Sharing What Works Through South-South Cooperation: The Case of the Risk Reduction Management Centre Replication Project

The Risk Reduction Management Centre (RRMC) Replication Project, an initiative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), aims to take a Cuban best practice in disaster risk reduction and adapt it to the local context of five other Caribbean countries. This project differs from most development projects in that the individuals and institutions providing the assistance (in this case technical training and know-how) are themselves from a developing country (Cuba). This model, wherein developing countries provide resources, information, and training to other developing countries, is known as South-South Cooperation (SSC). This capstone uses the case of the RRMC Replication Project to offer recommendations for SSC. The questions that it specifically aims to address are: What are the advantages and disadvantages of technical SSC? How do the general advantages and disadvantages found in the literature apply to the RRMC Replication project? Are there additional advantages and disadvantages that can be drawn out from the RRMC Replication Project? And how can the RRMC Replication Project best use the advantages of SSC, and address its disadvantages, for the remainder of the project (scheduled to conclude in December 2013)? Using the case study methodology, this capstone assesses the RRMC Replication Project through a review of primary and secondary documents and video footage, reflections on the author’s personal experience as a UNDP intern, and in-depth interviews with individuals involved in the Project. The study finds that using the lens of the RRMC Replication Project many of the advantages of SSC are revealed, including the ability to share proven solutions among similar countries that results from the similar contexts of receiving and providing countries; the emphasis on adapting projects to the local context of the receiving country; the value of having an extensive and two-way exchange of knowledge that benefits all parties involved and leads to increased regional solidarity; the empowering effect that SSC can have on both receiving and providing countries; the humility and respect for national sovereignty shown by the providing country; and the lower costs of SSC–all leading to more efficient and more sustainable development. Disadvantages and challenges of SSC seen in the RRMC Replication Project include lack of capacity for the providing country to share the information effectively and for the receiving country to take on the information effectively, the assumption that because a model works in one place it will automatically work in a neighboring country, and not being able to avoid issues that all development projects seem to have. This research shows in practical terms the strengths and challenges of SSC technical exchange and explains why UNDP is in a unique position to advocate and facilitate such exchanges. The RRMC Replication Project has facilitated the meaningful exchange of knowledge about disaster risk reduction among six countries and among multiple government agencies, professional institutions, and individuals, leading to increased understanding and increased preparedness across the Caribbean. The author concludes that the RRMC Replication Project demonstrates the value of SSC and provides an example of the possibility of bringing the best of the North-South and South-South models together to promote truly sustainable development on a regional level

Going against the Stream: An exploratory qualitative study on the motivations and methods for illegal video streaming and information sharing

This content analysis will explore the motivations and methods for illegal video streaming and information sharing for feature films. The study aims to better understand why film enthusiasts might be inclined to use illegal streaming platforms to consume media and the approaches taken to share and access such platforms. These strategies and questions will be measured through qualitative data gathered from forums, Facebook posts, and other online sources and analyzed in order to better understanding ideas about access and streaming video in this current moment.Master of Science in Library Scienc

Fragments of Social Life

This paper examines selected events from biography and how those events have influenced my philosophies about art-making as well as the work I have produced while a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. This thesis is an attempt to give an expanded context for my work through various lenses, including the personal, the traumatic, the historical and the material

Learning to care: medical students' reported value and evaluation of palliative care teaching involving meeting patients and reflective writing.

