Parental Involvement Typologies in Rural Community Schools: A Qualitative Investigation.

There are a number of pressing issues facing today\u27s educational society. Among the most controversial is the research and information surrounding the perceived positive or negative effects of parental involvement and barriers that restrict parental involvement. The purpose of this study was to examine 6 parental involvement typologies and their use and existence in 3 East Tennessee elementary schools. The Epstein (1987) typologies were used to classify parent involvement modalities. Parents who had a child enrolled in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade during the 2007-2008 school year were interviewed. The interviews followed an open-ended interview guide and the research is qualitative in nature. Research findings in this study were consistent with findings from a number of previous parental involvement studies. Research participants displayed an appreciation for the educational process and voiced strong opinions on parenting, communication, volunteering, decision-making, learning at home, and collaboration with the community. Barriers to parental involvement practices were addressed as were suggestions for improved parental involvement opportunities and modalities

Estimation of the Prevalence of Undiagnosed and Diagnosed HIV in an Urban Emergency Department

To estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed HIV, the prevalence of diagnosed HIV, and proportion of HIV that is undiagnosed in populations with similar demographics as the Universal Screening for HIV in the Emergency Room (USHER) Trial and the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Emergency Department (ED) in Boston, MA. We also sought to estimate these quantities within demographic and risk behavior subgroups.We used data from the USHER Trial, which was a randomized clinical trial of HIV screening conducted in the BWH ED. Since eligible participants were HIV-free at time of enrollment, we were able to calculate the prevalence of undiagnosed HIV. We used data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MA/DPH) to estimate the prevalence of diagnosed HIV since the MA/DPH records the number of persons within MA who are HIV-positive. We calculated the proportion of HIV that is undiagnosed using these estimates of the prevalence of undiagnosed and diagnosed HIV. Estimates were stratified by age, sex, race/ethnicity, history of testing, and risk behaviors.The overall expected prevalence of diagnosed HIV in a population similar to those presenting to the BWH ED was 0.71% (95% CI: 0.63%, 0.78%). The prevalence of undiagnosed HIV was estimated at 0.22% (95% CI: 0.10%, 0.42%) and resultant overall prevalence was 0.93%. The proportion of HIV-infection that is undiagnosed in this ED-based setting was estimated to be 23.7% (95% CI: 11.6%, 34.9%) of total HIV-infections.Despite different methodology, our estimate of the proportion of HIV that is undiagnosed in an ED-setting was similar to previous estimates based on national surveillance data. Universal routine testing programs in EDs should use these data to help plan their yield of HIV detection

Assets and Needs Assessment of Senior Residents in the West Bloomington Neighborhood

The experience and process of aging has become a prominent topic of discussion nationwide and Central Illinois is no exception, due to the rapid growth within the senior population in the area. The 60 and over population of Illinois is projected to grow by 87% during the next 30 years (The Maturing of Illinois). An initiative has been developed to evaluate how prepared local communities are for older adults by conducting needs assessments, which can also serve as vital tools for those who plan and provide human services in communities. Often community leaders will form policies and allocate limited resources based on assumptions about the needs of the senior population and outdated information (Parsons and Higley 1995). This report is part of a larger needs assessment that will serve as a resource for community leaders to use in future policies and projects that will involve senior West Bloomington residents. This report examines needs of the senior population of West Bloomington as well as how organizations provide for those needs as evaluated by the senior population themselves. Based on our findings and recognizing the limitations of the study, we make recommendations for action and future research

Linkage Disequilibrium in Wild Mice

Crosses between laboratory strains of mice provide a powerful way of detecting quantitative trait loci for complex traits related to human disease. Hundreds of these loci have been detected, but only a small number of the underlying causative genes have been identified. The main difficulty is the extensive linkage disequilibrium (LD) in intercross progeny and the slow process of fine-scale mapping by traditional methods. Recently, new approaches have been introduced, such as association studies with inbred lines and multigenerational crosses. These approaches are very useful for interval reduction, but generally do not provide single-gene resolution because of strong LD extending over one to several megabases. Here, we investigate the genetic structure of a natural population of mice in Arizona to determine its suitability for fine-scale LD mapping and association studies. There are three main findings: (1) Arizona mice have a high level of genetic variation, which includes a large fraction of the sequence variation present in classical strains of laboratory mice; (2) they show clear evidence of local inbreeding but appear to lack stable population structure across the study area; and (3) LD decays with distance at a rate similar to human populations, which is considerably more rapid than in laboratory populations of mice. Strong associations in Arizona mice are limited primarily to markers less than 100 kb apart, which provides the possibility of fine-scale association mapping at the level of one or a few genes. Although other considerations, such as sample size requirements and marker discovery, are serious issues in the implementation of association studies, the genetic variation and LD results indicate that wild mice could provide a useful tool for identifying genes that cause variation in complex traits

Multi-sectoral data linkages to explore associations between the built environment and BMI.

Objectives In Wales almost a quarter of adults and 1 in 8 reception age children are obese. Linked data is a key tool to understanding the role of the built environment on obesity rates and is an important part of developing strategies to combat the obesity epidemic in Wales. Approach We set out to develop an analytical platform for generating evidence on key aspects of the built environment which impact child and adult obesity including; walkability, fast food availability, green space size and qualities, active transport routes and school environments. Utilising the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank We linked multi-sectoral data including routine health data, cohort data, administrative data and linked Geographic Information Systems generated metrics at household and school level. The platform will inform policy makers with and facilitate a  better understanding of associations between a range of social, health and built environment factors. Results We have created a range of built environment variables including temporally and age varying walkability indices, viewable greenspace, garden and house size, access to services and parks for 1.5 million households. In the first instance, as part of the BEACHES project, this data has been linked to several health datasets including the Child Measurement Programme (CMP, n=188,800) where initial results have shown that associations between garden size and Body Mass Index in children displays a non-linear negative correlation. We have also created follow-up measures for the CMP using routinely collected general practice data which further enables linking 28,389 height and weight measurements. However, potential bias in these follow-up measures is poorly understood with further work being undertaken to assess usability. Conclusion The integrated multi-sectoral data platform approach to linking environmental, administrative, health and cohort data aims to develop insights on a range of public health issues. We are working with a range of stakeholders to develop evidence-based policy initiatives to reduce obesity in Wales

The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component

Dissecting how genetic and environmental influences impact on learning is helpful for maximizing numeracy and literacy. Here we show, using twin and genome-wide analysis, that there is a substantial genetic component to children’s ability in reading and mathematics, and estimate that around one half of the observed correlation in these traits is due to shared genetic effects (so-called Generalist Genes). Thus, our results highlight the potential role of the learning environment in contributing to differences in a child’s cognitive abilities at age twelve