Like Wildfire in a Drought: The Power of Parent Perspectives in a Phenomenological Study of a Rural Community School

The purpose of this study was to describe families’ experiences at a rural Community School. Using descriptive phenomenological design, I sought to answer the study’s central research question: What is the experience of families at a rural Community School? In order to answer this question, I interviewed ten parents at a rural Community School in the Southeastern United States. Participant interview transcripts were analyzed using Creswell’s method of phenomenological data analysis and led to the identification of five themes that describe the phenomenon. Those were (1) School Supports (2) Parent Engagement (3) Community Impact (4) Institutional Trust and (5) The Coordinator Effect. I identified 19 additional sub-themes under these overarching themes. Major findings from this study support the idea that Community Schools have a positive impact on school resource support, parent engagement, community impact, institutional trust, and emphasize the importance of having a committed staff member focused on these facets in rural contexts. Significant findings of this study include Community Schools’ ability to cater to rural-specific issues and their capacity to foster a sense of engagement and investment in rural communities. This study also identified a need to address issues with awareness and differentiation associated with implementing a Community School strategy. Key takeaways from this research that can be used in future practice are creating community awareness about Community Schools, providing targeted, ongoing communication, ensuring that leadership supports the Community School, and carefully selecting the Community School’s Coordinator. Some avenues for future research include expanding phenomenological interviews to staff and community members, identifying longitudinal changes over time, and similarly configuring research in other rural Community Schools

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Kinetics and Mechanism of the Reactions of Alkyllithium Reagents With Ketones and Esters in Hydrocarbon Solvents

158 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1983.The kinetics of the reactions of alkyllithium reagents with ketones and esters in cyclohexane and benzene have been investigated by stopped-flow infrared spectroscopy at 25.0(DEGREES)C. A series of substituted phenyl-sec-butyl ketones (10a-i) and substituted ethyl benzoates (13a-i) along with several aliphatic ketones (14-17) and esters (18,19) were utilized in the study. These compounds were found to form coordination complexes with alkyllithium aggregates. Evidence for this was demonstrated by the appearance of a new carbonyl band in the infrared spectrum of a reacting solution of ester or ketone and alkyllithium reagent immediately after mixing. The new band, which is shifted to lower wave-number relative to the carbonyl band of the carbonyl compound, has been attributed to the formation of a substrate-alkyllithium aggregate complex in rapid equilibrium with the free substrate. Equilibrium constants (K(,c)) for complexation with sec-butyllithium in cyclohexane were determined for several compounds. A trend in the K(,c) values for the substituted phenyl-sec-butyl ketones and ethyl benzoates was observed: the more electron donating the substituent the larger the equilibrium constant of complexation. Further, larger K(,c) values were obtained for the esters, in their reactions with sec-butyllithium, than for the corresponding ketones.The rate of disappearance of ketones 10a-i and esters 13a-i in the presence of excess sec-butyllithium exhibited good pseudo first order behavior. The dependence of the observed pseudo first order rate constant (k(,obs)) on sec-butyllithium concentration was complex indicating the lack of a simple order with respect to alkyllithium in these reactions. Within each class of carbonyl compounds a substituent effect on the rate data was noted. Electron-withdrawing substituents on the phenyl ring of the ketone or ester led to the common behavior of increasing k(,obs) with rising reagent concentration; whereas, electron-donating substituents brought about a maximum k(,obs) followed by a decrease in k(,obs) at higher lithium reagent concenrations.A mechanism (Scheme 5) that is consistent with the kinetic and equilibrium data has been proposed in which product is formed by two pathways: decomposition of the ketone/ester-alkyllithium complex and reaction of uncomplexed ketone/ester with monomeric alkyllithium.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD