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In 2002, a widely publicized report projected an anatomy educator shortage based on department chairpersons' perceptions. Now, 17 years later, the question lingers: "Does an anatomy educator shortage persist and, if so, how severe is the shortage?" Trends in the number, type, and fill rate of anatomy educator job openings were explored by analyzing job posting in the United States over the past two years. A survey was distributed to leaders of anatomy-related departments in the United States, Canada, and European Union. Most departmental leaders who responded (65% or more) from the United States/Canada (n = 81) and the European Union (n = 52) anticipate they will have "moderate" to "great" difficulty hiring anatomy educators in gross anatomy, histology, and embryology over the next five years. Within the United States, the number of anatomy educator job postings at medical schools more than doubled from at least 21 postings in 2017 to 52 postings in 2018. Twenty-one percent of postings between 2017 and 2018 were never filled. While the number of anatomy educator openings within the United States/Canada is perceived to remain in a steady state for the next five years, the European Union estimates a five-fold increase in the number of openings. Departmental leaders prioritize anatomy educator applicants who have teaching experience (mean ± SD = 4.64 ± 0.84 on five-point Likert scale), versatility in teaching multiple anatomy disciplines (3.93 ± 1.07), and flexibility in implementing various teaching pedagogies (3.69 ± 1.17). Collectively, these data suggest the shortage of anatomy educators continues in the United States/Canada and the European Union.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have resulted in the increased scrutiny of both immigrants and non-immigrants entering the United States. The latter group includes students who enter the country on temporary visas to complete programs of higher education. Depending on the source, the number of foreign students in the United States has remained constant or fallen since 2001, and there has been a large decline among students from predominantly Muslim countries. Canada, by contrast, has relaxed its entry requirements for some foreign students and there has been a concerted effort among Canadian universities to increase foreign student enrolment. We find that the number of foreign students in Canada did increase following 9/11, especially those from predominantly Muslim countries. We discuss some of the implications of this increase in foreign students for Canadian universities and the Canadian labour market. Although these results support the hypothesis that changes in U.S. immigration policy are responsible, causality cannot be inferred from our data. This underlines the need for better data to adequately address the post-secondary education choices of international students. (Contains 4 tables, 4 figures and 22 notes.)

Surfing is a globally popular recreational sport with limited epidemiologic data. Currently, there is a paucity of literature regarding injury profiles and mechanisms of orthopaedic-related injuries. This study analyzed trends, etiologies, and diagnoses of upper extremity orthopaedic-related surfing injuries presenting to United States (US) emergency departments. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database was accessed to query upper extremity surfing-related injuries presenting to US emergency departments from January 1,2002 to December31,2021. Data were analyzed for year, body part, mechanism of injury, diagnosis, and disposition. National estimates were calculated based on the assigned statistical sample weight of each hospital. A total of 33 323 surfing-related injuries were included. The most common upper extremity body parts involved 15169 shoulders (45.5%), 4220 fingers (12.7%), and 3753 hands (11.3%). The most common identifiable mechanisms of injuries were 7474 board-to-body (22.4%>), 4188 impact with sand (12.6%), and 2639 impact with water (7.9%). Overuse constituted 7.2% of overall upper extremity injuries but 40% of strains. Only 2.2% of injuries required hospital admission. Between 2002 and 2021, there was a decreasing annual trend in upper extremity surfing-related injuries (P=.01). The decreasing trend in emergency department visits may be due to urgent care utilization and training for surfers and lifeguards to manage these injuries on-site, as the majority were minor given the small proportion requiring hospital admission. Chronic stress on rotator cuff and peri-scapular musculature while paddling in the prone position likely contributed to the large proportion of overuse injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study frames continued long-term participation in community engagement activities as indicative of a sense of "purpose" as defined by Damon, Menon, and Cotton Bronk (2003). Using data from US-based National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examined factors that predict whether students participating in civic engagement activities between the ages of 12 and 18 would report similar participation six years later. Multilevel logistic regression analyses revealed no demographic differences beyond age and highest level of education attained. However, continued participation was most likely among individuals who participated in a combination of voluntary and required community-based civic activities as an adolescent, and who participated in any of a number of various types of extracurricular activities. Other factors, including religiosity, sense of belonging in school, achievement, and having parents engaged in civic activities, were also positively related to continued community engagement. (Contains 2 tables.)

