Black Middle Class Parental Investment In Their Children\u27s Higher Education

The persistent negative racial disparity in the higher educational achievement of Black students in the United States has societal implications for employment, income trajectory, home ownership, and wealth accumulation. It is widely accepted that parental investment is crucial across all races in enhancing the academic performance of students and, ultimately, facilitating intergenerational socioeconomic progress. Although numerous studies have looked at the ways in which parents invest, a paucity of research has examined how Black middle-class parents engage in preparing their children for higher education. This narrative study explores how Black middle-class parents perceive the value of college, their understanding of their role in preparing their children for higher education, and the ways in which they catalyze investing in that preparation. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 Black middle-class parents who had a child in the 10th, 11th, or 12th grade. The findings revealed that all 21 parents held postsecondary education in high esteem and were committed to their role in preparing their child to attend college. Although Black middle-class parents share several traits associated with educational aspiration with other middle-class parents, their unique social and economic challenges warrant more focused attention. These and other implications as well as recommendations for future research are discussed

How Fantasy Sport Participation Affects Fan Loyalty

Fantasy sports have recently emerged as a popular form of sport consumption. Previous research has investigated the concept of fantasy sport involvement and fans loyally, however little research exists on the effects these variables have on each other. The focus of this research is to identify the effects fantasy sport participation has on fan loyalty and consumption. A survey collected primary data which went through a Pearson correlation. It was found that fantasy sport participation increased consumption of the sport product. It was also found that fantasy sport participants are more loyal to their favorite team than their fantasy teams

An Assessment of Primary Care Physician Opinions about Supporting the Independent Autonomous Practice by Advanced Practice Nurses

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) changed the national discussion about who is the decision-maker in healthcare delivery – physicians or others that pay the bill. The federal government is the largest payer of healthcare services while states are responsible for implementing the ACA’s features. Through the ACA, the federal government endorsed non-physician primary care by advanced practice registered nurses (APRN). The research question of this study is: Why do some primary care physicians support independent autonomous practice for advanced practice registered nurses while others do not? The research question should be important to policy-makers because physicians are the predominate purchasers of healthcare services. However, dilemmas facing policy-makers as they adopt and implement the ACA are rapidly increasing public costs and demands for healthcare services that cannot be met by physicians alone. This study investigates ideology and PCP support for the ACA as influences on PCP opinions about APRNs. A web survey was offered to 2995 physicians practicing adult primary care in five states. Dichotomous groups were established from responses to the study’s independent variables. Group mean responses computed from questions relating to physicians’ opinions about APRNs were compared using the independent means t test. Results of bivariate testing find that ideology, support of the ACA, and whether physicians work with APRNs may influence physician opinions. Demographic characteristics including age, gender, and race are not related to physicians’ opinions about APRNs

Protective adaptation of low serum triiodothyronine in patients with chronic renal failure

Protective adaptation of low serum triiodothyronine in patients with chronic renal failure. Low serum triiodothyronine (T3) concentration is frequently found in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). To test the hypothesis that this may serve to minimize protein catabolism in these patients, we measured nitrogen balance (Nb) in seven CRF and four control subjects in the basal state and when serum T3 concentration was elevated by L-triiodothyronine (LT3) and suppressed by sodium ipodate administration. In the basal state, both the controls and the CRF patients were in positive Nb, 0.02 ± 0.51 and 0.58 ± 0.34 g/day, respectively. During LT3 administration, Nb decreased to -0.80 ± 0.39 g/day in the CRF patients (P < 0.01), but remained positive, 0.22 ± 0.67 g/day, in the controls. There was a significant negative correlation between serum T3 concentration and Nb in the CRF patients (r = -0.63, P < 0.005), but not in the controls. Furthermore, urea nitrogen generation rate, calculated from urea kinetics, increased from a baseline of 4.6 ± 0.55 to 6.0 ± 0.50 mg/min during LT3 administration in the CRF patients (P < 0.01). Sodium ipodate, which significantly lowered serum T3 concentrations, had little effect on nitrogen metabolism in the controls and the CRF patients. These data support the concept that low serum T3 concentrations may confer a protective effect on CRF patients regarding protein-nitrogen conservation and provide a rationale for not correcting such deficiency

Needed Research on the Englishes of Appalachia

Information about the 79th annual meeting of the Southeastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL) organized by Jennifer Cramer at the University of Kentucky on April 2012 in Lexington, Kentucky. Topics discussed at the meeting includes current state of research studies on linguistic processes in Appalachia, traditional dialectological and ethnographic. The meeting also featured panel experts including Bridget L. Anderson, Michael Montgomery and Walt Wolfram

Cycler adequacy and prescription data in a national cohort sample: The 1997 core indicators report

