CATATONIA AND CANCER CARE: NOT JUST A PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSIS

Lisa Norman and Diana Nichols pictured.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/aprn-week-23/1018/thumbnail.jp

Satisfaction of basic psychological needs as a mediator of the relationship between community esteem and wellbeing

Past research has shown that possessing a strong sense of community or esteem for one’s community is positively related to feelings of psychological wellbeing. Much less research has examined what mechanisms may underlie this relationship. Self-determination theory, a theory of human personality and optimal functioning, proposes the existence of three species-typical basic psychological needs (for competence, relatedness, and autonomy), the satisfaction of which is crucial for experiencing wellbeing. We hypothesized that need satisfaction is a mediator of the relationship between feelings of esteem for one’s community and several widely employed measures of wellbeing among a sample of residents living in an urban community in the United States. In accord with the primary hypotheses, the results revealed a robust association between community esteem and both hedonic and eudaimonic measures of wellbeing. Furthermore, the associations between community esteem and wellbeing were mediated by self-reported satisfaction of basic psychological needs. This work contributes to an improved understanding of the complex relationship between esteem for one’s community and psychological wellbeing and has implications for debates surrounding the benefits and role of community in individuals’ lives

Maximizing Opportunity, Minimizing Risk: Aligning Law, Policy and Practice to Strengthen Work-Integrated Learning in Ontario

A broad consensus is emerging in Ontario and at the federal level in favour of expanding postsecondary students’ access to experiential or “work-integrated learning” (WIL) opportunities. One of the challenges in implementing this vision is navigating the complex legal status of students as they leave campus and enter workplaces in a wide range of industries and roles. This study aims to support these efforts by mapping the current legal landscape for WIL to identify both risks and opportunities for students, post-secondary institutions (PSIs) and placement hosts alike (referred to collectively in this study as “WIL participants”). It makes recommendations to streamline, clarify and strengthen key legal frameworks and improve institutional practices in managing WIL programs and their legal implications. WIL includes “a variety of applied and work-based experiences through which students are able both to contextualize their learning and gain relevant work experience” (PhillipsKPA, 2014), including co-op, internships and applied research projects. This study focuses on the law with respect to off-campus placements completed as part of a university or college program, as distinct from broader questions about the regulation of internships or training positions in the labour market as a whole. The potential benefits of WIL are often framed in terms of human capital development. WIL is identified as a means of building workforce capabilities, as well as the skills and individual prospects of students as members of the labour force (Australian Collaborative Education Network [ACEN], 2015). However, not all those who have studied WIL are equally convinced of its benefits, at least as it is currently delivered. The human capital perspective stands in contrast with a more critical stream of analysis that associates WIL with the rise of precarious employment. A further concern is that WIL opportunities are distributed unequally among students in ways that reflect and reinforce larger labour market inequities. This report keeps both perspectives in mind and analyzes the legal frameworks surrounding WIL in Ontario to identify ways of ameliorating these concerns and promoting WIL programs that deliver real benefits. The study examines two primary research questions: (1) How are legal issues currently impacting WIL programs in Ontario? (2) What steps could be taken to help legal frameworks and processes align more closely with the goal of expanding the availability of quality WIL programs and opportunities? We addressed these questions through a combination of in-depth qualitative interviews with WIL experts in both legal and non-legal roles and a review of relevant provincial and federal legislation and regulations, as well as legal cases dating back to 1990. We also reviewed secondary literature on WIL in Canada and in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. As well, the report analyzes Canadian tax expenditures designed to support WIL to assess the size and scope of tax-delivered investments in these programs

Developing an Approach for Data Management Education: A Report from the Data Information Literacy Project

