Embedding Engagement into the University: Lessons Learned From a Case Study of One Public Research University

In recent years, practitioners, faculty, administrators and students have called for institutions of higher education to undergo change in order to more fully embrace their civic roles. However, little research on this topic has examined how universities might undertake institutional change efforts for these purposes. In particular, scant attention has been given to understanding the rationale for developing university centers for community partnerships and how they might begin to stimulate public research universities to embed engagement into the institution. Therefore, the focus of this paper is the presentation of findings from a case study at one public research university. In particular, the early operation of a new center for community partnerships is explored to understand how perceptions of campus discourse and practice around community engagement were influenced in order to embed institutional engagement

Representing and Promoting Family Literacy on the World Wide Web: A Critical Analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine critically how family literacy is promoted and represented through the images and written texts on Web sites developed by providers of family literacy programs. Naturalistic research over the last 20 years or so demonstrates that the family is a rich site for supporting children’s literacy development across socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This research suggests that families engage children in a wide array of literacy activities in their daily experience. Furthermore, many significant others in addition to parents play important roles in children’s literacy development. In this study we examined a representative sample of family literacy Web sites from across Canada. Findings suggest that literacy tends to be narrowly defined; responsibility for children’s literacy is usually ascribed to mothers; and troubling assumptions about families as being deficient still persist.Cette étude avait comme objectif d’étudier de façon critique la promotion et la représentation de la littératie familiale par les images et les textes écrits dans les sites Web qu’ont développés les fournisseurs de programmes d’alphabétisation familiale. La recherche naturaliste des vingt dernières années démontre que la famille constitue un milieu propice pour le développement de la littératie enfantine pour tous les contextes socioéconomiques et culturels. Ces résultats permettent de conclure que les familles font participer leurs enfants à toute une gamme d’activités littéraires au quotidien. De plus, plusieurs autres personnes clés jouent un rôle important dans l’alphabétisation des enfants. Lors de cette étude, nous nous sommes penchés sur un échantillon représentatif de sites Web canadiens portant sur la littératie familiale. Nous avons constaté que l’on a tendance à accorder une définition étroite à l’alphabétisation, à assigner à la mère la responsabilité de l’alphabétisation des enfants, et à entretenir des hypothèses troublantes selon lesquelles la performance des familles est insatisfaisante

Cyclic cidofovir (cHPMPC) prevents congenital cytomegalovirus infection in a guinea pig model

BACKGROUND: Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a major public health problem. Antiviral therapies administered during pregnancy might prevent vertical CMV transmission and disease in newborns, but these agents have not been evaluated in clinical trials. The guinea pig model of congenital CMV infection was therefore used to test the hypothesis that antiviral therapy, using the agent agent cyclic cidofovir (cHPMPC), could prevent congenital CMV infection. RESULTS: Pregnant outbred Hartley guinea pigs were challenged in the early-third trimester with guinea pig CMV (GPCMV) and treated with placebo, or the antiviral agent, cyclic cidofovir. To optimize detection of vertical infection, an enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP)-tagged virus was employed. Compared to placebo, cyclic cidofovir-treated dams and pups had reduced mortality following GPCMV challenge. The magnitude of GPCMV-induced maternal and fetal mortality in this study was reduced from 5/25 animals in the placebo group to 0/21 animals in the treatment group (p = 0.05, Fisher's exact test). By viral culture assay, antiviral therapy was found to completely prevent GPCMV transmission to the fetus. In control pups, 5/19 (26%) were culture-positive for GPCMV, compared to 0/16 of pups in the cyclic cidofovir treatment group (p < 0.05, Fisher's exact test). CONCLUSION: Antiviral therapy with cyclic cidofovir improves pregnancy outcomes in guinea pigs, and eliminates congenital CMV infection, following viral challenge in the third trimester. This study also demonstrated that an eGFP-tagged recombinant virus, with the reporter gene inserted into a dispensable region of the viral genome, retained virulence, including the potential for congenital transmission, facilitating tissue culture-based detection of congenital infection. These observations provide support for clinical trials of antivirals for reduction of congenital CMV infection

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Aquatic Therapy Interventions and Disability: A Recreational Therapy Perspective

Aquatic therapy interventions are critical for individuals with disabilities and the role of the therapist is just as critical for successful and effective interventions. The field of therapeutic recreation trains students to develop and implement evidence-based facilitation techniques including the use of aquatic therapy to assist in helping clients achieve a change in functional status. This review of the literature examined the impact of aquatic therapy interventions on a variety of disabilities including osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis, Cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, and mental health from a recreational therapy (RT) perspective. This review provides a variety of information on the positive benefits that may occur using aquatic therapy for diverse conditions. Examples include relaxation, stretching, and aerobic exercise and each has the ability to improve strength. It does appear that aquatic therapy interventions can provide a wide array of benefits that may reduce the burden associated with a variety of disabilities. These benefits may be useful in increasing the overall quality of life of a diverse group of disabilities. Likewise, due to the nature of RT, recreational therapists are in a unique position to provide plan and develop aquatic therapy interventions. However, it is the authors’ suggestion that those providing this service attend intensive training in order to provide aquatic therapy effectively. Additional research may be necessary to provide a more cohesive understanding of the impact of aquatic therapy on a variety of populations. Nonetheless, the information gleamed from this review, justify that aquatic therapy has benefits for a diverse clientele and thus may be useful in the implementation of RT programs

Business Case for a Micro-Combined Heat and Power Fuel Cell System in Commercial Applications

Combined heat and power fuel cell systems (CHP-FCSs) provide consistent electrical power and hot water with greater efficiency and lower emissions than alternative sources. These systems can be used either as baseload, grid-connected, or as off-the-grid power sources. This report presents a business case for CHP-FCSs in the range of 5 to 50 kWe. Systems in this power range are considered micro-CHP-FCS. For this particular business case, commercial applications rather than residential or industrial are targeted. To understand the benefits of implementing a micro-CHP-FCS, the characteristics that determine their competitive advantage must first be identified. Locations with high electricity prices and low natural gas prices are ideal locations for micro-CHP-FCSs. Fortunately, these high spark spread locations are generally in the northeastern area of the United States and California where government incentives are already in place to offset the current high cost of the micro-CHP-FCSs. As a result of the inherently high efficiency of a fuel cell and their ability to use the waste heat that is generated as a CHP, they have higher efficiency. This results in lower fuel costs than comparable alternative small-scale power systems (e.g., microturbines and reciprocating engines). A variety of markets should consider micro-CHP-FCSs including those that require both heat and baseload electricity throughout the year. In addition, the reliable power of micro-CHP-FCSs could be beneficial to markets where electrical outages are especially frequent or costly. Greenhouse gas emission levels from micro-CHP-FCSs are 69 percent lower, and the human health costs are 99.9 percent lower, than those attributed to conventional coal-fired power plants. As a result, FCSs can allow a company to advertise as environmentally conscious and provide a bottom-line sales advantage. As a new technology in the early stages of adoption, micro-CHP-FCSs are currently more expensive than alternative technologies. As the technology gains a foothold in its target markets and demand increases, the costs will decline in response to improved manufacturing efficiencies, similar to trends seen with other technologies. Transparency Market Research forecasts suggest that the CHP-FCS market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of greater than 27 percent over the next 5 years. These production level increases, coupled with the expected low price of natural gas, indicate the economic payback period will move to less than 5 years over the course of the next 5 years. To better understand the benefits of micro-CHP-FCSs, The U.S. Department of Energy worked with ClearEdge Power to install fifteen 5-kWe fuel cells in the commercial markets of California and Oregon. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is evaluating these systems in terms of economics, operations, and their environmental impact in real-world applications. As expected, the economic analysis has indicated that the high capital cost of the micro-CHP-FCSs results in a longer payback period than typically is acceptable for all but early-adopter market segments. However, a payback period of less than 3 years may be expected as increased production brings system cost down, and CHP incentives are maintained or improved

Living with Dysphagia: A Survey Exploring the Experiences of Adults Living with Neuromuscular Disease and their Caregivers in the United Kingdom

Background: Dysphagia is common in adults living with neuromuscular disease (NMD). Increased life expectancy, secondary to improvements in standards of care, requires the recognition and treatment of dysphagia with an increased priority. Evidence to support the establishment of healthcare pathways is, however, lacking. The experiences of people living with NMD (pplwNMD) and their caregivers are valuable to guide targeted, value-based healthcare. Objective: To generate preliminary considerations for neuromuscular dysphagia care and future research in the United Kingdom, based on the experiences of those living with, or caring for, people with NMD. Methods: Two surveys (one for adults living with NMD and dysphagia, and a second for caregivers) were co-designed with an advisory group of people living with NMD. Surveys were electronically distributed to adults living with NMD and their caregivers between 18th May and 26th July 2020. Distribution was through UK disease registries, charity websites, newsletters, and social media. Results: Adults living with NMD receive little information or education that they are likely to develop swallowing difficulties. Most respondents report wanting this information prior to developing these difficulties. Difficulties with swallowing food and medication are common in this group, and instrumental assessment is considered a helpful assessment tool. Both adults living with NMD and caregivers want earlier access to neuromuscular swallowing specialists and training in how best to manage their difficulties. Conclusions: Improvement is needed in the dysphagia healthcare pathway for adults living with NMD to help mitigate any profound physical and psychological consequences that may be caused by dysphagia. Education about swallowing difficulties and early referral to a neuromuscular swallowing specialist are important to pplwNMD and their caregivers. Further research is required to better understand the experiences of pplwNMD and their caregivers to inform the development of dysphagia healthcare pathways.https://doi.org/10.3233/JND-23000211pubpub

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modelling approaches in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology.

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PKPD) modelling is used to describe and quantify dose-concentration-effect relationships. Within paediatric studies in infectious diseases and immunology these methods are often applied to developing guidance on appropriate dosing. In this paper, an introduction to the field of PKPD modelling is given, followed by a review of the PKPD studies that have been undertaken in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology. The main focus is on identifying the methodological approaches used to define the PKPD relationship in these studies. The major findings were that most studies of infectious diseases have developed a PK model and then used simulations to define a dose recommendation based on a pre-defined PD target, which may have been defined in adults or in vitro. For immunological studies much of the modelling has focused on either PK or PD, and since multiple drugs are usually used, delineating the relative contributions of each is challenging. The use of dynamical modelling of in vitro antibacterial studies, and paediatric HIV mechanistic PD models linked with the PK of all drugs, are emerging methods that should enhance PKPD-based recommendations in the future