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Undergraduate institutions serve as stepping stones to students' careers. Teaching and learning in science classrooms require quality and integrated teaching-research learning experiences that prepare students to advance their careers. Using publicly available data sets and open-access data analyses software can be impactful for engaging students in meaningful research experiences while keeping institutional expenses associated with implementing and supporting research opportunities low. In this article, we share two examples of student-led data research that utilized open data and software to analyze microbial sequence data. As part of this process, we also recognized the need for discipline-specific databases that can hold a record of publicly available data. Such a setup will support undergraduate educators and students in accessing data relevant to their requirements, thereby narrowing the gap between data availability and accessibility. Finally, both examples illustrate the benefits of using open resources in supporting student learning, with the possibility of using such resources to develop course-based undergraduate research experiences as part of course curricula.

This qualitative study is a follow-up to an initial large-scale case study on the implementation of a co-taught curriculum in one California teacher preparation program. In a continuation of the initial case study, this follow-up study examined faculty perceptions of the necessary course attributes, resources, and attitudes for a successful university-level co-teaching experience in a preservice teacher education program. Nineteen faculty interviews were analyzed and included in this study utilizing cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to understand individual faculty perceptions in the context of the larger activity system of co-teaching. Results indicate that faculty perceived necessary course attributes in a co-taught course to include equal representation of special education and general education faculty; increased use of constructivist pedagogical methods; use of team teaching, parallel teaching, and station-based co-teaching models; and partnerships based on openness, flexibility, trust, and willingness to compromise. Faculty perceived barriers to co-teaching success to be lack of both time and funding. Differing perceptions of co-teaching implementation existed between adjunct faculty and full faculty and between special education and general education faculty.

Adolescents with disabilities have great difficulty with academic content in middle school, and their teachers have difficulty teaching them to understand and use academic language. We taught teachers of sixth-grade students with learning disabilities, more than half of whom were also English language learners (ELLs), to implement about 15 min of daily interactive vocabulary instruction in their intact special education English/language arts classes. Three schools were assigned randomly to treatment (two schools) or control conditions (one school, 52 students total). We developed instructional routines to introduce four new words per week in three 4-week units to test for replicability. ANCOVAs (with each cycle's pretest and intelligence quotient as covariates) were conducted on taught vocabulary, all of which favored the treatment condition with effect sizes ranging 0.6 to 0.7 per cycle. Near-transfer effects to vocabulary usage were weaker, with significant effects in the last two cycles. Effects were similar for students with disabilities who were ELLs and native English speakers. Treated students maintained their knowledge of words 4 to 24 weeks following the close of treatment.

Family conversations about science-related topics, including those involving storybook reading, may set the stage for children's interest in science. We investigated how parents from two cultural backgrounds engaged in science talk while reading a science-related storybook with their preschool-aged daughters and sons. Consistent with our commitment to avoid deficit thinking, our questions focus on variability within a group of European-American parents and a group of Latine parents, rather than comparing groups. Our sample included 38 European-American families (20 girls), and 27 Latine families (12 girls) from three coastal regions of California, varying in educational background. Our results indicate that parents from both groups read most of the text, had conversations beyond the text, and specifically engaged in science talk when elaborating beyond the book with their children. European-American parents with 12-16 years of schooling engaged in science talk more with boys than with girls, whereas the science talk of European-American parents with more than 16 years of schooling did not differ by children's gender. Latine parents did not differ significantly in their science talk by years of parents' schooling or by children's gender. Results are discussed as they relate to current conversations about early socialization of science interest and engagement for boys and girls in diverse families.

Faculty assessments are a hot topic in academia. Mostly considered an unproven statistic holding the professor hostage for a good grade, the benefits are still in discussion. At course end, we expect students to have the ability to analyze what we think they should have learned. In reality, most students do not have the maturity to realize correlation for what you put into your education is what you get out. Consensus is that it does not happen the way we plan. Adding to the assessment issue is the clear fact that today most universities are adjunct professor-driven. Given these facts, the authors have statistically studied teaching assessments and associated grade point averages (GPA) representing academic rigor at a major non-profit university over the past three years. The authors' hypothesis is that there is no correlation between the two statistics. This paper reviews the literature, provides the study methodology, and presents the findings.

