), less intraperitoneal (IP) therapy (18.2% vs 35.5%; p = 0.002), less clinical trial participation (16% vs 26.3%; p = 0.040), decreased platinum sensitivity (60% vs 73.7%; p = 0.012) and lacked BRCA mutations (0% vs 12%; p = 0.0006). They were less likely to have optimal CRS (75% vs 86.9%; p = 0.007) with same surgical complexity (p = 0.89). Patients ≥70 had significantly worse PFS and OS. In a multivariate analysis, better OS was associated with younger age (<70 years old), any IP therapy, completion of adjuvant chemotherapy, and platinum sensitivity. The older cohort had worse CIRS-G scores (5.9 vs 4.3; p = 0.0001), but no strong associations between comorbidities and treatment characteristics, but less optimal CRS rates (75% vs 86.9%; p = 0.007) with similar surgical complexity and less platinum sensitivity. Our results show comorbid conditions in older patients with advanced EOC may have less impact than tumor biology. • Older women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) seems to have a worse outcome compared to younger women. • Older women with advanced EOC had worse comorbidities, but no strong correlations between comorbidities and treatment characteristics in our cohort. • Our results may indicate that comorbid conditions in older women with advanced EOC may have less significance than tumor biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Research into patient and public involvement (PPI) has not examined in detail patient and public involvement facilitators' (PPIFs) roles and activities. This study analysed PPIFs' roles using qualitative data gathered from three different UK health‐care organizations. Design: Thematic analysis was used to examine cross‐sectional data collected using a mixed‐methods approach from three organizations: a mental health trust, a community health social enterprise and an acute hospital trust. The data set comprised of 27 interviews and 48 observations. Findings: Patient and public involvement facilitators roles included the leadership and management of PPI interventions, developing health‐care practices and influencing quality improvements (QI). They usually occupied middle‐management grades but their PPIF role involved working in isolation or in small teams. They reported facilitating the development and maintenance of relationships between patients and the public, and health‐care professionals and service managers. These roles sometimes required them to use conflict resolution skills and involved considerable emotional labour. Integrating information from PPI into service improvement processes was reported to be a challenge for these individuals. Conclusions: Patient and public involvement facilitators capture and hold information that can be used in service improvement. However, they work with limited resources and support. Health‐care organizations need to offer more practical support to PPIFs in their efforts to improve care quality, particularly by making their role integral to developing QI strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary iterations of the youth question present social work with a generative challenge to imagine the education needs of youth as social work students, and at the same time, to imagine the intervention needs of youth as service users. This paper engages this challenge through an empirical case that confronted us with our own preconceived understandings of young people and social work: a funded project to support the program evaluation capacity of a national network of youth centers in Canada. Working through three tensions that emerged in this work—(1) assumptions about youth and workers, (2) participation as a best-practice, and (3) how local data collection practices are networked to ambiguous, ongoing social processes—we reflect project learning and youth studies literature together to explore the possibilities of 'critical inquiry skills' in social work education. As we develop the concept here, critical inquiry skills are a means to encourage young people to see themselves as simultaneously within and outside of the categories and approaches they are taught and subjected to, and by extension, to invite and support newcomers to make the discipline and profession their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore ways in which social work educators might respond to students who report that mental health issues underlie their difficulty in meeting core competencies, or otherwise use the language of mental health to describe their struggles to succeed in social work programs. We discuss various trends in policy responses in Canada, the US, the UK, and Ireland. While there are general policy trends, it is clear that responding to these kinds of issues requires the development of highly flexible and situated policy processes that can respond to student realities, concern for students' rights and privacy, and an awareness of potential discrimination against students. These processes also need to meet the specificities of practicums, particular institutional policies, the mandates of relevant professional bodies, and the precise local legislative framework that shapes these situations. Given these varying contexts, in this conceptual paper, we used a framework on disability that is informed by critical theory to engage existing school policies and propose a set of reflective questions that can guide schools of social work to create an overall responsive environment. These reflective questions are designed to help