Evaluation of a Coping Kit of Items to Support Children with Developmental Disorders in the Hospital Setting

This study attempted to answer the question, Do nurses perceive coping kits to be effective at meeting the needs of hospitalized children with developmental disabilities who are at increased risk for challenging behaviors? A cross-sectional post-test survey study design was used, with a convenience sample of 24 registered nurses at a Midwestern free-standing children\u27s hospital. A coping kit with simple communication cards, social script book, and distraction items (toys) was developed to enhance communication and distract children with developmental disabilities (including autism spectrum disorder) undergoing procedures in the hospital. A modified version of Hudson\u27s (2006) intervention effectiveness survey was used to measure the nurse\u27s perception of the effectiveness of the coping kit. Nurses perceived the coping kits to be effective for decreasing their patient\u27s anxiety, calming the child\u27s behavior, and increasing cooperation during procedures. The nurse can develop a plan of care that includes a coping kit to help gain cooperation with the hospitalized child with challenging behaviors

Student motivations, perceptions and opinions of participating in student evaluation of teaching surveys: A scoping review

Several times each year the teaching performance of academics at higher education institutions are evaluated through anonymous, online student evaluation of teaching (SET) surveys. Universities use SETs to inform decisions about staff promotion and tenure, but low student participation levels make the surveys impractical for this use. This scoping review aims to explore student motivations, perceptions and opinions of SET survey completion. Five EBSCO® databases were searched using key words. Thematic analysis of a meta-synthesis of qualitative findings derived from 21 papers identified five themes: (i) the value students’ place on SET, (ii) the knowledge that SET responses are acted upon to improve teaching, (iii) assurance of survey confidentiality and anonymity, (iv) incentives for completing SET, and (v) survey design and timing of survey release. Perceptions, knowledge and attitudes about the value of SET are essential factors in motivating students to engage and complete SETs, particularly if surveys are easy to interpret, time for completion is incentivised and responses are valued

Student evaluation of teaching: Reactions of Australian academics to anonymous non-constructive student commentary.

Within Australian higher education, student evaluation of teaching (SET) is regularly conducted and data are utilised for quality control and staff appraisal. Within current methodologies, students can anonymously provide further feedback as written commentary. There is now growing evidence that, once this narrative becomes derogatory or abusive, it may have the potential to create harm. To investigate staff reactions to receiving anonymous non-constructive commentary, a one group point in time design was constructed, and a survey conducted. Participants (N = 741) from a broad cross-section of Australian universities responded to Likert questions asking about their reactions. A significant impact was revealed according to age for mental health, stress and professional confidence, with younger and tenured academics indicating the most vulnerability. There were no differences across gender. Non-health disciplines with teaching loads greater than 50% reported an impact of anonymous SET on mental health and professional confidence. Being casually or seasonally employed or from an ethnic background was shown to have a significant effect on professional confidence. Findings suggest that the potential for higher education academics to be harmed via this process is a continued risk and highlights the need for review and reform of SET systems and protocols

Effectiveness of Multiple Recruitment Strategies for a Large Clinical Trial with Learner Teen Drivers

Many studies do not achieve their goal for participant enrollment (Mapstone, Elbourne, & Roberts, 2002). • Longitudinal studies with teen drivers are rare, in part due to the difficulty with recruitment and attrition as well as necessarily strict inclusion criteria (Lee et al., 2011; McCartt, Farmer, 7 Jenness, 2010).• The sources used for recruitment can be a determining factor in the effectiveness of the overall enrollment rates. • A community-based randomized controlled trial required recruitment of a large number of participants, 512 parent-teen dyads, in a short period of time. This is a post-hoc analysis of the most effective forms of recruitment we found for this study

Gut Microbial Trimethylamine Is Elevated in Alcohol-Associated Hepatitis and Contributes to Ethanol-Induced Liver Injury in Mice

There is mounting evidence that microbes residing in the human intestine contribute to diverse alcohol-associated liver diseases (ALD) including the most deadly form known as alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH). However, mechanisms by which gut microbes synergize with excessive alcohol intake to promote liver injury are poorly understood. Furthermore, whether drugs that selectively target gut microbial metabolism can improve ALD has never been tested. We used liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to quantify the levels of microbe and host choline co-metabolites in healthy controls and AH patients, finding elevated levels of the microbial metabolite trimethylamine (TMA) in AH. In subsequent studies, we treated mice with non-lethal bacterial choline TMA lyase (CutC/D) inhibitors to blunt gut microbe-dependent production of TMA in the context of chronic ethanol administration. Indices of liver injury were quantified by complementary RNA sequencing, biochemical, and histological approaches. In addition, we examined the impact of ethanol consumption and TMA lyase inhibition on gut microbiome structure via 16S rRNA sequencing. We show the gut microbial choline metabolite TMA is elevated in AH patients and correlates with reduced hepatic expression of the TMA oxygenase flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3). Provocatively, we find that small molecule inhibition of gut microbial CutC/D activity protects mice from ethanol-induced liver injury. CutC/D inhibitor-driven improvement in ethanol-induced liver injury is associated with distinct reorganization of the gut microbiome and host liver transcriptome. The microbial metabolite TMA is elevated in patients with AH, and inhibition of TMA production from gut microbes can protect mice from ethanol-induced liver injury

More than just food: Food insecurity and resilient place making through community self organising

This research considers the relationship between neoliberalism, poverty and food insecurity and how this impacts on the ability of a community to self-organise and become resilient. Specifically, it examines shocks imposed by the implementation of austerity policy and neoliberal welfare reform and the longer term individualisation that gives rise to greater vulnerability to such shocks and how community organisations encourage different levels of resilience in the face of this. Original findings from case study and qualitative analysis are twofold. Firstly, food insecurity effects are not only hunger and poor health experienced at the individual scale, but they also extend into places through the loss of social networks, erosion of community spaces, denigration of local foodscapes and collective de-skilling that limits the community resources needed for self-organising. Secondly, the ways in which food support is provided in communities has implications for how communities can regain the resources they need to be able to enact resilience in the face of trouble and difficulty. As such, the research demonstrates that self-organising is more than free-time activity; in these conditions, the capacity to self-organise is a vital community asset that is necessary for building resilience and social sustainability. As such, policy responses to poverty should take a multi-scale approach

Obstetric Outcomes in Women with Rheumatic Disease and COVID-19 in the Context of Vaccination Status

OBJECTIVE: To describe obstetric outcomes based on COVID-19 vaccination status, in women with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) who developed COVID-19 during pregnancy. METHODS: Data regarding pregnant women entered into the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry from 24 March 2020-25 February 2022 were analysed. Obstetric outcomes were stratified by number of COVID-19 vaccine doses received prior to COVID-19 infection in pregnancy. Descriptive differences between groups were tested using the chi -square or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: There were 73 pregnancies in 73 women with RMD and COVID-19. Overall, 24.7% (18) of pregnancies were ongoing, while of the 55 completed pregnancies 90.9% (50) of pregnancies resulted in livebirths. At the time of COVID-19 diagnosis, 60.3% (n = 44) of women were unvaccinated, 4.1% (n = 3) had received one vaccine dose while 35.6% (n = 26) had two or more doses. Although 83.6% (n = 61) of women required no treatment for COVID-19, 20.5% (n = 15) required hospital admission. COVID-19 resulted in delivery in 6.8% (n = 3) of unvaccinated women and 3.8% (n = 1) of fully vaccinated women. There was a greater number of preterm births (PTB) in unvaccinated women compared with fully vaccinated 29.5% (n = 13) vs 18.2%(n = 2). CONCLUSION: In this descriptive study, unvaccinated pregnant women with RMD and COVID-19 had a greater number of PTB compared with those fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Additionally, the need for COVID-19 pharmacological treatment was uncommon in pregnant women with RMD regardless of vaccination status. These results support active promotion of COVID-19 vaccination in women with RMD who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy

Testing the temporal ability of landsat imagery and precision agriculture technology to provide high resolution historical estimates of wheat yield at the farm scale

The long term archiving of both Landsat imagery and wheat yield mapping datasets sensed by precision agriculture technology has the potential through the development of statistical relationships to predict high resolution estimates of wheat yield over large areas for multiple seasons. Quantifying past yield performance over different growing seasons can inform agricultural management decisions ranging from fertilizer applications at the sub-paddock scale to changes in land use at a landscape scale. However, an understanding of the magnitude of prediction errors is needed. In this study, we examine the predictive wheat yield relationships developed from Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) acquired Landsat imagery and combine-mounted yield monitors for three Western Australian farms over different growing seasons. We further analysed their predictive capability when these relationships are used to extrapolate yield from one farm to another. Over all seasons, the best predictions were achieved with imagery acquired in September. Of the five seasons reviewed, three showed very reasonable prediction accuracies, with the low and high rainfall years providing good predictions. Medium rainfall years showed the greatest variation in prediction accuracy with marginal to poor predictions resulting from narrow ranges of measured wheat yield and NDVI values. These results demonstrate the potential benefit of fusing together two high resolution datasets to create robust wheat yield prediction models over different growing seasons, the outputs of which can be used to inform agricultural decision making.Greg Lyle, Megan Lewis and Bertram Ostendor