Objective The purposes of this pilot study were to compare short-term outcomes of the Perception-Action Approach (P-AA) and standard care based on 5 components of first-choice interventions listed in the congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) clinical practice guideline. Changes in postural alignment, symmetrical use of both sides of the body during movement and play, gross motor development, and behavior observed during therapy were considered. Methods Thirty-two participants were enrolled in a 2-group (P-AA and standard care) randomized, single-blind trial with pre–posttest measures. Participants were infants with CMT, age range 5 to 35 weeks at enrollment. Outcome measures administered at initial and final evaluations included still photography, arthrodial goniometry, Muscle Function Scale, Alberta Infant Motor Scale, and Functional Symmetry Observation Scale. Participants in both groups attended 3 intervention sessions. Their behavior exhibited during therapy was compared using the Therapy Behavior Scale Version 2.2. Results Data collection was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Twenty-four infants completed the study (10 in P-AA and 14 in the standard care group). There were no significant differences between the groups in performance at initial and final evaluations. Both groups improved on most outcome measures. The P-AA group made greater gains on the Functional Symmetry Observation Scale, and the Therapy Behavior Scale Version 2.2 scores were higher in the P-AA group; however, these results did not reach significance. Conclusion Results suggest that similar short-term outcomes may be obtained in infants with CMT undergoing P-AA and standard care interventions. Definitive conclusions regarding the efficacy of the P-AA in infants with CMT cannot be made at this time. Nevertheless, the pilot findings provide valuable preliminary data for a future efficacy trial, which will require funding. Impact This was the first randomized controlled trial to provide evidence for use of P-AA intervention in infants with CMT. Lay Summary Compared to standard treatment, the Perception-Action Approach (P-AA) provided similar short-term benefits to infants with congenital muscular torticollis. The P-AA group participants demonstrated higher symmetry and behavior scores, which needs to be confirmed in a larger future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graduate students education is falling short of what the twenty-first century demands from its next generation of leaders; indeed, many educational leaders and scholars have called for graduate education to include richer, more relevant experiences (Stanton & Wagner, 2006; Stewart, 2010; Walker, Jones, Bueschel, & Hutchings, 2008). At the University of California, Davis, we provide a rich set of professional development skills through a new program for graduate students who have an interest in environmentally based public scholarship--researching and collaborating with communities in order to solve real-world challenges. The purpose of this article is to illustrate and analyze the model, identifying ways the program is effectively delivering professional development to graduate students.

The history of the world could be told through countless biographies, as Carlyle said, and these biographies undoubtedly would represent gifted individuals and their contributions at different times in different cultures of the world. The Greeks and Romans recognized the value of talent, as did the tribes of the Bible, responding to the parables told by Jesus. The Chinese Dynasties and Confucius as a scholar saw value in educating those from all social strata according to their talents. And the history of the world and these societal contributions have occurred predominantly in cities, as Arnold Toynbee has noted in his text "Cities of Destiny." Thus, it is not surprising that cities are where gifted education began, from Hollingworth's Speyer School experiment in New York City on the East Coast, to Terman's efforts on the West Coast in large cities like San Diego, to the work of others in large Midwestern cities. Early research in gifted education was conducted in these urban sites. This article chronicles the history and evolution of urban programs in three sites--Chicago, New York, and San Diego--to profile the extensive efforts that have preceded the work in this field today and to illustrate the extensiveness of those efforts to focus on this population of learners within their largest and most diverse national settings. (Contains 1 figure.)

An intent of many business programs is to enhance the critical thinking capabilities of their students. Since AACSB accreditation requires evidence that business schools fulfill their goals, our students were required to take the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). As expected, the CCTST was significantly related to SAT performance and to Business Core GPA. Nonetheless, the especially strong relationships with components thought to emphasize critical thinking, such as performance in the business capstone course, were not observed. SAT scores alone predicted 56% of the variance in CCTST. None of our other predictors added significantly to this total.

