Virtually the Same? Evaluating the Effectiveness of Remote Undergraduate Research Experiences.

In-person undergraduate research experiences (UREs) promote students' integration into careers in life science research. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted institutions hosting summer URE programs to offer them remotely, raising questions about whether undergraduates who participate in remote research can experience scientific integration and whether they might perceive doing research less favorably (i.e.

"How Do We Do This at a Distance?!" A Descriptive Study of Remote Undergraduate Research Programs during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down undergraduate research programs across the United States. A group of 23 colleges, universities, and research institutes hosted remote undergraduate research programs in the life sciences during Summer 2020. Given the unprecedented offering of remote programs, we carried out a study to describe and evaluate them.

Development of Privacy Features on Anecdata.org, a Free Citizen Science Platform for Collecting Datasets for Climate Change and Related Projects.

The Anecdata website and its corresponding mobile app provide unique features to meet the needs of a wide variety of diverse citizen science projects from across the world. The platform has been developed with the help of continuous feedback from community partners, project leaders, and website users and currently hosts more than 200 projects. Over 8,000 registered users have contributed more than 30,000 images and over 50,000 observations since the platform became open to the public in 2014.

Adaptations to a Secondary School-Based Citizen Science Project to Engage Students in Monitoring Well Water for Arsenic during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Secondary schools in Maine and New Hampshire have been involved in a citizen science program called "All About Arsenic" aimed at addressing arsenic contamination of well water, one of the most pressing public health issues in both states. Nearly half of the population of Maine and New Hampshire derive their drinking water from private wells which often have arsenic levels above the EPA limit of 10 ppb. Arsenic exposure can cause cancer, adverse cardiovascular effects, and other health problems.

Defining drinking water metal contaminant mixture risk by coupling zebrafish behavioral analysis with citizen science.

Contaminated drinking water is an important public health consideration in New England where well water is often found to contain arsenic and other metals such as cadmium, lead, and uranium. Chronic or high level exposure to these metals have been associated with multiple acute and chronic diseases, including cancers and impaired neurological development. While individual metal levels are often regulated, adverse health effects of metal mixtures, especially at concentrations considered safe for human consumption remain unclear.

MDI Biological Laboratory Arsenic Summit: Approaches to Limiting Human Exposure to Arsenic.

This report is the outcome of the meeting "Environmental and Human Health Consequences of Arsenic" held at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, Maine, August 13-15, 2014. Human exposure to arsenic represents a significant health problem worldwide that requires immediate attention according to the World Health Organization (WHO). One billion people are exposed to arsenic in food, and more than 200 million people ingest arsenic via drinking water at concentrations greater than international standards.

Mental health of students: position statement.

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses that mental health is as critical to academic success as physical well-being. Registered professional school nurses (hereinafter referred to as school nurses) serve a vital role in the school community by promoting positive mental health outcomes in students through school/community evidence-based programs and curricula. As members of interdisciplinary teams, school nurses collaborate with school personnel, community health care professionals, students, and families, in the assessment, identification, intervention, referral, and follow-up of children in need of mental health services.

Characteristics of, prevalence of, and risk factors for corneal pigmentation (pigmentary keratopathy) in Pugs.

Objective: To determine the characteristics of, prevalence of, and risk factors for corneal pigmentation (CP) in Pugs.

Design: Prospective cross-sectional study.

Animals: 295 Pugs > 16 weeks old.

Serum progesterone testing to predict ectopic pregnancy in symptomatic first-trimester patients.

Study Objective: This study was conducted to prospectively measure the accuracy of serum progesterone levels to detect ectopic pregnancy.

Methods: Seven hundred sixteen symptomatic first-trimester emergency department patients with abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding at a tertiary care military teaching hospital had progesterone levels measured by radioimmunoassay with results unavailable to the treating physician. All patients were monitored until a criterion standard diagnosis of intrauterine pregnancy or ectopic pregnancy was confirmed.

History and physical examination to estimate the risk of ectopic pregnancy: validation of a clinical prediction model.

