A Survey of non-white social service personnel in the State of Oregon

The National Association of Social Workers and the Council on Social Work Education are concerned with the eradication of racism within the social work profession and the nation at large. Graduate schools throughout the country are presently attempting to come to grips with this elusive and pervasive problem. The School of Social Work at Portland State University is among these schools. In early 1972, the Portland State University School of Social Work formalized and adopted a specific policy regarding recruitment, education, and issues concerning non-white students and communities. In doing so, this school became the first School of Social Work in the Northwest, perhaps in the nation, to have a specific, examinable policy covering its position of graduate education for non-whites. However, the genesis of this policy had extended back to 1971 when the need for a specific, consistent policy regarding non-whites and the School was being realized. It was during the subsequent task of developing this policy that the necessity for research in this area was keenly felt. The School of Social Work draws the majority of its students from the State of Oregon, specifically from the metropolitan area in and around Portland. The majority of its graduates choose to remain in Oregon to work. However, it was learned that little or no systematic information was available concerning the needs and programs of the practice community for non-white social service personnel. Since the School is committed both to education and to the service of the community, it became obvious that descriptive and concrete data were necessary. This research practicum is an attempt to examine this heretofore unexplored area in the State of Oregon

Methods for monitoring influenza surveillance data

Background: A variety of Serfling-type statistical algorithms requiring long series of historical data, exclusively from temperate climate zones, have been proposed for automated monitoring of influenza sentinel surveillance data. We evaluated three alternative statistical approaches where alert thresholds are based on recent data in both temperate and subtropical regions. Methods: We compared time series, regression, and cumulative sum (CUSUM) models on empirical data from Hong Kong and the US using a composite index (range = 0-1) consisting of the key outcomes of sensitivity, specificity, and time to detection (lag). The index was calculated based on alarms generated within the first 2 or 4 weeks of the peak season. Results: We found that the time series model was optimal in the Hong Kong setting, while both the time series and CUSUM models worked equally well on US data. For alarms generated within the first 2 weeks (4 weeks) of the peak season in Hong Kong, the maximum values of the index were: time series 0.77 (0.86); regression 0.75 (0.82); CUSUM 0.56 (0.75). In the US data the maximum values of the index were: time series 0.81 (0.95); regression 0.81 (0.91); CUSUM 0.90 (0.94). Conclusions: Automated influenza surveillance methods based on short-term data, including time series and CUSUM models, can generate sensitive, specific, and timely alerts, and can offer a useful alternative to Serfling-like methods that rely on long-term, historically based thresholds. © Copyright 2006 Oxford University Press.postprin

Protease activity as a prognostic factor for wound healing in venous leg ulcers.

BACKGROUND: Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are a common type of complex wound that have a negative impact on people's lives and incur high costs for health services and society. It has been suggested that prolonged high levels of protease activity in the later stages of the healing of chronic wounds may be associated with delayed healing. Protease modulating treatments have been developed which seek to modulate protease activity and thereby promote healing in chronic wounds. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether protease activity is an independent prognostic factor for the healing of venous leg ulcers. SEARCH METHODS: In February 2018, we searched the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase and CINAHL. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included prospective and retrospective longitudinal studies with any follow-up period that recruited people with VLUs and investigated whether protease activity in wound fluid was associated with future healing of VLUs. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) analysed as cohort studies, provided interventions were taken into account in the analysis, and case-control studies if there were no available cohort studies. We also included prediction model studies provided they reported separately associations of individual prognostic factors (protease activity) with healing. Studies of any type of protease or combination of proteases were eligible, including proteases from bacteria, and the prognostic factor could be examined as a continuous or categorical variable; any cut-off point was permitted. The primary outcomes were time to healing (survival analysis) and the proportion of people with ulcers completely healed; the secondary outcome was change in ulcer size/rate of wound closure. We extracted unadjusted (simple) and adjusted (multivariable) associations between the prognostic factor and healing. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion at each stage, and undertook data extraction, assessment of risk of bias and GRADE assessment. We collected association statistics where available. No study reported adjusted analyses: instead we collected unadjusted results or calculated association measures from raw data. We calculated risk ratios when both outcome and prognostic factor were dichotomous variables. When the prognostic factor was reported as continuous data and healing outcomes were dichotomous, we either performed regression analysis or analysed the impact of healing on protease levels, analysing as the standardised mean difference. When both prognostic factor and outcome were continuous data, we reported correlation coefficients or calculated them from individual participant data.We displayed all results on forest plots to give an overall visual representation. We planned to conduct meta-analyses where this was appropriate, otherwise we summarised narratively. MAIN RESULTS: We included 19 studies comprising 21 cohorts involving 646 participants. Only 11 studies (13 cohorts, 522 participants) had data available for analysis. Of these, five were prospective cohort studies, four were RCTs and two had a type of case-control design. Follow-up time ranged from four to 36 weeks. Studies covered 10 different matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) and two serine proteases (human neutrophil elastase and urokinase-type plasminogen activators). Two studies recorded complete healing as an outcome; other studies recorded partial healing measures. There was clinical and methodological heterogeneity across studies; for example, in the definition of healing, the type of protease and its measurement, the distribution of active and bound protease species, the types of treatment and the reporting of results. Therefore, meta-analysis was not performed. No study had conducted multivariable analyses and all included evidence was of very low certainty because of the lack of adjustment for confounders, the high risk of bias for all studies except one, imprecision around the measures of association and inconsistency in the direction of association. Collectively the research indicated complete uncertainty as to the association between protease activity and VLU healing. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review identified very low validity evidence regarding any association between protease activity and VLU healing and there is complete uncertainty regarding the relationship. The review offers information for both future research and systematic review methodology

