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In an academic semester, living in social isolation and under restrictions of the pandemic, we organized weekly multidisciplinary seminars from a postgraduate course program in Curitiba, Southern Brazil, integrating students from different regions of Brazil and South America. Outstanding researchers from Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Mexico, Portugal, England, and United States' institutions gave seminars on chronic and infectious diseases with immunological, pharmacological, biochemical, cellular, and molecular biology point of views. The meetings were longer than traditional seminars, containing a part with scientific debate and other with a humanization or deconstruction of the researcher including trajectory, hobbies, scientific, and social thoughts. To facilitate learning and conceptualization, the seminars were available through YouTube and we applied weekly questionnaires to be answered rescuing scientific and motivational topics to give companionship and support to the students in pandemic times. Here, we are defending the creation of permanent platforms for scientific diffusion, with higher accessibility, connecting centers of different levels and giving academic excellence and opportunities for young researchers. Feedback received from participants indicates that this seminar structure can increase confidence and improve their perception of scientific processes and inspire researchers with development trajectories. We have discussed multidisciplinarity, scientific excellence, regional isolation and economic inequality, integration, humanization, and the value of science in society.

Globally, public affairs programs are designed to meet dual educational purposes. On the one hand, these professional degree programs are intended to educate students for careers in service to the public. On the other hand, these programs are also intended to educate students about our common responsibility to contribute to the betterment of society through civic participation and engagement. Not surprisingly, then, public affairs programs often include a curriculum emphasis on philanthropy; and, as a means of teaching philanthropy, experiential philanthropy has become an increasingly popular pedagogical strategy. Despite growing use of the pedagogy cross-nationally and consistent evidence of its short-term efficacy, there has been limited evidence of the pedagogy's long-term impact. Therefore, in this study, we explore whether experiential philanthropy, as a pedagogical strategy within public affairs programs in the US and China, is associated with long-term philanthropic and prosocial outcomes of former course participants.

Background: Off-task behavior can be defined as any behavior that does not involve the learning task or material, or where learning from the material is not the primary goal. One suggested path for understanding how to address off-task behavior is to study classrooms where off-task behavior is less common, particularly in Asia, in order to understand why off-task behavior is less common in those settings. Purpose: In this paper, we discuss three studies that examine the differences in the off-task behavior of students using intelligent tutoring software in the Philippines and the United States. We investigate whether Filipino students using intelligent tutors exhibit significantly less off-task behavior than their American counterparts, in line with the previously observed patterns of off-task behavior in traditional classrooms in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Using identical intelligent tutors in both countries allows us to control for confounds due to differences in curricula. Research Design: In the first study, approximately matched cohorts of students in classrooms in the United States and Philippines used the same educational software (the Scatterplot Tutor) for an equal amount of time and according to an identical research protocol. In the second and third studies, students in the Philippines used different intelligent tutoring systems for a fixed amount of time. Data Collection and Analysis: As students used the software, researchers used a quantitative field observation protocol to record their behaviors. From the quantitative field observations, we computed an approximate percentage of time that each student was off-task and then calculated the average time off-task for each group under study. An additional behavior, gaming the system (intentional misuse of educational software) was also coded. Findings: In the first study, students in the United States were off-task, on average, seven times more than students in the Philippines. Interestingly, however, the proportion of gaming the system was higher in the Philippines than in the United States. In the second and third studies, the incidence of off-task behavior was comparable to the frequency of off-task behavior in the Philippines in the first study, and substantially lower than the frequency of off-task behavior in the United States in the first study or in prior research on off-task behavior in the United States. Conclusions/Recommendations: The results of the first study suggest that the previously observed differences in off-task behavior between the United States and Asia cannot be attributed simply to differences in curricula. Understanding the relative roles of cultural factors and past experiences with adaptive educational technology in student off-task behavior is an important area of future work.

