The academic achievement gap between African American and Latino students and their White and Asian peers in K-12 American schools is an educational crisis of major proportions. While achievement gaps in schools exist for various subgroups, this study focused on the gaps between African American and White students. Of particular interest was the research that indicated the achievement gaps are not only present in low-performing, high-poverty, diverse school settings, but exist even at high-performing schools with higher socio-economic status (SES) levels. This study examined a parent educational and support program in an affluent, high performing, suburban school district. A descriptive case study design was used to study College Bound San Diego (CBSD), a community-based intervention created and operated by parents of African American children. The specific goals of the program are to close the achievement gaps for African American students, and to promote their preparedness for, and attendance at, colleges and universities. The specific goal of this study was to determine if the College Bound San Diego (CBSD) program contributed to parents' involvement in their student's educational experience, and in what ways involvement in the program impacted students' educational experience. The data collected supported the finding that involvement in CBSD has made a significant difference for parents and their children on a variety of factors. The seven themes that emerged from the analysis of the interview data illustrate the various aspects of CBSD that parents identified as benefits of the program. These seven themes were: a) Parent knowledge; b) College expectations; c) School/district relationships; d) Parent involvement actions; e) Parent self-efficacy; f) Parent empowerment/voice; and g) Parenting beliefs and practices. Similar to the analysis of parent data, the qualitative data gathered through student focus groups, program documents, and researcher observations provided a clear indication that involvement in CBSD had a positive impact on students. Increased college knowledge, enhanced parent involvement, and enriched cultural identity were three themes that emerged from the analysis of the student focus group data. Each of these areas has been documented through research as contributing to the success of African American students in high school and beyond, speaking to the importance of parent involvement in education. Conclusions and recommendations for practice, implications for the case study district, and recommendations for further study are addressed at the end of the study

While conversationally common, sarcasm presents identification challenges in writing. For example, ”Oh wow!” may be expressed both sincerely and ironically. Research suggests that interpretation of ambiguous sarcasm may be context dependent, though precisely how visual and auditory cues contribute to comprehension remains unclear. To explore this, we recorded an actor performing 45 phrases sarcastically and sincerely. In two calibration studies, we selected 16 ambiguous phrases that were identifiable with all cues available. In the main study, participants classified these phrases as sarcastic or sincere in three conditions: audio-video (N=32), audio-only (N=29), or video-only (N=26). Performance was high (91%) with both cues available. Intriguingly, the drops in performance with audio only (82%, p<.001) and video only (80%, p<.0001) were small and not significantly different from one another (p>.5) suggesting auditory and visual cues contribute similarly to sarcasm comprehension. We replicated these results in a separate within-subjects experiment (N=77).

Recent research has shown that attention can influence the strength of face aftereffects. For example, attending to changes in facial features increases the strength of identity and figural aftereffects relative to passive viewing (Rhodes et al., 2011). Here, we ask whether attending to a specific social dimension of a face (such as race or gender) influences the strength of face aftereffects along that dimension. Across three experiments, participants completed many single-shot face adaptation trials. In each trial, participants observed a computer-generated adapting face for 5 s while instructed to focus on either the race or gender of that adapting face. Adapting faces were either Asian and female or Caucasian and male. In Experiment 1, all trials included an intermediate question (IQ) following each adaptation period, soliciting a rating of the adapting face on the attended dimension (e.g., race). In Experiment 2, only half of the trials included this IQ, and in Experiment 3 only a quarter of the trials did. In all three experiments, participants were subsequently presented with a race- and gender-neutral face and asked to rate it on either the attended dimension (e.g., race, attention-congruent trials) or the unattended dimension (e.g., gender, attention-incongruent trials) using a seven-point scale. Overall, participants showed significant aftereffects in all conditions, manifesting as (i) higher Asian ratings of the neutral faces following Caucasian vs. Asian adapting faces and (ii) higher female ratings of neutral faces following male vs. female adapting faces. Intriguingly, although reaction times were shorter during attention-congruent vs. attention-incongruent trials, aftereffects were not stronger along attention-congruent than attention-incongruent dimensions. Our results suggest that attending to a facial dimension such as race or gender does not result in increased adaptation to that dimension.

