Everyone Can Grow! Winter Programming Using an Indoor Horticulture Environmental Education Program to Benefit Military Veterans

Working with plants has numerous physical, mental health and well-being benefits for people, and military veteran farming programs have been started to provide these benefits. However, these programs lack activities outside of the Washington State growing season which is approximately May to October. Since these programs are largely meant as ways for veterans to engage in community and peer support, the gap over winter is unacceptable for the purposes of supporting mental health. This project produced a winter environmental education curriculum for military vets, titled Everyone can Grow! (ECG!), and is designed to provide peer support and psychological benefit from nurturing indoor plants. Its 40 lessons in 4 modules cover botany, plant care, building and maintaining vivariums and terrariums, and various artistic projects. These lessons are collectively ways to learn concepts of ecology and stewardship and related practical skills, for the purposes of encouraging environmental stewardship. The group format of the lessons provides veteran peer support. Plants are also provided for students to take home and extend the psychological and other benefits into participants’ daily lives. Three two-hour lessons from ECG! were piloted on separate Wednesdays in November 2018 at the Western Washington University (WWU) campus. Although participation was low, formative evaluation results were encouraging. These results led to a second pilot conducted at the Bellingham Veterans Center. At the time of this writing, the secondary pilot has conducted its first class and is negotiating support for continued classes at the location. Stronger outreach and publicity are being employed to increase participation at the Vet Center

School Counselors\u27 Perceptions of Comprehensive School Counseling (CSC) Adherence and Implementation

Many states are introducing or revamping evaluation systems for school counselors. The viability of such systems depends greatly on their ability to help school counselors implement and adhere to comprehensive school counseling programs. This study illuminates counselors’ perceptions of the evaluation process regarding the four components (foundation, management, delivery, accountability) of the American School Counselors Association national model. Surveys of school counselors reveal they perceive the evaluation process to help very little in implementing and adhering to the foundation, management, and accountability components of comprehensive school counseling programs, and to be only somewhat helpful in implementing and adhering to the delivery component. This study indicates a need for renewed emphasis on preparing principals to effectively facilitate the evaluation process

Improving School Counselor Efficacy Through Principal-Counselor Collaboration: A Comprehensive Literature Review

The school counselor and principal have vital roles within a school which have a significant impact upon the way a school functions. One area of pressing conflict within principal-counselor relationships is disagreement over the appropriate role and function of the counselor. In order to investigate perceptions of the counselor role, as well as the elements of healthy relationships between principals and counselors, the authors conducted an extensive literature review. The following themes were found within the literature and are discussed: 1) school counselor roles and responsibilities, 2) principal and school counselor collaboration, and 3) characteristics of effective school counselor/principal relationships

HPV.edu study protocol: a cluster randomised controlled evaluation of education, decisional support and logistical strategies in school-based human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of adolescents

Background The National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Program in Australia commenced in 2007 for females and in 2013 for males, using the quadrivalent HPV vaccine (HPV 6,11,16,18). Thus far, we have demonstrated very substantial reductions in genital warts and in the prevalence of HPV among young Australian women, providing early evidence for the success of this public health initiative. Australia has a long history of school-based vaccination programs for adolescents, with comparatively high coverage. However, it is not clear what factors promote success in a school vaccination program. The HPV.edu study aims to examine: 1) student knowledge about HPV vaccination; 2) psycho-social outcomes and 3) vaccination uptake. Methods/Design HPV.edu is a cluster randomised trial of a complex intervention in schools aiming to recruit 40 schools with year-8 enrolments above 100 students (approximately 4400 students). The schools will be stratified by Government, Catholic, and Independent sectors and geographical location, with up to 20 schools recruited in each of two states, Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA), and randomly allocated to intervention or control (usual practice). Intervention schools will receive the complex intervention which includes an adolescent intervention (education and distraction); a decisional support tool for parents and adolescents and logistical strategies (consent form returns strategies, in-school mop-up vaccination and vaccination-day guidelines). Careful process evaluation including an embedded qualitative evaluation will be undertaken to explore in depth possible mechanisms for any observed effect of the intervention on primary and secondary outcomes. Discussion This study is the first to evaluate the relative effectiveness of various strategies to promote best practice in school-based vaccination against HPV. The study aims to improve vaccination-related psychosocial outcomes, including adolescent knowledge and attitudes, decision-making involvement, self-efficacy, and to reduce fear and anxiety. The study also aims to improve school vaccination program logistics including reduction in time spent vaccinating adolescents and increased number of consent forms returned (regardless of decision). Less anxiety in adolescents will likely promote more efficient vaccination, which will be more acceptable to teachers, nurses and parents. Through these interventions, it is hoped that vaccination uptake will be increased. Trial registration Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12614000404628, 14.04.2014. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2168-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Evaluation of Potential Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitors by Molecular Docking and Bioassays

