EAST MEETS WEST: CULTURAL VALUES AND DUTY TO CARE FOR DISASTER RESPONSE

Nurses’ readiness for disaster response has assumed front and center-stage in recent years, due to the heightened number of natural and human-induced disasters across the globe. Scientific literature affirms that without nurses’ personal and professional readiness for disaster situations, patient and public health outcomes will likely decline. Three research manuscripts presented in this dissertation portfolio targeted this significant, but overlooked public health issue. First, a quantitative pilot study addressing nurses’ personal preparedness for disaster response was considered. Findings from the study not only justified personal readiness as a significant concept, but also prompted review of the scientific literature to further explore the effects of personal barriers to disaster response. While a variety of issues emerged for consideration, duty to care was identified as reoccurring concept still uncharted and unmeasured by nursing scholars. This resulted in a psychometric study describing the development, testing, and measurement qualities of the Nash Duty to Care Scale, the second manuscript in this portfolio. While the instrument was psychometrically sound, the study sample maintained limitations. Therefore, the third manuscript reexamined the concept of duty to care among nurses from the United States and Taiwan, while also considering the effects of cultural values on nurses’ perceived duty to care for disasters. Results from the 229 member sample demonstrated that while nurses’ cultural values were characteristic of their native traditions, general duty to care did not differ significantly between the two countries. Limited internal consistency reliability of the duty to care scale will require follow-up retesting and revisions

"Learning the hard way": Understanding the workplace learning of sports coach mentors

The purpose of this study was to understand the workplace learning of sports coach mentors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 coach mentors employed by a sport governing body (SGB) as part of a formalised mentoring programme. ‘Current’ coach mentors (n = 9) had been employed for a minimum of one year by the organisation and were all interviewed once. ‘New’ coach mentors (n = 9) were all interviewed twice, once at the start of their employment and once again 9 months later. Moreover, regional mentors (n = 8) who oversee the training and practice of the coach mentors participated in one focus group. Data were analysed thematically, with the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu and relevant workplace learning literature used to support the analytical process. The findings highlight how habitus structures coach mentors’ participation in learning opportunities afforded to them in the workplace. In addition, habitus and embodied capital will impact how coach mentors interact with and interpret mentor training, whilst influencing their level of engagement with other employees. It is argued SGB social fields are crucial in the production of promoted norms and ‘legitimate’ knowledge within workplaces, which subsequently influences mentor learning. Recommendations are made for critically transformative approaches to training coach mentors

Dual Mechanism of Interleukin-3 Receptor Blockade by an Anti-Cancer Antibody

SummaryInterleukin-3 (IL-3) is an activated T cell product that bridges innate and adaptive immunity and contributes to several immunopathologies. Here, we report the crystal structure of the IL-3 receptor α chain (IL3Rα) in complex with the anti-leukemia antibody CSL362 that reveals the N-terminal domain (NTD), a domain also present in the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-5, and IL-13 receptors, adopting unique “open” and classical “closed” conformations. Although extensive mutational analyses of the NTD epitope of CSL362 show minor overlap with the IL-3 binding site, CSL362 only inhibits IL-3 binding to the closed conformation, indicating alternative mechanisms for blocking IL-3 signaling. Significantly, whereas “open-like” IL3Rα mutants can simultaneously bind IL-3 and CSL362, CSL362 still prevents the assembly of a higher-order IL-3 receptor-signaling complex. The discovery of open forms of cytokine receptors provides the framework for development of potent antibodies that can achieve a “double hit” cytokine receptor blockade

Suicide Attempts Among a Cohort of Transgender and Gender Diverse People

INTRODUCTION: Transgender and gender diverse people often face discrimination and may experience disproportionate emotional distress that leads to suicide attempts. Therefore, it is essential to estimate the frequency and potential determinants of suicide attempts among transgender and gender diverse individuals. METHODS: Longitudinal data on 6,327 transgender and gender diverse individuals enrolled in 3 integrated healthcare systems were analyzed to assess suicide attempt rates. Incidence was compared between transmasculine and transfeminine people by age and race/ethnicity and according to mental health status at baseline. Cox proportional hazards models examined rates and predictors of suicide attempts during follow-up. Data were collected in 2016, and analyses were conducted in 2019. RESULTS: During follow-up, 4.8% of transmasculine and 3.0% of transfeminine patients had at least 1 suicide attempt. Suicide attempt rates were more than 7 times higher among patients aged45 years, more than 3 times higher among patients with previous history of suicide ideation or suicide attempts than among those with no such history, and 2-5 times higher among those with 1-2 mental health diagnoses and more than 2 mental health diagnoses at baseline than among those with none. CONCLUSIONS: Among transgender and gender diverse individuals, younger people, people with previous suicidal ideation or attempts, and people with multiple mental health diagnoses are at a higher risk for suicide attempts. Future research should examine the impact of gender-affirming healthcare use on the risk of suicide attempts and identify targets for suicide prevention interventions among transgender and gender diverse people in clinical settings

Interleukin-11 Is the Dominant IL-6 Family Cytokine during Gastrointestinal Tumorigenesis and Can Be Targeted Therapeutically

SummaryAmong the cytokines linked to inflammation-associated cancer, interleukin (IL)-6 drives many of the cancer “hallmarks” through downstream activation of the gp130/STAT3 signaling pathway. However, we show that the related cytokine IL-11 has a stronger correlation with elevated STAT3 activation in human gastrointestinal cancers. Using genetic mouse models, we reveal that IL-11 has a more prominent role compared to IL-6 during the progression of sporadic and inflammation-associated colon and gastric cancers. Accordingly, in these models and in human tumor cell line xenograft models, pharmacologic inhibition of IL-11 signaling alleviated STAT3 activation, suppressed tumor cell proliferation, and reduced the invasive capacity and growth of tumors. Our results identify IL-11 signaling as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers

Let us introduce ourselves, #WeAreBOSEM

No description supplie

A Case Study of Factors Influencing Performance in the Practice Environment

Athletes’ practice environment can influence their competitive performance. The influencing performance factors present in practice are understudied, and the aim of this study was to explore these factors. Using a case-study approach, the authors investigated a basketball practice environment to reveal influencing performance factors. Participants were 15 members of a U.K. Elite Academy Basketball League team based in a sixth-form college (equivalent to American high school age) that included 10 players, 2 coaches, 1 strength and conditioning coach, 1 academic teacher, and the head of sport (mean age 21.8 yr). A case-study approach was adopted to collect data from interviews, focus groups, and direct observations to provide a holistic assessment of the practice environment. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, which revealed 6 overarching themes: effort, status, individuality, preparation, team drive, and practice vision. Data analysis exposed several themes of influencing performance factors unreported in previous literature, suggesting that practice environments should be viewed as a stand-alone field of investigative enquiry. The results from this study provide a much-needed foray into the psychological influences of practice and give practitioners the opportunity to reflect on the results against their own practice environments.</jats:p

The SPARC Toroidal Field Model Coil Program

The SPARC Toroidal Field Model Coil (TFMC) Program was a three-year effort between 2018 and 2021 that developed novel Rare Earth Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide (REBCO) superconductor technologies and then successfully utilized these technologies to design, build, and test a first-in-class, high-field (~20 T), representative-scale (~3 m) superconducting toroidal field coil. With the principal objective of demonstrating mature, large-scale, REBCO magnets, the project was executed jointly by the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). The TFMC achieved its programmatic goal of experimentally demonstrating a large-scale high-field REBCO magnet, achieving 20.1 T peak field-on-conductor with 40.5 kA of terminal current, 815 kN/m of Lorentz loading on the REBCO stacks, and almost 1 GPa of mechanical stress accommodated by the structural case. Fifteen internal demountable pancake-to-pancake joints operated in the 0.5 to 2.0 nOhm range at 20 K and in magnetic fields up to 12 T. The DC and AC electromagnetic performance of the magnet, predicted by new advances in high-fidelity computational models, was confirmed in two test campaigns while the massively parallel, single-pass, pressure-vessel style coolant scheme capable of large heat removal was validated. The REBCO current lead and feeder system was experimentally qualified up to 50 kA, and the crycooler based cryogenic system provided 600 W of cooling power at 20 K with mass flow rates up to 70 g/s at a maximum design pressure of 20 bar-a for the test campaigns. Finally, the feasibility of using passive, self-protection against a quench in a fusion-scale NI TF coil was experimentally assessed with an intentional open-circuit quench at 31.5 kA terminal current.Comment: 17 pages 9 figures, overview paper and the first of a six-part series of papers covering the TFMC Progra