Agitation is a common complication of Alzheimer’s dementia (Agit-AD) associated with substantial morbidity, high healthcare service utilization, and adverse emotional and physical impact on care partners. There are currently no FDA-approved pharmacological treatments for Agit-AD. We present the study design and baseline data for an ongoing multisite, three-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial of dronabinol (synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]), titrated to a dose of 10 mg daily, in 80 participants to examine the safety and efficacy of dronabinol as an adjunctive treatment for Agit-AD. Preliminary findings for 44 participants enrolled thus far show a predominately female, white sample with advanced cognitive impairment (Mini Mental Status Examination mean 7.8) and agitation (Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Clinician Agitation subscale mean 14.1). Adjustments to study design in light of the COVID-19 pandemic are described. Findings from this study will provide guidance for the clinical utility of dronabinol for Agit-AD. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02792257.

Angiostrongylus cantonensis has been found in Florida, USA, from the panhandle in the north to Miami and surrounding areas in the southern parts of the state, in both definitive and intermediate hosts in a limited studies completed in 2015. Additional studies have identified this parasite in a variety of intermediate hosts, both native and non-native gastropod species, with new host species recorded. Many areas in Florida with higher A. cantonensis prevalence were those with a high human population density, which suggests it is a matter of time before human infections occur in Florida. Case reports in the state currently involve non-human primates and include a gibbon and orangutan in Miami. Here, we report the current status of A. cantonensis in the state, as well as the infection in a capuchin monkey and presumptive infection in a red ruffed lemur in Gainesville, Florida.

Despite the rapid expansion of online educational resources for emergency medicine, barriers remain to their effective use by emergency physicians and trainees. This article expands on previous descriptions of techniques to aggregate online educational resources, outlining four strategies to help learners navigate, evaluate, and contribute online. These strategies include 1) cultivating digital mentors, 2) browsing the most popular free open access medical education (FOAM) websites, 3) using critical appraisal tools developed for FOAM, and 4) contributing new online content.

Four sampling methods for Ooencyrtus kuvanae (Howard) populations were compared for efficiency using coefficients of variation. On this basis, none of the sampling methods was uniformly superior to any other, but a cluster of 0.01 ha subplots was chosen as the best method because of the aggregation of both gypsy moth egg masses and parasitoids. From the estimated population variance per egg mass it was calculated that 150 egg masses should be sampled per plot to provide an error bound of 0.2 parasitoid per egg mass (α = 0.1). An analysis of variance indicated that variation among study areas was the largest source of variation, and that among day, within day, and plot configuration variation were significant. Estimates of parasitoid activity are most reliable during the period between 1300 and 1600 h EST. Activity of parasitoids was reduced on overcast days. In August, the distribution of O. kuvanae approximates that of the negative binomial but with too many individuals in the high frequency classes. In a compromise between cost and accuracy, the sampling scheme selected consists of thirty 0.01 ha subplots per plot sampled between 1300 and 1600 h EST on sunny days. This sampling scheme was found satisfactory using field evaluation.

The goal of this literature review is to identify key issues in the patterns of medical care utilization of services for seniors as a contribution to the National Consensus process on designing and delivering health care reforms which foster seniors' independence (Shapiro & Havens, 2000). A search strategy used to identify the relevant literature since 1985 focussing mainly on peer-reviewed journal articles is described and the results of the search strategy are summarized. Key articles are identified, analysed and synthesized based on Canadian and American evidence covering patterns of institutional care, physician use, ambulatory care and the determinants of utilization of these services.

Hayyim Nahman Bialik (1873–1934) is widely regarded—especially in Israel—as the national poet of the Jewish people. Bialik's poems express not only his own deeply conflicted emotions but also the ambivalence of a generation of Jews caught between the breakdown of traditional Jewish life and the call of a new Jewish world whose outlines could be but dimly perceived.

This article addresses the issue of educating undergraduate engineering students in the appropriate use of computer simulation in the design process. The premise that poorly designed assignments involving simulation can actually impair understanding is addressed. A set of goals for simulation-based exercises is suggested, and some tactics for meeting these goals are introduced. Finally, a specific example of a half-term assignment that is used to meet these goals is provided for illustration.

Playwrights in the West remain under threat not only from the ever-increasing dominance of the director and the loss of autonomy carried over from film and television, but from sheer economic deprivation – which makes playwriting impossible as a full-time profession for most of its members. Is the best way to remedy this the assertion of collective responsibility and power advocated in this country by the Theatre Writers Union, or by a frank acceptance that artistic strength is seldom likely to be matched by economic or ‘political’ power – as James L. Rosenberg now argues? NTQ does not necessarily endorse the viewpoint here expressed, but feels that it is a forceful statement of a ‘new realism’ about the role of the playwright in the likely western future – in this respect also making an illuminating contrast to the foregoing article by Zygmunt Hübner. The author, James L. Rosenberg, is a widely-performed American dramatist, who has also translated numerous plays from the German, and is presently Visiting Professor of Theatre at Williams College. Williamstown, Massachusetts.