EXAMINING A HIGH-IMPACT, FIRST-SEMESTER SEMINAR CLASS ON ONLINE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SELF-REGULATION, SELF-DIRECTION, ONLINE LEARNING SELF-EFFICACY, AND PERSISTENCE

EXAMINING A HIGH-IMPACT, FIRST-SEMESTER SEMINAR CLASS ON ONLINE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SELF-REGULATION, SELF-DIRECTION, ONLINE LEARNING SELF-EFFICACY, AND PERSISTENC

Gender Transformative Philanthropy

As foundations and other philanthropic institutions assess where they can maximize the social return on their charitable investments, many are looking at issues of gender norms and gender equity. One program officer put it this way: "Our grantees and staff get race and class; some are even starting to get sexual orientation. What I want to know is -- what happened to gender? Where is the gender analysis?" Over two decades of research has now shown that challenging harmful codes of masculinity and femininity is a major key to improving outcomes in reproductive health and gender-based violence. Yet the field continues to mostly overlook gender norms. As the same time, studies have shown conclusively that having a strong gender analysis of the disparate impacts on women and men is crucial to increasing the effectiveness of civic engagement organizing. However, many non-profits in this space either ignore gender equity, or marginalize it as a "women's issue." As one experienced program officer put it, "Grantees need to see gender and race together. Gender impacts every issue they work on. But grantees are not being challenged to do innovative work around gender [in a way that parallels their work on race or class concerns]. This accessible overview will help program officers who want to integrate a stronger gender focus into their giving and their grantees' work and analysis

Quinine blocks 5-HT and 5-HT3 receptor mediated peristalsis in both guinea pig and mouse ileum tissue

Introduction. Quinine is commonly used to treat malaria; however one of the principal side effects is gastrointestinal disturbances (White, 1992). 5-HT3 receptors modulate gut peristalsis (Chetty et al., 2006), and, as quinine has been shown to act as a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist (Thompson and Lummis, 2008) it is possible that these side effects result from actions at gut 5-HT3 receptors. To address this question, we examined the ability of quinine to antagonise 5-HT and 5-HT3 mediated peristalsis in guinea pig and mouse ileum. Methods. Ileum was excised from male guinea pigs (200-300g) and C57BL/6 mice (25-35g) following cervical dislocation. Ileum segments (3-5 cm) were mounted in 50 ml organ baths containing Tryode’s solution at 35-37 °C. Concentration-response curves were constructed for 5-HT and the selective 5-HT3 agonist 2-Me-5-HT (non-cumulative doses). Quinine was pre-applied for 10 min and inhibition measured using agonist concentrations that elicited a submaximal response. Results. Concentration-dependent contractions produced by 5-HT (pEC50 = 5.45 ± 0.17, n = 8) and the selective 5-HT3 agonist 2-Me-5-HT (5.01 ± 0.17, n = 11) were not significantly different (Student’s t-test, t = 0.619, df = 17, p = 0.544) in guinea pig ileum. Increasing concentrations of quinine were able to antagonise the activities of both 5-HT (pIC50 = 5.03 ± 0.2, n = 6) and 2-Me-5HT (pIC50 = 4.59 ± 0.26, n = 4). At mouse ileum, 5-HT (pEC50 = 7.57 ± 0.33, n = 9) was more potent (Student’s t-test, t = 3.6, df = 12, p = 0.004) than 2-Me-5-HT (pEC50 = 5.45 ± 0.58, n = 5). Quinine antagonised both the 5-HT (pIC50 = 4.87 ± 0.31, n = 7) and 2-Me-5-HT-induced (pIC50 = 6.18 ± 1.14, n = 4) contractions. Conclusions. These results support previous electrophysiological studies that identified quinine as an antagonist at recombinant 5-HT3 receptors with IC50 values comparable with those reported here (pIC50 = 4.87, Thompson et al., 2007). Further, we found that quinine completely blocked 5-HT induced contractions in mouse and guinea pig, raising the possibility that quinine targets other 5-HT receptors in the gut (e.g., 5-HT4 receptors) and may influence intestinal function

First Steps: A Pilot Preparedness Program for Public Health Nurses

Public health will face major challenges in the coming decades. The 1999 West Nile outbreak in New York City and other recent incidents demonstrate how important public health is as a frontline defense against emerging infections, bioterrorism, and other unexpected emergencies. A well-prepared public health workforce is more critical than ever. The challenges are particularly great in urban areas, which traditionally serve as ports of entry, may be appealing targets to terrorists, and have large and diverse populations with complex health risk factors. To better prepare the public health workforce to carry out routine functions effectively and fulfill the additional roles required in emergencies, a national network of "Centers for Public Health Preparedness" has been established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The network currently includes seven academic Centers funded through a cooperative agreement with the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH). Goals include the development of competency-based public health practice courses primarily designed to utilize distance-learning technology (such as World Wide Web-based instruction) that can be implemented locally and replicated nationally. The Center for Public Health Preparedness at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, is working toward these goals in partnership with the New York City Department of Health (NYC DOH)

