A Descriptive Study Of Family Relationships, Race And Ethnic Origin, And Sexuality Education In Pregnant Adolescents

Adolescents are becoming sexually active at increasingly younger ages despite the well-known health risks. The adolescent pregnancy rate in the United States has been considered the highest of any country in the Western world. The purpose of this study was to identify, examine, and describe family relationships, race and ethnic origin, and sexuality education in pregnant adolescents. Pender\u27s Health Promotion Model was used as the theoretical framework to guide this descriptive study. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 30 pregnant adolescents who received prenatal care at three local obstetricians\u27 health care clinics in Northeast Mississippi. Participants were surveyed using the Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting Program Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Data analysis revealed that most of the pregnant adolescents were never married and still lived with their parent(s). Positive relationships were identified with the mother of the pregnant adolescent more often than with the father. Results also revealed that more than half of the pregnant adolescents had received sexuality education prior to becoming pregnant, and that only 30% utilized some form of contraceptive at the time of conception. Further research is recommended with a larger more diverse sample to also include the male adolescent because they too need to be identified as individuals at increased risk associated with adolescent sexual activity

A Framework for Inter-Firm Sustainability Collaboration: Evidence From the Global Apparel and Footwear Sector

Corporate sustainability has matured, evolved, and expanded in scope, however social and environmental issues continue to persist globally. Many firms now recognize that inter-firm collaboration is a cost-effective way to address systemic issues that are bigger than any one firm, and unlock the shared value that comes with systemic change. There are many examples where firms have worked together in collaborative relationships, only to fall short of their goals due to competitive self-interest, a shortage of trust, and the absence of a fully shared purpose. These successes and failures beg the question as to why some collaborative groups are more effective and create more value than others. To examine this question more deeply, we looked at collaboration in the global apparel and footwear sector. The sector’s widespread impacts are associated with rapidly changing market forces, including downward pressure on production costs, geographically dispersed production, high pricing volatility, low market predictability, and typically low profit margins. The highly integrated, complex, and competitive industry results in a downward spiral of quality, labor standards, and environmental pollution. Despite significant action and investment by firms, non-governmental organizations and the non-profit community, the sector still has a long way to go toward achieving social and environmental sustainability. The apparel industry has had over 25 collaborative groups come together since 1989 to promote shared labor standards, factory or product certifications, operational best practices, and shared tools for measurement, providing a rich history for insight on the topic. In an industry that employs over 60 million people worldwide and will be valued at over $2.1 trillion by 2025, the potential for positive impact is enormous. The industry is considered an important driver for economic development, employing 80% women, many of which are unskilled workers in developing nations with few other employment prospects. To provide economic opportunities that elevate the standard of living in manufacturing nations, industry stakeholders must work together to create the system conditions for sustainable success. Stakeholders at all tiers (raw materials, intermediate goods, production, export and marketing) must work together to move in the same direction and ensure the right incentives and measurement systems are in place. An industry that has traditionally been known for driving a race to the bottom is now undergoing a massive shift by creating a self-imposed race to the top. Shared data systems underpin this massive industry change, and collaborative efforts by a few brave brands. What started as a means to mitigate risk, has now evolved into an industry embracing its systemic challenges, and a collective impact approach to creating shared value. To date, there exists a gap in prior research examining inter-firm collaboration for sustainability within the apparel and footwear sector and for sustainability challenges. This paper expands the literature on inter-firm collaboration for sustainability, with a close look at the contextual, organizational and personal factors that contribute to success with collaborations in the apparel and footwear sector. Specifically, we sought to understand: 1) The drivers for inter-firm sustainability collaboration in the apparel sector; 2) Why certain collaborative efforts have been more successful than others; 3) If a new framework can be developed that identifies the elements that lead to collaborative capacity within an industry. To answer the three central research questions, we attended industry conferences for observation, conducted web-based evaluations of 25 multi-stakeholder initiatives in the apparel and footwear sector dating back to 1989, reviewed prior literature on collaboration, including articles specific to sustainability, and as well as broader frameworks and best practices for analysis and insights, conducted IRB-approved interviews with industry professionals, and conducted a web-based survey of sustainability professionals within the industry to understand why they are collaborating, what they are collaborating about, and they receive from their collaborative efforts. Our research shows that firms within the industry engage in collaborative action to foster market transformation, because it aligns with company vision and values, and serves to increase reputation and brand building. Firms are collaborating on environmental issues, social issues, and the sharing of data. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), a group in which 2/3 of our survey participants are active, was reported to be a collaborative initiative that provides the most value. We took a closer look at the SAC through the lens of organizational literature on collaboration, and with stakeholder interviews to understand its success. Our research shows that it has been more successful due to the industry’s readiness for such solution, its organizational values and tools, and the individual relationships, skills and processes. The interaction between these three has created the collaborative capacity required for success. The literature on collaboration for sustainability does not provide a sufficiently wide lens through which to understand these successes. To build on the general literature on collaboration, and bridge the gap between the more nascent literature on collaboration for sustainability, we present a framework for creating/evaluating collaborative capacity. The framework differs from previous models in the sustainability literature by addressing contextual/industry conditions in addition to organizational and output-specific conditions, and interpersonal conditions. Further research is required to apply the framework to other industries to test its utility outside of the apparel/footwear industry. Additionally, another research opportunity exists to examine how firms quantify the value gained from collaborative action. Results from our survey indicate that a number of firms have identified a clear internal business case for collaboration, created monitoring frameworks to track progress, developed their own metrics, and report internally on value. Understanding the processes and tools for this work can provide further insight on how collaborative groups can create additional value

The Inclusion of Children with Special Educational Needs in an Intensive French as a Second-Language Program: From Theory to Practice

This paper portrays the activity system of eight classes of Grade 6 children with special educational needs in an Intensive French as a second-language education program. Classroom norms and tools reflected a social-interactionist and social-constructivist approach with scaffolding, social interaction, multiple modes of representing, holistic, cross-curricular, childcentred, active, and meaningful learning. Outcomes of the activity system of the children included basic French communication ability, positive behaviour changes, heightened selfesteem, increased motivation, participation, and engagement. We conclude with implications related to the feasibility, scalability, and sustainability of practices for non-Intensive French classrooms

Promoting adherence to stroke secondary prevention behaviours by imparting behaviour change skills : Protocol for a single-arm pilot trial of Living Well After Stroke

Introduction Survivors of stroke have an elevated risk of recurrent stroke. Prompt intervention to support healthy lifestyle modification following an initial stroke is crucial for effective secondary prevention of stroke. However, many patients do not receive adequate postdischarge support for secondary prevention, particularly if not referred to inpatient rehabilitation. Living Well After Stroke is a health promotion programme based on the health action process approach (HAPA), which is designed to support this underserviced group to improve and self-manage secondary prevention behavioural performance (eg, diet, exercise, medication-adherence) by equipping participants with a toolkit of theory-based and evidence-based behaviour change strategies and techniques that are transferable to different behavioural contexts. Methods and analysis The target sample is 118 adults living in Queensland, Australia, with stroke or transient ischaemic attack not referred to inpatient rehabilitation. Adopting a prospective single-arm trial design, the intervention comprises five behaviour change sessions over an 8-week period. Participants will receive a mix of individual-based and group-based assessments and interventions, based on the HAPA theoretical framework, delivered via telehealth or in-person (eg, public library). Measures of primary (ie, goal behaviours 1 and 2) and secondary outcomes (intention, outcome expectancy, risk perception, self-efficacy, planning, action control, subjective well-being) will be taken at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 16 weeks. The primary outcomes of the trial will be behavioural performance and transferability of behaviour change skills at 16 weeks. Ethics and dissemination The study has received ethical approval from the Griffith University Human Research Ethics Committee (Ref no: 2022/308). Informed consent is obtained via telephone prior to data collection. Findings will be presented in the form of peer-reviewed journal articles, industry reports and conference presentations, and will be used to inform the continued development and refinement of the programme for testing in a future fully powered trial