social work educators balance the rights and needs of students with the professional and institutional demands that students meet core competencies in their education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dermatologically, FGFR3 mutations can lead to acanthosis nigricans (AN), epidermal nevi, and seborrheic keratosis. A recent case report found that topical rapamycin (sirolimus) can improve FGFR3‐induced epidermal nevi with AN features in children, specifically with Fitzpatrick skin type (FST) I/II, and we would like to expand these findings to skin plaques with extensive AN‐like features in the FST IV/V adolescent population. An 18‐year‐old female with FST IV/V and FGFR3‐induced hypochondroplasia presented to our clinic with extensive AN‐like plaques. Significant improvement with lightening and thinning of the plaques was observed after applying 1% topical rapamycin cream twice daily. Topical rapamycin should be considered as a treatment option for AN, particularly in FST IV/V adolescents with FGFR3‐induced AN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In arteries, endothelium‐dependent vasodilatory agonists and flow‐induced shear stress cause vasodilation largely by activation of the endothelial enzyme eNOS, which generates nitric oxide that relaxes vascular smooth muscle. Agonists activate eNOS in part through increased phosphorylation at Ser1179 and decreased phosphorylation at Thr495. We previously found that preconstriction of intact, isolated mouse mesenteric arteries with phenylephrine also caused increased Ser1179 and decreased Thr495 eNOS phosphorylation, and sequential treatment with the vasodilatory agonist acetylcholine did not cause any further change in phosphorylation at these sites, despite producing vasodilation. The present study tests the hypothesis that luminal flow in these arteries preconstricted with phenylephrine also produces vasodilation without phosphorylation changes at these sites. First‐order mesenteric arteries, isolated from male C57/BL6 mice (7–20 weeks of age) anesthetized with pentobarbital (50 mg/kg, i.p.), were cannulated, pressurized, and treated with stepped increases in luminal flow (15–120 μL/min). Flow resulted in dilation that plateaued at ~60 μL/min (31.3 ± 3.0% dilation) and was significantly (P < 0.001) NOS‐dependent at all flow rates (determined by 10−4 mol/L L‐NAME treatment). In separate arteries, preconstriction with phenylephrine (10−5 mol/L) resulted in increased eNOS phosphorylation at Ser1179 (P < 0.05) and decreased phosphorylation at Thr495, but subsequent flow at 60 μL/min for 5 or 15 min did not cause further changes in phosphorylation, despite causing dilation. Thus, flow‐induced dilation does not require changes in these eNOS phosphorylation sites beyond those induced by alpha1‐adrenergic stimulation with phenylephrine, indicating that eNOS is activated by other mechanisms during acute flow‐induced dilation of preconstricted arteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although field education is considered the signature pedagogy of social work, the work of field coordinators appear to remain peripheral to other aspects of social work education, such as coursework and research. In this article, we suggest that field coordination requires a far more complex set of knowledge and skills than merely matching students with placements based on availability and interest. Using critical and relational theories, this article conceptualizes field coordination as a negotiated pedagogy in which the coordinators navigate complex and often competing needs among students, field agencies, and social work practice. In making visible its nuances and intricacies, we suggest that field coordination is a critical relational pedagogy essential to advancing social work education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Background and objective: Breathing pattern disorder (BPD) can co‐exist with and mimic asthma, acting to amplify symptoms and confound assessment of disease control, resulting in inappropriate treatment escalation. The aim of this research was to report the utility of a novel breathing pattern assessment tool (BPAT) to detect BPD in treatment‐refractory asthma. Methods: As a component of a multidisciplinary assessment, adult patients referred with treatment‐refractory asthma underwent respiratory physiotherapy assessment to diagnose BPD. Based on this assessment, patients were classified as having asthma, asthma + BPD or BPD alone. BPAT data were collected in addition to questionnaire data (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) and Nijmegen Questionnaire (NQ)), pulmonary function and an assessment of exercise capacity. Results: Data were retrospectively analysed for 150 (female; 69%) patients, mean (SD) age of 43 (14) years; characterized as asthma‐only (n = 54, 36%), asthma + BPD (n = 63, 42%) and BPD‐only (n = 33, 22%). Of the total population, 113 (76%) had an NQ score ≥23, but of these only 68% had physiotherapy evidence of BPD. Exercise capacity and AQLQ were lower in the asthma + BPD group than in the asthma‐only group (P < 0.05), whilst lung function was similar between groups. Sensitivity analysis indicated that a BPAT score of ≥4 corresponded to a sensitivity of 0.92 and a specificity of 0.75 for diagnosis of BPD in this cohort. Conclusion: Breathing pattern irregularities are highly prevalent in individuals referred with treatment‐refractory asthma and can be characterized using the BPAT. Further work is needed to determine inter‐observer and within‐subject variability and ensure the BPAT is a robust clinical tool. Watch the video abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of student as consumer highlights significant shifts in what Canadian students pay for their education and how this transition has shaped their relationship with learning as well as their overall expectations for, and participation in, the project of higher learning. Consumerism in social work education reflects broader trends towards academic capitalism in Canadian universities and is a result of neoliberal ideology reshaping higher education. In this paper, we explore student and faculty participants’ reflections on the impact of consumerism on progressive social work education, exploring how participants use the term to make sense of their experiences and how doing so reshapes progressive social work education itself. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Epidemiological evidence indicates that cadmium and arsenic exposure increase lung cancer risk. Cadmium and arsenic are environmental contaminants that act as endocrine disruptors (EDs) by activating estrogen receptors (ERs) in breast and other cancer cell lines but their activity as EDs in lung cancer is untested. Here, we examined the effect of cadmium chloride (CdCl2) and sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) on the proliferation of human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines. Results demonstrated that both CdCl2 and NaAsO2 stimulated cell proliferation at environmentally relevant nM concentrations in a similar manner to 17b-estradiol (E2) in H1793, H2073, and H1944 cells but not in H1792 or H1299 cells. Further studies in H1793 cells showed that 100nM CdCl2 and NaAsO2 rapidly stimulated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK, extracellular-signalregulated kinases) phosphorylation with a peak detected at 15 min. Inhibitor studies suggest that rapid MAPK phosphorylation by NaAsO2, CdCl2, and E2 involves ER, Src, epidermal growth factor receptor, and G-protein coupled ER (GPER) in a pertussis toxin-sensitive pathway. CdCl2 and E2 activation of MAPK may also involve ERb. This study supports the involvement of membrane ER and GPER signaling in mediating cellular responses to environmentally relevant nM concentrations of CdCl2 and NaAsO2 in lung adenocarcinoma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. B cells are central to the pathology of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a disease characterized by autoantibodies and effectively treated by rituximab. In addition to promoting inflammation, a subset of B cells act to suppress harmful autoimmune responses (Breg). The balance of effector and regulatory B cell subsets in AAV is not known. This study was conducted to assess the relative frequency of these subsets during different states of disease activity.Methods. B memory (Bmem), naive (Bnaive) and regulatory (Breg) subsets were defined by their relative expression of CD24 and CD38. Function was assessed by cytokine production and suppressive action on CD4+ Th1 activation evaluated in a co-culture system.Results. Compared with healthy controls, the frequency of Breg (CD24hiCD38hi) was significantly reduced during disease remission in both proteinase 3 (PR3)- and MPO-ANCA patients and during acute disease in PR3-ANCA patients, while the frequency of memory cells (CD24hiCD38lo) was reduced during active disease and restored during remission. Breg cell frequency showed a positive correlation, while Bmem had an inverse correlation with IL-10 production in vitro. B and T cell co-cultures revealed that memory and naive B cell subsets augmented Th1 activation in vitro, which was prevented by Breg, and this pattern did not differ between remission AAV patients and controls.Conclusion. In remission there is a numerical, but not functional, deficiency in Breg and preservation of Bmem associated with reduced IL-10 production and increased Th1 activation in vitro. This imbalance may contribute to the high rate of relapse observed in AAV, especially in PR3-ANCA patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytomegalovirus ( CMV) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality following solid organ transplantation ( SOT). Two strategies, prophylactic, and preemptive have emerged for the prevention of CMV infection and disease after SOT. This retrospective chart review of two liver transplant cohorts: prophylactic and preemptive, compares the clinical impact of transitioning from prophylactic to preemptive strategy. The primary outcome is the incidence of CMV viremia at 3-and 6-months post-transplant. Secondary outcomes include: incidence of CMV tissue-invasive disease, acute cellular rejection, leukopenia and neutropenia, opportunistic infection rates, hospital readmission rates, and mortality at 3-and 6-months post-transplant. A total of 109 patients were included in the analysis. The incidence of CMV viremia was 4.9% and 50.0% ( P < 0.001) in the prophylactic versus preemptive cohort, respectively, at 3 months post-transplant. The incidence of CMV viremia was 24.6% and 8.3% ( P = 0.026) in the prophylactic versus preemptive cohort, respectively, at 6 months post-transplant. There were no statistical significant differences in the secondary outcomes between both cohorts. In conclusion, there is a statistical significant difference in time to onset of CMV viremia; however, the use of either prophylactic