First Steps: A Pilot Preparedness Program for Public Health Nurses

Public health will face major challenges in the coming decades. The 1999 West Nile outbreak in New York City and other recent incidents demonstrate how important public health is as a frontline defense against emerging infections, bioterrorism, and other unexpected emergencies. A well-prepared public health workforce is more critical than ever. The challenges are particularly great in urban areas, which traditionally serve as ports of entry, may be appealing targets to terrorists, and have large and diverse populations with complex health risk factors. To better prepare the public health workforce to carry out routine functions effectively and fulfill the additional roles required in emergencies, a national network of "Centers for Public Health Preparedness" has been established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The network currently includes seven academic Centers funded through a cooperative agreement with the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH). Goals include the development of competency-based public health practice courses primarily designed to utilize distance-learning technology (such as World Wide Web-based instruction) that can be implemented locally and replicated nationally. The Center for Public Health Preparedness at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, is working toward these goals in partnership with the New York City Department of Health (NYC DOH)

Establishing gold standard approaches to rapid tranquillisation: a review and discussion of the evidence on the safety and efficacy of medications currently used

Background: Rapid tranquillisation is used when control of agitation, aggression or excitement is required. Throughout the UK there is no consensus over the choice of drugs to be used as first line treatment. The NICE guideline on the management of violent behaviour involving psychiatric inpatients conducted a systematic examination of the literature relating to the effectiveness and safety of rapid tranquillisation (NICE, 2005). This paper presents the key findings from that review and key guideline recommendations generated, and discusses the implications for practice of more recent research and information. Aims: To examine the evidence on the efficacy and safety of medications used for rapid tranquillisation in inpatient psychiatric settings. Method: Systematic review of current guidelines and phase III randomised, controlled trials of medication used for rapid tranquillisation. Formal consensus methods were used to generate clinically relevant recommendations to support safe and effective prescribing of rapid tranquillisation in the development of a NICE guideline. Findings: There is a lack of high quality clinical trial evidence in the UK and therefore a ‘gold standard’ medication regime for rapid tranquillisation has not been established. Rapid tranquillisation and clinical practice: The NICE guideline produced 35 recommendations on rapid tranquillisation practice for the UK, with the primary aim of calming the service user to enable the use of psychosocial techniques. Conclusions and implications for clinical practice: Further UK specific research is urgently needed that provides the clinician with a hierarchy of options for the clinical practice of rapid tranquillisation

‘Too Far Gone’: Dyslexia, Homelessness and Pathways into Drug Use and Drug Dependency

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between dyslexia, homelessness, drug use and drug dependency. We analyzed data from the “Multiple Exclusion Homelessness Across the United Kingdom Survey,” a national survey that collected data from 443 respondents who have experienced some form of homelessness in the U.K. Our particular interest lied in the different experiences of drug use and drug dependency, comparing homeless people with dyslexia and homeless people without dyslexia. The study reveals that people with dyslexia are overrepresented within the survey’s homeless population. Furthermore, the findings indicate that there is an increase in dependency problems as well as significant mental health problems for respondents with dyslexia compared to the non-dyslexic homeless control group. The results show that dyslexic respondents were more likely to use methadone, more susceptible to self-harm, and reported an increase in suicide attempts compared with the non-dyslexic control group

The falls efficacy scale international (FES-I): a comprehensive longitudinal validation study

Method: five hundred community-dwelling older people (70-90 years) were assessed on the FES-I in conjunction with demographic, physiological and neuropsychological measures at baseline and at 12 months. Falls were monitored monthly and fear of falling every 3 months. Results: the overall structure and measurement properties of both FES-I scales, as evaluated with item response theory, were good. Discriminative ability on physiological and neuropsychological measures indicated excellent validity, both at baseline (n = 500, convergent validity) and at 1-year follow-up (n = 463, predictive validity). The longitudinal follow-up suggested that FES-I scores increased over time regardless of any fall event, with a trend for a stronger increase in FES-I scores when a person suffered multiple falls in a 3-month period. Additionally, using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves, cut-points were defined to differentiate between lower and higher levels of concern. Conclusions: the current study builds on the previously established psychometric properties of the FES-I. Both scales have acceptable structures, good validity and reliability and can be recommended for research and clinical purposes. Future studies should explore the FES-I's responsiveness to change during intervention studies and confirm suggested cut-points in other settings, larger samples and across different cultures