Exploring the Wholeness and Learning Climates of Graduate Students at a Religious University

Background: Graduate school students continuously face pressure to perform and excel, especially within highly competitive allied health graduate programs. Not surprisingly, rates of anxiety, depression, stress, and burnout for college/university students are concerning. Recent evidence suggests that intentionally fostered learning and wholeness climates have the potential to positively impact students’ higher education journeys. Resilience and grit are also vital components to aid in optimal personal and academic outcomes. Goal of the Study: The current study’s goal was to discover if a stated institutional policy and philosophy about a commitment to fostering wholeness influenced the perceived wholeness and learning climates of three graduate programs within Loma Linda University’s School of Allied Health Professions (SAHP), thus potentially positively impacting burnout, life satisfaction, and well-being while also considering the influences of resilience, grit, stress, anxiety, depression, and religion/spirituality. Participants and Methods: In the qualitative, first phase, faculty (N = 6) were recruited to participate in key informant interviews to help further guide the student survey. In phase two, all students present for on-campus classes from three departments were given the opportunity to participate in a survey (N = 360). In phase three of the study, graduate students (N = 27) from the participating SAHP departments (Communication Sciences and Disorders, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy) were recruited to participate in a focus group (three total). Results: Quantitative results were statistically significant for all four hierarchical multiple regression models exploring variables of interests for the study outcomes of burnout/disengagement (B/D), burnout/exhaustion (B/E), satisfaction with life (SWL), and overall well-being (WB). Variances of the final models explained 45.8% for SWL, 36.9% for B/D, 46.4% for B/E, and 42.5% for WB. For B/D, wholeness and learning climates, grit, and spirituality (peace) continued in significance, and for B/E, learning climate, anxiety, depression, and spirituality (peace and faith) remained significant. For SWL, stress and spirituality (meaning and peace) were significant throughout. WB’s final model included significance for learning climate, depression, and spirituality (peace). Patterns for qualitative results revealed four overall themes which helped further contextualize the quantitative findings: 1) Wholeness with sub-themes of a) Interactions/personalized care at LLU, b) Appreciation for spirituality, c) Reaching out to others, d) Whole person health focus, and e) Barriers to wholeness; 2) Stressors with sub-themes of a) Financial burden, b) Parking, c) Academic-based social stressors, d) Limitations with family and friends, e) Surviving versus learning, and f) Medical/mental health components; 3) Resources with sub-themes of a) Mindy, body, and spirit and b) Support from professors and classmates; and 4) Recommendations with sub-themes of a) Communicating to increase awareness of resources, b) Interprofessional opportunities, and c) On-campus needs. Conclusions: While overall a wholeness-based philosophy does make a difference for students, we recommend to more intentionally build upon existing programs, taking into account the student needs and barriers identified. Supportive university programming and policy are further recommended. Keywords: Learning climate, wholeness, life satisfaction, burnout, well-being, anxiety, depression, stress, resilience, grit, religion, spirituality, university student

Developing a New Curriculum in Sport Security Management

High profile sporting events in the United States have been identified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as potential terrorist targets (Lipton, 2005). However, there has been an identified lack of training and education for key personnel responsible for sport security operations (Cunningham, 2007). Recognizing the demand and need for a specialized area in sport event security management, the University of Southern Mississippi School of Human Performance and Recreation developed an emphasis area in sports event security management as part of the Master of Science in Sport Management program. The sport security emphasis area includes three graduate level courses - 1) introduction to sport security management, 2) risk assessment of sport venues, and 3) sport event emergency response planning. These courses were developed by an interdisciplinary team composed of faculty from the USM School of Human Performance and Recreation, individuals from the Center for Spectator Sports Security Management, a curriculum design specialist, and several professional sport security experts. The goal of the emphasis area is to equip current and future sport and entertainment managers with the specialization skills and knowledge needed to address the challenges of homeland security in the sports industry

An Intentional Wholeness Focus and the Association With Burnout in Graduate Students

Rates of stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout for university students are concerning. As in other competitive professional fields, graduate students in occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech language pathology face many performance pressures. Creating supportive learning and wholeness climates along with individual grit, resilience, and healthy spirituality have the potential to positively impact these pressures. The study’s purpose was to examine factors related to burnout within an institution committed to creating supportive learning and wholeness environments. Three hundred and fifty-three graduate students from occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech language pathology graduate programs were recruited to participate in a cross-sectional survey exploring student functioning using primarily validated measures. Hierarchical multiple regressions were utilized to test the unique contributions of perceived learning and wholeness climates, demographics, mental health factors, and potential coping factors to better understand burnout/disengagement and burnout/exhaustion. All models accounted for a significant amount of the variance in both burnout/disengagement (38.2%) and burnout/exhaustion (46.9%). Higher student perceptions of positive wholeness and learning climates, grit, and personal spirituality/peace suggested lower burnout/disengagement, but spirituality/meaning had an unexpected negative outcome. Burnout/exhaustion was negatively associated with anxiety, depression, and spirituality/faith while positively with spirituality/peace. Overall, students’ views of the university providing a supportive wholeness and learning climate as well as their personal grit was associated with lower burnout. Depression and anxiety were negatively associated with burnout/exhaustion. Spirituality was more complicated with variation in risk versus supportive factors. Results may help guide future studies, provide suggestions for specific programming, and promote supportive university environments

Effects of Experience and Workplace Culture in Human-Robot Team Interaction in Robotic Surgery: A Case Study

International audienceRobots are being used in the operating room to aid in surgery, prompting changes to workflow and adaptive behavior by the users. This case study presents a methodology for examining human-robot team interaction in a complex environment, along with the results of its application in a study of the effects of experience and workplace culture, for human-robot team interaction in the operating room. The analysis of verbal and non-verbal events in robotic surgery in two different surgical teams (one in the US and one in France) revealed differences in workflow, timeline, roles, and communication patterns as a function of experience and workplace culture. Longer preparation times and more verbal exchanges related to uncertainty in use of the robotic equipment were found for the French team, who also happened to be less experienced. This study offers an effective method for studying human-robot team interaction and has implications for the future design and training of teamwork with robotic systems in other complex work environments

Critical gaps in nanoplastics research and their connection to risk assessment

Reports of plastics, at higher levels than previously thought, in the water that we drink and the air that we breathe, are generating considerable interest and concern. Plastics have been recorded in almost every environment in the world with estimates on the order of trillions of microplastic pieces. Yet, this may very well be an underestimate of plastic pollution as a whole. Once microplastics (<5 mm) break down in the environment, they nominally enter the nanoscale (<1,000 nm), where they cannot be seen by the naked eye or even with the use of a typical laboratory microscope. Thus far, research has focused on plastics in the macro- (>25 mm) and micro-size ranges, which are easier to detect and identify, leaving large knowledge gaps in our understanding of nanoplastic debris. Our ability to ask and answer questions relating to the transport, fate, and potential toxicity of these particles is disadvantaged by the detection and identification limits of current technology. Furthermore, laboratory exposures have been substantially constrained to the study of commercially available nanoplastics; i.e., polystyrene spheres, which do not adequately reflect the composition of environmental plastic debris. While a great deal of plastic-focused research has been published in recent years, the pattern of the work does not answer a number of key factors vital to calculating risk that takes into account the smallest plastic particles; namely, sources, fate and transport, exposure measures, toxicity and effects. These data are critical to inform regulatory decision making and to implement adaptive management strategies that mitigate risk to human health and the environment. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-science on nanoplastic research, highlighting areas where data are needed to establish robust risk assessments that take into account plastics pollution. Where nanoplastic-specific data are not available, suggested substitutions are indicated

Microglia and the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor/uPA system in innate brain inflammation

The urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) receptor (uPAR) is a GPI-linked cell surface protein that facilitates focused plasmin proteolytic activity at the cell surface. uPAR has been detected in macrophages infiltrating the central nervous system (CNS) and soluble uPAR has been detected in the cerebrospinal fluid during a number of CNS pathologies. However, its expression by resident microglial cells in vivo remains uncertain. In this work, we aimed to elucidate the murine CNS expression of uPAR and uPA as well as that of tissue plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) during insults generating distinct and well-characterized inflammatory responses; acute intracerebral lipopolysaccharide (LPS), acute kainate-induced neurodegeneration, and chronic neurodegeneration induced by prion disease inoculation. All three insults induced marked expression of uPAR at both mRNA and protein level compared to controls (naïve, saline, or control inoculum-injected). uPAR expression was microglial in all cases. Conversely, uPA transcription and activity was only markedly increased during chronic neurodegeneration. Dissociation of uPA and uPAR levels in acute challenges is suggestive of additional proteolysis-independent roles for uPAR. PAI-1 was most highly expressed upon LPS challenge, whereas tissue plasminogen activator mRNA was constitutively present and less responsive to all insults studied. These data are novel and suggest much wider involvement of the uPAR/uPA system in CNS function and pathology than previously supposed. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc