Health Educators in Florida’s County Public Health Departments: Frequency of and Perceived Confidence in Performing Entry-Level Competencies

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the activities of health educators in Florida’s county health departments concur with the responsibilities and competencies for health educators that have been established by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC, 2003). Fifty-three (68.8%) county public health department health educators completed a modified version of the Self-Assessment for the Health Education Specialist instrument (National Task Force, 1987) to determine the frequency and perceived confidence in performing entry-level health educator responsibilities. The data indicated that the entry-level responsibilities reflect the current health education practice in this group of health educators. The responsibility areas of planning and implementing health programs received the highest mean scores for frequency of performance (M=3.98, SD=0.66; M=3.88, SD=0.89, respectively) and perceived confidence level (M=4.13, SD=0.75; M=4.14, SD=0.90, respectively), whereas communicating and evaluating received the lowest mean scores for frequency (M=3.46, SD=0.94; M=3.49, SD=1.08, respectively) and perceived confidence level (M=3.86, SD=0.84; M=3.61, SD=1.11, respectively). A statistically significant positive correlation (

Coral skeleton P/Ca proxy for seawater phosphate: Multi-colony calibration with a contemporaneous seawater phosphate record

A geochemical proxy for surface ocean nutrient concentrations recorded in coral skeleton could provide new insight into the connections between sub-seasonal to centennial scale nutrient dynamics, ocean physics, and primary production in the past. Previous work showed that coralline P/Ca, a novel seawater phosphate proxy, varies synchronously with annual upwelling-driven cycles in surface water phosphate concentration. However, paired contemporaneous seawater phosphate time-series data, needed for rigorous calibration of the new proxy, were lacking. Here we present further development of the P/Ca proxy in Porites lutea and Montastrea sp. corals, showing that skeletal P/Ca in colonies from geographically distinct oceanic nutrient regimes is a linear function of seawater phosphate (PO4 SW) concentration. Further, high-resolution P/Ca records in multiple colonies of Pavona gigantea and Porites lobata corals grown at the same upwelling location in the Gulf of Panama were strongly correlated to a contemporaneous time-series record of surface water PO4 SW at this site (r2 = 0.7–0.9). This study supports application of the following multi-colony calibration equations to down-core records from comparable upwelling sites, resulting in ±0.2 and ±0.1 lmol/kg uncertainties in PO4 SW reconstructions from P. lobata and P. gigantea, respectively.P/Ca Porites lobata (lmol/mol) = (21.1 ? 2.4)PO4 SW (lmol/kg) + (14.3 ? 3.8)P/Ca Pavona gigantea (lmol/mol) = (29.2 ? 1.4)PO4 SW (lmol/kg) + (33.4 ? 2.7)Inter-colony agreement in P/Ca response to PO4 SW was good (±5–12% about mean calibration slope), suggesting that species-specific calibration slopes can be applied to new coral P/Ca records to reconstruct past changes in surface ocean phosphate. However, offsets in the y-intercepts of calibration regressions among co-located individuals and taxa suggest that biologically-regulated “vital effects” and/or skeletal extension rate may also affect skeletal P incorporation. Quantification of the effect of skeletal extension rate on P/Ca could lead to corrected calibration equations and improved inter-colony P/Ca agreement. Nevertheless, the efficacy of the P/Ca proxy is thus supported by both broad scale correlation to mean surface water phosphate and regional calibration against documented local seawater phosphate variations

Improving Understanding of Service User Involvement and Identity: A Report of Research Findings

This report aims to improve understanding of good and bad experiences of service user involvement in the commissioning, design, delivery and evaluation of public sector services and the challenges faced by service users in negotiating their dual role of both being a service user representative and recipients of services. This report will be of interest to Disabled people who are service users and for people who design, manage and evaluate services in the public sector. This was a user-led piece of research designed and carried out by Disabled researchers. It arose directly out of a Disabled person’s own concern and was undertaken by a Disabled People’s Organisation

