Northwest Biosciences Consortium: The Evolution of a Faculty Network

Background. Italian ethics committees (ECs) have the responsibility for evaluating and monitoring clinical research. Methods. An electronic survey targeted to the biostatisticians operating in the 95 ECs in Italy, was launched in November 2016. Several aspects were explored such as education, job title, training in biostatistics and experience in the evaluation of protocols within the EC. Results. Seventy case report forms were returned (74%), and the response rate was highest for ECs located in the South (78%) and lowest in the North (51%). The biostatisticians in the respondent ECs were prevalently male, aged 50-60 years, with postgraduate education in medical specialties and statistics. The annual workload varied depending on the type of institution and geographical area, with an annual median number of protocols examined ranging from 80 in hospital ECs to 198 in university hospital ECs, and from 80 to 108, in the South and the Centre, respectively. Of these, 40% were observational study protocols. The EC biostatisticians proposed to reject 5% of protocols and to suspend with the request of clarification or amendments 10%. Only 61% and 79% of these opinions, respectively, were regarded as binding by the other EC members. Conclusion. The biostatistician will not be able to play a significant role in the EC as long as the required skill-set remains vague and his/her opinion on a protocol is underrated.

In a relationship-oriented society such as China, individuals’ development of college students in this country cannot be separated from the social support they receive and the social-emotional competence they possess. However, existing literature has not adequately explored the relationship between these two factors and their influencing mechanisms on individual development. To address this gap, we conducted a survey involving 3,840 college students from ten higher educational institutions in Henan Province and employed structural equation modeling to analyze this dynamic. The findings reveal that (1) Social-emotional competence significantly and positively predicts the level of social support received by college students; (2) Interaction culture and conflictual relationships exert significant effects on the connection between social-emotional competence and students’ social support; (3) our analysis indicates that compared to gender and educational stage as moderating factors, institution type has a more pronounced moderating effect on the relationship between students’ social-emotional competence and the social support they receive.

A precise understanding of the national neurosurgical workforce is essential for effective healthcare planning and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the specialty. In Italy, the number of newly trained neurosurgeons is strictly limited by a competitive national residency entrance system, making accurate forecasting of workforce needs critical. Recent evidence suggests an aging neurosurgical population, highlighting the urgency of estimating retirements and training requirements to maintain adequate staffing levels. However, updated and comprehensive data on the national neurosurgical workforce have long been lacking. The Società Italiana di Neurochirurgia (SINCH) therefore promoted a national census to provide an accurate overview of all active neurosurgeons during the biennium 2022-2023. A national cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between 2022 and 2023 to characterize the demographics and distribution of neurosurgeons within the Italian Public Health System and affiliated facilities. Three principal investigators and one supervisor coordinated the project under SINCH supervision. Data were collected through: 1) consolidation of the SINCH-PROGETKA database; 2) direct verification via personalized e-mails to all 113 neurosurgical unit directors (112 complete replies); 3) systematic web-based searches across 17 medical directory platforms; and 4) cross-matching with official medical organizations (FNOMCEO). Data were analyzed by institution type, geographic area, gender, age, and leadership role. A total of 1489 active neurosurgeons were identified, with 1055 (74.1%) confirmed as SINCH members. Most professionals worked in public institutions (AOSSN 51.1%, AOU 17.2%, IRCCS 9.7%, AOU-IRCCS 5.4%), while 235 (15.9%) operated primarily in the private sector. Workforce distribution showed marked regional disparities: Northern and Central Italy accounted for 71% of neurosurgeons, whereas the South and Islands hosted only 29%. The national average was 1 neurosurgeon per 39,523 inhabitants, one of the highest ratios in Europe. Women represented 24.1% of active neurosurgeons but only <4% of unit directors. The mean age of directors was 59 years, reflecting an aging leadership cohort. This updated census provides the most comprehensive profile to date of Italian neurosurgeons. Despite adequate overall numbers, regional and gender imbalances persist, and leadership renewal remains limited. When compared with the previous ICoNe2 study, these data confirm Italy's exceptionally high neurosurgical density and underscore the need for coordinated workforce planning, optimization of training programs, and rational redistribution of resources to ensure sustainable and equitable neurosurgical care nationwide.

