DEI co-mentoring circles for clinical research professionals: A pilot project and toolkit.

Background: There have been a number of federal policies and guidance's impacting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI) in clinical research. While these are needed, they have not diminished the gaps related to clinical trial recruitment, research professional's capacity for cultural competence, and clinical research professional role development. Mentoring and co-mentoring circles have traditionally been used in Medicine, but until now had not been used for workforce development of clinical research professionals (CRPs). Materials/Methods: We designed a six-session, monthly co-mentoring circle to take place at two academic medical centers to pilot an interinstitutional co-mentoring circle centered on storytelling videos of Black Voices in Clinical Research. This provided a DEI framework for discussions on role experiences, cultural competence, and role progression. Results: Seven CRPs completed the DRC pilot. The participants positively evaluated the experience and made recommendations for future iterations. Discussion: Co-mentoring circles can be useful tools to connect CRPs across complex research medical centers and provide support that may have a positive impact on role satisfaction and retention. Conclusion: This framework for developing co-mentoring circles can serve as a toolkit for future CRP co-mentoring circles within and across institutions for workforce development. The Black Voices in Clinical Research storytelling videos provide a rich foundation for future discussion on DEI issues for CRPs and collaborating with participants.

Modeling the Spatial Dynamics of International Tuna Fleets.

We developed an iterative sequential random utility model to investigate the social and environmental determinants of the spatiotemporal decision process of tuna purse-seine fishery fishing effort in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Operations of the fishing gear mark checkpoints in a continuous complex decision-making process. Individual fisher behavior is modeled by identifying diversified choices over decision-space for an entire fishing trip, which allows inclusion of prior and current vessel locations and conditions among the explanatory variables. Among these factors are vessel capacity; departure and arrival port; duration of the fishing trip; daily and cumulative distance travelled, which provides a proxy for operation costs; expected revenue; oceanographic conditions; and tons of fish on board. The model uses a two-step decision process to capture the probability of a vessel choosing a specific fishing region for the first set and the probability of switching to (or staying in) a specific region to fish before returning to its landing port. The model provides a means to anticipate the success of marine resource management, and it can be used to evaluate fleet diversity in fisher behavior, the impact of climate variability, and the stability and resilience of complex coupled human and natural systems.

Biphasic role of dopamine on female sexual behaviour via D2 receptors in the mediobasal hypothalamus.

Dopamine has been implicated in the control of sexual behaviour, but its role seems quite complex and controversial. The aim of the present experiments was to investigate the effects of dopamine (DA) acting on D2 receptors in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) on sexual behaviour in female sheep. To achieve this, the D2 agonist, quinpirole, was administered bilaterally via microdialysis probes into the MBH of ovariectomized ewes either before or after oestradiol (E2) administration. Quinpirole (100 ng/ml) infused for 6 h just before E2 hastened the onset of oestrus behaviour and the luteinizing hormone surge, whereas the same treatment given 6-12 h or 18-21 h after E2 decreased the intensity of sexual receptivity without affecting LH or prolactin secretion. We then tested the hypothesis that E2 stimulates the onset of oestrus partly by decreasing DA activation of D2 receptors. In this case the D2 antagonists pimozide or spiperone (100 ng/ml) were infused into the MBH via microdialysis probes for 11 h in the absence of E2 administration. A significant number of ewes showed induction of receptivity with both antagonists, although its intensity was significantly lower than that induced by E2. These treatments generally did not significantly alter extracellular concentrations of monoamines or aminoacids although quinpirole modulated the ability of sexual interactions to increase noradrenaline release. These experiments show that DA acts via D2 receptors in the MBH to control female sexual behaviour in a biphasic manner: the onset of sexual motivation and receptivity requiring an initial increase in activation followed by a decrease. This dual action could explain some of the controversies concerning DA action on sexual behaviour.

Recommended Assay for Treatment of Chicks to Prevent Salmonella Colonization by 'Competitive Exclusion'.

An assay is described for evaluating live-culture treatment material that may be given orally to chicks to prevent intestinal colonization by non-host-specific salmonellae. Both pre-treated and control chicks are challenged with ca 104 salmonellae/chick, using a strain bearing an antibiotic resistance marker. Chicks are examined 5 d after challenge to determine both the proportion of positive birds in treated and control groups and the levels of Salmonella in the caeca of infected individuals. The efficacy of the treatment is determined by calculation of values for Infection Factor and Protection Factor.