Metamorphosis Inside and Out: Transformative Learning at Portland State University

In this article, the authors (a faculty member and two former students) describe the trajectory that Portland State University has taken over its history to institutionalize transformative learning opportunities within its comprehensive general education program, University Studies. Following a description of the institutional changes that resulted in the community-based, experientially focused courses at the heart of University Studies, the authors explore one particular community partnership involving both a state agency and the national Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, dedicated to offering transformative experiences in which incarcerated and non-incarcerated students learn together inside correctional facilities. Finally, each author shares a reflective essay about the personal transformation experienced through these Inside-Out courses and the implications of these changes on their lives

Feminist theory, gender mainstreaming and the European Union: examining the effects of EU gender mainstreaming and national law on female asylum seekers in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

The European Union (EU) policy of gender mainstreaming has been discussed at length in the context of embedding gender equality into the EU’s internal market. The effectiveness of gender mainstreaming has been less analysed in other areas of EU competence. This PhD draws on feminist theory to explain the EU’s gendered treatment of vulnerable women within the asylum system. Using a range of theories of gender equality, notably separate spheres, radical feminism, and intersectional feminism, the thesis analyses the relevant asylum legislation, judgements and guidelines in international law, EU law and the national legal systems of two EU member states: the United Kingdom and Ireland. These feminist theories provided a perspective which allowed this research to explain how the EU has failed to address significantly and meaningfully the gendered aspects of the asylum system in member states. Despite the EU’s stated attempts to ensure through gender mainstreaming that the member states rely on a theory of gender equality which provides protection to women in the asylum system, this PhD found both that the EU has not sufficiently embodied an intersectional approach to gender and asylum and that member states are still more influenced by their national political culture and treatment of gender equality than that of the EU. This thesis uses that research to make recommendations at both an EU and national level to help the EU and its member states better incorporate gender mainstreaming in order to ensure human rights protection for vulnerable women. As the EU manages increasing refugee applications and increasing nationalist sentiment, this presents an opportunity to embed more thoroughly intersectional gender mainstreaming in both EU asylum policy and the EU’s political culture

The Effects of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in the Elementary Classroom

The benefits of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are being recognized in education for helping reduce misbehaviors. This paper includes research from three primary classrooms: kindergarten, first grade music, and second grade. Data was collected over the course of six weeks. Teachers recorded the number of times each student received a warning, consequence for misbehavior, positive behavior slip, or demonstrated a misbehavior using individual student tracking sheets, tally sheets, and a reflection journal. Throughout the six weeks, students were given a check-in sheet to record their understanding and learning of the behavior system. Students recorded a much greater understanding of behavior expectations and intervention strategies over the course of the research. The results showed a slight decrease in misbehaviors. Teachers suggested beginning the behavioral intervention at the beginning of the year and implementing PBIS for a longer period of time to note more positive changes in behaviors

The Iowa Homemaker vol.2, no.12

Table of Contents Patrick Plans for Opening Days of Gardening Season by Juanita Beard, page 1 What Will Differentiate This Spring From Last by Opal Milligan, page 2 Let There Be Light by Mildred Boyt, page 3 Fish for Spring Time Dinners by Katherine Goeppinger, page 4 Two Somethings for Rainy Day Entertainment by Harriet Schleiter, page 5 Hot Breads for the Unexpected Guests by Greta Thorne, page 5 Use Determines the Kind of Floors You Should Have by Mary Simons, page 6 “It Happens in the Best of Regulated Nests” by Harriet Schleiter, page 7 A House to Please the Birds by Esther Rayburn, page 7 Who’s There and Where by Jeanette Beyer, page

To My Daughter

<p>Equal numbers of macaque CD34⁺ cells were transduced in 3-d transduction cultures with either the HOXB4GFP or YFP vector and then cultured for an additional 9 d (T02266) or 6 d (K03290 and J02152) in the presence of SCF, TPO, Flt-3L, and G-CSF. All the transduced and expanded cells were infused into myeloablated animals. The percentage of HOXB4GFP⁺ and YFP⁺ granulocytes was assessed by flow cytometry. Shown is the engraftment of HOXB4GFP⁺ and YFP⁺ granulocytes after transplantation. (A) T02266, (B) K03290, and (C) J02152. </p

Mitochondrial structure and function are not different between nonfailing donor and end‐stage failing human hearts

