An Added Dimension to the Faculty Role: The Accelerated Student

Nursing faculty work hard at helping students achieve academic success by utilizing a variety of support services. The question guiding this study is: Do accelerated and traditional BSN students have different characteristics or different valued support services? The characteristics of accelerated and traditional BSN students were obtained from a larger longitudinal study (N=93). The Support Services Questionnaire collected data from a convenient sample of two groups of BSN students: accelerated (n=26), traditional (n=49). The results presented accelerated students as primarily female, financially supported, and holding a variety of college degrees. Traditional students were represented as female, younger, working and not having any baccalaureate degrees. The implications are accelerated students preferred non-institutional support services, while traditional students preferred institutional support services. Recommendations for nursing schools and faculty are offered

New Issues In The Study Of Infant Categorization: A Reply To Husaim And Cohen

Husaim and Cohen\u27s focus (Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1981, 27, 443–456) on the learning of ill-defined categories by infants is securely motivated. Still, some of the particular questions they pursue—namely, how many dimensions are used to form the categories and what is the salience hierarchy of the dimensions—are tricky and perhaps misleading. Underlying their design and analysis is the basic assumption that the dimensions or attributes of the stimulus as defined by the experimenter have psychological reality for the infants. This assumption is questioned. Infants may perceive different attributes in the stimulus or they may not articulate the stimulus into attributes at all

Prostitution or partnership? Wifestyles in Tanzanian artisanal gold-mining settlements

Tanzania, along with several other African countries, is experiencing a national mining boom, which has prompted hundreds of thousands of men and women to migrate to mineral-rich locations. At these sites, relationships between the sexes defy the sexual norms of the surrounding countryside to embrace new relational amalgams of polygamy, monogamy and promiscuity. This article challenges the assumption that female prostitution is widespread. Using interview data with women migrants, we delineate six ‘wifestyles’, namely sexual-cum-conjugal relationships between men and women that vary in their degree of sexual and material commitment. In contrast to bridewealth payments, which involved elders formalising marriages through negotiations over reproductive access to women, sexual negotiations and relations in mining settlements involve men and women making liaisons and co-habitation arrangements directly between each other without third-party intervention. Economic interdependence may evolve thereafter with the possibility of women, as well as men, offering material support to their sex partners

Mutations in DYNC2LI1 disrupt cilia function and cause short rib polydactyly syndrome.

The short rib polydactyly syndromes (SRPSs) are a heterogeneous group of autosomal recessive, perinatal lethal skeletal disorders characterized primarily by short, horizontal ribs, short limbs and polydactyly. Mutations in several genes affecting intraflagellar transport (IFT) cause SRPS but they do not account for all cases. Here we identify an additional SRPS gene and further unravel the functional basis for IFT. We perform whole-exome sequencing and identify mutations in a new disease-producing gene, cytoplasmic dynein-2 light intermediate chain 1, DYNC2LI1, segregating with disease in three families. Using primary fibroblasts, we show that DYNC2LI1 is essential for dynein-2 complex stability and that mutations in DYNC2LI1 result in variable length, including hyperelongated, cilia, Hedgehog pathway impairment and ciliary IFT accumulations. The findings in this study expand our understanding of SRPS locus heterogeneity and demonstrate the importance of DYNC2LI1 in dynein-2 complex stability, cilium function, Hedgehog regulation and skeletogenesis

An electronic family health history tool to identify and manage patients at increased risk for colorectal cancer: protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundColorectal cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States. Approximately 3-10% of the population has an increased risk for colorectal cancer due to family history and warrants more frequent or intensive screening. Yet, < 50% of that high-risk population receives guideline-concordant care. Systematic collection of family health history and decision support may improve guideline-concordant screening for patients at increased risk of colorectal cancer. We seek to test the effectiveness of a web-based, systematic family health history collection tool and decision support platform (MeTree) to improve risk assessment and appropriate management of colorectal cancer risk among patients in the Department of Veterans Affairs primary care practices.MethodsIn this ongoing randomized controlled trial, primary care providers at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System and the Madison VA Medical Center are randomized to immediate intervention or wait-list control. Veterans are eligible if assigned to enrolled providers, have an upcoming primary care appointment, and have no conditions that would place them at increased risk for colorectal cancer (such as personal history, adenomatous polyps, or inflammatory bowel disease). Those with a recent lower endoscopy (e.g. colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy) are excluded. Immediate intervention patients put their family health history information into a web-based platform, MeTree, which provides both patient- and provider-facing decision support reports. Wait-list control patients access MeTree 12 months post-consent. The primary outcome is the risk-concordant colorectal cancer screening referral rate obtained via chart review. Secondary outcomes include patient completion of risk management recommendations (e.g. colonoscopy) and referral for genetic consultation. We will also conduct an economic analysis and an assessment of providers' experience with MeTree clinical decision support recommendations to inform future implementation efforts if the intervention is found to be effective.DiscussionThis trial will assess the feasibility and effectiveness of patient-collected family health history linked to decision support to promote risk-appropriate screening in a large healthcare system such as the Department of Veterans Affairs.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02247336 . Registered on 25 September 2014

Acoustic, psychophysical, and neuroimaging measurements of the effectiveness of active cancellation during auditory functional magnetic resonance imaging

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the principal neuroimaging techniques for studying human audition, but it generates an intense background sound which hinders listening performance and confounds measures of the auditory response. This paper reports the perceptual effects of an active noise control (ANC) system that operates in the electromagnetically hostile and physically compact neuroimaging environment to provide significant noise reduction, without interfering with image quality. Cancellation was first evaluated at 600 Hz, corresponding to the dominant peak in the power spectrum of the background sound and at which cancellation is maximally effective. Microphone measurements at the ear demonstrated 35 dB of acoustic attenuation [from 93 to 58 dB sound pressure level (SPL)], while masked detection thresholds improved by 20 dB (from 74 to 54 dB SPL). Considerable perceptual benefits were also obtained across other frequencies, including those corresponding to dips in the spectrum of the background sound. Cancellation also improved the statistical detection of sound-related cortical activation, especially for sounds presented at low intensities. These results confirm that ANC offers substantial benefits for fMRI research

Renal impairment in a rural African antiretroviral programme

Background: There is little knowledge regarding the prevalence and nature of renal impairment in African populations initiating antiretroviral treatment, nor evidence to inform the most cost effective methods of screening for renal impairment. With the increasing availability of the potentially nephrotixic drug, tenofovir, such information is important for the planning of antiretroviral programmes Methods: (i) Retrospective review of the prevalence and risk factors for impaired renal function in 2189 individuals initiating antiretroviral treatment in a rural African setting between 2004 and 2007 (ii) A prospective study of 149 consecutive patients initiating antiretrovirals to assess the utility of urine analysis for the detection of impaired renal function. Severe renal and moderately impaired renal function were defined as an estimated GFR of ≤ 30 mls/min/1.73 m2 and 30–60 mls/min/1.73 m2 respectively. Logistic regression was used to determine odds ratio (OR) of significantly impaired renal function (combining severe and moderate impairment). Co-variates for analysis were age, sex and CD4 count at initiation. Results: (i) There was a low prevalence of severe renal impairment (29/2189, 1.3% 95% C.I. 0.8–1.8) whereas moderate renal impairment was more frequent (287/2189, 13.1% 95% C.I. 11.6–14.5) with many patients having advanced immunosuppression at treatment initiation (median CD4 120 cells/μl). In multivariable logistic regression age over 40 (aOR 4.65, 95% C.I. 3.54–6.1), male gender (aOR 1.89, 95% C.I. 1.39–2.56) and CD4<100 cells/ul (aOR 1.4, 95% C.I. 1.07–1.82) were associated with risk of significant renal impairment (ii) In 149 consecutive patients, urine analysis had poor sensitivity and specificity for detecting impaired renal function. Conclusion: In this rural African setting, significant renal impairment is uncommon in patients initiating antiretrovirals. Urine analysis alone may be inadequate for identification of those with impaired renal function where resources for biochemistry are limited

Using TIMSS to Inform Policy and Practice at the Local Level

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)-1995 and its successor, TIMSS-1999, provide education researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with rich, comparative data designed to help better understand the performance of educational systems. As such, TIMSS is a valuable tool in current efforts to improve mathematics and science instruction and to educate students in the United States to global standards of excellence. What can we learn from this ambitious and unprecedented international effort to provide meaningful, useful data for the reform of mathematics and science instruction? It is important to reflect on this question as we assess the promise and challenges of using TIMSS-type data in particular, as well as the broader national effort to use data to guide school improvement in general. The first in CPRE’s series of Policy Briefs about TIMSS (Dunson, 2000) looked at initial efforts to make use of TIMSS-1995 data. In this Policy Brief, we take a closer look at the ways in which TIMSS-1995 and TIMSS-1999 data have helped to inform changes in policy and practice as schools, districts, and states respond to the call for improvement in mathematics and science achievement. This Policy Brief was prepared to complement CPRE’s effort to address this question in a TIMSS Policy Forum, held in Washington, DC, in May 2002. This forum convened TIMSS Benchmarking jurisdiction representatives, teachers, administrators, policymakers, researchers, and technical assistance providers to share successful strategies and ongoing challenges in taking full advantage of TIMSS data. This Policy Brief is based primarily on data collected in structured interviews with Using TIMSS to Inform Policy and Practice at the Local Level By Deborah I. Nelson administrators and teachers in 10 TIMSS Benchmarking jurisdictions (referred to as “Benchmarkers”). These jurisdictions within the United States participated in the TIMSS- 1999 Benchmarking Study, committing their own resources and time in order to receive data from a representative sample of their own eighth-grade students. TIMSS Benchmarkers thus have international comparative data on their students’ achievement and their system variables. Our purposive sample included equal representation from states, districts, and consortia with a variety of demographic characteristics. While TIMSS data have been used nationwide, Benchmarking jurisdictions are notable for their existing commitment to reform of mathematics and science programs and for the fact that they have access to their own local TIMSS- 1999 data. This Brief is designed to facilitate networking and continued learning from TIMSS; it focuses on Benchmarkers’ experiences, but is relevant for anyone interested in using TIMSS to improve mathematics and science instruction. Strategies are reported in summary form. Actual TIMSS data and analysis are not discussed in detail, but related references are provided at the end of this Brief

What Explains Differences in International Performance? TIMSS Researchers Continue to Look for Answers

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)-1995 and its successor, TIMSS-1999, provide researchers, policymakers, and educators with an unprecedented opportunity to explore the possible relationships between educational policies and student achievement in an international context. Due to the amount and complexity of the TIMSS data, analyses have proceeded in phases, each providing a more detailed and sophisticated understanding of these relationships. This Brief is the third in the Consortium for Policy Research in Education’s (CPRE) series reporting on the policy implications of TIMSS data. It summarizes results of recently completed TIMSS research that explores in greater detail questions raised in initial analyses. Earlier analyses of TIMSS data were based largely on observed differences between instructional variables in the United States and in high-achieving TIMSS nations. This was a kind of “benchmarking” approach in which certain practices were hypothesized to increase student achievement. Some of the research summarized in this Brief continues this earlier work by exploring additional differences between policy and practice in the United States and in other TIMSS nations. Other studies expand on this work by looking for instructional variables that might explain differences in student achievement across a broader range of TIMSS nations. Results do not yield simple lessons and may thus be frustrating for those who hoped that TIMSS might prescribe specific recommendations for policy and practice. Recent research does, however, continue to raise important questions about the relationships between policy, practice, and student achievement in an international context. The summary presented here highlights key issues that emerge from this work