Content validation of a model for organizational cultural competence of health-related post-secondary academic departments or units

OBJECTIVE: Health-related academic units need to be culturally competent to meet workforce needs for culturally competent personnel and to establish effective academic-practice linkages. This study was designed to test the content validity of a model, developed from a literature review, for organizational cultural competence of health-related academic units. METHODS: An expert panel convened as a virtual team to provide input on domains and criteria statements that are important and relevant for academia. An iterative process was used as a series of large and small group telephone conferences and e-mail comment period. RESULTS: Over a 4-month period, the expert panel revised, deleted, and added domains and criteria statements. Twelve domains with 73 criteria statements were identified and categorized as: Organization & Administration; Personnel; Community & Environment; Curriculum & Experiential Practice; Research; and Technical Skills & Consultation. CONCLUSION: A model for organizational cultural competence of health-related academic units is proposed. Although further validation is needed, this research begins to establish content validity for the evolving model and establishes the beginning of a foundation to develop an organizational self-assessment tool for academic units to assess and enhance their cultural competence

Vegetation development in old fields at the UWM Field Station

We studied abandoned fields at the UW-Milwaukee Field Station in 1990 to determine how previous cropping history and management practices have influenced present vegetation composition. Eleven fields were sampled for herbaceous species presence and coverage, and species compositions were analyzed by Detrended Correspondence Analysis ordination. Nearly all the fields were abandoned in the mid-1960\u27s. Standing crop biomass of the herbaceous vegetation peaked in late July. Fields with very recent management (last 5 years) in the form of mowing or burning differed in species composition from fields without recent management and fields that have been unmanaged since abandonment. Species such as Poa spp., Bromus inermis, and Solidago altissima were common to nearly all the fields. However, recently managed fields were distinguished by the presence of a group of weedy, exotic species in contrast to the presence of many perennial native species in fields without recent management. Crop history, soil type, and field proximity did not have strong influences on species composition

Effects of management and site history on plant succession and seedbank composition in old-fields at the UWM Field Station

Vegetation succession and seedbank composition were studied in eleven oldfields with differing crop histories. All the fields had been abandoned from agriculture in the mid-1960\u27s, and some fields are currently receiving periodic management in the form of burning, mowing, and/or removal of exotic species. Oldfield plant composition was found to be most strongly influenced by management history since abandonment. Recently-managed fields had a greater abundance of certain early-successional nonnative species in the herbaceous layer, whereas unmanaged fields contained greater abundances of many later-successional, native perennial herb species. Woody plants showed the most significant response to management. Woody plant densities and species richness were significantly lower in recently-managed fields, whereas unmanaged fields had well-developed sapling and shrub layers. In contrast to the vegetation, the soil seedbanks contained many early-successional, non-native species irrespective of management history. In general, the management techniques are meeting the desired goals of maintaining diverse stages of successional vegetation and reducing establishment of invasive exotic shrubs

Can Emergency Medicine Residents Reliably Use the Internet to Answer Clinical Questions?

<p>Introduction: The study objective was to determine the accuracy of answers to clinical questions by emergency medicine (EM) residents conducting Internet searches by using Google. Emergency physicians commonly turn to outside resources to answer clinical questions that arise in the emergency department (ED). Internet access in the ED has supplanted textbooks for references because it is perceived as being more up to date. Although Google is the most widely used general Internet search engine, it is not medically oriented and merely provides links to other sources. Users must judge the reliability of the information obtained on the links. We frequently observed EM faculty and residents using Google rather than medicine-specific databases to seek answers to clinical questions. Methods: Two EM faculties developed a clinically oriented test for residents to take without the use of any outside aid. They were instructed to answer each question only if they were confident enough of their answer to implement it in a patient-care situation. Questions marked as unsure or answered incorrectly were used to construct a second test for each subject. On the second test, they were instructed to use Google as a resource to find links that contained answers. Results: Thirty-three residents participated. The means for the initial test were 32% correct, 28% incorrect, and 40% unsure. On the Google test, the mean for correct answers was 59%; 33% of answers were incorrect and 8% were unsure. Conclusion: EM residents’ ability to answer clinical questions correctly by using Web sites from Google searches was poor. More concerning was that unsure answers decreased, whereas incorrect answers increased. The Internet appears to have given the residents a false sense of security in their answers. Innovations, such as Internet access in the ED, should be studied carefully before being accepted as reliable tools for teaching clinical decision making. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(4):442–447.]</p

651. Oligonucleotide-Mediated Gene Repair Restores Full Length SMN mRNA Expression in Mutant-SMN Murine Fibroblasts

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a severe neuromuscular disease characterized by degeneration of a-motor neurons in the spinal cord. Ninety percent of patients affected by SMA have deletion of the Survival of Motor Neuron-1 (SMN1) but they retain a copy of the gene (SMN2) in their genome. SMN2 produces almost no functional SMN protein due to a CAET transition in exon 7 that disrupts a splicing enhancer sequence and causes skipping of exon 7 in >90% of the processed SMN mRNA. As a consequence, SMA cells have a decreased amount of properly spliced full length SMN mRNA, which encodes functional SMN protein. This decrease in functional SMN protein leads to decreased survival of motor neurons. Many attempts have been made to increase functional SMN protein levels from the SMN2 gene by correcting the splicing-process defect

