The problem addressed by this study was the low retention rate of first- and second-year student-athletes at a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III university due to ...difficulties adjusting to academic and athletic demands. This research impacts collegiate student-athletes seeking their undergraduate degree and universities’ financial budgets by improving student-athletic retention. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the factors that contributed to retention issues of first- and second-year student-athletes to better support them before they decide to unenroll from the university. The conceptual framework used in this study was Astin’s (1984) inputs-environment-outcomes model. The study sample consisted of 16 participants, including first and second-year student-athletes and former student-athletes. Two questionnaires were utilized using open-ended questions during a 45-minute Zoom interview. The results identified seven themes and the following potential implications: time management, extracurricular activities outside of their sport, professional staff supporting the needs of student-athletes, coaches communicating the expectations, and time commitment to prospective student-athletes during the recruitment process, and meaningful academic resources for student-athletes to assist with retention. Three recommendations for practice emerged including creating student-athlete academic advising positions, providing daily planners for all student-athletes, and involving student-athletes in other campus activities. The four suggested recommendations for future research are to conduct the same research at a Division III university that is similar in size but with a smaller population of student-athletes, recruit participants so that all athletic programs are represented, include former student-athletes who are no longer enrolled at the university, and consider exploring the specific needs of student-athletes of color.
In 1973, Gerhard T. Alexis published “Two Footnotes on a Faceless Whale” (AN&Q, vol. 11, pp. 99-100) to point out how Melville was alluding to an exchange between Yahweh and Moses in Exodus 33 during ...a commentary by Ishmael in Chapter 86 “The Tail” of Moby-Dick (1851). By using Ishmael’s allusion to the facelessness of Yahweh in relation to his hand in Exodus 33 as a window, I meditate on the relationship between the hand and face images more properly to propose how they are functioning in Melville’s epic in regard to the phenomenon of veiling. The corporeal body in both the Old Testament of the King James Bible and Moby-Dick (i.e. the face, hand, arm, leg, etc.) are powerful drivers for plot, expression, and aestheticization and, thus, are images that can be honed in on for performing meaningful readings. I build on this framework by arguing that the outwardly masculine plot in Moby-Dick can be read as a narrative grappling with the Old Testament’s representation of the archetypal Son’s creation in Genesis as distinctly Motherless under the trinitarian schema of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I argue that Melville’s controversial character, Ahab, is a direct descendant of Adam still grappling with his origin story, and I use Melville’s comparisons of them to make my case. Lastly, I connect Michelangelo’s painting, the Creation of Adam, with Ahab’s speech to his “fiery father” in Chapter 119 “The Candles” to apply my meditation on the hand and face images in the context of the trinity to argue that Adam and Ahab are both reaching past their Father through the Ghost of their creation for the face of their captured Mother.
Previous AO Spine classifications have demonstrated substantial accuracy, interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility regardless of geographic region (as defined by the 6 AO regions ...of the world – North America, Latin/South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, Middle East and Europe). However, upper cervical spine injuries are often quickly transferred to academic/tertiary care centers, and as such, may have much greater variability in regional classification ability. The AO Spine Upper Cervical Injury Classification is based on injury level (I. occipital condyle and craniocervical junction, II. C1 and C1-C2 joint, and III. C2 and C2-3 joint) and type of injury (A-bony injury, B-tension band injury, C-fracture dislocation).
To determine the global variability of the intraobserver reproducibility, interobserver reliability and % agreement compared to the gold-standard (as determined by members of the AO Spine Knowledge Forum Trauma) for the AO Spine Upper Cervical Injury Classification.
Global cross-sectional survey.
A total of 275 AO Spine members.
Precentage agreement with gold-standard, intraobserver reproducibility and interobserver reliability.
A total of 275 AO Spine members responded to an open invitation to participate in the AO Spine Upper Cervical Injury Classification validation. A live, online assessment with all participants presenting simultaneously was performed twice at a three-week interval. A total of 25 consecutive upper cervical spine computed tomography (CT) videos, which included axial, sagittal and coronal videos, were played at a rate of 2 frames/second. A REDCap survey was used to capture all participants’ classification grades. Pearson's chi square test was used to compare geographic region with significance set at P<0.05. Fleiss’ kappa (ƙ) was used to identify the interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility (ƙ=0-0.20 was categorized as slight, 0.21-0.4 was fair, 0.41-0.60 was moderate, 0.61-0.8 was substantial and 0.81-1.0 was excellent).
The majority of participants were from Europe (41.2%) and Asia (23.5%) with the remaining from Central/South America (13.6%), the Middle East (7%), North America (9.5%), and Africa (5.3%). Only 43.6% worked in an academic center and 69.8% worked at a level I trauma center. Participants from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America had the highest percentage agreement compared to the gold-standard (range: 75.1-82.9% on both assessments), while Africa and Central/South America (range: 68.9-71.2% on both assessments) had a significantly lower agreement percentage (p<0.001). The interobserver reliability was substantial (ƙ=0.61-0.682) for Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America, but it was only moderate for Africa and Central/South America (ƙ=0.487, 0.466, respectively). The intraobserver reproducibility was substantial for North America, Europe, and Asia (ƙ = 0.70, 0.71, 0.61), excellent for the Middle East (ƙ=0.81), and moderate for Africa and Central/South America (0.57 and 0.55, respectively).
Significant variation in the percentage agreement compared to the gold-standard was identified based on geographic regions. Participants in Africa and South/Latin America regions were less accurate compared to Asia, Europe, South/Latin America and the Middle East. The interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility also showed significant variation between world regions. This may be partly due to less CT scan availability in these regions and the infrequency of these injuries presenting to non-trauma or academic centers, which may make these types of injuries more difficult to accurately identify for some participants.
This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs.
Perianal abscess is common. Traditionally, postoperative perianal abscess cavities are managed with internal wound packing, a practice not supported by evidence. The aim of this randomized clinical ...trial (RCT) was to assess if non-packing is less painful and if it is associated with adverse outcomes.
The Postoperative Packing of Perianal Abscess Cavities (PPAC2) trial was a multicentre, RCT (two-group parallel design) of adult participants admitted to an NHS hospital for incision and drainage of a primary perianal abscess. Participants were randomized 1:1 (via an online system) to receive continued postoperative wound packing or non-packing. Blinded data were collected via symptom diaries, telephone, and clinics over 6 months. The objective was to determine whether non-packing of perianal abscess cavities is less painful than packing, without an increase in perianal fistula or abscess recurrence. The primary outcome was pain (mean maximum pain score on a 100-point visual analogue scale).
Between February 2018 and March 2020, 433 participants (mean age 42 years) were randomized across 50 sites. Two hundred and thirteen participants allocated to packing reported higher pain scores than 220 allocated to non-packing (38.2 versus 28.2, mean difference 9.9; P < 0.0001). The occurrence of fistula-in-ano was low in both groups: 32/213 (15 per cent) in the packing group and 24/220 (11 per cent) in the non-packing group (OR 0.69, 95 per cent c.i. 0.39 to 1.22; P = 0.20). The proportion of patients with abscess recurrence was also low: 13/223 (6 per cent) in the non-packing group and 7/213 (3 per cent) in the packing group (OR 1.85, 95 per cent c.i. 0.72 to 4.73; P = 0.20).
Avoiding abscess cavity packing is less painful without a negative morbidity risk.
ISRCTN93273484 (https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN93273484).
NCT03315169 (http://clinicaltrials.gov).
Intervention studies in man have shown that dietary soy isoflavones may provide certain health benefits. One of the possible reasons for this benefit is that the daidzein contained in soy is ...converted to S-equol. As part of a drug development program for S-equol, three genotoxicity studies were conducted. The studies comprised bacterial mutation, chromosomal aberration, and
in vivo bone marrow micronucleus tests conducted according to Good Laboratory Practices (GLP). No evidence of genotoxic activity was observed in the
in vitro tests at concentrations up to those associated with cell toxicity. In addition, no evidence of cytotoxicity or genotoxicity was seen in the rat bone marrow micronucleus test in animals dosed at levels up to the standard limit of 2000
mg/kg. It is concluded that S-equol is not active in the standard battery of genotoxicity assays recommended by the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) for registration of new pharmaceuticals. The current results support the further development of S-equol.
Fathers with type I diabetes transmit diabetes to their offspring 2-3 times more frequently than mothers with type I diabetes. This phenomenon has provoked both genetic and nongenetic hypotheses, but ...the mechanism remains obscure. We find that mothers who develop diabetes before age 8 transmit diabetes at the same rate as diabetic fathers, and that the sex difference in diabetes transmission is explained by a decreased transmission rate in mothers who acquired diabetes after age 8. We constructed a data base containing 2156 nondiabetic and diabetic offspring of parents with type I diabetes. Families were selected from our main data base, which contains demographic information and diabetes autoantibody test results on > 8000 first-degree relatives of patients with type I diabetes and diabetic probands. Identification of offspring was made through diabetic parents who had participated in our autoantibody screening program at the Joslin Diabetes Center between 1983 and 1990. Questionnaires were sent to all other family members to determine the number of diabetic and nondiabetic offspring in each family. The 20-yr life-table risk of diabetes in offspring of diabetic fathers and mothers is 8.9 +/- 1.0 and 3.4 +/- 0.6%, respectively. For mothers acquiring diabetes before or after age 8, the risk of diabetes in offspring is 13.9 +/- 4.4 and 2.4 +/- 0.6% at 20 yr of age, respectively. Furthermore, we find that duration of diabetes in mothers before pregnancy has no effect on the risk of diabetes in their offspring.
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