In his writings, David Orr claims that the US is in an "ecological crisis" and that this stems from a crisis of education. He outlines a theory of ecological literacy, a mode by which we better learn the ecology of the Earth and live in a sustainable manner. While emphasizing a shock doctrine, the diagnosis of "crisis" may be correct, but it is short-lived for children and adults of the world. In this philosophical analysis of Orr's theory, it is argued that we move beyond the perspective of crisis. By extending Orr's ecological literacy with biophilia and ecojustice and by recognizing the importance of experience-in-learning, science education is envisioned to incorporate values and morals within a longer term ideology of educational reform.

This article is a philosophical analysis of van Eijck and Roth's ("2007") claim that science and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) should be recalibrated because they are incommensurate, particular to the local contexts in which they are practical. In this view, science maintains an incommensurate status as if it is a "fundamental" basis for the relative comparison of other cultural knowledges, which reduces traditional knowledge to a status of in relation to the prioritized (higher)-status of natural sciences. van Eijck and Roth reject epistemological Truth as a way of thinking about sciences in science education. Rather they adopt a utilitarian perspective of cultural-historical activity theory to demonstrate when traditional knowledge is considered science and when it is not considered science, for the purposes of evaluating what should be included in U.S. science education curricula. There are several challenges for evaluating what should be included in science education when traditional knowledges and sciences are considered in light of a utilitarian analysis. Science as diverse, either practically local or theoretically abstract, is highly uncertain, which provides opportunities for multiple perspectives to enlarge and protect the natural sciences from exclusivity. In this response to van Eijck and Roth, we make the case for considering dialectical relationships between science and TEK in order to ensure cultural diversity in science education, as a paradigm. We also emphasize the need to (re)dissolve the hierarchies and dualisms that may emerge when science is elevated in status in comparison with other knowledges. We conclude with a modification to van Eijck and Roth's perspective by recommending a guiding principle of cultural diversity in science education as a way to make curriculum choices. We envision this principle can be applied when evaluating science curricula worldwide. (Contains 3 footnotes.)

To investigate the role of body size in social networks, this study estimated cross-nested multilevel network models (p2) with longitudinal data from the 16 saturated schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. As body mass index increased, the likelihood of being nominated by schoolmates as friends--but not the likelihood of nominating others as friends--decreased. This trend was more pronounced among girls. Moreover, similarity in body mass index strongly predicted friendship formation. These findings were not explained by correlates (e.g., academic achievement) of both body size and friendship dynamics. Thus, the connection between body size and high school social relations was largely a function of the stigmatization of heavier body sizes, especially for girls, and of homophily. (Contains 6 tables and 3 notes.)

