Challenges in implementing green workforce development training

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-47).To meet the labor demands of green economic development, workforce development programs are increasingly training low-income workers for living wage jobs that contribute to environmental services or benefits. Yet, effectively preparing workers for jobs in emergent green economies, which can span many different sectors from energy efficiency to waste management, presents significant challenges for job training programs in practice. This thesis investigates the difficulties of adding a green dimension to job training while still meeting the basic employment objectives of workforce development programs. Through the experiences of the Oakland Green Jobs Corps and the Baltimore Center for Green Careers (BCGC), I analyze the mechanisms through which each program has influenced labor supply and demand to enable jobs in the green economy. Ultimately, the two cases highlight the tradeoffs between achieving green objectives and securing employment for disadvantaged workers at scale. In shedding light on how and why different programmatic decisions have influenced performance outcomes, this thesis aims to inform other cities' decisions in developing green jobs training initiatives.by Louise H. Yeung.M.C.P

Surgeon\u27s guide to anticoagulant and antiplatelet medications part two: antiplatelet agents and perioperative management of long-term anticoagulation.

An increasing number of potent antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications are being used for the long-term management of cardiac, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular conditions. Management of these medications in the perioperative and peri-injury settings can be challenging for surgeons, mandating an understanding of these agents and the risks and benefits of various management strategies. In this two part review, agents commonly encountered by surgeons in the perioperative and peri-injury settings are discussed and management strategies for patients on long-term antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy reviewed. In part one, we review warfarin and the new direct oral anticoagulants. In part two, we review antiplatelet agents and assessment of platelet function and the perioperative management of long-term anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy

A tool for helping educators evaluate the level of inquiry in laboratory activities

BACKGROUND Learning science by doing experiments features in the Australian Curriculum: Science as well as university settings. The nature of the experimentation varies immensely, from open-ended to recipe based practical activities. While doing experiments attempts to capture the notion of scientific inquiry, it is a challenge to share understandings of what constitutes inquiry, since there is no universal or concrete definition of science inquiry. Consequently, educators have difficulties understanding how to design, implement and evaluate inquiry-based activities that best engage students and help them learn science. Instead, practitioners tend to create their own working definition of inquiry based on their needs (Buck, Bretz, and Towns, 2008). According to the National Research Council (NRC, 1996), “Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work. Inquiry also refers to the activities of students in which they develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world.” Based on this articulation and further research, a framework has been developed and trialled by practitioners (National Research Council, 2000; Asay & Orgil, 2010). Using this framework, we have developed a tool that can be used to integrate inquiry in practical activities. This presentation will describe this tool its utility in curriculum. APPROACH The Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory (ASELL) project has run workshops for over 100 teachers. In the workshops teachers evaluate the level on inquiry of the experiments using the ASELL Inquiry Scaffolding Instrument (AISI) tool based on the framework discussed above. An exemplar inquiry experiment is used to benchmark an open-ended inquiry while most teachers are familiar with recipe experiments. RESULTS Our results show that teachers find the multitude of definitions of inquiry teachers challenging. Further, quite often the definitions are of limited use in the classroom. Despite this confusion, when utilising the AISI, teachers have fairly consistent understandings of inquiry, as shown by statistics. Teachers found the tool useful and would use the tool in their curriculum. Many also said it was a simple tool to use to help them modify their existing experiments and develop them into more inquiry-based experiments. CONCLUSIONS A concerted effort is needed to provide sound and practical tools to help teachers incorporate inquiry in their experiments. The AISI is one such tool that has been found to be useful for increasing the level of inquiry in practical activities.. REFERENCES Asay,L.D.,& Orgill,M.(2010). Analysis of essential features of inquiry found in articles published in The Science Teacher, 1998-2007. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 21, 57-79. Buck,L. B.,Bretz, S. L.,& Towns, M. H.(2008).Characterizing the level of inquiry in the undergraduate laboratory. Journal of College Science Teaching, September/October, 52-58. National Research Council (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. National Research Council (2000). Inquiry and the national science education standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Washington DC: National Academic Press

Invigorating science practicals using an inquiry orientated pedagogical tool

BACKGROUND Learning science by ‘doing experiments’ features in the Australian Curriculum: Science as well as university settings. The nature of the experimentation varies immensely, from open-ended to recipe based practical activities. While ‘doing experiments’ attempts to capture the notion of scientific inquiry, it is a challenge to share understandings of what constitutes inquiry, since there is no universal or concrete definition of science inquiry. Consequently, there has been “confusion about what teaching science as inquiry means” (Trowbridge, Bybee and Powell, 2008) and as such teachers may have difficulties understanding how to design, implement and evaluate inquiry-based activities that best engage their students and help them learn scientific concepts. Instead, practitioners tend to create their own working definition of inquiry based on their needs (Buck, Bretz, and Towns, 2008). According to the National Research Council (NRC, 1996), “Scientific inquiry refers to …the activities of students in which they develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world.” Based on this articulation and further research, a framework has been developed and trialled by practitioners (National Research Council, 2000; Asay & Orgil, 2010). Using this framework, we have developed a tool that can be used to integrate inquiry into practical activities. This presentation will describe this tool and its utility in curriculum. APPROACH The Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory (ASELL) project has and continues to run workshops, which engage teachers and students from High Schools across Australia. In the workshops teachers evaluate the level of inquiry of the experiments using the ASELL Inquiry Scaffolding Instrument (AISI) tool based on the framework discussed above. An exemplar inquiry experiment is used to benchmark an open-ended inquiry while most teachers are familiar with recipe experiments. RESULTS Our results show that teachers find the multitude of definitions of inquiry teachers challenging. Further, quite often the definitions are of limited use in the classroom. Despite this confusion, when utilising the AISI, teachers have fairly consistent understandings of inquiry, as shown by statistics. Teachers found the tool useful and would use the tool in their curriculum. Many also said it was a simple tool to use to help them modify their existing experiments and develop them into more inquiry-based experiments. CONCLUSIONS A concerted effort is needed to provide sound and practical tools to help teachers incorporate scientific inquiry in their experiments. The AISI is one such tool that has been found to be useful for increasing the level of inquiry in practical activities. REFERENCES Asay,L.D.,& Orgill,M.(2010). Analysis of essential features of inquiry found in articles published in The Science Teacher, 1998-2007. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 21, 57-79. Buck,L. B.,Bretz, S. L.,& Towns, M. H.(2008).Characterizing the level of inquiry in the undergraduate laboratory. Journal of College Science Teaching, September/October, 52-58. National Research Council (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. National Research Council (2000). Inquiry and the national science education standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Washington DC: National Academic Press.Trowbridge, L.W., Bybee, R.W., & Powell, J.C. (2000). Teaching secondary school science: Strategies for developing scientific literacy. Prentice Hall

Quality of artemisinin-based combination formulations for malaria treatment: prevalence and risk factors for poor quality medicines in public facilities and private sector drug outlets in Enugu, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Artemisinin-based combination therapies are recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as first-line treatment for Plasmodium falciparum malaria, yet medication must be of good quality for efficacious treatment. A recent meta-analysis reported 35% (796/2,296) of antimalarial drug samples from 21 Sub-Saharan African countries, purchased from outlets predominantly using convenience sampling, failed chemical content analysis. We used three sampling strategies to purchase artemisinin-containing antimalarials (ACAs) in Enugu metropolis, Nigeria, and compared the resulting quality estimates. METHODS: ACAs were purchased using three sampling approaches--convenience, mystery clients and overt, within a defined area and sampling frame in Enugu metropolis. The active pharmaceutical ingredients were assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography and confirmed by mass spectrometry at three independent laboratories. Results were expressed as percentage of APIs stated on the packaging and used to categorise each sample as acceptable quality, substandard, degraded, or falsified. RESULTS: Content analysis of 3024 samples purchased from 421 outlets using convenience (n=200), mystery (n=1,919) and overt (n=905) approaches, showed overall 90.8% ACAs to be of acceptable quality, 6.8% substandard, 1.3% degraded and 1.2% falsified. Convenience sampling yielded a significantly higher prevalence of poor quality ACAs, but was not evident by the mystery and overt sampling strategies both of which yielded results that were comparable between each other. Artesunate (n=135; 4 falsified) and dihydroartemisinin (n=14) monotherapy tablets, not recommended by WHO, were also identified. CONCLUSION: Randomised sampling identified fewer falsified ACAs than previously reported by convenience approaches. Our findings emphasise the need for specific consideration to be given to sampling frame and sampling approach if representative information on drug quality is to be obtained

