Better Emergency Care for the Deaf Population through Improved Communication

This piece outlines the elements that were involved in my project designed to improve communication between the Deaf population of Bowling Green, KY and the Fire Department, Police Department, and Medical Center. This was done by placing the burden of facilitating communication on the emergency response teams through creating training for them in essential American Sign Language (ASL) signs as specified by the Deaf community. These ASL signs were collected from the Deaf Community through standardized interviews and then utilized to create a training video, poster charts, and brochures

Relationships between Resilience and Well-Being in Family Caregivers to Holocaust Survivors

The caregiver role can be challenging as family members address the oft en complex needs of aging relatives. Resilience, the process or trait related to addressing and rebounding from adversity, may play a role in determining how well family caregivers fare. In this study, the authors explored the relationships between resilience and well-being in a uniquely resilient group – family caregivers to Holocaust survivors. Surveys were completed by a convenience sample of family caregivers (N = 89) living in the United States. One-way between subjects ANOVA with Scheff é post-hoc tests were run to compare low-, moderate-, and high-resilience caregivers. Depression was significantly lower for each progressively higher resilience group. Physical well-being was signifi cantly lower in the low-resilience group. Caregiver burden was not signifi cantly diff erent between groups. Resilience may have a prophylactic role in preserving physical and emotional well-being in family caregivers; however, resilience and burden may have a more nuanced relationship. Burden may have been underreported due to (a) comparisons with the stress experienced by the Holocaust survivors and/or (b) a heightened sense of filial piety. Health care practitioners should be aware of the complex role that resilience can potentially play both in protecting well-being and in masking burden in family caregivers

Prototype of and ISU Farm Disinfection System for Use in Emergency Disease Outbreak

As the nation’s largest pork-producing state, Iowa has the upmost priority to protect its swine population from ailments, including biosecurity hazards such as swine disease. This is an essential issue for swine farmers across the state and worldwide need to have the ability to be prepared for. This project provides a design and list of materials for a system that removes organic material and disinfects both large machinery and small items efficiently, with a budget under $1500. This design also utilizes a materials that can be accessed within a half hour drive of even the most remote Iowan farms, along with nationwide vendors

Design and Testing of a Cleaning and Disinfection System for Farm Equipment and Vehicles at Livestock Farms

During a Foreign Animal Disease (FAD) outbreak, it is critical that people, equipment, and vehicles do not inadvertently move the disease-causing agent between premises (i.e., locations where animals are housed or otherwise handled). To prevent this potential transmission, a cleaning and disinfection (C&D) station must be established at the clean/dirty line on infected premises, and everything going on or off the premises pass through it. Without this critical precaution, more viruses may remain in the environment and cause potential infection of other premises and herds; thus, making FAD containment a challenge

PARAUAPEBAS E A DEPENDÊNCIA MINERAL: LIÇÕES DO PASSADO E DESAFIOS DO PRESENTE

O artigo discute a dependência econômica do município de Parauapebas no tocante à mineração, sobretudo em relação ao repasse da Compensação Financeira pela Exploração Mineral (CFEM). Para tanto, realiza um breve resgate histórico de dois projetos na Amazônia Oriental organizados entorno de apenas uma única matriz produtiva. Assim, o objetivo geral é analisar a dependência de Parauapebas em relação à mineração e reconhecer os principais erros em Fordlândia e Serra do Navio para não serem repetidos em Parauapebas. Foram realizadas pesquisas de base documental, bibliográfica, entrevistas semiestruturadas e observação direta. Os resultados indicam que o debate acerca da arrecadação municipal deve ser realizado conjuntamente com uma nova forma de pensar o desenvolvimento do município que considere o iminente encerramento das atividades de mineração destacando a urgência em desenvolver um planejamento territorial que se traduza na diversificação produtiva

Comparative genomics of Toll-like receptor signalling in five species

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Over the last decade, several studies have identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting variation of immune related traits in mammals. Recent studies in humans and mice suggest that part of this variation may be caused by polymorphisms in genes involved in Toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling. In this project, we used a comparative approach to investigate the importance of TLR-related genes in comparison with other immunologically relevant genes for resistance traits in five species by associating their genomic location with previously published immune-related QTL regions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report the genomic localisation of <it>TLR1-10 </it>and ten associated signalling molecules in sheep and pig using <it>in-silico </it>and/or radiation hybrid (RH) mapping techniques and compare their positions with their annotated homologues in the human, cattle and mouse whole genome sequences. We also report medium-density RH maps for porcine chromosomes 8 and 13. A comparative analysis of the positions of previously published relevant QTLs allowed the identification of homologous regions that are associated with similar health traits in several species and which contain TLR related and other immunologically relevant genes. Additional evidence was gathered by examining relevant gene expression and association studies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This comparative genomic approach identified eight genes as potentially causative genes for variations of health related traits. These include susceptibility to clinical mastitis in dairy cattle, general disease resistance in sheep, cattle, humans and mice, and tolerance to protozoan infection in cattle and mice. Four TLR-related genes (<it>TLR1</it>, <it>6</it>, <it>MyD88</it>, <it>IRF3</it>) appear to be the most likely candidate genes underlying QTL regions which control the resistance to the same or similar pathogens in several species. Further studies are required to investigate the potential role of polymorphisms within these genes.</p

Distinction of the memory B cell response to cognate antigen versus bystander inflammatory signals

The hypothesis that bystander inflammatory signals promote memory B cell (BMEM) self-renewal and differentiation in an antigen-independent manner is critically evaluated herein. To comprehensively address this hypothesis, a detailed analysis is presented examining the response profiles of B-2 lineage B220+IgG+ BMEM toward cognate protein antigen in comparison to bystander inflammatory signals. After in vivo antigen encounter, quiescent BMEM clonally expand. Surprisingly, proliferating BMEM do not acquire germinal center (GC) B cell markers before generating daughter BMEM and differentiating into plasma cells or form structurally identifiable GCs. In striking contrast to cognate antigen, inflammatory stimuli, including Toll-like receptor agonists or bystander T cell activation, fail to induce even low levels of BMEM proliferation or differentiation in vivo. Under the extreme conditions of adjuvanted protein vaccination or acute viral infection, no detectable bystander proliferation or differentiation of BMEM occurred. The absence of a BMEM response to nonspecific inflammatory signals clearly shows that BMEM proliferation and differentiation is a process tightly controlled by the availability of cognate antigen

Do Web-Based Interventions Improve Well-Being in Type 2 Diabetes? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Poor diabetes self-care can have a negative impact on psychological well-being and quality of life. Given the scarcity of traditional psychological support and the barriers to uptake of and attendance at face-to-face education programs, Web-based interventions are becoming a popular approach to provide an additional platform for psychological support in long-term conditions. However, there is limited evidence to assess the effect of Web-based psychological support in people with type 2 diabetes. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review is the first review to critically appraise and quantify the evidence on the effect of Web-based interventions that aim to improve well-being in people with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Searches were carried out in the following electronic databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library. Reference lists were hand-searched. A meta-analysis was conducted for depression and distress outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 16 randomized controlled studies met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review and 9 were included in the meta-analyses. Theories were applied to the majority of the interventions. The most common behavior change techniques were "General information" and "Tracking/monitoring." Interventions with a duration of 2-6 months providing professional-led support with asynchronous and synchronous communication appeared to be associated with significant well-being outcomes. The pooled mean (95% confidence interval) difference between the intervention and control arms at follow-up on depression score was -0.31 (-0.73 to 0.11). The pooled mean difference on distress scores at follow-up was -0.11 (-0.38 to 0.16). No significant improvements in depression (P=.15) or distress (P=.43) were found following meta-analyses. CONCLUSIONS: While the meta-analyses demonstrated nonsignificant results for depression and distress scores, this review has shown that there is a potential for Web-based interventions to improve well-being outcomes in type 2 diabetes. Further research is required to confirm the findings of this review