The functional approach to volunteerism in organizational volunteers

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on June 6, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. David VaughtIncludes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2011."December 2011"This study sought to broaden and update the demography, attitudes, motives, outcomes and commitment of volunteers using a functional approach. A variation of Clary et al.'s (1998) Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) was administered to organizational volunteer samples in the mid-Missouri area. Electronic questionnaires were disseminated to each of the samples over the summer of 2011. Demographic results were consistent with previous studies, which portrayed the general volunteer as white, middle aged, highly-educated, financially stable and female. In terms of motivation and outcomes, the values function was considered the most important driving force and outcome for voluntary activity. The functional constructs of understanding, self-enhancement, social, career and ego-protection were also present in secondary varying order among organizations. Volunteers from these samples were also highly ambitious to continue volunteering one full year in the future and were not overtly influenced by organizational intent. Though the results of this study are not fully representative of the complete administration of the VFI or to all volunteers and locales, they do help reaffirm previously obtained findings that used a similar functional approach and shed light on a few additional nuances toward the investigation of volunteerism

The contribution of school-site health and wellness opportunities, personal interest in health and perceived health competence to health-related role perceptions in teachers

Doctoral advisor: Dr. Alexander Waigandt.Includes vita.Introduction. Recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have established comprehensive frameworks to promote and maintain student health. One method, school-site health and wellness, seeks to enhance the health and well-being of school personnel. Existing research offers that health and wellness opportunities for staff contribute to student health by enhancing teacher interest in and competence for health. Purpose. This inquiry sought to investigate the association between the perceived availability of school-site health and wellness opportunities, personal health-related factors, and role perceptions pertinent to student health. Methods. A 107 item online questionnaire was utilized to collect data from a sample of Missouri teachers (n = 104). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to identify the predictive value of available health and wellness opportunities, personal interest in health, and perceived health competence on teacher role perceptions for student health. Results. Significant correlations between teacher personal health-related variables and teacher role perceptions for student health were identified. Most importantly, teacher personal interest in health significantly explained approximately 7% of the variance associated with teacher role breadth for student health. Implications. This study suggests that teacher personal interest in health may serve as a viable mechanism to enhance teacher role breadth for student health. Such a relationship also highlights the need for continued investigation regarding how school-site health and wellness may impact student health, the value of healthy teachers within schools, and the complex formation of teacher roles pertinent to actual engagement in student health promoting behaviors.Includes bibliographical references (pages 120-139)

Data from a national survey of United States primary care physicians on genetic risk scores for common disease prevention

Genetic risk scores (GRS) are an emerging and rapidly evolving genomic medicine innovation that may contribute to more precise risk stratification for disease prevention. Inclusion of GRS in routine medical care is imminent, and understanding how physicians perceive and intend to utilize GRS in practice is an important first step in facilitating uptake. This dataset was derived from an electronic survey and comprises one of the first, largest, and broadest samples of United States primary care physician perceptions on the clinical decision-making, benefits, barriers, and utility of GRS to date. The dataset is nearly complete (<1% missing data) and contains responses from 369 PCPs spanning 58 column variables. The public repository includes minimally filtered, de-identified data, all underlying survey versions and items, a data dictionary, and associated analytic files

Cruising the marginal ice zone:climate change and Arctic tourism

Abstract The effects of climate change are leading to pronounced physical and ecological changes in the Arctic Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ). These are not only of concern for the research community but also for the tourism industry dependent on this unique marine ecosystem. Tourists increasingly become aware that the Arctic as we know it may disappear due to several environmental threats, and want to visit the region before it becomes irrevocably changed. However, ‘last-chance tourism’ in this region faces several challenges. The lack of infrastructure and appropriate search and rescue policies are examples of existing issues in such a remote location. Additionally, tourism itself may further amplify the physical and ecological changes in the Arctic region. In this article, we provide an interdisciplinary analysis of the links between the MIZ, climate change and the tourism industry. We also identify existing regulations and the need for new ones concerning operations in the MIZ and in the Arctic Ocean

Systemic considerations for the surgical treatment of spinal metastatic disease: a scoping literature review.

Systemic assessment is a pillar in the neurological, oncological, mechanical, and systemic (NOMS) decision-making framework for the treatment of patients with spinal metastatic disease. Despite this importance, emerging evidence relating systemic considerations to clinical outcomes following surgery for spinal metastatic disease has not been comprehensively summarised. We aimed to conduct a scoping literature review of this broad topic. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases from Jan 1, 2000, to July 31, 2021. 61 articles were included, accounting for a total of 22 335 patients. Preoperative systemic variables negatively associated with postoperative clinical outcomes included demographics (eg, older age [&gt;60 years], Black race, male sex, low or elevated body-mass index, and smoking status), medical comorbidities (eg, cardiac, pulmonary, hepatic, renal, endocrine, vascular, and rheumatological), biochemical abnormalities (eg, hypoalbuminaemia, atypical blood cell counts, and elevated C-reactive protein concentration), low muscle mass, generalised motor weakness (American Spinal Cord Injury Association Impairment Scale grade and Frankel grade) and poor ambulation, reduced performance status, and systemic disease burden. This is the first comprehensive scoping review to broadly summarise emerging evidence relevant to the systemic assessment component of the widely used NOMS framework for spinal metastatic disease decision making. Medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists can consider these findings when prognosticating spinal metastatic disease-related surgical outcomes on the basis of patients' systemic condition. These factors might inform a shared decision-making approach with patients and their families

Engineered SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain improves manufacturability in yeast and immunogenicity in mice

Global containment of COVID-19 still requires accessible and affordable vaccines for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Recently approved vaccines provide needed interventions, albeit at prices that may limit their global access. Subunit vaccines based on recombinant proteins are suited for large-volume microbial manufacturing to yield billions of doses annually, minimizing their manufacturing cost. These types of vaccines are well-established, proven interventions with multiple safe and efficacious commercial examples. Many vaccine candidates of this type for SARS-CoV-2 rely on sequences containing the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which mediates viral entry to cells via ACE2. Here we report an engineered sequence variant of RBD that exhibits high-yield manufacturability, high-affinity binding to ACE2, and enhanced immunogenicity after a single dose in mice compared to the Wuhan-Hu-1 variant used in current vaccines. Antibodies raised against the engineered protein exhibited heterotypic binding to the RBD from two recently reported SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (501Y.V1/V2). Presentation of the engineered RBD on a designed virus-like particle (VLP) also reduced weight loss in hamsters upon viral challenge

Mutations involved in Aicardi-Goutières syndrome implicate SAMHD1 as regulator of the innate immune response.

Aicardi-Goutières syndrome is a mendelian mimic of congenital infection and also shows overlap with systemic lupus erythematosus at both a clinical and biochemical level. The recent identification of mutations in TREX1 and genes encoding the RNASEH2 complex and studies of the function of TREX1 in DNA metabolism have defined a previously unknown mechanism for the initiation of autoimmunity by interferon-stimulatory nucleic acid. Here we describe mutations in SAMHD1 as the cause of AGS at the AGS5 locus and present data to show that SAMHD1 may act as a negative regulator of the cell-intrinsic antiviral response.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe