Boosting the Immunization Workforce: Lessons from the Merck Vaccine Network - Africa

This report shares lessons learned from The Merck Company Foundation's decade of experience building immunization capacity in Africa. The Merck Vaccine Network -- Africa, a philanthropic initiative to train immunization managers in Kenya, Mali, Uganda, and Zambia, suggests seven key lessons that can help other funders, governments, and NGOs designing or implementing similar vaccine delivery training programs improve the effectiveness and sustainability of their work.Merck's experience designing and supporting the initiative can offer valuable lessons for other actors in the immunization and broader global health fields who are engaged in or planning similar work. Specifically, we identify seven forward-looking lessons that can increase the effectiveness and sustainability of programs to build the capacity of the vaccine workforce in developing countries:Conduct a rigorous needs assessment to anchor efforts in local needs and priorities;Perform ongoing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to enable programs to adapt, improve, and generate evidence of impact to attract new partners and funding;Create a sustainability plan at the outset to ensure that program impact is maintained beyond the conclusion of initial funding;Embed programs into local health systems to ensure that investments leverage existing infrastructure, relationships, and resources, and that impact can be sustained beyond the life of the program;Employ locally-adapted curricula and appropriate teaching techniques to maximize transfer and retention of relevant knowledge;Incorporate supportive supervision into programs to ensure that transferred knowledge is maintained and acted upon;Facilitate and support regular convening and communication, enabling continuous learning for improvement.In addition to describing the approach taken by MVN-A and the results achieved in the four focus countries, this paper provides additional detail on each lesson, supported by case studies from the MVNA experience

Corporate social responsibility as risk management: An instrumental case study on Santam Limited

Magister Commercii - MComIn a contemporary local context characterised by significant socio-economic challenges, exacerbated by rising systemic risks, and hampered by capacity constraints of the state, we examine the case for a strategic approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) as risk management for the public good. In this study, we propose that CSR could offer value as risk management to firm stakeholders and broader society, by aligning state, business, and societal objectives in tackling shared risk and by addressing some of the challenges associated with contemporary CSR practice. The objectives of this thesis were, therefore, twofold. First, to explain the relevance between the concepts of risk management and CSR and how a strategic approach to CSR as risk management may operate as a mechanism influencing practice and impact. Second, to analyse such an approach in practice to interrogate our propositions of CSR as risk management and to identify its key enabling and disabling factors. To achieve the first objective, we developed a theoretical and conceptual framework that positions CSR as a necessary and appropriate strategic risk management response to inefficient and inequitable markets. To achieve our second objective, we undertook an instrumental case study of Santam Limited and its proactive, pro-social risk management initiative, Partners for Risk and Resilience (P4RR). Using a critical realist case study approach, we interviewed 22 participants drawn from the company’s social and organisational contexts. Our findings suggest that the interaction of four principal stakeholder entities gave rise to P4RR: investors, company management, employees, and the state, and we would characterise the primary mechanism driving the Initiative as competitive pressures emanating from the market. Our findings broadly support our propositions that risk management is a useful analytical framework for CSR and, as a strategic approach, may encourage firm-wide integration of CSR practice and cooperation with salient stakeholders, while providing a rubric with which to evaluate its usefulness. Our findings are somewhat supportive of the proposition that such an approach may lead to a response to uncertainty that aligns more closely with economic risk management. Recommendations for future research include multiple case study analyses of different companies that engage in risk management for the public good. Strategically, we recommend the elevation of local government planning processes as a tool with which to align corporate pro-social activities to maximise the contribution to the public good

Risky Driving in Adolescents and Young Adults with Childhood ADHD: Mediation by ADHD Symptoms, Irritability, and Conduct Problems at Follow-up

As driving is a task that requires vigilance and planful behavior, adolescents and young adults with a history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are an important population to study in regard to risky driving behaviors. This study provides a comprehensive examination of risky driving behaviors- beyond tickets and accidents and including alcohol-impaired driving- in a large sample of adolescents and young adults diagnosed in childhood with ADHD and demographically similar community controls without childhood ADHD. Self-report of citations and accidents, alcohol impaired driving, and risky driving behaviors (speeding, following too closely, etc.) were examined, in relation to the presence or absence of a childhood diagnosis of ADHD, potential age related interactions, and the self- and parent-report of current levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity, inattention, irritability, and conduct problems. Results indicate that probands were more likely than controls to have ever driven without a license, to receive more traffic citations, and to be involved in more accidents; there was a trend toward more license suspensions in the ADHD group. No group differences were found for the risky driving and alcohol-impaired driving scales. Multiple regression revealed that hyperactivity-impulsivity was associated with risky driving above and beyond the contribution of conduct problems, while irritability at follow-up was significantly associated with alcohol-impaired driving. In addition, exploratory mediational analyses indicated that hyperactivity-impulsivity and irritability at follow-up (when tested separately) were significant mediators of the association between childhood ADHD and number of tickets and accidents. Findings inconsistent with previous literature are explained in terms of the validity of self-report in the ADHD population, the nature of the proband sample, and potential measurement bias. The unique contributions of hyperactivity-impulsivity, inattention, irritability, and conduct problems are discussed

