University Student Equity Initiatives: An Examination of the Efficacy of Programs and Practices to Inform Best Practice

This thesis identifies “Indicators of Success” for university student equity programs funded through the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP). This research focussed on practitioner perspectives of evaluation and reporting practices for equity programs which seek to widen participation in higher education by disadvantaged groups within the community. This research has produced an “Indicators of Success” framework and good practice model, at a time of heightened discussion about the evaluation of HEPPP funded programs

The future of sustainable digital infrastructures: A landscape of solutions, adoption factors, impediments, open problems, and scenarios

Background: Digital infrastructures, i.e., ICT systems, or system-of-systems, providing digital capabilities, such as storage and computational services, are experiencing an ever-growing demand for data consumption, which is only expected to increase in the future. This trend leads to a question we need to answer: How can we evolve digital infrastructures to keep up with the increasing data demand in a sustainable way?Objective: The goal of this study is to understand what is the future of sustainable digital infrastructures, in terms of: which solutions are, or will be, available to sustainably evolve digital infrastructures, and which are the related adoption factors, impediments, and open problems.Method: We carried out a 3-phase mixed-method qualitative empirical study, comprising semi-structured interviews, followed by focus groups, and a plenary session with parallel working groups. In total, we conducted 13 sessions involving 48 digital infrastructure practitioners and researchers.Results: From our investigation emerges a landscape for sustainable digital infrastructures, composed of 30 solutions, 5 adoption factors, 4 impediments, and 13 open problems. We further synthesized our results in 4 incremental scenarios, which outline the future evolution of sustainable digital infrastructures.Conclusions: From an initial shift from on-premise to the cloud, as time progresses, digital infrastructures are expected to become increasingly distributed, till it will be possible to dynamically allocate resources by following time, space, and energy. Numerous solutions will support this change, but digital infrastructures are envisaged to be able to evolve sustainably only by (i) gaining a wider awareness of digital sustainability, (ii) holding every party accountable for their sustainability throughout value chains, and (iii) establishing cross-domain collaborations

Green IT and Green Software

Software and IT usage are continuously growing to keep our society active and manage our individual lives. But as they grow, their energy demand is exploding. By 2030, data centers alone will already consume some 10% of the global electricity.1 Including the Internet, telecommunications, and embedded devices, the energy consumption will be one-third of the global demand. Understanding that end users only consume what we offer, it is the community of software developers who must become active in ecologic behaviors. Green IT is the call of today. Each single line of code that we develop today may still be running years from now on zillions of processors, eating energy and contributing to global climate change

Housing index, urbanisation level and lifetime prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders : a cross-sectional analysis of the Colombian national mental health survey

Q2Q1Artículo originale019065Objectives To study socioeconomic inequalities in mental health in rural and urban Colombia, a country with a history of internal conflict and large socioeconomic inequalities. Recent survey data are available to study this understudied topic in a middle-income country. Methods Using data from 9656 respondents from the 2015 Colombian Mental Health survey, we investigated the association between lifetime prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders and quality of dwellings and access to public services housing score (HS). We calculated the relative index of inequality (RII) and slope index of inequality (SII) for HS in urban and rural areas, adjusting for potential confounders and mediating factors. Outcomes The lifetime prevalence of anxiety and depression (combined) was 9.6% in urban versus 6.9% in rural areas (p<0.001). HS was not associated with prevalence of anxiety and depression in urban settings, whereas a higher HS (poorer housing quality) was associated with fewer mental disorders in rural areas in both univariate and multivariate models (multivariate RIIurban0.96 (95% CI 0.51 to 1.81); RIIrural0.11 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.32)). In rural areas, the prevalence of mental health problems was 12% points lower in persons living in the poorest quality dwellings than in those living in high-quality dwellings (SII −0.12 (95% CI −0.18 to −0.06)). Interestingly, within rural areas, persons living in ‘populated centres’ (small towns, villages) had a higher lifetime prevalence of any mental health disorder (9.8% (95% CI 6.9 to 13.6)) compared with those living in more isolated, dispersed areas (6.0% (95% CI 4.6 to 7.7)). Interpretation In rural Colombia, those living in the poorest houses and in dispersed areas had a lower prevalence of mental health problems. Further understanding of this phenomenon of a seemingly inverse association of prevalence of mental disorders with poverty and/or urbanisation in rural areas is needed. Particularly, considering the progressive urbanisation process in Colombia, it is important to monitor mental health in populations migrating to the cities

Orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 affects cardiomyocyte calcium homeostasis and adverse cardiac remodelling

Distinct stressors may induce heart failure. As compensation, β-adrenergic stimulation enhances myocardial contractility by elevating cardiomyocyte intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i). However, chronic β-adrenergic stimulation promotes adverse cardiac remodelling. Cardiac expression of nuclear receptor Nur77 is enhanced by β-adrenergic stimulation, but its role in cardiac remodelling is still unclear. We show high and rapid Nur77 upregulation in cardiomyocytes stimulated with β-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol. Nur77 knockdown in culture resulted in hypertrophic cardiomyocytes. Ventricular cardiomyocytes from Nur77-deficient (Nur77-KO) mice exhibited elevated diastolic and systolic [Ca2+]i and prolonged action potentials compared to wild type (WT). In vivo, these differences resulted in larger cardiomyocytes, increased expression of hypertrophic genes

Long noncoding RNA H19X is a key mediator of TGF-beta-driven fibrosis

TGFβ is a master regulator of fibrosis, driving the differentiation of fibroblasts into apoptosis resistant myofibroblasts and sustaining the production of extracellular matrix (ECM) components. Here, we identify the nuclear lncRNA H19X as a master regulator of TGFβ-driven tissue fibrosis. H19X was consistently upregulated in a wide variety of human fibrotic tissues and diseases and was strongly induced by TGFβ, particularly in fibroblasts and fibroblast-related cells. Functional experiments following H19X silencing revealed that H19X is an obligatory factor for the TGFβ-induced ECM synthesis as well as differentiation and survival of ECM-producing myofibroblasts. We showed that H19X regulates DDIT4L gene expression, specifically interacting with a region upstream of DDIT4L gene and changing the chromatin accessibility of a DDIT4L enhancer. These events resulted in transcriptional repression of DDIT4L and, in turn, in increased collagen expression and fibrosis. Our results shed light on key effectors of the TGFβ-induced ECM remodeling and fibrosis

Violence due to Armed Conflict and Prevalence of Mood Disorders, Anxiety and Mental Problems in the Colombian Adult Population

Antecedentes La violencia en Colombia tiene una historia de más de 50 años. se calcula que entre 1985 y 2012 han fallecido 220.000 colombianos y cerca de 6.000.000 han sido desplazados por la violencia. Objetivo Describir y comparar las prevalencias de algunos problemas y trastornos mentales en la población adulta colombiana teniendo en cuenta las características del municipio respecto a su historia de violencia o conflicto armado. Métodos Se utilizaron los resultados de los adultos (mayores de 18 años) sobre algunos problemas y trastornos mentales de la ENSM de 2015, y se clasificaron los municipios según la presencia y la intensidad del conflicto utilizando la clasificación propuesta por la CERAC. Se realizó la medición de trastorno (con el CIDI-CAPI), problemas (con AUDIT, PCL modificado) y consumo de sustancias psicoactivas. Resultados Se entrevistó a 10.870 personas, de las que 5.429 no habían cambiado de residencia. El 21,8% de los municipios sufrían conflicto permanente; el 65,5%, interrumpido, y solamente el 12,7% había sido pacificado o no tenía conflicto. La intensidad del conflicto se reportó alta en el 31,8%. Los municipios violentos presentaban prevalencias más altas de trastornos de ansiedad, depresivos, posible trastorno de estrés postraumático y consumo de cigarrillo. El consumo de alcohol era más frecuente en municipios con menor intensidad del conflicto. Conclusiones Los municipios clasificados como con altos niveles de violencia presentaban mayor prevalencia de trastornos mentales y de la mayoría de los problemas mentales.Q4Artículo original147-153Background Violence in Colombia has a history of over 50 years. Between 1985 and 2012 an estimated of 220,000 Colombians have died and about 6,000,000 have been displaced by violence. Objective To describe and compare the prevalence of some problems and mental disorders in the adult population in Colombia, taking into account the characteristics of the municipality, as regards its history of violence or armed conflict. Methods The results for adults (over 18 years) of some problems and mental disorders were taken from the ENSM-2015. The municipalities were classified according to the presence and intensity of the conflict using the classification proposed by the CERAC. Disorders were measured using CIDI-CAPI, and problems with AUDIT, modified PCL (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist). An estimate was also made of psychoactive substances consumption. Results A total of 10,870 people were interviewed, of whom 5,429 had not changed residence. There was had permanent conflict in 21.8% of the municipalities, 65.5% had a discontinued conflict, and only 12.7% had been pacified or had no conflict. The intensity of the conflict was reported as high by 31.8% of the people. Violent municipalities have a higher prevalence of anxiety disorders, depression, possible Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and smoking. Alcohol consumption was more common in municipalities with less intense conflict. Conclusions The municipalities classified as having high levels of violence have a higher prevalence of mental disorders and the majority of the mental problems

Genome-Wide Interactions with Dairy Intake for Body Mass Index in Adults of European Descent

Scope: Body weight responds variably to the intake of dairy foods. Genetic variation may contribute to inter‐individual variability in associations between body weight and dairy consumption. Methods and results: A genome‐wide interaction study to discover genetic variants that account for variation in BMI in the context of low‐fat, high‐fat and total dairy intake in cross‐sectional analysis was conducted. Data from nine discovery studies (up to 25 513 European descent individuals) were meta‐analyzed. Twenty‐six genetic variants reached the selected significance threshold (p‐interaction \u3c10−7), and six independent variants (LINC01512‐rs7751666, PALM2/AKAP2‐rs914359, ACTA2‐rs1388, PPP1R12A‐rs7961195, LINC00333‐rs9635058, AC098847.1‐rs1791355) were evaluated meta‐analytically for replication of interaction in up to 17 675 individuals. Variant rs9635058 (128 kb 3’ of LINC00333) was replicated (p‐interaction = 0.004). In the discovery cohorts, rs9635058 interacted with dairy (p‐interaction = 7.36 × 10−8) such that each serving of low‐fat dairy was associated with 0.225 kg m−2 lower BMI per each additional copy of the effect allele (A). A second genetic variant (ACTA2‐rs1388) approached interaction replication significance for low‐fat dairy exposure. Conclusion: Body weight responses to dairy intake may be modified by genotype, in that greater dairy intake may protect a genetic subgroup from higher body weight

Returning to work after stroke: perspectives of employer stakeholders, a qualitative study.

Purpose: More than 40 % of working age adults with stroke fail to return to work. The work context is a key factor in return to work, but little is known about the experiences of employers in supporting employees with stroke. The aim of this study was to explore return to work after stroke from the employer perspective, to identify key features associated with success and to seek participants’ views regarding the role of healthcare in return to work. Methods: Data was gathered through 18 semi-structured interviews with employer stakeholders and included small business owners, line managers, human resources and occupational health staff. Data was analysed thematically. Results: The main themes identified were: the impact of stroke on the employer, characteristics of the employee, communication, knowledge and information, experience of other stakeholders, integrating healthcare in return to work. Conclusion: Employers face complex emotional and practical issues when helping an employee return to work after stroke, for which many lack knowledge and experience. The range and quality of support networks that they access is variable and advice and support from clinicians is welcomed. Further research is necessary to investigate how such support could be funded and integrated within existing service provision