Assessing Priority Competencies for Evaluation Capacity Building in Extension

Program planning and evaluation activities play a critical role in the quality of Extension programs. The literature consistently identifies program planning and evaluation as core Extension competencies. With an increased focus on accountability in Extension, there is a need to ensure Extension professionals are equipped with the most relevant competencies to show program impact. Guided by a competency model, this study sought to assess priority competencies for inclusion in an Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) program at Utah State University (USU) Extension. Data were gathered from a sample of Extension professionals at USU Extension (n = 87) and analyzed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, paired t-tests, and Cohen’s d. While results indicated a need for professional development in most competency items of program planning and evaluation, the principal component analysis revealed two professional development themes for program planning, and three for program evaluation. Extracted professional development themes were Program Ideas and Schedules, Program Design, Evaluation Plans, Evaluation Data and Results, and Monitoring and Impact. This study recommends the development of professional development themes to organize and prioritize efforts for ECB in Extension. It also highlighted a need to continuously assess professional capacity for accountability in Extension

Inhibition of vascular smooth muscle growth via signaling crosstalk between AMP-activated protein kinase and cAMP-dependent protein kinase

Abnormal vascular smooth muscle (VSM) growth is central in the pathophysiology of vascular disease yet fully effective therapies to curb this growth are lacking. Recent findings from our lab and others support growth control of VSM by adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-based approaches including the metabolic sensor AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). Molecular crosstalk between AMPK and PKA has been previously suggested, yet the extent to which this occurs and its biological significance in VSM remain unclear. Considering their common AMP backbone and similar signaling characteristics, we hypothesized that crosstalk exists between AMPK and PKA in the regulation of VSM growth. Using rat primary VSM cells (VSMC), the AMPK agonist AICAR increased AMPK activity and phosphorylation of the catalytic Thr172 site on AMPK. Interestingly, AICAR also phosphorylated a suspected PKA-inhibitory Ser485 site on AMPK, and these cumulative events were reversed by the PKA inhibitor PKI suggesting possible PKA-mediated regulation of AMPK. AICAR also increased PKA activity in a reversible fashion. The cAMP stimulator forskolin increased PKA activity and completely ameliorated Ser/Thr protein phosphatase-2C activity, suggesting a potential mechanism of AMPK modulation by PKA since inhibition of PKA by PKI reduced AMPK activity. Functionally, AMPK inhibited serum-stimulated cell cycle progression and cellular proliferation; however, PKA failed to do so. Moreover, AMPK and PKA reduced PDGF-β-stimulated VSMC migration. Collectively, these results show that AMPK is capable of reducing VSM growth in both anti-proliferative and anti-migratory fashion. Furthermore, these data suggest that AMPK may be modulated by PKA and that positive feedback may exist between these two systems. These findings reveal a discrete nexus between AMPK and PKA in VSM and provide basis for metabolically-directed targets in reducing pathologic VSM growth

Psychiatric Medications: Does Education Affect Medication Prescriptions?

Background: There is a lack of research on racial challenges among underrepresented adolescents regarding prescription drug use for mental illnesses. Purpose: This study addressed the following question: In adolescent minorities, how does education about racial disparity and culture affect the stigma and number of prescriptions written for psychiatric medications? This evidence-based practice project aimed to identify if racial awareness directly impacts the amount of psychiatric medication prescribed for adolescent minorities. Methods: Literature reviews analyzed qualitative and quantitative data to provide correlating information on racial disparities and psychotropic medications. This study examined the following possible factors for decreased prescribed drugs within minority adolescents: population size, percentage of people who receive psychiatric prescriptions, cultural perspective, stigma, and social status. Results: Evidence has found that prescription psychiatric medications are highest amongst Caucasian adults; while Black, Hispanic, and Asian men were reported less likely to receive psychotropic drugs. Numerous studies highlighted the need to address factors affecting antipsychotic prescribing behaviors, interactions between the providers, and how financial sustainability affects such efforts Racial disparities regarding psychotropic prescriptions have been found to decrease through proper education. Conclusion: More research is still needed to investigate exactly how race and culture affect prescriptions and provider interactions

Assessing Rural and Urban Community Assets and Needs to Inform Extension Program Planning

A needs assessment is a useful tool for prioritizing community needs and allocating resources. Prioritizing community needs helps ensure Extension programs are relevant and targeted towards specific audiences. This study prioritized normative needs of urban and rural Utah residents using a needs assessment framework. Convenience data were gathered from 1,043 adult Utah residents, and the raking method was used to weigh the sample by selected population characteristics. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and nonparametric statistics) were used for data analysis. A calculated Point-Score represented the difference between residents’ perceived importance and satisfaction of various community assets. Results showed affordable housing, affordable medical clinics, well-paying jobs, quality public schools, and affordable internet were the top five needs in urban areas. Utah rural residents ranked well-paying jobs, quality public schools, steady jobs, emergency healthcare, and affordable housing as high priority needs in their communities. Utah State University Extension should tailor existing programs to address urban and rural community needs, allocate resources to create new programs aligned to those needs, facilitate collaborations with local organizations, and conduct timely needs assessments to monitor changing community needs

