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Introduction: The Longan fruit tree of the Vietnam Mekong Delta is grown in raised beds to improve water drainage during the rainy season and can live as long as 100 years., Objective: This research explores the extent to which the soil microorganisms as well as soil physical and chemical properties of these raised beds degrade over a period of 60 years under traditional management practices., Materials and Methods: Raised bed topsoil samples at depths of 0-20 cm were obtained from four different Longan orchards raised bed age groups: group 1) 15-25 years (L1-L5); group 2) 26-37 years (L6-L10); group 3) 38-45 years (L11-L15); and group 4) 46-60 years. Soil biological properties were tested for nitrogen-fixing bacteria, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria, potassium solubilizing bacteria, calcium solubilizing bacteria and silicate solubilizing bacteria, β -glucosidase, urease, phosphomonoesterase, and phytase. Soil samples were also tested for moisture content, soil texture, soil porosity, and bulk density as well as soil chemical properties including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total potassium (TK), available nitrogen (NH 4 + , NO 3 - ), available phosphorus (AP), exchangeable potassium (K + ), exchangeable calcium (Ca 2 + ), available silicate (SiO 2 ), available copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), boron (B) and manganese (Mn). Key findings: The results showed that soil moisture, soil porosity, sand content, SOM, TP, TK, available P, exchangeable Ca 2 + , available Si, nitrogen fixing bacteria number, β -glucosidase, urease, phosphomonoesterase, and phytase gradually and significantly decreased in the raised bed soil as the Longan orchard increased in age. Pearson correlation analysis between the ages of Longan orchards and soil properties revealed that raised bed ages were positively correlated with soil bulk density, but negatively correlated with soil moisture content, soil porosity, SOM, TN, β -glucosidase, urease, phosphomonoesterase, and phytase. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed Longan yields had a positive correlation with available NO 3 - but negative correlation with NFB, exchangeable Ca 2 + , pH, and available B. These findings reveal that traditional long-term management of Longan trees in raised beds significantly reduce soil organic matter, moisture content, porosity, and soil fertility with impacts on soil microbial numbers and activity within raised bed soils., Future Directions: This suggests that more sustainable management practices, such as mulch and cover crops that decrease soil compaction and increase soil organic matter, improve soil porosity, total N, and feed soil microorganisms that are critical to nutrient cycling are needed to improve raised bed soil quality., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests., (©2024 Nguyen et al.)

Congenital heart disease (CHD) birth prevalence rate in Da Nang City and two adjacent provinces in Central Vietnam reported by Giang et al. in 2019 was 20.09/1000 births, much higher than any CHD birth rates previously reported. In this current study, three physicians trained in pediatric cardiology reanalyzed and reclassified the Giang et al 2019 cardiac anomalies data, eliminating singular small PDAs and separating cardiac defects into 27 contemporary CHD subgroups. These CHD subgroups were then statistically compared with Liu et al. 2019 Global CHD birth prevalence study of Asian Low-Middle Income Countries (LMIC) CHD subgroup rate of 9.34/1000 births (95% CI 8.07-10.70). Despite applying newer diagnostic criteria and refining the cardiac anomalies data, the Da Nang region continued to show significantly (p<0.0001) elevated total CHD birth prevalence rates at 14.71/1000 births (95% CI 12.74-16.69) compared to the Asian LMIC CHD birth prevalence rate 9.34/1000 births. This finding raises the question of whether environmental persistence of the contaminant dioxin TCDD from 2,4,5-T herbicides (Agent Orange) used during the Vietnam War (1961-1971) in the Da Nang region might be a factor associated with elevated CHD birth prevalence, as it is not present in other LMIC surrounding Vietnam. We recommend testing of soils and sediments in rural and agricultural areas in Central Vietnam that received high volume applications of contaminated herbicides to assess the relationship of the higher CHD birth prevalence rate and the presence of residual dioxin TCDD. Enhanced fetal cardiac echocardiograpy in the region to screen for CHD would enable early interventions and could improve outcomes for infants and children., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Giang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: The enduring absence of robust nursing workforce data creates gaps to support evidence-based workforce planning and policy development., Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine Georgia nursing workforce data available through state and national agencies to determine if significance differences exist among data sources., Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive analysis of 2017 Georgia nursing workforce data was used to examine and compare workforce characteristics available from five data sources. The advantages and limitations of each data source were reviewed., Findings: Significant differences were noted in the quality and quantity of data collected on the Georgia nursing workforce as reported by state and national agencies. None of the datasets include in our analysis had comprehensive and timely data on the Georgia nursing workforce., Discussion: Nursing workforce stakeholders must work collaboratively to require and implement a comprehensive re-licensure survey. It is only though a standardized national minimum dataset that we can ensure an adequate nursing workforce., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

It has been shown that the rate of clergy occupational distress and depression is increasing. This study examines occupational distress, social support, mental health, and spiritual wholeness in Florida clergy. Clergy in our study sample exhibited higher rates of occupational distress than the national average. Significant connections were made between validated instruments used to assess mental health, clergy occupational distress, and social support. More research is needed to understand the potential causal effects.

Non-native grasses used as forage for domestic livestock can negatively impact ecosystem services provided by grasslands. In the U.S., most grazed grasslands are privately owned so the introduction and reduction of non-native grasses are both driven by landowner behavior. Yet, the social factors that shape non-native grass management are rarely explored. To address this knowledge gap, we evaluated how decisions to reduce these grasses through practices such as herbicide application, prescribed fire, and physical removal are influenced by attitudes, norms, and perceived ability. We administered a mixed mode (mailback and online) survey in 2017 to landowners in the eastern Great Plains of the U.S., in a region where cattle production remains the predominant land-use. Using structural equation modeling with parceling, we tested hypotheses related to management decisions derived from a model integrating two theories - the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Norm Activation Model. In this analysis, we identified perceived ability (i.e., access to time, skills, or other necessary resources) as a barrier to adoption for landowners who were already willing to manage non-native grasses. Positive attitudes toward management and increased social norm pressures were both associated with increased sentiments of moral responsibility to reduce non-native grasses. These personal norms, together with attitudes, positively influenced willingness to control non-native grasses. Further, we observed that social norms related to expectations of neighbors had more influence on personal norms than the social norms from natural resource agencies. The power of norms to explain individual management decisions suggests that landowners could be engaged in landscape-scale initiatives by leveraging moral responsibility and influential social groups., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Survivors of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) often experience unfavorable functional outcomes that result in a reduced ability to independently perform activities of daily living. The apolipoprotein E gene ( APOE) encodes for a protein known to facilitate lipid transport and aid in neuronal repair within the central nervous system and to moderate the inflammatory response, making functional variations in this gene likely candidate biomarkers to predict outcomes following aSAH. In the present work, we examined the relationship between APOE genotype and the ability to perform activities of daily living as measured by the Barthel Index (BI) score at 3 months ( n = 298) and 12 months ( n = 288) following aSAH. APOE genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction digestion and gel electrophoresis and treated as binary variables depending on the presence or absence of alleles E4 and E2. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine whether APOE genotype accounted for variability in BI score after controlling for age, sex, and severity of clinical condition as measured by the Hunt and Hess classification. No significant association was found between the presence of allele E4 and BI score at 3 ( p = .20) or 12 months ( p = .29) or between the presence of allele E2 and BI score at 3 ( p = .23) or 12 months ( p = .86) after controlling for covariates. The results of this study do not support a relationship between APOE genotype and the ability to perform activities of daily living after aSAH.

Psychological stressors have been observed immediately following disasters, yet less is known about the long-term effects on the mental health of vulnerable communities. In 2005, Graniteville, S.C. was ravaged by a train derailment that leaked approximately 60 tons of chlorine gas and left several people dead in the small community. The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health of Graniteville-area residents in the nine years following the train disaster using a mixed methods approach. Using the photovoice method, participants reported compromised mental health with symptoms consistent with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, fear, and anxiety. Medical records analysis indicated that mental health-related hospital encounters generally increased post-disaster. Mental health concerns should be anticipated in the long-term aftermath of disasters. Addressing these concerns is particularly vital in resource-poor communities. Our findings can be useful in developing mental health disaster management protocols and policies for communities in the long-term post-disaster period.

This column describes the development, implementation, and outcomes of a quality improvement learning collaborative that aimed to better integrate chaplaincy with mental health care services at 14 participating health care facilities evenly distributed across the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense. Teams of health care chaplains and mental health professionals from participating sites sought to improve cross-disciplinary service integration in six key domains: screening, referrals, assessment, communication and documentation, cross-disciplinary training, and role clarification. Chaplains and mental health providers across all facilities at participating sites were significantly more likely post-collaboration to report having a clear understanding of how to collaborate and to report using a routine process for screening patients who could benefit from seeing a professional from the other discipline. Foundational efforts to enhance cross-disciplinary awareness and screening practices between chaplains and mental health professionals appear particularly promising.

Background: Increasing the number of nurses with doctorates is a goal of the nursing profession. The Georgia Nursing Leadership Coalition developed a survey to understand the perspectives of nurses pursuing doctoral degrees in Georgia to improve recruitment and retention strategies., Method: A 26-item online survey was distributed to all students enrolled in Georgia-based doctoral programs in nursing in spring 2014., Results: One hundred fifty responses were received (54% response rate). Most students first seriously considered doctoral education during their master's programs or more than 5 years into practice. For most, obtaining a doctoral degree was a personal life goal. Work-life balance was the most significant barrier., Conclusion: Recruitment of nurses to doctoral programs should focus on messaging, timing, and highlighting the unique aspects of programs. Schools should work to reduce barriers. Understanding students' perspectives of doctoral education in nursing can improve recruitment strategies and increase the number of nurses graduating with doctorates in Georgia. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(8):466-470.]., (Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.)

