New Voices at the Civic Table: Facilitating Personal and Social Change

· This article describes six pilot initiatives of the Alliance for Children and Families -- New Voices at the Civic Table (New Voices), a philanthropy-funded effort to challenge human service organizations to integrate civic engagement as a permanent part of their infrastructure. · All six New Voices models included common elements: leadership training, civic education, experiential learning, participatory decision-making, networking, and reflective evaluation. · Each also reflected one of four primary variations to civic engagement based on their community needs and demands: self-efficacy, constituent involvement, mobilizing, and organizing. · Results demonstrate that civic engagement in human services not only produces a means for promoting social change but also changes the way participants see themselves in the community

We Are More Alike Than We Are Different

I wish we live in a world where we can accept and respect each other, even in hard times

System dynamics exploration of a product development organization

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-87).This work investigates the overload problems of one product development department in a consumer products company. Many in the organization attribute the problem to an external source - a burgeoning product portfolio. The most common solution posed is to split the department into two in order to reap the productivity gains of specialization and reduce the overload. It is proposed that some of the overload is internally generated and specialization alone will not be enough. There is a Reinventing the Wheel phenomenon that occurs when projects are handed off from one person to another. Additional work is generated with each hand off. This problem can be exacerbated by high turnover, lack of documentation, switch loss, or delays in project completion. System dynamics models were created to explore the feedback loops, delayed effects of managerial decisions and resulting behavior of the system. Results showed that specialization leads to initially high productivity, but the gains decrease over time as breadth of experience across the organization decays and rework and coordination costs increase. It is also shown that overload could be internally generated through managerial policies. If these policies are not changed, specializing may not be as effective. Recommendations include considering turnover as part of project planning and carefully monitoring workload so that the productivity does not plummet and affect all programs. Specialization is a good solution in some cases, but is not the best solution for work that requires a great deal of interaction between functions, where the level of coordination required to share knowledge outweighs the productivity gains.by Linda Thi Nguyen.S.M.in System Design and Managemen

Built Environment and Preterm Birth

Background. Preterm birth affects approximately 500,000 babies a year in the United States. One out of nine babies born in the United States deliver before 37 weeks gestation. Preterm birth can cause lifelong neurological problems, cerebral palsy, vision and hearing impairments, and developmental delay. The estimated $26 billion a year in preterm birth related costs are staggering to the health care system. Preterm-related causes of death in 2008 together accounted for 35% of all infant deaths. Methods. This paper is a review of the literature published (2006-2012) on the relationship between neighborhood environment and preterm birth. Results. Neighborhood deprivation and the neighborhood environment were associated with low-birth weight and preterm birth. Examples of neighborhood deprivation include economic deprivation, social disorder, and lack of health resources. Neighborhood environment can be described as neighborhood physical deterioration, violent crime, and group density. Conclusions. A significant association exists between the neighborhood environment and birth outcomes. More research is needed to explore interventions with a systems approach to promote healthy maternal behavior, reduce stress, and improve care for expecting mothers living in stressful neighborhood environments in order to reduce preterm births

Measuring the Impact of Civic Engagement: Tracking Outcomes in Health, Education, and Economic Security

Describes the process of developing the Civic Engagement Measurement System to measure the impact of integrating civic engagement practices into human services programs in the areas of education, healthy living, and economic security. Includes the CEMS

Galectin-1, an Endogenous Lectin Produced by Thymic Epithelial Cells, Induces Apoptosis of Human Thymocytes

Galectin-1, a β-galactoside binding protein, is produced by thymic epithelial cells and binds to human thymocytes. We have previously reported that galectin-1 induces the apoptosis of activated T lymphocytes. Because the majority of thymocytes die via apoptosis while still within the thymus, we tested whether galectin-1 could induce the apoptosis of these cells. We now report that in vitro exposure to galectin-1 induced apoptosis of two subsets of CD4lo CD8lo thymocytes. The phenotypes of susceptible thymocytes were consistent with that of both negatively selected and nonselected cells. Galectin-1–induced apoptosis was enhanced by preexposure of thymocytes to antibody to CD3, suggesting that galectin-1 may be a participant in T-cell– receptor mediated apoptosis. In contrast, pretreatment of thymocytes with dexamethasone had no effect on galectin-1 susceptibility. We noted that 71% of the cells undergoing apoptosis after galectin-1 treatment had a DNA content greater than 2N, indicating that proliferating thymocytes were most sensitive to galectin-1. We propose that galectin-1 plays a role in the apoptosis of both negatively selected and nonselected thymocytes, and that the susceptibility of thymocytes to galectin-1 is regulated, in part, by entry or exit from the cell cycle

