Academics' Experiences in Veterinary Educational Research: Results of an International Survey.

Research conducted by the veterinary education community is critical to continual improvement of educational outcomes. Additionally, research productivity is one metric in promotion and tenure decisions. We sought to identify challenges encountered or anticipated when undertaking or planning veterinary educational research (VER), to learn how these challenges might be overcome, and to synthesize tips for success from those who have performed VER. A branching survey was developed and deployed along the authors' worldwide veterinary education contacts in a cascading manner. The survey collected quantitative and qualitative information from participants who had performed VER and those who planned to perform VER in the future. The 258 participants represented 41 countries. Of the participants, 204 had performed VER (79%) and 54 planned to in the future (21%). The median time spent teaching was 14 years, and median time performing VER was 5 years. The most commonly reported challenges in performing VER were lack of funding, lack of time, and difficulties encountered when undertaking a study, including data collection, analysis, and publishing. When asked about overcoming the challenges, a major theme emerged around people, who provided expertise and mentoring. The most commonly reported tip for success was collaboration; 73% of experienced researchers reported people as most helpful upon beginning VER. Collaborators provided diverse help with ideas, study design, statistics, and other aspects. These results suggest that institutions can offer support to academics in the form of small grants, protected research time, writing workshops, and mentorship to assist with the production of meaningful VER.

Taking the sublexical route: brain dynamics of reading in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia.

Reading aloud requires mapping an orthographic form to a phonological one. The mapping process relies on sublexical statistical regularities (e.g. 'oo' to |uː|) or on learned lexical associations between a specific visual form and a series of sounds (e.g. yacht to/jɑt/). Computational, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological evidence suggest that sublexical, phonological and lexico-semantic processes rely on partially distinct neural substrates: a dorsal (occipito-parietal) and a ventral (occipito-temporal) route, respectively. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal features of orthography-to-phonology mapping, capitalizing on the time resolution of magnetoencephalography and the unique clinical model offered by patients with semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA). Behaviourally, patients with svPPA manifest marked lexico-semantic impairments including difficulties in reading words with exceptional orthographic to phonological correspondence (irregular words). Moreover, they present with focal neurodegeneration in the anterior temporal lobe, affecting primarily the ventral, occipito-temporal, lexical route. Therefore, this clinical population allows for testing of specific hypotheses on the neural implementation of the dual-route model for reading, such as whether damage to one route can be compensated by over-reliance on the other. To this end, we reconstructed and analysed time-resolved whole-brain activity in 12 svPPA patients and 12 healthy age-matched control subjects while reading irregular words (e.g. yacht) and pseudowords (e.g. pook). Consistent with previous findings that the dorsal route is involved in sublexical, phonological processes, in control participants we observed enhanced neural activity over dorsal occipito-parietal cortices for pseudowords, when compared to irregular words. This activation was manifested in the beta-band (12-30 Hz), ramping up slowly over 500 ms after stimulus onset and peaking at ∼800 ms, around response selection and production. Consistent with our prediction, svPPA patients did not exhibit this temporal pattern of neural activity observed in controls this contrast. Furthermore, a direct comparison of neural activity between patients and controls revealed a dorsal spatiotemporal cluster during irregular word reading. These findings suggest that the sublexical/phonological route is involved in processing both irregular and pseudowords in svPPA. Together these results provide further evidence supporting a dual-route model for reading aloud mediated by the interplay between lexico-semantic and sublexical/phonological neurocognitive systems. When the ventral route is damaged, as in the case of neurodegeneration affecting the anterior temporal lobe, partial compensation appears to be possible by over-recruitment of the slower, serial attention-dependent, dorsal one.

Modification of a tumor antigen determinant to improve peptide/MHC stability is associated with increased immunogenicity and cross-priming a larger fraction of CD8+ T cells.

Altered peptide ligands (APLs) with enhanced binding to MHC class I can increase the CD8(+) T cell response to native Ags, including tumor Ags. In this study, we investigate the influence of peptide-MHC (pMHC) stability on recruitment of tumor Ag-specific CD8(+) T cells through cross-priming. Among the four known H-2(b)-restricted CD8(+) T cell determinants within SV40 large tumor Ag (TAg), the site V determinant ((489)QGINNLDNL(497)) forms relatively low-stability pMHC and is characteristically immunorecessive. Absence of detectable site V-specific CD8(+) T cells following immunization with wild-type TAg is due in part to inefficient cross-priming. We mutated nonanchor residues within the TAg site V determinant that increased pMHC stability but preserved recognition by both TCR-transgenic and polyclonal endogenous T cells. Using a novel approach to quantify the fraction of naive T cells triggered through cross-priming in vivo, we show that immunization with TAg variants expressing higher-stability determinants increased the fraction of site V-specific T cells cross-primed and effectively overcame the immunorecessive phenotype. In addition, using MHC class I tetramer-based enrichment, we demonstrate for the first time, to our knowledge, that endogenous site V-specific T cells are primed following wild-type TAg immunization despite their low initial frequency, but that the magnitude of T cell accumulation is enhanced following immunization with a site V variant TAg. Our results demonstrate that site V APLs cross-prime a higher fraction of available T cells, providing a potential mechanism for high-stability APLs to enhance immunogenicity and accumulation of T cells specific for the native determinant.

Measuring moral distress and moral injury: A systematic review and content analysis of existing scales.

