3,739 research outputs found
Urban Agriculture Extension in Florida: Barriers, Needs, and Opportunities
Much of the United States is urbanizing, increasing the importance of developing Extension programs geared toward urban audiences. There has been an increasing interest in urban agriculture (UA) in recent years as an outgrowth of the âlocal foodâ movement. The COVID-19 pandemic increased awareness of the importance of food system resilience, in which urban agriculture can play a role. Developing programs specifically targeted to urban farming clientele can bolster Cooperative Extensionâs role in supporting urban populations. An important first step to developing these programs is to understand Extension educatorsâ perceptions, beliefs, and knowledge about UA and the key barriers and opportunities to develop new programs that serve UA clientele. In this qualitative study, researchers conducted 17 semi-structured interviews of Extension educators who conduct UA programming. These educators see UA as a key opportunity for Extension to reach new audiences and increase agricultural awareness in urban areas. The most salient barrier faced to develop or deliver UA programming is a lack of time and resourcesâboth human and financial. This study highlights key barriers and opportunities to develop new Extension programs to support UA and to increase Extensionâs visibility in and impact on urban communities
CCAFS Gender and Social Inclusion Strategy
The CCAFS Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI) Strategy is an update of the CCAFS 2012
Gender Strategy. The new strategy addresses gender as well as social inclusion for different
social groups while bearing in mind that women are central to agriculture in developing
countries. The CCAFS approach to GSI allies with the CGIAR objectives to create
opportunities for women, young people and marginalized groups and to promote equitable
access to resources, information and power in the agri-food system for men and women in
order to close the gender gap by 2030
Light pollution from illuminated bridges as a potential barrier for migrating fishâLinking measurements with a proposal for a conceptual model
Illuminated bridges have become important assets to navigable aquatic systems. However, if artificial light at night (ALAN) from illuminated bridges reaches aquatic habitats, such as rivers, it can threaten the river's natural heterogeneity and alter the behavioural responses of migratory fish. Here, via a pilot study, we quantified levels of ALAN at illuminated bridges that cross a river and, propose a conceptual model to estimate its potential implications on two migrating fish species with contrasting life histories. Night-time light measurements on the river Spree in Berlin were performed continuously along a transect and in detail at seven illuminated bridges. Photometric data of the pilot study showed rapidly increased and decreased light levels at several illuminated bridges from which we derived several model illumination scenarios. These illumination scenarios and their potential effect on migrating Atlantic salmon smolts (Salmo salar) and European silver eel (Anguilla anguilla) are presented as a conceptual model, considering illuminated bridges as behavioural barriers to fish migration. ALAN's adverse effects on freshwater habitats must be better researched, understood, managed, and properly communicated to develop future sustainable lighting practices and policies that preserve riverscapes and their biodiversity
EXOGEN ultrasound bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing: a NICE medical technology guidance
Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.A routine part of the process for developing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) medical technologies guidance is a submission of clinical and economic evidence by the technology manufacturer. The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium External Assessment Centre (EAC; a consortium of the University of Birmingham and Brunel University) independently appraised the submission on the EXOGEN bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing. This article is an overview of the original evidence submitted, the EACâs findings, and the final NICE guidance issued.The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium is funded by NICE to act as an External Assessment Centre for the Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme
Mentoring Graduate Students to Become Effective Teaching Assistants: Developing and Implementing a Student-Centred Program for Nursing
Teaching in the health professions, including nursing, requires specialized educational strategies that meet the needs of the current generation of learners. Currently there is a shortage of experienced post-secondary educators in nursing, possibly exacerbated by inadequate Teaching Assistant (TA) professional development programs. Most literature describes TA professional development programs that involve undergraduate students employed as TAs, and few consider how programs can mentor graduate students to develop their instructional skills, contribute to courses, and enhance their careers. There are limited reports in the Canadian context. In this article we outline the rationale, development, and implementation of a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) mentorship program for graduate students at a school of nursing located in western Canada. Our aim is to provide mentorship and experience in educational strategies to graduate students, to help mentor and educate future nursing educators who are experienced post-secondary teachers. We discuss the rationale for offering the GTA mentorship program, followed by a description of the GTA mentorship program components. We highlight the role of the Senior TA, an experienced GTA who takes a leadership role in coordinating the program. Importantly, we discuss how knowledge related to cultural safety is presented, and how it has been adapted over time to meet GTAsâ needs. Finally, we discuss the evolution of a school of nursing GTA mentorship program, located in western Canada and we describe future changes to the program in order to remain relevant to the needs of graduate students in nursing, faculty and administration, and undergraduate nursing students.
Lâenseignement dans les professions de la santĂ©, y compris les sciences infirmiĂšres, nĂ©cessite des stratĂ©gies pĂ©dagogiques rĂ©pondant aux besoins de la gĂ©nĂ©ration actuelle dâapprenantes. Nous connaissons actuellement une pĂ©nurie dâenseignantes en sciences infirmiĂšres, possiblement aggravĂ©e par lâinadĂ©quation des programmes de dĂ©veloppement professionnel pour les auxiliaires dâenseignement (Teaching Assistant; TA). La littĂ©rature sur le sujet dĂ©crit surtout les programmes de dĂ©veloppement professionnel pour les Ă©tudiantes de premier cycle qui sont embauchĂ©es comme auxiliaires dâenseignement; peu considĂšrent la façon dont les programmes peuvent soutenir les Ă©tudiantes des cycles supĂ©rieurs pour leur permettre de dĂ©velopper leurs habiletĂ©s dâenseignement, de contribuer aux cours, et dâamĂ©liorer leurs perspectives de carriĂšre. Peu de rapports font Ă©tat du contexte canadien. Dans cet article, nous justifions et exposons briĂšvement lâĂ©laboration et la mise en Ćuvre dâun programme de mentorat pour les auxiliaires dâenseignement qui sont Ă©tudiantes aux cycles supĂ©rieurs (Graduate Teaching Assistant; GTA) dans une Ă©cole de sciences infirmiĂšres de lâOuest canadien. Notre objectif est dâoffrir du mentorat ainsi quâune expĂ©rience permettant Ă des Ă©tudiantes des cycles supĂ©rieurs de pratiquer des stratĂ©gies pĂ©dagogiques, afin de contribuer Ă la formation de nouvelles enseignantes chevronnĂ©es en sciences infirmiĂšres. Nous prĂ©sentons le rationnel pour offrir un tel programme de mentorat pour les Ă©tudiants des cycles supĂ©rieurs et en dĂ©crivons les composantes. Nous soulignons le rĂŽle de lâauxiliaire sĂ©nior, une auxiliaire expĂ©rimentĂ©e jouant un rĂŽle de leader dans la coordination du programme. Chose importante, nous discutons de la maniĂšre de prĂ©senter les connaissances sur la sĂ©curitĂ© culturelle, ainsi que de lâadaptation au fil du temps pour rĂ©pondre aux besoins des auxiliaires dâenseignement. Enfin, nous abordons lâĂ©volution du programme de mentorat pour les Ă©tudiantes des cycles supĂ©rieurs dâune Ă©cole de sciences infirmiĂšres de lâOuest du Canada; nous dĂ©crivons Ă©galement les changements qui seront apportĂ©s au programme, afin quâil rĂ©ponde toujours aux besoins des Ă©tudiantes des cycles supĂ©rieurs en sciences infirmiĂšres, du corps professoral, de la direction et des Ă©tudiantes du premier cycle
UniCarb-DB: a database resource for glycomic discovery
Summary: Glycosylation is one of the most important post-translational modifications of proteins, known to be involved in pathogen recognition, innate immune response and protection of epithelial membranes. However, when compared to the tools and databases available for the processing of high-throughput proteomic data, the glycomic domain is severely lacking. While tools to assist the analysis of mass spectrometry (MS) and HPLC are continuously improving, there are few resources available to support liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS techniques for glycan structure profiling. Here, we present a platform for presenting oligosaccharide structures and fragment data characterized by LC-MS/MS strategies. The database is annotated with high-quality datasets and is designed to extend and reinforce those standards and ontologies developed by existing glycomics databases. Availability: http://www.unicarb-db.org Contact: [email protected]
Cost-effective targeting of conservation investments to reduce the northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone
A seasonally occurring summer hypoxic (low oxygen) zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico is the second largest in the world. Reductions in nutrients from agricultural cropland in its watershed are needed to reduce the hypoxic zone size to the national policy goal of 5,000 km2 (as a 5-y running average) set by the national Gulf of Mexico Task Forceâs Action Plan. We develop an integrated assessment model linking the water quality effects of cropland conservation investment decisions on the more than 550 agricultural subwatersheds that deliver nutrients into the Gulf with a hypoxic zone model. We use this integrated assessment model to identify the most cost-effective subwatersheds to target for cropland conservation investments. We consider targeting of the location (which subwatersheds to treat) and the extent of conservation investment to undertake (how much cropland within a subwatershed to treat). We use process models to simulate the dynamics of the effects of cropland conservation investments on nutrient delivery to the Gulf and use an evolutionary algorithm to solve the optimization problem. Model results suggest that by targeting cropland conservation investments to the most cost-effective location and extent of coverage, the Action Plan goal of 5,000 km2 can be achieved at a cost of 5.6 billion annually)
