Determining the Efficacy of the Community Research Fellows Training: An 18-Month Evaluation

Community members equipped with knowledge, training, resources, and opportunity acquired through structured research educational programs can strengthen the research relationship and improve the process for community-based participatory research. The purpose of this research is to explore the sustained efficacy of the Mississippi Community Research Fellows Training conducted by the 18-month post-completion of the first cohort. A mixed method approach that included fielding a brief survey and having a focus group discussion among fellows was applied to the study to determine impact, value, and utility of skills learned. Seventeen of the 25 Cohort 1 fellows completed an online survey. Six participated in a focus group. The participants recognized the relevancy of the skills acquired and had applied their training to forge new collaborations with researchers and community organizations and contributed to the acquisition of resources for their communities and disseminated culturally appropriate health information to the residents. Recommendations for the future training programs were identified. The findings could ensure the long-term utility of the lessons and skills learned

Older and More Experienced? Comparing Mainland Chinese International Students in Canada on Social Cognitive Correlates of Leisure Time Physical Activity, Acculturation, and Mental Health by Study Year

Background: Physical activity is a mandatory component of many university programs in China and there is evidence that Chinese students value physical activity for health (Chen & Liu, 2008); however, academics are generally prioritized as students advance in their studies (Ha, Macdonald, & Pang, 2010). Among international students in the United States, Asian students were found to have some of the lowest rates of physical activity, which could be linked with many combinations of cultural, environmental, and individual barriers (Yoh, Yang, & Gordon, 2008). Physical activity may aid in healthy transitions for Chinese international students. Aim: Chinese international students were compared by study year on physical activity, mental health, culture, and social cognitive theory variables. Method: First year (n = 92), second year (n = 52), and senior (n = 77) international students studying in Canada were compared on physical activity, self-efficacy, intention, access, stress, acculturative stress, subjective well-being, acculturation, and self-construal. The relationships between the social cognitive, mental health, culture variables, and physical activity were also compared. Results: Senior students perceived fewer places to do physical activity and more discrimination compared to first- and second-year students. Senior students experienced more academic pressure and guilt towards their family compared to second year students. First year students reported more general stress compared to second year students. Self-efficacy, intention, and exercise to reduce stress shared relationships with vigorous physical activity. Subjective well-being was related to moderate physical activity, and self-efficacy and independent self-construal were related to walking. Walking decreased by study year. Conclusions: Physical activity may be used to improve mental health for Chinese international students, but interventions may need to be adjusted or implemented depending on the academic stage of the student

Critical and Contemporary Issues in Education

This Grants Collection uses the grant-supported open textbook OpenEDUC from the University of Georgia: http://oer.galileo.usg.edu/education-textbooks/4 This Grants Collection for Critical and Contemporary Issues in Education was created under a Round Two ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/education-collections/1001/thumbnail.jp

Exploring Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Diversity

This Grants Collection uses the grant-supported open textbook OpenEDUC from the University of Georgia: http://oer.galileo.usg.edu/education-textbooks/4 This Grants Collection for Critical and Contemporary Issues in Education was created under a Round Two ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/education-collections/1000/thumbnail.jp

Increasing Research Capacity In Underserved Communities: Formative and Summative Evaluation and Summative Evaluation of the Mississippi Community Research Fellows Training Program (Cohort 1)

Background: The Mississippi Community Research Fellows Training Program (MSCRFTP) is a 15-week program conducted in Jackson, MS, USA consisting of training in the areas of evidence-based public health, research methods, research ethics, and cultural competency. The purpose of the program was to increase community knowledge and understanding of public health research, develop community-based projects that addressed health disparity in the participants’ community, increase individual and community capacity, and to engage community members as equal partners in the research process. Methods: A comprehensive evaluation of the MSCRFTP was conducted that included both quantitative and qualitative methods. All participants were asked to complete a baseline, midterm, and final assessment as part of their program requirements. Knowledge gained was assessed by comparing baseline assessment responses to final assessment responses related to 27 key content areas addressed in the training sessions. Assessments also collected participants’ attitudes toward participating in research within their communities, their perceived influence over community decisions, and their perceptions of community members’ involvement in research, satisfaction with the program, and the program’s impact on the participants’ daily practice and community work. Results: Twenty-one participants, the majority of which were female and African-American, completed the MSCRFTP. Knowledge of concepts addressed in 15 weekly training sessions improved significantly on 85.2% of 27 key areas evaluated (p \u3c 0.05). Two mini-grant community based participatory research projects proposed by participants were funded through competitive application. Most participants agreed that by working together, the people in their community could influence decisions that affected the community. All participants rated their satisfaction with the overall program as “very high” (76.2%, n = 16) or “high” (23.8%, n = 5). Conclusion: The evaluation of the MSCRFTP demonstrates that participants have the necessary knowledge to engage as research partners, and the pilot projects provided an opportunity for application of this objective to be realized. Overall, the MSCRFTP was an intervention that assisted community members in identifying their communities’ strengths and weaknesses, interpret knowledge in a meaningful way, and create a self-reflective community of inquiry for change

