Is pesticide exposure a cause of obstructive airways disease?

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

State Regulation of Policing: POST Commissions and Police Accountability

This Article examines the untapped potential of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) commissions to protect communities that experience police misconduct and discrimination. POST commissions, which are created by state laws and exist in all fifty states, have broad authority to regulate police officers and police departments. POST commissions determine eligibility and qualifications for police employment and regulate the content of training officers receive. Most POST commissions can also revoke certification of officers who commit serious misconduct or fail to meet continuing eligibility requirements set by the commissions. In some states, they can also impose statewide, compulsory reforms to policing policy. POST commissions have yet to fulfill their potential to protect the public from harmful police behaviors because (1) they lack clear legislative or organizational mandates to protect the public against unethical or unjust policing and (2) their membership tends to be dominated by law enforcement officials with little or no input from the communities that are most burdened by aggressive and discriminatory policing. If legislatures address these structural problems, POST commissions could regulate policing to protect communities from police abuse and misconduct

Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework

This paper focuses on scoping studies, an approach to reviewing the literature which to date has received little attention in the research methods literature. We distinguish between different types of scoping studies and indicate where these stand in relation to full systematic reviews. We outline a framework for conducting a scoping study based on our recent experiences of reviewing the literature on services for carers for people with mental health problems. Where appropriate, our approach to scoping the field is contrasted with the procedures followed in systematic reviews. We emphasize how including a consultation exercise in this sort of study may enhance the results, making them more useful to policy makers, practitioners and service users. Finally, we consider the advantages and limitations of the approach and suggest that a wider debate is called for about the role of the scoping study in relation to other types of literature reviews

A critical analysis of CAPS for Life Skills in the Foundation Phase (Grades R–3)

The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Foundation Phase Life Skills curriculum (DBE, 2011) is composed of four focus areas: Beginning Knowledge; Personal and Social Well-being; Creative Arts; and Physical Education. These areas draw on a number of disciplines and this makes the curriculum dense. This density is, in turn, a challenge for teachers and teacher education. We perform an historical analysis of Life Skills curriculum documents from 1977 to the present and a content analysis of the CAPS document. Using Bernstein (1971, 1996) we show that this curriculum is weakly classified and that epistemological orientations are blurred, if not rendered invisible. The specificity of different disciplinary lenses that have different objects of enquiry, methods of analysis, and criteria for truth claims is lost in an overemphasis on everyday knowledge. If teachers are not themselves schooled in the languages of the disciplines that underpin Life Skills they may not be able to give children access to them, nor are they likely to be able to help them understand how different parts of the system relate to one another

Risk of death among those awaiting treatment for HIV infection in Zimbabwe: adolescents are at particular risk.

INTRODUCTION: Mortality among HIV-positive adults awaiting antiretroviral therapy (ART) has previously been found to be high. Here, we compare adolescent pre-ART mortality to that of adults in a public sector HIV care programme in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we compared adolescent pre-ART outcomes with those of adults enrolled for HIV care in the same clinic. Adolescents were defined as those aged 10-19 at the time of registration. Comparisons of means and proportions were carried out using two-tailed sample t-tests and chi-square tests respectively, for normally distributed data, and the Mann-Whitney U-tests for non-normally distributed data. Loss to follow-up (LTFU) was defined as missing a scheduled appointment by three or more months. RESULTS: Between 2004 and 2010, 1382 of 1628 adolescents and 7557 of 11,106 adults who registered for HIV care met the eligibility criteria for ART. Adolescents registered at a more advanced disease stage than did adults (83% vs. 73% WHO stage III/IV, respectively, p<0.001), and the median time to ART initiation was longer for adolescents than for adults [21 (10-55) days vs. 15 (7-42) days, p<0.001]. Among the 138 adolescents and 942 adults who never commenced ART, 39 (28%) of adolescents and 135 (14%) of adults died, the remainder being LTFU. Mortality among treatment-eligible adolescents awaiting ART was significantly higher than among adults (3% vs. 1.8%, respectively, p=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents present to ART services at a later clinical stage than adults and are at an increased risk of death prior to commencing ART. Improved and innovative HIV case-finding approaches and emphasis on prompt ART initiation in adolescents are urgently needed. Following registration, defaulter tracing should be used, whether or not ART has been commenced

Mechanistic insight into heterogeneity of trans-plasma membrane electron transport in cancer cell types