Single cell epigenetic visualization assay

Abstract Characterization of the epigenetic status of individual cells remains a challenge. Current sequencing approaches have limited coverage, and it is difficult to assign an epigenetic status to the transcription state of individual gene alleles in the same cell. To address these limitations, a targeted microscopy-based epigenetic visualization assay (EVA) was developed for detection and quantification of epigenetic marks at genes of interest in single cells. The assay is based on an in situ biochemical reaction between an antibody-conjugated alkaline phosphatase bound to the epigenetic mark of interest, and a 5′-phosphorylated fluorophore-labeled DNA oligo tethered to a target gene by gene-specific oligonucleotides. When the epigenetic mark is present at the gene, phosphate group removal by the phosphatase protects the oligo from λ-exonuclease activity providing a quantitative fluorescent readout. We applied EVA to measure 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and H3K9Ac levels at different genes and the HIV-1 provirus in human cell lines. To link epigenetic marks to gene transcription, EVA was combined with RNA-FISH. Higher 5mC levels at the silenced compared to transcribed XIST gene alleles in female somatic cells validated this approach and demonstrated that EVA can be used to relate epigenetic marks to the transcription status of individual gene alleles.</jats:p

Comparison of two-dimensional echocardiographic wall motion and wall thickening abnormalities in relation to the myocardium at risk

Previous 2DE studies have suggested that left ventricular wall thickening determinants of regional left ventricular function may be more precise than left ventricular wall motion parameters in the assessment of myocardial ischemia and infarction. To study the relationship between regional wall motion and regional wall thickening abnormalities relative to myocardial ischemia, we performed 2DE in 27 dogs at baseline and following 1 hour of circumflex coronary occlusion. A 2DE circumferential map of regional wall motion and regional wall thickening was generated at 22.5-degree intervals over 360 degrees using a fixed centroid. With the use of three consecutive beats, 95% normal tolerance levels were derived for each individual left ventricular function map. The circumferential extent of left ventricular dysfunction was measured at the curve intercepts of the occluded and normal maps. The left ventricular ischemic area at risk for the corresponding 2DE slice was determined by technetium-99 autoradiography. Following coronary occlusion, left ventricular end-diastolic area increased (p p p p p = NS). In addition, the circumferential extent of regional wall motion overestimated regional wall thickening by 54% (p &lt; 0.0005). We conclude that regional wall thickening abnormality corresponds better to actual area at risk and that regional wall motion overestimates the extent of regional dysfunction. This overestimation most likely relates to the use of the centroid method of analysis which influences regional wall motion more than regional wall thickening.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26256/1/0000337.pd

Transnational policy entrepreneurs and the cultivation of influence : individuals, organizations and their networks

The ‘policy entrepreneur’ concept arises from the Multiple Streams’ theory of agenda setting in Policy Studies. Through conceptual stretching’, the concept is extended to global policy dynamics. Unlike ‘advocacy networks’ and ‘norm entrepreneurs’, the discussion addresses the strategies of ‘insider’ or ‘near-governmental’ non-state actors. The analysis advances the policy entrepreneur concept in three directions. First, the discussion develops the transnational dimensions of this activity through a case study of International Crisis Group. Second, rather than focusing on charismatic individuals, the discussion emphasizes the importance of organizational resources and reputations for policy entrepreneurship and access into international policy communities. Organizations maintain momentum behind policy solutions and pressures for change over the long term when individuals retire or depart for other positions. Third, the discussion outlines four distinct entrepreneur strategies and techniques that both individuals and organizations cultivate and deploy to enhance their power and persuasion in global policy processes and politics

Recycling bins, garbage cans or think tanks? Three myths regarding policy analysis institutes

The phrase 'think tank' has become ubiquitous – overworked and underspecified – in the political lexicon. It is entrenched in scholarly discussions of public policy as well as in the 'policy wonk' of journalists, lobbyists and spin-doctors. This does not mean that there is an agreed definition of think tank or consensual understanding of their roles and functions. Nevertheless, the majority of organizations with this label undertake policy research of some kind. The idea of think tanks as a research communication 'bridge' presupposes that there are discernible boundaries between (social) science and policy. This paper will investigate some of these boundaries. The frontiers are not only organizational and legal; they also exist in how the 'public interest' is conceived by these bodies and their financiers. Moreover, the social interactions and exchanges involved in 'bridging', themselves muddy the conception of 'boundary', allowing for analysis to go beyond the dualism imposed in seeing science on one side of the bridge, and the state on the other, to address the complex relations between experts and public policy