BACKGROUND: Over recent years there has been an increase in teaching of both palliative care and reflective practice in UK medical schools. The palliative care teaching at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine is multi-faceted and involves students writing reflective essays after individually meeting patients approaching the end of life during their final year general practice and hospital medicine placements. This paper draws on two studies examining this teaching element to analyse what the students found valuable about it and to comment on the practice of meeting patients and subsequent reflective writing. METHODS: Two studies have explored students' perceptions of these course components. The first was a thematic analysis of 234 reflective essays from 123 students written in 2007-2008, including examining what students wrote about the exercise itself. The second project involved a semi-structured questionnaire that students completed anonymously; this paper reports on the free text elements of that study [sample size =107]. Since similar themes were found in both studies, the coding structures from each project were compared and combined, enabling triangulation of the findings around what the students found valuable from the palliative care teaching involving meeting patients and reflective writing. RESULTS: Overall, students reported that these components of the palliative care teaching are valuable. Four main themes were identified as aspects that students valued: (1) dedicated time with patients, (2) learning about wider elements of treatment and holistic care, (3) practicing communication skills, and (4) learning about themselves through reflective writing. Some students expressed a dislike for having to formally write a reflective essay. CONCLUSION: It is possible to arrange for all of the medical students to individually meet at least two patients receiving palliative or end of life care. Students found these encounters valuable and many wrote about the benefit of formally writing about these experiences. Students reported finding this model useful in widening their skill-set and understanding of palliative care

Impact of a Reduced Nicotine Standard on Young Adult Appeal for Menthol and Non-Menthol Cigarettes

Introduction The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intention to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes as a strategy to promote cessation and reduce smoking-related harm. A low nicotine product standard will apply to all cigarettes on the market, including menthol cigarettes. In December 2021, the FDA approved a modified risk tobacco product application for menthol and non-menthol flavoured very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNC) from the 22nd Century Group. Notably, experimentation with menthol cigarettes is linked to smoking progression, as well as greater nicotine dependence relative to non-menthol cigarette use. If menthol VLNCs are perceived as more appealing than non-menthol VLNCs, this would indicate that some aspect of menthol may maintain smoking even in the absence of nicotine and FDA’s regulatory authority to ban or restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes should apply to reduced nicotine content of cigarettes. In April 2022, the FDA announced proposed rulemaking to prohibit menthol cigarettes, however it is unclear if a menthol prohibition would apply to VLNCs. Methods and analysis This study will recruit 172 young adult menthol smokers (with a specific subsample of n=40 sexual and gender minority young adults) and measure appeal for smoking experimental menthol and non-menthol VLNCs, and the impact of proposed product standards on tobacco product purchasing behaviour using an Experimental Tobacco Marketplace. Appeal across product standards will be assessed in a controlled laboratory and using ecological momentary assessment. Ethics and dissemination The protocol was approved by the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Institutional Review Board (#11865). Findings will examine the effects of a reduced nicotine standard and a menthol ban on young adult smoking and will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal articles and presentations at scientific conferences. Trial registration number NCT04340947

Actinin BioID reveals sarcomere crosstalk with oxidative metabolism through interactions with IGF2BP2.

Actinins are strain-sensing actin cross-linkers that are ubiquitously expressed and harbor mutations in human diseases. We utilize CRISPR, pluripotent stem cells, and BioID to study actinin interactomes in human cardiomyocytes. We identify 324 actinin proximity partners, including those that are dependent on sarcomere assembly. We confirm 19 known interactors and identify a network of RNA-binding proteins, including those with RNA localization functions. In vivo and biochemical interaction studies support that IGF2BP2 localizes electron transport chain transcripts to actinin neighborhoods through interactions between its K homology (KH) domain and actinin\u27s rod domain. We combine alanine scanning mutagenesis and metabolic assays to disrupt and functionally interrogate actinin-IGF2BP2 interactions, which reveal an essential role in metabolic responses to pathological sarcomere activation using a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy model. This study expands our functional knowledge of actinin, uncovers sarcomere interaction partners, and reveals sarcomere crosstalk with IGF2BP2 for metabolic adaptation relevant to human disease

Parents\u27 Goals: An Analysis of Therapist Reasoning

Purpose: Illustrate the use of DDDM to develop parent-identified goals for occupational therapy and to identify underlying sensory integration factors hypothesized to be impacting participation

Adrenergic and mesenchymal signatures are identifiable in cell-free DNA and correlate with metastatic disease burden in children with neuroblastoma

