Blooming Where One Is Planted: Understanding Flourishing Among Rural Nurses

The reality of the challenges experienced in rural hospital-based care leave sparsely populated areas to face critical losses in nurses and healthcare services within already underserved regions of the nation. Nursing education is uniquely poised to serve as a mitigating agent against shortages in rural nursing workforce by preparing rural graduates to bloom where they are planted. This qualitative interpretive phenomenological research study explored the meaning of human flourishing as it is lived among rural nurses in the northwest region of Wyoming. The research was framed using social constructivism and the lens of rural nursing theory. Data were collected and analyzed using a combination of photographic analysis and interpretive thematic approach from the transcription of audio recordings of two sequential one-on-one interviews with nine rural nurses who submitted nine digital visual images, and researcher and participant field notes. The findings of the study yielded rich descriptions of the rural nurse participant’s lived experiences of flourishing. Emerging from the findings were the overarching themes of resilience and meaning, with the subcategories of attitude, adaptation, intentionality, and connection to suggest that strategies for the development of resilience, working with a purpose, and finding balance were important areas that rural nurses needed to develop within themselves in order to flourish. In contrast, three themes, fear, complacency, and blurred lines, emerged as challenges to flourishing in the rural setting if active steps are not taken. This research suggested the use of findings as important discussion points for the nursing profession, rural nurses and the rural nursing program as it prepares graduates to bloom in their rural nursing practice

Library Essentials

This introductory session aims for broad coverage of key library resources, including interlibrary loan, finding subject-specific databases, study rooms, liaison librarians, the Research Repository, and more

The Regulation of Triglyceride Metabolism in the Liver and Adipose Tissue

The overall aim of this thesis is to understand better the control of triglyceride metabolism in both human and rat models. Triglyceride metabolism is governed to a large part by the action of two enzymes, lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), whose activities are co-ordinately regulated by insulin. This thesis has two inter-related aims: firstly to investigate the effect of postprandial chylomicronaemia on the metabolism of VLDL subfractions in both normal and diabetic subjects and secondly to investigate the antilipolytic mechanism of action of several agents on HSL activity and adipocyte lipolysis in isolated primary rat adipocytes. Nicotinic acid was administered to Alderley Park (Wistar-derived) and Zucker rats to study its effects on plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels in vivo with a view to using it as a model compound to influence the postprandial chylomicron-VLDL interaction in man. Postprandial lipoprotein metabolism has been extensively studied in normals, hypertriglyceridaemics and diabetics using oral fat loads and measuring plasma triglyceride levels. It is only in recent years that immunoaffmity chromatography techniques have been developed and implemented by a few groups, with studies concentrating on normal and hypertriglyceridaemic subjects. Twenty five diabetic subjects were screened and from those, 5 diabetic subjects agreed to take part in the fat feeding study. From the initial fasting blood sample obtained from the normal and diabetic patients during the screening procedure, plasma triglyceride, cholesterol and apoB concentrations were found to be significantly elevated (p <0.005) in the diabetic patient population. In diabetic subjects, triglyceride response curves showed similar behaviour to those observed in normal subjects with the mean plasma, apoB48, apoB100, and VLDL2 triglyceride concentrations significantly elevated (p<0.05) above fasting concentrations from 2 to 5 hours postprandially. VLDL2 triglyceride concentrations remained unchanged and relatively constant. In the latter hours of lipaemia, differences were observed between diabetic and normal subjects, diabetic triglyceride response curves were elevated and prolonged. Diabetic mean apoB100 and VLDL2 triglyceride response curves were significantly elevated above that of the normal subject group throughout the course of the experiment (0-11 hours postprandially). The increase in apoB48 TRL triglyceride was again almost 5 times greater than the increase in apoB100 TRL triglyceride. 83% of the postprandial increase in TRL (d< 1.006 g/ml) triglyceride was due to apoB48 TRL, apoB100 TRL accounted for 16%. The increase in VLDL2 triglyceride was 12 times greater than the increase in VLDL2 triglyceride. Seventy three percent of the postprandial increase in total apoB100 triglyceride was due to VLDL1, with 13% accounted for by VLDL2. Plasma insulin concentrations were significantly elevated above fasting concentrations 2 hours postprandially. Mean FFA concentrations were not increased significantly but there was a significant correlation between FFA area under the curve and apoB48 area under the curve; a relationship which failed to reach significance in the normal subjects. In vitro rat adipocyte studies to elucidate the antilipolytic mechanism of action of a series of compounds on HSL showed insulin to be the most potent antilipolytic agent, nicotinic acid (and analogues) were found to be Gi receptor agonists (depending on adenosine removal to exert their antilipolytic effect), and compound 304205 was observed to be a direct inhibitor of HSL. Thiazolidinediones (TZD), fibrates and a beta3 agonist had no inhibitory effects on HSL activity in the isolated rat adipocyte. Studies administering nicotinic acid to Zucker rats were conducted and allowed the in vivo antilipolytic effects of nicotinic acid, primarily on plasma FFA concentrations, to be observed. This thesis extends the current knowledge of the regulation of triglyceride metabolism, namely the effects of postprandial chylomicronaemia on VLDL subfraction metabolism in normal and diabetic subjects, and on the antilipolytic mechanism of action of a series of compounds on adipocyte lipolysis. It demonstrates that the lipid and lipoprotein responses to a fat meal in normal and NIDDM subjects depends on the fasting triglyceride concentration and not necessarily the underlying diabetic state. In vitro adipocyte work targeting HSL showed that not even the best antilipolytic agent was as potent as insulin

An In-Depth Case Study of a Prospective Black Male Teacher Candidate with an Undisclosed Disability at a Historically Black College and University

As scholarship of Black male collegians is growing, there is limited research attentive to Black males with disabilities and in teacher education programs. The research focused on pre-service Black male teachers with disabilities attending HBCUs and the federal laws impacting their education and supports is absent. This research study fills the void by examining the individual experiences of a Black male pre-service teacher with a disability attending an HBCU. The research team used Black males with disability theory and single-subject case study methodology to describe Christopher “CJ” Jackson’s journey navigating his program of study as an English education major. Four main themes emerged in the study of CJ that capture his collegiate and teacher education experiences: a) influences to become an English teacher, b) field experience issues, c) inconsistent academic performance, and d) postsecondary academic adjustments. The research team offers recommendations for supporting pre-service Black male teachers in college and in teacher education programs

Metabolic, inflammatory and haemostatic effects of a low-dose continuous combined HRT in women with type 2 diabetes: potentially safer with respect to vascular risk?