In some places in the world teachers still receive professional esteem commensurate with the vital task they have chosen to fulfil. In the US this is not currently the case. Even the lip service that used to be paid to teachers seems to have vanished as the perceived crisis in the schools is more and more blamed on teachers--and especially teacher unions who are seen as defenders of the tenure that keeps incompetent teachers in the classroom--and on teacher education that has failed to prepare them adequately in the first place. This paper will explore both the illusion and reality of the perceived failure of American schools--with a focus on the literacy testing mandated by "No Child Left Behind"--and on the responsibility of teachers and teacher educators to be perceived to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. (Contains 3 notes.)

This article summarizes my experience at Baltimore AlienCon in 2018. The programme offered a curious blend of themes explored in Ancient Aliens and similar programming, alongside other domains of 'pseudoscience', 'rogue' archaeology, and conspiracy theory, with an added touch of science-fiction fandom and marketing for Prometheus Entertainment. Framed by the event, this article considers aliens, heritage, and belonging in the United States at a moment of unprecedented misinformation campaigns and historical racial reckoning. It explores how archaeological expertise is implicated, invoked, and rejected in such forums and their associated media; and questions how anthropologists and archaeologists might reckon with the often-troubling widespread public uptake of their knowledge into influential conspiracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The burden of cardiovascular disease as a chronic illness increasingly requires patients to assume more responsibility for their self-management. Patient education is believed to be an essential component of cardiovascular care; however, there is limited evidence about specific therapeutic patient education approaches used and the impact on patient self-management outcomes.Methods and Results: An integrative review of the literature was conducted to critically analyze published research studies of therapeutic patient education for self-management in selected cardiovascular conditions. There was variability in methodological approaches across settings and disease conditions. The most effective interventions were tailored to individual patient needs, used multiple components to improve self-management outcomes, and often used multidisciplinary approaches.Conclusions: This synthesis of evidence expands the base of knowledge related to the development of patient self-management skills and provides direction for more rigorous research. Recommendations are provided to guide the implementation of therapeutic patient education in clinical practice and the design of comprehensive self-management interventions to improve outcomes for cardiovascular patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. Supreme Court's justification for its holding in INS v. Lopez-Mendoza rests on flawed intellectual ground and should therefore be reexamined and overturned. The Supreme Court held in 1984 that the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule "need not apply" in deportation proceedings. It reached that conclusion by weighing the costs and benefits of applying the exclusionary rule in the immigration context and ultimately based its decision on two main considerations: first, that deportation proceedings were "civil" proceedings, and second, that introducing constitutional litigation into immigration courts would complicate what was supposed to be a streamlined process. In light of changes to the immigration enforcement system since 1984, neither of these assumptions can support the Court's holding in Lopez-Mendoza. First, deportation proceedings are no longer distinct from the criminal justice system, and as such, they cannot be considered "purely civil." Second, because a plurality of the Court qualified its holding, constitutional litigation on search and seizure issues has flooded immigration courts. In Part V of the opinion, a plurality provided that evidence might be excluded from deportation proceedings in the event of an "egregious" Fourth Amendment violation. A circuit split has arisen out of this egregious violations exception. Relying on Justice Harry A. Blackmun's papers, housed at the Library of Congress, as well as a close reading of the case, the parties' briefs, and oral argument transcripts, this Article analyzes the intended meaning of the egregious violations exception to the Lopez-Mendoza holding. It also examines lower courts' divergent interpretations of the exception and argues that the resulting uncertainty in the law threatens the due process rights of non-citizens in deportation proceedings. Given the enormous increase in suppression litigation in deportation proceedings, the confusion created by the Supreme Court's egregious violations exception to the Lopez-Mendoza holding, and the so-called criminalization of immigration enforcement, Lopez-Mendoza should be revisited and overruled. The Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule should apply with full force in deportation proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:The American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) identifies five rare variants of prostate adenocarcinoma: mucinous, ductal, signet ring cell, adenosquamous and neuroendocrine including small cell. No prior study has comprehensively detailed incidence and outcomes for all AJCC variants of prostate cancer.Methods:We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program to analyze prostate cancers diagnosed from 1973 to 2008. Cases of mucinous, ductal, signet ring cell, adenosquamous and neuroendocrine carcinoma were identified, along with cases of non-variant adenocarcinoma for comparison. Age-adjusted incidence rates (IRs) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated and stratified by race, age, stage and PSA. All IRs represent the number of cases per million people per year.Results:Each variant is rare, with IRs between 0.03 (adenosquamous) and 0.61 (mucinous). There was a significant difference in incidence between Caucasian and African American patients with mucinous adenocarcinoma. Median OS varied ranged from 10.0 months in neuroendocrine carcinoma to 125.0 months in mucinous adenocarcinoma. In all, 5-year OS ranged from 12.6% in neuroendocrine carcinoma to 75.1% in mucinous adenocarcinoma. There was a significant difference in survival between Caucasian and African American patients for mucinous adenocarcinoma (median survival 144.0 vs 99.0 months, P<0.01). African American patients with mucinous adenocarcinoma also presented with more advanced stage disease compared with Caucasian patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that African American race was not associated with worse survival when corrected for stage.Conclusions:There are differences in IRs and OS among rare variants of prostate cancer. For mucinous adenocarcinoma, there are significant differences in incidence and survival between Caucasian and African American patients. These differences should be considered in clinical decision making for patients with these malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the effectiveness of implementing a national renewable portfolio standards (RPS) for electric power in the U.S. The author argues that the national RPS would probably not be adopted by the Congress, nor serve its proposed goals. It discusses how the national RPS would likely have a geographically disproportionate costs. Moreover, it examines how it fails to deal the system-level infrastructure siting and cost allocation barriers within the electric power industry.

