Beyond Constituencies: NonProfit Boards and the Public

In 1997, the Kettering Foundation commissioned The Harwood Group to write a major study on the relationship between boards of directors and the public. The study was based on interviews with 75 board presidents from across the United States, distributed evenly among public school boards, local pass-through organizations such as the United Way, and community foundations and civic organizations. A major finding of the original study was that board members' responses to challenges of their public credibility might actually worsen their situation. The Harwood research raises two basic questions: 1. Does this board mind-set vary among nonprofit industries?2. Are nonprofit organizations that do not define their primary mission as civic more able, paradoxically, to develop deeper understanding of their communities and ties to the public than civic specialists such as pass-throughs, community foundations, and civic organizations?In response to these questions we undertook an informal ethnographic study to either reinforce the Harwood findings or to point to a particular industry or industries deserving of more extensive research. Interviews with members of 15 nonprofit boards: seven human service organizations focused on families and youth, four arts organizations, and four international nongovernmental organizations focused on both public accountability and the relationship of boards to the larger public beyond constituencies

Exploring The Metaphysics Of Grief

The goal of this dissertation is to develop an understanding of grief utterances: expressions of grief that in losing a loved one, the bereaved lost a part of herself. Grief utterances are commonplace, and their accompanying phenomenology suggests they are true. That gives us reason to think they are true. But if they are, what makes them true? I establish two potential answers to this question, ultimately favoring one according to which when a loved one dies we lose parts of our practical identities. Chapter One introduces and sets up this topic it. It then focuses on the extent to which emotional attachment may account for the truth of grief utterances. Though attachment may explain the phenomenology prompting and accompanying these utterances, it is not sufficient for their truth. Nor are care, attachment and care, and mutual attachment and care. From these observations I introduce the Intimacy Constraint: An account of grief utterances must distinguish between how P1, who is in a mutual intimate relationship with P2, and P3 who is not, loses a part of herself upon the death of P2. Chapter Two shows how a variety of theories of parthood and persons fail to explain grief utterances’ truth. Classical mereology cannot provide an account of grief utterances without forsaking its core axioms. Accounts of grief utterances that appeal to an individual’s temporal or modal parts will violate the Intimacy Constraint. An appeal to the extended mind is more fruitful, but makes our loved ones fungible, and fails to capture all paradigmatic cases. The answer to what makes grief utterances true lies beyond these resources. In Chapter Three I introduce the notion of plural persons to take the place of mutual intimate relationships. On one characterization of plural persons, two individuals form a plural person when, in addition to each individual’s personal conception of a life worth living, the two have a joint conception of a life worth their living together. I modify the characterization of a plural person just given to account for the possibility that one can form a plural person with an individual who may not (yet) count as an individual person, due to their cognitive abilities. I then clarify the existence, individuation, and persistence conditions of plural persons, and their relation to other social groups. One implication of the resulting view is that moral personhood is (partly) constituted by convention. I defend this result from several objections. In Chapter Four I engage with an overlooked version of composition as identity, a view according to which a composite object is identical to each of its parts. This view has promise in accounting for the grief utterances: the bereaved lost a part of herself when her loved one died because some whole, of which her and her beloved were parts, and to which she is identical, lost a part. However, I demonstrate that for this proposal to succeed we must adopt a novel version of Leibniz’s Law. I develop the requisite version, drawing out its requirements and restrictions. The result is a new variety of composition as identity on which grief utterances are true. In evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of this view, I construct a list of desiderata for further accounts of grief utterances. Chapter Five focuses on one’s social and practical self. One’s social self consists of the network individuals to whom one is psychologically connected. The death of a loved one destroys one node of this network. So, one loses a part of one’s social self. I argue that this account is also unsatisfactory. I instead propose that we endorse a broad, practical identity based account of grief utterances. On this proposal, one’s practical identity consists of a structure of all of the conceptions of a life worth living that she has access to. These include her individual conception as well as one’s joint conceptions. In the death of a loved one, one loses a joint conception of a life worth living that she previously had access to, and as a result, her practical identity loses a defining part. A promising feature of this account is its ability to explain both the loss of a beloved friend or family member, and the loss of a public figure, while accommodating the judgment that these losses are of a different sort

Maternal obesity management using mobile technology : a feasibility study to evaluate a text messaging based complex intervention during pregnancy.