BACKGROUND Conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) containing conjugated equine oestrogen (CEE) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) increases triglyceride, C- reactive protein (CRP) and coagulation Factor VII concentrations, potentially explaining their increased coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke risk. OBJECTIVE To assess the metabolic effects of a continuous combined HRT containing 1 mg oestradiol and 0.5 mg norethisterone or matching placebo. DESIGN Double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. PATIENTS Fifty women with type 2 diabetes. MEASUREMENTS Classical and novel risk factors for vascular disease. RESULTS Triglyceride concentration was not altered (P = 0.31, change in active arm relative to placebo) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration declined 13% (P = 0.018). IL-6 concentration (mean difference -1.42 pg/ml, 95% CI: -2.55 to - 0.29 IU/dl, P = 0.015), Factor VII (-32 IU/dl, -43 to -21 IU/l, P lt 0.001) and tissue plasminogen activator antigen (by 13%, P = 0.005) concentrations fell, but CRP was not significantly altered (P = 0.62). Fasting glucose (P = 0.026) also declined significantly, but there are no significant effects on HBA1c, Factor IX or APC resistance. CONCLUSIONS HRT containing 1 mg oestradiol and 0.5 mg norethisterone may avoid the adverse metabolic effects potentially implicated in the elevated CHD and stroke risk induced by conventional higher dose HRT. This type of preparation may therefore be more suitable than conventional HRT for women at elevated CHD risk such as those with type 2 diabetes. Large randomized controlled trials of such low dose preparations, powered for cardiovascular end points, are now needed

Britain: racial violence and the politics of hate

Drawing on empirical research into racist attacks in three cities in England, this article reveals a changing geography of racial violence (in terms of new areas and targets), and sets this in the context of the socially destructive impact of neoliberalism as well as government policies to manage the UK’s changing demographic make-up. With racial violence officially defined as a form of ‘hate crime’, it is divorced from any wider political context or racialised climate and reduced to a matter of individual pathology. The changing parameters of racism and the state’s responses present a challenge which the Left and anti-racists have been slow to meet

ExCyto PCR Amplification

ExCyto PCR cells provide a novel and cost effective means to amplify DNA transformed into competent bacterial cells. ExCyto PCR uses host E. coli with a chromosomally integrated gene encoding a thermostable DNA polymerase to accomplish robust, hot-start PCR amplification of cloned sequences without addition of exogenous enzyme.Because the thermostable DNA polymerase is stably integrated into the bacterial chromosome, ExCyto cells can be transformed with a single plasmid or complex library, and then the expressed thermostable DNA polymerase can be used for PCR amplification. We demonstrate that ExCyto cells can be used to amplify DNA from different templates, plasmids with different copy numbers, and master mixes left on ice for up to two hours. Further, PCR amplification with ExCyto cells is comparable to amplification using commercial DNA polymerases. The ability to transform a bacterial strain and use the endogenously expressed protein for PCR has not previously been demonstrated.ExCyto PCR reduces pipetting and greatly increases throughput for screening EST, genomic, BAC, cDNA, or SNP libraries. This technique is also more economical than traditional PCR and thus broadly useful to scientists who utilize analysis of cloned DNAs in their research

A Systematic Mapping Approach of 16q12.2/FTO and BMI in More Than 20,000 African Americans Narrows in on the Underlying Functional Variation: Results from the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Study

Genetic variants in intron 1 of the fat mass- and obesity-associated (FTO) gene have been consistently associated with body mass index (BMI) in Europeans. However, follow-up studies in African Americans (AA) have shown no support for some of the most consistently BMI-associated FTO index single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This is most likely explained by different race-specific linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns and lower correlation overall in AA, which provides the opportunity to fine-map this region and narrow in on the functional variant. To comprehensively explore the 16q12.2/FTO locus and to search for second independent signals in the broader region, we fine-mapped a 646-kb region, encompassing the large FTO gene and the flanking gene RPGRIP1L by investigating a total of 3,756 variants (1,529 genotyped and 2,227 imputed variants) in 20,488 AAs across five studies. We observed associations between BMI and variants in the known FTO intron 1 locus: the SNP with the most significant p-value, rs56137030 (8.3×10-6) had not been highlighted in previous studies. While rs56137030was correlated at r2>0.5 with 103 SNPs in Europeans (including the GWAS index SNPs), this number was reduced to 28 SNPs in AA. Among rs56137030 and the 28 correlated SNPs, six were located within candidate intronic regulatory elements, including rs1421085, for which we predicted allele-specific binding affinity for the transcription factor CUX1, which has recently been implicated in the regulation of FTO. We did not find strong evidence for a second independent signal in the broader region. In summary, this large fine-mapping study in AA has substantially reduced the number of common alleles that are likely to be functional candidates of the known FTO locus. Importantly our study demonstrated that comprehensive fine-mapping in AA provides a powerful approach to narrow in on the functional candidate(s) underlying the initial GWAS findings in European populations