or preemptive strategy was not associated with significant negative clinical outcomes of CMV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Activation of arterial smooth muscle alpha1-adrenergic receptors results in vasoconstriction, as well as a secondary release of nitric oxide and slow vasodilation, presumably through gap junction communication from smooth muscle to endothelium. We hypothesized that this slow vasodilation is due to activation of eNOS through phosphorylation at Ser1179 and dephosphorylation at Thr495. Phosphorylation was measured by western blot using mouse mesenteric arteries that were cannulated and pressurized (75mmHg) and treated either by 1) 5min of phenylephrine superfusion (10−5 M) (PE5), 2) 15min of phenylephrine (PE15), 3) 15min phenylephrine followed by acetylcholine (10−4 M) (PE+ACh), or 4) 20min time control with no treatment (NT) [4–5 arteries pooled per treatment per blot; 5 blots performed]. These treatments allowed correlation between vasomotor changes, namely maximal constriction (PE5), slow vasodilation (PE15), and maximal dilation (PE+ACh), and relative phosphorylation changes. Phosphorylation of eNOS at Ser1179 was increased relative to NT by more than 2-fold at PE5 and remained similarly increased at PE15 and PE+ACh. Phosphorylation of eNOS at Thr495 was less in all treatments relative to NT, but not significantly. Treatment with l-NAME (10−4 M) or endothelial denudation indicated that the slow dilation in response to phenylephrine was completely due to nitric oxide synthase and was endothelial dependent. These results indicate that eNOS phosphorylation at Ser1179 occurs before the slow dilation and is not actively involved in this vasodilation or dilation to acetylcholine, but may play a permissive role in eNOS activation by other mechanisms. It is not yet known what mechanism is responsible for Ser1179 phosphorylation with phenylephrine stimulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, I rework standardized client activities using improvisational methods. While standardized client approaches to teaching/learning interviewing skills have been proven to be effective in increasing students' competence, I suggest that enhancing these practices with the ideas and approaches of improvisational theatre provides opportunities for the creativity that characterizes advanced practice. Improvisational theatre's focus on spontaneity and intuition foregrounds three elements of practice. These include unconscious and emotional knowledge, the relational nature of practice, and the variability and unpredictability of the interview. Reframing standardized client activities through improvisational theory and practice offers students an explicit framework for making sense of simulations as creative, spontaneous spaces for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I draw upon written texts and discussions with white community organizers so as to explore how the discourse of community work secure whiteness not as an act of maintaining privilege but as an accepted, unnoticed, and even helpful way of seeing and acting in the world. This is problematic because it creates a space in which there can be ethical white subjects who are able to understand themselves as outside of relations of racism. I suggest that it would be more useful to understand practices in which white people advocate with racialized communities as acts of ambivalence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we look at two intersecting imperatives in social work and university education and how they shape our thinking about quality in field education. We will explore how practices of new managerialism and the desire for diversity come into conflict when trying to assess the quality of field-based learning. Drawing on findings from a pilot research project we completed at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, we propose that it would be beneficial for Canadian schools of social work to rely less on assessing quality in terms of standards and specifications and more on a transformative notion of quality that speaks more clearly to empowering students and enhancing their knowledge and skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how medical advances of the past decade affect social services for people living with HIV. Data for the study were drawn from in-depth interviews with 59 social service providers in Ontario, Canada. New antiretroviral treatments help many people to live longer and healthier lives with HIV. As a result of the improved health of clients, the focus of much of the work of social service providers has changed from acute health concerns to more chronic social issues. HIV can be just one of many complex issues in the lives of clients living with HIV/AIDS, as workers increasingly confront social problems, such as poverty, inadequate housing, or unavailable drug treatment services. Workers may have little training or experience in dealing with such issues. The article describes how agencies and workers have had to adapt to new practice realities resulting from effective HIV treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for HIV/AIDS social services continues to grow; workers confront increasingly complex client needs, and changes to government funding policies present new challenges to frontline social workers. Drawing on a qualitative study involving 59 social service practitioners in Ontario, Canada, this paper explores how frontline workers experience policy changes that restrict government funding. Respondents report that many of their clients are focused on immediate needs, such as food or shelter, rather than their HIV infection. They describe how funding cuts can introduce uncertainty into their work, and they note that their work now feels more bureaucratic and less caring. More organizational work is required to access resources and workers often find themselves playing a gate-keeping role. The paper describes how workers try to minimize the negative policy changes they perceive, but some of their ways of managing increased demand can actually end up increasing barriers to clients. Findings suggest that changing policies can undermine efforts to involve people with HIV in service delivery and to advocate for changing the social context of the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christian fundamentalist religious beliefs, expressed by social work students, present a challenge to the social work educator. In this paper we explore the tensions between Fundamentalism, diverse sexual orientation and gender expression and social work pedagogy. Particularly, we focus on how an anti-oppressive pedagogical approach, while important to providing educational equality for students with diverse gender expressions and sexual orientations, has some limitations when working with students with Fundamentalist beliefs. We wonder whether there is a reasonable limit on inclusivity. The prospect of negotiating fundamentalism raises questions that require a critical reflection on our own belief systems, a rethinking of social work anti-oppressive values and ethics, and a consideration of our role as educators within the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outermost layer of spores of the Bacillus cereus family is a loose structure known as the exosporium. Spores of a library of Tn917-LTV1 transposon insertion mutants of B. cereus ATCC 10876 were partitioned into hexadecane; a less hydrophobic mutant that was isolated contained an insertion in the exsA promoter region. ExsA is the equivalent of SafA (YrbA) of Bacillus subtilis, which is also implicated in spore coat assembly; the gene organizations around both are identical, and both proteins contain a very conserved N-terminal cortex-binding domain of Ca. 50 residues, although the rest of the sequence is much less conserved. In particular, unlike SafA, the ExsA protein contains multiple tandem oligopeptide repeats and is therefore likely to have an extended structure. The exsA gene is expressed in the mother cell during sporulation. Spores of an ex&4 mutant are extremely permeable to lysozyme and are blocked in late stages of germination, which require coat-associated functions. Two mutants expressing differently truncated versions of ExsA were constructed, and they showed the same gross defects in the attachment of exosporium and spore coat layers. The protein profile of the residual exosporium harvested from spores of the three mutants—two expressing truncated proteins and the mutant with the original transposon insertion in the promoter region—showed some differences from the wild type and from each other, but the major exosporium glycoproteins were retained. The exsA gene is extremely important for the normal assembly and anchoring of both the spore coat and exosporium layers in spores of B. cereus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on the concern over anthrax threat to abortion clinic workers in Canada. She states that the ways in which the society responded to the anthrax concerns of postal workers as a general threat to Canadian workers is interesting when compared to earlier responses to similar fears expressed by abortion workers. She says that new ways to explore abortion work from the perspective of workplace safety should be found.

The exosporium is the outermost layer of spores of Bacillus cereus and its close relatives Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus thuringiensis. For these pathogens, it represents the surface layer that makes initial contact with the host. To date, only the BclA glycoprotein has been described as a component of the exosporium; this paper defines 10 more tightly associated proteins from the exosporium of B. cereus ATCC 10876, identified by N.terminal sequencing of proteins from purified, washed exosporium. Likely coding sequences were identified from the incomplete genome sequence of B. anthracis or B. cereus ATCC 14579, and the precise corresponding sequence from B. cereus ATCC 10876 was defined by PCR and sequencing. Eight genes encode likely structural components (exsB, exsC, exsD, exsE, exsF, exsG, exsJ, and cotE). Several proteins of the exosporium are related to morphogenetic and outer spore coat proteins of B. subtilis, but most do not have homologues in B. subtilis. ExsE is processed from a larger precursor, and the Cote homologue appears to have been C-terminally truncated. ExsJ contains a domain of GXX collagen-like repeats, like the BclA exosporium protein of B. anthracis. Although most of the exosporium genes are scattered on the genome, bcL4 and exsF are clustered in a region flanking the rhamnose biosynthesis operon; rhamnose is part of the sugar moiety of spore glycoproteins. Two enzymes, alanine racemase and nucleoside hydrolase, are tightly adsorbed to the exosporium layer; they could metabolize small molecule germinants and may reduce the sensitivity of spores to these, limiting premature germination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on the safety concerns of abortion workers in Canada. According to the author, the cultural ambivalence surrounding the profession of abortion work makes it difficult to position issues encountered by abortion workers in relation to workplace safety. The author opines that it is not easy to apply pre-existing concepts of workplace safety to the profession of abortion work.

BACKGROUND: Hymenal abnormalities are most commonly a result of incomplete apoptosis of the urogenital sinus during embryology. Infrequently, however, noncongenital abnormalities of the hymen can occur that can cause significant sequelae such as severe introital dyspareunia. CASES: We report on two adult women who developed severe introital dyspareunia secondary to hymenal stenosis and fibrosis in the absence of other vulvovaginal pathology. Neither woman had point tenderness of the vulvar vestibule, but their symptoms of searing pain on vaginal penetration was reproduced by stretching the hymen with two fingers. In both cases, conservative treatments with vaginal dilators in combination with topical hormonal therapy failed to relieve their symptoms, but both women were subsequently successfully treated with hymenectomy. CONCLUSION: Hymenal stenosis and fibrosis can develop in the absence of identifiable vulvar dermatoses. If conservative treatment with topical hormonal therapy and vaginal dilators is unsuccessful, hymenectomy can restore normal coital function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Lupus nephritis (LN) may present with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) on kidney biopsy, the impact of which on outcomes is unclear. This study examined the prognostic importance of LN with TMA on kidney biopsy, including response to therapy and long-term outcomes. Methods: We conducted a single-center, retrospective study of all cases of LN with concomitant TMA on kidney biopsy in the Glomerular Disease Collaborative Network database. Controls were individuals with LN without TMA matched to cases based on demographic and clinical variables. Outcomes were remission at 6- and 12-months, end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and death. Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to ascertain the risks for outcomes, with adjustment for serum creatinine and proteinuria. Results: There were 17 cases and 28 controls. Cases had higher creatinine, higher proteinuria and greater chronicity on biopsy at baseline compared to controls. The rates of remission at 6-months and 12-months were similar between cases and controls (6-months 53.9% vs 46.4%, adjusted OR 2.54, 95% CI 0.48, 13.37; 12-months 53.9% vs 50.0%, adjusted OR 2.95, 95% CI 0.44, 19.78). Cases were at greater risk for ESKD in univariate analysis (HR 3.77; 95% CI 1.24, 11.41) but not when adjusting for serum creatinine and proteinuria (HR 2.20; 95% CI 0.63, 7.71). There was no significant difference in the risk of death between cases and controls. Conclusion: Lupus nephritis with renal TMA likely responds to therapy similarly to those without TMA; risk for ESKD is not significantly increased, although the influence of renal function and proteinuria in larger samples is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This teaching note describes how a school of social work adapted Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) during the COVID-19 pandemic to an online live-streamed format, providing students the opportunity to engage in this experiential learning activity despite pandemic-related limitations. A step-by-step process for developing online OSCEs is described, highlighting three key areas—planning, training, and implementation—and the significance of developing a community of practice. Reflections from our team on promising practices for conducting a live-stream OSCE, and insights from the perspectives of simulated clients (n=4), and experienced OSCE raters (n=6) are shared. Implications are described to support future teaching as educators are compelled to continuously prepare social work students for the online realities of practice beyond COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In discussing a university-industry partnership on the development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based simulation platform, this conceptual paper explores the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) as a pedagogical innovation in social work. Critically reflecting upon this ongoing project, we discuss the current promises and limitations of NLP for social work education. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework theoretically informs "lessons learned" from this case study and provides a call to action for social work educators to play a greater role in developing and researching pedagogies supported by currently evolving AI technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The profession of social work emphasizes social justice in its service delivery, yet there is a paucity of literature on how to teach clinical practice from a social justice perspective. This qualitative study with Canadian social work educators (n=12) suggests the following ways in which educators taught clinical social work from a social justice perspective: (1) integrating critical social theories in conceptualizing clinical practice, (2) engaging in transformative pedagogies, and (3) navigating professional commitments. While addressing various forms of social injustices is a mandate