Persistent above average precipitation and runoff and associated increased sediment transfers from cultivated ecosystems to rivers and oceans are due to changes in climate and human action. The US Upper Midwest has experienced a 37% increase in precipitation (1958-2012), leading to increased crop damage from excess water and off-farm loss of soil and nutrients. Farmer adaptive management responses to changing weather patterns have potential to reduce crop losses and address degrading soil and water resources. This research used farmer survey ( = 4778) and climate data (1971-2011) to model influences of geophysical context, past weather, on-farm flood and saturated soils experiences, and risk and vulnerability perceptions on management practices. Seasonal precipitation varied across six Upper Midwest subregions and was significantly associated with variations in management. Increased warm-season precipitation (2007-2011) relative to the past 40 yr was positively associated with no-till, drainage, and increased planting on highly erodible land (HEL). Experience with saturated soils was significantly associated with increased use of drainage and less use of no-till, cover crops, and planting on HEL. Farmers in counties with a higher percentage of soils considered marginal for row crops were more likely to use no-till, cover crops, and plant on HEL. Respondents who sell corn through multiple markets were more likely to have planted cover crops and planted on HEL in 2011.This suggests that regional climate conditions may not well represent individual farmers' actual and perceived experiences with changing climate conditions. Accurate climate information downscaled to localized conditions has potential to influence specific adaptation strategies., (Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.)

Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change and a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Farmers face pressures to adjust agricultural systems to make them more resilient in the face of increasingly variable weather (adaptation) and reduce GHG production (mitigation). This research examines relationships between Iowa farmers' trust in environmental or agricultural interest groups as sources of climate information, climate change beliefs, perceived climate risks to agriculture, and support for adaptation and mitigation responses. Results indicate that beliefs varied with trust, and beliefs in turn had a significant direct effect on perceived risks from climate change. Support for adaptation varied with perceived risks, while attitudes toward GHG reduction (mitigation) were associated predominantly with variation in beliefs. Most farmers were supportive of adaptation responses, but few endorsed GHG reduction, suggesting that outreach should focus on interventions that have adaptive and mitigative properties (e.g., reduced tillage, improved fertilizer management).

Consumption of bottled water is increasing worldwide. Prior research shows many consumers believe bottled water is convenient and has better taste than tap water, despite reports of a number of water quality incidents with bottled water. The authors explore the demographic and social factors associated with bottled water users in the U.S. and the relationship between bottled water use and perceptions of the quality of local water supply. They find that U.S. consumers are more likely to report bottled water as their primary drinking water source when they perceive that drinking water is not safe. Furthermore, those who give lower ratings to the quality of their ground water are more likely to regularly purchase bottle water for drinking and use bottle water as their primary drinking water source.

The National Cancer Institute Enterprise Vocabulary Services (NCI EVS) uses a wide range of quality assurance (QA) techniques to maintain and extend NCI Thesaurus (NCIt). NCIt is a reference terminology and biomedical ontology used in a growing number of NCI and other systems that extend from translational and basic research through clinical care to public information and administrative activities. Both automated and manual QA techniques are employed throughout the editing and publication cycle, which includes inserting and editing NCIt in NCI Metathesaurus. NCI EVS conducts its own additional periodic and ongoing content QA. External reviews, and extensive evaluation by and interaction with EVS partners and other users, have also played an important part in the QA process. There have always been tensions and compromises between meeting the needs of dependent systems and providing consistent and well-structured content; external QA and feedback have been important in identifying and addressing such issues. Currently, NCI EVS is exploring new approaches to broaden external participation in the terminology development and QA process.

Over the last 8 years, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched a major effort to integrate molecular and clinical cancer-related information within a unified biomedical informatics framework, with controlled terminology as its foundational layer. The NCI Thesaurus is the reference terminology underpinning these efforts. It is designed to meet the growing need for accurate, comprehensive, and shared terminology, covering topics including: cancers, findings, drugs, therapies, anatomy, genes, pathways, cellular and subcellular processes, proteins, and experimental organisms. The NCI Thesaurus provides a partial model of how these things relate to each other, responding to actual user needs and implemented in a deductive logic framework that can help maintain the integrity and extend the informational power of what is provided. This paper presents the semantic model for cancer diseases and its uses in integrating clinical and molecular knowledge, more briefly examines the models and uses for drug, biochemical pathway, and mouse terminology, and discusses limits of the current approach and directions for future work.

