Attitudes and perceptions of middle school students toward competitive activities in physical education

The attitudes and perceptions of middle school students toward competitive activities in physical education were examined. Ten boys and 14 girls volunteered (11-high-skilled, 11 moderate-skilled, and 2 low skilled students) in 6th and 7th grade from a total of 6 schools, all offering competitive activities. Data collection was conducted over several months and included focus groups consisting of students of mixed skill levels, observations of competitive class activities, and informal interviews with teachers. The three major themes that emerged were, having fun in competitive activities, not all students were attaining motor skills necessary to participate in activities due to a lack of time to engage in appropriate practice, and the structure of competitive activities affects student experience

Addressing Moral Distress in Critical Care Nurses: A Pilot Study

Background: Moral distress can affect critical care nurses caring for complex patients. It can result in job dissatisfaction, loss of capacity for caring, and nurse turnover, resulting in a negative impact on quality care. Aim: This study purpose was to determine how moral distress impacts critical care nurses (adult and pediatric) and to implement improvement strategies to reduce moral distress, improve job satisfaction, and retention. Theoretical framework: Nathaniel’s Theory of Moral Reckoning was the grounded theory used to show the application of the improvement interventions. Methods: Phase 1 was a cross-sectional design using the 26-item Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (HECS) and the 21-item Moral Distress Scale-Revised (MDS-R). Phase 2 consisted of a mixed-method design employing focus group interviews, interventions, and pre- and posttest. Results: Pediatric nurses reported lower mean moral distress composite scores 21.71 (15.47) as compared to the adult nurses 88.75 (64.7). For adult nurses, a strong correlation existed between ethical climate and moral distress (rs = -0.62, n = 10, p = 0.05), with high levels of ethical climate associated with lower levels of moral distress. The cohort group identified personal and professional impact of moral distress with some differences between the pediatric and adult nurses related to the source of moral distress responses to suffering. The 3-month post survey showed a total moral distress score for one adult critical care nurse decreased from 158 to 74. The remaining three nurses’ scores were unchanged. All four nurses were not considering leaving their position now. All participants either agreed or strongly agreed the education and action plan reduced their moral distress. Conclusion: A blended-learning training to include American Association of Critical Care Nurses’ (AACN) 4As, communication and ethical reasoning skills, and personal action plans helped manage moral distress, aided retention, and improved satisfaction of critical care nurses

Poverty Shelf, New Zealand from the Holocene to Present: Stratigraphic Development and Event Layer Preservation in Response to Sediment Supply, Tectonics and Climate

The small, high sediment yield Waipaoa River is located on the tectonically active, mountainous Poverty Margin on the east coast of the North Island, New Zealand. In contrast to sedimentary sequences on passive margin shelves, active margins, such as the Poverty Margin, can preserve continuous records of changing geological and environmental conditions at the land-sea interface during rapid sea-level rise. Two subsiding mid-shelf basins on the Poverty Shelf contain thick transgressive sequences which provide a record of evolving river, climate, landscape, and oceanographic conditions since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This dissertation investigates the stratigraphic development of Poverty Shelf, including event layer preservation, over the last ∼14ka using geochemical proxies and physical properties analyses of the sedimentary record. The work herein was conducted under the auspices of the MARGINS Source-to-Sink program, a multi-national, interdisciplinary study focused on understanding sediment routing, transformation and fate through the Waipaoa Sedimentary System (WSS) from catchment sources to final sinks on the adjacent Poverty Shelf and Slope. A suit of five giant piston cores and eight box cores were retrieved from Poverty Shelf during two cruises to address long (Holocene) and short (modern) timescales, respectively, of deposition. Geochronological, geochemical and sedimentological profiles from the giant piston cores are used to reconstruct the processes that influenced shelf infilling during this critical period of recent earth history. Accumulation rate analyses from high-resolution radiocarbon profiles and tephrachronology, along with X-radiographic facies analysis, enable tracking of rapidly shifting loci of deposition from the slope to mid-shelf depocenters. Grain size profiles and delta13C values reveal sympathetic changes that track the waxing and waning influences of sediment supply via the Waipaoa River as sea level rose to maximum flooding at ∼7ka, subsequent Poverty Bay shoreline reorganization and changing shelf accommodation, and, in the last ∼1ka, a strong anthropogenic signal. Imprinted upon this record is evidence for temporal and spatial changes in event layer frequency and type throughout the Holocene. Event layers may be produced by extreme and episodic storms, floods, earthquakes and other perturbative events that punctuate background marine sedimentation with large additions of terrestrial sediment. Event layers can be identified by unique textural and geochemical characteristics. An event layer, likely emplaced via hyperpycnal flow, attributed to Cyclone Bola (1988), the most severe modem cyclone on record in this location, serves as a modem benchmark for other storm events in the Poverty Shelf records. Examination of X-radiographs and lithostratigraphy, textural and isotopic variability reveal that the Poverty Shelf stratigraphic record preserves evidence of exceptional event sedimentation in the past and present that can be distinguished from shifts in supply, transport, and accumulation of sediments due to longer-time scale perturbations related to climate, sea level, and tectonics. A period of increased fidelity of the event record in the mid-Holocene is observed associated with increased accommodation within rapidly flooded depocenters