for all social workers, enactment of social justice within clinical practice remains an area of concern. Results suggest concrete ways in which social work educators can engage students in developing their commitment to social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This explorative study provides insight into the experiences of standardized clients (SC) involved in simulation for social work education and research. The purpose was to contribute to scholarly conversations regarding SCs and to provide an empirical foundation to inform our simulation program by attending to the perspectives of SC participants who are key to simulation-based learning (SBL). A qualitative, cross-sectional survey was employed to understand these experiences. In doing so, this study attempts to ensure SBL design and implementation is more attentive to SCs who increasingly represent marginalized communities. SCs (n = 14) reported an enthusiasm for engaging with social work simulations as they find the work both interesting and meaningful. The findings demonstrate how incorporating SCs into teaching teams fosters a community of practice that can function to incorporate members of marginalized communities into professional education, and reshape pedagogical strategies for supporting the development of holistic competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the 63 carcinogens in cigarette smoke, cadmium chloride and sodium arsenate are considered environmental estrogens because they mimic the effect of estradiol in living systems. Since recent studies support a role for estrogen in the etiology and progression of lung cancer, we wanted to determine if these environmental estrogens could stimulate cellular proliferation in a similar manner. Treatment of a lung adenocarcinoma cell line NCI-H1793 for 4 days with nanomolar concentrations of cadmium chloride or sodium arsenate induced cellular proliferation similar to that seen for estradiol. These cells express both estrogen receptors alpha and beta. Furthermore, inhibition of the estrogen signaling pathway using an estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist ICI 182,780 partially reduced the observed proliferation. Treatment of H1793 cells transiently transfected with an estrogen response element-driven luciferase reporter gene with estradiol, cadmium chloride or sodium arsenate stimulated luciferase activity in an ER-dependent manner. In addition to this genomic activity, both cadmium chloride and sodium arsenate, like estradiol, stimulated phosphorylation of ERK½ within minutes of treatment. These studies support the involvement of estrogen receptor signaling at both the genomic and non-genomic levels in mediating cellular responses to environmentally relevant concentrations of cadmium chloride and sodium arsenate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exosporium-defective phenotype of a transposon insertion mutant of Bacillus cereus implicated ExsY, a homologue of B. subtilis cysteine-rich spore coat proteins CotY and CotZ, in assembly of an intact exosporium. Single and double mutants of B. cereus lacking ExsY and its paralogue, CotY, were constructed. The exsY mutant spores are not surrounded by an intact exosporium, though they often carry attached exosporium fragments. In contrast, the cotY mutant spores have an intact exosporium, although its overall shape is altered. The single mutants show altered, but different, spore coat properties. The exsY mutant spore coat is permeable to lysozyme, whereas the cotY mutant spores are less resistant to several organic solvents than is the case for the wild type. The exsY cotY double-mutant spores lack exosporium and have very thin coats that are permeable to lysozyme and are sensitive to chloroform, toluene, and phenol. These spore coat as well as exosporium defects suggest that ExsY and CotY are important to correct formation of both the exosporium and the spore coat in B. cereus. Both ExsY and CotY proteins were detected in Western blots of purified wild-type exosporium, in complexes of high molecular weight, and as monomers. Both exsY and cotY genes are expressed at late stages of sporulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extraction for aflatoxin M1 from bovine milk samples is described. The samples were extracted by adding 10 mL acetonitrile to 10 g of sample. The extract was salted out with sodium chloride and magnesium sulfate to separate the water and acetonitrile. The organic layer was dried down and reconstituted in water before being subjected to an immunoaffinity column for cleanup. Once the analyte was isolated, quantitation was obtained by LC with fluorescence detection. LC/fluorescence parameters were optimized with an Agilent Poroshell 120 C18 LC column resulting in a 4 min run time. To test the procedure's robustness, three different kinds of matrixes were fortified at three different levels each. Whole milk, reduced fat milk, and skim milk samples were fortified at approximately 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 µg/kg. Recoveries from all samples ranged from 70 to 100%. Confirmation was accomplished by injecting the samples in an ion trap mass spectrometer. The method presented here entails an extraction step followed by an immunoaffinity column clean-up that leads to fast analysis time and consistent recoveries with an uncertainty measurement of 10.5% and method detection limit of less than 0.011 µg/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]