Study Objective: To prospectively validate a clinical prediction model for ectopic pregnancy (EP).

Methods: Prospective cohort with 14-month derivation and 12-month validation phases. All hemodynamically stable, first-trimester patients with abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding who presented to a military teaching hospital emergency department underwent follow-up until an outcome of intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) or EP was established.

Derivation of a clinical prediction model for the emergency department diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy.

Objective: To derive a clinical prediction model for estimating the pretest probability of ectopic pregnancy in ED patients with first-trimester abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding.

Methods: All hemodynamically stable first-trimester patients presenting to the ED of a tertiary care military teaching hospital over a 14-month period with a chief complaint of abdominal pain and/or vaginal bleeding had clinical data coded prior to determining outcome. They were then followed longitudinally until a criterion standard pregnancy outcome was established.

A comparison of partial and full mouth scoring of plaque and gingivitis in oral hygiene studies.

The clinical testing necessary to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of new toothbrushes is complex and expensive. Any modification of methodology that could reduce complexity and cost without compromising quality would benefit both investigators and the public. Results from an 8-week toothbrush study were assessed for the use of partial as compared to full-mouth evaluations.

Comparative effectiveness of visual/tactile and simplified screening examinations in caries risk assessment.

Central to the development of a model for identifying children at high risk to caries is a clinical evaluation to assess dental status and other conditions potentially useful in caries prediction. Traditionally, this evaluation has been based on a relatively lengthy visual/tactile examination conducted by a dentist. Replacing the dentist examination with a dental auxiliary conducted screening evaluation could lead to reduced time and costs.

University of North Carolina Caries Risk Assessment Study: comparisons of high risk prediction, any risk prediction, and any risk etiologic models.

The purpose of this analysis is to compare three different statistical models for predicting children likely to be at risk of developing dental caries over a 3-yr period. Data are based on 4117 children who participated in the University of North Carolina Caries Risk Assessment Study, a longitudinal study conducted in the Aiken, South Carolina, and Portland, Maine areas. The three models differed with respect to either the types of variables included or the definition of disease outcome.

The University of North Carolina caries risk assessment study: caries increments of misclassified children.

The University of North Carolina caries risk assessment was conducted between 1986 and 1989 with 5000 children initially in grades 1 and 5 from low fluoride sites in South Carolina and Maine. Clinical, microbiologic, behavioral, and demographic factors served as independent variables used in logistic multiple regression models to determine the predicted caries risk classification of each child. The 3-yr DMFS increment of each child was the dependent variable, and the 20-25% of those in each cohort with the highest increment were considered the high risk group.

The University of North Carolina Caries Risk Assessment study: further developments in caries risk prediction.

Over 4000 first and fifth grade children from the areas surrounding Aiken, South Carolina, and Portland, Maine, participated in a 4-yr study to develop caries risk assessment models. The predictors used at baseline included detailed clinical examinations, salivary microbiological tests, and sociodemographic and dental behavior data. Mean 3-yr caries increments in South Carolina were twice those in Maine.

Defective repair of radiation-induced chromosomal damage in scid/scid mice.

The murine severe combined immunodeficiency (scid) mutation interferes with normal recombination of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor genes. This immunologic defect results in a lack of fully differentiated B and T cells in scid/scid mice. Animals homozygous for the scid mutation also display increased sensitivity to the damaging effects of ionizing radiation.

Root caries prevalence in black and white North Carolina adults over age 65.

The baseline root caries prevalence of 809 dentate black and white home-dwelling North Carolinians over age 65 was determined along with the collection of a large number of demographic and behavioral, clinical, and microbiological variables in the longitudinal Piedmont over-age-65 Dental Study. In comparison to other studies of older adults, the prevalence of decayed-filled root surfaces (DFRS) was low, fewer than 2.0 DFRS in whites, and significantly fewer than that in blacks (1.

Risk assessment for oral diseases.

This paper seeks to achieve four goals, each of which forms the basis for a section in the presentation. First, the rationale of risk assessment is fully described. In this section, some of the necessary conditions are identified that make disease prediction worth pursuing.