IUPUI Solution Center Impact Evaluation Study: Lessons Learned

In 2012 an evaluation was conducted to measure the effect of experiential learning activities (class projects, research projects, internships, community-based projects, independent study, or other) coordinated by the IUPUI Solution Center on IUPUI students and faculty members and community partners. Results are based on the perceptions of the populations involved in these experiences, and showed that these experiences: 1) Increase students’ possibilities to experience professional experiences, develop professional skills and practical knowledge, engage with different sectors of the economy, make professional contacts, define their vocational interests and work values, and serve their community. 2) Facilitate faculty members’ opportunities to strengthen their connections with community organizations, collaborate with other IUPUI faculty members, and improve teaching and research. 3) Contribute to increase community partners’ productivity, innovative capacity, effectiveness and the possibility to reach new clients

Solution Center

poster abstractThe IUPUI Solution Center, a division of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, was created in 2004 through IUPUI funding and generous support from the Lilly Endowment. The Solution Center mission is to serve as IUPUI’s “Front Door” to the community to assist in the economic development of Central Indiana by connecting the university’s intellectual capital to the pressing demands of business, government, and the nonprofit sector. Drawing on the talent of IUPUI’s faculty and students, the Solution Center facilitates partnerships designed to build human capital, respond to external challenges, and retain the best and brightest baccalaureate and graduate degreed professionals in the state. The center works in concert with OVCR to coordinate meaningful research collaborations between students, faculty, community organizations, and companies. The cornerstone of the Solution Center’s work with the community is its ability to serve as a knowledgeable and informed point of contact for thousands of businesses, nonprofit, and government leaders, connecting them to the talent and expertise of IUPUI for internships, community-based research, and business assistance projects. Equally important to our success in the community is the IUPUI Venture Fund program that allows us to grant match funding to organizations in order to create and sustain meaningful, challenging, and career-relevant internships and applied projects

Supportive Housing for Mental Health Recovery: A Bio-Psycho-Social Approach

This thesis responds to the lack of psychiatric and infrastructural support during the transition from inpatient to outpatient care, and proposes a supportive housing model for patient recovery. It establishes an architecture to support a new model for mental health care using the bio-psycho-social perspective outlined in the psychological research section. Research into different methods of treatment, perception, and current patient infrastructure reveal that the existing framework does not suit the needs of patients caught between the secure levels of care in forensic institutions and those recovered enough to sustain themselves. The psychiatric program is based on the bio-psycho-social perspective outlined in the psychology chapter of the thesis, which will be used to treat patients with schizophrenia, mood disorders and anxiety disorders. The architecture is designed to support this perspective, and is based on the research into perception and the architectural strategies needed in the design of a healing environment: community, security and privacy, patient control including spatial intelligibility, haptic and basic orientation, light, sound and positive distraction. The design is proposed for the Moss Park area in Toronto: where the actual site itself stretches from Dalhousie Street and Queen Street East to Mutual Street and Shuter Street. Its history and current amenities make it an ideal location for a design proposal, though multiple locations are envisioned across the GTA. The design presented in this thesis is envisaged as part of a network of varying care levels: follow-up care, supportive care and comprehensive care. The program for the site will consist of the supportive care programming, which is the middle level of care

Can Early Intervention Improve Maternal Well-Being? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective   This study estimates the effect of a targeted early childhood intervention program on global and experienced measures of maternal well-being utilizing a randomized controlled trial design. The primary aim of the intervention is to improve children’s school readiness skills by working directly with parents to improve their knowledge of child development and parenting behavior. One potential externality of the program is well-being benefits for parents given its direct focus on improving parental coping, self-efficacy, and problem solving skills, as well as generating an indirect effect on parental well-being by targeting child developmental problems.  Methods   Participants from a socio-economically disadvantaged community are randomly assigned during pregnancy to an intensive 5-year home visiting parenting program or a control group. We estimate and compare treatment effects on multiple measures of global and experienced well-being using permutation testing to account for small sample size and a stepdown procedure to account for multiple testing.  Results  The intervention has no impact on global well-being as measured by life satisfaction and parenting stress or experienced negative affect using episodic reports derived from the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM). Treatment effects are observed on measures of experienced positive affect derived from the DRM and a measure of mood yesterday.  Conclusion   The limited treatment effects suggest that early intervention programs may produce some improvements in experienced positive well-being, but no effects on negative aspects of well-being. Different findings across measures may result as experienced measures of well-being avoid the cognitive biases that impinge upon global assessments

Can Early Intervention Policies Improve Well-being? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial *

Many authors have proposed incorporating measures of well-being into evaluations of public policy. Yet few evaluations use experimental design or examine multiple aspects of well-being, thus the causal impact of public policies on well-being is largely unknown. In this paper we examine the effect of an intensive early intervention program on maternal well-being in a targeted disadvantaged community. Using a randomized controlled trial design we estimate and compare treatment effects on global well-being using measures of life satisfaction, experienced well-being using both the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) and a measure of mood yesterday, and also a standardized measure of parenting stress. The intervention has no significant impact on negative measures of well-being, such as experienced negative affect as measured by the DRM and global measures of well-being such as life satisfaction or a global measure of parenting stress. Significant treatment effects are observed on experienced measures of positive affect using the DRM, and a measure of mood yesterday. The DRM treatment effects are primarily concentrated during times spent without the target child which may reflect the increased effort and burden associated with additional parental investment. Our findings suggest that a maternal-focused intervention may produce meaningful improvements in experienced well-being. Incorporating measures of experienced affect may thus alter cost-benefit calculations for public policies

The effect of entomopathogenic fungal culture filtrate on the immune response and haemolymph proteome of the large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis

peer-reviewedThe large pine weevil Hylobius abietis L. is a major forestry pest in 15 European countries, where it is a threat to 3.4 million hectares of forest. A cellular and proteomic analysis of the effect of culture filtrate of three entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) species on the immune system of H. abietis was performed. Injection with Metarhizium brunneum or Beauvaria bassiana culture filtrate facilitated a significantly increased yeast cell proliferation in larvae. Larvae co-injected with either Beauvaria caledonica or B. bassiana culture filtrate and Candida albicans showed significantly increased mortality. Together these results suggest that EPF culture filtrate has the potential to modulate the insect immune system allowing a subsequent pathogen to proliferate. Injection with EPF culture filtrate was shown to alter the abundance of protease inhibitors, detoxifing enzymes, antimicrobial peptides and proteins involved in reception/detection and development in H. abietis larvae. Larvae injected with B. caledonica culture filtrate displayed significant alterations in abundance of proteins involved in cellulolytic and other metabolic processes in their haemolymph proteome. Screening EPF for their ability to modulate the insect immune response represents a means of assessing EPF for use as biocontrol agents, particularly if the goal is to use them in combination with other control agents.This research was funded by the Irish Government (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine) (10/RD/MCOP/NUIM/720) under the National Development Plan 2007–2013 and through the MU Department of Biology Contingency Fund. The Q-Exactive quantitative mass spectrometer was funded under the SFI Research Infrastructure Call 2012; Grant Number: 12/RI/2346 (3) to Prof. S. Doyle

Celebrating 40 Years of the Midwest Nursing Research Society

The Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS) recently held its 40th annual conference and celebrated four decades of nursing research in the Midwest. MNRS continues to be one of the largest nursing research societies in the United States. Over the years, a vast majority of programmatic initiatives included education and tangible support for novice and experienced nurse researchers. In this article, the background for development of MNRS is reviewed with examination of driving forces that led to its creation. Three past presidents, Dr. Joyce Fitzpatrick, the first President of MNRS (1980- 1981); Dr. Nancy Bergstrom, the eighth President (1993-1995); and Dr. Sally Lusk, the 14th President (2005-2007), discuss challenges, opportunities, and the exceptional progress made toward fostering excellence in nursing research for the Midwest and contributing to nursing science on a national and global scale. Lessons from the past as well as opportunities for the future are addressed

Hydraulic permeability and compressive properties of porcine and human synovium

The synovium is a multilayer connective tissue separating the intra-articular spaces of the diarthrodial joint from the extra-synovial vascular and lymphatic supply. Synovium regulates drug transport into and out of the joint, yet its material properties remain poorly characterized. Here, we measured the compressive properties (aggregate modulus, Young\u27s modulus, and Poisson\u27s ratio) and hydraulic permeability of synovium with a combined experimental-computational approach. A compressive aggregate modulus and Young\u27s modulus for the solid phase of synovium were quantified from linear regression of the equilibrium confined and unconfined compressive stress upon strain, respectively (

The Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire (LTCQ): Conceptual framework and item development

Purpose: To identify the main issues of importance when living with long-term conditions to refine a conceptual framework for informing the item development of a patient-reported outcome measure for long-term conditions. Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews (n=48) were conducted with people living with at least one long-term condition. Participants were recruited through primary care. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by thematic analysis. The analysis served to refine the conceptual framework, based on reviews of the literature and stakeholder consultations, for developing candidate items for a new measure for long-term conditions. Results: Three main organising concepts were identified ‘Impact of long-term conditions’, ‘Experience of services and support’ and ‘Self-care’. The findings helped to refine a conceptual framework leading to the development of 23 items that represent issues of importance in long-term conditions. The 23 candidate items formed the first draft of the measure, currently named the Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire (LTCQ). Conclusions: The aim of this study was to refine the conceptual framework and develop items for a patient-reported outcome measure for long-term conditions, including single and multiple morbidities, and physical and mental health conditions. Qualitative interviews identified the key themes for assessing outcomes in long-term conditions and these underpinned the development of the initial draft of the measure. These initial items will undergo cognitive testing to refine the items prior to further validation in a survey

Being a mother with anorexia: A phenomenological study of seeking and receiving professional support for white heterosexual women in the UK

Mothers are currently under‐represented in the literature on anorexia, including research on treatment, with most research focussed on female adolescents. This raises questions about how adult women and particularly those who are mothers, experience eating disorder treatment. This study provides a phenomenological exploration of lived experiences of seeking and receiving professional help and interactions with health professionals for six white heterosexual mothers who experienced anorexia while raising their children. Four themes are reported that capture the women's diverse experiences of seeking and receiving support for anorexia: (1) conflict between mothering and seeking help; (2) experiences of feeling blamed, poorly treated or misunderstood by health professionals; (3) positive experiences of seeking and receiving support; and (4) the importance of ongoing support. The women's experiences suggest that healthcare professionals should adopt a more holistic approach that acknowledges the subjective reality of the client (including their mother status) when working with mothers experiencing anorexia