Background. Maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) are on the rise with negative impact on pregnancy and birth outcomes. Research into managing GWG using accessible technology is limited. The maternal obesity management using mobile technology (MOMTech) study aimed at evaluating the feasibility of text messaging based complex intervention designed to support obese women (BMI ≥ 30) with healthier lifestyles and limit GWG. Methods. Participants received two daily text messages, supported by four appointments with healthy lifestyle midwife, diet and activity goal setting, and self-monitoring diaries. The comparison group were obese mothers who declined to participate but consented for their routinely collected data to be used for comparison. Postnatal interviews and focus groups with participants and the comparison group explored the intervention’s acceptability and suggested improvements. Results. Fourteen women completed the study which did not allow statistical analyses. However, participants had lower mean GWG than the comparison group (6.65 kg versus 9.74 kg) and few (28% versus 50%) exceeded the Institute of Medicine’s upper limit of 9 kg GWG for obese women. Conclusions. MOMTech was feasible within clinical setting and acceptable intervention to support women to limit GWG. Before further trials, slight modifications are planned to recruitment, text messages, and the logistics of consultation visits

Women's and midwives' perspectives on the design of a text messaging support for maternal obesity services.

This study was aimed to explore women’s and midwives’ views on the use of mobile technology in supporting obese pregnant women with healthy lifestyle choices. A purposive sample of 14 women and midwives participated in four focus groups in Doncaster, UK. A content analysis of the transcripts from the first focus group led to the emergence of three main constructs with associated subcategories including Benefits (“modernising,” “motivating,” “reminding,” and “reducing” the sense of isolation), Risks and Limitations (possibility of “being offensive,” “creating pressure or guilt,” and “being influenced by mood”), and Service Delivery (making it “available to all pregnant women,” giving attention to the “message tone” and development of “message content”). They also suggested the use of other modalities such as web-based services for weight management during pregnancy. Based on the above results a text messaging service was developed and presented to the 2nd focus group participants who confirmed the positive views from the first focus group on the use of the text messaging as being supportive and informative. The participants also welcomed “women’s engagement and choice” in deciding the content, timing and frequency of messages. The results informed the development of a text messaging service to support maternal obesity management. The implementation and acceptability of this service requires further investigation

Maternal Obesity Management Using Mobile Technology: A Feasibility Study to Evaluate a Text Messaging Based Complex Intervention during Pregnancy

Background. Maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) are on the rise with negative impact on pregnancy and birth outcomes. Research into managing GWG using accessible technology is limited. The maternal obesity management using mobile technology (MOMTech) study aimed at evaluating the feasibility of text messaging based complex intervention designed to support obese women (BMI ≥ 30) with healthier lifestyles and limit GWG. Methods. Participants received two daily text messages, supported by four appointments with healthy lifestyle midwife, diet and activity goal setting, and self-monitoring diaries. The comparison group were obese mothers who declined to participate but consented for their routinely collected data to be used for comparison. Postnatal interviews and focus groups with participants and the comparison group explored the intervention's acceptability and suggested improvements. Results. Fourteen women completed the study which did not allow statistical analyses. However, participants had lower mean GWG than the comparison group (6.65 kg versus 9.74 kg) and few (28% versus 50%) exceeded the Institute of Medicine's upper limit of 9 kg GWG for obese women. Conclusions. MOMTech was feasible within clinical setting and acceptable intervention to support women to limit GWG. Before further trials, slight modifications are planned to recruitment, text messages, and the logistics of consultation visits

Maternal obesity support services: a qualitative study of the perspectives of women and midwives

