Missing the Goal: A Visual Guide to Sheff v. O\u27Neill School Desegregation: June 2007

This report provides and in-depth, spatial look at the Sheff v. O’Neill case. Including maps that show the racial make-up of the Sheff Region (22 districts around Hartford) throughout time, suburb participation in Project Choice and the districts that send students to magnet schools, the report takes a visual approach to data, translating numbers to colorful, descriptive maps. The report also includes a timeline of the case, a look at some traditional data tables, data presented several different ways and a discussion of the progress made toward the Sheff goals

Shopping for Homes and Schools: A Qualitative Study of West Hartford, Connecticut

This qualitative study explores how access to public schooling is bought and sold in the real estate market in West Hartford, Connecticut, based on interviews with recent homebuyers

Sheff v. O\u27Neill: Weak Desegregation Remedies and Strong Disincentives in Connecticut, 1996-2008

In 1996, as the Supreme Court and the nation were retreating from school integration, Connecticut\u27s judicial system was advancing with Sheff V. O\u27Neill. This chapter explores the case and it aftermath, as the judicial system stalled the process of desegregation and then explores and analyzes the results of Sheff I, a four year legal settlement that produced limited results. The case study continues on to explore the next legal remedy, Sheff II, and throughout, looks at our understanding of school desegregation policy by discussing what this voluntary plan has not yet achieved in Connecticut

Perspectives of Intensive Care patients and family members on competencies for Advanced Intensive Care nurses in Europe

BackgroundOne output from the International Nursing Advanced Competency-based Training for Intensive Care (INACTIC) collaboration is a set of core competencies for advanced practice Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses across Europe. Some European countries, such as the UK, have identified such competencies, however, these advanced practice roles are rarely practiced across the rest of Europe. The INACTIC competencies were developed with an expert panel of 184 ICU nurses from 20 countries. It is also important to examine what patients and relatives with experience of intensive care felt about these competencies. AimTo examine the views of recovered ICU patients and relatives regarding the INACTIC competencies.MethodsThree patient and relative focus groups were conducted in England (n=5), Scotland (n=4) and Greece (n=4) to discuss a lay version of the INACTIC competencies. Discussions were open ended, followed a topic guide, recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analysis followed a conventional thematic approach, with the findings discussed iteratively among the authors.ResultsThe feedback from across the focus groups resulted in three themes: 1) the importance of nurses being empowered to advocate for the patient; 2) the centrality of communication; and, 3) the impact of variability in ICU practices. There was a notable difference with the Greek focus group; because of restricted family visiting policies, relatives did not feel encouraged to participate in patient care.ConclusionsThe perspectives of patients and relatives largely aligned with the consensus of the INACTIC expert panel. Local differences in ICU experience highlight the changes that some ICUs would need to make for the INACTIC competencies to be embedded

How many doctors does it take to manage an Elective General Surgical patient? Individualised Surgeon Specific Outcomes Data misrepresent modern team centred work practices

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Second trimester inflammatory and metabolic markers in women delivering preterm with and without preeclampsia.

ObjectiveInflammatory and metabolic pathways are implicated in preterm birth and preeclampsia. However, studies rarely compare second trimester inflammatory and metabolic markers between women who deliver preterm with and without preeclampsia.Study designA sample of 129 women (43 with preeclampsia) with preterm delivery was obtained from an existing population-based birth cohort. Banked second trimester serum samples were assayed for 267 inflammatory and metabolic markers. Backwards-stepwise logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios.ResultsHigher 5-α-pregnan-3β,20α-diol disulfate, and lower 1-linoleoylglycerophosphoethanolamine and octadecanedioate, predicted increased odds of preeclampsia.ConclusionsAmong women with preterm births, those who developed preeclampsia differed with respect metabolic markers. These findings point to potential etiologic underpinnings for preeclampsia as a precursor to preterm birth

Effectiveness of oral rotavirus vaccination in England against rotavirus-confirmed and all-cause acute gastroenteritis.

BACKGROUND: The monovalent oral rotavirus vaccine Rotarix® was introduced into the UK infant immunisation programme in 2013. We estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) in the first two years of the programme. METHODS: We used a test-negative case-control design and enhanced national surveillance data for 1869 vaccine-eligible children tested for rotavirus infection to obtain adjusted odds ratios and VE against laboratory-confirmed rotavirus infections. Linked anonymised UK primary care and hospitalisation data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (40,723 children) and random-effects Poisson regression were used in a cohort study to estimate VE against all-cause acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and AGE hospitalisations. RESULTS: VE against laboratory-confirmed infection was 69% (95% Confidence Interval: 40-84%) for one dose and 77% (95%CI: 66-85%) for two doses. Two-dose VE in children aged 90% vaccine coverage), explains the lack of VE against all-cause AGE because most AGE in the post-vaccine era would not have been due to rotavirus, although some underestimation of VE could also have occurred due to differential healthcare utilisation by vaccinated and unvaccinated infants. This highlights the importance of using specific vaccine-preventable endpoints for these scenarios

Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS) #6: Hand-off Communications

Hand-off communications, or hand-off processes, involve the transition of care as well as the transfer of patient-specific information by one healthcare professional to another with the purpose of providing a patient with safe, continuous care. A successful hand-off can only be achieved by effective communication

Comparison of LED and Conventional Fluorescence Microscopy for Detection of Acid Fast Bacilli in a Low-Incidence Setting

INTRODUCTION: Light emitting diode fluorescence microscopes have many practical advantages over conventional mercury vapour fluorescence microscopes, which would make them the preferred choice for laboratories in both low- and high-resource settings, provided performance is equivalent. METHODS: In a nested case-control study, we compared diagnostic accuracy and time required to read slides with the Zeiss PrimoStar iLED, LW Scientific Lumin, and a conventional fluorescence microscope (Leica DMLS). Mycobacterial culture was used as the reference standard, and subgroup analysis by specimen source and organism isolated were performed. RESULTS: There was no difference in sensitivity or specificity between the three microscopes, and agreement was high for all comparisons and subgroups. The Lumin and the conventional fluorescence microscope were equivalent with respect to time required to read smears, but the Zeiss iLED was significantly time saving compared to both. CONCLUSIONS: Light emitting diode microscopy should be considered by all tuberculosis diagnostic laboratories, including those in high income countries, as a replacement for conventional fluorescence microscopes. Our findings provide support to the recent World Health Organization policy recommending that conventional fluorescence microscopy be replaced by light emitting diode microscopy using auramine staining in all settings where fluorescence microscopy is currently used