Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)

In the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, students pass IRS certification tests to prepare taxes for individuals from all walks of life. Students gain confidence and experience in preparing individual income taxes, enhance their interpersonal skills by working with diverse clientele, and improve their ability to gather information and solve problems while under pressure

Liquefaction during the 1991 April 22 Telire-Limon Earthquake and Correlations with the Methods of Seed and Iwasaki

Sites within the area affected by liquefaction due to the 22 April 1991 Limón-Telire earthquake, have been investigated in order to compare the results of some empirical methods with the incidents observed during the earthquake. The purpose of this comparison was to suggest a suitable method to be used when assessing the risk for liquefaction in Costa Rica in the future

To serve a nutritionally balanced meal at school - with a focus on dairy products

Enligt den svenska skollagen (SFS 2010:800) har elever i skolan rätt till näringsriktiga skolmåltider. I lagtexten saknas förklaring om vad den näringsriktiga måltiden innebär, men regeringen hänvisar till de svenska näringsrekommendationerna som utgångspunkt. Syftet med denna rapport var att undersöka skolors tillvägagångssätt för att servera en näringsriktig måltid i skolan. Den kvalitativa intervjun användes som metod för att under-söka detta i fem skolor belägna i Uppsala kommun. Livsmedelsverket har skapat en vägledning, ”Bra mat i skolan”, som ger rekommendat-ioner för skolmaten baserat på de svenska och nordiska näringsrekommendationerna. Där beskrivs riktlinjer som inkluderar användningen av en större andel omättat fett och därtill minskat intag av mättade fetter. Dessutom ges riktlinjer avseende energi, kolhydrater, protein, fiber, salt, vitamin C, vitamin D, folat och järn. Livsmedelsverket vill begränsa andelen mjölkprodukter i skolmaten till fördel för olje-baserade alternativ. Orsaken är mjölkprodukters höga innehåll av mättat fett. Mjölkproduk-ter är dock en bra källa till protein, vitamin D och mineraler som barnen då går miste om när flertalet skolor följer Livsmedelsverkets råd. Studien visar att flertalet skolor närings-beräknar skolmåltiden och följer råden ”Bra mat i skolan”. Vid tillagning i köken kan dock de planerade recepten ändras efter behov, tillgång och förväntad konsumtion. Det leder till att genomförda näringsberäkningar inte stämmer. Studien åskådliggör ett kunskapsglapp mellan planering, tillagning och konsumtion av måltiderna. En av skolorna i studien an-vänder sig varken av näringsberäkning eller av andra riktlinjer. Skolan utgår istället från barnens matpreferenser vid planeringen. En annan skola använder sig av en extern leveran-tör som näringsberäknar och tillagar måltiden. Ansvaret för måltiden skjuts i de flesta fall över i nästa led utan uppföljning och de an-svariga litar på att den som ansvaret delegerats till uppfyller kravet - att servera en närings-riktig måltid. Skolor verkar lägga störst fokus på makronäringsämnen, medan Livsme-delsverkets råd om mikronäringsämnen får mindre uppmärksamhet. Kunskapen om matens näring når heller inte ut från planering till skolor och elever. Det är viktigt att kommuni-cera vad som kännetecknar en näringsriktig måltid för att barnen ska kunna göra aktiva val vid komponeringen av skolmåltiden på tallriken.According to the Swedish Education Act (SFS 2010:800) pupils in primary school have the right to be served nutritionally balanced meals in school. The law does not include any further specification of the meal, instead the government refers to the Swedish Nutrition Recommendations. The purpose of this report was to examine different approaches of primary schools to serve a nutritionally balanced meal in school. As method, the qualita-tive interview was chosen to examine the situation in five schools located in Uppsala. The Swedish National Food Agency (NFA) has created a guide, giving recommenda-tions for school meals, based on the Swedish and Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. It includes guidelines e.g. using a larger proportion of unsaturated fat and decrease the pro-portion of saturated fats. Guidelines for energy, carbohydrate, protein, fiber, salt, vitamin C, vitamin D, folic acid and iron are also included. NFA want to limit the proportion of dairy products in the school meals, because of its high content of saturated fat, to the benefit of oil-based alternatives. However, dairy prod-ucts are good sources of protein, vitamin D and minerals which children will not benefit from if their school follows the NFA guidelines. The study shows that the majority of schools implements nutrition calculations for the school meals and follow the NFA guide-lines. When preparing the food in the kitchen, however, the planned recipes can be changed according to need, availability and expected consumption. As a consequence, the nutrition calculations will not be correct. This study illustrates a gap in knowledge between the planning, preparation and consumption of the meals. One of the schools in the study uses neither a nutrition calculation nor other guidelines. Instead, the school bases the plan-ning on the children's food preferences. Another school uses an external provider who makes nutrition calculations and prepares the meal. Responsibility for the meal is in most cases passed on to the next level in the organiza-tion without a follow-up to verify that the requirement – to serve nutritionally balanced meals – is met. Schools seem primarily to focus on macronutrients, while the NFA guide-lines for micronutrients are getting less attention. Knowledge of the food's nutritional value does not reach out from the planning to the schools and children. It is important to com-municate the characteristics of a nutritionally balanced meal to help the children make healthy choices when composing the school meal on the plate