The United States is in a prescriptive opioid crisis, and physicians have a responsibility to their patients and the healthcare system to mitigate irresponsible prescriptive practices. A patient's preoperative opioid status and brief resilience score (BRS) may be used to individualize analgesic protocols and reduce opioid overprescription. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between preoperative resilience scores and patient-reported pain control after total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). This study also examines reported pain control in patients with or without preoperative narcotic use 30 days before their procedure. Patients undergoing elective primary anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (aTSA) or primary reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA) were asked to complete the BRS survey before their procedure and postoperative narcotic pain medication surveys at 1, 4, and 12 weeks after their operation. The patients were then stratified into 2 cohorts based on preoperative opioid usage status. Two-sample equal-variance t -tests were used to test for differences between resilience score group means and adequate pain control after TSA. The differences between preoperative opioid and no preoperative opioid usage cohorts, and perceived pain control and the number of oxycodone pills taken were analyzed for direction and statistical significance using t -tests for continuous variables and chi-squared tests for categorical variables. The study cohort consisted of 218 patients, of whom 74 had preoperative opioid use (group O). Patients who reported inadequate pain control after TSA had consistently lower resilience scores at baseline. The BRS group means ± standard deviations after TSA for the adequate vs. inadequate pain control groups respectively were 3.84 vs. 3.48 (P =.010) at week 1, 3.83 vs. 3.53 (P =.055) at week 4, and 3.84 vs. 3.36 (P =.002) at week 12. Of the patients in group O (n = 74), a consistently smaller proportion of patients reported adequate pain control after TSA. Pain control rates among group O vs. nonusers/opioid-naïve patients (group N) respectively were 81.1% vs. 89.6% (P =.080) at week 1, 83.8% vs. 92.4% (P =.055) at week 4, and 82.4% vs. 93.0% (P =.016) at week 12. A patient's resilience score and preoperative opioid consumption are associated with postoperative pain control. Physicians may be able to use these 2 preoperative measures to better individualize postoperative narcotic prescriptive practices and reduce the number of unused opioids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent, consistent, and statistically reliable land use/ land cover area estimates are needed to assess land use change and greenhouse gas emissions associated with biofuel production and other land uses that are influenced by policy. As relevant studies have increased rapidly during past decades, the methods used to combine data extracted from land use land cover (LULC) surveys and remote sensing-based products and track or report sources of uncertainty vary notably. This paper reviews six data sources that are most commonly used to investigate LULC and change in the contiguous U.S. by highlighting the main characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and considering how uncertainty is assessed by the June Area Survey (JAS), the Census of Agriculture (COA), the Farm Survey Agency (FSA) acreage, the National Resources Inventory (NRI), the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), and the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA); and two remote sensing-based data products, the Cropland Data Layer (CDL) and the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). The summary and conclusion identify important research gaps or challenges limiting current land use/land cover and change studies (e.g., lack of high-quality reference data and uncertainty quantification, etc.) and opportunities and emerging techniques (data fusion and machine learning) that will improve reliability of land use/land cover assessments and associated policies. Blended approaches that marry high quality ground truth data that are more finely resolved than data supplied by government surveys with multitemporal imagery are needed track use of non-agricultural lands vulnerable to agricultural expansion. These considerations are notably important as the U.S. considers the renewal and possibly revision of its Renewable Fuel Standard, which includes provisions that require monitoring of agricultural land expansion. • Producers and consumers of land use change information rely on key data sources that are being continually updated and improved. • Strengths, weaknesses and data gaps associated with key survey and remote sensing products are reviewed. • Trust in land use and biofuels policies that are reliant on accurate land use allocation will increase with transparency and consistency in methods used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Preeclampsia is a major obstetric disorder that can lead to severe maternal, fetal and infant outcomes. In women with suspected preeclampsia, measurement of the soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt1) and placental growth factor (PlGF) ratio has been shown to have a high negative predictive value (>97%). Our aim was to estimate the value to the US healthcare system of adopting this test into clinical practice.Study Design: An economic model was developed for the evaluation of suspected preeclampsia from a US payer perspective using data from a US observational study of 459 women evaluated between 23 and 34.6 weeks. Test results were not available to clinicians. The model compares two strategies for managing suspected preeclampsia: standard care versus a biomarker-informed pathway utilizing the sFlt1/PlGF ratio.Results: Utilization of the sFlt1/PlGF ratio test reduced the number of women admitted for suspected preeclampsia by 34-49%. Despite fewer admissions, a higher proportion of women admitted to hospital subsequently developed preeclampsia, and the proportion of women not admitted who would subsequently develop preeclampsia remained low (3.2%-6.7%). Cost savings arising from a reduction in admissions are estimated to be $1050 in the base case; varying the hospitalization cost ±25% would lead to savings in the range $771 to $1330 per patient at 2020 prices.Conclusion: Adopting the sFlt1/PlGF ratio test as an adjunct to clinical criteria improves the assessment of risk in women presenting with suspicion of preeclampsia and has the potential to safely reduce unnecessary admissions and save costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder propose that maladaptive safety behaviors (SBs; i.e., behaviors intended to avoid, prevent, or manage threat) play an important maintaining role in the disorder. Though targeting these behaviors for elimination is one component of contemporary cognitive–behavioral therapies for social anxiety, it has rarely been examined as a specific treatment strategy, and, to our knowledge, it has not yet been examined in isolation as an intervention for social anxiety. The current study evaluated an SB reduction intervention for social anxiety that consisted of brief text message reminders. Method: Individuals with elevated social anxiety (N = 94) were recruited from across the United States and randomized to receive one of two 1-month text message interventions consisting of 16 text message reminders to avoid SBs or focus on the present. Symptoms were assessed at pre- and posttreatment, as well as at 1-month follow-up. Results: Both treatments were associated with substantial symptom reduction. Compared to the present-focused text message condition, SB elimination led to lower SB frequency at posttreatment (sr2 =.044, p =.048) and lower social anxiety at follow-up (sr2 =.096, p =.005). Conclusions: These preliminary findings provide novel evidence for the importance of SBs in social anxiety and suggest text message SB reduction may be an effective, highly accessible intervention for individuals with social anxiety. What is the public health significance of this article?: This study evaluated a 1-month intervention for social anxiety that consisted of 16 brief text message reminders to drop specific maladaptive "safety behaviors" (e.g., avoiding eye contact, mentally rehearsing before speaking). This intervention led to lower social anxiety at 1-month follow-up than a condition that was texted reminders to focus on the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Chronic hypertension (cHTN) affects 3-5% of all pregnancies and is twice as prevalent in African American (AA) women. AA women develop more severe HTN at an earlier onset and have higher rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Blood pressure control during pregnancy is controversial.Study Design: This retrospective cohort included AA women with cHTN and singleton pregnancies delivering between January 2013 and December 2016. Patients were classified as not receiving antihypertensives in the first 20 weeks (Group A), on antihypertensives in the first 20 weeks but with an average BP <140/90 during pregnancy (Group B) and on antihypertensives in the first 20 weeks but with average BP during pregnancy ≥140/90 (Group C). Adverse outcomes including severe HTN and preterm delivery <35 weeks was compared between groups.Results: Of the 198 patients included, 68 received at least one AHT before 20 weeks including 45 patients with average BP <140/90 and 23 with average BP ≥140/90 during pregnancy. The incidence of superimposed PE and preterm birth was significantly higher among women with elevated BPs on AHT (39.1% vs 8.9% vs 17.7%, p = 0.01; preterm birth 52.2%, 8.9% and 9.2%, p < 0.001 for Groups C, B and A, respectively). A significantly higher proportion of adverse neonatal outcomes were observed in Group C (78.3%) as opposed to those in Group B (53.3%) or Group A (50.0%; p = 0.04).Conclusions: Among AA women with cHTN, use of antihypertensives prior to 20 weeks and lower antenatal BP was associated with a decreased risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meloidogyne enterolobii is an aggressive root-knot nematode (RKN) species that has emerged as a significant pathogen of sweetpotato in the Southeastern United States. M. enterolobii is spread primarily through the movement of infected 'seed' sweetpotatoes used for propagation. The RKN resistance in commercially grown sweetpotato cultivars has proven ineffective against this nematode. Detecting RKN in sweetpotato by eye is unreliable, and further distinguishing M. enterolobii from other RKN species that infect sweetpotato is labor intensive; relying on molecular tests conducted on individual nematodes dissected out of host roots. It is often impractical to collect enough nematodes to gauge the composition of RKN species from a single root or multiple roots from across a field. Here, we have developed a community-level survey method to collect skin samples and extract total DNA from batches of sweetpotato storage roots. Combining this method with species-specific PCR assays allowed for quick and sensitive detection of M. enterolobii and other RKN species infecting sweetpotatoes. We tested this method using batches of infected storage roots at varying levels of M. enterolobii infection. We also inoculated skin samples with varying numbers of individual M. enterolobii eggs to determine the method's detection threshold and used this method to conduct surveys for RKN on fresh market sweetpotatoes. Our results show that this method can consistently and reliably