Behavioral and Neural Indices of Metacognitive Sensitivity in Preverbal Infants

Humans adapt their behavior not only by observing the consequences of their actions but also by internally monitoring their performance. This capacity, termed metacognitive sensitivity [1, 2], has traditionally been denied to young children because they have poor capacities in verbally reporting their own mental states [3–5]. Yet, these observations might reflect children’s limited capacities for explicit self-reports, rather than limitations in metacognition per se. Indeed, metacognitive sensitivity has been shown to reflect simple computational mechanisms [1, 6–8], and can be found in various non-verbal species [7–10]. Thus, it might be that this faculty is present early in development, although it would be discernible through implicit behaviors and neural indices rather than explicit self-reports. Here, by relying on such non-verbal indices, we show that 12- and 18-monthold infants internally monitor the accuracy of their own decisions. At the behavioral level, infants showed increased persistence in their initial choice after making a correct as compared to an incorrect response, evidencing an appropriate evaluation of decision confidence. Moreover, infants were able to use decision confidence adaptively to either confirm their initial choice or change their mind. At the neural level, we found that a well-established electrophysiological signature of error monitoring in adults, the errorrelated negativity, is similarly elicited when infants make an incorrect choice. Hence, although explicit forms of metacognition mature later during childhood, infants already estimate decision confidence, monitor their errors, and use these metacognitive evaluations to regulate subsequent behavior

Impact of the 2008 economic and financial crisis on child health: a systematic review

The aim of this study was to provide an overview of studies in which the impact of the 2008 economic crisis on child health was reported. Structured searches of PubMed, and ISI Web of Knowledge, were conducted. Quantitative and qualitative studies reporting health outcomes on children, published since 2007 and related to the 2008 economic crisis were included. Two reviewers independently assessed studies for inclusion. Data were synthesised as a narrative review. Five hundred and six titles and abstracts were reviewed, from which 22 studies were included. The risk of bias for quantitative studies was mixed while qualitative studies showed low risk of bias. An excess of 28,000–50,000 infant deaths in 2009 was estimated in sub-Saharan African countries, and increased infant mortality in Greece was reported. Increased price of foods was related to worsening nutrition habits in disadvantaged families worldwide. An increase in violence against children was reported in the U.S., and inequalities in health-related quality of life appeared in some countries. Most studies suggest that the economic crisis has harmed children’s health, and disproportionately affected the most vulnerable groups. There is an urgent need for further studies to monitor the child health effects of the global recession and to inform appropriate public policy responses

Autism and autistic traits in those who died by suicide in England

Background: Autism and autistic traits are risk factors for suicidal behaviour. Aims: To explore the prevalence of autism (diagnosed and undiagnosed) in those who died by suicide, and identify risk factors for suicide in this group. Method: Stage 1: 372 coroners’ inquest records, covering the period 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2017 from two regions of England, were analysed for evidence that the person who died had diagnosed autism or undiagnosed possible autism (elevated autistic traits), and identified risk markers. Stage 2: 29 follow-up interviews with the next of kin of those who died gathered further evidence of autism and autistic traits using validated autism screening and diagnostic tools. Results: Stage 1: evidence of autism (10.8%) was significantly higher in those who died by suicide than the 1.1% prevalence expected in the UK general alive population (odds ratio (OR) = 11.08, 95% CI 3.92–31.31). Stage 2: 5 (17.2%) of the follow-up sample had evidence of autism identified from the coroners’ records in stage 1. We identified evidence of undiagnosed possible autism in an additional 7 (24.1%) individuals, giving a total of 12 (41.4%); significantly higher than expected in the general alive population (1.1%) (OR = 19.76, 95% CI 2.36–165.84). Characteristics of those who died were largely similar regardless of evidence of autism, with groups experiencing a comparably high number of multiple risk markers before they died. Conclusions: Elevated autistic traits are significantly over-represented in those who die by suicide

Personal Protective Equipment and Antiviral Drug Use during Hospitalization for Suspected Avian or Pandemic Influenza1

In a pandemic, many current national stockpiles of PPE and antiviral medications are likely inadequate