This paper describes the initial results from the Data Information Literacy (DIL) project designed to identify the educational needs of graduate students across a variety of science disciplines and respond with effective educational interventions to meet those needs. The DIL project consists of five teams in disparate disciplines from four academic institutions in the United States. The project teams include a data librarian, a subject-specialist or information literacy librarian, and a faculty member representing a disciplinary group of students. Interviews with the students and faculty members present a detailed snapshot of graduate student needs in data management education. Following our study, educational programs addressing identified needs will be delivered in the fall of 2012 and spring of 2013. Our findings from the project interviews are analyzed here, with a preview of the training approaches that will be taken by the five teams.National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), LG-07-11-0232-1

Developing an Understanding of Data Management Education: A Report from the Data Information Literacy Project

This paper describes the initial results from the Data Information Literacy (DIL) project designed to identify the educational needs of graduate students across a variety of science disciplines and respond with effective educational interventions to meet those needs. The DIL project consists of five teams in disparate disciplines from four academic institutions in the United States. The project teams include a data librarian, a subject-specialist librarian, and a faculty member representing a disciplinary group of students. Interviews of the students and faculty members present a detailed snapshot of graduate student needs in data management education. Following our study, educational programs addressing identified needs will be delivered in the fall of 2012 and spring of 2013. Our findings from the project interviews are analyzed here, with a preview of the five proposed and ongoing training approaches

The Value of Jointly Held Conferences: Benefits and Considerations for Planners and Participants

University faculty and staff regularly participate in academic conferences as part of their professional responsibilities, yet the literature on their value is scarce, especially when examining conferences held jointly by two associations. Research is needed to help association leaders, planning committees, and attendees make informed decisions about conference organization and participation. This paper highlights the benefits and challenges of a jointly held academic conference for participants, association leaders, and organizational liaisons. In June of 2016, two Cooperative Extension associations, the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) and the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP), jointly held a conference in Burlington, VT. Surveys were administered to conference participants, planning committee members, and liaisons at the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to collect data immediately following the conference and six months later. Using the Community Capitals Framework (CCF) to organize evaluation results, the authors discuss the benefits and challenges of planning, sponsoring, and attending the conference from the perspectives of these different groups. The authors focus on three community capitals: human capital, social capital, and cultural capital. Based on the findings, they offer recommendations for future evaluation of jointly held academic conferences

The Design and Synthesis of Farnesyl Tail Analogues Incorporating Aromatic Rings: A Comparison of Wittig and Grignard Reaction Sequences

Mutant RAS proteins have been linked to over 30 of all human cancers. It has been shown that mutant RAS proteins that cannot be farnesylated do not induce malignant transformation. Therefore, farnesyl protein transferase (FPTase) inhibitors have become attractive targets as potential chemotherapeutic agents. Two farnesyl tail analogues have been prepared that incorporate aromatic rings. One of the compounds, trans-9-phenyl-8-nonen-1-ol, could only be prepared pure using a Grignard reaction sequence. This sequence is compared to the initially attempted Wittig reaction sequence that results in an inseparable mixture of cis/trans isomers. It is anticipated thatwhen coupled with poal diphosphate head mimetics, the tails prepared in this pper will help illuminate the importance of nonbonding interactions in the binding of farnesyl pyrophosphate analogues to the FPTase enzyme active site

Epidemiology of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among Pregnant Adolescents

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among pregnant adolescents

Bayesian log-Gaussian Cox process regression: applications to meta-analysis of neuroimaging working memory studies

Working memory (WM) was one of the first cognitive processes studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging. With now over 20 years of studies on WM, each study with tiny sample sizes, there is a need for meta-analysis to identify the brain regions that are consistently activated by WM tasks, and to understand the interstudy variation in those activations. However, current methods in the field cannot fully account for the spatial nature of neuroimaging meta-analysis data or the heterogeneity observed among WM studies. In this work, we propose a fully Bayesian random-effects metaregression model based on log-Gaussian Cox processes, which can be used for meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. An efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo scheme for posterior simulations is presented which makes use of some recent advances in parallel computing using graphics processing units. Application of the proposed model to a real data set provides valuable insights regarding the function of the WM