The Aura of the Trace in One Child’s Projects in the World: Collecting as Rescue, Repetition, Rupture and Refrain

Using one child’s archival collection, found in the Prospect Archive of Children’s Work at the University of Vermont, we consider the methodological complications involved in attempting to analyze material traces of childhood, created by the child. The experimental school where these artworks were originally completed practiced methods of deep observation and descriptive review of materials collected, rather than sending children’s work home. We ponder these pedagogic methods alongside concepts delivered by the German cultural critic Walter Benjamin in order to suggest how the purpose of collecting and presenting traces of childhood can be an act of rescue.

Measuring the Efficacy of a Club Sports New Participant Orientation

This study examines the impact of the University of Vermont Club Sports’ recently implemented new participant orientation. Using program evaluation theory and a survey instrument, this study measured the efficacy of the new program. A survey was designed and sent to all 312 participants with a response rate of 23%. Descriptive statistics from the instrument indicate strong efficacy for participants who completed the program with all outcome measures reporting moderate to considerable growth. T-tests and ANOVAs, in most instances, indicate similar efficacy of outcomes among different groups of respondents. However, statistically significant differences exist based on individual or team gender on three specific outcome measures. Results of this study suggest value in the implementation of the club sports new participant orientation while identifying groups where additional attention may be needed through adjustments to the curriculum or additional outreach strategies.

Undiagnosed Malignancy and Therapeutic Complications in Oncology Patients: A 10-Year Review of Autopsy Cases

Context.— Despite technologic and medical advancements, autopsies are essential to uncover clinically unsuspected diagnoses, to advance our understanding of disease processes, and to help reduce medical errors. Objective.— To investigate the percentage of malignancy clinically diagnosed and undiagnosed in a series of hospital autopsies. Secondarily, to explore the therapeutic complications directly contributing to death in cancer patients. Design.— A 10-year retrospective study (2008–2018). All nonforensic autopsies performed at the University of Vermont Medical Center during this period were reviewed by 2 pathologists, and data, including antemortem diagnoses of malignancy, and autopsy findings, including therapeutic complications, were collected. Results.— A total of 246 cases documented a diagnosis of malignancy. In 34.5% (85 of 246) of cases a tissue diagnosis of malignancy was first documented following postmortem examination. In 41.2% (35 of 85) of cases there was clinical antemortem suspicion of malignancy, whereas in 58.8% (50 of 85) clinically unsuspected malignancy was first diagnosed after postmortem examination. In 16.0% (8 of 50) of cases the undiagnosed malignancy was the primary cause of death. The overall rate of therapeutic complication related to the treatment of oncologic disease in patients that resulted in death was 21.7% (35 of 161). Conclusions.— Our study shows the percentage of clinically unsuspected malignancies revealed by postmortem examination to be 5% (50 of 1003) of all autopsy cases. In 16% (8 of 50) of cases, the cause of death was due to the clinically undiagnosed malignancy, and hence not an incidental finding. Despite advances in medical therapy in the management of oncologic disease, in up to 21.7% (35 of 161) of cases therapeutic complications directly contributed to death.

All Hands-On Deck and All Decks on Hand: Surmounting Supply Chain Limitations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Testing during the COVID-19 pandemic has been crucial to public health surveillance and clinical care. Supply chain constraints—spanning limitations in testing kits, reagents, pipet tips, and swabs availability—have challenged the ability to scale COVID-19 testing. During the early months, sample collection kits shortages constrained planned testing expansions. In response, the University of Vermont Medical Center, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Vermont Department of Health Laboratory, Aspenti Health, and providers across Vermont including 16 area hospitals partnered to surmount these barriers. The primary objectives were to increase supply availability and manage utilization. Within the first month of Vermont’s stay-at-home order, the University of Vermont Medical Center laboratory partnered with College of Medicine to create in-house collection kits, producing 5000 per week. University of Vermont Medical Center reassigned 4 phlebotomists, laboratory educators, and other laboratory staff, who had reduced workloads, to participate (requiring a total of 5.3-7.6 full-time equivalent (FTE) during the period of study). By August, automation at a local commercial laboratory produced 22,000 vials of media in one week (reducing the required personnel by 1.2 FTE). A multisite, cross-institutional approach was used to manage specimen collection kit utilization across Vermont. Hospital laboratory directors, managers, and providers agreed to order only as needed to avoid supply stockpiles and supported operational constraints through ongoing validations and kit assembly. Throughout this pandemic, Vermont has ranked highly in number of tests per million people, demonstrating the value of local collaboration to surmount obstacles during disease outbreaks and the importance of creative allocation of resources to address statewide needs.

Evaluation of Methods of Enrichment and Compositing of Environmental Samples for Detection of Listeria monocytogenes

Various methods exist for the enrichment and detection of Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes from environmental samples. Procedures for the compositing of environmental samples are not as well-defined. In this study, different enrichment procedures involving Buffered Listeria Enrichment Broth (BLEB), University of Vermont Medium (UVM), and Fraser Broth (FB) were evaluated to determine the limits of detection (LOD) for L. monocytogenes from culture and from swabs of stainless steel and to assess the efficacy of composite sampling by wet (pooling of primary enrichments) and dry (pooling of swabs) procedures. For detection of cells in pure culture, the computed LOD95% values using a single-step BLEB or two-step UVM-FB enrichment were 0.33 and 0.49 CFU per 225 mL enrichment, respectively. No significant differences in detection were observed for procedures using either two-step BLEB-FB or UVM-FB enrichments for swabs of stainless steel when L. monocytogenes was inoculated at 2-6 log CFU; LOD95% values were 3.82 and 3.62 log CFU per 4 in2 area, respectively. Wet compositing of L. monocytogenes from culture with and without Romaine lettuce wash (RLW) resident microbiota was conducted using BLEB-FB and UVM-FB enrichment methods; both allowed detection of the pathogen at ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 1:4 and 1:7 (1 positive : x negative samples) with no loss in sensitivity. From swabs of stainless steel, L. monocytogenes was detected similarly for both wet and dry composites of up to eight samples (1:7) with RLW. However, the BLEB-FB method allowed for significantly faster detection (after 24 h of FB incubation) in composites of 1:4 and 1:7 compared to the UVM-FB method under the conditions tested. The results of this study provide data to evaluate the efficacies of the different enrichment procedures and aid in assessing the use of wet and dry compositing of environmental samples for use in food production and processing facilities as part of a Listeria control plan.

Stem Cells, Cell Therapies, and Bioengineering in Lung Biology and Disease 2019

A workshop entitled “Stem Cells, Cell Therapies and Bioengineering in Lung Biology and Diseases” was hosted by the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine in collaboration with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the Alpha-1 Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy and the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. The event was held from July 15 to 18, 2019 at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont. The objectives of the conference were to review and discuss the current status of the following active areas of research: 1) technological advancements in the analysis and visualisation of lung stem and progenitor cells; 2) evaluation of lung stem and progenitor cells in the context of their interactions with the niche; 3) progress toward the application and delivery of stem and progenitor cells for the treatment of lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis; 4) progress in induced pluripotent stem cell models and application for disease modelling; and 5) the emerging roles of cell therapy and extracellular vesicles in immunomodulation of the lung. This selection of topics represents some of the most dynamic research areas in which incredible progress continues to be made. The workshop also included active discussion on the regulation and commercialisation of regenerative medicine products and concluded with an open discussion to set priorities and recommendations for future research directions in basic and translation lung biology.

Meeting Users Where They Are

Campus portals are one of the most visible and frequently used online spaces for students, offering one-stop access to key services for learning and academic self-management. This case study reports how instruction librarians at the University of Vermont collaborated with portal developers in the registrar’s office to develop high-impact, point-of-need content for a dedicated “Library” page. This content was then created in LibGuides and published using the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for LibGuides boxes. Initial usage data and analytics show that traffic to the libraries’ portal page has been substantially and consistently higher than expected. The next phase for the project will be the creation of customized library content that is responsive to the student’s user profile.