BACKGROUND: Moral distress (MD) and moral injury (MI) are related constructs describing the negative consequences of morally challenging stressors. Despite growing support for the clinical relevance of these constructs, ongoing challenges regarding measurement quality risk limiting research and clinical advances. This study summarizes the nature, quality, and utility of existing MD and MI scales, and provides recommendations for future use. METHOD: We identified psychometric studies describing the development or validation of MD or MI scales and extracted information on methodological and psychometric qualities. Content analyses identified specific outcomes measured by each scale. RESULTS: We reviewed 77 studies representing 42 unique scales. The quality of psychometric approaches varied greatly across studies, and most failed to examine convergent and divergent validity. Content analyses indicated most scales measure exposures to potential moral stressors and outcomes together, with relatively few measuring only exposures (n = 3) or outcomes (n = 7). Scales using the term MD typically assess general distress. Scales using the term MI typically assess several specific outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Results show how the terms MD and MI are applied in research. Several scales were identified as appropriate for research and clinical use. Recommendations for the application, development, and validation of MD and MI scales are provided.

Learning and adaptation in speech production without a vocal tract.

How is the complex audiomotor skill of speaking learned? To what extent does it depend on the specific characteristics of the vocal tract? Here, we developed a touchscreen-based speech synthesizer to examine learning of speech production independent of the vocal tract. Participants were trained to reproduce heard vowel targets by reaching to locations on the screen without visual feedback and receiving endpoint vowel sound auditory feedback that depended continuously on touch location. Participants demonstrated learning as evidenced by rapid increases in accuracy and consistency in the production of trained targets. This learning generalized to productions of novel vowel targets. Subsequent to learning, sensorimotor adaptation was observed in response to changes in the location-sound mapping. These findings suggest that participants learned adaptable sensorimotor maps allowing them to produce desired vowel sounds. These results have broad implications for understanding the acquisition of speech motor control.

Capture and storage of plant genomic DNA on a readily available cellulose matrix.

Whatman FTA® Cards are a fast and efficient method for capturing and storing nucleic acids but can be cost-prohibitive for large numbers of samples. We developed a method that substitutes a readily-available cellulose matrix and homemade washing buffer for commercial FTA® Cards and FTA® Purification Reagent. This method is suitable for long-term storage of DNA from many plant species prior to PCR.

Hearing and performance during a 70-h exposure to noise simulating the space station environment.

INTRODUCTION: Elevated hearing thresholds have been documented in some astronauts after long-term spaceflights although noise levels were lower than those normally associated with noise-induced hearing loss in ground-based operations. The present study was conducted to determine whether prolonged exposure (70 h) to levels (72 dBA) recorded on the International Space Station (ISS) service module would impact diverse measures of auditory function, as well as cognition and memory, motivation, and cardiovascular function. METHOD: Five mixed gender subgroups of five normal-hearing subjects, aged 20-50 yr, were sequestered for 70 h in an environment that modeled conditions on the ISS. They were assigned to one of three background conditions: quiet (n = 5), continuous noise from the ISS service module (n = 10), or continuous noise during the day only (n = 10). Subjects were tested repeatedly within and across days as individuals or pair mates. RESULTS: There were no negative effects of the noise on any of the outcome measures. Introduction of a delay or noise in a communication channel used in the assessment of speech communicability significantly affected the time taken for joint problem solving by partners. DISCUSSION: The results of this study were not consistent with the observation of hearing loss measured after spaceflights. Nor were changes evident in cognition, motivation, or cardiovascular function. Factors which might account for the discrepancy are discussed.

Battlefield ethics training: integrating ethical scenarios in high-intensity military field exercises.

There is growing evidence that modern missions have added stresses and ethical complexities not seen in previous military operations and that there are links between battlefield stressors and ethical lapses. Military ethicists have concluded that the ethical challenges of modern missions are not well addressed by current military ethics educational programs. Integrating the extant research in the area, we propose that scenario-based operational ethics training in high-intensity military field training settings may be an important adjunct to traditional military ethics education and training. We make the case as to why this approach will enhance ethical operational preparation for soldiers, supporting their psychological well-being as well as mission effectiveness.

Effects of sleep loss on team decision making: motivational loss or motivational gain?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of 30 hr of sleep loss and continuous cognitive work on performance in a distributed team decision-making environment. BACKGROUND: To date, only a few studies have examined the effect of sleep loss on distributed team performance, and only one other to our knowledge has examined the relationship between sleep loss and social-motivational aspects of teams (Hoeksema-van Orden, Gaillard, & Buunk, 1998). METHOD: Sixteen teams participated; each comprised 4 members. Three team members made threat assessments on a military surveillance task and then forwarded their judgments electronically to a team leader, who made a final assessment on behalf of the team. RESULTS: Sleep loss had an antagonistic effect on team decision-making accuracy and decision time. However, the performance loss associated with fatigue attributable to sleep loss was mediated by being part of a team, as compared with performing the same task individually - that is, we found evidence of a "motivational gain" effect in these sleepy teams. We compare these results with those of Hoeksema-van Orden et al. (1998), who found clear evidence of a "social loafing" effect in sleepy teams. CONCLUSION: The divergent results are discussed in the context of the collective effort model (Karau & Williams, 1993) and are attributable in part to a difference between independent and interdependent team tasks. APPLICATION: The issues and findings have implications for a wide range of distributed, collaborative work environments, such as military network-enabled operations.