Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria Isolated from Soils

After the discovery of antibiotics, antibiotics have been increasingly implemented into human and veterinary medicine. In addition, antibiotics are inserted into animal feed for non-therapeutic purposes, which potentially leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. When the livestock excrete waste onto the soil, the antibiotic resistant bacteria are introduced to the environment. With soil collected from different farms throughout the Bowling Green area, the microbial communities were analyzed to determine its bacterial compositions and their resistances to common antibiotics through a modified agar dilution technique. Once resistant colonies were isolated, they underwent more testing to determine if the colonies could be potential pathogens and express multidrug resistance. Through these methods, possible pathogenic enteric bacteria were identified. While the soils did show increased amounts of antibiotic resistant bacteria because of livestock fecal matter, this rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria does not necessitate an immediate public health concern because the soil bacteria would need to be either ingested or introduced into the bloodstream to produce an infection. However, further research is needed to identify the antibiotic resistant strains to determine if the strains had any chance of infecting humans

Designing Hydrogel-Based Bone-On-Chips for Personalized Medicine

The recent development of bone-on-chips (BOCs) holds the main advantage of requiring a low quantity of cells and material, compared to traditional In Vitro models. By incorporating hydrogels within BOCs, the culture system moved to a three dimensional culture environment for cells which is more representative of bone tissue matrix and function. The fundamental components of hydrogel-based BOCs, namely the cellular sources, the hydrogel and the culture chamber, have been tuned to mimic the hematopoietic niche in the bone aspirate marrow, cancer bone metastasis and osteo/chondrogenic differentiation. In this review, we examine the entire process of developing hydrogel-based BOCs to model In Vitro a patient specific situation. First, we provide bone biological understanding for BOCs design and then how hydrogel structural and mechanical properties can be tuned to meet those requirements. This is followed by a review on hydrogel-based BOCs, developed in the last 10 years, in terms of culture chamber design, hydrogel and cell source used. Finally, we provide guidelines for the definition of personalized pathological and physiological bone microenvironments. This review covers the information on bone, hydrogel and BOC that are required to develop personalized therapies for bone disease, by recreating clinically relevant scenarii in miniaturized device

New Teacher Learning in a Digital Mentoring Environment: Voices of the Mentors

The purpose of this study was to describe mentor perceptions of mentee learning in the digital mentoring environment. Research questions included: (a) How do mentors describe their experiences within the digital environment?; (b) How do mentors describe changes in mentee teaching practice as evidence of mentee learning?; (c) How do mentors describe the emergence of their mentoring practices in response to the learning of each mentee? This multiple case study examined two cases each with one mentor and two mentees working together during the 2017-18 school year in a digital mentoring environment. The two cases were bound by the mentor communications, experiences, and interactions with their mentees during this school year. Andragogy was used as the theoretical framework to guide portions of the investigation and data analysis to feature mentee learning (Knowles, 1984; Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005). My rich background as a new teacher mentor working in digital mentoring prior to this study provided me with a unique opportunity to intentionally include myself, in conjunction with a second mentor participant, to self-study our experiences (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001; Loughran, 2007a). This was enacted through journaling, verbal reflections, and discussions to systematically reflect on our experiences and unique perspectives as mentors in this study (Kleinsasser, 2000; Samaras, 2019). Data for this study was categorized into seven typologies: mentoring meetings, mentor debrief meetings, digital written communication, journals, reflexive meetings, interviews, focus group, and additional supplemental artifacts. vii Findings for this study were organized into four main threads describing: (a) the digital mentoring environment, (b) mentoring approaches, (c) mentor’s perceptions of their mentee’s learning, and (d) mentors adjusting mentoring approaches to mentee’s needs. Benefits and challenges of mentoring within the digital environment of the study, along with key findings associated with the research questions and theoretical framework, are presented. Advantages of the digital space were noted in terms of how this environment allowed for flexible meeting times and ease in sharing materials during meetings. The themes associated with these ideas were: (a) flexible check-ins with mentees, (b) sharing of materials, and (c) flexibility of meeting times. Challenges encountered while mentoring in the digital environment helped illuminate how mentor participants modified their approaches through: (a) establishing contingency plans, (b) responding to unintentionally delayed responses, (c) access to a fuller story: critical context of teaching footage, and (d) mentee responsibility in mentoring and mutual planning. Mentoring strategies and approaches enacted in response to observations of mentee learning included: (a) intentional redirection, (b) elaborating and expanding ideas, (c) presenting rationale, (d) mentoring through story, and (e) prioritizing curriculum. Mentors changed and adapted their mentoring approaches based on how they noted evidence of mentee learning. Changes to mentoring practices were noted based on: (a) flexible preparation, (b) mentors second-guessing themselves, and (c) mentors seeking support. Mentee learning was described by mentors in terms of: (a) evidence of mentee learning: what they do and say matters and (b) differentiated mentoring. Implications for future digital mentor program design and recommendations for future research are also presented.PHDMusic: Music EducationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149980/1/jcvmarra_1.pd