A hepatitis C avidity test for determining recent and past infections in both plasma and dried blood spots

DBS testing has been used successfully to detect HCV antibody positive individuals. Determining how long someone has been infected is important for surveillance initiatives. Antibody avidity is a method that can be used to calculate recency of infection. A HCV avidity assay was evaluated for both plasma and DBS. Study design: To measure antibody avidity a commercial HCV ELISA was modified using 7 M urea. The plasma samples were split into: group 1 (recently infected N = 19), group 2 (chronic carrier N = 300) and group 3 (resolved infection N = 82). Mock DBS made from group 1 (N = 12), group 2 (N = 50), group 3 (N = 25) and two seroconverter panels were evaluated. 133 DBS taken from patients known to have a resolved infection or be a chronic carrier were also tested. The avidity assay cut-off was set at AI ≤ 30 for a recent infection. Using sequential samples the assay could detect a recent infection in the first 4–5 months from the point of infection. Most of the false positive results (AI < 30 among cases known not to have had recent infection) were detected among known resolved infections, in both the plasma and DBS; as a result, a testing algorithm has been designed incorporating both PCR and two dilution factors. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay on plasma was 100% and 99.3%, respectively, while DBS had 100% sensitivity and 98.3% specificity. The HCV avidity assay can be used to distinguish between chronic and recent infection using either plasma or DBS as the sample type

Respiratory and Urinary Tract Infections, Arthritis, and Asthma Associated with HTLV-I and HTLV-II Infection

Human T-lymphotropic virus types I and II (HTLV-I and -II) cause myelopathy; HTLV-I, but not HTLV-II, causes adult T-cell leukemia. Whether HTLV-II is associated with other diseases is unknown. Using survival analysis, we studied medical history data from a prospective cohort of HTLV-I– and HTLV-II–infected and –uninfected blood donors, all HIV seronegative. A total of 152 HTLV-I, 387 HTLV-II, and 799 uninfected donors were enrolled and followed for a median of 4.4, 4.3, and 4.4 years, respectively. HTLV-II participants had significantly increased incidences of acute bronchitis (incidence ratio [IR] = 1.68), bladder or kidney infection (IR = 1.55), arthritis (IR = 2.66), and asthma (IR = 3.28), and a borderline increase in pneumonia (IR = 1.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98 to 3.38). HTLV-I participants had significantly increased incidences of bladder or kidney infection (IR = 1.82), and arthritis (IR = 2.84). We conclude that HTLV-II infection may inhibit immunologic responses to respiratory infections and that both HTLV-I and -II may induce inflammatory or autoimmune reactions

Short-term effects of a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern on cognition and mental wellbeing: A systematic review of clinical trials

Background: Although the long-term effects of a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern (MDP) on cognition and overall mental wellbeing have been consistently described, the short-term effects of the MDP on cognitive performance, mood and anxiety have not been as widely reviewed. Objectives: The aims of this systematic review were to synthesise the evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCT) to examine whether a MDP can alter cognition and overall mental wellbeing in the short-term (up to 10 days). This will also be used to identify research gaps and to inform the design of future acute RCTs in the area. Methods: Ovid EMBASE, Ovid MEDLINE and Web of Science Core Collection were searched from inception to 8/12/2020. The data was synthesised narratively with no quantitative synthesis. The detailed protocol is available on PROSPERO, with the registration number CRD42021221085. Results: A total of 3002 studies were initially identified. After the deduplication and screening stages, 4 studies (3 articles and 1 conference proceeding) were eligible to be included. Despite the very limited data obtained, the literature suggests that a MDP can improve cognition and mood in the short-term. Specifically, improvements in attention, alertness and contentment were consistently reported. Conclusion: A MDP appears a promising strategy to improve short-term cognitive and mental health. A limitation of this review is the small number of studies identified, therefore, future studies are required to confirm these initial novel findings, and to provide granularity as to which domains are most responsive and in which population subgroups