Exploring Relational & Goal-Directed Interactions in Community-Based Mentor Relationships

Research suggests that the specific types of match interactions play a significant role in the development of mentor relationships, but these studies have been largely correlational. This study systematically examines relational and goal-directed interactions to better understand how these interactions contribute to high quality, long-term mentor relationships using the Theoretically Evolving Activities in Mentoring (TEAM) framework. The sample included 223 matches from a southeastern Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) community-based mentoring program in which mentors provided self-report data across multiple time points during the first 6 months of the relationship. Results support that relational interactions occurring early in the match have a stronger association with match persistence, whereas problem-focused, take on added importance as the match becomes established. Further, results suggest that mentor characteristics may be more important than mentee characteristics in determining match interactions and changes in these interactions over time. This study enriches the mentoring literature by providing empirical support for the three dimensions of the TEAM framework. The findings are discussed in terms of relevant implications for research, theory and practice

The construction of an objective instrument for evaluating method materials for beginning heterogeneous instrumental classes in the elementary school.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Cool Girls, Inc. and Psychological Need Satisfaction in Female Pre and Early Adolescents

This study sought to better understand the process of how youth development programs work by examining psychological need satisfaction among youth that participated in a weekly after school program, Cool Girls, Inc. The sample included 216 pre and early adolescent females participating in Cool Girls Club at sites in Atlanta, GA. It was hypothesized that Cool Girls participants would experience support for the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness, and such need satisfaction would be associated with youth well-being. Engagement emerged as an important component of participation associated with perceived need satisfaction such that participants that reported being highly engaged experienced perceived need satisfaction. However, perceived need satisfaction was not associated with outcomes of well-being. Implications for future research are discussed

Challenges relating to the inter-facility transport of high acuity paediatric cases

Abstract: Introduction: The motivation for this study came from anecdotal reports and observations that there was a potential need for improvement to the systems that support inter-facility transfers of high acuity paediatric cases between referring and receiving facilities in Johannesburg, South Africa. In this exploratory study, we formally document and describe challenges being experienced by members of the healthcare team in facilitating the interfacility transport of high acuity paediatric cases. Methods: A qualitative, explorative design was applied, making use of interviews with purposefully-identified role players involved in paediatric transportation and care. Verbatim transcripts from audio recorded interviews underwent content analysis to allow for the identification of common categories. Results: Participants described a number of challenges, which included time delays, lack of qualified ambulance personnel, poor communication between role players, and lack of appropriate equipment. Discussion: There are significant challenges experienced by members of the healthcare team with regard to interfacility transport of high acuity paediatric and neonatal cases in Johannesburg, South Africa. Whilst we acknowledge the African context and resource constrained setting, health systems managers need to explore the feasibility of establishing dedicated and suitably resourced retrieval teams who specialise in the transfer of high acuity paediatric and neonatal patients in order to improve quality of care and overall patient outcomes in this population

IL-10 administration reduces PGE-2 levels and promotes CR3-mediated clearance of Escherichia coli K1 by phagocytes in meningitis

Ineffectiveness of antibiotics in treating neonatal Escherichia coli K1 meningitis and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains evidently warrants new prevention strategies. We observed that administration of interleukin (IL)-10 during high-grade bacteremia clears antibiotic-sensitive and -resistant E. coli from blood of infected mice. Micro-CT studies of brains from infected animals displayed gross morphological changes similar to those observed in infected human neonates. In mice, IL-10, but not antibiotic or anti-TNF antibody treatment prevented brain damage caused by E. coli. IL-10 administration elevated CR3 expression in neutrophils and macrophages of infected mice, whereas infected and untreated mice displayed increased expression of FcγRI and TLR2. Neutrophils or macrophages pretreated with IL-10 ex vivo exhibited a significantly greater microbicidal activity against E. coli compared with cells isolated from wild-type or IL-10−/− mice. The protective effect of IL-10 was abrogated when CR3 was knocked-down in vivo by siRNA. The increased expression of CR3 in phagocytes was caused by inhibition of prostaglandin E-2 (PGE-2) levels, which were significantly increased in neutrophils and macrophages upon E. coli infection. These findings describe a novel modality of IL-10–mediated E. coli clearance by diverting the entry of bacteria via CR3 and preventing PGE-2 formation in neonatal meningitis

Identification of pediatric septic shock subclasses based on genome-wide expression profiling

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Septic shock is a heterogeneous syndrome within which probably exist several biological subclasses. Discovery and identification of septic shock subclasses could provide the foundation for the design of more specifically targeted therapies. Herein we tested the hypothesis that pediatric septic shock subclasses can be discovered through genome-wide expression profiling.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Genome-wide expression profiling was conducted using whole blood-derived RNA from 98 children with septic shock, followed by a series of bioinformatic approaches targeted at subclass discovery and characterization.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three putative subclasses (subclasses A, B, and C) were initially identified based on an empiric, discovery-oriented expression filter and unsupervised hierarchical clustering. Statistical comparison of the three putative subclasses (analysis of variance, Bonferonni correction, <it>P </it>< 0.05) identified 6,934 differentially regulated genes. K-means clustering of these 6,934 genes generated 10 coordinately regulated gene clusters corresponding to multiple signaling and metabolic pathways, all of which were differentially regulated across the three subclasses. Leave one out cross-validation procedures indentified 100 genes having the strongest predictive values for subclass identification. Forty-four of these 100 genes corresponded to signaling pathways relevant to the adaptive immune system and glucocorticoid receptor signaling, the majority of which were repressed in subclass A patients. Subclass A patients were also characterized by repression of genes corresponding to zinc-related biology. Phenotypic analyses revealed that subclass A patients were younger, had a higher illness severity, and a higher mortality rate than patients in subclasses B and C.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Genome-wide expression profiling can identify pediatric septic shock subclasses having clinically relevant phenotypes.</p