Application of a Three-Phase Needs Assessment Framework to Identify Priority Issue Areas for Extension Programming

Cooperative Extension strives to deliver relevant programming to residents. However, problems facing communities are increasingly complex. We used a three-phase needs assessment to describe Utah residents\u27 perceptions of issue areas for Extension programming. We gathered data from 1,043 Utah residents. Results highlighted four priority issue areas for Extension programming. These were environmental quality, conservation capacity, community development, and agriculture and food safety. On the basis of our work, we recommend that Extension allocate resources to addressing priority issue areas and implement a formal needs assessment framework for monitoring issue areas to inform relevant and quality programming in response to emerging needs

A Descriptive Analysis of Remote Work Adoption in the United States

Advances in information and communications technology have enabled organizations to shift traditional work functions away from place or where work is accomplished to how work is accomplished (i.e., task facilitation). With the rise in remote work, there was a need to describe the adoption process by organizations in the United States. Given that the practice of remote work is considered an innovation, this quantitative study was guided by the theory of Diffusion of Innovations and followed a nonexperimental design with a correlational analysis, collecting cross-sectional data from a sample of organizational leaders in the United States (N = 1,259). Results describe where organizations range in the innovation-decision process of remote work adoption and categorize organizations based on innovativeness. This research demonstrates the role of COVID-19 in precipitating organizations’ rapid implementation of remote work during a pandemic. Findings hold implications for leaders deciding whether to adopt remote work as a formal workplace practice and can assist them in making informed operational decisions. Findings also provide Extension professionals with insights into responding to the social and economic consequences of the widespread adoption of remote work with relevant, research-based educational programming in their local communities

Kinetic equation approach to graphene in strong external fields

The report presents the results of using the nonperturbative kinetic approach to describe the excitation of plasma oscillations in a graphene monolayer. As examples the constant electric field as well as an electric field of short high-frequency pulses are considered. The dependence of the induced conduction and polarization currents characteristics on the pulse intensity, pulse duration, and polarization is investigated. The characteristics of secondary electromagnetic radiation resulting from the alternating currents is investigated. The nonlinear response to the external electric field characterizes graphene as an active medium. Qualitative agreement is obtained with the existing experimental result of measurements of currents in constant electric fields and radiation from graphene in the case of excitation by means of the infrared and optical pulses.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, version published in Particle

Evaluating Utah\u27s Rural Online Initiative: Empowering Rural Communities Through Remote Work

Utah\u27s rural counties have experienced high levels of unemployment compared to the state\u27s urban counties. Utah State University Extension developed a remote work educational program intended to reduce rural unemployment. We conducted a descriptive study to gather data from May–August 2019 participants (N = 1,025). Our results indicate that short-term outcomes from the course were realized. On average, participants experienced increases in knowledge, improved skills, and positive intentions toward seeking remote employment. We recommended formative evaluation for continuous course improvement and follow-up procedures to measure participants\u27 success in securing remote employment. Extension professionals can plan and evaluate their programs using the framework presented in this article

Educational Interests and Information-Seeking Behaviors of Utah Residents

With a limited body of literature examining residents’ preferences for Extension topic areas, this brief report examined the educational interests of Utah residents. It explores opportunities for future programming based on residents’ preferences for topic areas and their information-seeking behaviors. Data were gathered from Utah residents in May 2021 via an online Qualtrics survey (n = 668). Results showed the topics of highest interest to Utah residents were strengthening family relationships, emergency preparedness, mental health, food storage, and healthy couples’ relationships. Residents’ information-seeking behaviors were somewhat consistent with their interests; residents searched most frequently for information on mental health, strengthening family relationships, nutrition education, financial planning, and healthy couples’ relationships. Extension organizations are encouraged to learn more about residents’ interests and participation preferences to recruit and retain participants, given changing societal trends

Action Anthropology and Pedagogy: University-Community Collaborations in Setting Policy

This article describes a student-led, community-participatory project focused on reducing the burden of childhood lead poisoning in rental housing. A multidisciplinary group of students and faculty worked with community members. We compiled the social, public health, economic, and policy information on the human and fiscal costs of childhood lead poisoning. This analysis was done for community advocates to use to persuade policymakers to enact a local law strengthening the prevention of childhood lead poisoning in rental property. In conducting this work, the students gained experience in qualitative research methods, quantitative data analysis, the health consequences of lead exposure, health policy, urban health, science writing, and public presentation