Non-viral predators of marine picocyanobacteria.

The Earth's most abundant photosynthetic cells, the picocyanobacteria - Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus - play a fundamental global role in aquatic ecosystems. The success of these picocyanobacteria is interpreted through a cross-scale systems framework that integrates bottom-up controls on growth (e.g.

The impact of a professional development workshop on healthcare professionals' knowledge and readiness to use telehealth etiquette in virtual care.

Introduction: Telehealth is a growing part of the healthcare field, and healthcare professionals and trainees require training not only on the clinical skills relevant to telehealth but also on professionalism skills or telehealth etiquette. As healthcare outcomes are influenced by the patient-provider relationship, training healthcare professionals on telehealth etiquette skills is imperative.

Methods: Forty-eight healthcare professionals across different disciplines, work settings, and experience levels participated in a telehealth etiquette skills educational intervention workshop wherein their knowledge and readiness to use the skills (specific to technology, environment, confidentiality, and communication) were assessed before and after the workshop.

Development and validation of the Telehealth Etiquette Competency Checklist: A Delphi study.

Background: Providing telehealth care requires unique professionalism skills (i.e. telehealth etiquette) to ensure patients have a positive experience.

What are the perceptions of faculty and academic leaders regarding the impact of accreditation on the continuous quality improvement process of undergraduate medical education programs at Caribbean medical schools?

Background: Accreditation and regulation are meant for quality assurance in higher education. However, there is no guarantee that accreditation ensures quality improvement. The accreditation for Caribbean medical schools varies from island to island, and it could be mandatory or voluntary, depending on local government requirements.

Did the students' satisfaction rates at Avalon University School of Medicine correlate with the occurrence of accreditation site visits?

Introduction: Accreditation of medical education programs can be observed from different perspectives. Regulatory/accreditation agencies consider it vital to assure a certain level of quality. Other stakeholders may perceive the accreditation process as a negative experience, draining resources, and efforts.

The impact of accreditation on continuous quality improvement process in undergraduate medical education programs: A scoping review.

Background: Accreditation in medical education has existed for more than 100 years, yet the impact of accreditation remains inconclusive. Some studies have shown the effects of accreditation on student outcomes and educational processes at medical schools. However, evidence showing the impact of accreditation on continuous quality improvement of undergraduate medical education programs is still in its infancy.

Ubiquitous filter feeders shape open ocean microbial community structure and function.

The mechanism of mortality plays a large role in how microorganisms in the open ocean contribute to global energy and nutrient cycling. Salps are ubiquitous pelagic tunicates that are a well-known mortality source for large phototrophic microorganisms in coastal and high-latitude systems, but their impact on the immense populations of smaller prokaryotes in the tropical and subtropical open ocean gyres is not well quantified. We used robustly quantitative techniques to measure salp clearance and enrichment of specific microbial functional groups in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, one of the largest ecosystems on Earth.

Evaluation of the promotion criteria in an academic medical centre in Singapore.

Introduction: Academic medical centres (AMCs) have the tripartite mission of performing research to advance healthcare delivery, educating future clinicians and providing healthcare services. This study investigates the criteria associated with being promoted in a Singaporean AMC.

Methods: Using a dataset of 255 candidates for promotion at the studied AMC, we employ logistic regression to determine if these factors are associated with the likelihood of promotion.

Calculator for predicting the probability of faculty promotion in an academic medical centre.

Objective: The academic medical centre (AMC), with over 2200 faculty members, annually manages approximately 300 appointments and promotions. Considering these large numbers, we explored whether machine learning could predict the probability of obtaining promotional approvals.

Methods: We examined variables related to academic promotion using predictive analytical methods.

Selective and differential feeding on marine prokaryotes by mucous mesh feeders.

Microbial mortality impacts the structure of food webs, carbon flow, and the interactions that create dynamic patterns of abundance across gradients in space and time in diverse ecosystems. In the oceans, estimates of microbial mortality by viruses, protists, and small zooplankton do not account fully for observations of loss, suggesting the existence of underappreciated mortality sources. We examined how ubiquitous mucous mesh feeders (i.

Which learning experiences support an interprofessional identity? A scoping review.

In recent years, health professions researchers have suggested that a dual identity that includes both a professional and interprofessional identity is essential to interprofessionality. This scoping review sought to describe the learning experiences that may support the development of an interprofessional identity, providing direction for future research. A scoping review was conducted to identify papers published between 2000 and 2020 that provided empiric evidence to support the impact of planned or spontaneous learning experiences involving two or more healthcare professions that fostered the development of an "interprofessional identity," or a sense of belonging to an interprofessional community.

A walking programme for adults living in the community after hip fracture: A feasibility randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To test the feasibility of a walking programme for community-dwelling adults recovering from hip fracture.

Design: A randomized controlled trial with embedded qualitative analysis.

Setting: Community.

Effectiveness of electronic learning for continuing interprofessional education on behavior change of healthcare professionals: A scoping review.

Electronic learning (e-learning) for continuing professional education (CPE) in healthcare has been shown to improve learners' satisfaction, attitudes, and performance. E-learning outcomes for continuing interprofessional education (CIPE) are less known, and the features of electronic CIPE programs that promote behavior change are unclear. In this scoping review, we sought to identify the program features and areas of behavior change in healthcare professionals using e-learning for CIPE.

Parent-Child Relationships and the Health of Incarcerated Mothers: Exploring the Mediating Role of Loneliness.

The current study utilizes Hawkley, Cacioppo, and colleagues' model of loneliness and health to examine the influence of parent-child relationships on the health of incarcerated women. Participants were 121 incarcerated female adults who have at least one child, and who completed a questionnaire with measures of parental involvement, parent-child closeness, loneliness, overall health, physical functioning, depression, and anxiety. Results reveal that among incarcerated women, perceptions of close and involved relationships with their children were associated with less loneliness, and less loneliness was associated with better overall health and physical functioning, as well as lower depression and anxiety.

The silence of the clams: Forestry registered pesticides as multiple stressors on soft-shell clams.

Contaminants are ubiquitous in the environment, often reaching aquatic systems. Combinations of forestry use pesticides have been detected in both water and aquatic organism tissue samples in coastal systems. Yet, most toxicological studies focus on the effects of these pesticides individually, at high doses, and over acute time periods, which, while key for establishing toxicity and safe limits, are rarely environmentally realistic.

Host-specific symbioses and the microbial prey of a pelagic tunicate (Pyrosoma atlanticum).

Pyrosomes are widely distributed pelagic tunicates that have the potential to reshape marine food webs when they bloom. However, their grazing preferences and interactions with the background microbial community are poorly understood. This is the first study of the marine microorganisms associated with pyrosomes undertaken to improve the understanding of pyrosome biology, the impact of pyrosome blooms on marine microbial systems, and microbial symbioses with marine animals.

COVID-19 Crisis Reduces Free Tropospheric Ozone Across the Northern Hemisphere.

Throughout spring and summer 2020, ozone stations in the northern extratropics recorded unusually low ozone in the free troposphere. From April to August, and from 1 to 8 kilometers altitude, ozone was on average 7% (≈4 nmol/mol) below the 2000-2020 climatological mean. Such low ozone, over several months, and at so many stations, has not been observed in any previous year since at least 2000.

Synergistic epistasis enhances the co-operativity of mutualistic interspecies interactions.

Early evolution of mutualism is characterized by big and predictable adaptive changes, including the specialization of interacting partners, such as through deleterious mutations in genes not required for metabolic cross-feeding. We sought to investigate whether these early mutations improve cooperativity by manifesting in synergistic epistasis between genomes of the mutually interacting species. Specifically, we have characterized evolutionary trajectories of syntrophic interactions of Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Dv) with Methanococcus maripaludis (Mm) by longitudinally monitoring mutations accumulated over 1000 generations of nine independently evolved communities with analysis of the genotypic structure of one community down to the single-cell level.

Association between physical activity and short-term physical function changes after hip fracture: An observational study.

Background And Purpose: To investigate whether physical activity levels are predictive of short-term changes in physical function for people discharged to independent living in the community following withdrawal of rehabilitation services after hip fracture; and to describe short-term recovery in physical activity, physical function, walking confidence, health-related quality of life and walking participation.

Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised 57 older adults (39 females, mean age 80.4, SD 8.

Comparison of Near-surface NO Pollution with Pandora Total Column NO during the Korea-United States Ocean Color (KORUS OC) Campaign.

Near-surface air quality (AQ) observations over coastal waters are scarce, a situation that limits our capacity to monitor pollution events at land-water interfaces. Satellite measurements of total column (TC) nitrogen dioxide (NO) observations are a useful proxy for combustion sources but the once daily snapshots available from most sensors are insufficient for tracking the diurnal evolution and transport of pollution. Ground-based remote sensors like the Pandora Spectrometer Instrument (PSI) that have been developed to verify space-based total column NO and other trace gases are being tested for routine use as certified AQ monitors.

Taehwa Research Forest: A receptor site for severe domestic pollution events in Korea during 2016.

During the May-June 2016 International Cooperative Air Quality Field Study in Korea (KORUS-AQ), light synoptic meteorological forcing facilitated Seoul metropolitan pollution outflow to reach the remote Taehwa Research Forest (TRF) site and cause regulatory exceedances of ozone on 24 days. Two of these severe pollution events are thoroughly examined. The first, occurring on 17 May 2016, tracks transboundary pollution transport exiting eastern China and the Yellow Sea, traversing the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), and then reaching TRF in the afternoon hours with severely polluted conditions.

The Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS): An Innovative Strategy for Understanding Chesapeake Bay Pollution Events.

Coastal regions have historically represented a significant challenge for air quality investigations due to water-land boundary transition characteristics and a paucity of measurements available over water. Prior studies have identified the formation of high levels of ozone over water bodies, such as the Chesapeake Bay, that can potentially recirculate back over land to significantly impact populated areas. Earth-observing satellites and forecast models face challenges in capturing the coastal transition zone where small-scale meteorological dynamics are complex and large changes in pollutants can occur on very short spatial and temporal scales.

Ozonesonde Quality Assurance: The JOSIE-SHADOZ (2017) Experience.

The ozonesonde is a small balloon-borne instrument that is attached to a standard radiosonde to measure profiles of ozone from the surface to 35 km with ~100-m vertical resolution. Ozonesonde data constitute a mainstay of satellite calibration and are used for climatologies and analysis of trends, especially in the lower stratosphere where satellites are most uncertain. The electrochemical-concentration cell (ECC) ozonesonde has been deployed at ~100 stations worldwide since the 1960s, with changes over time in manufacture and procedures, including details of the cell chemical solution and data processing.