Surveys of Cancer Patients and Cancer Health Care Providers Regarding Complementary Therapy Use, Communication, and Information Needs

Background. Complementary therapies (CTs) are increasingly utilized by cancer patients. Nonetheless, patients report insufficient support from health care practitioners (HCPs) and there is a general lack of patient-practitioner communication about CT use. Best care practices suggest that HCPs should address the needs of patients, including CT use. This study examined current practices of patients and HCPs as well as their interactions relating to CTs. Methods. A total of 481 cancer outpatients and 100 HCPs completed questionnaires. Patient questions addressed CT use and information needs; HCP questions addressed knowledge, opinions and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine. Patient-practitioner communication around CT was also examined. Results. 47% of patients reported using CTs since diagnosis. Many commenced CT use to improve quality of life (65%) based on recommendations from family or friends. Patients acknowledged the need for trusted sources of information and would attend a hospital-based education program (72%). HCPs reported limited training about CTs but most (90%) expressed interested in receiving more training. The majority of HCPs (\u3e80%) reported limited knowledge about the role of CTs in cancer care or evidence to support CT use. Questions about communication and interactions revealed that 80% of patients reported not having had an HCP speak to them about CTs. However, 63% of HCPs reported addressing CT use. Conclusion. Results demonstrate a need for improved CT education and training for patients and HCPs. increasing HCP knowledge and clinical skills will ensure patients information needs about CTs are acknowledged and attended to, thereby providing safer and comprehensive cancer care

Multimodal investigations of trans-endothelial cell trafficking under condition of disrupted blood-brain barrier integrity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Stem cells or immune cells targeting the central nervous system (CNS) bear significant promises for patients affected by CNS disorders. Brain or spinal cord delivery of therapeutic cells is limited by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) which remains one of the recognized rate-limiting steps. Osmotic BBB disruption (BBBD) has been shown to improve small molecule chemotherapy for brain tumors, but successful delivery of cells in conjunction with BBBD has never been reported.</p> <p>We have used a clinically relevant model (pig) of BBBD to attempt brain delivery of TALL-104, a human leukemic T cell line. TALL-104 cells are potent tumor killers and have demonstrated potential for systemic tumor therapy. The pig model used is analogous to the clinical BBBD procedure. Cells were injected in the carotid artery after labeling with the MRI T1 contrast agent GdHPDO3A. Contrast CT scans were used to quantify BBBD and MRI was used to detect Gd⁺⁺-loaded cells in the brain. Transcranial Doppler was used to monitor cerebral blood flow. EEG recordings were used to detect seizures. Immunocytochemical detection (Cresyl Violet, anti-human CD8 for TALL-104, Evans Blue for BBB damage, GFAP and NEUN) was performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At the concentration used TALL-104 cells were tolerated. Incomplete BBBD did not allow cell entry into the brain. MRI scans at 24 and 48 hours post-injection allowed visualization of topographically segregated cells in the hemisphere that underwent successful BBBD. Perivascular location of TALL-104 was confirmed in the BBBD hemisphere by Cresyl violet and CD8 immunocytochemistry. No significant alteration in CBF or EEG activity was recorded during cell injections.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data show that targeted CNS cell therapy requires blood-brain barrier disruption. MRI-detectable cytotoxic anti-neoplastic cells can be forced to transverse the BBB and accumulate in the perivascular space. The virtual absence of toxicity, the high anti-tumor activity of TALL-104, and the clinical feasibility of human osmotic BBBD suggest that this approach may be adopted to treat brain or spinal cord tumors. In addition, BBBD may favor CNS entry of other cells that normally lack CNS tropism.</p

Prediction of hypertension by different anthropometric indices in adults: the change in estimate approach

To examine the relative contribution for the prediction of hypertension by waist circumference (WC), waist-to-stature ratio (WSR), or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) to that by body mass index (BMI) to ascertain if WC, WSR, or WHR enhances the prediction of hypertension by BMI