Using Video Feedback to Measure Self-Efficacy

When a student has a high sense of self-efficacy, foreseeing success and providing positive guides and supports for performing the skill will usually occur. A low self-efficacy tends to predict failure and anticipation of what could go wrong. Videotape feedback provided to students has reported favorable outcomes. Self-efficacy could alter performance in learning a psychomotor competency skill (PCS). The purpose of this study was a) to assess the self-efficacy of athletic training students in learning to perform a PCS; and b) to measure the impact on self-efficacy by implementing an educational intervention of video feedback in learning to perform a PCS. An intact cohort of level I (lower-level) students within a CAATE-accredited entry-level master athletic training educational program learned and performed an upper body neurological screening. Throughout the study students also completed the Self-efficacy questionnaire (n=5 trials/times). Group mean for self-efficacy from baseline (M = 6.14; ± 2.04) to post-intervention (M = 9.51; ± 0.70) increased. One-way ANOVA indicated a significant effect using Wilks’ Lambda post hoc, with alpha set at .001 (.05/5 = .001). Significant differences of improved self-efficacy between trials one and four, one and five, and two and five were found, all following the educational intervention. The use of video feedback could increase self-efficacy when learning to perform a PCS

Use of Video Feedback in the Training of Pre-Service Teachers

The purpose of this study was to use video feedback in the training of pre-service clinical educators. Thirty athletic training teacher participants were randomly placed in one of three equal groups where they were provided with the following interventions: a) teaching seminar and opportunity to observe video of teaching; b) teaching seminar; and c) control group. These groups were videotaped for eight consecutive weeks while teaching clinical skills. The researchers analyzed the feedback provided by the teachers using a modified version of the Fishman’s Augmented Feedback Instrument. Allowing teachers the opportunity to view their videotapes with guided feedback showed that the teachers provided more total feedback to their students in a clinical setting. The two groups, seminar and control, provided similar amounts of feedback to their students. Unlike previous studies, it was noted that males provided more total feedback than females. Traditional teacher development may not be the ideal method to train clinical educators. The study’s results demonstrate that a focused workshop on effective teaching skills cannot be used as a stand-alone intervention to improve the frequency of feedback provided by clinical educators. However, further research in this area is needed to assist in improving the training of pre-service clinical educators

The Effect of Self-Reported Efficacy on Clinical Skill Performance

Context: Self-efficacy can enhance an individual\u27s perception of their ability to perform a challenging task. Objective: To determine whether repeated performance of a skill would improve students\u27 self-efficacy across a range of academic classifications. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Graduate and undergraduate professional athletic training education programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. Participants: Twenty-seven athletic training students (sophomores, n = 10; juniors, n = 10; graduate, n = 7). Intervention: We assessed participants within one day of performing a psychomotor clinical skill (PCS) of joint mobilizations or an upper quarter screen before (PCS1) and after (PCS2) a video intervention. The video that provided augmented feedback was viewed between PCS1 and PCS2. Main Outcome Measures: Outcome measures included self-efficacy scores from the Clinical Skill Performance Self-Efficacy Form assessed over five time points throughout the learning period, PCS performance scores pre- and post-intervention, and the correlation between these measures. Results: Following the intervention, PCS performance significantly improved in sophomores and juniors (Bonferonni post-hoc, P \u3c .001); graduate students performed at a similar high level on PCS1 and PCS2 (Bonferonni post-hoc, P = .72). Academic classification affected baseline self-efficacy with graduate students reporting higher self-efficacy compared to sophomores (9.7 ± 4.1) and juniors (19.1 ± 4.1) (Bonferroni posthoc, P \u3c .001). All groups experienced an increase in self-efficacy ahead of PCS1 with sophomores displaying a further increase between PCS1 and PCS2. With combined participants, we noted a positive correlation between self-efficacy assessed immediately following PCS1 and performance on PCS1 (r = 0.502, P = 0.007), and between relative increases in self-efficacy assessed immediately after PCS performance and relative increases in performance from PCS1 to PCS2 (r = 0.533, P = 0.02). Conclusions: The intervention positively affected performance in those who initially scored low. Students who reported higher degrees of self-efficacy immediately after the first PCS performance also performed better on this PCS. Student self-efficacy and PCS skill performance can be improved with the use of video feedback

Mapk-activated protein kinase 2 contributes to Clostridium difficile-associated inflammation

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) results in toxin-induced epithelial injury and marked intestinal inflammation. Fecal markers of intestinal inflammation correlate with CDI disease severity, but regulation of the inflammatory response is poorly understood. Previous studies demonstrated that C. difficile toxin TcdA activates p38 kinase in tissue culture cells and mouse ilium, resulting in interleukin-8 (IL-8) release. Here, we investigated the role of phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-activated protein kinase (MK2 kinase, pMK2), a key mediator of p38-dependent inflammation, in CDI. Exposure of cultured intestinal epithelial cells to the C. difficile toxins TcdA and TcdB resulted in p38-dependent MK2 activation. Toxin-induced IL-8 and GROα release required MK2 activity. We found that p38 and MK2 are activated in response to other actin-disrupting agents, suggesting that toxin-induced cytoskeleton disruption is the trigger for kinase-dependent cytokine response. Phosphorylated MK2 was detected in the intestines of C. difficile-infected hamsters and mice, demonstrating for the first time that the pathway is activated in infected animals. Furthermore, we found that elevated pMK2 correlated with the presence of toxigenic C. difficile among 100 patient stool samples submitted for C. difficile testing. In conclusion, we find that MK2 kinase is activated by TcdA and TcdB and regulates the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. Activation of p38-MK2 in infected animals and humans suggests that this pathway is a key driver of intestinal inflammation in patients with CDI

Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon¹⁻³. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses⁴⁻⁹. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world’s major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve ‘health’: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.Keywords: Ecology, Environmental scienc

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B, DRB1, and DQB1 allotypes associated with disease and protection of trachoma endemic villagers

PURPOSE: Trachoma remains the leading preventable infectious cause of blindness in developing countries. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) associations with ocular disease severity and persistent Chlamydia trachomatis infection of Tanzanians living in trachoma-endemic villages were examined to determine possible protective candidate allotypes for vaccine development. METHODS: Buccal swab scrapes were taken from subjects in the Trichiasis Study Group (TSG), which studied females only, and the Family Trachoma Study (FTS), which compared persistently infected probands who had severe disease with disease-free siblings and parents. DNA was purified for polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific oligonucleotide identification of HLA-DRB1, DQB1, and B allotypes. Infection was detected from conjunctival scrapes using a C. trachomatis-specific PCR-enzyme immunoassay for the MOMP-1 gene. RESULTS: In the TSG, DR*B11 (odds ratio [OR], 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.26-0.90; P=0.02) was significantly associated with lack of trichiasis, whereas HLA-B*07 (OR, 3.26; 95% CI, 1.42-7.49; P=0.004) and HLA-B*08 (OR, 5.12; 95% CI, 1.74-15.05; P=0.001) were associated with trichiasis. In addition, HLA-B*14 was significantly associated with inflammatory trachoma + follicular trachoma (OR, 3.76; 95% CI, 1.70-8.33; P=0.04). There were no significant allele frequencies for the FTS. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that HLA-DRB*11 may offer protection from trichiasis in trachoma hyperendemic villages. Complete allotype identification and designation of its respective protective CD4(+) T-cell antigens could provide a testable candidate vaccine for blindness prevention. Additionally, buccal swab DNA was sufficiently stable when acquired under harsh field conditions and stored long term in the freezer for low-resolution HLA typing

Genome sequence of Listeria monocytogenes 07PF0776, a Cardiotropic Serovar 4b strain

Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne bacterial pathogen commonly associated with serious invasive infections of the central nervous system or of the developing fetus. We present the genome sequence of Listeria monocytogenes 07PF0776, a serovar 4b isolate from a human myocardial abscess that exhibits enhanced invasion of cardiac tissue

Evidence for subpopulations of Listeria monocytogenes with enhanced invasion of cardiac cells

Cardiac infections caused by the foodborne bacterium Listeria monocytogenes represent a significant but poorly studied facet of disease. It is not known whether L. monocytogenes cardiac infections stem solely from host susceptibility, or whether bacterial isolates exist that exhibit a tropism for cardiac tissue. Here we examine the cardio-invasive capacity of a recent L. monocytogenes cardiac case strain (07PF0776) as well as nine additional outbreak and clinical isolates. Mice infected with the cardiac isolate 07PF0776 had 10-fold more bacteria recovered from heart tissue than those infected with L. monocytogenes strain 10403S, a well-characterized clinical isolate originally obtained from a human skin lesion. Additional L. monocytogenes isolates exhibited varied capacities to colonize the hearts of mice; however, those with the highest efficiency of mouse cardiac invasion also demonstrated the highest levels of bacterial invasion in cultured myoblast cells. Our findings strongly suggest that subpopulations of L. monocytogenes strains have acquired an enhanced ability to target and invade the myocardium