Tenement House Conditions in Five Rhode Island Cities

George H. Webb, Commissioner. Carol Aronovici, Special Agent. Rhode Island Bureau of Industrial Statistics. Part I of the Annual Report for 1910. A report commissioned by the Rhode Island Bureau of Industrial Statistics conducted in cooperation with the Rhode Island Bureau of Social Research, an agency of the Union for Christian Work, which examined the tenement housing conditions found in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket, and Newport, RI.https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/ri_history/1017/thumbnail.jp

Prevention of Elder Mistreatment in Nursing Homes: Competencies for Direct-Care Staff

Existing training on elder mistreatment in nursing homes focuses on detection and reporting of abuse, with little training specifically targeted toward prevention of mistreatment before it occurs. We used qualitative interviews with nursing home staff, policymakers, and related professionals to identify training needs. Based on participant accounts, we drafted a number of competencies essential for caregiver training to prevent mistreatment in nursing homes. Competencies include those dealing with: definitions and policies; risks for mistreatment; communication and respect; and development of a cooperative working environment. Competencies are discussed along with illustrative examples, and implications for practice and policy are addressed

Language and Reading Progress of Young Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.

We examined the language and reading progress of 336 young DHH children in kindergarten, first and second grades. Trained assessors tested children's language, reading, and spoken and fingerspelled phonological awareness in the fall and spring of the school year. Children were divided into groups based on their auditory access and classroom communication: a spoken-only group (n = 101), a sign-only group (n = 131), and a bimodal group (n = 104). Overall, children showed delays in language and reading compared to norms established for hearing children. For language, vocabulary standard scores were higher than for English syntax. Although delayed in language, children made expected gains based on hearing norms from kindergarten to second grade. Reading scores declined from kindergarten to second grade. Spoken-only and bimodal children had similar word reading and reading comprehension abilities and higher scores than sign-only children. Spoken-only children had better spoken phonological awareness and nonword reading skills than the other two groups. The sign-only and bimodal groups made similar and significant gains in ASL syntax and fingerspelling phonological awareness

The Bright Side of Hematopoiesis: Regulatory Roles of ARID3a/Bright in Human and Mouse Hematopoiesis

ARID3a/Bright is a DNA-binding protein that was originally discovered for its ability to increase immunoglobulin transcription in antigen-activated B cells. It interacts with DNA as a dimer through its ARID, or A/T-rich interacting domain. In association with other proteins, ARID3a increased transcription of the immunoglobulin heavy chain and led to improved chromatin accessibility of the heavy chain enhancer. Constitutive expression of ARID3a in B lineage cells resulted in autoantibody production, suggesting its regulation is important. Abnormal ARID3a expression has also been associated with increased proliferative capacity and malignancy. Roles for ARID3a in addition to interactions with the immunoglobulin locus were suggested by transgenic and knockout mouse models. Over-expression of ARID3a resulted in skewing of mature B cell subsets and altered gene expression patterns of follicular B cells, whereas loss of function resulted in loss of B1 lineage B cells and defects in hematopoiesis. More recent studies showed that loss of ARID3a in adult somatic cells promoted developmental plasticity, alterations in gene expression patterns, and lineage fate decisions. Together, these data suggest new regulatory roles for ARID3a. The genes influenced by ARID3a are likely to play pivotal roles in lineage decisions, highlighting the importance of this understudied transcription factor

Very old patients admitted to intensive care in Australia and New Zealand: a multi-centre cohort analysis

INTRODUCTION: Older age is associated with higher prevalence of chronic illness and functional impairment, contributing to an increased rate of hospitalization and admission to intensive care. The primary objective was to evaluate the rate, characteristics and outcomes of very old (age >or= 80 years) patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). METHODS: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the Australian New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database. Data were obtained for 120,123 adult admissions for >or= 24 hours across 57 ICUs from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2005. RESULTS: A total of 15,640 very old patients (13.0%) were admitted during the study. These patients were more likely to be from a chronic care facility, had greater co-morbid illness, greater illness severity, and were less likely to receive mechanical ventilation. Crude ICU and hospital mortalities were higher (ICU: 12% vs. 8.2%, P /= 80 years was associated with higher ICU and hospital death compared with younger age strata (ICU: odds ratio (OR) = 2.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.4 to 3.0; hospital: OR = 5.4, 95% CI = 4.9 to 5.9). Factors associated with lower survival included admission from a chronic care facility, co-morbid illness, nonsurgical admission, greater illness severity, mechanical ventilation, and longer stay in the ICU. Those aged >or= 80 years were more likely to be discharged to rehabilitation/long-term care (12.3% vs. 4.9%, OR = 2.7, 95% CI = 2.6 to 2.9). The admission rates of very old patients increased by 5.6% per year. This potentially translates to a 72.4% increase in demand for ICU bed-days by 2015. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of patients aged >or= 80 years admitted to intensive care in Australia and New Zealand is rapidly increasing. Although these patients have more co-morbid illness, are less likely to be discharged home, and have a greater mortality than younger patients, approximately 80% survive to hospital discharge. These data also imply a potential major increase in demand for ICU bed-days for very old patients within a decade

Landmark survival as an end-point for trials in critically ill patients – comparison of alternative durations of follow-up: an exploratory analysis

Introduction Interventional ICU trials have followed up patients for variable duration. However, the optimal duration of follow-up for the determination of mortality endpoint in such trials is uncertain. We aimed to determine the most logical and practical mortality end-point in clinical trials of critically ill patients. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data involving 369 patients with one of the three specific diagnoses (i) Sepsis (ii) Community acquired pneumonia (iii) Non operative trauma admitted to the Royal Perth Hospital ICU, a large teaching hospital in Western Australia (WA cohort). Their in-hospital and post discharge survival outcome was assessed by linkage to the WA Death Registry. A validation cohort involving 4609 patients admitted during same time period with identical diagnoses from 55 ICUs across Australia (CORE cohort) was used to compare the patient characteristics and in-hospital survival to look at the Australia-wide applicability of the long term survival data from the WA cohort. Results The long term outcome data of the WA cohort indicate that mortality reached a plateau at 90 days after ICU admission particularly for sepsis and pneumonia. Mortality after hospital discharge before 90 days was not uncommon in these two groups. Severity of acute illness as measured by the total number of organ failures or acute physiology score was the main predictor of 90-day mortality. The adjusted in-hospital survival for the WA cohort was not significantly different from that of the CORE cohort in all three diagnostic groups; sepsis (P = 0.19), community acquired pneumonia (P = 0.86), non-operative trauma (P = 0.47). Conclusions A minimum of 90 days follow-up is necessary to fully capture the mortality effect of sepsis and community acquired pneumonia. A shorter period of follow-up time may be sufficient for non-operative trauma

Life After the LIS Program

A workshop sponsored by the LIS Alumni Group & ALAsc. The recording of the presentations, as well as slide shows are provided here. The workshop took place on April 9, 2017 at Hamilton Library

The social geography of childcare: 'making up' the middle class child

Childcare is a condensate of disparate social forces and social processes. It is gendered and classed. It is subject to an excess of policy and political discourse. It is increasingly a focus for commercial exploitation. This is a paper reporting on work in progress in an ESRC funded research project (R000239232) on the choice and provision of pre-school childcare by middle class (service class) families in two contrasting London locations. Drawing on recent work in class analysis the paper examines the relationships between childcare choice, middle class fractions and locality. It suggests that on the evidence of the findings to date, there is some evidence of systematic differences between fractions in terms of values, perspectives and preferences for childcare, but a more powerful case for intra-class similarities, particularly when it comes to putting preferences into practice in the 'making up of a middle class child' through care and education

Identifying bottlenecks in the iron and folic acid supply chain in Bihar, India: a mixed-methods study

Background: Maternal anaemia prevalence in Bihar, India remains high despite government mandated iron supplementation targeting pregnant women. Inadequate supply has been identified as a potential barrier to iron and folic acid (IFA) receipt. Our study objective was to examine the government health system’s IFA supply and distribution system and identify bottlenecks contributing to insufficient IFA supply. Methods: Primary data collection was conducted in November 2011 and July 2012 across 8 districts in Bihar, India. A cross-sectional, observational, mixed methods approach was utilized. Auxiliary Nurse Midwives were surveyed on current IFA supply and practices. In-depth interviews (n = 59) were conducted with health workers at state, district, block, health sub-centre, and village levels. Results: Overall, 44% of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives were out of IFA stock. Stock levels and supply chain practices varied greatly across districts. Qualitative data revealed specific bottlenecks impacting IFA forecasting, procurement, storage, disposal, lack of personnel, and few training opportunities for key players in the supply chain. Conclusions: Inadequate IFA supply is a major constraint to the IFA supplementation program, the extent of which varies widely across districts. Improvements at all levels of infrastructure, practices, and effective monitoring will be critical to strengthen the IFA supply chain in Bihar