Prospectus, October 18, 1995

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1995/1025/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, November 22, 1995

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1995/1030/thumbnail.jp

Whole-genome sequencing shows that patient-to-patient transmission rarely accounts for acquisition of Staphylococcus aureus in an intensive care unit

BACKGROUND  Strategies to prevent Staphylococcus aureus infection in hospitals focus on patient-to-patient transmission. We used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the role of colonized patients as the source of new S. aureus acquisitions, and the reliability of identifying patient-to-patient transmission using the conventional approach of spa typing and overlapping patient stay. METHODS Over 14 months, all unselected patients admitted to an adult intensive care unit (ICU) were serially screened for S. aureus. All available isolates (n = 275) were spa typed and underwent whole-genome sequencing to investigate their relatedness at high resolution. RESULTS Staphylococcus aureus was carried by 185 of 1109 patients sampled within 24 hours of ICU admission (16.7%); 59 (5.3%) patients carried methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Forty-four S. aureus (22 MRSA) acquisitions while on ICU were detected. Isolates were available for genetic analysis from 37 acquisitions. Whole-genome sequencing indicated that 7 of these 37 (18.9%) were transmissions from other colonized patients. Conventional methods (spa typing combined with overlapping patient stay) falsely identified 3 patient-to-patient transmissions (all MRSA) and failed to detect 2 acquisitions and 4 transmissions (2 MRSA). CONCLUSIONS Only a minority of S. aureus acquisitions can be explained by patient-to-patient transmission. Whole-genome sequencing provides the resolution to disprove transmission events indicated by conventional methods and also to reveal otherwise unsuspected transmission events. Whole-genome sequencing should replace conventional methods for detection of nosocomial S. aureus transmission

Improved measurement for mothers, newborns and children in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals.

BACKGROUND: An urgent priority in maternal, newborn and child health is to accelerate the scale-up of cost-effective essential interventions, especially during labor, the immediate postnatal period and for the treatment of serious infectious diseases and acute malnutrition.  Tracking intervention coverage is a key activity to support scale-up and in this paper we examine priorities in coverage measurement, distinguishing between essential interventions that can be measured now and those that require methodological development. METHODS: We conceptualized a typology of indicators related to intervention coverage that distinguishes access to care from receipt of an intervention by the population in need.  We then built on documented evidence on coverage measurement to determine the status of indicators for essential interventions and to identify areas for development. RESULTS: Contact indicators from pregnancy to childhood were identified as current indicators for immediate use, but indicators reflecting the quality of care provided during these contacts need development. At each contact point, some essential interventions can be measured now, but the need for development of indicators predominates around interventions at the time of birth and interventions to treat infections. Addressing this need requires improvements in routine facility based data capture, methods for linking provider and community-based data, and improved guidance for effective coverage measurement that reflects the provision of high-quality care. CONCLUSION: Coverage indicators for some essential interventions can be measured accurately through household surveys and be used to track progress in maternal, newborn and child health.  Other essential interventions currently rely on contact indicators as proxies for coverage but urgent attention is needed to identify new measurement approaches that directly and reliably measure their effective coverage

Interactions between subunits of Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNase MRP support a conserved eukaryotic RNase P/MRP architecture

Ribonuclease MRP is an endonuclease, related to RNase P, which functions in eukaryotic pre-rRNA processing. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, RNase MRP comprises an RNA subunit and ten proteins. To improve our understanding of subunit roles and enzyme architecture, we have examined protein-protein and protein–RNA interactions in vitro, complementing existing yeast two-hybrid data. In total, 31 direct protein–protein interactions were identified, each protein interacting with at least three others. Furthermore, seven proteins self-interact, four strongly, pointing to subunit multiplicity in the holoenzyme. Six protein subunits interact directly with MRP RNA and four with pre-rRNA. A comparative analysis with existing data for the yeast and human RNase P/MRP systems enables confident identification of Pop1p, Pop4p and Rpp1p as subunits that lie at the enzyme core, with probable addition of Pop5p and Pop3p. Rmp1p is confirmed as an integral subunit, presumably associating preferentially with RNase MRP, rather than RNase P, via interactions with Snm1p and MRP RNA. Snm1p and Rmp1p may act together to assist enzyme specificity, though roles in substrate binding are also indicated for Pop4p and Pop6p. The results provide further evidence of a conserved eukaryotic RNase P/MRP architecture and provide a strong basis for studies of enzyme assembly and subunit function