detect M. enterolobii in sweetpotato batches at levels as low as 2 eggs per 10 mL skin sample. This method will be a useful tool to help screen for the presence of M. enterolobii in 'seed' sweetpotatoes before they are replanted, thereby helping to slow the spread of this nematode to M. enterolobii -free sweetpotato growing operations. • Total-skin DNA extraction can be used to detect root-knot nematode in sweetpotato. • This approach reliably detects Meloidogyne enterolobii in batches of storage roots. • Total DNA extraction provides useful community-level information from skin samples. • qPCR can detect as little as 2 nematode eggs in a 10 mL sweetpotato skin sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Additional $73,626 in selling price for homes within 1 km of National Forest. • Loss of $50,630 in selling price for homes located within 1 km of forest treatment. • Potential loss in viewshed from forest treatment leading to loss in home sale price. • Potential changes in risk perceptions with proximity to forest treatment. Forested landscapes in the Western United States are subject to growing size and severity of wildfires, in part due to historical management strategies focusing on wildfire suppression. Forest restoration treatments and fuels reductions, including thinning and prescribed burning, can reduce the frequency and intensity of wildfires. Extensive restoration and fuels treatment efforts are underway across many areas in the Southwestern United States, including New Mexico. The tradeoff between amenity values provided by forested landscapes and the wildfire risk associated with forested landscapes is becoming increasingly important to understand as development in the wildland-urban interface increases. Understanding how house proximity, relative to forest restoration or fuels treatments, is capitalized into home sale prices can provide useful information about how individuals value forested landscapes that have been altered to reduce wildfire risk or severity. We use a Hedonic Property Model to estimate the average treatment effect of proximity to forest restoration or fuel treatments in New Mexico, United States. We use matching methods to estimate the average treatment effect of proximity to forest restoration. We find that proximity to the forest has a positive amenity value; however, proximity to recent forest restoration or fuel treatments results in a decrease in house sale prices. We combine the results of our two models and calculate that homes not within one kilometer of a treated forest and within one kilometer of Cibola National Forest sell for an average $73,626 premium. The average premium drops to $22,996 for homes within one kilometer of a forest that has been recently treated and within one kilometer of Cibola National Forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities across the U.S. are promoting more compact and connected forms of development as part of a broader effort to create more environmentally and fiscally sound development patterns, under the banner of sustainability. In many fast growing cities, such efforts have had the unintended consequence of fostering redevelopment of currently affordable rental housing in central locations, thus further limiting access to these locations for low-income households and contributing to new patterns of economic and racial segregation. Integrating equity concerns into sustainability planning has proven difficult. Advocates have relied on a variety of measures to assess the average vulnerability to displacement, transit access, and housing and transportation costs facing households of various types across neighborhoods. We propose a more locally grounded approach that estimates the potential loss of affordable rental units and values transit for the access to employment it provides low-income households in particular locations vulnerable to redevelopment, thus making tangible the overlap between social equity and environmental goals. Our three-part tool allows city planners to assess and compare conditions in transit corridors in order to prioritize and align investments in affordable housing preservation, transit improvements and mixed use redevelopment. It was designed to be replicable in other U.S. metropolitan areas by relying on an integrated national dataset, and linking it to a widely used scenario planning software plugin, Envision Tomorrow. We demonstrate the tool’s utility and replicability for Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, two fast-growing cities at different stages in the development of their regional transit networks. Finally, we reflect on the utility of the tool for use in a variety of contexts including in cities outside of the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) affects young females and mortality occurs after the peripartum period. Hospital readmissions for patients discharged with PPCM are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in readmission rates, risk factors, and mortality in women with PPCM.