21 research outputs found
Mission Critical: Reforming Foster Care and Child Protective Services in Massachusetts
One major topic of debate during the 2014 gubernatorial elections was the functioning of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Massachusetts. Prior to the debates and subsequently as well, the media has highlighted some challenges and issues that plague DCF, and several high-profile cases have sparked not only the attention of our state government, but the public at large as well. After consultation with legislators, we decided that our 2015 Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar would focus on this crisis
Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome
The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ā¼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ā¼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead
Evidence-based practice education for better knowledge, attitudes, and practices in nurses and midwives
Background Evidence-based practice (EBP) education is important to overcome barriers to evidence use in practice. Method The authors conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate the EBP knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of RNs and midwives who had participated in an EBP workshop and compared their results with those of nonparticipants. Results A total of 198 nurses and midwives responded to the survey, 91 who had received EBP education and 107 who had not. There was a significant difference in terms of mean total KAP score which was significantly higher in the education group, indicating greater KAP in those respondents than those who had not received education (p = .004). Conclusion This study has shown that participation in a single day of EBP education covering the basic steps of EBP results in nurses who have more positive attitudes, and greater knowledge and practice abilities in EBP than those who had not participated
Structured communication intervention to reduce anxiety of family members waiting for relatives undergoing surgical procedures
Perioperative nurses recognise that family members experience increased levels of anxiety during the wait for a relative undergoing a surgical procedure. It is often during this time that little or no meaningful communication occurs between family members and health professionals. It has been suggested that a structured information intervention has the potential to increase communication between families and health care professionals as well as decrease family members' anxiety
A Case Study Application of the Aggregate Exposure Pathway (AEP) and Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Frameworks to Facilitate the Integration of Human Health and Ecological End Points for Cumulative Risk Assessment (CRA)
Cumulative
risk assessment (CRA) methods promote the use of a conceptual
site model (CSM) to apportion exposures and integrate risk from multiple
stressors. While CSMs may encompass multiple species, evaluating end
points across taxa can be challenging due to data availability and
physiological differences among organisms. Adverse outcome pathways
(AOPs) describe biological mechanisms leading to adverse outcomes
(AOs) by assembling causal pathways with measurable intermediate steps
termed key events (KEs), thereby providing a framework for integrating
data across species. In this work, we used a case study focused on
the perchlorate anion (ClO<sub>4</sub><sup>ā</sup>) to highlight
the value of the AOP framework for cross-species data integration.
Computational models and doseāresponse data were used to evaluate
the effects of ClO<sub>4</sub><sup>ā</sup> in 12 species and
revealed a doseāresponse concordance across KEs and taxa. The
aggregate exposure pathway (AEP) tracks stressors from sources to
the exposures and serves as a complement to the AOP. We discuss how
the combined AEP-AOP construct helps to maximize the use of existing
data and advances CRA by (1) organizing toxicity and exposure data,
(2) providing a mechanistic framework of KEs for integrating data
across human health and ecological end points, (3) facilitating cross-species
doseāresponse evaluation, and (4) highlighting data gaps and
technical limitations
Priorities for management of chytridiomycosis in Australia: saving frogs from extinction
To protect Australian amphibian biodiversity, we have identified and prioritised frog species at an imminent risk of extinction from chytridiomycosis, and devised national management and research priorities for disease mitigation. Six Australian frogs have not been observed in the wild since the initial emergence of chytridiomycosis and may be extinct. Seven extant frog species were assessed as needing urgent conservation interventions because of (1) their small populations and/or ongoing declines throughout their ranges (southern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne corroboree, New South Wales), northern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne pengilleyi, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales), Baw Baw frog (Philoria frosti, Victoria), Litoria spenceri (spotted tree frog, Victoria, New South Wales), Kroombit tinkerfrog (Taudactylus pleione, Queensland), armoured mist frog (Litoria lorica, Queensland)) or (2) predicted severe decline associated with the spread of chytridiomycosis in the case of Tasmanian tree frog (Litoria burrowsae, Tasmania). For these species, the risk of extinction is high, but can be mitigated. They require increased survey effort to define their distributional limits and to monitor and detect further population changes, as well as well-resourced management strategies that include captive assurance populations. A further 22 frog species were considered at a moderate to lower risk of extinction from chytridiomycosis. Management actions that identify and create or maintain habitat refugia from chytridiomycosis and target other threatening processes such as habitat loss and degradation may be effective in promoting their recovery. Our assessments for some of these species remain uncertain and further taxonomical clarification is needed to determine their conservation importance. Management actions are currently being developed and trialled to mitigate the threat posed by chytridiomycosis. However, proven solutions to facilitate population recovery in the wild are lacking; hence, we prioritise research topics to achieve this aim. Importantly, the effectiveness of novel management solutions will likely differ among species due to variation in disease ecology, highlighting the need for species-specific research. We call for an independent management and research fund of AU$15 million over 5 years to be allocated to recovery actions as determined by a National Chytridiomycosis Working Group of amphibian managers and scientists. Procrastination on this issue will likely result in additional extinction of Australia's amphibians in the near future
Epigenetic Control of Sexual Differentiation of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis
The principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTp) is larger in volume and contains more cells in male than female mice. These sex differences depend on testosterone and arise from a higher rate of cell death during early postnatal life in females. There is a delay of several days between the testosterone surge at birth and sexually dimorphic cell death in the BNSTp, suggesting that epigenetic mechanisms may be involved. We tested the hypothesis that chromatin remodeling plays a role in sexual differentiation of the BNSTp by manipulating the balance between histone acetylation and deacetylation using a histone deacetylase inhibitor. In the first experiment, a single injection of valproic acid (VPA) on the day of birth increased acetylation of histone H3 in the brain 24 h later. Next, males, females, and females treated neonatally with testosterone were administered VPA or saline on postnatal d 1 and 2 and killed at 21 d of age. VPA treatment did not influence volume or cell number of the BNSTp in control females but significantly reduced both parameters in males and testosterone-treated females. As a result, the sex differences were eliminated. VPA did not affect volume or cell number in the suprachiasmatic nucleus or the anterodorsal nucleus of the thalamus, which also did not differ between males and females. These findings suggest that a disruption in histone deacetylation may lead to long-term alterations in gene expression that block the masculinizing actions of testosterone in the BNSTp