Background: The Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) is a network of individuals and institutions, creating a world wide web of cancer research. An important aspect of this informatics effort is the development of consistent practices for data standards development, using a multi-tier approach that facilitates semantic interoperability of systems. The semantic tiers include (1) information models, (2) common data elements, and (3) controlled terminologies and ontologies. The College of American Pathologists (CAP) cancer protocols and checklists are an important reporting standard in pathology, for which no complete electronic data standard is currently available., Methods: In this manuscript, we provide a case study of Cancer Common Ontologic Representation Environment (caCORE) data standard implementation of the CAP cancer protocols and checklists model--an existing and complex paper based standard. We illustrate the basic principles, goals and methodology for developing caBIG models., Results: Using this example, we describe the process required to develop the model, the technologies and data standards on which the process and models are based, and the results of the modeling effort. We address difficulties we encountered and modifications to caCORE that will address these problems. In addition, we describe four ongoing development projects that will use the emerging CAP data standards to achieve integration of tissue banking and laboratory information systems., Conclusion: The CAP cancer checklists can be used as the basis for an electronic data standard in pathology using the caBIG semantic modeling methodology.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) was among the first federal agencies to recognize the potential of the Internet for disseminating health-related information. The evolution and refinement of NCI's online cancer information has been substantially "user driven"-from the launch of CancerNet in 1995 to the recent redesign of its award-winning successor, the NCI website. This article presents an overview of NCI's multi-pronged approach to gathering input about its online information products, including stakeholder meetings, focus groups, standard and customized online user surveys, usability testing, heuristic reviews, and search log analysis. Also highlighted are some of the many enhancements that have been made to NCI's online cancer information products based on user input.

The selection of social and economic metrics to document baseline conditions and analyze the dynamic relationships between ecosystems and human communities are important decisions for scientists, managers, and watershed citizens. A large variety of social and economic data is available but these have limited use without theoretical frameworks. In this paper, several frameworks for reviewing social-ecosystem relations are offered, namely social sanctions, sense of place, civic structure, and cultural differences. Underlying all of these frameworks are attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms that affect which questions are asked and which indicators are chosen. Much work and significant challenges remain in developing a standard set of spatially based socio-economic metrics for watershed management.

Cancer researchers need to be able to organize and report their results in a way that others can find, build upon, and relate to the specific clinical conditions of individual patients. NCI Thesaurus is a description logic terminology based on current science that helps individuals and software applications connect and organize the results of cancer research, e.g., by disease and underlying biology. Currently containing some 34,000 concepts--covering chemicals, drugs and other therapies, diseases, genes and gene products, anatomy, organisms, animal models, techniques, biologic processes, and administrative categories--NCI Thesaurus serves applications and the Web from a terminology server. As a scalable, formal terminology, the deployed Thesaurus, and associated applications and interfaces, are a model for some of the standards required for the NHII (National Health Information Infrastructure) and the Semantic Web.

The present study investigated personality and demographic variables of homophobic and non-homophobic individuals. Variables explored included the personality characteristics Neuroticism, Extroversion, and Openness to Experience. The following demographic variables were also explored: gender role beliefs, gender, and personal contact. Participants included 123 students from a large Western university, enrolled in introductory courses in psychology or sociology. Participants completed a questionnaire packet containing a demographic inquiry and three psychological measures-the NEO Personality Inventory, the Assessment of Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Results revealed the variable contact as the most critical predictor of homophobia, followed by gender, and the personality variable Openness to Experience. Furthermore, those who had not had previous contact with a homosexual individual and men were significantly more homophobic. No significant differences were found among gender roles in relation to self-reported indices of homophobia. The results provide attitudinal and behavioral differences that differentiate individuals who are intolerant of homosexuality from those that are more accepting of alternative lifestyles.

In this case study of a 28-year-old bilingual male, the Simplified Regulated Breathing treatment for stuttering was further dismantled. Implementing noncontingent diaphragmatic breathing in one treatment session, stuttering was reduced in both English (his second language) and Russian (his native language), while his words per minute increased. In addition, the implementation of treatment resulted in a decrease in secondary struggle behaviors associated with stuttering. The results were seen as socially valid and the treatment was seen as acceptable to the participant. Implications of this case study are presented.

The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.

Building a map of restriction sites from double-digest gel data can be a complex and frustrating task, especially when many DNA fragments are detected or when the gel results are ambiguous. 'Double Digester' is an interactive, graphical computer program which helps researchers understand and resolve such data. It explicitly represents the experimental data, the associated uncertainties, the researcher's hypotheses and possible map interpretations. Alternative solutions are frequently possible, and the differences between them may help determine which additional experiments might resolve ambiguities. Initial use has confirmed the benefits of this approach, and has suggested ways in which it can be refined and extended. Double Digester meets the need for a practical tool to help build restriction maps, and also illustrates how a computer-based tool can confront experimental uncertainty in an integrated fashion.