The effectiveness of an adventure travel summer camp program on the life effectiveness of adolescents

The field of positive youth development encompasses a broad spectrum of youth programs and organizations. Outdoor and adventure education programs are well-positioned to be a part of the movement toward a positive developmental approach to youth programming. The purpose of this study was to determine whether an adventure-travel summer camp program (Longacre Expeditions) had positive effects on the life effectiveness of adolescent participants. The study measured attributes of Life Effectiveness of participants using the Life Effectiveness Questionnaire Version-H (LEQ-H). The instrument was administered at the commencement, conclusion, and six months following the program. Composite LEQ data and subscale data were analyzed using one-way repeated measures ANOVA with follow-up pairwise comparisons. Independent-samples t-tests were used to examine for differences related to demographic variables. The analysis showed significant improvement in participants\u27 LEQ scores between the start and end of the program; however, increases in scores were not maintained at a significant level six months after the program. Significant increases in participants\u27 scores were found in the two subscales of social competence and emotional control between the start and end of the program. Social Competence is defined as a person\u27s degree of personal confidence and self-perceived ability in social interactions; Emotional Control is defined as the extent to which an individual perceives he or she maintains emotional controls when he or she is faced with potentially stressful situations (Neill, Marsh, & Richards, 2003). For mean composite LEO scores, social competence subscale, and emotional control subscales effect sizes were small. Neither age nor gender was found to have made a difference in composite LEQ scores. Significant differences were found between short and long programs from the start of the program to six months afterward. These specific findings provide some additional evidence of this program\u27s ability to affect the life effectiveness of its participants immediately following the program. The findings also suggest that longer programs (18+ days) have greater potential to affect lasting change. Generalizations based on these results should take into account the strength of the effect sizes as well as the diminishing effects over time

Structure-function studies of Ptr2p, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae di-/tripeptide transporter

Transport of di- and tripeptides in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is accomplished through the action of the membrane bound transporter, Ptr2p. Comparison of the deduced protein sequences from this transporter and its homologues in other organisms yielded a consensus sequence containing a highly conserved motif usually located in the fifth transmembrane domain of the proteins. This signature sequence was named the FING motif for the four amino acids that are faithfully maintained throughout the family of proteins. The conserved nature of this motif suggested that it played an important role in the peptide transport phenotype. Mutagenesis of the motif in Ptr2p has supported this idea. Alanine-scanning mutagenesis was done on each of the four completely conserved residues, F247, 1251, N252, and G254. Other mutations were also made. Growth on peptides was assayed, as well as sensitivity to toxic dipeptides and the ability to transport radiolabeled dileucine. Transport in each mutant was greatly reduced as measured by all three assay types; however, differences among the mutants could still be seen. In both the growth assay and the toxic peptide assay, the N252A mutant was more active than the others tested. Also, the F247A mutant, while not as active as N252A, was more active than the others. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that the FING motif is vital to the function of the protein Ptr2p as a peptide transporter

The validity of percent body fat estimates by Jackson & Pollock skinfold equation, near infrared, bioelectrical impedance and body mass index

This study compared the validity of percent fat estimates by the Jackson & Pollock sum of four skinfold equation (JPSF), bioeletrical impedance (BIA), near infrared (NIR) and body mass index (BMI) when compared to the criterion method of underwater weighing (UWW). Skinfolds were measured at four sites, the triceps, ilium, abdomen and thigh using the Harpenden skinfold caliper. The Jackson & Pollock sum of four skinfold equation was used to calculate percent body fat. Infrared interactance was determined on a Futrex 5000 measured at the biceps halfway between the axillary fold and the anticubital space. Bioelectrical impedance was determined with the Bio-analgenics ELG analyzer using the four electrode placement technique. Electrodes were placed on the dorsal surfaces of the ankle and wrist and the distal surfaces of the metacarpals and metatarsals. Underwater weighing was determined in a seated position with functional residual volume measured in the tank at the time of weighing. Statistical analysis was determined using an repeated measures ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient (r), standard error of estimate (SEE), R{dollar}\sp2{dollar}, and total error (TE). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The Need for Effective Licensure Laws for Mid-Level Health Care Providers in Countries Facing Chronic Physician Shortages: A Case Study of the Marshall Islands\u27 Health Assistants

Facing a global physician shortage and high international emigration rates, developing countries are increasingly looking to mid-level health care providers to provide critical primary health care services. Mid-level providers have more training than nurses but less than full physicians and are typically authorized to prescribe medications and perform simple medical procedures. As the demand for health care providers continues to grow, mid-level providers are increasingly being asked to provide a broader array of clinical services. In response to this growing need, mid-level providers are increasingly practicing outside of their licensed scope of practice, which may both compromise patient safety and expose providers to legal liability. To ensure that countries are striking an appropriate balance between the increasing need for health care providers and the need to protect patient safety, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) has called on countries to review their medical licensure laws to ensure that they clearly and appropriately define mid-level providers’ scope of practice, degree of autonomy, initial and continuing educational requirements, and disciplinary mechanisms. One developing country that is utilizing mid-level providers to address its chronic physician shortage and whose licensure laws fail to satisfy the WHO recommendations is the Republic of the Marshall Islands (“Marshall Islands”). The Marshall Islands’ health assistants provide critical primary health care services to the country’s outer island communities. However, the licensure law applying to health assistants does not clearly define their scope of practice, degree of autonomy, or continuing education requirements. As international aid from the United States decreases in the coming years and the outer island health care system likely deteriorates, these health assistants will be faced with increasingly difficult treatment scenarios. To ensure that these providers are adequately trained for these situations, the Marshall Islands should enact a comprehensive health assistant licensure scheme consistent with the WHO recommendations. After analyzing existing medical licensure laws in the Marshall Islands, this Comment will propose a comprehensive health assistant licensure scheme that is consistent with WHO recommendations and modeled on the Marshall Islands’ Nursing Practice Act

Noncommutative Field Theory and Lorentz Violation

The role of Lorentz symmetry in noncommutative field theory is considered. Any realistic noncommutative theory is found to be physically equivalent to a subset of a general Lorentz-violating standard-model extension involving ordinary fields. Some theoretical consequences are discussed. Existing experiments bound the scale of the noncommutativity parameter to (10 TeV)^{-2}.Comment: 4 page

Oocyte cryopreservation as an adjunct to the assisted reproductive technologies

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included. See page 2 of PDF for this item.Keith L Harrison, Michelle T Lane, Jeremy C Osborn, Christine A Kirby, Regan Jeffrey, John H Esler and David Mollo

A geometric proof for the variation diminishing property of B-spline approximation

AbstractA geometric proof for the variation diminishing property of B-spline approximation is given. The proof is based primarily upon a generalized form of the de Boor-Cox algorithm and the intuitively obvious fact that piecewise linear interpolation is variation diminishing. Previous proofs [4, 8] employed the mathematical methods of total positivity, a machinery which is available only after reading [8]