Transformational Leadership Professional Development Website for Leaders of Urban, Voucher Schools

Teachers in the United States are leaving the classroom at alarming rates (Ingersoll, Merrill & Stuckey, 2014). In order to give all students access to high-quality education, this issue of teacher retention needs to be addressed. The professional development website designed for this capstone project focuses on answering the research question: What effects does a principal’s transformational leadership style have on teacher retention at an urban, voucher school? There has been a great deal of research dedicated to the causes and solutions to teacher attrition (Darling-Hammond, 2003); however, there is little research specifically on how transformational leadership affects the retention decisions of teachers in urban, voucher schools. The website gives principals and other school leaders practical ways to build transformational leadership. It will initially be used with a group of principals from urban voucher schools in Milwaukee, WI, but can be adapted to be used for a variety of participant groups. The goal of the project is that, through the website, school leaders can build transformational leadership and therefore increase teacher retention at their schools

Delivering too much, too little or off target-possible consequences of differences in perceptions on agricultural advisory services

Advisory services are considered to play an important role in the development of competitiveness and sustainability in agriculture. Advisory services have been studied at policy level, structural level and within case studies, but there is still restricted knowledge about advisors' and farmers' view on advisory services in general. This paper presents the views of Swedish advisors and farmers on advisory services. In a survey-based study, perceptions of farm advisors and full-time farmers in commercial Swedish agriculture on advisory services were identified and statistically analysed, comparing differences between and within the groups. The results are structured around three main themes; motives for a farmer using or not using advisory services, preferred approach by the advisor and future demands on advisory services and their importance today. Possible consequences of differences in perceptions for on-farm service delivery were assessed. Similarities in perceptions on advisory services among advisors and farmers, were found in areas characterised by well-defined questions or production-related issues. Significant differences in perceptions of advisors and farmers emerged in less concrete areas and on topics connected to change, management and strategy. Consequences of discrepancies in perceptions are that advisors may deliver too much, too little or off target, especially when expectations on advisory services are not clearly expressed. A strong and proactive back-office supporting the advisors is needed to prevent these possible consequences

Migration and risk of intellectual disability with and without autism:A population-based cohort study

Objective To investigate whether parental migration, parental region of origin, timing of child's birth in relation to maternal migration and parental reason for migration are associated with intellectual disability (ID) with and without autism. Methods We used a register-based cohort of all individuals aged 0–17 years in Stockholm County during 2001–2011. General estimating equation logistic model and additionally sibling comparison were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The models were adjusted for child's sex and birth year and parental age at child's birth, and additionally for migrant-specific variables in the analyses including only children with migrant parent(s). Results Within the eligible sample of 670,098 individuals, 3781 (0.6%) had ID with autism, and 5076 (0.8%) had ID without autism. Compared with children with Swedish-born parents, children with both parents born abroad had an increased risk of ID with autism (OR = 1.6, CI 1.5–1.8) and ID without autism (OR = 1.9, CI 1.7–2.0). Among these children with both parents born abroad, it was protective of ID with autism when the child's birth occurred before and later than four years after maternal migration, which was replicated in the sibling comparison. The associations with both conditions were more pronounced with parental origin in regions comprising low- and middle-income countries and with reasons other than work or study. Conclusions Parental migration is associated with ID regardless of co-occurrence of autism. Our results indicate an association between environmental factors during pregnancy related to migration and offspring ID with autism, although further confirmative studies are needed

Circulating Tissue Polypeptide-Specific Antigen in Pre-Diagnostic Pancreatic Cancer Samples

Simple Summary:& nbsp;Detecting cancer early significantly increases the chances of successful (surgical) treatment. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancer forms, since it is usually discovered at a late and already spread stage. Finding biomarkers showing pancreatic cancer at an early stage is a possible approach to early detection and improved treatment. The aim of our study was to assess the potential of tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) as a biomarker for early pancreatic cancer detection. We studied TPS levels in blood plasma samples from a population-based biobank in Vasterbotten, Sweden that were collected before individuals were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Although TPS levels are raised at diagnosis, this occurs late, and thus TPS does not seem to hold promise as an early detection marker for pancreatic cancer.& nbsp;Early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is challenging, and late diagnosis partly explains the low 5-year survival. Novel and sensitive biomarkers are needed to enable early PDAC detection and improve patient outcomes. Tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) has been studied as a biomarker in PDAC diagnostics, and it has previously been shown to reflect clinical status better than the 'golden standard' biomarker carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) that is most widely used in the clinical setting. In this cross-sectional case-control study using pre-diagnostic plasma samples, we aim to evaluate the potential of TPS as a biomarker for early PDAC detection. Furthermore, in a subset of individuals with multiple samples available at different time points before diagnosis, a longitudinal analysis was used. We assessed plasma TPS levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 267 pre-diagnostic PDAC plasma samples taken up to 18.8 years before clinical PDAC diagnosis and in 320 matched healthy controls. TPS levels were also assessed in 25 samples at PDAC diagnosis. Circulating TPS levels were low both in pre-diagnostic samples of future PDAC patients and in healthy controls, whereas TPS levels at PDAC diagnosis were significantly increased (odds ratio 1.03; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.05) in a logistic regression model adjusted for age. In conclusion, TPS levels increase late in PDAC progression and hold no potential as a biomarker for early detection.Peer reviewe

BMI, sex and outcomes in hospitalised patients in western Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic

High body mass index (BMI) is associated with severe COVID-19 but findings regarding the need of intensive care (IC) and mortality are mixed. Using electronic health records, we identified all patients in western Sweden hospitalised with COVID-19 to evaluate 30-day mortality or assignment to IC. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for outcomes. Of totally 9761 patients, BMI was available in 7325 (75%), included in the study. There was a marked inverse association between BMI and age (underweight and normal weight patients were on average 78 and 75\ua0years, whereas overweight and obese were 68 and 62\ua0years). While older age, male sex and several comorbidities associated with higher mortality after multivariable adjustment, BMI did not. However, BMI ≥ 30\ua0kg/m2\ua0(OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.21–1.75) was associated with need of IC; this association was restricted to women (BMI ≥ 30; OR 1.96 (95% CI 1.41–2.73), and not significant in men; OR 1.22 (95% CI 0.97–1.54). In this comprehensive hospital population with COVID-19, BMI was not associated with 30-day mortality risk. Among the obese, women, but not men, had a higher risk of assignment to IC

Body Mass Index in young women and risk of cardiomyopathy: a long-term follow-up study in Sweden

Incidence rates of cardiomyopathies, which are a common cause of heart failure in young people, have increased during the last decades. An association between body weight in adolescence and future cardiomyopathy among men was recently identified. Whether or not this holds true also for women is unknown. The aim was therefore to determine whether for young women being overweight or obese is associated with a higher risk of developing cardiomyopathy. This was a registry-based national prospective cohort study with data collected from the Swedish Medical Birth Register, 1982 to 2014, with up to 33 years of follow-up. Included women were of childbearing age (18-45 years) during the initial antenatal visit in their first or second pregnancy (n=1 393 346). We obtained baseline data on body mass index (BMI), smoking, education, and previous disorders. After exclusions, mainly because of previous disorders, the final sample was composed of 1 388 571 women. Cardiomyopathy cases were identified by linking the Medical Birth Register to the National Patient and Cause of Death registers. In total, we identified 1699 cases of cardiomyopathy (mean age at diagnosis, 46.2 [SD 9.1] years) during the follow-up with an incidence rate of 5.9 per 100 000 observation years. Of these, 481 were diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, 246 had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 61 had alcohol/drug-induced cardiomyopathy, and 509 had other forms. The lowest risk for being diagnosed with a cardiomyopathy was detected at a BMI of 21 kg/m , with a gradual increase in risk with higher BMI, particularly for dilated cardiomyopathy, where a hazard ratio of 4.71 (95% CI, 2.81-7.89) was found for severely obese subjects (BMI ≥35 kg/m ), as compared with BMI 20 to <22.5. Elevated BMI among young women was associated with an increased risk of being diagnosed with a subsequent cardiomyopathy, especially dilated cardiomyopathy, starting already at mildly elevated body weight, whereas severe obesity entailed an almost 5-fold increase in risk. With the increasing numbers of persons who are overweight or obese, higher rates of cardiomyopathy can be expected in the future, along with an altered disease burden related to adiposity

Age and sex differences in cause-specific excess mortality and years of life lost associated with COVID-19 infection in the Swedish population

Background Estimating excess mortality and years of life lost (YLL) attributed to coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) infection provides a comprehensive picture of the mortality burden on society. We aimed to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on age- and sex-specific excess mortality and YLL in Sweden during the first 17 months of the pandemic. Methods In this population-based observational study, we calculated age- and sex-specific excess all-cause mortality and excess YLL during 2020 and the first 5 months of 2021 and cause-specific death [deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, other causes and deaths excluding COVID-19] in 2020 compared with an average baseline for 2017-19 in the whole Swedish population. Results COVID-19 deaths contributed 9.9% of total deaths (98 441 deaths, 960 305 YLL) in 2020, accounting for 75 151 YLL (7.7 YLL/death). There were 2672 (5.7%) and 1408 (3.0%) excess deaths, and 19 141 (3.8%) and 3596 (0.8%) excess YLL in men and women, respectively. Men aged 65-110 years and women aged 75-110 years were the greatest contributors. Fewer deaths and YLL from CVD, cancer and other causes were observed in 2020 compared with the baseline adjusted to the population size in 2020. Conclusions Compared with the baseline, excess mortality and YLL from all causes were experienced in Sweden during 2020, with a higher excess observed in men than in women, indicating that more men died at a younger age while more women died at older ages than expected. A notable reduction in deaths and YLL due to CVD suggests a displacement effect from CVD to COVID-19

Anxiety Disorders in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder:A Population-Based Study

Anxiety is common in children with ASD; however, the burden of specific anxiety disorders for adults with ASD is under-researched. Using the Stockholm Youth Cohort, we compared anxiety disorder diagnoses among autistic adults (n = 4049), with or without intellectual disability, and population controls (n = 217,645). We conducted additional sibling analyses. Anxiety disorders were diagnosed in 20.1% of adults with ASD compared with 8.7% of controls (RR = 2.62 [95% CI 2.47-2.79]), with greatest risk for autistic people without intellectual disability. Rates of almost all individual anxiety disorders were raised, notably obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobic anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders were more common in full siblings and half-siblings of people with ASD. The implications of this are explored

Family History of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder as Risk Factors for Autism

The clinical and etiological relation between autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia is unclear. The degree to which these disorders share a basis in etiology has important implications for clinicians, researchers, and those affected. Our objective was to determine if a family history of schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder was a risk factor for ASD. We conducted a case-control evaluation of histories of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in first-degree relatives of probands in three samples, population registers in Sweden, Stockholm County, and Israel. Probands met criteria for ASD, and affection status of parents and siblings for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were established