Pseudomonas aeruginosa
is a Gram-negative bacterial pathogen that is a common cause of nosocomial infections, particularly pneumonia, infection in immunocompromised hosts, and in those with ...structural lung disease such as cystic fibrosis. Epidemiological studies have identified increasing trends of antimicrobial resistance, including multi-drug resistant (MDR) isolates in recent years.
P. aeruginosa
has several virulence mechanisms that increase its ability to cause severe infections, such as secreted toxins, quorum sensing and biofilm formation. Management of
P. aeruginosa
infections focuses on prevention when possible, obtaining cultures, and prompt initiation of antimicrobial therapy, occasionally with combination therapy depending on the clinical scenario to ensure activity against
P. aeruginosa
. Newer anti-pseudomonal antibiotics are available and are increasingly being used in the management of MDR
P. aeruginosa
.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, VSZLJ, ZAGLJ
The demand for evidence‐based instructional practices has driven a large supply of research on adolescent literacy. Documenting this supply, Baye, Inns, Lake, and Slavin’s 2019 article in Reading ...Research Quarterly synthesized far more studies, with far more rigorous methodology, than had ever been collected before. What does this mean for practice? Inspired by this article, I investigated how this synthesis compared with the 2008 U.S. Institute of Education Sciences practice guide for adolescent literacy. I also include two contemporary documents for context: Herrera, Truckenmiller, and Foorman’s (2016) review and the U.K. Education Endowment Foundation’s 2019 practice guide for secondary schools. I first examine how these documents define adolescent, reading, and evidence, and propose more inclusive definitions. I then compare their respective evidence bases, finding that the quality and quantity of evidence have dramatically changed. Only one of the 34 studies in the 2008 U.S. practice guide met Baye et al.’s inclusion criteria in 2019, and the average sample size in Baye et al.’s studies was 22 times as large as those in the 2008 U.S. practice guide. I also examine the potential implications for a new practice guide’s instructional recommendations and comment on the expansion of research in technology, disciplinary literacy, and writing—topics scarcely covered in the 2008 U.S. practice guide but which have been extensively researched since then. Finally, I call for revision of the U.S. practice guide and the establishment of standing committees on adolescent literacy to help educators translate the latest research findings into updated practices.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Infrared spectroscopy has the potential to rapidly analyse soil water-dissolved carbon and amino sugars. In this study, mid-infrared (MIR) and near-infrared (NIR) spectra collected from soil water ...extracts or from bulk soils were analysed with partial least squares regression (PLSr) to estimate the concentrations of water-dissolved carbon and amino sugars in diverse agricultural soils collected from five field sites in two western and two eastern Canadian provinces. The MIR-PLSr models developed from soil water extract spectra estimated hot-water (100 °C) dissolved carbon (HWDC) R2 = 0.97–0.70, ratio of prediction to deviation (RPDp) = 6.13–1.83 well, but the MIR-PLSr models did not estimate cold-water (21 °C) dissolved carbon (CWDC) well (R2 = 0.82–0.50, RPDp = 2.35–1.42). The model estimates of HWDC at the multisite scale (all samples together) and for the two western Canada sites (R2 = 0.97–0.93, RPDp = 6.13–3.68) surpass the modal estimates for the three eastern Canadian sites (R2 = 0.81–0.70, RPDp = 2.28–1.83). The MIR- and NIR-PLSr models derived from bulk soil spectra both estimated HWDC well at the multisite scale (R2 = 0.91–0.88, RPDp = 3.32–2.90) and for the western Canada sites (R2 = 0.90–0.87, RPDp = 3.18–2.96). Models developed from hot-water extract spectra and bulk soil spectra resulted in poor estimates of soil amino sugars (R2 = 0.74–0.21, RPDp = 1.99–1.12), except for the approximate quantitative estimation of muramic acid by models based on soil spectra at the western and the multisite scale (R2 = 0.82–0.80, RPDp = 2.33–2.21). We concluded that MIR and NIR models at regional and multisite scales can be used as a tool to monitor HWDC but that additional research is required for estimating soil amino sugars.
This study presents results from the first 5 years of an organic cropping trial in Ontario, Canada, where legume cover crops were the primary nitrogen source in a soybean-winter wheat/cover crop-corn ...rotation. Treatments included cover crop termination using moldboard plow (MP) or chisel plow (CP), a no-cover crop control under conventional production (CK-C), and four cover crops including summer-seeded crimson clover (CC,
Trifolium incarnatum
L.), summer-seeded hairy vetch (HV,
Vicia villosa
L. Roth), summer-seeded red clover (RC
ss
,
Trifolium pratense
L.), and frost-seeded red clover (RC
fs
). Summer-seeding occurred after wheat harvest (July–August), and frost-seeding occurred in early spring (March–April). At cover crop termination, average aboveground cover crop biomass ranged from 5.9 to 8.1 Mg ha
−1
, while accumulated biomass nitrogen ranged from 155 to 193 kg ha
−1
. Corn grain yields were 11.6 Mg ha
−1
for MP and 10.2 Mg ha
−1
for CP tillage-termination method; and 13.3 Mg ha
−1
for CK-C, 10.9 Mg ha
−1
for RC
fs
, 10.6 Mg ha
−1
for HV, 10.2 Mg ha
−1
for CC, and 9.5 Mg ha
−1
for RC
ss
. Organic winter wheat yields were nitrogen-limited, averaging 27% lower than CK-C. Winter wheat yields were 10–15% lower in the RC
fs
than in other summer-seeded cover crop treatments. Soybean yields were largely unaffected by the treatments. It was concluded that summer-seeded legume cover crops are an effective primary nitrogen source for corn, but not as effective for the winter wheat phase of the soybean-winter wheat-corn rotation.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Background
Late secondary‐level students (those in their final 2 years of secondary school) preparing for the demands of university and careers increasingly face texts written in academic language. ...Unfortunately, few intervention studies show how instruction can improve their reading achievement.
Methods
The 152 student participants (16–17 years old, U.S. Grade 11) were randomly assigned either to small groups receiving scaffolded instruction while reading complex texts or to a business‐as‐usual control condition. The intervention instruction included tutors supporting students' paraphrasing skills while scaffolding their academic language. Measures included pre‐test and post‐tests of standardised reading comprehension and tutors' reports of the scaffolds they used in each session. Multi‐level regression modelling estimated the causal effect of the intervention (RQ1) and the associations between the types of scaffolds and the comprehension outcome (RQ2).
Results
For RQ1, assignment to the intervention significantly predicted a 1.20‐point increase in a standardised test widely used for entrance into U.S. universities, which includes a reading comprehension subtest reading scores (d = 0.16). No significant interactions were found by pre‐test scores, race, eligibility for school lunch subsidy or learning disabilities. For RQ2, the scaffolds measure explained 11% of the outcome variance, suggesting that scaffolding contributes significantly to comprehension outcomes. Specifically, rereading scaffolds significantly predicted lower post‐test scores, while syntax and structure scaffolds predicted higher post‐test scores.
Conclusions
This intervention presents a model for future interventions with this understudied population. A focus on complex texts with scaffolding designed to account for the complexity of academic language may be effective in supporting late secondary students' reading comprehension. In addition, certain kinds of scaffolding may be differentially effective if educators help students unpack complicated syntax and attend to the structural features of complex texts.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The demand for evidence to support instructional practices in education is surging. Consequently, many adolescent literacy researchers and educators take guidance from the Institute of Education ...Sciences (IES) Practice Guide for Adolescent Literacy (Kamil et al., 2008). The document, however, is now 12 years old, and adolescent literacy research and practice has shifted substantially. First, I document the limitations of the IES Guide’s pre‐2008 research base and of the students sampled in its underlying studies. Then, I survey research from 2008–2020 that expands on the Guide’s five recommendations, and name areas of research undeveloped in 2008 but vibrant in 2020. To illustrate the instructional implications of these changes, I present an example unit incorporating changes suggested by research since 2008. Finally, I call on adolescent literacy organizations to maintain, revise, and publish practice guidelines to ensure all our adolescents get the daily literacy instruction they deserve.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Zeneth is a new software application capable of predicting degradation products derived from small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients. This study was aimed at understanding the current status ...of Zeneth’s predictive capabilities and assessing gaps in predictivity. Using data from 27 small molecule drug substances from five pharmaceutical companies, the evolution of Zeneth predictions through knowledge base development since 2009 was evaluated. The experimentally observed degradation products from forced degradation, accelerated, and long-term stability studies were compared to Zeneth predictions. Steady progress in predictive performance was observed as the knowledge bases grew and were refined. Over the course of the development covered within this evaluation, the ability of Zeneth to predict experimentally observed degradants increased from 31% to 54%. In particular, gaps in predictivity were noted in the areas of epimerizations, N-dealkylation of N-alkylheteroaromatic compounds, photochemical decarboxylations, and electrocyclic reactions. The results of this study show that knowledge base development efforts have increased the ability of Zeneth to predict relevant degradation products and aid pharmaceutical research. This study has also provided valuable information to help guide further improvements to Zeneth and its knowledge base.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Purpose
Researchers and teachers have noted the power of students reading text sets or multiple texts on the same topic, and numerous articles have been published with examples of and frameworks for ...text set construction. This study aims to traces the theoretical assumptions of these frameworks and explores their distinct implications and tensions for understanding disciplinary literacy in English language arts (ELA).
Design/methodology/approach
The author draws on three frameworks, using a focal article for each: cognitive (Lupo et al., 2018), critical (Lechtenberg, 2018) and disciplinary (Levine et al., 2018), and connect those articles to other research studies in that tradition. Separately, the author describes each of the three text set frameworks’ design principles. Then, across frameworks, the author analyze the disciplinary assumptions around each framework’s centering texts, epistemological goals and trajectories.
Findings
The centering text, goals and trajectories of each framework reflect its underlying epistemological lens. All frameworks include a text that serves as its epistemological center and the cognitive and disciplinary frameworks, both rely on progressions of complexity (knowledge/linguistic and literary, respectively). The author traces additional alignments and tensions between the frameworks and offer suggestions for possible hybridities in reading modality and reading volume.
Originality/value
Many articles have been written about models of text set construction, but few have compared the assumptions behind those models. Examining these assumptions may help English teachers and curriculum designers select texts and build curriculum that leverages the strengths of each model and informs researchers’ understanding of disciplinary literacy in ELA.
Less than 50% of applied nitrogen (N) fertilizer is typically recovered by corn (Zea mays L.) due to climatic constraints, soil degradation, overapplication, and losses to air and water. Two ...application methods, two N sources, and two inhibitors were evaluated to reduce N losses and enhance crop uptake. The treatments included broadcast urea (BrUrea), BrUrea with a urease inhibitor (BrUrea+UI), BrUrea with a urease and a nitrification inhibitor (BrUrea+UI+NI), injection of urea ammonium nitrate (InjUAN), and injected with one or both inhibitors (InjUAN+UI, InjUAN+UI+NI), and a control. The BrUrea treatment lost 50% (64.4 kg N ha−1) of the applied N due to ammonia volatilization, but losses were reduced by 64% with BrUrea+UI+NI (23.0 kg N ha−1) and by 60% with InjUAN (26.1 kg N ha−1). Ammonia losses were lower and crop yields were greater in 2014 than 2013 as a result of the more favorable weather when N was applied in 2014. When ammonia volatilization was reduced by adding a urease inhibitor, N2O emissions were increased by 30 to 31% with BrUrea+UI and InjUAN+UI compared with BrUrea and InjUAN, respectively. Pollution swapping was avoided when both inhibitors were used (BrUrea+UI+NI, InjUAN+UI+NI) as both ammonia volatilization and N2O emissions were reduced, and corn grain yields increased by 5% with BrUrea+UI+NI and by 7% with InjUAN+UI+NI compared with BrUrea and InjUAN, respectively. The combination of two N management strategies (InjUAN+UI+NI) increased yields by 19% (12.9 t ha−1) compared with BrUrea (10.8 t ha−1).
Core Ideas
Ammonia volatilization resulted in 50% loss of applied urea over 2 yr.
When urease inhibitors were added with urea, ammonia volatilization was reduced by 64%.
Injection of UAN reduced ammonia volatilization by 60% compared with broadcast urea.
N2O emissions were increased by 30 to 31% when urease inhibitors were applied.
Pollution swapping was avoided when both urease and nitrification inhibitors were used.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Objectives
We sought to develop an evidence‐based tool to risk stratify patients diagnosed with seasonal influenza in the emergency department (ED).
Methods
We performed a single‐center ...retrospective cohort study of all adult patients diagnosed with influenza in a large tertiary care ED between 2008 and 2018. We evaluated demographics, triage vital signs, chest x‐ray and laboratory results obtained in the ED. We used univariate and multivariate statistics to examine the composite primary outcome of death or need for intubation. We validated our findings in patients diagnosed between 2018 and 2020.
Results
We collected data from 3128 subjects; 2196 in the derivation cohort and 932 in the validation cohort. Medical comorbidities, multifocal opacities or pleural effusion on chest radiography, older age, elevated respiratory rate, hypoxia, elevated blood urea nitrogen, blood glucose, blood lactate, and red blood cell distribution width were factors associated with intubation or death. We developed the Predicting Intubation in seasonal Influenza Patients diagnosed in the ED (PIIPED) risk‐stratification tool from these factors. The PIIPED tool predicted intubation or death with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.899 in the derivation cohort and 0.895 in the validation cohort. A version of the tool including only factors available at ED triage, before laboratory or radiographic evaluation, exhibited AUC of 0.852 in the derivation cohort and 0.823 in the validation cohort.
Conclusion
Clinical findings during an ED visit predict severe outcomes in patients with seasonal influenza. The PIIPED risk stratification tool shows promise but requires prospective validation.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK