Addressing Caregiver Outcomes through Family Guided Routines Based Intervention

Children with special needs can present challenges to caregivers and families. Challenges may occur with daily routines such as mealtime routines, dressing routines, and play routines. These challenges may affect families in many ways and add increased stress to the child’s caregivers. Early Intervention (EI) service providers across the state of Iowa are changing their model of service delivery to address the daily challenges in families with special needs children and to comply with Part C regulations of IDEA. This model is known as Family Guided Routines Based Intervention (FGRBI). This project had two purposes, to examine whether FGRBI helped to increase caregiver satisfaction with caregiver-child routines and whether it helped to reduce caregiver stress. A case-study design was used with three caregivers over a 9-week period. Each caregiver identified three family-specific routines to target along with two routines that were the same for all families in the study. Each caregiver-rated their overall satisfaction with the five routines pre-and post-intervention on the Family Routines Rating Scale. Each caregiver also completed the PSI-4SF pre-and post to examine caregiver stress. In addition to addressing caregiver outcomes, practitioner efficacy in learning and implementing a new model of practice, FGRBI was examined. This study had positive effects on caregiver satisfaction with targeted routines. This study also indicates that caregiver stress is an important aspect to consider in EI services. Key insights into strengths and challenges of utilizing and implementing FGRBI from the OT lens were also determined. Thus, EI occupational therapists can address caregiver stress as part of their services to meet the needs of children and families enrolled in Part C services

Entry As an Issue in Immigration Law

This Comment addresses the issues surrounding whether an alien had made an entry for purposes of determining the right of an alien to remain in the United States. The author argues that the term means much more than simply being physically present in the country and its implications are profound. The author examines the elements of the statutory definition of entry, articulated in Section 101(a)(13) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and surveys the various interpretations thereof by federal courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals

DNA double strand breaks but not interstrand crosslinks prevent progress through meiosis in fully grown mouse oocytes

There is some interest in how mammalian oocytes respond to different types of DNA damage because of the increasing expectation of fertility preservation in women undergoing chemotherapy. Double strand breaks (DSBs) induced by ionizing radiation and agents such as neocarzinostatin (NCS), and interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) induced by alkylating agents such as mitomycin C (MMC), are toxic DNA lesions that need to be repaired for cell survival. Here we examined the effects of NCS and MMC treatment on oocytes collected from antral follicles in mice, because potentially such oocytes are readily collected from ovaries and do not need to be in vitro grown to achieve meiotic competency. We found that oocytes were sensitive to NCS, such that this ionizing radiation mimetic blocked meiosis I and caused fragmented DNA. In contrast, MMC had no impact on the completion of either meiosis I or II, even at extremely high doses. However, oocytes treated with MMC did show ?-H2AX foci and following their in vitro maturation and parthenogenetic activation the development of the subsequent embryos was severely compromised. Addition of MMC to 1-cell embryos caused a similarly poor level of development, demonstrating oocytes have eventual sensitivity to this ICL-inducing agent but this does not occur during their meiotic division. In oocytes, the association of Fanconi Anemia protein, FANCD2, with sites of ICL lesions was not apparent until entry into the embryonic cell cycle. In conclusion, meiotic maturation of oocytes is sensitive to DSBs but not ICLs. The ability of oocytes to tolerate severe ICL damage and yet complete meiosis, means that this type of DNA lesion goes unrepaired in oocytes but impacts on subsequent embryo quality

Association between Salmonella sp. and Yersinia enterocolitica infection in swine

Swine are known reservoirs for both Salmonella and Yersinia enterocolitica. Both are foodborne pathogens and can result in zoonotic disease if contamination of pork products occurs during harvest. The epidemiology of Y. enterocolitica and Salmonella in swine is not well understood. Previous reports from experimental studies in mice suggest that, vai quorum-sensing, Salmonella detects Y. enterocolitical signals, increasing Salmonella colonization

Helping Leaders Grow Up: Vertical Leadership Development in Practice

This research reinforces arguments for the use of adult vertical development theory to transform traditional leadership development practices to prepare leaders for the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Vertical leadership development strategies and practices were assessed in fifteen large organizations. Multiple factors impacted implementation of vertical development practices. The primary factor was the overall leadership development mindset (the organization’s learning strategy and its theory of individual change). Secondary factors include senior leader engagement, space for openness and vulnerability, capability and experience of practitioners, alignment in business processes, and expanded understanding of risk-taking. Our results illustrate that accelerating leadership capacity through the implementation of vertical development practices requires significant personal and organizational commitment