Trans-plasma membrane electron transfer (tMPET) is a process by which reducing equivalents, either electrons or reductants like ascorbic acid, are exported to the extracellular environment by the cell. TPMET is involved in a number of physiological process and has been hypothesised to play a role in the redox regulation of cancer metabolism. Here, we use a new electrochemical assay to elucidate the ‘preference’ of cancer cells for different trans tPMET systems. This aids in proving a biochemical framework for the understanding of tPMET role, and for the development of novel tPMET-targeting therapeutics. We have delineated the mechanism of tPMET in 3 lung cancer cell models to show that the external electron transfer is orchestrated by ascorbate mediated shuttling via tPMET. In addition, the cells employ a different, non-shuttling-based mechanism based on direct electron transfer via Dcytb. Results from our investigations indicate that tPMETs are used differently, depending on the cell type. The data generated indicates that tPMETs may play a fundamental role in facilitation of energy reprogramming in malignant cells, whereby tPMETs are utilised to supply the necessary energy requirement when mitochondrial stress occurs. Our findings instruct a deeper understanding of tPMET systems, and show how different cancer cells may preferentially use distinguishable tPMET systems for cellular electron transfer processes

Loss to follow-up among children and adolescents growing up with HIV infection: age really matters.

INTRODUCTION: Globally, increasing numbers of HIV-infected children are reaching adolescence due to antiretroviral therapy (ART). We investigated rates of loss-to-follow-up (LTFU) from HIV care services among children as they transition from childhood through adolescence. METHODS: Individuals aged 5-19 years initiated on ART in a public-sector HIV clinic in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, between 2005 and 2009 were included in a retrospective cohort study. Participants were categorized into narrow age-bands namely: 5-9 (children), 10-14 (young adolescents) and 15-19 (older adolescents). The effect of age at ART initiation, current age (using a time-updated Lexis expansion) and transitioning from one age group to the next on LTFU was estimated using Poisson regression. RESULTS: Of 2273 participants, 1013, 875 and 385 initiated ART aged 5-9, 10-14 and 15-19 years, respectively. Unlike those starting ART as children, individuals starting ART as young adolescents had higher LTFU rates after moving to the older adolescent age-band (Adjusted rate ratio (ARR) 1.54; 95% CI: 0.94-2.55) and similarly, older adolescents had higher LTFU rates after transitioning to being young adults (ARR 1.79; 95% CI: 1.05-3.07). In older adolescents, the LTFU rate among those who started ART in that age-band was higher compared to the rate among those starting ART at a younger age (ARR = 1.70; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.77). This however did not hold true for other age-groups. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents had higher rates of LTFU compared to other age-groups, with older adolescents at particularly high risk in all analyses. Age-updated analyses that examine movement across narrow age-bands are paramount in understanding how developmental heterogeneity in children affects HIV outcomes

Occupational safety and health considerations of returning to work after cancer

Increasing numbers of people undergo a return to work (RTW) after a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Although there is evidence available in relation to managing the RTW process, at the current time, there is limited information available in relation to any safety and health issues associated with this process. Using a systematic review and organisational case studies, this project aimed to understand the health and safety implications of returning to work or staying in work during treatment, to identify what employers can do to facilitate this process for cancer survivors and to develop guidance for IOSH from the work carried out. The systematic review identified that understanding the potential changes in individual capacity (both physical and mental) are essential, as are the role of the line manager, being able to offer flexibility in returning to work, and understanding that the process can be long term. The case studies aimed to identify good practice and found that different aspects can impact on the RTW or continuation to work, including using risk assessments of work tasks rather than job roles, and considering the impact of physical and psychological demands. Different factors need to be considered within the risk assessment, including the impact of fatigue, risks of infection, work planning and breaks in the working day, the inclusion of emergency planning, and flexibility in start times or workplace. The work has also highlighted a number of evidence gaps, including: the lack of an evidence base for safety, health or ergonomic interventions; a lack of information in relation to manual workers and their RTW needs; a lack of information on those who have had to change jobs or on their future employability; and a need for more in-depth, longer-term research. Content for an IOSH OH Toolkit on RTW after cancer was also produced as part of this work

The Grizzly, November 17, 2011

Professor Named Huffington Post Contributor • November Focuses on Sophomores • UCDC Offers Multiple Performances This Week • Bearitones, B\u27Nats Premiere Let\u27s Du Et!? • Students Compete at Simon Business School • Senior Interns at Sacred Heart • MCS Department Welcomes Professor Kirstie Hettinga • Opinion: Good Writers are an Endangered Species • Men\u27s Indoor Track and Field has Conference Championship Aspirations • Martell Wins Defensive Player of the Year Award • Success is a Tradition for Racich\u27s Wrestling Program • Field Hockey Headed Back to Final Fourhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1847/thumbnail.jp