A mountain of waste created daily: a thematic analysis of environmental sustainability experiences of postgraduate intensive care nursing students

Background: The healthcare sector has a negative ecological impact, and intensive care is one of the most resource-consuming areas. Nurses have a duty to contribute to climate change reduction, design climate-resilient healthcare systems, and support individuals and communities in adapting to the effects of the planetary health crisis. It is essential to incorporate environmental sustainability into nursing education so that nurses can advocate for conscientious and ethically sustainable healthcare that benefits both patients and the planet. This study aimed to explore postgraduate intensive care nursing student experiences of environmental sustainability in clinical practice at intensive care units. Methods: Data were collected using a qualitative questionnaire, and the data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The participants were 24 registered nurses studying postgraduate, specialist intensive care nursing courses at four universities in the south and west regions of Sweden. Results: The results describe critical care students’ environmental sustainability experiences in one overarching theme with five subthemes. Intensive care is a challenging context in terms of sustainability, where saving lives is the number one priority. There were good and bad sustainability habits among the staff, and awareness was key to improving. Clinical supplies come in unsustainable packages, and the participants wished for better alternatives and they wanted more knowledge and education on sustainable practices. The findings also emphasized the importance of a holistic perspective throughout each patient’s pathway. Conclusions: Sustainability in intensive care units is somewhat unrecognised today, although intensive care nurses want that to change. The context where saving lives is prioritized makes implementing ecologically responsible practices a challenge. However, environmental sustainability in intensive care is feasible, with education needed for nurses to take on the responsibility of making improvements. Hospital management prioritizing sustainability is also important to support clinicians in implementing sustainable practices in intensive care units

Multi-Organ Expression Profiling Uncovers a Gene Module in Coronary Artery Disease Involving Transendothelial Migration of Leukocytes and LIM Domain Binding 2: The Stockholm Atherosclerosis Gene Expression (STAGE) Study

Environmental exposures filtered through the genetic make-up of each individual alter the transcriptional repertoire in organs central to metabolic homeostasis, thereby affecting arterial lipid accumulation, inflammation, and the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). The primary aim of the Stockholm Atherosclerosis Gene Expression (STAGE) study was to determine whether there are functionally associated genes (rather than individual genes) important for CAD development. To this end, two-way clustering was used on 278 transcriptional profiles of liver, skeletal muscle, and visceral fat (n = 66/tissue) and atherosclerotic and unaffected arterial wall (n = 40/tissue) isolated from CAD patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. The first step, across all mRNA signals (n = 15,042/12,621 RefSeqs/genes) in each tissue, resulted in a total of 60 tissue clusters (n = 3958 genes). In the second step (performed within tissue clusters), one atherosclerotic lesion (n = 49/48) and one visceral fat (n = 59) cluster segregated the patients into two groups that differed in the extent of coronary stenosis (P = 0.008 and P = 0.00015). The associations of these clusters with coronary atherosclerosis were validated by analyzing carotid atherosclerosis expression profiles. Remarkably, in one cluster (n = 55/54) relating to carotid stenosis (P = 0.04), 27 genes in the two clusters relating to coronary stenosis were confirmed (n = 16/17, P<10$^{−27and−30}$). Genes in the transendothelial migration of leukocytes (TEML) pathway were overrepresented in all three clusters, referred to as the atherosclerosis module (A-module). In a second validation step, using three independent cohorts, the A-module was found to be genetically enriched with CAD risk by 1.8-fold (P<0.004). The transcription co-factor LIM domain binding 2 (LDB2) was identified as a potential high-hierarchy regulator of the A-module, a notion supported by subnetwork analysis, by cellular and lesion expression of LDB2, and by the expression of 13 TEML genes in Ldb2–deficient arterial wall. Thus, the A-module appears to be important for atherosclerosis development and, together with LDB2, merits further attention in CAD research