Plenary Session II – Medical Track: Substance and Medication Use

This session will provide information on drivers’ use of prescription medications, poly-pharmacy, alcohol, “medical” marijuana, and illegal drugs and the impact these substances may have on one’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle

Stakeholder Perspectives about Developing and Implementing an Online Alternative to Out-of-School Suspension for First Time Substance Use Policy Violators

The purpose of this study was to explore statewide stakeholder perspectives about developing and implementing an online alternative to suspension (ATS) program in the Northwestern United States for youth who have violated school substance use policies. Out-of-school suspension has been linked to negative outcomes and alternatives to keep youth in school are desperately needed. Qualitative description methodology with content analysis was used to analyze data gathered from 201 stakeholders (principals & vice principals). Three themes were identified that described stakeholders’ perspectives about the development and implementation of an online ATS program: 1) the program must be impactful, 2) have a high degree of usability, and 3) additional support may be necessary. Themes identified can guide the development and implementation of an online ATS program. In collaboration with stakeholders, the initiation of an online ATS program could reduce out of school suspensions for middle and high school age youth

Changes in Health Behaviors and Outcomes Following Graduation from Higher Education

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(5): 131-139, 2020. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in health behaviors and outcomes of higher education (college) students following graduation. Undergraduate students (n= 206) enrolled at a large, northeastern United States university in general education health and wellness courses were assessed pre and post-graduation. Participants self-reported their demographics, physical activity behaviors, dietary behaviors, sleep, and stress pre and post-graduation via an online survey. Paired sample t-tests examined changes health behaviors pre and post-graduation. Following graduation, fruit and vegetable consumption increased significantly, moderate physical activity declined significantly, and both vigorous physical activity and energy expenditure, as well as weight remained stable. There was a significant reduction in stress, for men but not women, and, an increase in restful nights of sleep among women but not men. College students tended to maintain the seemingly healthy lifestyles they had as students during the period immediately following graduation. Findings highlight the value of general health and wellness courses within college given vigorous physical activity and energy expenditure did not decline following graduation

Exploiting natural variation and genetic manipulation of stomatal conductance for crop improvement

Rising global temperatures and more frequent episodes of drought are expected to drive reductions in crop yield, therefore new avenues for improving crop productivity must be exploited. Stomatal conductance (gs) balances plant CO2 uptake and water loss, therefore, greatly impacting the cumulative rate of photosynthesis and water use over the growing season, which are key determinants of crop yield and productivity. Considerable natural variation exists in stomatal anatomy, biochemistry and behavioural characteristics that impact on the kinetics and magnitude of gs and thus gaseous exchange between the plant and atmosphere. Exploiting these differences in stomatal traits could provide novel breeding targets for new crop varieties that are potentially more water use efficient and have the ability to maintain and/or maximize yield in a range of diverse environments. Here we provide an overview of variation in stomatal traits and the impact these have on gs behaviour, as well as the potential to exploit such variation and genetic manipulation for crop improvement

Expressions 2019

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/expressions/1035/thumbnail.jp

Lifetime Risk of Stress Urinary Incontinence or Pelvic Organ Prolapse Surgery

To estimate the lifetime risk of stress incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse surgery, or both using current, population-based surgical rates from 2007–2011

Controlling crystallization and its absence: Proteins, colloids and patchy models

The ability to control the crystallization behaviour (including its absence) of particles, be they biomolecules such as globular proteins, inorganic colloids, nanoparticles, or metal atoms in an alloy, is of both fundamental and technological importance. Much can be learnt from the exquisite control that biological systems exert over the behaviour of proteins, where protein crystallization and aggregation are generally suppressed, but where in particular instances complex crystalline assemblies can be formed that have a functional purpose. We also explore the insights that can be obtained from computational modelling, focussing on the subtle interplay between the interparticle interactions, the preferred local order and the resulting crystallization kinetics. In particular, we highlight the role played by ``frustration'', where there is an incompatibility between the preferred local order and the global crystalline order, using examples from atomic glass formers and model anisotropic particles.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure