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In recent years, a significant focus has been placed on addressing systemic inequities that exist within the education system. While considerable strides have been made to address disparities in urban education, a new conversation is emerging--one that centers on the unique challenges faced by students living in rural communities. These challenges are characterized by limited access to cutting-edge technologies, resources, and educational opportunities that have become essential for shaping the academic and economic prospects of their urban counterparts. Learning Undefeated, a forward-thinking nonprofit, is pioneering the use of mobile STEM laboratories to bring cutting-edge education directly to the doorsteps of rural communities, igniting a passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in students who otherwise may have been left behind.

Women experiencing homelessness have high levels of psychosocial distress related to complex trauma, barriers to mental health treatment, and social isolation. The HOPE Adventure Therapy program utilized outdoor adventure therapy to increase hope and well-being among women homeless shelter residents. Using the Hope Scale and the Outcome Rating Scale, this exploratory, quasi-experimental study measured differences in hope and well-being between women who did and did not participate in the HOPE Adventure Therapy program. Women who participated in adventure therapy reported significant improvements in social and interpersonal well-being. Additionally, higher attendance in adventure therapy predicted larger improvements in well-being for residents in a women's shelter. Future studies can further explore outdoor adventure therapy and experiential interventions to address gaps in service for women experiencing homelessness.

The impact of the harvesting method, as well as the ginning method (saw or high-speed roller ginning), on textile quality was studied over three years of cotton production in the Southern High Plains. The Southern High Plains region is the largest cotton production area of the USA. The Southern High Plains and the Texas Gulf Coast are the only areas of the USA where brush-roll stripper harvesting is common, alongside traditional spindle picker machine harvesting. Different harvesting methods lead to differences in micronaire, maturity, length distribution, color and non-lint content within the bale. Ginning differences were primarily found to be length and length distribution related. Lint was processed into rotor-spun, carded ring-spun and combed ring-spun medium count yarns to determine the impacts of harvesting and ginning methods on textile product quality. Rotor spinning produced comparable quality yarns regardless of harvest or ginning method, while carded ring-spun yarns showed statistical differences in quality, with spindle-picked cottons having greater uniformity and higher tenacity. Combing was able to eliminate any functional differences in quality due to the pre-mill handling of the cottons at the expense of increased noil levels for stripper-harvested cottons. There were no differences in ends-down during ring spinning, regardless of harvest and ginning method, although cottons produced with high-speed roller ginning were able to be spun at higher spindle speeds, which equates to higher production speeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes for Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.Methods: A quasi-experimental pre- and postintervention study design was used to compare process and clinical endpoints before and after a quality-improvement initiative. All inpatients >18 years of age with a positive blood culture for S. aureus during the specified pre- and postintervention period with clinical information available in the electronic medical record were included. An institutional protocol for the care of patients with S. aureus bacteremia was developed, formalized, and distributed to providers using a pocket card, an electronic order set, and targeted lectures over a 9-month period.Results: There were 167 episodes of S. aureus bacteremia (160 patients) identified in the preintervention period, and 127 episodes (123 patients) in the postintervention period. Guideline adherence improved in the postintervention period for usage of transesophageal echocardiogram (43.9% vs 20.2%, P <.01) and adequate duration of intravenous therapy (71% vs 60%, P = .05). In a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model, the variables associated with increased relapse-free survival were postintervention period (hazard ratio [HR] 0.48; confidence interval [CI], 0.24-0.95; P .035) and appropriate source control (HR 0.53; CI, 0.24-0.92; P .027). Regardless of intervention, presence of cancer was associated with an increased risk of relapse or mortality at 90 days (HR 2.88; P <.0001; CI, 1.35-5.01).Conclusion: A bundled educational intervention to promote adherence to published guidelines for the treatment of S. aureus bacteremia resulted in a significant improvement in provider adherence to guidelines as well as increased 90-day relapse-free survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contaminated sediments are commonly found in urbanized harbors. At sufficiently high contaminant levels, sediments can cause toxicity to aquatic organisms and impair benthic communities. As a result, remediation is necessary and diagnosing the cause of sediment toxicity becomes imperative. In the present study, six sediments from a highly industrialized area in Patrick Bayou (TX, USA) were subjected to initial toxicity testing with the mysid, Americamysis bahia, and the amphipod, Ampelisca abdita. All sediments were toxic to the amphipods, while sites PB4A, PB6A, and PB9 were the only sites toxic to mysids. Due to its toxicity to both test organisms, site PB6A was chosen for a marine whole sediment phase I toxicity identification evaluation (TIE). Results of the TIE found toxicity to amphipods was primarily due to nonionic organic contaminants (NOCs), rather than cationic metals or ammonia. Causes of mysid toxicity in the TIE were less clear. An assessment of metal bioavailability using equilibrium partitioning (EqP) approaches supported the results of the TIE that cationic metals were not responsible for observed toxicity in PB6A for either organism. Toxic units (TU) calculated on measured concentrations of NOCs in the sediment yielded a total TU of 1.25, indicating these contaminants are contributing to the observed sediment toxicity. Using a combination of these TIE and EqP assessment tools, this investigation was capable of identifying NOCs as the likely class of contaminants causing acute toxicity to amphipods exposed to Patrick Bayou sediment. The cause of mysid toxicity was not definitively determined, but unmeasured NOCs are suspected. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010;29:742–750. © 2009 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the HIPAA privacy and security rules, organizations are taking steps to set up and clean up access controls, and explore possible changes to audit controls and termination procedures. They are facing the practical issues of implementing security policies that are compliant, efficient to administer, and not disruptive to users. Organizations are also setting up new users' system access according to role-based schemes and examining the ways they are terminating access for departing employees.