Addressing Moral Distress in Critical Care Nurses

Background: Moral distress can affect critical care nurses caring for complex patients. It can result in job dissatisfaction, loss of capacity for caring, and nurse turnover, resulting in a negative impact on quality care. Aim: This study purpose was to determine how moral distress impacts critical care nurses (adult and pediatric) and to implement improvement strategies to reduce moral distress, improve job satisfaction, and retention. Theoretical framework: Nathaniel’s Theory of Moral Reckoning was the grounded theory used to show the application of the improvement interventions. Methods: Phase 1 was a cross-sectional design using the 26-item Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (HECS) and the 21-item Moral Distress Scale-Revised (MDS-R). Phase 2 consisted of a mixed-method design employing focus group interviews, interventions, and pre- and posttest. Results: Pediatric nurses reported lower mean moral distress composite scores 21.71 (15.47) as compared to the adult nurses 88.75 (64.7). For adult nurses, a strong correlation existed between ethical climate and moral distress (rs = -0.62, n = 10, p = 0.05), with high levels of ethical climate associated with lower levels of moral distress. The cohort group identified personal and professional impact of moral distress with some differences between the pediatric and adult nurses related to the source of moral distress responses to suffering. The 3-month post survey showed a total moral distress score for one adult critical care nurse decreased from 158 to 74. The remaining three nurses’ scores were unchanged. All four nurses were not considering leaving their position now. All participants either agreed or strongly agreed the education and action plan reduced their moral distress. Conclusion: A blended-learning training to include American Association of Critical Care Nurses’ (AACN) 4As, communication and ethical reasoning skills, and personal action plans helped manage moral distress, aided retention, and improved satisfaction of critical care nurses

Exploring Factors Associated with Nonchange in Condom Use Behavior following Participation in an STI/HIV Prevention Intervention for African-American Adolescent Females

To enhance future STI/HIV prevention efforts, this study examined factors associated with adolescents' failure to improve their condom use behaviors after participating in an STI/HIV prevention intervention. African-American adolescent females (N = 205; M age = 17.9) in an STI/HIV prevention intervention trial completed ACASI interviews and provided self-collected vaginal swabs to assess two prevalent STIs at baseline and 6 months after intervention. Analyses compared those who increased condom use after intervention (change group) to those whose condom use did not increase (nonchange group). 43.4% did not increase their condom use after the intervention and were more likely to have an STI at followup (χ2 = 4.64, P = .03). In a multivariate logistic regression model, the nonchange group was more likely to have (a) higher sensation seeking (AOR = .91, P = .023), (b) a boyfriend (AOR = .32, P = .046), and/or (c) a physical abuse history (AOR = .56, P = .057). There were also differences in the extent to which psychosocial mediators changed between the two groups. Findings highlight the need to tailor STI/HIV interventions to adolescents with a greater degree of sensation seeking and address key relationship characteristics and trauma histories to bolster intervention efficacy

The Future of the Open Library of Humanities: Milestones, Governance, and Sustainability

As the Open Library of Humanities reaches its fifth birthday, this editorial reflects on the future strategic direction for the platform

Genomic epidemiology of salmonid alphavirus in Norwegian aquaculture reveals recent subtype-2 transmission dynamics and novel subtype-3 lineages