Cycler adequacy and prescription data in a national cohort sample: The 1997 core indicators report.BackgroundThe Health Care Financing Administration Peritoneal Dialysis Core Indicator Project obtains data yearly in four areas of patient care: dialysis adequacy, anemia, blood pressure, and nutrition.MethodsAdequacy and dialysis prescription data were obtained using a standardized data abstraction form from a random sample of adult U.S. peritoneal dialysis patients who were alive on December 31, 1996.ResultsFor the cohort receiving cycler dialysis, 22% were unable to meet the National Kidney Foundation Dialysis Outcome Quality Initiatives (NKF-DOQI) dialysis adequacy guidelines because they did not have at least one adequacy measure during the six-month period of observation. Thirty-six percent of patients met NKF-DOQI guidelines for weekly Kt/V urea, 33% met guidelines for weekly creatinine clearance (CCr), and 24% met guidelines for both urea and creatinine clearances. The mean weekly adequacy values were 2.24 ± 0.56 for Kt/V urea and 67.5 ± 24.4 liter/1.73m2 for CCr, and the median values were 2.20 and 62.25 liter/1.73m2, respectively. The mean prescribed 24-hour volume was 12,040 ± 3255 ml, and the median prescribed volume was 11,783ml. Only 60% of patients were prescribed at least one daytime dwell. By logistic regression analysis, risk factors for an inadequate dose of dialysis included being in the highest quartile of body surface area (odds ratio = 3.3 for CCr and 3.4 for Kt/V urea) and a duration of dialysis greater than two years (odds ratio = 4.2 for CCr and 2.1 for Kt/V urea).ConclusionThere is much room for improvement in providing an adequate dose of dialysis to cycler patients. Practitioners should be more aggressive in increasing dwell volumes, adding daytime dwells, and adjusting nighttime dwell times in order to compensate for the loss of residual renal function over time. These changes can only be accomplished if practitioners measure periodically the dose of dialysis as outlined in the NKF-DOQI guidelines

Outcomes among HIV-1 Infected Individuals First Starting Antiretroviral Therapy with Concurrent Active TB or Other AIDS-Defining Disease

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is common among HIV-infected individuals in many resource-limited countries and has been associated with poor survival. We evaluated morbidity and mortality among individuals first starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) with concurrent active TB or other AIDS-defining disease using data from the “Prospective Evaluation of Antiretrovirals in Resource-Limited Settings” (PEARLS) study. Methods: Participants were categorized retrospectively into three groups according to presence of active confirmed or presumptive disease at ART initiation: those with pulmonary and/or extrapulmonary TB (“TB” group), those with other non-TB AIDS-defining disease (“other disease”), or those without concurrent TB or other AIDS-defining disease (“no disease”). Primary outcome was time to the first of virologic failure, HIV disease progression or death. Since the groups differed in characteristics, proportional hazard models were used to compare the hazard of the primary outcome among study groups, adjusting for age, sex, country, screening CD4 count, baseline viral load and ART regimen. Results: 31 of 102 participants (30%) in the “TB” group, 11 of 56 (20%) in the “other disease” group, and 287 of 1413 (20%) in the “no disease” group experienced a primary outcome event (p = 0.042). This difference reflected higher mortality in the TB group: 15 (15%), 0 (0%) and 41 (3%) participants died, respectively (p<0.001). The adjusted hazard ratio comparing the “TB” and “no disease” groups was 1.39 (95% confidence interval: 0.93–2.10; p = 0.11) for the primary outcome and 3.41 (1.72–6.75; p<0.001) for death. Conclusions: Active TB at ART initiation was associated with increased risk of mortality in HIV-1 infected patients

The TREAT-NMD advisory committee for therapeutics (TACT): an innovative de-risking model to foster orphan drug development

Despite multiple publications on potential therapies for neuromuscular diseases (NMD) in cell and animal models only a handful reach clinical trials. The ability to prioritise drug development according to objective criteria is particularly critical in rare diseases with large unmet needs and a limited numbers of patients who can be enrolled into clinical trials. TREAT-NMD Advisory Committee for Therapeutics (TACT) was established to provide independent and objective guidance on the preclinical and development pathway of potential therapies (whether novel or repurposed) for NMD. We present our experience in the establishment and operation of the TACT. TACT provides a unique resource of recognized experts from multiple disciplines. The goal of each TACT review is to help the sponsor to position the candidate compound along a realistic and well-informed plan to clinical trials, and eventual registration. The reviews and subsequent recommendations are focused on generating meaningful and rigorous data that can enable clear go/no-go decisions and facilitate longer term funding or partnering opportunities. The review process thereby acts to comment on viability, de-risking the process of proceeding on a development programme. To date TACT has held 10 review meeting and reviewed 29 program applications in several rare neuromuscular diseases: Of the 29 programs reviewed, 19 were from industry and 10 were from academia; 15 were for novel compounds and 14 were for repurposed drugs; 16 were small molecules and 13 were biologics; 14 were preclinical stage applications and 15 were clinical stage applications. 3 had received Orphan drug designation from European Medicines Agency and 3 from Food and Drug Administration. A number of recurrent themes emerged over the course of the reviews and we found that applicants frequently require advice and education on issues concerned with preclinical standard operating procedures, interactions with regulatory agencies, formulation, repurposing, clinical trial design, manufacturing and ethics. Over the 5 years since its establishment TACT has amassed a body of experience that can be extrapolated to other groups of rare diseases to improve the community's chances of successfully bringing new rare disease drugs to registration and ultimately to marke