This paper describes the college admission process through the conceptual lens of Dickason's (2001) phases of affirmative action. The first phase, obligatory affirmative action, describes the history of affirmative action and the impact on college admission. The second phase, voluntary affirmative action, describes University of West Florida's (FL) efforts to increase its minority enrollment and retention. The final phase, tempered affirmative action, explores percentage plans that have been implemented in universities in California, Texas and Florida to eliminate race as a criterion for admission. The goal is to provide some insight into the future of race-based admission and the implication for institutional efforts to provide diverse learning opportunities for students. (Contains 1 figure.)

This article cites middle schools nationwide that are using various methods to partner with parents, ensuring that not only is entering middle school a smoother transition but that giving parents a better understanding of the changing curriculum is a top priority. Over 200 middle level schools are addressing No Child Left Behind requirements to involve parents in ways that advance student achievement and success as members of the National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University. The partnership helps members understand and implement a comprehensive model of school, family, and community partnerships. All schools can use the research-generated framework of six types of involvement to develop a comprehensive program of school, family, and community partnerships. The six types of involvement are: (1) Parenting; (2) Communicating; (3) Volunteering; (4) Learning at Home; (5) Decision Making; and (6) Collaborating with Community.

The impacts of homelessness on health and health care access are detrimental. Intervention and efforts to improve outcomes and increase availability of affordable housing have mainly originated from the public health sector and government. The role that large community-based health systems may play has yet to be established. This study characterizes patients self-identified as homeless in acute care facilities in a large integrated health care system in Northern California to inform the development of collaborative interventions addressing unmet needs of this vulnerable population. The authors compared sociodemographic characteristics, clinical conditions, and health care utilization of individuals who did and did not self-identify as homeless and characterized their geographical distribution in relation to Sutter hospitals and homeless resources. Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, 5% (N = 20,259) of the acute care settings patients had evidence of homelessness, among which 51.1% age <45 years, 66.4% males, and 24% non-Hispanic Black. Patients experiencing homelessness had higher emergency department utilization and lower utilization of outpatient and urgent care services. Mental health conditions were more common among patients experiencing homelessness. More than half of the hospitals had >5% of patients who identified as homeless. Some hospitals with higher proportions of patients experiencing homelessness are not located near many shelter resources. By understanding patients who self-identify as homeless, it is possible to assess the role of the health system in addressing their unmet needs. Accurate identification is the first step for the health systems to develop and deliver better solutions through collaborations with nonprofit organizations, community partners, and government agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Student Engagement in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (SERSCA) Program at California State University, Stanislaus provides support for student engagement in these areas from idea conception through dissemination. Through assistantships, mini-grants, the Student Research Competition, and travel grants, the Program is designed to improve the overall quality of education and increase retention, GPA, the number of units completed, degree completion, and enrollment in graduate or professional school. In this article we provide an overview of the SERSCA Program and preliminary evaluation findings from the first year of implementation.

This exploratory study foregrounds the important, but often understudied social side of pre-service teacher development and its relation to teaching performance in one university-based teacher preparation program in the US. We examine the extent to which pre-service elementary teachers' social relationships and perceptions of peer trust and efficacy are associated with performance on a high stakes mathematics teaching assessment. Findings suggest that social and emotional support through close social ties, peer trust, and self-efficacy are significantly and positively associated with pre-service teachers' teaching performance. Our work further contributes to the development and discourse about teacher education in university-based teacher preparation programs.

OBJECTIVE: Acute agitation episodes in the emergency department (ED) can be distressing for patients, families, and staff and may lead to injuries. We aim to understand availability of ED resources to care for children with acute agitation, perceived staff confidence with agitation management, barriers to use of de-escalation techniques, and desired resources to enhance care. METHODS: We conducted a survey of pediatric emergency care coordinators (PECCs) in EDs in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Los Angeles County, California. RESULTS: PECCs from 63 of 102 (61.8%) EDs responded. PECCs reported that ED staff feel least confident managing agitation due to developmental delay (DD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (52.4%). Few EDs had a separate space to care for children with mental health conditions (22.5%), a standardized agitation scale (9.6%), an agitation management guideline (12.9%), or agitation management training (24.2%). Modification of the environment was not perceived possible for 42% of EDs. Participants reported that a barrier to the use of the de-escalation techniques distraction and verbal de-escalation was perceived lack of effectiveness (22.6% and 22.6%, respectively). Desired resources to manage agitation included guidelines for medications (82.5%) and sample care pathways (57.1%). CONCLUSIONS: ED PECCs report low confidence in managing agitation due to DD or ASD and limited pediatric resources to address acute agitation. Additional pediatric-specific resources and training, especially for children with DD or ASD, are needed to increase clinician confidence in agitation management and to promote high-quality, patient-centered care. Training programs can focus on the early identification of agitation and the effective use of non-invasive de-escalation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools of social work invest an enormous amount of time and money training new field instructors to ensure their ability to help students integrate the knowledge, skill, and values of the profession. Some schools, like the one described here, frame their training in the context of a developmental model of supervision. Such models presume that student professional development follows a series of sequential, hierarchical stages from less to more competent and that supervision interventions differ at each stage of development. There is, however, limited empirical support to suggest how supervisors (field instructors) use these models while training MSW students. Using a mixed method design, this study demonstrates that the sampled supervisors assumed different roles and varied their approach to supervision and the type of feedback provided on process recordings, in accordance with developmental models, when working with first- and second-year MSW students. These findings have implications for training field supervisors and for field instruction in general. (Contains 2 tables.)

Finding ways to help primary-grade students overcome difficulties in solving mathematical word problems can be a daunting task for teachers in a regular classroom setting. Student challenges may include: (1) difficulty with vocabulary; (2) lack of confidence when solving problems; (3) confusion on the proper operation to use when solving a problem; and (4) students' lack of knowledge of various problem-solving strategies. The ways in which mathematical ideas are represented is fundamental to how students can understand and use those ideas. Many researchers agree that students benefit from active, cooperative learning; multiple representations; and sharing and reflecting with peers. Along with these strategies, the authors' focus for solving mathematical word problems is rooted in and extends research by Hildebrand, Ludeman, and Mullin's "Integrating Mathematics with Problem Solving Using the Mathematician's Chair" (1999) to enhance students' mathematical proficiency in solving mathematical word problems in regular classroom teaching. Simply put, the mathematician's chair is where students sit and share problems they have authored along with their individual solution strategies. The authors' problem-solving process includes four sequential steps: (1) classroom instruction; (2) student group discussion; (3) student presentation; and (4) student evaluation. In this inquiry learning process, a teacher's role is to facilitate; students take the roles of problem solvers, professors, and evaluators. This article describes how classroom teachers at Gompers Elementary School in Lakewood, California, used mathematician's chair activities to engage students in actively learning to problem solve in their mathematics classrooms. In particular, to demonstrate how to implement the mathematician's chair instructional strategy in a real classroom setting, the article illustrates the detailed process of the mathematician's chair using examples from the authors' observations and video analysis of a second-grade teacher's instruction. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)

The behavioral theory constructs most often used to study mammography utilization--perceived benefit, perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy, intention, and subjective norms--have neither been developed nor sufficiently tested among diverse racial/ethnic subgroups. The authors explored these constructs and their underlying assumptions relating to the social context of Filipina and Latina women. The mixed-methods study included testing construct measures in the multilingual surveys of a concurrent intervention study of 1,463 women from five ethnic groups. An intensive inductive investigation then targeted Latina and Filipina women to elucidate connections between social context and individual screening behavior. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 key informant scholars, 13 community gatekeepers, and 29 lay women, and a supplemental study videotaped and interviewed 9 mother-daughter dyads. Three social context domains emerged: relational culture, social capital, and transculturation and transmigration. The meaning and appropriateness of the five behavioral constructs were analyzed in relation to these domains. In contradistinction to tenets of behavioral theory, the authors found that social context can influence behavior directly, circumventing or attenuating the influence of individual beliefs; contextual influences, synthesized from multiple perspectives, can operate at an unconscious level not accessible to the individual; and contextual influences are dynamic, contingent on distal and proximal forces coming together in a given moment and are thus not consistent with an exclusive focus at the individual level. This article describes the study methods, summarizes main findings, and previews the detailed results presented in the other articles in this issue. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

The Science Education Outreach Program (SEOP) engages undergraduate students from a variety of academic disciplines in service-learning experiences. University and community educators introduce and model contemporary educational theories and methods to participating undergraduates during weekly seminars. Concurrently, SEOP students apply these strategies through service-learning experiences in the context of science education in area schools and community-based programs. A comprehensive review of SEOP indicated that the undergraduates applied the seminar teachings to their outreach efforts, and that participation in the program had positive impacts on their education and career choices, as well as workplace and life skills. (Contains 2 figures.)

In this study, 172 elementary teachers were surveyed to determine the state of social studies teaching in their classrooms. Data was collected during the spring of 2004 in various geographic locations within an urban district in southern California. The survey measured teachers' time teaching core subjects, how teachers chose to spend their time teaching social studies and types of strategies used to teach social studies. Teachers revealed that many were dissatisfied with how much time they spent teaching social studies while negotiating mandates to teach language arts and mathematics. Although teachers reported they felt well prepared to teach social studies, many use lecture, readings, and worksheets to teach the California Content Standards. We recommend qualitative research be conducted to explore how teachers who spent more time teaching social studies despite mandates can share those strategies with those who did not teach social studies regularly. (Contains 2 tables.)

In the selective contracting era, consumer choice has generally been absent in most state Medicaid programs, including California's (called Medi-Cal). In a setting where beneficiary exit is not a threat, a large payer may have both the incentives and the ability to exercise undue market power, potentially exposing an already vulnerable population to further harm. The analyses presented here of Medi-Cal contracting data, however, do not yield compelling evidence in favor of the undue market power hypothesis. Instead, hospital competition appears to explain with greater consistency why certain hospitals choose to contract with Medi-Cal while others do not, the trends in inpatient prices paid by Medi-Cal over time, and the effect of price competition on service cutbacks, such as emergency room closures. (Contains 7 tables and 1 figure.)

Two librarians, one from Yuba County and one from Sutter County in California, prepared a cable television program as a means of presenting community information and bringing the library to the people. They put together a half-hour show which began with a self-introduction and explanation by the two librarians, and came back to them occasionally for lead-ins to various parts of the program, which included a puppet show, a slide presentation, and critique of a restaurant, an explanation of a new food stamp program, a visual book review, a preschool program, and some library ad spots. Finally the two librarians had a brief informal conversation and invited audience comment. The show had been previously announced in newspapers, on local radio, and in fliers. In spite of some technical and financial problems, the show has become a bimonthly production using various media--8mm films, slides, videotape, animation, and live presentations--as well as many skilled local volunteers, and talent and help from the local community college. (LS)

Examines ideological representations of how slavery began and a slave's trip to America (the Middle Passage) as depicted in classroom texts in California public schools. Explores the controversy over the adoption of these supposedly multicultural textbooks through interviews with eight African-American parents and four multicultural education specialists. (SLD)

This study analyzed ethnic variations in suicide method and suicide location for 1,145 suicide deaths in a diverse California county. Hanging was the most common method of suicide death. Latino/a/x and Asian and Pacific Islander (API) decedents were more likely to suicide-by-hanging; White and African American decedents were more likely to suicide-by-firearms. API and African American decedents were less likely than White decedents to die-by-suicide at home. Suicide location can be predicted by the co-occurring influence of ethnicity and suicide method. Implications focus on culturally-informed suicide prevention research, assessment, and risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managed aquifer recharge (or intentional recharge) is a purposeful human intervention designed to supplement natural enrichment processes of groundwater aquifers by various methods. It holds the potential to mitigate the impact of climate uncertainty on irrigated agriculture by restoring storage levels in depleted aquifers, the economic value of which increases during droughts. We use a high‐resolution dynamic regional hydroeconomic framework that endogenizes farming decisions in response to water quantity‐quality changes, as well as complex hydrogeological principles to analyze several institutional designs and climate scenarios applied to the Kings Groundwater Basin in California. Our analysis demonstrates that intentional recharge is of high benefit to the region, potentially increasing average groundwater levels in the region by 20% over a 20 year horizon. Additionally, we show how this practice could become the subject of second‐best arrangements among water users in the region in view of property rights to groundwater derived from recent legislation in California, thus increasing its materialization potential. However, we also find that the quantity recharged is sensitive to climate conditions and hydrological properties. Key Points: Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is economically efficient for the region, and its value depends on institutional design and aquifer hydrogeological propertiesInstitutional arrangements matter, affecting optimal water management strategies and their economic impact across the regionCooperation among stakeholders is fundamental for the economic efficiency of MARProperty rights to groundwater introduced through recent legislation in California incentivizes MAR related arrangements [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: This study evaluated risk factors predicting unplanned 30-day acute service utilization among adults subsequent to hospitalization for a new diagnosis of leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma. This study explored the prevalence of medical complications (aligned with OP-35 measure specifications from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program) and the potential impact of psychosocial factors on unplanned acute care utilization. METHODS: This study included 933 unique patients admitted to three acute care inpatient facilities within a nonprofit community-based health care system in southern California from 2012 to 2017. Integrated comprehensive data elements from electronic medical records and facility oncology registries were leveraged for univariate statistics, predictive models constructed using multivariable logistic regression, and further exploratory data mining, with predictive accuracy of the models measured with c-statistics. RESULTS: The mean age of study participants was 65 years, and 55.1% were male. Specific diagnoses were lymphoma (48.7%), leukemia (35.2%), myeloma (14.0%), and mixed types (2.1%). Approximately one fifth of patients received unplanned acute care services within 30 days postdischarge, and over half of these patients presented with one or more symptoms associated with the CMS medical complication measure. The predictive models, with c-statistics ranging from 0.7 and above for each type of hematologic malignancy, indicated good predictive qualities with the impact of psychosocial functioning on the use of acute care services (P values <.05), including lack of consult for social work during initial admission (lymphoma or myeloma), history of counseling or use of psychotropic medications (lymphoma), and past substance use (myeloma). CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into patient-related factors that may inform a proactive approach to improve health outcomes, such as enhanced care transition, monitoring, and support interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of tree species to adapt to water stress and increased frequency of bark beetle outbreaks with climate change may increase with population size and standing genetic variation, calling into question the resilience of small, rare plant populations. The Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana) is a rare, genetically depauperate conifer that occurs naturally in a mainland and island population in southern California. Due to recent declines in the mainland population coinciding with drought and Ips paraconfusus bark beetle outbreaks, the species would benefit from an assessment of adaptive genetic diversity. Here, we use RNA-Seq to survey gene-coding diversity across 40 individuals to (1) characterize patterns of genetic diversity in the species and (2) test for genetic differentiation between trees that succumbed to beetle attack or survived following an outbreak. Consistent with previous studies, we found few genetic variants, with most SNPs occurring as fixed differences between populations. However, we found structure within the mainland and polymorphisms segregating in both populations. Interestingly, we found differentiation in genotypes between attacked and surviving trees and 11 SNPs associated with survival status, several of which had defense-related functions. While low diversity suggests limited adaptive capacity, genetic associations with survival in functionally relevant genes suggest adaptive potential for bark beetle defense. This initial study prompts future research to explore the genetic basis of putative resistance and suggests conservation efforts should protect surviving genotypes and the full spectrum of genetic diversity across populations to preserve the evolutionary potential of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Initial reports of significantly worse outcomes for cancer patients with COVID-19 led to guidelines for triaging surgical cancer treatment. We sought to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on oncologic surgical specialty referrals.Methods: We compared referrals to oncologic surgical specialty clinics at an academic tertiary care institution following implementation of stay-at-home orders in California (3/19/20-7/31/20, "COVID") to the same time period the year prior (3/19/19-7/31/19, "Pre-COVID"). The number of appointments, consulted surgical services, insurance types, acuity of diagnoses, and times from referral to first appointment (TRFA) were assessed.Results: The overall number of patients seen in matched time periods decreased by 21.6% from 900 (pre-COVID) to 705 (COVID). Proportions of patients with malignant and suspicious diagnoses, surgical and thoracic oncology visits, and Medicaid insurance differed from comparison groups during the COVID period (P < .05). Overall median (interquartile range) TRFA decreased from 14 (20) to 12 (19) days (P = .001) during COVID.Conclusion: After implementation of stay-at-home orders, higher acuity and vulnerable patients were appropriately seen in oncologic surgical specialty clinics. While the long-term effects of decreased clinic visits during COVID remain uncertain, further examination of scheduling practices that led to shorter referral times may identify methods to improve timeliness of care and surgical oncologic outcomes in non-pandemic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study is a follow-up to an initial large-scale case study on the implementation of a co-taught curriculum in one California teacher preparation program. In a continuation of the initial case study, this follow-up study examined faculty perceptions of the necessary course attributes, resources, and attitudes for a successful university-level co-teaching experience in a preservice teacher education program. Nineteen faculty interviews were analyzed and included in this study utilizing cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to understand individual faculty perceptions in the context of the larger activity system of co-teaching. Results indicate that faculty perceived necessary course attributes in a co-taught course to include equal representation of special education and general education faculty; increased use of constructivist pedagogical methods; use of team teaching, parallel teaching, and station-based co-teaching models; and partnerships based on openness, flexibility, trust, and willingness to compromise. Faculty perceived barriers to co-teaching success to be lack of both time and funding. Differing perceptions of co-teaching implementation existed between adjunct faculty and full faculty and between special education and general education faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although there is increasing investment to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs) in public systems across the USA, continued or sustained use of EBPs after initial implementation remains a challenge. The low integration of EBPs in routine practice severely limits their public health impact, highlighting the need to understand factors that affect the return on costly investments in EBP implementation. This study aims to (1) characterize trajectories of EBP delivery volume through a reimbursement-driven implementation and (2) examine impacts of system-level policy regulatory activity and state-level mental health services funding on the implementation reimbursement strategy.Methods: This study involved secondary data analyses. Psychotherapy administrative claims and regulatory site visit data from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and California state mental health expenditures were extracted from 2010 to 2017. Multilevel regression examined EBP claims volume over time with state expenditures and regulatory compliance as predictors.Results: EBP claims volume trajectories demonstrated a rapid initial increase, followed by a period of decrease, and a small increase in the final year. State mental health expenditures increased across time reflecting increased funding availability. State mental health expenditures and system regulatory compliance were inversely related to EBP claims volume.Conclusions: The impact of reimbursement-driven EBP implementation strategy is sensitive to multiple outer-context determinants. At the system level, commitment to fidelity of implementation regulations resulted in reduced use of the reimbursement strategy. Alternative reimbursement streams not tied to EBPs coupled with an expanded array of reimbursable services also impacted the use of the reimbursement strategy to implement EBPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The World Health Organization's recent recommendations on intrapartum care regard women's experience of care as an essential aspect of high‐quality maternity care. A better understanding of women's perspectives on their childbirth experiences in the United States is needed to place women in the center of care and optimize their experience of childbirth. Methods: This study analyzed data from the Listening to Mothers in California survey completed by a representative sample of women who gave birth in 2016 in California hospitals. Responses to one or both open‐ended questions about the best and worst part of respondent's hospital stay for childbirth were subject to a content analysis. Results: Findings from 2539 participants included 2336 best and 1410 worst part responses. References to the attitudes and behaviors of health care practitioners were the most commonly reported (47% best and 29.1% worst part). Nurses were the most frequently mentioned practitioner type. Additional best part categories in rank order included the quality of physical care of the mom and feelings about the care experience. Additional worst part categories in rank order included the quality of the facility and food, delays in care, infant feeding, the quality of physical care of the mom, and lack of privacy. Discussion: Women's hospital experiences during childbirth, while multidimensional in nature, are primarily shaped by their relationships with health care practitioners, the care provided, and the facility in which childbirth occurs. Women's feedback provides actionable information to promote a positive birth experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the relationship between eastern North Pacific gray whale calf production and environmental conditions in the Pacific Arctic where they feed. The results show how interannual variation in sea ice cover in the Bering and Chukchi Seas along with broader indices of North Pacific climate, such as Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and North Pacific Index (NPI), are linked to variation in gray whale reproductive output. Estimates of gray whale calf production were derived from 23 consecutive years (1994–2016) of shore‐based visual surveys conducted off California during the northward migration. PDO and NPI in combination with ice cover in the Bering and Chukchi Seas during the early phase of gestation appear to be important in explaining the observed variability in calf production. Of the 2,285 time series linear models evaluated, the model of best‐fit included PDO(July), Ice(June), NPI(February), and explained 60% of the observed variability in calf production. After elimination of two data outliers in calf production estimates (2013 and 2014) a model including Ice(May), PDO(May), and NPI(July) explained 90% of the variability. We conclude that access to prey early in the gestation period is critical to reproductive success in this population and may be important for other capital breeding mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent emergency department (ED) utilization is an indicator of unmet health and social needs, especially among patients with mental and physical health problems. The authors aimed to characterize frequent ED utilizers and drivers of multiple ED use, including presence of serious mental illness (SMI), across 2 large health care systems in Northern California. Using electronic health records and a data-sharing platform, a cross-sectional analysis was conducted of patients aged 18+ years with ≥10 ED visits in 2016. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with multiple ED use versus single ED use. Among the 8036 patients who met inclusion criteria, the mean age was 55.9 years (95% CI = 55.5–56.4), 53% were female, 54% were non-Hispanic white, and 38% had any SMI. Overall, 51% of patients were single ED utilizers. Patients ages ≥65 years were less likely to use multiple EDs compared to younger patients (ages 18–23) (OR = 0.3, 95% CI = 0.2–0.4). African Americans exhibited more than 3 times the likelihood of multi-ED use compared to non-Hispanic whites (OR = 3.8, 95% CI = 3.3–4.3). A diagnosis of any SMI (OR = 2.3 [95% CI: 2.1–2.6]), major depressive disorder (OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.1–1.4), schizophrenia (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.6–2.6), or suicidal attempts/ideation (OR = 2.7, 95% CI = 2.1–3.6) was significantly associated with increased likelihood of multi-ED use. Findings indicate heterogeneity in regional utilization patterns among frequent ED utilizers, with mental illness increasing the likelihood of multi-ED use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign-born persons living in the US have an increased risk of exposure to HIV and higher rates of HIV diagnosis (Patel-Larson et al. in Poster presented at the 2007 National HIV Prevention Conference, pp 2–5, 2007; Prosser et al. in JAMA 308:601–607, 2012). Foreign-born persons also tend to live in areas with high concentration of immigrants and more often neighborhoods of high poverty, for at least some time (Jargowsky in J Ethn Migr Stud 35:1129–1151, 2009). Using HIV surveillance data in Alameda County, California, we examined whether the association between immigrant status and the four outcomes on the HIV care cascade (late diagnosis, linkage to care within 30 days of diagnosis, retention in HIV care, and viral load status a year after diagnosis) differed by census tract poverty level. We used generalized estimating equations (GEE) adjusted for sex at birth, age, race, and transmission mode. Of 1235 individuals with HIV diagnosis reported between 2011 and 2016, 29% were foreign-born. Foreign-born status was significantly associated with late HIV diagnosis but not with linkage, retention in care, and achievement of undetectable viral load a year after diagnosis. Neighborhood poverty modified the association between immigrant status and retention in care, but not late diagnosis, linkage or viral load status. Our findings suggest that neighborhood resources may buffer against disparities in retention. Thus, immigrants in poorer neighborhoods may require more support to stay in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]