Viral disease poses a major barrier to sustainable aquaculture, with outbreaks causing large economic losses and growing concerns for fish welfare. Genomic epidemiology can support disease control by providing rapid inferences on viral evolution and disease transmission. In this study, genomic epidemiology was used to investigate salmonid alphavirus (SAV), the causative agent of pancreas disease (PD) in Atlantic salmon. Our aim was to reconstruct SAV subtype-2 (SAV2) diversity and transmission dynamics in recent Norwegian aquaculture, including the origin of SAV2 in regions where this subtype is not tolerated under current legislation. Using nanopore sequencing, we captured ~90% of the SAV2 genome for n = 68 field isolates from 10 aquaculture production regions sampled between 2018 and 2020. Using time-calibrated phylogenetics, we infer that, following its introduction to Norway around 2010, SAV2 split into two clades (SAV2a and 2b) around 2013. While co-present at the same sites near the boundary of Møre og Romsdal and Trøndelag, SAV2a and 2b were generally detected in non-overlapping locations at more Southern and Northern latitudes, respectively. We provide evidence for recent SAV2 transmission over large distances, revealing a strong connection between Møre og Romsdal and SAV2 detected in 2019/20 in Rogaland. We also demonstrate separate introductions of SAV2a and 2b outside the SAV2 zone in Sognefjorden (Vestland), connected to samples from Møre og Romsdal and Trøndelag, respectively, and a likely 100 km Northward transmission of SAV2b within Trøndelag. Finally, we recovered genomes of SAV2a and SAV3 co-infecting single fish in Rogaland, involving novel SAV3 lineages that diverged from previously characterized strains >25 years ago. Overall, this study demonstrates useful applications of genomic epidemiology for tracking viral disease spread in aquaculture

Health utilities and parental quality of life effects for three rare conditions tested in newborns

Abstract Background Measurement of health utilities is required for economic evaluations. Few studies have evaluated health utilities for rare conditions; even fewer have incorporated disutility that may be experienced by caregivers. This study aimed to (1) estimate health utilities for three rare conditions currently recommended for newborn screening at the state or federal level, and (2) estimate the disutility, or spillover, experienced by parents of patients diagnosed with a rare, heritable disorder. Methods A stated-preference survey using a time trade-off approach elicited health utilities for Krabbe disease, phenylketonuria, and Pompe disease at varying stages (mild, moderate, severe) and onset of disease symptoms (infancy, childhood, and adulthood). We recruited respondents from a nationally representative community sample (n = 862). Respondents valued disease specific health states in three consecutive question frames: (1) adult health state (> = 18 years of age), (2) child health state (< 18 years of age), and (3) as a parent of a child with a condition (parent spillover state). Corresponding mean utilities were calculated for plausible disease states in adulthood and childhood. Mean disutility was estimated for parental spillover. Predictors of utilities were evaluated using a negative binomial regression model. Results More severe conditions and infant health states received lower estimated utility and greater estimated disutility among parents. Conditions with the lowest estimated health utilities were severe infantile Pompe disease (0.40, CI: 0.34–0.46) and infantile Krabbe disease (0.37, CI: 0.32–0.43). Disutility was evident for all conditions evaluated (range: 0.07–0.19). Conclusions Rare childhood conditions are associated with substantial estimated losses in quality of life. Evidence of disutility among parents further warrants the inclusion of spillover effects in cost-effectiveness analyses. Continued research is needed to assess and measure the effects of childhood disease from a family perspective.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147444/1/41687_2019_Article_93.pd

Rape Victimization and High Risk Sexual Behaviors: Longitudinal Study of African-American Adolescent Females

Objectives: African-American women are affected by disproportionately high rates of violence and sexually transmitted infections (STI)/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It is imperative to address the intersection of these two urgent public health issues, particularly as these affect African-American adolescent girls. This study assessed the prevalence of rape victimization (RV) among a sample of African-American adolescent females and examined the extent to which participants with a history of RV engage in STI/HIV associated risk behaviors over a 12-month time period.Methods: Three hundred sixty-seven African-American adolescent females ages 15-21, seeking sexual health services at three local teenager-oriented community health agencies in an urban area of the Southeastern United States, participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete an audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) at baseline, six- and 12-month follow-up. We assessed sociodemographics, history of RV and sexual practices. At baseline, participants indicating they had experienced forced sex were classified as having a history of RV.Results: Twenty-five percent of participants reported a history of RV at baseline. At six- and 12-months, victims of RV had significantly lower proportions of condom-protected sex (p=.008), higher frequency of sex while intoxicated (p=.005), more inconsistent condom use (p=.008), less condom use at last sex (p=.017), and more sex partners (p=.0001) than non-RV victims. Over the 12-month follow-up period, of those who did not report RV at baseline, 9.5% reported that they too had experienced RV at some point during the 12-month time frame.Conclusion: African-American adolescent females who experience RV are engaging in more risky sexual behaviors over time than non-RV girls, thereby placing themselves at higher risk for contracting STIs. In light of the results from this unique longitudinal study, we discuss considerations for policies and guidelines targeting healthcare, law enforcement and educational and community settings. The complexities of RV screening in healthcare settings are examined as is the need for tighter collaboration between healthcare providers and law enforcement. Finally, we consider the role of prevention and intervention programs in increasing awareness about RV as well as serving as an additional safe environment for screening and referral. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(3):333-342.