Rosenbaum, J. E., Deil-Amen, R., & Person, A. E. (2006). After Admission: From College Access to College Success. New York: RussellDOI: 10.1177/0091552108327071After Admission: From College Access to College Success examines student and college success from an organizational structure perspective and argues that problems students experience during their academic journey can be minimized by using intentionally supportive procedures and processes. To demonstrate how private occupational colleges minimize barriers that students experience, authors Rosenbaum, Deil-Amen, and Person compare and contrast public, accredited 2-year community colleges from a large metropolitan area with private occupational colleges that offer accredited associate's degrees in the same occupational fields. The authors compare the practices of these institutions with regard to support structures and services they provide to aid in student success. This book is written from the perspectives of three educators: a professor of sociology, education, and social policy (Rosenbaum); an assistant professor of education (Deil-Amen); and a doctoral candidate in human development and social policy (Person). More than 190 authors and works are referenced in this book, making it a rich compilation of both quantitative and qualitative research results.Recognizing that the United States has moved toward universal access for college, as exemplified by the open-access policy of community colleges, the authors identify methods to help community colleges reshape practices and processes in a contextrelevant manner. Because these students at these institutions tend to be the first in their families to attend college, their lack of knowledge about college culture as well as their need to develop soft skills can have negative implications for their success. These challenges, combined with socioeconomic strain, demands outside of college, and the need for realistic graduation timelines, all play a role in student success or failure. The authors argue that student characteristics have changed dramatically yet institutional processes have not. Specifically, Rosenbaum, Deil-Amen, and Person challenge community colleges to abandon the concept of individual student deficiencies as a prime reason for student failure and to consider institutional, structural, and procedural changes as a potential avenue to reverse the dismal success rate of community college students.The authors dispute the notion that community colleges engage in a cooling-out process while also demonstrating how warming up does not necessarily serve students well in the absence of appropriate support structures. They question the nonstigmatizing approach mat is often used in today's community colleges with regard to remediation, suggesting that ineffective information leads to confusion for students who are not aware that they may not earn degree credit in remedial courses. According to personal testimonies, students sometimes unknowingly enrolled in noncredit remedial courses only to learn after a semester or more that the courses in which they were enrolled did not fulfill graduation requirements. For students with limited financial resources, this constitutes a devastating misunderstanding.A variety of additional topics are explored in the volume, including problems community college students face regarding the amount and delivery of needed information, students' lack of social and cultural capital, community colleges' limited and ineffective use of advisory boards to support programs and student connections, minimal career services, and a lack of adequate institutional commitment for job placement services. Comparisons between the two types of institutions are made, indicating that private occupational colleges structure their student support services in a way that minimizes these challenges for their students. Although private occupational colleges work from a charter-building perspective, which helps them build beneficial connections for their students, community colleges rely on the traditional, credential concept with little regard to the market value of degrees and the additional needs of their graduates. …

Science majors in various teacher education institutions perform below the national passing rate despite the curriculum mandates by the Commission on Higher Education. The question lies in how these standards and guidelines are implemented across Teacher Education Institutions of the country. An investigation on how the curriculum of the Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED) Science in selected Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) in the Philippines was conducted utilizing a descriptive quantitative design to 10 selected private and public tertiary schools. It analyzed curriculum components such as course outlines, program of study, and curriculum maps while examining institutional factors like faculty qualifications, experience, and student-teacher ratios. It was found that there was an extensive implementation of course outlines and evaluative measures, which indicates that schools had a strong focus on clear learning objectives and effective assessment practices, while limited implementation was noted in the aspect of OBTL course descriptions and learning plans. Multinomial logit regression analysis showed that institutional type, faculty qualifications, and teaching experience significantly determine the likelihood of achieving higher levels of curriculum implementation. Based on this finding, there must be a continuing professional development for teachers for better curriculum implementation. The government should extend subsidies to improve resource allocation, and a more vigorous system of curriculum support to enhance the quality of teacher education in the country.