The health profile of people living with Parkinson\u27s Disease managed in a comprehensive care setting
Background: Globally there are few reports of the impairments, disabilities and medications used in people living with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Caregiver characteristics and caregiver burden have seldom been reported. We examined the health status in a large cohort of people living with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers managed in a comprehensive health care setting. Methods/Design: A prospective, cross sectional analysis of impairments, disabilities and Parkinson’s disease medication use was conducted in a sample of 100 people with Parkinson’s disease rated I-IV on the modified Hoehn & Yahr scale. Participants were recruited from the Victorian Comprehensive Parkinson Program in Melbourne, Australia. Their caregivers were invited to provide their views on the burden of care, services provided and support received. Results: The severity of impairments and disabilities was strongly associated with disease duration (mean of 5.5 years). Those with long standing disease or more severe disease also used more Parkinson’s disease medications and participated in fewer social roles than people who were newly diagnosed or mildly affected. The severity of impairments was strongly correlated with limitations in performing activities of daily living. Limitations in performing daily activities were also found to be a significant contributing factor for health-related quality of life (PDQ-39 SI β=0.55, p=0.000; EQ-5D SI β=0.43, p=0.001). People with Parkinson’s disease lived at home with relatives. The average caregiver was a spouse or child providing approximately 3.5 hours of care per day, with the capacity to provide 9.4 hours per day and had provided care for four years. Additional support was high (63%) for 2.5 hours per day. Conclusion: The comprehensive care setting of this cohort describes a relatively benign condition despite a wide range of disease duration and severity. This report provides a baseline with which to compare other delivery models
Intervention fidelity in a school-based diet and physical activity intervention in the UK:Active for Life Year 5
Active for Life Year 5 (AFLY5) is an educational programme for Year 5 children (aged 9-10) designed to increase children's physical activity, decrease sedentary behaviour and increase fruit and vegetable intake. This paper reports findings from a process evaluation embedded within a randomised controlled trial evaluating the programme's effectiveness. It considers the fidelity of implementation of AFLY5 with a focus on three research questions: 1. To what extent was the intervention delivered as planned? 2. In what ways, if any, did the teachers amend the programme? and 3. What were the reasons for any amendments?Mixed methods were used including data collection via observation of the intervention delivery, questionnaire, teacher's intervention delivery log and semi-structured interviews with teachers and parents. Qualitative data were analysed thematically and quantitative data were summarised using descriptive statistics.Following training, 42 of the 43 intervention school teachers/teaching staff (98%) were confident they could deliver the nutrition and physical activity lessons according to plan. The mean number of lessons taught was 12.3 (s.d. 3.7), equating to 77% of the intervention. Reach was high with 95% of children in intervention schools receiving lessons. A mean of 6.2 (s.d. 2.6) out of 10 homeworks were delivered. Median lesson preparation time was 10 min (IQR 10-20) and 28% of lessons were reported as having been amended. Qualitative findings revealed that those who amended the lessons did so to differentiate for student ability, update them for use with new technologies and to enhance teacher and student engagement. Teachers endorsed the aims of the intervention, but some were frustrated with having to adapt the lesson materials. Teachers also a reported tendency to delegate the physical activity lessons to other staff not trained in the intervention.Fidelity of intervention implementation was good but teachers' enthusiasm for the AFLY5 programme was mixed despite them believing that the messages behind the lessons were important. This may have meant that the intervention messages were not delivered as anticipated and explain why the intervention was found not to be effective.ISRCTN50133740.Rona Campbell, Emma Rawlins, Sian Wells, Ruth R. Kipping, Catherine R. Chittleborough, Tim J. Peters, Debbie A. Lawlor and Russell Jag
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