Helping Leaders Grow Up: Vertical Leadership Development in Practice

This research reinforces arguments for the use of adult vertical development theory to transform traditional leadership development practices to prepare leaders for the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Vertical leadership development strategies and practices were assessed in fifteen large organizations. Multiple factors impacted implementation of vertical development practices. The primary factor was the overall leadership development mindset (the organization’s learning strategy and its theory of individual change). Secondary factors include senior leader engagement, space for openness and vulnerability, capability and experience of practitioners, alignment in business processes, and expanded understanding of risk-taking. Our results illustrate that accelerating leadership capacity through the implementation of vertical development practices requires significant personal and organizational commitment

Major coronary artery anomalies in a pediatric population: incidence and clinical importance

AbstractOBJECTIVESWe sought to prospectively determine the incidence and clinical significance of major coronary artery anomalies in asymptomatic children using transthoracic two-dimensional echocardiography.BACKGROUNDAnomalous origins of the left main coronary artery (ALMCA) from the right sinus of Valsalva or anomalous origins the right coronary artery (ARCA) from the left sinus are rarely diagnosed in children and can cause sudden death, especially in young athletes. Because most patients are asymptomatic, the diagnosis is often made post mortem. No study to date has prospectively identified anomalous coronary arteries in asymptomatic children in the general population.METHODSAfter serendipitously identifying an index case with ALMCA, we examined proximal coronary artery anatomy in children with otherwise anatomically normal hearts who were referred for echocardiography. In those diagnosed with ALMCA or ARCA, we performed further tests.RESULTSWithin a three-year period, echocardiograms were obtained in 2,388 children and adolescents. Four children (0.17%) were identified with anomalous origin of their coronary arteries, and angiograms, exercise perfusion studies and/or stress tests were then performed. One ARCA patient had decreased perfusion in the right coronary artery (RCA) perfusion area and showed ventricular ectopy on electrocardiogram (ECG) at rest that diminished but did not resolve with exercise. A second patient with ALMCA had atrial tachycardia immediately after exercise, with inferior and lateral ischemic changes on ECG and frequent junctional and/or ventricular premature complexes both at rest and recovery.CONCLUSIONSThis study demonstrates that although anomalous origins of coronary arteries are rare in asymptomatic children, the prevalence is greater than that found in other prospective studies. Ischemia can occur with both ALMCA and ARCA even though patients remain asymptomatic. Because of the high risk of sudden cardiac death, aggressive surgical management and close follow-up are necessary

The alpha-effect in cyclic secondary amines: new scaffolds for iminium ion accelerated transformations

Five-membered secondary amine heterocycles containing an α-heteroatom were prepared and shown to be ineffective as catalysts for the iminium ion catalysed Diels–Alder reaction between cinnamaldehyde and cyclopentadiene. Their six-membered counterparts proved to be highly active catalysts. In stark contrast, the catalytic activity observed when comparing the non α-heteroatom cyclic amines proline methyl ester and methyl pipecolinate showed the five-membered ring amine was significantly more active. Concurrent density functional theoretical calculations suggest a rationale for the observed trends in reactivity, highlighting that LUMO activation through an iminium ion intermediate plays a key role in catalytic activity

Sustaining Civic Engagement: Faculty Development, Roles, and Rewards

Civic engagement of students, faculty, and staff is identified as central to the mission of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Although nearly all of the Campus Compact Indicators of Engagement could be cited as mechanisms through which IUPUI’s civic engagement mission is supported (Bringle and Hatcher 2004), this article will focus on faculty roles and rewards. Following an introduction that describes the university’s core mission and values with respect to civic engagement, the discussion will focus on specific policies, procedures, and programs to support faculty roles and rewards for civic engagement. A conceptual framework for faculty development, based on experiential learning theory (Kolb 1984) is used to organize a description of faculty development activities to promote civic engagement

FACS-sorted putative oogonial stem cells from the ovary are neither DDX4-positive nor germ cells

Whether the adult mammalian ovary contains oogonial stem cells (OSCs) is controversial. They have been isolated by a live-cell sorting method using the germ cell marker DDX4, which has previously been assumed to be cytoplasmic, not surfacebound. Furthermore their stem cell and germ cell characteristics remain disputed. Here we show that although OSC-like cells can be isolated from the ovary using an antibody to DDX4, there is no good in silico modelling to support the existence of a surfacebound DDX4. Furthermore these cells when isolated were not expressing DDX4, and did not initially possess germline identity. Despite these unremarkable beginnings, they acquired some pre-meiotic markers in culture, including DDX4, but critically never expressed oocyte-specific markers, and furthermore were not immortal but died after a few months. Our results suggest that freshly isolated OSCs are not germ stem cells, and are not being isolated by their DDX4 expression. However it may be that culture induces some pre-meiotic markers. In summary the present study offers weight to the dogma that the adult ovary is populated by a fixed number of oocytes and that adult de novo production is a rare or insignificant event