Probable Secondary Infections in Households of SARS Patients in Hong Kong

Although severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is highly infectious in clinical settings, SARS has not been well examined in household settings. The household and household member attack rates were calculated for 1,214 SARS case-patients and their household members, stratified by two phases of the epidemic. A case-control analysis identified risk factors for secondary infection. Secondary infection occurred in 14.9% (22.1% versus 11% in earlier and later phases) of all households and 8% (11.7% versus 5.9% in the earlier and later phases) of all household members. Healthcare workers’ households were less likely to be affected. Risk factors from the multivariate analysis included at-home duration before hospitalization, hospital visitation to the SARS patient (and mask use during the visit), and frequency of close contact. SARS transmission at the household level was not negligible in Hong Kong. Transmission rates may be greatly reduced with precautionary measures taken by household members of SARS patients

Analytical method using gamma functions for determining areas of power elliptical shapes for use in geometrical textile models

Textile models are often assumed to have homogenous and well defined cross-sections. For these models, the use of a power elliptical cross-sectional shape has been found to be beneficial as different shapes can be created, e.g. lenticular, elliptical or rectangular, with a single function. The cross-sectional area of a power ellipse is usually determined numerically as the analytical determination of the cross-sectional area is not straightforward. This short communication presents an analytical solution for this shape

Relationships between Irritable Bowel Syndrome Pain, Skin Temperature Indices of Autonomic Dysregulation, and Sensitivity to Thermal Cutaneous Stimulation

This study evaluated relationships between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) pain, sympathetic dysregulation, and thermal pain sensitivity. Eight female patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS and ten healthy female controls were tested for sensitivity to thermal stimulation of the left palm. A new method of response-dependent thermal stimulation was used to maintain pain intensity at a predetermined level (35%) by adjusting thermal stimulus intensity as a function of pain ratings. Clinical pain levels were assessed prior to each testing session. Skin temperatures were recorded before and after pain sensitivity testing. The temperature of palmar skin dropped (1.5°C) when the corresponding location on the opposite hand of control subjects was subjected to prolonged thermal stimulation, but this response was absent for IBS pain patients. The patients also required significantly lower stimulus temperatures than controls to maintain a 35% pain rating. Baseline skin temperatures of patients were significantly correlated with thermode temperatures required to maintain 35% pain ratings. IBS pain intensity was not significantly correlated with skin temperature or pain sensitivity. The method of response-dependent stimulation revealed thermal hyperalgesia and increased sympathetic tone for chronic pain patients, relative to controls. Similarly, a significant correlation between resting skin temperatures and thermal pain sensitivity for IBS but not control subjects indicates that tonic sympathetic activation and a thermal hyperalgesia were generated by the chronic presence of visceral pain. However, lack of a significant relationship between sympathetic tone and ratings of IBS pain casts doubt on propositions that the magnitude of IBS pain is determined by psychological stress

Clinical and Experimental Applications of NIR-LED Photobiomodulation

This review presents current research on the use of far-red to near-infrared (NIR) light treatment in various in vitro and in vivo models. Low-intensity light therapy, commonly referred to as “photobiomodulation,” uses light in the far-red to near-infrared region of the spectrum (630–1000 nm) and modulates numerous cellular functions. Positive effects of NIR–light-emitting diode (LED) light treatment include acceleration of wound healing, improved recovery from ischemic injury of the heart, and attenuated degeneration of injured optic nerves by improving mitochondrial energy metabolism and production. Various in vitro and in vivo models of mitochondrial dysfunction were treated with a variety of wavelengths of NIR-LED light. These studies were performed to determine the effect of NIR-LED light treatment on physiologic and pathologic processes. NIRLED light treatment stimulates the photoacceptor cytochrome c oxidase, resulting in increased energy metabolism and production. NIR-LED light treatment accelerates wound healing in ischemic rat and murine diabetic wound healing models, attenuates the retinotoxic effects of methanol-derived formic acid in rat models, and attenuates the developmental toxicity of dioxin in chicken embryos. Furthermore, NIR-LED light treatment prevents the development of oral mucositis in pediatric bone marrow transplant patients. The experimental results demonstrate that NIR-LED light treatment stimulates mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in vitro, and accelerates cell and tissue repair in vivo. NIR-LED light represents a novel, noninvasive, therapeutic intervention for the treatment of numerous diseases linked to mitochondrial dysfunction