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Assesses the risk associated with pesticide runoff from turfgrasses in the northeastern U.S. Simulation of the runoff of several pesticides commonly applied to creeping bentgrass fairways and greens of golf courses; Demonstration of the possibility of surface water pollution from turf pesticides; Importance of regional variations in weather patterns on pesticide runoff loads and concentrations.

Examines the role geographical proximity in the selection of news sources for community newspapers in the U.S. Method used to identify the effect of geographical proximity on number of stories and type of sources used; Percentage of types of sources used by three newspapers in teacher contract stories in 1987; Greater number of sources by news organization which is geographically close to an event.

Wildfires are becoming more frequent in parts of the globe, but predicting where and when wildfires occur remains difficult. To predict wildfire extremes across the contiguous United States, we integrate a 30‐yr wildfire record with meteorological and housing data in spatiotemporal Bayesian statistical models with spatially varying nonlinear effects. We compared different distributions for the number and sizes of large fires to generate a posterior predictive distribution based on finite sample maxima for extreme events (the largest fires over bounded spatiotemporal domains). A zero‐inflated negative binomial model for fire counts and a lognormal model for burned areas provided the best performance. This model attains 99% interval coverage for the number of fires and 93% coverage for fire sizes over a six year withheld data set. Dryness and air temperature strongly predict extreme wildfire probabilities. Housing density has a hump‐shaped relationship with fire occurrence, with more fires occurring at intermediate housing densities. Statistically, these drivers affect the chance of an extreme wildfire in two ways: by altering fire size distributions, and by altering fire frequency, which influences sampling from the tails of fire size distributions. We conclude that recent extremes should not be surprising, and that the contiguous United States may be on the verge of even larger wildfire extremes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A large area RICH detector is being designed for the CLAS12 spectrometer as part of the 12GeV upgrade program of the Jefferson Lab Experimental Hall-B. This detector is intended to provide excellent hadron identification from 3GeV/c up to momenta exceeding 8GeV/c and to be able to work at the very high design luminosity-up to 1035 cm2 s−1. Detailed feasibility studies are presented for two types of radiators, aerogel and liquid C6F14 freon, in conjunction with a highly segmented light detector in the visible wavelength range. The basic parameters of the RICH are outlined and the resulting performances, as defined by preliminary simulation studies, are reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of a low-profile thoracic endograft (19-23 French) in subjects with blunt traumatic aortic injury., Methods: A prospective, multicenter study assessed the RelayPro thoracic endograft for the treatment of traumatic aortic injury. Fifty patients were enrolled at 16 centers in the United States between 2017 and 2021. The primary endpoint was 30-day all-cause mortality., Results: The cohort was mostly male (74%), with a mean age of 42.4 ± 17.2 years, and treated for traumatic injuries (4% Grade 1, 8% Grade 2, 76% Grade 3, and 12% Grade 4) due to motor vehicle collision (80%). The proximal landing zone was proximal to the left subclavian artery in 42%, and access was primarily percutaneous (80%). Most (71%) were treated with a non-bare stent endograft. Technical success was 98% (one early type Ia endoleak). All-cause 30-day mortality was 2% (compared with an expected rate of 8%), with an exact two-sided 95% confidence interval [CI] of 0.1%, 10.6% below the performance goal upper limit of 25%. Kaplan-Meier analysis estimated freedom from all-cause mortality to be 98% at 30 days through 4 years (95% CI, 86.6%-99.7%). Kaplan-Meier estimated freedom from major adverse events, all-cause mortality, paralysis, and stroke, was 98.0% at 30 days and 95.8% from 6 months to 4 years (95% CI, 84.3%-98.9%). There were no strokes and one case of paraplegia (2%) during follow-up., Conclusions: RelayPro was safe and effective and may provide an early survival benefit in the treatment of blunt traumatic aortic injury., Competing Interests: Disclosures All authors were principal investigators in the study and as such received research grants to conduct the study. B.S. has been paid a consulting fee by Terumo Corporation for an unrelated project., (Copyright © 2024 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The Ventanillas de Salud (VDS - "Health Windows") are a culturally sensitive outreach program within the 49 Mexican Consulates in the United States that provides information and health care navigation support to underserved and uninsured Mexican immigrants. During the COVID-19 pandemic the VDS rapidly transitioned to remote operations adding new services. Based on the EquIR implementation framework, this qualitative study investigates how adaptations to improve emergency preparedness were performed. We conducted motivational interviews with three actors - six VDS coordinators, eight partner organizations, and ten VDS users- in two VDS, Los Angeles and New York, to document specific needs of the target population and identify implementation processes to adapt and continue operating. The VDS adapted their model by adding new services for emerging needs, by switching service provision modalities, and by expanding the network of partner organizations. According to the VDS staff, these adaptations increased their topics, depth, reach, and diversified their users. Users had mostly positive opinions about the VDS adaptation, although they highlighted some heterogeneity across service provision. The VDS is a public health intervention able to serve a marginalized population and its implementation offers valuable lessons to complement health systems and to improve preparedness and resiliency for future crises., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The size of the foreign-born population living in the United States makes migrants' health a substantive policy issue. The health status of Mexican immigrants might be affected by the level of social capital and the social context, including the rhetoric around immigration. We hypothesize that a diminished perception of trust and safety in the community has a negative impact on self-reported health. In a cross-sectional study, we conducted a survey among 266 Mexican Immigrants in the New York City Area who used the Mexican Consulate between May and June 2019 for regular services provided to documented and undocumented immigrants. A univariate and bivariate descriptive analysis by trust and security items first shows the diversity of the Mexican population living in the US and the conditions of vulnerability. Then, logistic regression models estimate the association between trust and security items with self-reported health status. Results show that safety is consistently associated with good self-rated health, especially when rating the neighborhood, and trust showed mixed results, more reliant to the way it is operationalized. The study illustrates a pathway by which perceptions of the social context are associated with migrants' health.

COVID-19 has disproportionally affected underrepresented minorities (URM) and low-income immigrants in the United States. The aim of the study is to examine the underlying vulnerabilities of Mexican immigrants in New York City (NYC) and Los Angeles (LA), its correspondence with area-level COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, and to document the role of trusted and culturally sensitive services offered during the pandemic through the Ventanillas de Salud (i.e. VDS, Health Windows) program. The study uses a mixed-methods approach including a cross-sectional survey of Mexican immigrants in LA and NYC collected in the Mexican Consulates at the onset of the pandemic, complemented with a georeferencing analysis and key informant interviews. Data suggested an increased vulnerability to COVID-19 given participants reported health status, health care profile and place of residence, which coincided with the georeferencing analysis. The key informant interviews confirmed the vulnerability of this population and the supporting role of VDS in helping immigrants navigate health systems and disseminate health information. Mexican immigrants had an increased vulnerability to COVID-19 at the individual, geographic and systemic levels. Trusted and culturally sensitive services are needed to overcome some of the barriers and risk factors that increase the vulnerability of URM and immigrant populations to COVID-19., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Brachytherapy is an essential technique to deliver radiation therapy and is involved in the treatment of multiple disease sites as monotherapy or as an adjunct to external beam radiation therapy. With a growing focus on the cost and value of cancer treatments as well as new payment models, it is essential that standardized quality measures and metrics exist to allow for straightforward assessment of brachytherapy quality and for the development of clinically significant and relevant clinical data elements. We present the American Brachytherapy Society consensus statement on quality measures and metrics for brachytherapy as well as suggested clinical data elements., Methods and Materials: Members of the American Brachytherapy Society with expertise in disease site specific brachytherapy created a consensus statement based on a literature review and clinical experience., Results: Key quality measures (ex. workup, clinical indications), dosimetric metrics, and clinical data elements for brachytherapy were evaluated for each modality including breast cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, keratinocyte carcinoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and uveal melanoma., Conclusions: This consensus statement provides standardized quality measures and dosimetric quality metrics as well as clinical data elements for each disease site to allow for standardized assessments of brachytherapy quality. Moving forward, a similar paradigm can be considered for external beam radiation therapy as well, providing comprehensive radiation therapy quality measures, metrics, and clinical data elements that can be incorporated into new payment models., (Copyright © 2021 American Brachytherapy Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

International migration has economic and health implications. The acculturation process to the host country may be linked to childhood obesity. We use the Community Energy Balance (CEB) framework to analyze the relationship between migration and childhood obesity in Mexican households with international migrants. Using longitudinal data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS), we examine how migrant networks affect childhood obesity in origin communities. We also review binational health programs that could be effective at tackling childhood obesity in migrant households from Mexico. Children embedded in migrant networks are at greater risk of developing overweight or obesity, suggesting a significant relationship between childhood obesity and international migration in Mexican households. Based on our search criteria, our analysis of health outreach programs shows that Ventanillas de Salud (VDS)/Health Windows has great promise to prevent childhood obesity in a culturally sensitive and trustful environment. The CEB framework is useful to understand how migration contributes to the risk of childhood overweight and obesity in migrant households. VDS is a feasible and replicable strategy with great potential to address childhood obesity among migrant families accounting for the dynamic and binational determinants of childhood obesity., (© 2021 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity Federation.)

Background: Insurance coverage of vascular surgery patients may differ from patients with less chronic surgical pathologies. The goal of this study is to identify trends in insurance status of vascular surgery patients over the last 10 years at a busy academic center., Methods: All consecutive patient visits for a vascular procedure from 2006 to 2016 were retrospectively reviewed from a prospectively collected institutional database. Data points included insurance status, procedures performed, and date of admission. The insurance status was categorized as Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured. Samples were divided between 2006-2009 and 2011-2016 for comparison. Unpaired t-test, chi-squared test, and regression analysis were used to determine significant trends over the study period., Results: From 2006 to 2016, 6,007 vascular surgery procedures were performed. Procedure volume increased significantly from 1,309 to 4,698 between the 2 timeframes (P < 0.05), whereas the percentage of Medicaid and Medicare patients trended upward but did not achieve significance. There was a significant decrease in the percentage of uninsured patients between the cohorts (5.65% vs. 2.96%, P < 0.05). In 2012, 10.14% of patients were uninsured compared with 2.56% in 2016 (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: Insurance status affects access to care and subsequent outcomes. In our busy academic center, insurance coverage for vascular surgery has significantly increased over the past decade. The number of Medicaid and Medicare patients has slowly increased, but a significant and continuing decline in uninsured patients was observed. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act during this time period may have played a role in providing coverage for patient needing vascular surgery., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.)