Researchers have studied college students and the college choice process extensively in the higher education realm of academia. Often, college choice is explored from a lens of the traditional high school student approaching the initial college choice decision. Furthermore, higher education is an expansive topic that not only includes public and private institutions, two- and four-year institutions, but also predominantly White institutions (PWIs) and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the college choice process and transfer experiences of undergraduate Black students who transfer from a PWI to an HBCU. This study was grounded in literature on college choice models and was guided by three central research questions focused on understanding how students made their original choice and subsequent decision to transfer and understand their experiences at both institutional types. I conducted twelve semi-structured interviews in which five core themes emerged. The themes that emerged resulted in findings related to the influences of sports and extracurriculars, the need for cultural affinity and support, the importance of academic and social integration, the desire for administrative and peer support, and the profound impact of the initial college choice experience. The findings indicated the need for institutional and federal policy considerations around transfer articulation, financial aid, and data collection and reporting. Furthermore, implications for practice included being culturally responsive with student support services, enhancing orientation and integration for transfer students, developing inclusive faculty engagement and pedagogy, and practicing models of holistic advising.

Unraveling the drivers of inequality in primary health-care resource distribution: Evidence from Guangzhou, China

The purpose of this study is to catalogue Spanish academic research groups in the field of communication. The knowledge areas covered are: Audiovisual Communication and Advertising (105), Journalism (675), and Library and Information Sciences (040). The universe consists of 55 universities grouped in 4 geographical areas. A descriptive analysis is offered based on 12 variables related to three dimensions: institutional affiliation and type of group; specialisation of group; and group composition. The technique chosen was a content analysis of the institutional websites of all the universities (private and public) that offer communication studies. The sample is made up of 213 academic research groups and 1,158 lines of research. Findings include a gender imbalance in research group directors and a standard group size of 10 members. The aspects that characterise the research of the groups are identified by geographical area and knowledge area. The results reveal a remarkable divergence in the research interests of the groups. The most common groupings of research terms are also presented. This research could contribute to the reformulation of existing taxonomies in the scientific field of communication based on the actual research practices of groups and on the selection of topics made by their members.

Health care institutions in a regional network: A longitudinal case study of inter-organizing

How well can we locate events using infrasound? This question has obvious implications for the use of infrasound within the context of nuclear explosion monitoring, and can be used to inform decision makers on the capability and limitations of infrasound as a sensing modality. This paper attempts to answer this question in the context of regional networks by quantifying current capability and estimating future capability using an example regional network in Utah. This example is contrasted with a sparse network over a large geographical region (representative of the IMS network). As a metric, we utilize the location precision, a measure of the total geographic area in which an event may occur at a 95 % confidence level. Our results highlight the relative importance of backazimuth and arrival time constraints under dif- ferent scenarios (dense vs. sparse networks), and quantify the precision capability of the Utah network under different scenarios. The final section of this paper outlines the research and develop- ment required to achieve the estimated future location precision capability.

Relatively few successful medication adherence interventions are translated into real-world clinical settings. The Prevention of Cardiovascular Outcomes in African Americans with Diabetes (CHANGE) intervention was originally conceived as a randomized controlled trial to improve cardiovascular disease-related medication adherence and health outcomes. The purpose of the study was to describe the translation of the CHANGE trial into two community-based clinical programs. CHANGE 2 was available to Medicaid patients with diabetes and hypertension whose primary care homes were part of a care management network in the Northern Piedmont region of North Carolina. CHANGE 3 was available to low-income patients receiving care in three geographical areas with multiple chronic conditions at low or moderate risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Adaptations were made to ensure fit with available organizational resources and the patient population's health needs. Data available for evaluation are presented. For CHANGE 2, we evaluated improvement in A1c control using paired t test. For both studies, we describe feasibility measured by percentage of patients who completed the curriculum. CHANGE 2 involved 125 participants. CHANGE 3 had 127 participants. In CHANGE 2, 69 participants had A1c measurements at baseline and 12-month follow-up; A1c improved from 8.4 to 7.8 (p = .008). In CHANGE 3, interventionists completed 47% (n = 45) of calls to enroll participants at the 4-month encounter, and among those eligible for a 12-month call (n = 52), 21% of 12-month calls were completed with participants. In CHANGE 2, 40% of participants (n = 50) completed all 12 encounters. Thoughtful adaptation is critical to translate clinical trials into community-based clinic settings. Successful implementation of adapted evidence-based interventions may be feasible and can positively affect patients' disease control.

State University of New York Upstate Medical University College of Medicine

After almost three decades of intensive research on acidic deposition, it is still an important environmental issue in Europe '- and North America. Furthermore, anthropogenic emissions of the major pollutants involved _ sulfur dioxide (S02) and nitrogen oxides (NO) __ are increasing rapidly as industrialization proceeds and the use of fossil fuels increases in new geographical areas, including parts of eastern and southern Asia, southern Africa, and South America. These pollutants and their transformation products have long atmospheric lifetimes and can be carried by weather systems to distances of up to a few thousand kilometers from their point of emission. This causes acid deposition far from the primary source of pollution, thus making it a regional problem and an international transboundary issue. Considerable advances in the understanding of acidic emissions, transportation, deposition and consequent effects on ecosystems have allowed the development of the concept of “Critical loads, which has become an integral part of international negotiations aimed at controlling emission levels within Europe. Abatement strategies based on the critical load concept resulted in substantial decreases of acidic emissions, which have led to a lower degree of environmental degradation and even recovery in deposition. Some ecosystems in eastern Asia, where a regional acid monitoring network [El-WET) is some ecosystems in eastern Asia, a regional acid already established implementation of some abatement strategies is under consideration. Economic progress in the Caspian region is associated with an increase in the oil and gas production, industrialization and a higher demand for energy and food production. On the basis of previous experiences, such a progress will definitely lead to a considerable increase in emissions of acidifying pollutants. It is important that the environmental impacts of these emissions are estimated and taken into account in the planning process. The impact study is especially very crucial for the highly sensitive ecosystem of the southern Caspian watershed. If less polluting techniques are applied in the region, environmental problems, like those experienced in Europe and North America may be lessened. A rational strategy for limiting the adverse effects of acidifying pollutants should include consideration of critical loads and critical levels. So far, only preliminary estimates of critical loads are available for some parts of the regionand there is a real need for regionalresearch programs in this regard. Experience from policy actions, especially in the European region, could also be very useful for the Caspian states. There is, indeed, an obligation for environmental scientists to promote communication and cooperation with policymaking and decision-making sectors of the Caspian societies hoping that they can have better, if not the best, policy options to prevent further environmen-tal deterioration. References Battarbee, R.W. et al. 1985.Lake acidification in Galloway: A palaeoecologicai test of competing hypotheses. Nature, 314: 350. Brodin, Y. and Kuylenstiema, J 1992. Acidification and critical loads in Nordic countries: A background. Ambic, 2 1, No. 5:332. Cerny, l and Paces, T. (eds) 1995. Acidification in the Black Triangle Region. C.G.S, Prague. Charles, D.F. 1991. Effects of acidic deposition on North American lakes: Palaeolimnological evidence from diatoms and chryophtes. Phil- Trans. R. Soc. London, B327: 403. Cowling, E.B. 1982. A historical resume of progress in scientific and public understanding of acid precipitation and its consequences. Environ. Soi.'l'ech., 16: 1 10A. Elvingson, P. 1996. Evidence of continued decline. Acid News, 5: 6. Erisman, J.W. et al. 1994a. A generalized description of the deposition acidifying pollutants on a small scale in Europe. in: Borrei et al. (eds.), The proc. of EUROTRC symp.'94. Academic, 588p. Galloway, J.N. 1995. Acid deposition: Perspectives in time and space. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 85: 15. Galloway, J.N. 2001. Acidification of the World: Natural and Anthropogenic. Water, Air, and Soil pollution, 130: 17. Havas, M. and Rosseland, B.0. 1995. Response of zooplankton, benthos and fish to acidification: An overview. water, Airand Soil Pollution, 85: 5 1. i-lenrikson, A. et al. 1992. Critical loads of acidity: Nordic surface waters. Ambio, 21: 356. Hultberg, H and Grennfelt. P. 1991. Sulphur and sea salt deposition as reflected by throughfall and runoff chemistry in forested catchments. lVL, Bl009, Swedish Environ mental Research institute, Goteborg, Sweden. Lovblad, G. et al. 1992. Deposition of sulfur and nitrogen in the Nordic countries: Present and future Ambio, 2 1, No. 5: 339. Matzner, E. and Murach, D. 1995. Soil changes induced by air pollutant deposition and their implication for forests in Central Europe. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 85: 63. Oden, S. 1968.The acidification of air and precipitation and its consequences in the natural environment Ecological Committee Bulletin 1, Swedish Natural Science Research Council, Stockholm. Translations Consultants, Ltd. Arlington, USA. Renberg, I. et al. 1991. Recent acidification and biological changes in Lilla Oresjon, southwest Sweden, and the relation to atmospheric pollution and land-use history. Phil, Trans. R. Soc. London, B327: 391. RGAR 1997. Acid deposition in die United Kingdom, 1992-1994. Fourth report of the Review Group on Acid Ram, Department on Environment. Rodhe, H. et al. 1995. Acid Rain 95? Summary Statement from the 5th International conference On Acidic- Deposition Science and Policy. Gothenburg, Sweden, 26 . -30 June 1995: Kluwer Academic. Satake, K. et al. 2001. Acid Rain 2000 — Conference Summary Statement —Looking Back to the past and Thinking of the Future. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution,_130: 1. Streets, D.G. and Waldhoff, S.T. 2000: Present and future emissions of air pollutants in China: S02, No, and CO. Atmospheric Environment, 34: 363. UN ECE 1988. Conclusions and draft recommendations of the workshops on critical levels for forests, crops and materials and on critical loads for sulfur and nitrogen, EB. AlRIR 30, Geneva. UN ECE 1997. Forest condition in Europe. Results of the 1996 crown condition survey, 1997 Technical Report. Brussels, Belgium.

