Maine IT Workforce Skills Management : A study for the Maine State Department of Labor

Executive Summary: From August 2010 to February 2011 personnel from Information and Innovation at the University of Southern Maine have conducted a study of IT skills needed, possessed and taught in Maine. The goals of this study were to provide fine-grained information to the Maine state Department of Labor to facilitate their workforce development activities. This study concerns the skills sought after by employers, possessed by unemployed and employed workers and taught in education and training establishments with a bricks and mortar presence in Maine. It relied on data created by third parties and by study personnel. Anecdotal evidence was gathered from meetings with local industry IT professionals as well. This study does not attempt to estimate demand or supply of a given skill, but it does assess which skills are in greatest and least demand, which skills are in greatest and least supply, and which skills are taught more and less often. The results of data analysis are presented in a new measure, skill rank disparity, which exposes skill and training gaps and gluts. This study provides certain insights into its results, observing individual cases of skills high in demand and low in supply, for example. Insights are also provided in terms of groups of skills that are often taught, often asked for, and whether these groups of skills are well-represented in the Maine IT workforce. This study also provides specific and actionable recommendatio

Campus PRISM: A Report on Promoting Restorative Initiatives for Sexual Misconduct on College Campuses

The Campus PRISM Project (Promoting Restorative Initiatives for Sexual Misconduct) includes an international team of researchers and practitioners who are deeply invested in reducing sexual and gender-based violence by exploring how a restorative approach may provide more healing and better accountability

Influences on consumption of soft drinks and fast foods in adolescents.

Soft drink and fast food are energy dense foodstuffs that are heavily marketed to adolescents, and are likely to be important in terms of risk of obesity. This study sought to examine the influences on soft drink and fast food consumption among adolescents as part of a cross-sectional survey of 2,719 adolescents (aged 11-16) from 93 randomly selected schools in New South Wales, Australia. Students provided information on soft drink and fast food consumption, and responded to statements examining influences over consumption. Over half of the boys and more than one third of the girls reported drinking soft drink daily, and consumption peaked in Grade 8 students. A quarter of students reported choosing soft drinks instead of water or milk, and around 40% agreed that soft drink was usually available in their homes. Availability in the home and drinking soft drinks with meals was most strongly associated with consumption in all age groups. Fast food consumption was higher among boys than girls in all age groups. Convenience and value for money yielded the strongest associations with fast food consumption in boys, while preferring fast food to meals at home and preferring to "upsize" meals were most strongly associated with consumption in girls. Interventions to reduce consumption of soft drinks should target availability in both the home and school environment by removing soft drinks and replacing them with more nutritive beverages. Fast food outlets should be encouraged to provide a greater range of healthy and competitively priced options in reasonable portions

Influences on consumption of soft drinks and fast foods in adolescents.

Soft drink and fast food are energy dense foodstuffs that are heavily marketed to adolescents, and are likely to be important in terms of risk of obesity. This study sought to examine the influences on soft drink and fast food consumption among adolescents as part of a cross-sectional survey of 2,719 adolescents (aged 11-16) from 93 randomly selected schools in New South Wales, Australia. Students provided information on soft drink and fast food consumption, and responded to statements examining influences over consumption. Over half of the boys and more than one third of the girls reported drinking soft drink daily, and consumption peaked in Grade 8 students. A quarter of students reported choosing soft drinks instead of water or milk, and around 40% agreed that soft drink was usually available in their homes. Availability in the home and drinking soft drinks with meals was most strongly associated with consumption in all age groups. Fast food consumption was higher among boys than girls in all age groups. Convenience and value for money yielded the strongest associations with fast food consumption in boys, while preferring fast food to meals at home and preferring to "upsize" meals were most strongly associated with consumption in girls. Interventions to reduce consumption of soft drinks should target availability in both the home and school environment by removing soft drinks and replacing them with more nutritive beverages. Fast food outlets should be encouraged to provide a greater range of healthy and competitively priced options in reasonable portions

Experiences with Establishment of a Multi-University Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense

The National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in response to an unmet workforce need for cybersecurity program graduates, jointly sponsor a program by which a post-secondary education institution may achieve recognition as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense (CAE IA/CD). The program identifies standards, criteria, and an evaluation process. Many individual institutions have achieved recognition. The University of Maine System, composed of seven universities, is the first multi-university entity to achieve the CAE IA/CD recognition. The purpose of this paper is to share the key challenges, opportunities, and experiences that contributed to this achievement, and offer recommendations

Plasma phosphatidylcholine docosahexaenoic acid content and risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease: the Framingham Heart Study. Arch Neurol

Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an abundant fatty acid in the brain. In the diet, DHA is found mostly in fatty fish. The content of DHA has been shown to be decreased in the brain and plasma of patients with dementia

Demographic and practice factors predicting repeated non-attendance in primary care: a national retrospective cohort analysis

Summary: Background: Addressing the causes of low engagement in health care is a prerequisite for reducing health inequalities. People who miss multiple appointments are an under-researched group who might have substantial unmet health needs. Individual-level patterns of missed general practice appointments might thus provide a risk marker for vulnerability and poor health outcomes. We sought to ascertain the contributions of patient and practice factors to the likelihood of missing general practice appointments. Methods: For this national retrospective cohort analysis, we extracted UK National Health Service general practice data that were routinely collected across Scotland between Sept 5, 2013, and Sept 5, 2016. We calculated the per-patient number of missed appointments from individual appointments and investigated the risk of missing a general practice appointment using a negative binomial model offset by number of appointments made. We then analysed the effect of patient-level factors (including age, sex, and socioeconomic status) and practice-level factors (including appointment availability and geographical location) on the risk of missing appointments. Findings: The full dataset included information from 909â073 patients, of whom 550â083 were included in the analysis after processing. We observed that 104â461 (19·0%) patients missed more than two appointments in the 3 year study period. After controlling for the number of appointments made, patterns of non-attendance could be differentiated, with patients who were aged 16â30 years (relative risk ratio [RRR] 1·21, 95% CI 1·19â1·23) or older than 90 years (2·20, 2·09â2·29), and of low socioeconomic status (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation decile 1: RRR 2·27, 2·22â2·31) significantly more likely to miss multiple appointments. Men missed fewer appointments overall than women, but were somewhat more likely to miss appointments in the adjusted model (1·05, 1·04â1·06). Practice factors also substantially affected attendance patterns, with urban practices in affluent areas that typically have appointment waiting times of 2â3 days the most likely to have patients who serially miss appointments. The combination of both patient and practice factors to predict appointments missed gave a higher pseudo R2 value (0·66) than models using either group of factors separately (patients only R2=0·54; practice only R2=0·63). Interpretation: The findings that both patient and practice characteristics contribute to non-attendance of general practice appointments raise important questions for both the management of patients who miss multiple appointments and the effectiveness of existing strategies that aim to increase attendance. Addressing these issues should lead to improvements in provision of services and public health. Funding: Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office and Data Sharing and Linkage Service of the Scottish Government

IT Workforce Decision Support (June 2011), a report to the Maine State Economic Improvement Fund.

This report is referenced in the bibliography of an application for support for an IT degree at USM.. Bantz, D., Paradis, C. D., & Wilson, G. (2011). Maine IT Workforce Skills Management. Information and Innovation, USM https://pdfslide.net/reader/f/date-february-24-2014-university-of-maine-february-24-2014-to-andrew-anderso

การประชุมร่วมของสมาคมภาวะฉุกเฉินทางจิตเวชของประเทศอเมริกาในโครงการ BETA Psychopharmacology เกี่ยวกับเรื่อง……จิตเภสัชวิทยาของภาวะกายใจไม่สงบ

ภาวะกายใจไม่สงบ(agitation)พบบ่อยทั้งในภาวะฉุกเฉินทางอายุรกรรมและจิตเวช การรักษาพยาบาลได้อย่าง เหมาะสมในกรณีดังกล่าวถือเป็นสมรรถนะหลักอย่างหนึ่งของแพทย์เวชศาสตร์ฉุกเฉิน ในบทความนี้ผู้นิพนธ์ ได้รวบรวมการใช้ยารักษาโรคจิตในกลุ่ม first-generation second-generation และยา benzodiazepines เพื่อใช้ ในการรักษาภาวะกายใจไม่สงบ(agitation)ชนิดเฉียบพลัน รวมทั้งนำ�เสนอแนวทางจำ�เพาะในการรักษาภาวะกาย ใจไม่สงบ(agitation)ที่สัมพันธ์กับภาวะต่างๆได้แก่ การได้รับสารพิษ ภาวะจิตเภท อาการเพ้อ(delirium) รวมทั้ง เกิดขึ้นโดยไม่ทราบสาเหตุ การใช้ยาเพื่อรักษาภาวะกายใจไม่สงบควรพิจารณาตามสาเหตุก่อโรคที่เป็นไปได้มาก ที่สุด ถ้าภาวะกายใจไม่สงบเกิดจากอาการเพ้อ(delirium)หรือโรคทางกายอื่นๆ แพทย์ควรทำ�การรักษาสาเหตุก่อ โรคเป็นลำ�ดับแรกแทนที่จะให้เพียงแค่ยารักษาโรคจิตหรือยา benzodiazepines เท่านั้น [West J Emerg Med. 2012;13(1):26–34.

Relapse to opioid use in opioid-dependent individuals released from compulsory drug detention centres compared with those from voluntary methadone treatment centres in Malaysia: a two-arm, prospective observational study

Background: Detention of people who use drugs into compulsory drug detention centres (CDDCs) is common throughout East and Southeast Asia. Evidence-based pharmacological therapies for treating substance use disorders, such as opioid agonist treatments with methadone, are generally unavailable in these settings. We used a unique opportunity where CDDCs coexisted with voluntary drug treatment centres (VTCs) providing methadone in Malaysia to compare the timing and occurrence of opioid relapse (measured using urine drug testing) in individuals transitioning from CDDCs versus methadone maintenance in VTCs. Methods: We did a parallel, two-arm, prospective observational study of opioid-dependent individuals aged 18 years and older who were treated in Malaysia in the Klang Valley in two settings: CDDCs and VTCs. We used sequential sampling to recruit individuals. Assessed individuals in CDDCs were required to participate in services such as counselling sessions and manual labour. Assessed individuals in VTCs could voluntarily access many of the components available in CDDCs, in addition to methadone therapy. We undertook urinary drug tests and behavioural interviews to assess individuals at baseline and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-release. The primary outcome was time to opioid relapse post-release in the community confirmed by urinary drug testing in individuals who had undergone baseline interviewing and at least one urine drug test (our analytic sample). Relapse rates between the groups were compared using time-to-event methods. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02698098). Findings: Between July 17, 2012, and August 21, 2014, we screened 168 CDDC attendees and 113 VTC inpatients; of these, 89 from CDDCs and 95 from VTCs were included in our analytic sample. The baseline characteristics of the two groups were similar. In unadjusted analyses, CDDC participants had significantly more rapid relapse to opioid use post-release compared with VTC participants (median time to relapse 31 days [IQR 26–32] vs 352 days [256–unestimable], log rank test, p<0·0001). VTC participants had an 84% (95% CI 75–90) decreased risk of opioid relapse after adjustment for control variables and inverse propensity of treatment weights. Time-varying effect modelling revealed the largest hazard ratio reduction, at 91% (95% CI 83–96), occurs during the first 50 days in the community. Interpretation: Opioid-dependent individuals in CDDCs are significantly more likely to relapse to opioid use after release, and sooner, than those treated with evidence-based treatments such as methadone, suggesting that CDDCs have no role in the treatment of opioid-use disorders. Funding: The World Bank Group, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Australian National Health & Medical Research Council, National Institute of Mental Health, and the University of Malaya-Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education High Impact Research Grant