#iteachmsu: Centering an Educator Learning Community (ELC)

Many scholars recommend preparing faculty for educator roles. Faculty Learning Communities, The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and teaching centers represent common preparatory approaches. But faculty and teaching assistants report time, disciplinary disconnects, and lack of incentives as ongoing barriers. Inspired by K-12’s professional learning networks and “hashtag activism,” the authors’ university launched #iteachmsu. #iteachmsu combines practices of social networking with a digital and in-person teaching “commons.” Through #iteachmsu, the authors hope to further shift campus cultures in the age of COVID-19, centering teaching and learning as a valuable and ongoing focus for an educator learning community (ELC)

Effektivt beslutsfattande: en analys av misstag och komplexa skeden i byggprojekt

Byggbranschen är en komplex bransch beroende på dess omfattning och sammansättning vilket visar sig i de åtskilliga fallgropar och risker som förekommer. Därför är vikten av ett effektivt beslutsfattande stor. I detta arbete definieras effektivt beslutsfattande som ett koncept i vilket skeden, processer och beslut genomförs på ett så pass bra sätt i stunden att de inte leder till förseningar, fördyringar eller andra former av misstag i ett senare skede. Vikten av ett effektivt beslutsfattande tydliggörs även när man ser till relationen mellan påverkansmöjligheter och kostnader i byggprocessen. Själva byggprocessen består generellt av de fem skedena förstudie, programskede, systemskede, detaljprojektering och byggskede. Syftet med arbetet är att skapa en tydlig överblick över vanligt förekommande fel, misstag och fallgropar som förekommer i konstruktionsprojekt för att sedan studera vilka orsaker eller skeden som ger upphov till dessa. Dessutom analyseras vilka aspekter i dessa skeden som är avgörande för att minimera risken för fel, misstag och fallgropar. För att skapa underlag till rapporten genomfördes en litteraturstudie som kompletterades med en empiriinsamling i form av en intervjustudie. Resultatet visade att det framför allt finns två typer av misstag, externa och interna. De externa härstammar från andra aktörer än entreprenörerna och karakteriseras av att de i många fall är svåra att påverka för entreprenörerna. De interna misstagen härstammar från processer och skeden inom entreprenörernas egen organisation där man har större möjlighet att påverka både förekomst och omfattning. Oavsett vilken entreprenadform som förekommer är de tidiga skedena efter involveringen viktigast att lyckas med för att skapa ett lyckat projekt. Med en solid grund undviks misstag i tidiga skeden som annars tenderar att leda till följdfel under resterande delar av projekten. Målet med arbetet i initiala skeden är att skapa en god relation mellan beställare och entreprenör eftersom den ligger till grund för att andra processer ska fungera väl. Med en god relation skapas förutsättningar för kommunikation, tillit och ömsesidig förståelse som alla är ytterst viktiga för att projekten ska bli lyckade. Internt i entreprenadorganisationer ställs stora krav på samarbete och kommunikation mellan olika discipliner med varierande regler, principer och förhållningssätt. Deras samarbete och helhetsuppfattning är den viktigast faktorn för att ett tillfredsställande gemensamt resultat ska uppnås. Detta ställer höga krav på koordinering och samordning vilket i sin tur visar på projektledarens roll och ansvar i processen

Moving to capture children’s attention: developing a methodology for measuring visuomotor attention

Attention underpins many activities integral to a child’s development. However, methodological limitations currently make large-scale assessment of children’s attentional skill impractical, costly and lacking in ecological validity. Consequently we developed a measure of ‘Visual Motor Attention’ (VMA) - a construct defined as the ability to sustain and adapt visuomotor behaviour in response to task-relevant visual information. In a series of experiments, we evaluated the capability of our method to measure attentional processes and their contributions in guiding visuomotor behaviour. Experiment 1 established the method’s core features (ability to track stimuli moving on a tablet-computer screen with a hand-held stylus) and demonstrated its sensitivity to principled manipulations in adults’ attentional load. Experiment 2 standardised a format suitable for use with children and showed construct validity by capturing developmental changes in executive attention processes. Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that children with and without coordination difficulties would show qualitatively different response patterns, finding an interaction between the cognitive and motor factors underpinning responses. Experiment 4 identified associations between VMA performance and existing standardised attention assessments and thereby confirmed convergent validity. These results establish a novel approach to measuring childhood attention that can produce meaningful functional assessments that capture how attention operates in an ecologically valid context (i.e. attention's specific contribution to visuomanual action)