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project 2013 National Readmissions Database. From the database, we selected patients with PPCM to include patients discharged between January and November 2013. Readmission rate, mortality rate and risk factors were analyzed. In our cohort of 3800 patients, we found a readmission rate of 15.1% and a mortality rate of 1.6%. Comorbidities associated with readmission were pulmonary hypertension, obesity, renal failure, and drug abuse. Mortality on initial admission was associated with coagulation disorders and respiratory failure. Women who delivered on initial admission had a statistically lower rate of readmission than women who did not deliver on initial admission.Conclusions: In a large retrospective nationwide analysis of PPCM patients, we found associated conditions that may help predict which patients will have a higher risk for readmission and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palliative care approaches that effectively manage distressful symptoms associated with wounds at the end of life remain elusive. This 4-week study examined a topical wound powder RGN107 for reducing pain, odor, and exudate in 50 patients with pressure ulcers, skin tears, and malignant/fungating and vascular wounds receiving hospice or palliative care and explored quality of life for the caregiver. Through an observational design, the outcomes were measured with visual analog scales, 2 pain questionnaires, and a caregiver quality-of-life instrument. Intent-to-treat analyses were used. Statistically significant reductions in pain (P = .001), odor (P = .04), and exudate (P = .00003) were observed. Caregiver quality of life remained unchanged (P= .28); however, improvements were noted in 3 subscales. Findings suggest topical RGN107 reduced pain, odor, and exudate in a highly challenged population with wounds at the end of life. A larger comparative effectiveness trial should be conducted with other wound powder comparators and usual care approaches and should include cost benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On July 11, 2012 an eastbound Norfolk Southern train derailed 17 cars within the city limits of Columbus, OH. Three of the cars that derailed were carrying over 86,000 gallons of denatured ethanol. Once breached, the ethanol in the tank cars ignited, fueling a large fire. The derailment led to the evacuation of over 100 people and cost over $1.2 million. This paper will detail the on-scene response and failure analysis performed by the NTSB Materials Laboratory, focusing on the recovered rail that contained 25 transverse detail fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the targeted enforcement of weapons and drug offenses suggests that policies and street-level decisions around those offenses may play a role in disproportionate minority involvement with the justice system. Little research has directly examined the relative influence of these types of offenses on juvenile justice decisions. The analyses were completed using official case records from police agencies (n = 11) and juvenile courts (n = 6) as well as data from focus groups (n = 8) and key informant interviews (n = 56) conducted with personnel in those agencies. The quantitative data used here comprise records from 87,983 cases with measures of youth socio-demographics, case characteristics, offense type, and key juvenile court outcomes. The findings suggest that, although the effects of race as well as weapons and drug-offenses vary across outcome decisions and with the introduction of controls for other relevant factors, race-based disparities often persist in multivariate models. Qualitative data analysis finds that system actors tend to see the weapons and drug offense-based disparities emerging from structural conditions that are often mediated by culture and differential offending. Together, these findings offer important points of departure for further research and discussion of practical responses to disproportionate minority contact for the benefit of youth, communities, and the system itself. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents an approach to staff education designed to enhance clinical decision making related to hospice eligibility criteria and admission to the hospice program. Designed as a performance improvement project that would support current admission practices, this article describes specific tools developed to support the initial assessment of hospice eligibility, priority care for pain and symptom control, and communication at the end of life. This article also explores techniques used to assist clinicians in understanding the Medicare hospice benefit, defining the admission consent process, and improving adherence to various regulatory considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation in recreational sport is growing dramatically on a global basis and attracts millions of athletes. Sport event managers are consistently working to employ techniques that attract participants and increase economic impact. In order better understand recreational sport athletes, scholars and practitioners contend that research is needed to substantiate a comprehensive measurement with multiple variables. This study adhered to a multistage research design to develop and test the reliability and validity of a recreational sport participation scale (RSPS). Recreational sport was explored through active, serious and casual leisure. The proposed scale indicated five significant facets ('challenge', 'victory', 'sensory', 'workout' and 'social'). The dimensions were tested through confirmatory factor analysis and produced acceptable reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and model fit. Event promoters are encouraged to utilise the recreational sport participation scale to benchmark and measure the dimensions of motivation among recreationists. Marketing messages designed for distinct sport subcultures will aid in attracting sponsors and assist in increasing consumption values among this desirable segment of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the 2011 survey on remote sensing and geospatial technologies training in U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities. The basic training of forestry students has expanded from photogrammetry and photo interpretation topics in the 1940s through 1960s to the modern integration of remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), cartography, and other geospatial technologies, including global positioning system (GPS) and light detection and ranging (lidar).

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In the 1960's, many U.S. college students became disillusioned with the country's social policy and began to demonstrate for equality and justice for the oppressed in America. These young visionaries became role models throughout the world while fighting for "freedom for all." Fifty years later, and the major problems facing society such as sustainable development, human rights, and peace initiatives, have become global concerns. But rather than being in the forefront and actively confronting these issues, most American students and universities today are simply maintaining the status quo. (That is, perhaps with the exception of touting a "green campus" that uses recycled paper for napkins in the cafeteria or provides bicycles for student use.) While the United States is lagging behind in intellectual social responsibility, other universities throughout the world are actively engaged in improving the social, political, economic, and cultural lives of their nation and the world, and see it as their duty to meet the challenges of the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the 2009 Cropland Data Layer (CDL), a crop-specific land cover classification product released by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). It states that CDL product depicts the type and location of crops planted during the growing season of summer 2009, which encompasses the entire conterminous U.S. Moreover, the data also mapped the general non-agricultural categories, in which the data can be integrated and analyzed with geographic information systems (GIS).

The United States offers legal protection for designs--the overall aesthetic appearances of objects--through the patent system. To obtain a U.S. design patent has long required something more than novelty. Just as the patentability of a utilitarian device mandates a "nonobvious" advance over earlier technology, the patentability of a new and ornamental design requires that it differ from prior designs to an extent that would not have been "obvious to a designer of ordinary skill who designs articles of the type involved." Ostensibly promoting progress in design, Congress in 1842 shoehorned design protection into the existing utility patent system. From that time forward, the design patent system has languished from prolonged inattention rather than benefited from any purposeful development. Even the initial imposition of a qualitative requirement for "invention" in designs (from which the modern requirement of nonobviousness derives) was likely the product of a typographical error. Failing to appreciate the fundamental distinctions between designs and utility inventions, the legislature and judiciary have repeatedly sought to assimilate these very different types of intellectual property. Nowhere in the design patent system is this assimilation more harmful than in the imposition of the nonobviousness requirement. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and courts continue to struggle with gauging the nonobviousness of designs despite repeated acknowledgement that the requirement is inapt, subjective, unworkable, and even "impossible." Although design protection would be more appropriately provided through a sui generis system outside the patent regime, a wholesale restructuring of U.S. design protection appears unlikely. Nonobviousness therefore continues to be imposed for design patentability. Our insight is that courts and the USPTO have previously unrecognized flexibility in how they apply the nonobviousness requirement to designs. Drawing from the industrial design literature as well as our interviews with experienced designers of differing career paths, we conclude that the current nonobviousness framework is fundamentally misaligned with the creative processes and objectives of designers. We accordingly propose a number of powerful yet practical tools for reconceptualizing the nonobviousness requirement in a manner that truly promotes innovation in design. The Federal Circuit's recent decisions in Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa, Titan Tire v. Case New Holland, and International Seaway v. Walgreens signal a welcome judicial receptiveness to rethinking design nonobviousness. The time is ripe to bridge the gap between design patent standards and the reality of design. This Article offers a roadmap for overcoming the supposedly "impossible issue" of applying the nonobviousness requirement to designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the development of a carbon accounting method that can be used in agricultural practices in the U.S. The study assesses the net ecosystem carbon balance and net ecosystem exchange using a land cover data defined by MODIS of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) and cropland data layer (CDL) of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). It shows that the developed system offers means in the evaluation of carbon dynamics in croplands.

