Hagerstown Community College

Students' sense of belonging in college-an individual's feelings of contentment, mattering, importance, and "finding one's place" in a social setting-can influence choice of major and career trajectory. We contribute to the belongingness literature through a mixed methods intersectional study of students attending a STEM-focused public university we call Meadow State University (MSU). We assess the potential for students' intersecting social identities to differentially influence their experiences with intersectional oppression-subjection to multiple systems of oppression due to simultaneous membership in more than one marginalized group-that, in turn, may influence their college pathways. In addition, we explore whether intersectional differences affect sense of belonging differently in STEM and non-STEM majors. We employ a mixed-methods approach, informed by critical quantitative methods and in-depth interviews. We utilize quantitative institutional data measuring college satisfaction, expressed as "willingness to return" to the same university, for over 3,000 students during two academic years (2013-14 and 2016-17). Survey data explores college satisfaction as an indicator of intersectional differences in student experiences. Then, we analyze 37 in-depth interviews, collected between 2014-2016 at the same institution, to further contextualize the intersectional variation suggested by survey results. Willingness to return is influenced by major, as well as academic, social, and campus belonging. Moreover, the extent to which these factors affected outcomes additionally varied by race/ethnicity, gender, family income, other background factors, and the ways these factors may intersect. Important components of academic belonging included faculty-student interactions, perceptions of academic support, and a privileging of STEM degree programs and students over non-STEM students and their degree programs at MSU. Faculty responsiveness and high impact practices like internships played an important role, particularly in STEM programs. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that, particularly for students of color and those subject to intersectional oppression due to multiple marginalized identities, satisfaction with academics did not always outweigh deficiencies in other areas of campus life shaping belongingness. Our mixed-methods approach contributes insights into how and why students' background, individual choices, and institutional practices concurrently-and intersectionally-influence their ability to form a sense of belonging on campus. Structural changes are required to end practices that support intersecting systems of oppression by favoring White, upper-income men as the "default" STEM students in the U.S. Our research supports growing evidence that institutions must actively build models of inclusion for underrepresented and marginalized groups that address inequitable and unjust practices, providing transformative mentoring and educational guidance that attends to intersectional oppression, in order to effectively support the next generation of women and scholars of color.

Dupuytren's disease is a common fibroproliferative disease that can result in debilitating hand deformities. Partial correction and return of deformity are common with surgical or clinical treatments at present. While current treatments are limited to local procedures for relatively late effects of the disease, the pathophysiology of this connective tissue disorder is associated with both local and systemic processes (e.g., fibrosis, inflammation). Hence, a better understanding of the systemic circulation of Dupuytren related cytokines and growth factors may provide important insights into disease progression. In addition, systemic biomarker analysis could yield new concepts for treatments of Dupuytren that attenuate circulatory factors (e.g., anti-inflammatory agents, neutralizing antibodies). Progress in the development of any disease modifying biologic treatment for Dupuytren has been hampered by the lack of clinically useful biomarkers. The characterization of nonsurgical Dupuytren biomarkers will permit disease staging from diagnostic and prognostic perspectives, as well as allows evaluation of biologic responses to treatment. Identification of such markers may transcend their use in Dupuytren treatment, because fibrotic biological processes fundamental to Dupuytren are relevant to fibrosis in many other connective tissues and organs with collagen-based tissue compartments. There is a wide range of potential Dupuytren biomarker categories that could be informative, including disease determinants linked to genetics, collagen metabolism, as well as immunity and inflammation (e.g., cytokines, chemokines). This narrative review provides a broad overview of previous studies and emphasizes the importance of inflammatory mediators as candidate circulating biomarkers for monitoring Dupuytren's disease.

Background: This study aims to describe one center's experience in expanding a fetal telecardiology program through collaborative work with maternal fetal medicine (MFM) clinics with the goal of safely reaching mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to define the extent of fetal telehealth conversion at a large fetal cardiac care center and evaluate the diagnostic accuracy for studies performed. Methods: At our center, fetal telemedicine expanded from one MFM site before the pandemic to four additional sites by May 2020. A retrospective review of fetal telecardiology visits between March 15 and July 15, 2020, was performed. The chart was reviewed for confirmation of diagnosis postnatally. Results: With pandemic onset, there was a large increase in the number of telemedicine visits with a total of 122 mothers seen between five MFM clinics. Fourteen mothers (11.5%) had abnormal fetal echocardiograms requiring additional follow-up, and seven mothers (5.8%) had a fetal echocardiogram suspicious for a critical congenital heart disease (CCHD). All the fetal echocardiograms suspicious for CCHD were confirmed on postnatal echocardiogram. To our knowledge, none of the normal fetal echocardiograms were found to have congenital heart disease postnatally. Conclusions: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we rapidly transitioned to fetal telecardiology using a variety of formats. This has reduced potential infectious exposure for pregnant mothers and minimized contact between physicians without compromising diagnostic accuracy. In our experience, the expansion of a telemedicine program requires strong initial infrastructure, prior relationships with MFM providers, and appropriate training among obstetric sonographers.

We do not all arrive at a career in academia on the same road. Many of us, particularly those of us teaching at community colleges, come to teaching as a second career, after working many years in a field that may be related but distinct from our primary teaching field. These first careers can be used as a resource as we embark on new careers. In my profession as a college professor, I utilize the communication skills, the professional background, and the personal flexibility that was so important in my first career. My colleagues at community colleges similarly can mine their earlier professional experiences to enrich their current employment in academia.

Post-prandial gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal distension, flatulence, bloating and a feeling of fullness are common complaints of often unknown etiology and pathogenesis. There is a long history of trials reporting the successful use of products containing a variety of combinations of digestive enzymes including a number of randomized placebo-controlled trials. We provide a narrative review of studies describing the use of multi-digestive enzymes for symptoms consistent with irritable bowel syndrome. We describe clinical trials reported over the past 60 years including double-blinded randomized, placebo-controlled studies and recent trials that focused on post-prandial diarrhea consistent with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Disaccharidase deficiencies or deficiencies of other carbohydrate digesting enzymes were excluded. Worldwide studies have generally reported success with multi-enzyme preparations although none used a factorial design to identify subgroups or attempted to link specific symptom responses to specific components of therapy. Although there is a long history of the successful use of multi-enzyme preparations for post-prandial symptoms consistent with irritable bowel syndrome, long-term studies using validated scoring systems and factorial designs are needed to confirm the results for specific symptoms and the components of the combination drugs received.

Using DNA aptamer (T–Hg2+–T hairpin-DNA) and guanine chemiluminescene detection, a highly sensitive biosensor was developed for the rapid quantification and monitoring of Hg2+ in drinking water.