Real-world vehicle and engine activity data were collected from 90 heavy-duty vehicles in California, United States, most of which have engine model year 2010 or newer and are equipped with selective catalytic reduction (SCR). The 90 vehicles represent 19 different groups defined by a combination of vocational use and geographic region. The data were collected using advanced data loggers that recorded vehicle speed, position (latitude and longitude), and more than 170 engine and aftertreatment parameters (including engine load and exhaust temperature) at the frequency of one Hz. This article presents plots of real-world exhaust temperature and engine load distributions for the 19 vehicle groups. In each plot, both frequency distribution and cumulative frequency distribution are shown. These distributions are generated using the aggregated data from all vehicle samples in each group.

Background

Some evidence suggests that chronic kidney disease is a risk factor for lower-extremity peripheral artery disease. We aimed to quantify the independent and joint associations of two measures of chronic kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] and albuminuria) with the incidence of peripheral artery disease.

Methods

In this collaborative meta-analysis of international cohorts included in the Chronic Kidney Disease Prognosis Consortium (baseline measurements obtained between 1972 and 2014) with baseline measurements of eGFR and albuminuria, at least 1000 participants (this criterion not applied to cohorts exclusively enrolling patients with chronic kidney disease), and at least 50 peripheral artery disease events, we analysed adult participants without peripheral artery disease at baseline at the individual patient level with Cox proportional hazards models to quantify associations of creatinine-based eGFR, urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), and dipstick proteinuria with the incidence of peripheral artery disease (including hospitalisation with a diagnosis of peripheral artery disease, intermittent claudication, leg revascularisation, and leg amputation). We assessed discrimination improvement through c-statistics.

Findings

We analysed 817 084 individuals without a history of peripheral artery disease at baseline from 21 cohorts. 18 261 cases of peripheral artery disease were recorded during follow-up across cohorts (median follow-up was 7·4 years [IQR 5·7-8·9], range 2·0-15·8 years across cohorts). Both chronic kidney disease measures were independently associated with the incidence of peripheral artery disease. Compared with an eGFR of 95 mL/min per 1·73 m², adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for incident study-specific peripheral artery disease was 1·22 (95% CI 1·14-1·30) at an eGFR of 45 mL/min per 1·73 m² and 2·06 (1·70-2·48) at an eGFR of 15 mL/min per 1·73 m². Compared with an ACR of 5 mg/g, the adjusted HR for incident study-specific peripheral artery disease was 1·50 (1·41-1·59) at an ACR of 30 mg/g and 2·28 (2·12-2·44) at an ACR of 300 mg/g. The adjusted HR at an ACR of 300 mg/g versus 5 mg/g was 3·68 (95% CI 3·00-4·52) for leg amputation. eGFR and albuminuria contributed multiplicatively (eg, adjusted HR 5·76 [4·90-6·77] for incident peripheral artery disease and 10·61 [5·70-19·77] for amputation in eGFR <30 mL/min per 1·73 m² plus ACR ≥300 mg/g or dipstick proteinuria 2+ or higher vs eGFR ≥90 mL/min per 1·73 m² plus ACR <10 mg/g or dipstick proteinuria negative). Both eGFR and ACR significantly improved peripheral artery disease risk discrimination beyond traditional predictors, with a substantial improvement prediction of amputation with ACR (difference in c-statistic 0·058, 95% CI 0·045-0·070). Patterns were consistent across clinical subgroups.

Interpretation

Even mild-to-moderate chronic kidney disease conferred increased risk of incident peripheral artery disease, with a strong association between albuminuria and amputation. Clinical attention should be paid to the development of peripheral artery disease symptoms and signs in people with any stage of chronic kidney disease.

Funding

American Heart Association, US National Kidney Foundation, and US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Rationale & objective

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is complicated by abnormalities that reflect disruption in filtration, tubular, and endocrine functions of the kidney. Our aim was to explore the relationship of specific laboratory result abnormalities and hypertension with the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria CKD staging framework.

Study design

Cross-sectional individual participant-level analyses in a global consortium.

Setting & study populations

17 CKD and 38 general population and high-risk cohorts.

Selection criteria for studies

Cohorts in the CKD Prognosis Consortium with data for eGFR and albuminuria, as well as a measurement of hemoglobin, bicarbonate, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, potassium, or calcium, or hypertension.

Data extraction

Data were obtained and analyzed between July 2015 and January 2018.

Analytical approach

We modeled the association of eGFR and albuminuria with hemoglobin, bicarbonate, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, potassium, and calcium values using linear regression and with hypertension and categorical definitions of each abnormality using logistic regression. Results were pooled using random-effects meta-analyses.

Results

The CKD cohorts (n=254,666 participants) were 27% women and 10% black, with a mean age of 69 (SD, 12) years. The general population/high-risk cohorts (n=1,758,334) were 50% women and 2% black, with a mean age of 50 (16) years. There was a strong graded association between lower eGFR and all laboratory result abnormalities (ORs ranging from 3.27 [95% CI, 2.68-3.97] to 8.91 [95% CI, 7.22-10.99] comparing eGFRs of 15 to 29 with eGFRs of 45 to 59mL/min/1.73m²), whereas albuminuria had equivocal or weak associations with abnormalities (ORs ranging from 0.77 [95% CI, 0.60-0.99] to 1.92 [95% CI, 1.65-2.24] comparing urinary albumin-creatinine ratio > 300 vs < 30mg/g).

Limitations

Variations in study era, health care delivery system, typical diet, and laboratory assays.

Conclusions

Lower eGFR was strongly associated with higher odds of multiple laboratory result abnormalities. Knowledge of risk associations might help guide management in the heterogeneous group of patients with CKD.

Rationale & objective

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is complicated by abnormalities that reflect disruption in filtration, tubular, and endocrine functions of the kidney. Our aim was to explore the relationship of specific laboratory result abnormalities and hypertension with the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria CKD staging framework.

Study design

Cross-sectional individual participant-level analyses in a global consortium.

Setting & study populations

17 CKD and 38 general population and high-risk cohorts.

Selection criteria for studies

Cohorts in the CKD Prognosis Consortium with data for eGFR and albuminuria, as well as a measurement of hemoglobin, bicarbonate, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, potassium, or calcium, or hypertension.

Data extraction

Data were obtained and analyzed between July 2015 and January 2018.

Analytical approach

We modeled the association of eGFR and albuminuria with hemoglobin, bicarbonate, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, potassium, and calcium values using linear regression and with hypertension and categorical definitions of each abnormality using logistic regression. Results were pooled using random-effects meta-analyses.

Results

The CKD cohorts (n=254,666 participants) were 27% women and 10% black, with a mean age of 69 (SD, 12) years. The general population/high-risk cohorts (n=1,758,334) were 50% women and 2% black, with a mean age of 50 (16) years. There was a strong graded association between lower eGFR and all laboratory result abnormalities (ORs ranging from 3.27 [95% CI, 2.68-3.97] to 8.91 [95% CI, 7.22-10.99] comparing eGFRs of 15 to 29 with eGFRs of 45 to 59mL/min/1.73m²), whereas albuminuria had equivocal or weak associations with abnormalities (ORs ranging from 0.77 [95% CI, 0.60-0.99] to 1.92 [95% CI, 1.65-2.24] comparing urinary albumin-creatinine ratio > 300 vs < 30mg/g).

Limitations

Variations in study era, health care delivery system, typical diet, and laboratory assays.

Conclusions

Lower eGFR was strongly associated with higher odds of multiple laboratory result abnormalities. Knowledge of risk associations might help guide management in the heterogeneous group of patients with CKD.