Using Community Based Participatory Action Research as Service-learning for Tribal College Students

This work reports the methodological approach used in a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project that incorporated Northern Plains tribal college students from four different communities as data gatherers and co-researchers in their communities. We report preliminary findings of perceptions of service learning among the participating tribal college students based on reflective interviews

Measuring quality and outcomes of research collaborations: An integrative review

Introduction: Although the science of team science is no longer a new field, the measurement of team science and its standardization remain in relatively early stages of development. To describe the current state of team science assessment, we conducted an integrative review of measures of research collaboration quality and outcomes. Methods: Collaboration measures were identified using both a literature review based on specific keywords and an environmental scan. Raters abstracted details about the measures using a standard tool. Measures related to collaborations with clinical care, education, and program delivery were excluded from this review. Results: We identified 44 measures of research collaboration quality, which included 35 measures with reliability and some form of statistical validity reported. Most scales focused on group dynamics. We identified 89 measures of research collaboration outcomes; 16 had reliability and 15 had a validity statistic. Outcome measures often only included simple counts of products; publications rarely defined how counts were delimited, obtained, or assessed for reliability. Most measures were tested in only one venue. Conclusions: Although models of collaboration have been developed, in general, strong, reliable, and valid measurements of such collaborations have not been conducted or accepted into practice. This limitation makes it difficult to compare the characteristics and impacts of research teams across studies or to identify the most important areas for intervention. To advance the science of team science, we provide recommendations regarding the development and psychometric testing of measures of collaboration quality and outcomes that can be replicated and broadly applied across studies

Comment letters to the National Commission on Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting, 1987 (Treadway Commission) Vol. 1

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_sop/1661/thumbnail.jp

Instructional Crisis Communication: Connecting Ethnicity and Sex in the Assessment of Receiver-Oriented Message Effectiveness

This study explored the responses of receivers of risk messages that included all elements of the Internalization-Distribution-Explanation-Action (IDEA) learning cycle model to determine if culture, sex, and socio-economic status had any impact on receptivity and behavioral intention. Using a pre- and post-measures experimental design, 746 participants from different geographic areas within the United States watched prepared news clips. Participants identified their learning styles, the perceived message effectiveness, and their behavioral intentions following their observation. Results suggest that messages addressing all elements of the IDEA model were perceived as more effective by participants. Ethnicity and sex of participants in some cases made a difference regarding perception of message effectiveness

A Nebulin Ruler Does Not Dictate Thin Filament Lengths

To generate force, striated muscle requires overlap between uniform-length actin and myosin filaments. The hypothesis that a nebulin ruler mechanism specifies thin filament lengths by targeting where tropomodulin (Tmod) caps the slow-growing, pointed end has not been rigorously tested. Using fluorescent microscopy and quantitative image analysis, we found that nebulin extended 1.01–1.03 μm from the Z-line, but Tmod localized 1.13–1.31 μm from the Z-line, in seven different rabbit skeletal muscles. Because nebulin does not extend to the thin filament pointed ends, it can neither target Tmod capping nor specify thin filament lengths. We found instead a strong correspondence between thin filament lengths and titin isoform sizes for each muscle. Our results suggest the existence of a mechanism whereby nebulin specifies the minimum thin filament length and sarcomere length regulates and coordinates pointed-end dynamics to maintain the relative overlap of the thin and thick filaments during myofibril assembly

A Receiver-Based Approach to Effective Instructional Crisis Communication

Much research has informed the development of a valuable series of sender‐focused best practices for effective crisis communication. Relatively little crisis communication research, however, focuses on receiver‐focused best practicesas related to eliciting appropriate actions before, during and after crisis events. Because effective instructional communication is measured by learner (i.e., receiver) outcome achievement of affective (perceived value), cognitive (comprehension) and behavioural (performance) variables, this study examined perceived message effectiveness and behavioural intention using the IDEA model of instructional risk and crisis communication. Results of this comparative quasi‐experimental study revealed that messages integrating all elements of the IDEA model were more effective than status quo messages and point to the need for continued research on effective instructional crisis communication message design

Exposure of adult mice to environmental tobacco smoke fails to enhance the immune response to inhaled antigen

Epidemiologic evidence supports a role for environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the occurrence and severity of allergies/asthma. However, neither the precise combination of ETS and allergen exposure nor the mechanism (or mechanisms) by which these factors interact and contribute to asthma induction is known. Animal model studies have failed to establish a convincing relationship between ETS exposure and asthma induction, perhaps because of methodological inadequacies. Here, we tested the hypothesis that ETS inhalation would provoke an asthmatic response by overcoming normal airway tolerance to inhaled antigens. Our protocol combined daily ETS exposure with nose-only sensitization to ovalbumin. Three strains of mice were tested, each with a different level of susceptibility to airway hypersensitivity. Immunological responses were assessed by immunoglobulin production. Airway inflammation was assessed by bronchoalveolar lavage differentials and lung histopathology. Airway hyperresponsiveness was determined by methacholine challenge. The mice produced ovalbumin-specific antibodies following ovalbumin exposure in a strain-dependent manner. Only the A/J mice produced detectable levels of ovalbumin-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E. Both A/J and BALB/c mice produced ovalbumin-specific IgG1 antibodies. The C57Bl/6 mice did not produce detectable levels of antibodies. The A/J mice also exhibited airway inflammation following ovalbumin exposure. Neither the C57Bl/6 nor the BALB/c mice exhibited signs of airway inflammation. Exposure to ETS failed to enhance ovalbumin-specific antibody production, airway inflammation, or hyperresponsiveness. Together these results indicate that ETS exposure accompanied by nose-only allergen sensitization fails to overcome aerosol tolerance in adult mice

Trajectories of alcohol use and consequences in college women with and without depressed mood

College students with depressed mood face heightened risk for experiencing drinking-related negative consequences. However, few studies have examined prospective patterns of alcohol consequences among depressed students. In the present investigation, we assessed how first-year college women’s trajectories of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and alcohol consequences differed as a function of depressed mood at college entry. Participants were 233 heavy drinking incoming first-year college females (61% White) at a mid-sized west coast university. Participants completed an online baseline survey, attended a single brief group intervention session, and completed 1- and 6-month post-intervention follow-up surveys. Depressed mood, alcohol consumption, and alcohol consequences were assessed at each time point. We employed latent growth curve analyses. Females with depressed mood, versus without depressed mood, experienced greater levels of alcohol consequences overall, particularly during transitions to college. However, contrary to hypotheses, participants with depressed mood (vs. without) exhibited significantly steeper declining trends in consequences, controlling for treatment condition, age, race, and ethnicity, and despite stable drinking levels, depressed mood, and use of protective behaviors over time. Potential explanations and suggestions for future research are discussed