Evaluation of Internet education to increase dietary calcium intake in youth

In recent years, dietary calcium intake among children and adolescents has fallen sharply. This trend is alarming because childhood and adolescence are the primary ages for building bone mass. Therefore, an interactive website, Clueless in the Mall (http://calcium.tamu.edu) was developed targeting youth to increase knowledge, improve attitudes, and equip them to incorporate calcium-rich foods into their diets. This website was created with the help of adolescents at every stage of development and has been pilot tested with adolescents at home and in school, showing improvements in knowledge and attitudes. However, the website has not been tested for effectiveness in changing behaviors, specifically for increasing calcium intake. The present study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the website for changing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The hypothesis of this investigation was that the website intervention would significantly improve attitudes and knowledge about calcium and increase dietary calcium intake among adolescents and pre-adolescents who took part in the study. After the group-administered Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was validated among a local church youth group, a total of 126 middle school and high school students were recruited from 12 local public school classes to participate. Each student took three questionnaires during class time to measure baseline knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (including calcium intake using the FFQ). Then each student took one class period to view the calcium website. Four to six weeks later, the investigators returned to administer the same three tests to each student. Demographic information was collected, and data were analyzed using paired samples t-tests and analyses of variance (ANOVA). Results demonstrated that the website alone was sufficient to improve knowledge scores; however, it was not enough to change attitudes and behaviors significantly. In conclusion, the website should be used to promote and reinforce health behaviors, but should not be expected to stand alone as an intervention

The Human Services Workforce Crisis: Moving Forward with Intention in Massachusetts

The human services field is growing rapidly in Massachusetts as it is across the country, and the Commonwealth does not have enough qualified staff to fill vacancies. The workforce shortage has risen to crisis levels due to high turnover, insufficient training, low wages, and a lack of recognition and appreciation for direct support professionals. The individuals receiving services in Massachusetts deserve quality and stability. The state budget – strained by inefficient service models and reactive fixes – also demands systemic change. The human services workforce crisis impacts a variety of stakeholders. Individuals served are directly affected, as are the direct support employees. Additionally, provider organizations and state funding departments constantly bear the burden of this problem. Families of individuals served are substantially impacted, as is the overall community (including taxpayers). The costs of the crisis are reflected in service quality, in relationships, and in dollars. This paper explores the literature on factors contributing to this workforce crisis and its effects. My focus is on intellectual and developmental disability services, but relevant research from other human service areas is considered. Information from various academic journals and industry studies at both state and federal levels is included. Public policy is an important consideration. Based on my research and experience, I will propose additional solutions to the problem, particularly around wages, training, technology, and employee recognition

Ingredient Substitutions and Equivalents

This fact sheet lists substitutions for leavening agents, liquids, sugars, flour, fats, rice and pasta, spices and miscellaneous items. Also lists equivalent measurements

Entrepreneur Or Intermediary: The Nature of the Relationship Manager\u27s Job

A new liaison role between Information Systems (IS) and users, the relationship manager (RM), has recently emerged.Accordingtotheprescriptiveliterature,RMsaddvaluebydeepunderstanding ofthebusinessestheyserve and technologyleadership. Little is known, however, about their actual work practices. Is the RM an intermediary, filtering information and sometimes misinformation, from clients to IS, or do they play more pivotal roles as entrepreneurs and change agents? This article addresses these questions by studying four RMs in four different industries. The RMs were studied using the structured observation methodology employed by Mintzberg (CEOs), Ives and Olson (MIS managers), and Stephens et al. (CIOs). The findings suggest that while RMs spend less time communicating with users than one would expect, they are leaders, often mavericks, in the entrepreneurial work practices necessary to build partnerships with clients and to make the IS infrastructure more responsive to client needs

Bridging the IS-Line Interface: The Role of the Relationship Manager

IS Organizations are increasingly focusing on managing the interface between themselves and their clients within organizations to improve not only the level of customer service but also the utilization of firm investments in hardware and software. Several organizations have recently created full-time specialized positions, often termed \u27Relationship Manager\u27 to manage the relationship between IS and Line groups. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study to understand the role of the \u27Relationship Manager\u27(RM) and how people in these positions deliver value to IS and Line groups in the organization. Our findings are that the role of the RMs is complex, requiring a focus on the coordination of activities across the IS-Line interface in the short run while marshaling organizational energy towards initiatives that position the firm favorably in the medium and long term. Combining an intimate knowledge of the organization with expertise in IT, the RMs utilize their influential positions in the informal network within the firm to create and capitalize on opportunities to champion innovation and enable change

African American graduate students' perceptions of the climate and culture of a predominately white university

The problems that face the African-American graduate student at the predominately White university are complex. These students must deal with economic issues, environmental, societal, and political conditions. At the heart of these difficulties is the presence of bias that influences the satisfaction levels of the African-American graduate student. The purpose of this study was to examine African-American graduate students' perceptions of the extent to which Iowa State University promotes an environment that is bias-free. The study analyzed the extent to which African-American graduate students: 1) perceive the behaviors and attitudes of faculty and staff to be free of bias, 2) perceive Iowa State University to create a positive social climate for minorities, 3) perceive minority representation to be adequate and appropriate, 4) perceive recruitment and admissions processes to be bias free, 5) perceive assessment of student performance to be fair and free of racial bias, and, 6) perceive that the overall climate encourages open communications from African-American graduate students

[\u3csup\u3e3\u3c/sup\u3eH]‑Raffinose, a Novel Radioactive Label for Determining Organ Sites of Catabolism of Proteins in the Circulation

The primary tissue sites of catabolism of plasma proteins with long circulating half-lives are unknown. It has been difficult to identify these sites because plasma proteins are delivered to tissues at relatively slow rates but are rapidly degraded intracellularly within lysosomes. Therefore, a tracer attached to protein is lost from the site of uptake before an amount sufficient for quantitation can accumulate. We hypothesized that sucrose (Glupal-2 /3Fruf) would be a useful label to circumvent this difficulty because of the stability of sucrose in lysosomes; and thus, sucrose should remain in tissue long after the protein to which it was attached had been degraded to products released from the lysosome. [G-3HJRaffinose (RAF, Galpal- Glupcwl- 2flFruf) was selected as the vehicle for attaching sucrose to protein. [31XjRAF was converted to the C-6 aldehydogalactose form with galactose oxidase and then covalently coupled to protein by reductive amination using NaBH3CN. [‘H]RAF was coupled first to two relatively long lived plasma proteins, bovine serum albumin and fetuin. The half-lives of these proteins in the rat circulation (&,* = -24 h) was unchanged, suggesting that RAF did not alter the normal mechanisms of protein clearance. When attached to short lived proteins with known sites of catabolism, such as asialofetuin, RNase B, and heatdenatured albumin, neither the tissue nor cellular sites of uptake of the proteins were altered. Thus, 13H]RAFasialofetuin was recovered almost exclusively (\u3e90%) in the liver parenchymal cell fraction, while both [JHJRAF-labeled RNase B and heat-denatured albumin were recovered primarily (\u3e85%) in nonparenchymal cells. In addition, the RAF label was observed to reside stably (tl,2 \u3e 100 h) in the liver following degradation of the carrier protein; in contrast, radioactivity from “‘Ilabeled asialofetuin or RNase B was rapidly (tl,z \u3c 30 min) lost from liver. Radioactivity from 13H]RAF-proteins was recovered in a lysosomally enriched subcellular fraction in liver and consisted of a low molecular weight species (-llOO), containing both glucose and fructose in a ratio similar to that in the original protein. The results of these studies establish that 13H]RAF useful radioactive tracer for detecting the tissue and cellular sites of catabolism of long lived circulating proteins

Carers' experiences of accessing and navigating mental health care for older people in a rural area in Australia

Author accepted manuscript made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (25 Aug 2015) in accordance with publisher copyright policy. “This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in [Aging and Mental Health] on [25 Aug 2015], available online: http:// www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13607863.2015.1078283”Objectives: Mental health care for older people is primarily delivered in the community and is largely dependent on informal carers. Mental health policy encourages partnerships between carers and service providers to facilitate service access, coordination and positive experience of care. However, carers often lack information and support from services, with the potential for carer burden, and negative impacts on their own health and capacity to fulfil caring tasks. This paper explores rural carers' experiences of accessing care from a range of services for older people with mental health problems. Method: The Pathways Interview Schedule was used to facilitate 9 in-depth care journey interviews with 11 carers of older people with a mental health problem. Interviews explored their journeys to and through mental health, aged care, primary care and social care services. Framework analysis was used to explore carers' experiences and perceptions of care with a focus on access enablers and barriers. Results: Carers had a significant role in navigating services and operationalising care for their relative. Enablers to accessing care included carer knowledge and workers actively involving carers in planning. Barriers included carer mental health literacy, consumer and carer readiness for services, and worker misinterpretation of confidentiality and privacy laws. Conclusion: Carers should be considered key partners in mental health care planning that crosses service sectors. For this to occur, changes are required at the worker level, including increased communication between mental health workers and carers, and the service level, involving training for staff in interpreting confidentiality and privacy policy

Regional responses to the challenge of delivering integrated care to older people with mental health problems in rural Australia

This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (2 May 2017) in accordance with the publisher’s copyright policyObjective: Integrated care has been identified as means of managing the demands on the healthcare budget while improving access to and quality of services. It is particularly pertinent to rural health services, which face limited access to specialist and support services. This paper explores the capacity of three rural communities in South Australia to deliver integrated mental health support for older people. Methods: Thirty-one interviews were conducted with local health and social service providers from mental health, community health, general practice, residential aged care, private practice, NGOs and local government as part of a larger action research project on service integration. Results: Participants highlighted differences in service delivery between the communities related to size of the community and access to services. Three structural barriers to delivery of integrated care were identified. These are as follows: fragmentation of governmental responsibility, the current funding climate, and centralisation and standardisation of service delivery. Conclusion: We conclude that despite a focus upon integrated care in mental health policy, many features of current service delivery undermine the flexibility and informal relationships that typically underpin integration in rural communities