During human heart failure, the balance of cardiac energy use switches from predominantly fatty acids (FAs) to glucose. We hypothesized that this substrate shift was the result of mitochondrial degeneration; therefore, we examined mitochondrial oxidation and ultrastructure in the failing human heart by using respirometry, transmission electron microscopy, and gene expression studies of demographically matched donor and failing human heart left ventricular (LV) tissues. Surprisingly, respiratory capacities for failing LV isolated mitochondria (n = 9) were not significantly diminished compared with donor LV isolated mitochondria (n = 7) for glycolysis (pyruvate + malate)‐ or FA (palmitoylcarnitine)‐derived substrates, and mitochondrial densities, assessed via citrate synthase activity, were consistent between groups. Transmission electron microscopy images also showed no ultrastructural remodeling for failing vs. donor mitochondria; however, the fraction of lipid droplets (LDs) in direct contact with a mitochondrion was reduced, and the average distance between an LD and its nearest neighboring mitochondrion was increased. Analysis of FA processing gene expression between donor and failing LVs revealed 0.64‐fold reduced transcript levels for the mitochondrial‐LD tether, perilipin 5, in the failing myocardium (P = 0.003). Thus, reduced FA use in heart failure may result from improper delivery, potentially via decreased perilipin 5 expression and mitochondrial‐LD tethering, and not from intrinsic mitochondrial dysfunction.—Holzem, K. M., Vinnakota, K. C., Ravikumar, V. K., Madden, E. J., Ewald, G. A., Dikranian, K., Beard, D. A., Efimov, I. R. Mitochondrial structure and function are not different between nonfailing donor and end‐stage failing human hearts. FASEB J. 30, 2698‐2707 (2016). www.fasebj.orgPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154292/1/fsb2fj201500118r.pd

Pittsboro, adult community members with disabilities, Chatham County, North Carolina : focusing on life with a disability in Pittsboro, NC : an action oriented community diagnosis : findings and next steps of action

This document is a qualitative report of the findings from an Action Oriented Community Diagnosis (AOCD) focused on persons with disabilities, 18 years and older residing in and/or using services in Pittsboro, North Carolina. AOCD is a process in which the strengths and needs of a community are assessed in order to gain an understanding of the community from the perspective of those that live or work there and then have them identify goals and action steps to move toward achievement of these goals. This AOCD began in October 2002 and was conducted by six graduate students from the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Public Health under the direction of two preceptors from the North Carolina Office on Disability and Health (NCODH) and instructors from the Department of Health Behavior Health Education at the UNC School of Public Health. As part of the AOCD process, the team spoke with service providers, community members with disabilities, and community members without disabilities in Pittsboro as well as reviewed secondary data sources. The information gleaned from the interviews, focus groups and other data sources were analyzed and themes were identified. While conducting these interviews and focus groups, it became apparent that the team was speaking with people who had different points of view. The team referred to these points of view as “insider” and “outsider.” Insiders were community members with and without disabilities and the family members of persons with disabilities. The team looked to insiders to supply a perspective of someone familiar with Pittsboro’s history and inner workings. Outsiders were service providers who worked in Pittsboro, or who worked at an agency that served Pittsboro. Although the team realized that some of the outsiders were actually residents of Pittsboro, the team chose to interview these people for their expertise as professionals serving Pittsboro, and for information on how services are delivered; thus they were considered to supply an outsider point of view. The team felt that it was important to examine both the insider and outsider perspectives because, by looking at the experiences and interpretations of persons with different points of views, steps could be taken to begin action on areas where points of view were similar, and discussion could be encouraged in areas where points of view differed. Two categories of themes were identified from the AOCD findings: descriptive themes and active themes. The team noted two themes as being descriptive: strengths, and finance and income. Strengths was considered a descriptive theme because it represented potential resources for the Pittsboro community to tap into as they worked to achieve action steps in prioritized areas. Pittsboro’s overall strengths will be increased through progress in other areas. Finances and Income was also considered a descriptive theme but for slightly different reasons. While all services are affected by finances available, to a certain extent, finances are affected by less changeable forces such as the national economy and budget. The team wanted to ensure that concrete action steps could be developed that did not require an unrealistic influx of funds. Active themes are those where the power to take action lies within the community. Active themes include awareness, attitudes, support, accessibility, activities, housing and transportation. The team hosted a community forum May 1st in Pittsboro. During the forum the community members and services providers extensively discussed two of the active themes: attitudes and support. As a result of the discussions the community identified several action steps for each theme. To address attitudes, the community plans to work within existing committees and organizations to increase representation of community members with disabilities and to work with Pittsboro’s strong faith community to provide outreach and needs assessments for persons with disabilities. To increase support for persons with disabilities, the forum participants plan to investigate resources available to persons with disabilities and update and distribute a resource list of services to persons with disabilities. The support action steps were also directed at utilizing Pittsboro’s strong volunteer community to help persons with disabilities obtain jobs. Another result of the forum was that some of the service providers and community members who attended became better acquainted with one another. Building new partnerships between people will hopefully lead to future collaborative efforts to help Pittsboro better serve community members with disabilities.Master of Public Healt

Stepped wedge randomised controlled trials: systematic review of studies published between 2010 and 2014.

BACKGROUND: In a stepped wedge, cluster randomised trial, clusters receive the intervention at different time points, and the order in which they received it is randomised. Previous systematic reviews of stepped wedge trials have documented a steady rise in their use between 1987 and 2010, which was attributed to the design's perceived logistical and analytical advantages. However, the interventions included in these systematic reviews were often poorly reported and did not adequately describe the analysis and/or methodology used. Since 2010, a number of additional stepped wedge trials have been published. This article aims to update previous systematic reviews, and consider what interventions were tested and the rationale given for using a stepped wedge design. METHODS: We searched PubMed, PsychINFO, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the Web of Science, the Cochrane Library and the Current Controlled Trials Register for articles published between January 2010 and May 2014. We considered stepped wedge randomised controlled trials in all fields of research. We independently extracted data from retrieved articles and reviewed them. Interventions were then coded using the functions specified by the Behaviour Change Wheel, and for behaviour change techniques using a validated taxonomy. RESULTS: Our review identified 37 stepped wedge trials, reported in 10 articles presenting trial results, one conference abstract, 21 protocol or study design articles and five trial registrations. These were mostly conducted in developed countries (n = 30), and within healthcare organisations (n = 28). A total of 33 of the interventions were educationally based, with the most commonly used behaviour change techniques being 'instruction on how to perform a behaviour' (n = 32) and 'persuasive source' (n = 25). Authors gave a wide range of reasons for the use of the stepped wedge trial design, including ethical considerations, logistical, financial and methodological. The adequacy of reporting varied across studies: many did not provide sufficient detail regarding the methodology or calculation of the required sample size. CONCLUSIONS: The popularity of stepped wedge trials has increased since 2010, predominantly in high-income countries. However, there is a need for further guidance on their reporting and analysis

Effectiveness of community outreach HIV prevention programs in Vietnam: A mixed methods evaluation

Background In 2014, Vietnam was the first Southeast Asian country to commit to achieving the World Health Organization’s 90–90-90 global HIV targets (90% know their HIV status, 90% on sustained treatment, and 90% virally suppressed) by 2020. This pledge represented further confirmation of Vietnam’s efforts to respond to the HIV epidemic, one feature of which has been close collaboration with the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Starting in 2004, PEPFAR supported community outreach programs targeting high-risk populations (people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and sex workers). To provide early evidence on program impact, in 2007–2008 we conducted a nationwide evaluation of PEPFAR-supported outreach programs in Vietnam. The evaluation focused on assessing program effect on HIV knowledge, high-risk behaviors, and HIV testing among high-risk populations—results relevant to Vietnam’s push to meet global HIV goals. Methods We used a mixed-methods cross-sectional evaluation design. Data collection encompassed a quantitative survey of 2199 individuals, supplemented by 125 in-depth interviews. Participants were members of high-risk populations who reported recent contact with an outreach worker (intervention group) or no recent contact (comparison group). We assessed differences in HIV knowledge, risky behaviors, and HIV testing between groups, and between high-risk populations. Results Intervention participants knew significantly more about transmission, prevention, and treatment than comparison participants. We found low levels of injection drug-use-related risk behaviors and little evidence of program impact on such behaviors. In contrast, a significantly smaller proportion of intervention than comparison participants reported risky sexual behaviors generally and within each high-risk population. Intervention participants were also more likely to have undergone HIV testing (76.1% vs. 47.0%, p \u3c 0.0001) and to have received pre-test (78.0% vs. 33.7%, p \u3c 0.0001) and post-test counseling (80.9% vs. 60.5%, p \u3c 0.0001). Interviews supported evidence of high impact of outreach among all high-risk populations. Conclusions Outreach programs appear to have reduced risky sexual behaviors and increased use of HIV testing services among high-risk populations in Vietnam. These programs can play a key role in reducing gaps in the HIV care cascade, achieving the global 90–90-90 goals, and creating an AIDS-free generation