What are Community Studies? - Book Review

Graham Crow, What are Community Studies? Bloomsbury, London, 2018, £17.99 pbk, (ISBN 978-1-84966-595-7

Book review: education, disadvantage and place: making the local matter by Kirstin Kerr, Alan Dyson, and Carlo Roffo

This book aims to consider the effectiveness of area-based initiatives in the struggle to address the links between education, disadvantage and place. It is written in a style which will find favour with practitioners seeking a clear link between evidence and policy, and postgraduate students and academics researching in the fields of community, local government, education, and disadvantage, finds Jon Dean

Trapping Pestiferous Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae): Additional Studies on the Performance of Solid Bactrocera Male Lures and Separate Insecticidal Strips Relative to Standard Liquid Lures

Detection of pestiferous Bactrocera fruit flies relies largely on traps baited with male-specific attractants. Surveillance programs in Florida and Cali- fornia use liquid methyl eugenol (ME, attractive to males of B. dorsalis (Hendel)) and liquid cue-lure (CL, attractive to males of B. cucurbitae (Coquillett)) mixed with the toxicant naled to bait traps. However, the application of the liquids requires considerable time and may subject personnel to health risks from inadvertent exposure to the lure and the insecticide. Recent studies have shown that solid dispensers containing a toxicant perform as well or better than liquid lures, but the combination of lure and toxicant in the same solid dispenser faces registration problems. Fewer studies have assessed the efficacy of solid, and separate, lures and toxicants, but existing data are promising. Here, we present the results of two independent studies that further assess the effectiveness of solid ME and CL lures and their associated, but separate, insecticidal strips. The first study, conducted exclusively in Hawaii over a 12 week period, found that captures of B. dorsalis or B. cucurbitae males were similar between traps baited with the standard liquid formulation and traps baited with solid lure dispensers and either 1 or 2 insecti- cidal strips. In the second study, solid lure dispensers and associated insecticide strips were weathered for 6 or 12 weeks under summer conditions in Arizona and Florida, where high temperatures were presumed to result in high volatility and thus provide a rigorous test of field longevity. Aged materials were shipped to Hawaii for testing against fresh (non-weathered) lures and insecticidal strips in wild populations. The results were fairly consistent between Arizona- and Florida- weathered devices and indicated that (i) solid ME dispensers were effective for 6 weeks but lost significant attractancy at 12 weeks and (ii) CL solid lures and the insecticidal strips were effective for at least 12 weeks. Collectively, these findings provide additional evidence that surveillance programs could switch to solid lures and toxicants and maintain a high level of detection sensitivity

Erenumab in chronic migraine: Patient-reported outcomes in a randomized double-blind study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of erenumab, a human monoclonal antibody targeting the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor, on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), headache impact, and disability in patients with chronic migraine (CM). METHODS: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 667 adults with CM were randomized (3:2:2) to placebo or erenumab (70 or 140 mg monthly). Exploratory endpoints included migraine-specific HRQoL (Migraine-Specific Quality-of-Life Questionnaire [MSQ]), headache impact (Headache Impact Test-6 [HIT-6]), migraine-related disability (Migraine Disability Assessment [MIDAS] test), and pain interference (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System [PROMIS] Pain Interference Scale short form 6b). RESULTS: Improvements were observed for all endpoints in both erenumab groups at month 3, with greater changes relative to placebo observed at month 1 for many outcomes. All 3 MSQ domains were improved from baseline with treatment differences for both doses exceeding minimally important differences established for MSQ-role function-restrictive (≥3.2) and MSQ-emotional functioning (≥7.5) and for MSQ-role function-preventive (≥4.5) for erenumab 140 mg. Changes from baseline in HIT-6 scores at month 3 were -5.6 for both doses vs -3.1 for placebo. MIDAS scores at month 3 improved by -19.4 days for 70 mg and -19.8 days for 140 mg vs -7.5 days for placebo. Individual-level minimally important difference was achieved by larger proportions of erenumab-treated participants than placebo for all MSQ domains and HIT-6. Lower proportions of erenumab-treated participants had MIDAS scores of severe (≥21) or very severe (≥41) or PROMIS scores ≥60 at month 3. CONCLUSIONS: Erenumab-treated patients with CM experienced clinically relevant improvements across a broad range of patient-reported outcomes. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT02066415. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with CM, erenumab treatment improves HRQoL, headache impact, and disability

Core Services in the Architecture of the National Digital Library for Science Education (NSDL)

We describe the core components of the architecture for the (NSDL) National Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Digital Library. Over time the NSDL will include heterogeneous users, content, and services. To accommodate this, a design for a technical and organization infrastructure has been formulated based on the notion of a spectrum of interoperability. This paper describes the first phase of the interoperability infrastructure including the metadata repository, search and discovery services, rights management services, and user interface portal facilities

An examination of the impact of early retirement incentives on school district financial health

The combination of state controlled school funding in Michigan, rising employee costs and shrinking school enrollments have caused school districts to seek a variety of cost control measures. One of the measures frequently supported by both school districts and employee unions is the use of Early Retirement Incentives (ERI) to incentivize teachers to separate from the school district via a cash payment. The purpose of this study was to analyze how offering or not-offering an ERI impacted on the financial health of a school districts in the State of Michigan. Selected school districts in Michigan were surveyed regarding any ERI\u27s they may have offered during the 2003-04 to 2007-08 school years. If the district offered an ERI, various descriptive aspects of the offered ERI including ERI amount, number of participants in the ERI and replacement percentage of separating teachers was tabulated. The data points collected to determine the financial health of the school district included school district bond rating, the school district fund equity percentage and change in general fund expenditures of school districts. This study used both t-tests and multiple regression analysis to determine if offering an ERI had any effect on the financial health of the school district as measured by fund equity percentage and changes in general fund expenditures. Additionally, a multiple regression analysis was used to determine which various descriptor factors of an ERI might have the most significant impact on school district financial health. This study found that no significant relationship existed between offering an ERI and the financial health of the school district as measured by either fund equity percentage or changes in general fund expenditure. Additionally, this study found that other independent variables including changes in student enrollment were more impactful on changes in general fund expenditures than offering an ERI. While bond ratings of school districts were originally designed to be used as a metric of school district financial health, they were discarded from the final analysis due to their relatively infrequent nature