PRETA Air: Hazardous Air Pollutants

This report shows that people living in a 10-county region of southwestern Pennsylvania have a significantly higher than acceptable risk of developing cancer due to exposure to toxic air pollution released by manufacturing processes, energy production and diesel combustionThe Pittsburgh Regional Environmental Threats Analysis Report -- funded by The Heinz Endowments -- analyzes publicly available data on hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), also known as air toxics. Air toxics include approximately 200 pollutants identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as respiratory, neurological and reproductive disorders. The report is the third in a series as part of a project examining major threats to human health and the environment in southwestern Pennsylvania

Language Learners: The Role of Online Materials

The Role of Online Materials Brief describes how English language learners interact with online learning materials and resources in a digital literacy acquisition program. The Research Briefs series highlight key findings about how underserved adults acquire digital literacy skills, and include quotes from participants and practitioners. The Briefs are designed to be accessible by practitioners, program administrators, and policy makers to inform and enhance digital literacy programs

Program Design: Tutor-Facilitated Digital Literacy Acquisition

The Tutor Facilitated Digital Literacy Acquisition Brief highlights the importance of tutors in a digital literacy acquisition program and points to some specific ways tutors were able to support learners. The Research Briefs series highlight key findings about how underserved adults acquire digital literacy skills, and include quotes from participants and practitioners. The Briefs are designed to be accessible by practitioners, program administrators, and policy makers to inform and enhance digital literacy programs

Community Connections: Digital Literacy Acquisition Policy Brief

This case study describes how the digital literacy acquisition program in a rural community was sustained through formal and informal connections across a variety of organizations and community institutions. The case study describes the setting, the details of how tutor facilitated, self paced learning was organized, and the various ways connections were made across organizations. Five types of connections are identified: formal top-level partnerships, local connections, library/workforce partnership, school/workforce connections, informal community connections, and lab coordinator/tutor/learner connections. Implications for these findings include how policy makers and other key stakeholders may benefit from recognizing and building on the ways people in the field marshal formal and informal resources to create and sustain vibrant programs

Learners: Self-Paced Learning

The Self Paced Learning Brief details findings that demonstrate learners and tutors’ preferences for working at their own pace to learn digital literacy skills. The Research Briefs series highlight key findings about how underserved adults acquire digital literacy skills, and include quotes from participants and practitioners. The Briefs are designed to be accessible by practitioners, program administrators, and policy makers to inform and enhance digital literacy programs

Learners: Impact

The Impact Brief introduces findings that illustrate the tremendous positive impact that learning digital literacy can have on adult learners’ lives. The Research Briefs series highlight key findings about how underserved adults acquire digital literacy skills, and include quotes from participants and practitioners. The Briefs are designed to be accessible by practitioners, program administrators, and policy makers to inform and enhance digital literacy programs

Job Seeking Learners: Digital Literacy Acquisition Case Study

This case study investigates the experience of digital literacy acquisition among adult job seekers, offering an overview of the various lab settings accessed by job-seeking learners, as well as the different ways that tutor-facilitated, self-paced learning was organized. Examination of the learner path as experienced by job seekers reveals the challenge for learners of seeing the relevance of digital literacy acquisition when faced with the urgent need of having to find employment. Also discussed in the case study are the significant impact of the relationships that developed between learners and tutors, the role that tutors play in building relevance for the learners, and creating job readiness training opportunities. Implications include the ways that lab coordinators and tutors working with job-seeking learners can support them by acknowledging the reality of the learners’ lives while supporting them through the digital literacy acquisition process. The findings indicate that labs serving job-seeking learners are well situated to introduce individuals to the opportunities available through computer and Internet use that go beyond employment to deeper civic and social engagement

Program Design: Learning Digital Skills in a Time-limited Program

The Learning Digital Skills in a Time-limited Program Brief details how one program struck a balance between meeting the needs of learners and maximizing limited program resources. The Research Briefs series highlight key findings about how underserved adults acquire digital literacy skills, and include quotes from participants and practitioners. The Briefs are designed to be accessible by practitioners, program administrators, and policy makers to inform and enhance digital literacy programs

Prevalence and Prognostic Significance of Long QT Interval among Patients with Chest Pain: Selecting an Optimum QT Rate Correction Formula

Background: Little is known about the prevalence and prognostic significance of long QT interval among patients with chest pain during the acute phase of suspected cardiovascular injury. Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and prognostic significance of long QT interval among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain using an optimum QT rate correction formula. Methods: We performed secondary analysis on data obtained from the IMMEDIATE AIM trial (N, 145). Data included 24-hour 12-lead Holter electrocardiographic recordings that were stored for offline computer analysis. The QT interval was measured automatically and rate corrected using seven QTc formulas including subject specific correction. The formula with the closer to zero absolute mean QTc/RR correlation was considered the most accurate. Results: Linear and logarithmic subject specific QT rate correction outperformed other QTc formulas and resulted in the closest to zero absolute mean QTc/RR correlations (mean ± SD: 0.003 ± 0.002 and 0.017 ± 0.016, respectively). These two formulas produced adequate correction in 100% of study participants. Other formulas (Bazett’s, Fridericia’s, Framingham\u27s, and study specific) resulted in inadequate correction in 47.6 to 95.2% of study participants. Using the optimum QTc formula, linear subject specific, the prevalence of long QTc interval was 14.5%. The QTc interval did not predict mortality or hospital admission at short and long term follow-up. Only the QT/RR slope predicted mortality at 7 year follow-up (odds ratio, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.02–3.96; p \u3c 0.05). Conclusions: Adequate QT rate correction can only be performed using subject specific correction. Long QT interval is not uncommon among patients presenting to the ED with chest pain

Operationalizing Success in a Digital Learning Environment Designed to Support Vulnerable Adults

This study seeks to examine patterns of successful learning identified when economically vulnerable, underserved, and high-need adults engaged in self-access, tutor facilitated learning to acquire digital literacy. In large part, this diverse population of learners has been left behind in the digital revolution, thus compounding their social, economic, and educational disadvantages. These individuals have unique patterns of engagement within educational endeavors, at times dropping in and out of programs as a result of social and economic impediments that permeate their lives. Traditional means of identifying success in their learning endeavors inadequately describe the paths these learners take on the road to acquiring digital literacy. This research explores ways to operationalize the success of adult learners who come to public access computer labs in libraries, adult education, and community organizations for tutor-facilitated support to acquire digital literacy. Findings suggest that adults’ digital literacy learning, and the programs that support this learning, are best explored using aspects of goal directed learning that consider dimensions of the learners’ self-directed goals as a means of learner and program success