Public health department perspectives on cervical and prostate cancer prevention in southeastern Kentucky.

This study compared and contrasted the screening and prevention methods and strategies utilized by public health departments in southeastern Kentucky for both cervical and prostate cancer. Special attention was paid to how such efforts have influenced decreases in mortality rates over the past two decades. The study used both geospatial methods, such as Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) and spatial autocorrelation, and qualitative methods in form of interviews. The interview data showed that Kentucky public health departments had strong cervical cancer screening and prevention programs, but did not focus on prostate cancer prevention. Successes in cervical cancer screening included the expansion of resources and services through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program, community outreach, and an increase in transportation access. For prostate cancer, only two health departments had reported offering any type of services. Other counties attributed prostate prevention success to an increase in physicians in the area and the work of employers to encourage screenings. When these results were explored through further geospatial data analysis, there did not seem to be any major correlations between the interview data and clusters of incidence and mortality rate changes. The reasons for a decrease in mortality in cervical cancer are more evident than for prostate cancer, from the perspective of the health department. The key finding was that prostate cancer does not garner the public funding support that cervical cancer does. In order to discover the cause for prostate cancer mortality rate decrease in southeastern Kentucky, the public health department is not the ideal place to look

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness

We are an interprofessional team that worked together to educate and bring awareness to FASD. There are a lot of misconceptions regarding this disorder. After learning that there are no medical trainings for physicians regarding diagnosing which results in a lack of therapy, we were eager to bring awareness to this serious matter.https://dune.une.edu/cecespring2022/1020/thumbnail.jp

Assessing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on student wellbeing at universities in the UK: a conceptual analysis

Transitioning into the university environment can be both exciting and stressful for new and returning students alike. The pressure to perform well academically in an increasingly competitive environment, coupled with a vast array of lifestyle changes, can contribute to suboptimal wellbeing. Over recent years, uptake to wellbeing services within universities in the United Kingdom has grown given the concurrent rise in mental health difficulties reported. Higher education students now have to contend with a drastically altered learning landscape, owing to the discovery of novel coronavirus, Sars-Cov-2, otherwise referred to as COVID-19. In the United Kingdom, universities have moved to close their campuses to both students and non-essential staff in an effort to protect them from contracting the virus. The repercussions of these decisions have been monumental for the delivery of teaching, relationships and, importantly, the provision of student services. Ambiguity remains as to how teaching will be delivered for the forthcoming academic year. The uncertainty caused by the pandemic has yet to be considered in terms of student wellbeing and the new, mostly online, environments that students will be expected to navigate without their typical support networks. For the purpose of this paper, the concept of student wellbeing, a population level term concerned with positive emotions rather than diagnosed mental health conditions, will be considered in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak. The current paper performs a conceptual analysis on student wellbeing in United Kingdom universities with a specific lens on the psychosocial impact of the global COVID-19 outbreak. Given the unprecedented world that students now learn in, considering the impact of the pandemic on psychosocial outcomes delineates the novel challenges that researchers and practitioners must consider when implementing student wellbeing initiatives moving forward

Interactive Music Systems

Children with special needs often find difficulty learning due to their disabilities. Music therapy is an alternate method of learning music composition that benefits those with special needs. This project developed a music technology application that addressed needs related to facilitating musicianship with special needs populations. The application was implemented in a public school classroom where professional educators surveyed its viability as an instructional tool. The data received from the survey suggest that this survey suggest that the application would be a viable instructional resource

"Meeting the Mum Where She is at": Recommended Best Practice to Support Vulnerable New Mothers

Becoming a new mother can be a complicated life transition with physical, emotional, and psychological changes. Women with additional vulnerabilities are at greatest risk from physical and mental ill-health due to adversities faced when becoming a new mother. The impetus for the current White Paper arose from the desire to develop a deeper understanding of the needs of vulnerable new mothers, the perceived impact of the Early Years Support Service, and the best practice guidelines for how to support new mothers with additional vulnerabilities. This White Paper is based on the first empirical study of the Early Years Support Service, involving 47 stakeholders with direct experience including: 22 mothers who had or currently use the Early Years Support Service, 15 volunteers, 6 staff, 4 significant others. The Early Years Support Service is available to primary carers irrespective of gender. All of the service users who participated in this study identified as mothers and thus this White Paper discusses the experiences of mothers

DigitalCommons@USU Fiscal Year Report 2015-2016

A report on the growth and changes in the repository over the fiscal year 2015-2016

Differential renal effects of candesartan at high-and ultra-high doses in diabetic mice: potential role of ACE2/AT2R/Mas

High doses of Ang II receptor (AT1R) blockers (ARBs) are renoprotective in diabetes. Underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We evaluated whether high/ultra-high doses of candesartan (ARB) up-regulate angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)/Ang II type 2 receptor (AT2R)/Mas receptor [protective axis of the of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS)] in diabetic mice. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), albuminuria and expression/activity of RAS components were assessed in diabetic db/db and control db/+ mice treated with increasing candesartan doses (intermediate, 1 mg/kg/d; high, 5 mg/kg/d; ultra-high, 25 and 75 mg/kg/d; 4 weeks). Lower doses candesartan did not influence SBP, but ultra-high doses reduced SBP in both groups. Plasma glucose and albuminuria were increased in db/db compared with db/+ mice. In diabetic mice treated with intermediate dose candesartan, renal tubular damage and albuminuria were ameliorated and expression of ACE2, AT2R and Mas and activity of ACE2 were increased, effects associated with reduced ERK1/2 phosphorylation, decreased fibrosis and renal protection. Ultra-high doses did not influence the ACE2/AT2R/Mas axis and promoted renal injury with increased renal ERK1/2 activation and exaggerated fibronectin expression in db/db mice. Our study demonstrates dose-related effects of candesartan in diabetic nephropathy: intermediate–high dose candesartan is renoprotective, whereas ultra-high dose candesartan induces renal damage. Molecular processes associated with these effects involve differential modulation of the ACE2/AT2R/Mas axis: intermediate–high dose candesartan up-regulating RAS protective components and attenuating pro-fibrotic processes, and ultra-high doses having opposite effects. These findings suggest novel mechanisms through the protective RAS axis, whereby candesartan may ameliorate diabetic nephropathy. Our findings also highlight potential injurious renal effects of ultra-high dose candesartan in diabetes

The burden of pharmacological treatment on health-related quality of life in people with a urea cycle disorder: a qualitative study

Background: Urea cycle disorders (UCD) are inborn errors of metabolism, typically presenting neonatally. Excess ammonia builds rapidly within the body risking hyperammonemic episodes and potentially death. Long-term management of the condition includes restrictive protein consumption, pharmacological interventions and, in extreme cases, liver transplantation. Pharmacological treatments such as sodium benzoate and sodium phenylbutyrate have proven effective but not without a multitude of negative attributes including poor taste, higher dosage and associated gastrointestinal discomfort that impacts health-related quality of life. Glycerol phenylbutyrate (GPB) has recently become a widely available pharmacological treatment with early reports of improved qualities, including taste and administration method. The following study aims to explore the burden of pharmacological treatment and the effects of the transition to GPB on health-related quality of life in people with a UCD. Results: Nine carers of children living with a UCD (mean age=12.44, SD=10.26) were interviewed regarding their experiences of pharmacological treatment in relation to their, and their child’s, health-related quality of life after transitioning to GPB. Three main themes were identified: psychological health, physical health and social participation. Carers struggled with anxiety surrounding their child’s condition and the battle of administering medication. Medication administration was perceived to have improved since the transition to GPB, alleviating distress for both carer and child. Issues involving school were described, ranging from difficulties integrating their child into mainstream schooling and the impact of treatment on participation in school and extracurricular activities. Carers encountered issues sourcing syringes to administer GPB, which induced stress. It could be suggested that some burden had been relieved by the transition to GPB. However, it appeared that difficulties associated with the illness would persist despite treatment, owing to the continuing nature of the condition. Conclusions: Adhering to a strict pharmacological regime caused immense stress for both carers and children, severely impacting on typical social activities such as eating at a restaurant or going on holiday. GPB was perceived to have alleviated some burden in terms of administration given improved characteristics concerning taste and dosage, important characteristics for both carers and children living with UCD. Practitioners should consider these findings when making clinical decisions for children with UCD and the effect of pharmacological treatment on carer’s health-related quality of life. Outreach work to facilitate greater understanding of the condition should be conducted with key locations, such as children’s schools. This would also help to alleviate carer burden

A systematic review of resilient performance in defence and security settings

A narrative systematic literature review was conducted to explore resilient performance in defence and security settings. A search strategy was employed across a total of five databases, searching published articles from 2001 onwards that assessed performance and optimal function in relation to resilience, in defence and security personnel. Following narrative synthesis, studies were assessed for quality. Thirty-two articles met inclusion criteria across a range of performance domains, including, but not limited to, course selection, marksmanship, land navigation, and simulated captivity. Some of the key findings included measures of mental toughness, confidence, and a stress-is-enhancing mindset being positively associated with performance outcomes. There was mixed evidence for the predictive value of biomarkers, although there was some support for cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and neuropeptide-y (NPY), and vagal reactivity. Interventions to improve resilient performance were focused on mindfulness or general psychological skills, with effects generally clearer on cognitive tasks rather than direct performance outcomes in the field. In sum, no single measure, nor intervention was consistently associated with performance over a range of domains. To inform future work, findings from the present review have been used to develop a framework of resilient performance, with the aim to promote theoretically informed work

The challenges and facilitators to successful translation and adaptation of written self-report psychological measures into sign languages: A systematic review.

Deaf people are known to have significantly poorer reading comprehension skills when compared to their hearing counterparts. This poses significant threats to text-based psychological assessments. The plethora of text-based self-report measures available provides ample opportunity to translate/adapt existing tools from text to sign language. This paper systematically reviewed the challenges and facilitators faced in previous translations/adaptations with the view to inform recommendations for future practice. This paper reports the results of a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-informed systematic review of 30 studies that had translated or discussed the translation of a written self-report measure into sign language following screening against inclusion/exclusion criteria. A systematic search (powered by EbscoHost Research Database and using search terms and Boolean operators), was performed in The Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Cinahl, Medline, APA PsycInfo, and APA PsycArticles. The Quality Assessment with Diverse Studies tool was used for quality appraisal of the included papers. Challenges/facilitators to effective translation/adaptation were grouped under linguistic, procedural, and cultural. Examples of specific linguistic, procedural, cultural challenges, and facilitators are discussed in the context of previous research and study limitations. Translating/adapting text-based self-report measures to sign language is a linguistically and procedurally demanding endeavor that requires a deep bicultural/bilingual understanding of both deaf and hearing communities. The present results and recommendations can help researchers develop suitably accessible translated/adapted self-report psychological measures and this can have significant implications on healthcare service planning and delivery