Changes in Society: The Increasing Diversity in Society Results in an Increasingly Diverse ELA Classroom and the Increasing Need for Inclusion in ELA

This project’s focus is on how the ELA classroom is becoming more diverse due to the increasing diversity in society. Due to this, it is significant that ELA teachers create accommodations for their diverse learners and create a more inclusive environment for their students through education on inclusion. Adolescents in the classroom have the opportunity to learn about the benefits of diversity and inclusion in society as well as how to become more accepting and appreciative of diversity in society. ELA teachers can help students with this acceptance and appreciation by utilizing a diverse range of literature to teach about inclusion as well as having students learn from one another in order to experience the benefits of inclusion and diversity

Teaching leadership in technical programs at community colleges

The purpose of this research is to determine how community colleges are creating leadership education. The problem is to identify what aspects of leadership are important to future technologists. There are This study is important because we need to know whether and how community colleges are helping fill the leadership gap in technical industries (Magnuson, 2012). There was a survey and interviews that were conducted to collect the data. The three research questions to this study are (a) how many technical programs in community college in the Midwest region (registered with the AACC) teach leadership, (b) What types of curriculum (degree, certification, minor, certificate, and module) are offered that embed leadership in the identified technical programs, and (c) how are selected programs teaching or implementing leadership education

Structure, Synthesis and Biological Activity of Harmful Algal Bloom Toxins from Karlodinium sp. and Exploration of Microbial Derived Natural Products

This work features natural products isolated from both the marine and microbial environments. Part I focuses on the elucidation of toxins from harmful algal blooms (HAB). The HAB dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum produces a harmful suite of molecules identified as the karlotoxins (KmTx) that have been implicated in massive fish kills pan-globally. Nine new karlotoxin congeners were isolated from various Karlodinium blooms around the world and utilizing the structure of KmTx2 were characterized using overlaid 2D NMR techniques. Due to the contrasting conformational differences between KmTx and the closely related amphidinols, the absolute configuration of KmTx was further evaluated by extensive computational analysis of the J-based coupling constants (JBCA) and chemical shifts (CS) of the 1H and 13C NMR data. In addition, the total synthesis of one congener is being attempted to obtain additional material for biological studies and further structure activity relationship (SAR) studies. The expanded SAR of the class is being explored for new insights for agents for the treatment of cancer and as angiogenesis inhibitors. Part II focuses on the isolation and characterization of novel lactone lipids, scoriosin and its methyl ester, isolated from Scorias spongiosa, a fungus that is commonly referred to as sooty mold and can be found growing on both Fagus sylvaticus and Fagus grandifolia, better known as the European and American beech trees. Using a combination of calculated and experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and CS analysis, the absolute configuration of the molecules was established. Both compounds displayed antimicrobial and antifungal activity with IC50 values in the low µM to high nM range for Cryptococcus neoformans, Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The second project in Part II focuses on using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization- mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) imaging to confirm production of key pharmaceutical precursor secondary metabolites from marine associated bacteria. Through microbial community analysis, optimization of fermentation conditions and MALDI-MS imaging, the first report of a sponge-associated bacterium (Micromonospora sp. M42) from the Indo-Pacific sponge Acanthostrongylophora ingens (Thiele, 1899) that produces the manzamine class of antimalarials is presented

Exploring Police Shootings and Officer Survivability: A Case Study

Police shootings are incidents that have lasting effects on the officers involved, the department to which they belong and the community at large, yet these events are rarely discussed holistically with consideration given to the multiple parties impacted. Given the significant impacts, officer survivability and resilience in the aftermath of a shooting incident have become a topic with which most modern police agencies are concerned. While this number of lethal incidents may seem surprisingly low, there is often a narrow focus on the shooting incident itself, with little attention paid to pre-event factors or to the long and short term post-event factors. This study utilized a case study of a single shooting incident to gain a more broad understanding of police shootings. The case study drew from multiple data sources, to include interviews with participants, departmental policies, news media, and participant observations. Paying particular attention to Goffman\u27s theoretical concepts of stigma and impression management, thematic analyses found five central themes across participant interviews. Also of note are the concepts of near trauma and cultural competency, which emerged in various contexts but are rarely addressed in the literature

The Gastonia Novels and Ecofeminism: Rereading the Works of Fielding Burke Grace Lumpkin and Myra Page.

This thesis examines Fielding Burke\u27s Call Home the Heart, Grace Lumpkin\u27s To Make My Bread, and Myra Page\u27s Gathering Storm through the lens of ecofeminism, an interdisciplinary theory that contributes the necessary insight into the link between the abuse of power on personal, political, and economic levels that underlies the human oppression and environmental exploitation experienced by the novels\u27 characters and communities. A resurrection of the Gastonia novels through the framework of ecofeminism will contribute to the scholarly discourse regarding this maturing theory as well as intensify the critical body of work concerning the Gastonia novels themselves. This thesis, in conjunction with the works of instrumental Appalachian scholars, literary critics, and historians as well as major landmark texts in the field of ecofeminism such as Kathy Warren\u27s Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature and Greta Gaard\u27s Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature, purposes to advance the critical standing of the Gastonia novels