Could Teacher Support Help Break the Cycle of Violence?

Child maltreatment has been occurring at distressing rates and is associated with grave consequences, including involvement in future violence. Victims of child maltreatment are at an increased risk for being the perpetrator and/or victim of youth violence and intimate partner violence. Due to the prevalence of child maltreatment and its association with future violence, it is important to identify ways to intervene with victims of child abuse and prevent the cycle of violence from continuing. The current study explores whether a supportive relationship with a teacher could prevent victims of child abuse from becoming involved in subsequent violence. Path analysis was used to explore the relationships between childhood maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner violence, and student-teacher relationships. Youth violence perpetration was associated with IPV perpetration for females, but not males. Youth violence victimization mediated the relationship between child physical abuse and IPV perpetration and victimization. The association between youth violence perpetration and youth violence victimization was stronger for male victims of child physical abuse who reported low levels of teacher support. Results emphasize the importance of interventions aimed at individuals with histories of child physical maltreatment to help prevent subsequent violence. While interventions may be similarly effective for males and females, specific interventions should be tailored toward females who perpetrate violence as adolescents and males who report low levels of teacher support

Climate resilience for health care and communities: Strategies and case studies

This report provides a strategic framework for building truly climate-resilient health systems and communities, and explores how health care institutions can leverage investments to support equitable decarbonization and build community resilience, health, and wealth. Through case studies, this paper outlines actions health systems can take to improve their ability to adapt and recover from climate-driven service impacts, strengthen long-term sustainability, and support health and equity in the communities they serve

Expectant fathers’ participation in antenatal care services in Papua New Guinea: a qualitative inquiry

Background: The importance of engaging men in maternal and child health programs is well recognised internationally. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), men’s involvement in maternal and child health services remains limited and barriers and enablers to involving fathers in antenatal care have not been well studied. The purpose of this paper is to explore attitudes to expectant fathers participating in antenatal care, and to identify barriers and enablers to men‘s participation in antenatal care with their pregnant partner in PNG. Methods: Twenty-eight focus group discussions were conducted with purposively selected pregnant women, expectant fathers, older men and older women across four provinces of PNG. Fourteen key informant interviews were also conducted with health workers. Qualitative data generated were analysed thematically. Results: While some men accompany their pregnant partners to the antenatal clinic and wait outside, very few men participate in antenatal consultations. Factors supporting fathers’ participation in antenatal consultations included feelings of shared responsibility for the unborn child, concern for the mother’s or baby’s health, the child being a first child, friendly health workers, and male health workers. Sociocultural norms and taboos were the most significant barrier to fathers’ participation in antenatal care, contributing to men feeling ashamed or embarrassed to attend clinic with their partner. Other barriers to men’s participation included fear of HIV or sexually transmitted infection testing, lack of separate waiting spaces for men, rude treatment by health workers, and being in a polygamous relationship. Building community awareness of the benefits of fathers participating in maternal and child health service, inviting fathers to attend antenatal care if their pregnant partner would like them to, and ensuring clinic spaces and staff are welcoming to men were strategies suggested for increasing fathers’ participation in antenatal care. Conclusion: This study identified significant sociocultural and health service barriers to expectant fathers’ participation in antenatal care in PNG. Our findings highlight the need to address these barriers – through health staff training and support, changes to health facility layout and community awareness raising – so that couples in PNG can access the benefits of men’s participation in antenatal care

Health of farmed fish: its relation to fish welfare and its utility as welfare indicator

This brief review focuses on health and biological function as cornerstones of fish welfare. From the function-based point of view, good welfare is reflected in the ability of the animal to cope with infectious and non-infectious stressors, thereby maintaining homeostasis and good health, whereas stressful husbandry conditions and protracted suffering will lead to the loss of the coping ability and, thus, to impaired health. In the first part of the review, the physiological processes through which stressful husbandry conditions modulate health of farmed fish are examined. If fish are subjected to unfavourable husbandry conditions, the resulting disruption of internal homeostasis necessitates energy-demanding physiological adjustments (allostasis/acclimation). The ensuing energy drain leads to trade-offs with other energy-demanding processes such as the functioning of the primary epithelial barriers (gut, skin, gills) and the immune system. Understanding of the relation between husbandry conditions, allostatic responses and fish health provides the basis for the second theme developed in this review, the potential use of biological function and health parameters as operational welfare indicators (OWIs). Advantages of function- and health-related parameters are that they are relatively straightforward to recognize and to measure and are routinely monitored in most aquaculture units, thereby providing feasible tools to assess fish welfare under practical farming conditions. As the efforts to improve fish welfare and environmental sustainability lead to increasingly diverse solutions, in particular integrated production, it is imperative that we have objective OWIs to compare with other production forms, such as high-density aquaculture. However, to receive the necessary acceptance for legislation, more robust scientific backing of the health- and function-related OWIs is urgently neede

Male involvement interventions and improved couples’ emotional relationships in Tanzania and Zimbabwe: ‘When we are walking together, I feel happy’

Male involvement in maternal and child health is recognised as a valuable strategy to improve care-seeking and uptake of optimal home care practices for women and children in low- and middle-income settings. However, the specific mechanisms by which involving men can lead to observed behaviour change are not well substantiated. A qualitative study conducted to explore men’s and women’s experiences of male involvement interventions in Tanzania and Zimbabwe found that, for some women and men, the interventions had fostered more loving partner relationships. Both male and female participants identified these changes as profoundly meaningful and highly valued. Our findings illustrate key pathways by which male involvement interventions were able to improve couples’ emotional relationships. Findings also indicate that these positive impacts on couple relationships can motivate and support men’s behaviour change, to improve care-seeking and home care practices. Men’s and women’s subjective experiences of partner relationships following male involvement interventions have not been well documented to date. Findings highlight the importance of increased love, happiness and emotional intimacy in couple relationships – both as a wellbeing outcome valued by men and women, and as a contributor to the effectiveness of male involvement interventions

Your Journey to First-Year Success: A K-State First Companion Textbook

This textbook companion is a resource to help students successfully navigate through their first year at Kansas State University. It serves as part of the K-State First mission to create an outstanding university experience for every first-year student by helping with the transition to college-level learning and college life. The textbook helps improve chances for student success by focusing on fostering campus community, offering resources for diverse activities, highlighting academic expectations, and empowering students with personal responsibility and social agency. Instructors are encouraged to use the textbook in their K-State First classes, and it is also offered as a direct resource for students. In any university setting there are often unwritten rules that students are expected to understand, and this guide addresses and answers those questions directly. Ultimately, this guide encourages students to be engaged learners and to enjoy all facets of education, both inside and outside the classroom.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1019/thumbnail.jp