Background - Twenty percent of pregnant women in the UK are obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2), reflecting the growing public health challenge of obesity in the 21st century. Obesity increases the risk of adverse outcomes during pregnancy and birth and has significant cost implications for maternity services. Gestational weight management strategies are a high priority; however the evidence for effective, feasible and acceptable weight control interventions is limited and inconclusive. This qualitative study explored the experiences and perceptions of pregnant women and midwives regarding existing support for weight management in pregnancy and their ideas for service development. Methods - A purposive sample of 6 women and 7 midwives from Doncaster, UK, participated in two separate focus groups. Transcripts were analysed thematically. Results - Two overarching themes were identified, 'Explanations for obesity and weight management' and 'Best care for pregnant women'. 'Explanations' included a lack of knowledge about weight, diet and exercise during pregnancy; self-talk messages which excused overeating; difficulties maintaining motivation for a healthy lifestyle; the importance of social support; stigmatisation; and sensitivity surrounding communication about obesity between midwives and their clients. 'Best care' suggested that weight management required care which was consistent and continuous, supportive and non-judgemental, and which created opportunities for interaction and mutual support between obese pregnant women. Conclusions - Women need unambiguous advice regarding healthy lifestyles, diet and exercise in pregnancy to address a lack of knowledge and a tendency towards unhelpful self-talk messages. Midwives expressed difficulties in communicating with their clients about their weight, given awareness that obesity is a sensitive and potentially stigmatising issue. This indicates more could be done to educate and support them in their work with obese pregnant women. Motivation and social support were strong explanatory themes for obesity and weight management, suggesting that interventions should focus on motivational strategies and social support facilitation

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is inversely associated with body mass index in cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The association between vitamin D deficiency and obesity in healthy populations and different disease states remains unsettled with studies reporting conflicting findings. Moreover, current dietary recommendations for vitamin D do not take into account a person's body mass index (BMI). We investigated the relationship between serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] and BMI in cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A consecutive case series of 738 cancer patients. Serum 25(OH)D was measured at presentation to the hospital. The cohort was divided into 4 BMI groups (underweight: <18.5, normal weight: 18.5-24.9, overweight: 25-29.9, and obese: >30.0 kg/m²). Mean 25(OH)D was compared across the 4 BMI groups using ANOVA. Linear regression was used to quantify the relationship between BMI and 25(OH)D.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>303 were males and 435 females. Mean age at diagnosis was 55.6 years. The mean BMI was 27.9 kg/m²and mean serum 25(OH)D was 21.9 ng/ml. Most common cancers were lung (134), breast (131), colorectal (97), pancreas (86) and prostate (45). Obese patients had significantly lower serum 25(OH)D levels (17.9 ng/ml) as compared to normal weight (24.6 ng/ml) and overweight (22.8 ng/ml) patients; p < 0.001. After adjusting for age, every 1 kg/m²increase in BMI was significantly associated with 0.42 ng/ml decline in serum 25(OH)D levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Obese cancer patients (BMI >= 30 kg/m²) had significantly lower levels of serum 25(OH)D as compared to non-obese patients (BMI <30 kg/m²). BMI should be taken into account when assessing a patient's vitamin D status and more aggressive vitamin D supplementation should be considered in obese cancer patients.</p

Small-molecule inhibition of a depalmitoylase enhances Toxoplasma host-cell invasion.

Although there have been numerous advances in our understanding of how apicomplexan parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii enter host cells, many of the signaling pathways and enzymes involved in the organization of invasion mediators remain poorly defined. We recently performed a forward chemical-genetic screen in T. gondii and identified compounds that markedly enhanced infectivity. Although molecular dissection of invasion has benefited from the use of small-molecule inhibitors, the mechanisms underlying induction of invasion by small-molecule enhancers have never been described. Here we identify the Toxoplasma ortholog of human APT1, palmitoyl protein thioesterase-1 (TgPPT1), as the target of one class of small-molecule enhancers. Inhibition of this uncharacterized thioesterase triggered secretion of invasion-associated organelles, increased motility and enhanced the invasive capacity of tachyzoites. We demonstrate that TgPPT1 is a bona fide depalmitoylase, thereby establishing an important role for dynamic and reversible palmitoylation in host-cell invasion by T. gondii

CONSUMER SATISFACTION WITH A NEW, HIGH CONTACT SERVICE: AN ASSESSMENT OF COMPETING MODELS IN A NEW CONTEXT.

This study tests two competing theories of consumer satisfaction within the context of a high contact service, the disconfirmation of expectations theory and the value-percent disparity theory. In addition, it examined the strength of these theories when a new construct dealing with role performance was added. This service is a librarian-assisted, computerized information retrieval service, for the compilation of bibliographies. The study involved the experimental manipulation of consumer expectations about product-outcome attributes and about role performance attributes as well as actual performance for both types of expectation. The medium selected for the experiment was the observation of the roleplay by three actors involved in the service purchase process. The relative strength of the competing theories was then tested using multiple regression