Teachers’ Social Media Use and Its Legal Implications

As society becomes increasingly dependent on technology, school leaders must navigate the evolution of websites, resources, and platforms, including social media, as part of their responsibility to facilitate a safe and productive learning environment for students. This article reviews both constitutional and case law as a means of informing educational leaders of their rights and duties, as well as providing a foundation upon which effective K-12 social media policies and practices for educators can be built. Specifically, we offer an analysis of landmark cases involving the First Amendment and free speech, the delicacy around teachers’s roles as both public employees and private citizens, and recent court cases involving social media use. Additionally, we propose guidelines around social media use, compiled from both practitioners in the field and relevant literature

Franc¸ois Mauriac and the search for happiness

Many of François Mauriac's characters seek, throughout the course of his novels, an abstraction referred to as le bonheur or happiness, the definition of which varies from individual to individual and from one situation to the next. Sometimes it is the search for a tangible "something", a particular object that is earnestly desired. The individual assumes that happiness will naturally coincide with the attainment of the desired object. The avarice of the people of the Landes, their unquenchable thirst for money, land and prestige leads many of Mauriac's people to seek a material or measurable basis for their happiness. Others try to find a certain state of being in which they would be content to remain for a long period of time-usually a state of isolation, seclusion, solitude or anonymity-and this forms the foundation of their search for happiness. Often they pursue their object through other people, by trying to love both within and without a marriage framework, but with varying degrees of success. However, all of them try to find something that gives meaning and purpose to their individual lives. It is the struggle toward this goal that allows them to find some degree of the bonheur terrestre in their lives

Reversal of childhood idiopathic scoliosis in an adult, without surgery: a case report and literature review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Some patients with mild or moderate thoracic scoliosis (Cobb angle <50-60 degrees) suffer disproportionate impairment of pulmonary function associated with deformities in the sagittal plane and reduced flexibility of the spine and chest cage. Long-term improvement in the clinical signs and symptoms of childhood onset scoliosis in an adult, without surgical intervention, has not been documented previously.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A diagnosis of thoracic scoliosis (Cobb angle 45 degrees) with pectus excavatum and thoracic hypokyphosis in a female patient (DOB 9/17/52) was made in June 1964. Immediate spinal fusion was strongly recommended, but the patient elected a daily home exercise program taught during a 6-week period of training by a physical therapist. This regime was carried out through 1992, with daily aerobic exercise added in 1974. The Cobb angle of the primary thoracic curvature remained unchanged. Ongoing clinical symptoms included dyspnea at rest and recurrent respiratory infections. A period of multimodal treatment with clinical monitoring and treatment by an osteopathic physician was initiated when the patient was 40 years old. This included deep tissue massage (1992-1996); outpatient psychological therapy (1992-1993); a daily home exercise program focused on mobilization of the chest wall (1992-2005); and manipulative medicine (1994-1995, 1999-2000). Progressive improvement in chest wall excursion, increased thoracic kyphosis, and resolution of long-standing respiratory symptoms occurred concomitant with a >10 degree decrease in Cobb angle magnitude of the primary thoracic curvature.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This report documents improved chest wall function and resolution of respiratory symptoms in response to nonsurgical approaches in an adult female, diagnosed at age eleven years with idiopathic scoliosis.</p

Structural violence, urban retail food markets, and low birth weight

Abstract available on publisher's web site

Anxious-depression among Hispanic/Latinos from different backgrounds: results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)

BACKGROUND: Anxious-depression is a constellation of symptoms, frequently encountered among patients in primary care centers. There is a need to study how anxious-depression presents among Hispanic/Latinos of different backgrounds. OBJECTIVE: To study the construct of anxious-depression among 16,064 Hispanic/Latinos of different backgrounds participating in the Hispanic Community Health Study/ Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). We hypothesized that Hispanic/Latinos will cluster in 3 classes: low anxiety/high depression, high anxiety/low depression and a combined anxious-depression construct. METHODS: Using latent profile analysis, symptoms of depression and anxiety measured by the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and 10-item State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were evaluated to determine if an anxious-depression typology would result. A multinomial logistic regression analysis explored the association of the 3-class solution with different Hispanic/Latino backgrounds controlling for age, gender, language, education and income. RESULTS: A 3-class mixed anxious-depression structure emerged with 10% of Hispanic/Latinos in the high, 30% in the moderate and 60% in the low anxious-depression category. After adjusting for age, gender, language preference, income and education, individuals of Puerto-Rican background were more likely to experience high (OR=1.79,p<0.05) and moderate (OR=1.36,p<0.05) (vs.low) anxious-depression symptomatology compared to those of Mexican background. Individuals of Central-American and South-American background were less likely to experience high (OR=0.68,p<0.05) and moderate (OR=0.8,p<0.05) (vs.low) anxious-depression compared to those of Mexican background. CONCLUSION: Anxious-depression symptomatology varied among this sample of Hispanic/Latino groups. These classes should be investigated as to their relationship with different health outcomes relevant to the Hispanic/Latino of different backgrounds