I analyze the sensitivity of seismic-hazard estimates in the central and eastern United States (CEUS) to maximum magnitude (mmax) by exercising the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) probabilistic hazard model with several mmax alternatives. Seismicity-based sources control the hazard in most of the CEUS. but data seldom provide an objective basis for estimating mmax. The USGS uses preferred mmax values of moment magnitude 7.0 and 7.5 for the CEUS craton and extended margin, respectively, derived from data in stable continental regions worldwide. Other approaches, for example analysis of local seismicity or judgment about a source's seismogenic potential, often lead to much smaller mmax. Alternative models span the mmax ranges from the 1980s Electric Power Research Institute/Seismicity Owners Group (EPRI/SOG) analysis. Results are presented as hazard ratios relative to the USGS national seismic hazard maps. One alternative model specifies mmax equal to moment magnitude 5.0 and 5.5 for the craton and margin, respectively, similar to EPRI/SOG for some sources. For 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years (about 0.0004 annual probability), the strong mmax truncation produces hazard ratios equal to 0.35-0.60 for 0.2-sec spectral acceleration, and 0.15-O.35 for 1.0-sec spectral acceleration. Hazard-controlling earthquakes interact with mmax in complex ways. There is a relatively weak dependence on probability level: hazard ratios increase 0-15% for 0.002 annual exceedance probability and decrease 5-25% for 0.00001 annual exceedance probability. Although differences at some sites are tempered when faults are added, mmax clearly accounts for some of the discrepancies that are seen in comparisons between USGS-based and EPRI/SOG-based hazard results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the American Council on Education study The American College President: 2007 Edition only 23% of college presidencies were held by women as late as 2006. While the number of female executive officers has doubled since 1986, progress in achieving the presidency has been undeniably slow for women. To better understand a woman's road to the presidency, a collective case study was conducted to explore the career paths of six community college women presidents. Data collected revealed commonalities in their experiences. The results of the study provided key information for women seeking presidential positions in community colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author discusses the issue whether Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) help prevent the extradition of terrorist suspects to the U.S. custody. He traces the history of the American government's aggressive interrogation of its detainees. He determines the significant standard of torture for UNCAT application. He notes that the provision of Article 3 restricts all the signatory nations to extradite any person to another nation .

This research was conducted during an after-school partnership between a University and school district in an economically depressed, urban area. The school population consists of 99% African American and Latino students. During an the informal after-school math program, a group of 24 6th-grade students from a low socioeconomic community worked collaboratively on open-ended problems involving fractions. The students, in their problem solving discussions, coconstructed arguments and provided justifications for their solutions. In the process, they questioned, corrected, and built on each other's ideas. This paper describes the types of student reasoning that emerged in the process of justifying solutions to the problems posed. It illustrates how the students' arguments developed over time. The findings of this study indicate that, within an environment that invites exploration and collaboration, students can be engaged in defending their reasoning in both their small groups and within the larger community. In the process of justifying, they naturally build arguments that take the form of proof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few risk factors for childhood cancer are well-established. We investigated whether advancing parental age increases childhood cancer risk.Methods: We assessed the relationship between parental age and childhood cancer in a case-control study using pooled population-based data. Our pooling was based on linked cancer and birth registry records from New York, Washington, Minnesota, Texas, and California. Subjects included 17,672 cancer cases diagnosed at ages 0-14 years during 1980-2004 and 57,966 controls born during 1970-2004. Individuals with Down syndrome were excluded. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated by logistic regression for the association between parental age and childhood cancer after adjustment for sex, birth weight, gestational age, birth order, plurality, maternal race, birth year, and state.Results: Positive linear trends per 5-year maternal age increase were observed for childhood cancers overall (odds ratio = 1.08 [95% confidence interval = 1.06-1.10]) and 7 of the 10 most frequent diagnostic groups: leukemia (1.08 [1.05-1.11]), lymphoma (1.06 [1.01-1.12]), central nervous system tumors (1.07 [1.03-1.10]), neuroblastoma (1.09 [1.04-1.15]), Wilms' tumor (1.16 [1.09-1.22]), bone tumors (1.10 [1.00-1.20]), and soft tissue sarcomas (1.10 [1.04-1.17]). No maternal age effect was noted for retinoblastoma, germ cell tumors, or hepatoblastoma. Paternal age was not independently associated with most childhood cancers after adjustment for maternal age.Conclusions: Our results suggest that older maternal age increases risk for most common childhood cancers. Investigation into possible mechanisms for this association is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article focuses on the biological control of soybean aphid, a specialist crop pest introduced in the north-central U.S. The impact of natural enemies is measured by excluding or allowing access to soybean aphid infested plants. In addition, aphid and natural enemy populations in each field are monitored. It was found that biological control services index (BSI) values increased with landscape diversity. In this connection, natural enemies provide an important ecosystem service by suppressing a key soybean pest.

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)