Integrating Students into Interdisciplinary Health and Health Disparities Research Teams

Major initiatives by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as the World Health Organization have produced a large and compelling body of evidence on how to reduce health disparities, which entails having a clear understanding of how social factors shape health and healthcare outcomes. Specifically, there is a need for healthcare professionals to understand social determinants of health (e.g., low socioeconomic status, lack of health insurance, and poor education) and how these lead to disparities in health for people of minority racial and ethnic groups. Little is known about how students are developed as health disparities researchers or how their research experiences impact their views about addressing social determinants of health as a career goal. The purpose of this paper is to describe how health and human sciences students were integrated into three minority HIV prevention and testing projects using the lifelong learning for health professionals (LLHP) principles and activities framework, which entails a focus on: (a) education, (b) community, and (c) organization in the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of interdisciplinary research

Aerial Inventories of Waterfowl in Illinois and Estimation of Moist-soil Plant Seed Abundance for Waterfowl on Lands Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Grant/Contract No: W-43-R 53-54-55Reports on progress and results of inventories of waterfowl along the Illinois and central Mississippi rivers during fall and winter and estimation of moist-soil plant seed abundance for waterfowl on lands managed by Illinois Department of Natural ResourcesINHS Technical Report Prepared for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resource

Development of a protocol for maintaining viability while shipping organoid-derived retinal tissue.

Retinal organoid technology enables generation of an inexhaustible supply of three-dimensional retinal tissue from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for regenerative medicine applications. The high similarity of organoid-derived retinal tissue and transplantable human fetal retina provides an opportunity for evaluating and modeling retinal tissue replacement strategies in relevant animal models in the effort to develop a functional retinal patch to restore vision in patients with profound blindness caused by retinal degeneration. Because of the complexity of this very promising approach requiring specialized stem cell and grafting techniques, the tasks of retinal tissue derivation and transplantation are frequently split between geographically distant teams. Delivery of delicate and perishable neural tissue such as retina to the surgical sites requires a reliable shipping protocol and also controlled temperature conditions with damage-reporting mechanisms in place to prevent transplantation of tissue damaged in transit into expensive animal models. We have developed a robust overnight tissue shipping protocol providing reliable temperature control, live monitoring of the shipment conditions and physical location of the package, and damage reporting at the time of delivery. This allows for shipping of viable (transplantation-competent) hPSC-derived retinal tissue over large distances, thus enabling stem cell and surgical teams from different parts of the country to work together and maximize successful engraftment of organoid-derived retinal tissue. Although this protocol was developed for preclinical in vivo studies in animal models, it is potentially translatable for clinical transplantation in the future and will contribute to developing clinical protocols for restoring vision in patients with retinal degeneration

Older Adults’ Perceptions of Intergenerational Support After Widowhood: How Do Men and Women Differ?

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142784/1/Nesse-Ha-InternSupport-FamIssues-2006.pd

Supporting Student Knowledge Using Formative Assessment and Universal Design for Learning Expression

This article demonstrates an approach for teachers to use outcomes from activities using the universal design for learning expression principle to evaluate student knowledge in content areas. Based on the student’s level of explanation using a variety of expression methods, teachers can determine whether students need additional support for re-teaching a concept or whether students are ready for additional practice or challenge. Various levels of technology can be used for formatively assessing student understanding, from no technology (e.g., paper and pencil) to mid- or high-technology tools found in most classrooms, including computers and tablets

The Daily Consequences of Widowhood: The Role of Gender and Intergenerational Transfers on subsequent Housework Performance

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142738/1/Nesse-Carr-House_Perf-JFI-2004.pd

Standardized Assessment of Concussion in football players

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.neurology.org/content/48/3/586.Article abstract-The recent formulation of guidelines for the management of concussion in sports adopted by the American Academy of Neurology specifically calls for the development of a standardized, systematic sideline evaluation for the immediate assessment of concussion in athletes. The present study involved the preliminary investigation of the feasibility and clinical validity of a standardized version of a brief sideline examination complied in accordance with these guidelines. This examination, intended for use by athletic trainers, was administered by three trainers to 141 nonconcussed high school football players at three separate schools. All players suspected of suffering a concussion (N = 6) during the fall 1995 season were also tested immediately following their injury. The examination was easily administered and scored. The concussed players as a group scored significantly below the nonconcussed controls and below their own baseline (pre-injury) performance, despite their all having been considered by the trainers to have suffered mild, grade 1 concussions. Although preliminary, these data suggest that a standardized sideline examination of this type can be useful in detecting concussion and determining fitness to return to play

Beliefs about Social Distancing During COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Orders: A Theory-Based Salient Belief Elicitation

Understanding the beliefs about social distancing behaviors is required to inform 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) interventions that are based on theory, research, and evidence. This study investigated the salient beliefs related to social distancing. United States adults (n = 106) recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk completed an online reasoned action approach belief elicitation from April 19 to April 25, 2020. Behavioral beliefs (advantages and disadvantages), normative beliefs (approvers and disapprovers), and control beliefs (facilitators and barriers) related to social distancing were elicited via open-ended questions. A content analysis was performed, and kappa statistics revealed high levels of interrater reliability (α = 0.86-0.96). Results revealed that a perceived salient advantage to social distancing was individual COVID-19 prevention, more so than community prevention. The most cited disadvantage was that social distancing could prevent participants from socially interacting with others, which could negatively impact mental health. Family and friends were the most mentioned approvers, while people who hold conservative ideologies and negative attitudes about COVID-19 were the most frequent disapprovers. Supply accessibility and store policies were the most listed facilitators. Results suggest three implications. First, pandemic-related public health and social marketing campaigns should focus more on individual health benefits than community health benefits. Second, digital public health interventions that address social connectedness and mental health outcomes are critical during pandemics. Third, public health scientists and practitioners should work with local and national media outlets and political leaders to create community-tailored and evidence-based information to increase adherence of mitigation strategies