Text "HEALER": Using Text Mentorship to Engage American Indians and Alaska Natives Interested in the Health Professions.

ProblemThe persistent underrepresentation of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIANs) in the health professions and the decline of AIAN matriculants into health-related programs suggest interventions are needed. The authors developed Healers, a text message mentoring service, to engage and support AIANs interested in the health professions.ApproachHealers, launched in 2018, seeks to reach urban and rural high school/college-aged AIANs and other AIANs.

"What We're Doing Now…Is More Than Water Cooler": Perspectives of Primary Care Leaders on Leading Through (and Beyond) COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 presented numerous challenges to primary care, but little formal research has explored the experience of practice leaders and their strategies for managing teams as the crisis unfolded.

Objective: Describe the experience of leaders in US primary care delivery organizations, and their strategies for leading teams during COVID-19 and beyond.

Design: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews performed between 9/15/2020 and 8/31/2021.

Creating a Learning Plan for Prelicensure Students in Primary Care Clinical Experiences.

Background: Registered nurses (RNs) working to the full scope of licensed practice can expand the capacity of the health care system and influence patient care quality. However, preparation of prelicensure nursing students to practice in primary care is particularly challenging due to curricular and practice site barriers.

Approach: As part of a federally funded project to expand the primary care RN workforce, learning activities to teach key concepts of primary care nursing were designed and implemented.

An antidote to what's ailing healthcare workers: a new (old) way of relational leadership.

Purpose: The purpose of the study's mixed-methods evaluation was to examine the ways in which a relational leadership development intervention enhanced participants' abilities to apply relationship-oriented skills on their teams.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors evaluated five program cohorts from 2018-2021, involving 127 interprofessional participants. The study's convergent mixed-method approach analyzed post-course surveys for descriptive statistics and interpreted six-month post-course interviews using qualitative conventional content analysis.

Enhancing American Indians'/Alaska Natives' Knowledge, Confidence, and Community During the Medical School Application Process: Findings From the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence.

Purpose: To describe a Medical School Applicant Workshop (MSAW); present lessons learned about its impact on American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) participants' knowledge, confidence, and sense of community; and report on participants' medical school application progress 1 year after workshop completion.

Method: The Northwest Native American Center of Excellence at Oregon Health & Science University developed and implemented an annual 1-day AIAN MSAW in 2018. The main objectives of the workshop are for participants to gain insights into the medical school application process; learn strategies to competitively apply; receive feedback on their personal statement and mock interviews; and discuss the medical school application process with AIAN faculty, admissions deans, and peer-mentors.

Wy'east: An Innovative, Culturally Responsive Postbaccalaureate Pathway for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Problem: American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIANs) face significant health disparities that are exacerbated by limited access to high-quality, culturally congruent health care providers. There are no premedical postbaccalaureate programs focused on AIAN students.

Approach: The Northwest Native American Center of Excellence designed the Wy'east Pathway in 2018 to increase the number of AIANs matriculating to U.

Interprofessional education during the COVID-19 pandemic: finding the good in a bad situation.

COVID-19 restrictions necessitated wholescale conversion of curricula to online learning environments globally. We used a mixed-methods study design to evaluate the conversion of a large foundational interprofessional course, at our university, to an asynchronous online learning environment. A survey was used to gauge if students learned interprofessionally and about interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP).

The Indigenous Faculty Forum: A Longitudinal Professional Development Program to Promote the Advancement of Indigenous Faculty in Academic Medicine.

American Indian, Alaska Native (AIAN) and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) faculty, are substantially under-represented (<1%) at US medical schools. The Oregon Health & Science University's Northwest Native American Center of Excellence and The University of Hawai'i Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence have created an Indigenous Faculty Forum (IFF), a one-day structured course with flanking social activities, specifically designed to meet the unique needs of AIAN and NHPI academic faculty. It provided: (1) Indigenous space, (2) skill building, (3) networking, and (4) ongoing mentorship, each of which were included to specifically mitigate isolation and tokenism that negatively affects promotion and advancement.

Career Choice among First-Generation, Minority STEM College Students.

We qualitatively investigated ways in which undergraduates unpacked their perceptions of STEM careers after attending a seminar series that introduced them to diverse scientists. Using Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as a guiding framework, we explored how culturally-specific realities impacted students' career choices. Our findings suggest that familial ties and cultural expectations played key roles in determining how students navigated career choice.

Indigenizing Academics Through Leadership, Awareness, and Healing: The Impact of a Native American Health Seminar Series for Health Professionals, Students, and Community.

Health disparities have long affected American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. Transformations are needed in academia to help understand Indigenous 'ways of knowing.' Lifting the voices of AI/ANs in telling their stories could improve the education of students, faculty and the lay public.

Temporal and demographic variation in partial migration of the North Atlantic right whale.

Animal movement plays a fundamental role in the ecology of migratory species, and understanding migration patterns is required for effective management. To evaluate intrinsic and environmental factors associated with probabilities of endangered North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis migrating to a wintering ground off the southeastern United States (SEUS), we applied a multistate temporary emigration capture-recapture model to 22 years of photo-identification data. Migration probabilities for juveniles were generally higher yet more variable than those for adults, and non-calving adult females were the least likely group to migrate.

Genome-wide discovery of somatic coding and noncoding mutations in pediatric endemic and sporadic Burkitt lymphoma.

Although generally curable with intensive chemotherapy in resource-rich settings, Burkitt lymphoma (BL) remains a deadly disease in older patients and in sub-Saharan Africa. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positivity is a feature in more than 90% of cases in malaria-endemic regions, and up to 30% elsewhere. However, the molecular features of BL have not been comprehensively evaluated when taking into account tumor EBV status or geographic origin.

On the Problem and Promise of Metaphor Use in Science and Science Communication.

The language of science is largely metaphorical. Scientists rely on metaphor and analogy to make sense of scientific phenomena and communicate their findings to each other and to the public. Yet, despite their utility, metaphors can also constrain scientific reasoning, contribute to public misunderstandings, and, at times, inadvertently reinforce stereotypes and messages that undermine the goals of inclusive science.

Increasing the efficiency of a targeted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus screening program.

An interdisciplinary team implemented a screening program targeting patients with a history of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), to reduce unnecessary contact isolation. After converting from a 2-step culture-based protocol to single polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, we increased the efficiency of the screening program from 77% to 100%. Despite the higher cost of PCR-based testing, this program remained cost-saving.

Comprehensive, Integrative Genomic Analysis of Diffuse Lower-Grade Gliomas.

Background: Diffuse low-grade and intermediate-grade gliomas (which together make up the lower-grade gliomas, World Health Organization grades II and III) have highly variable clinical behavior that is not adequately predicted on the basis of histologic class. Some are indolent; others quickly progress to glioblastoma. The uncertainty is compounded by interobserver variability in histologic diagnosis.

Clinical, patient experience and cost impacts of performing active surveillance on known methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus positive patients admitted to medical-surgical units.

Background: There is a large and growing body of evidence that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) screening programs are cost effective, but such screening represents a significant cost burden for hospitals. This study investigates the clinical, patient experience and cost impacts of performing active surveillance on known methicillin-resistant S aureus positive (MRSA+) patients admitted to 7 medical-surgical units of a large regional hospital, specifically to allow discontinuation of contact isolation.

Methods: We conducted mixed-methods retrospective evaluation of a process improvement project that screened admitted patients with known MRSA+ status for continued MRSA colonization.

Locomotor stimulant and discriminative stimulus effects of 'bath salt' cathinones.

A number of psychostimulant-like cathinone compounds are being sold as 'legal' alternatives to methamphetamine or cocaine. The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether cathinone compounds stimulate motor activity and have discriminative stimulus effects similar to those of cocaine and/or methamphetamine. 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), methylone, mephedrone, naphyrone, flephedrone, and butylone were tested for locomotor stimulant effects in mice and subsequently for substitution in rats trained to discriminate cocaine (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) or methamphetamine (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) from saline.

Winter habitat preferences for Florida manatees and vulnerability to cold.

To survive cold winter periods most, if not all, Florida manatees rely on warm-water refuges in the southern two-thirds of the Florida peninsula. Most refuges are either warm-water discharges from power plant and natural springs, or passive thermal basins that temporarily trap relatively warm water for a week or more. Strong fidelity to one or more refuges has created four relatively discrete Florida manatee subpopulations.

Frequent alteration of the tumor suppressor gene APC in sporadic canine colorectal tumors.

Sporadic canine colorectal cancers (CRCs) should make excellent models for studying the corresponding human cancers. To molecularly characterize canine CRC, we investigated exonic sequence mutations of adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), the best known tumor suppressor gene of human CRC, in 23 sporadic canine colorectal tumors, including 8 adenomas and 15 adenocarcinomas, via exon-resequencing analysis. As a comparison, we also performed the same sequencing analysis on 10 other genes, either located at human 5q22 (the same locus as APC) or 18q21 (also frequently altered in human CRC), or known to play a role in human carcinogenesis.

A phase 2 trial of bevacizumab and high-dose interferon alpha 2B in metastatic melanoma.

Bevacizumab is a humanized recombinant monoclonal antibody that neutralizes vascular endothelial growth factor, an agent with proangiogenic effects in melanoma. Interferon alpha (IFN-α) has antiangiogenic properties through its ability to downregulate basic-fibroblast growth factor levels. We hypothesized that the coadministration of these agents would lead to tumor regression.

Carisoprodol-mediated modulation of GABAA receptors: in vitro and in vivo studies.

Carisoprodol is a frequently prescribed muscle relaxant. In recent years, this drug has been increasingly abused. The effects of carisoprodol have been attributed to its metabolite, meprobamate, a controlled substance that produces sedation via GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)Rs).

Effects of monoamine oxidase inhibitors on cocaine discrimination in rats.

This study tested the time course of the discriminative stimulus effects of inhibitors of monoamine oxidase alone or in combination with cocaine. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to discriminate cocaine (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) from saline using a two-lever choice methodology. The nonselective monoamine oxidase inhibitors tranylcypromine (0.

Synthesis and biological testing of non-fluorinated analogues of levofloxacin.

Quinolones without the usual 6-fluorine substituent have been recently described as potent antibacterial agents. A series of non-fluorinated analogues of the antibacterial quinolone Levofloxacin were synthesized and tested.