For decades, the inhibition of the enzyme xanthine oxidase (XO) by compounds such as allopurinol has been used as an effective treatment of gout. More recently, XO has been implicated in ischemia-reperfusion injury and has emerged as a target for drugs against hyperuricemia and cancer. For the structure-based design of novel XO inhibitors, a validated docking protocol and a reliable bioassay are needed. We successfully docked the structure of the XO inhibitors lumazine and febuxostat into the X-ray crystal structure of XO. Furthermore, we established a bioassay that monitors XO’s activity by measuring the rate of urate production at 290 nm. The assay was performed on a 96-well microplate that permitted the simultaneous testing of eight compounds at twelve different inhibitor concentrations. In order to develop structure-activity relationships, analogues of known inhibitors were identified for experimental testing via similarity and substructure searches of several compound libraries

Pulmonary-Renal Syndrome from Levamisole-Adulterated Cocaine-Induced Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA)-Associated Vasculitis: A Systematic Review

Levamisole is an anti-helminthic drug with immunomodulatory properties that is added to cocaine to increase its potency and weight. Levamisole-adulterated cocaine (LAC) may cause an antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated systemic small vessel vasculitis (AAV). We aimed to characterize the phenotype of persons developing pulmonary-renal syndrome (PRS) in LAC-induced AAV and summarize its treatment and outcomes. Pubmed and Web of Science were searched (until September 2022). Reports that described co-existing diffuse alveolar hemorrhage and glomerulonephritis in an adult (age ≥ 18) with confirmed or suspected LAC exposure were included. Reports, demographics, clinical and serologic features, treatment and outcome characteristics were extracted. Of the 280 records identified, eight met the inclusion criteria, including eight unique cases. Persons were aged 22–58 years, and 50% were women. Cutaneous involvement occurred in only half of the cases. Other associated vasculitis findings and serologies were heterogeneous. All patients received immunosuppression with steroids, with cyclophosphamide and rituximab commonly added. We concluded that PRS could occur from LAC-induced AAV. Distinguishing LAC-induced AAV from primary AAV is challenging as clinical and serologic presentations overlap. Asking about cocaine use is requisite in persons presenting with PRS to guide diagnosis and appropriately counsel on cocaine cessation in conjunction with immunosuppression as treatment

The Association of Tryptophan and Its Metabolites With Incident Hip Fractures, Mortality, and Prevalent Frailty in Older Adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study

ABSTRACT Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and sufficient protein intake is important for skeletal health. We utilized stored serum from the Cardiovascular Health Study in 1992–1993 to examine the relationship between levels of the essential amino acid tryptophan (trp) and its oxidized and nonoxidized metabolites to risk for incident hip fractures and mortality over 12 years of follow‐up. We included 131 persons who sustained a hip fracture during this time period and 131 without a hip fracture over these same 12 years of follow‐up; 58% female and 95% White. Weighted multivariable Cox hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of incident hip fracture associated with a one standard deviation (SD) higher trp or its metabolites exposure. Relative risk regression was used to evaluate the cross‐sectional association of trp and its metabolites with frailty. Higher serum levels of trp were significantly associated with lower risk of incident hip fractures (HR = 0.75 per SD of trp (95% CI 0.57–0.99) but were not significantly associated with mortality or frailty status by Freid's frailty index. There were no statistically significant associations between any of the oxidized or nonoxidized products of trp with incident hip fractures (p ≥ 0.64), mortality (p ≥ 0.20), or cross‐sectional frailty status (p ≥ 0.13) after multiple testing adjustment. Randomized clinical trials examining whether increasing trp intake is beneficial for osteoporosis are needed. © 2023 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA

Membranous nephropathy complicating relapsing polychondritis: A case report

Background: Relapsing polychondritis is a rare systemic disease characterized by recurrent inflammation, and often destruction, of cartilaginous tissues. Renal manifestations are rare. Membranous nephropathy complicating relapsing polychondritis has been reported only once previously, and there is no standardized treatment for membranous nephropathy associated with relapsing polychondritis.Case presentation: A 67-year-old Caucasian man with a history of chronic renal disease presented with 9 months of progressive dyspnea on exertion and 5 months of erythema, pain, and collapse of auricular cartilage. Imaging studies confirmed active inflammation of laryngeal, auricular, and costal cartilage and he was diagnosed with relapsing polychondritis.  Patient had longstanding proteinuria and renal biopsy demonstrated membranous nephropathy. Patient initially showed renal and respiratory improvement with etanercept, a tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor, treatment. However, subsequent disease and treatment-related complications led to a progressive overall clinical decline and patient died approximately 1 year following relapsing polychondritis diagnosis.Conclusion: Membranous nephropathy may rarely complicate relapsing polychondritis. In our case, both the cartilaginous inflammation and the renal disease improved after treatment with tumor necrosis factor alpha blockade, however complications of existing airway disease led to recurrent hospitalizations and eventually death