Background: Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) profiles of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC), an epigenetic marker of open chromatin and active gene expression, are correlated with metastatic disease burden in patients with neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma tumors are comprised of adrenergic (ADRN) and mesenchymal (MES) cells, and the relative abundance of each in tumor biopsies has prognostic implications. We hypothesized that ADRN and MES-specific signatures could be quantified in cfDNA 5-hmC profiles and would augment the detection of metastatic burden in patients with neuroblastoma. Methods: We previously performed an integrative analysis to identify ADRN and MES-specific genes (n = 373 and n = 159, respectively). Purified DNA from cell lines was serial diluted with healthy donor cfDNA. Using Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA), ADRN and MES signatures were optimized. We then quantified signature scores, and our prior neuroblastoma signature, in cfDNA from 84 samples from 46 high-risk patients including 21 patients with serial samples. Results: Samples from patients with higher metastatic burden had increased GSVA scores for both ADRN and MES gene signatures (p Conclusions: While it is feasible to identify ADRN and MES signatures using 5-hmC profiles of cfDNA from neuroblastoma patients and correlate these signatures to metastatic burden, additional data are needed to determine the optimal strategies for clinical implementation. Prospective evaluation in larger cohorts is ongoing.</p

RApid Primary care Initiation of Drug treatment for Transient Ischaemic Attack (RAPID-TIA): study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: People who have a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke are at high risk of a recurrent stroke, particularly in the first week after the event. Early initiation of secondary prevention drugs is associated with an 80% reduction in risk of stroke recurrence. This raises the question as to whether these drugs should be given before being seen by a specialist--that is, in primary care or in the emergency department. The aims of the RAPID-TIA pilot trial are to determine the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial, to analyse cost effectiveness and to ask: Should general practitioners and emergency doctors (primary care physicians) initiate secondary preventative measures in addition to aspirin in people they see with suspected TIA or minor stroke at the time of referral to a specialist? METHODS/DESIGN: This is a pilot randomised controlled trial with a sub-study of accuracy of primary care physician diagnosis of TIA. In the pilot trial, we aim to recruit 100 patients from 30 general practices (including out-of-hours general practice centres) and 1 emergency department whom the primary care physician diagnoses with TIA or minor stroke and randomly assign them to usual care (that is, initiation of aspirin and referral to a TIA clinic) or usual care plus additional early initiation of secondary prevention drugs (a blood-pressure lowering protocol, simvastatin 40 mg and dipyridamole 200 mg m/r bd). The primary outcome of the main study will be the number of strokes at 90 days. The diagnostic accuracy sub-study will include these 100 patients and an additional 70 patients in whom the primary care physician thinks the diagnosis of TIA is possible, rather than probable. For the pilot trial, we will report recruitment rate, follow-up rate, a preliminary estimate of the primary event rate and occurrence of any adverse events. For the diagnostic study, we will calculate sensitivity and specificity of primary care physician diagnosis using the final TIA clinic diagnosis as the reference standard. DISCUSSION: This pilot study will be used to estimate key parameters that are needed to design the main study and to estimate the accuracy of primary care diagnosis of TIA. The planned follow-on trial will have important implications for the initial management of people with suspected TIA. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN62019087.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

A Contraction Stress Model of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy due to Sarcomere Mutations.

Thick-filament sarcomere mutations are a common cause of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disorder of heart muscle thickening associated with sudden cardiac death and heart failure, with unclear mechanisms. We engineered four isogenic induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models of β-myosin heavy chain and myosin-binding protein C3 mutations, and studied iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes in cardiac microtissue assays that resemble cardiac architecture and biomechanics. All HCM mutations resulted in hypercontractility with prolonged relaxation kinetics in proportion to mutation pathogenicity, but not changes in calcium handling. RNA sequencing and expression studies of HCM models identified p53 activation, oxidative stress, and cytotoxicity induced by metabolic stress that can be reversed by p53 genetic ablation. Our findings implicate hypercontractility as a direct consequence of thick-filament mutations, irrespective of mutation localization, and the p53 pathway as a molecular marker of contraction stress and candidate therapeutic target for HCM patients