Improving Access to Medicines in Poor Countries: The Role of Universities

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, a coalition of students and faculty across North America, focuses on how academic research institutions can help to improve access to essential medicines

Grey’s Anatomy Viewing and Organ Donation Attitude Formation Examining Mediators Bridging This Relationship Among African Americans, Caucasians, and Latinos

This study tests a comprehensive model linking Grey’s Anatomy viewing and perceived realism of this program with organ donation knowledge, barriers—including medical mistrust, disgust, bodily integrity, and superstition—and subsequent organ donation attitudes. In addition to testing the hypothesized structural model, ethnic differences were examined by way of (a) the multigroup method to test for differences in path coefficients, (b) multivariate analysis of variance to examine differences among the study variables, and (c) χ2 tests to assess differences in organ donation registrations among African Americans ( n = 200), Caucasians ( n = 200), and Latinos ( n = 200). Support for the overall structural model was found and various differences emerged among the African American, Caucasian, and Latino sample across study variables. The results from this research are discussed with an emphasis on the theoretical and practical implications

Perceptions About Organ Donation Among African American, Hispanic, and White High School Students

We applied the Health Belief Model (HBM) to better understand perceptions of organ donation among African American, Hispanic, and White high school students. We conducted 14 focus groups with 18-year-old students to identify strategies to reach this audience when promoting the First-Person Consent Registry (FPCR) for organ donation. We found that African American, Hispanic, and White high school students are largely unaware of the need for organ donors, and are unfamiliar with how to join the FPCR. Participants identified more barriers to joining the FPCR than benefits. Two aspects of self-efficacy emerged related to joining the FPCR: decisional and task efficacy. Overall, few differences were found with respect to organ donation myths across the three ethnic groups. The results are discussed, with an emphasis on how the findings compare and contrast with previous organ donation research. We focus on message design and dissemination strategies for practitioners targeting 18-year-old high school students with organ donation promotional materials. </jats:p

Airborne microplastic monitoring: Developing a simplified outdoor sampling approach using pollen monitoring equipment

A novel, yet simple, airborne microplastic (MP) sampling approach using global pollen monitoring equipment was applied to identify, characterise and quantify outdoor airborne MPs for the first time. Modification of Burkard spore trap tape adhesive provided particle capture and facilitated downstream spectroscopy analysis. 36 polymer types were identified from a total of 21 days sampling using Burkard spore traps at two locations (United Kingdom and South Africa). MPs were detected in 95 % of daily samples. Mean MP particle levels were 2.0 ± 0.9 MP m-3 (11 polymer types) in Hull (U.K.), during March, 2.9 ± 2.0 MP m-3 (16 types) in Hull in July, and 11.0 ± 5.7 MP m-3 (29 types) in Gqeberha, (S.A.) in August 2023. The most abundant polymer type was nylon (Gqeberha). The approach was compared with two passive sampling methods whereby 27 polymer types were identified and of these, 6 types were above the limit of quantification (LOQ), with poly(methacrolein:styrene) (PMA/PS) the most abundant. Irregularly shaped MPs < 100 µm in length were predominant from all sampling approaches. For the first time, airborne MPs were chemically characterised and quantified using volumetric pollen sampling equipment, representing a viable approach for future airborne MP monitoring