Continuous seismic threshold monitoring is a technique that has been developed over the past several years to assess the upper magnitude limit of possible seismic events that might have occurred in a geographical target area. The method provides continuous time monitoring at a given confidence level, and can be applied in a site-specific, regional or global context. In this paper (Part I) and a companion paper (Part 2) we address the problem of optimizing the site­ specific approach in order to achieve the highest possible automatic monitoring capability of particularly interesting areas. The present paper addresses the application of the method to cases where a regional monitoring network is available. We have in particular analyzed events from the region around the Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site to develop a set of optimized processing parameters for the arrays SPITS, ARCES, FINES, and NORES. From analysis of the calibration events we have derived values for beam-forming steering delays, filter bands, short-term average (STA) lengths, phase travel times (P and S waves), and amplitude-magnitude relationships for each array. By using these parameters for threshold monitoring of the Novaya Zemlya testing area, we obtain a monitoring capability varying between mb 2.0 and 2.5 during normal noise conditions. The advantage of using a network, rather than a single station or array, for monitoring purposes becomes particularly evident during intervals with high global seismic activity (aftershock sequences), high seismic noise levels (wind, water waves, ice cracks) or station outages. For the time period November­ December 1997, all time intervals with network magnitude thresholds exceeding mb 2.5 were visually analyzed, and we found that all of these threshold peaks could be explained by teleseismic, regional, or local signals from events outside the Novaya Zemlya testing area. We could therefore conclude within the confidence level provided by the method, that no seismic event of magnitude exceeding 2.5 occurred at the Novaya Zemlya test site during this two-month time interval. As an example of particular interest in a monitoring context, we apply optimized threshold processing of the SPITS array for a time interval around 16 August 1997 mb 3.5 event in the Kara Sea. We show that this processing enables us to detect a second, smaller event from the same site (mb 2.6), occurring about 4 hours later. This second event was not defined automatically by standard processing.

Modern urban regions are dynamic systems exhibiting complex patterns of transportation networks that can often be analyzed and synthesized from the superimposition of more basic network patterns. In this paper, we propose and investigate new methods for the synthesis of complex 3D traffic networks resembling the patterns of traffic networks in real urban regions. Our approach is based on two main synthesis tools: (1) image-derived templates, and (2) a rule-based generating system. Using 2D images as input maps, various road maps with varying patterns can be produced. The generating model accounts for restricted geographical areas, the terrain gradient and urban feature constraints. The generative model follows directions of elevation and connects road ends in such a way as to allow various types of breakpoints.