Ongoing Covenant with Black Iowa, 2006

This Manual is designed to help targeted communities organize and train local steering groups and task force leaders. The Ongoing Covenant with Black Iowa (OCBI) model will engage and empower African Americans in various communities to work together in developing strategies that bridge local priorities to statewide goals. Trained Task Force Leaders play a critical role in establishing productive dialogue and planning that is essential to moving the OCBI forward in meeting its goals. They must ensure consistency within each Task Force as the OCBI is a multilevel partnership and collaboration among local communities, the Commission on the Status of African Americans and the Covenant with Black America. Task Force Leaders assist with constructive dialogue among local residents to engage and focus on the issues, and work collectively towards a solution. Patience in developing a strategy and trained Task Force Leaders are essential to the success of the OCBI. It is our hope that this Manual will serve as a guide to assist you in all aspects of building your local strategic plan.

Choosing the optimal energy system for buildings and districts

The purpose of this master’s thesis was to develop a method to be used in the selection of an optimal energy system for buildings and districts. The term optimal energy system was defined as the energy system which best fulfils the requirements of the stakeholder on whose preferences the energy systems are evaluated. The most influential stakeholder in the process of selecting an energy system was considered to be the district developer. The selection method consisted of several steps: Definition of the district, calculating the energy consumption of the district and buildings within the district, defining suitable energy system alternatives for the district, definition of the comparing criteria, calculating the parameters of the comparing criteria for each energy system alternative and finally using a multi-criteria decision method to rank the alternatives. For the purposes of the selection method, the factors affecting the energy consumption of buildings and districts and technologies enabling the use of renewable energy were reviewed. The key element of the selection method was a multi-criteria decision making method, PROMETHEE II. In order to compare the energy system alternatives with the developed method, the comparing criteria were defined in the study. The criteria included costs, environmental impacts and technological and technical characteristics of the energy systems. Each criterion was given an importance, based on a questionnaire which was sent for the steering groups of two district development projects. The selection method was applied in two case study analyses. The results indicate that the selection method provides a viable and easy way to provide the decision makers alternatives and recommendations regarding the selection of an energy system. Since the comparison is carried out by changing the alternatives into numeric form, the presented selection method was found to exclude any unjustified preferences over certain energy systems alternatives which would affect the selection.

Developing and maintaining infrastructure services for libraries, archives and museums

Esitys Dries Moreelsin tapaamisessa (Ghent University Library) 15.–16.10. 2014, Vallila Helsinki. /Performance at visit of Dries Moreels Ghent University Library oct 15th- oct 16th 2014, Vallila Helsinki.

Developing and maintaining infrastructure services for libraries, archives and museums

Esitys Helsingissä 24.9.2014.

Digital services development – cases of Finland and LIBER

The presentation of Kristiina Hormia-Poutanen in The National and University Library in Zagreb March 18, 2015.

The Nursing and Midwifery Resource - Interim Report of the Steering Group

This project arises from the need for an enhanced focus on workforce planning having regard, in particular, to the availability of sufficient nurses now and in the future. For a country which historically has had an abundance of nurses, the recruitment difficulties now being experienced by the health services are unprecedented. Up to the mid 1990s, there was a surplus of registered nurses here and other countries sent recruitment teams to Ireland in order to address their own shortages. As will be seen in this report, the concern of the professional interest groups at the time was the high levels of unemployment among nurses. The conventional wisdom was that the health services were training too many nurses for the jobs available. However, there has been a sea change in the situation over the past five years and the stage has now been reached where Irish health care agencies, particularly the major acute Dublin hospitals, are actively seeking to recruit nurses from abroad. Download the Report here

Social Media Use in Medical and Health Professional Education: Role of the Librarian on a Faculty Steering Committee

Objective: An interprofessional steering committee was created at Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine to examine how social media are integrated in medical and health professional education in universities across the globe, and to propose a strategic plan for integrating social media in the Faculty’s various curricula. This presentation will summarize the steering committee’s work and describe the librarian’s contribution. Methods: The Committee’s project leader first conducted a literature search on best practices of social media in medical and health professional curricula. A reference website was then created (mse.med.umontreal.ca) to provide easy access to a large number of the articles and resources reviewed. A steering committee was constituted and 11 meetings were held over a 9-month period. The Committee comprised 18 members and included assistant deans, academic program directors, professors, communication advisors, undergraduate and graduate students and a librarian. An online survey on social media use by students and professors of the Faculty was conducted, ten pilot projects were put forward and a three-year strategic plan was proposed. Results: A total of 1508 students and 565 professors participated in the survey. Results showed that both groups had a strong interest in learning how social media could be integrated in academic and professional activities. Participants reported concern with risks associated with social media use and expressed the need for a Faculty policy and guidelines. The librarian’s contribution to the steering committee included: writing posts on the website’s internal blog, assisting in the design of the survey questionnaires and writing the final report’s survey results chapter. She also proposed two pilot projects: creating a social media learning portal and an altmetrics workshop. Conclusions: Based on the literature review and the survey results, the Committee affirmed the importance of integrating social media in the various study programs of the Faculty of Medicine. Despite the restricted timeline, this interprofessional steering committee was able to carry out its mandate because of the leadership and expertise of each of its members. As the librarian had the most experience with the use of social media in a professional context, her knowledge was instrumental in assisting the project leader in a group mainly composed of social media non-users.

Design, Synthesis And Biological Evaluation Of Hybrid Bioisoster Derivatives Of N-acylhydrazone And Furoxan Groups With Potential And Selective Anti-trypanosoma Cruzi Activity.

Hybrid bioisoster derivatives from N-acylhydrazones and furoxan groups were designed with the objective of obtaining at least a dual mechanism of action: cruzain inhibition and nitric oxide (NO) releasing activity. Fifteen designed compounds were synthesized varying the substitution in N-acylhydrazone and in furoxan group as well. They had its anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity in amastigotes forms, NO releasing potential and inhibitory cruzain activity evaluated. The two most active compounds (6, 14) both in the parasite amastigotes and in the enzyme contain the nitro group in para position of the aromatic ring. The permeability screening in Caco-2 cell and cytotoxicity assay in human cells were performed for those most active compounds and both showed to be less cytotoxic than the reference drug, benznidazole. Compound 6 was the most promising, since besides activity it showed good permeability and selectivity index, higher than the reference drug. Thereby the compound 6 was considered as a possible candidate for additional studies.

Comparative Cytogenetics Of Physalaemus albifrons And Physalaemus Cuvieri Species Groups (anura, leptodactylidae).

Recently, Physalaemus albifrons (Spix, 1824) was relocated from the Physalaemus cuvieri group to the same group as Physalaemus biligonigerus (Cope, 1861), Physalaemus marmoratus (Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862) and Physalaemus santafecinus Barrio, 1965. To contribute to the analysis of this proposition, we studied the karyotypes of Physalaemus albifrons, Physalaemus santafecinus and three species of the Physalaemus cuvieri group. The karyotype of Physalaemus santafecinus was found to be very similar to those of Physalaemus biligonigerus and Physalaemus marmoratus, which were previously described. A remarkable characteristic that these three species share is a conspicuous C-band that extends from the pericentromeric region almost to the telomere in the short arm of chromosome 3. This characteristic is not present in the Physalaemus albifrons karyotype and could be a synapomorphy of Physalaemus biligonigerus, Physalaemus marmoratus and Physalaemus santafecinus. The karyotype of Physalaemus santafecinus is also similar to those of Physalaemus marmoratus and Physalaemus biligonigerus owing to the presence of several terminal C-bands and the distal localization of the NOR in a small metacentric chromosome. In contrast, the Physalaemus albifrons karyotype has no terminal C-bands and its NOR is located interstitially in the long arm of submetacentric chromosome 8. The NOR-bearing chromosome of Physalaemus albifrons very closely resembles those found in Physalaemus albonotatus (Steindachner, 1864), Physalaemus cuqui Lobo, 1993 and some populations of Physalaemus cuvieri Fitzinger, 1826. Additionally, the Physalaemus albifrons karyotype has an interstitial C-band in chromosome 5 that has been exclusively observed in species of the Physalaemus cuvieri group. Therefore, we were not able to identify any chromosomal feature that supports the reallocation of Physalaemus albifrons.

Metacommunity Versus Biogeography: A Case Study Of Two Groups Of Neotropical Vegetation-dwelling Arthropods.

Biogeography and metacommunity ecology provide two different perspectives on species diversity. Both are spatial in nature but their spatial scales do not necessarily match. With recent boom of metacommunity studies, we see an increasing need for clear discrimination of spatial scales relevant for both perspectives. This discrimination is a necessary prerequisite for improved understanding of ecological phenomena across scales. Here we provide a case study to illustrate some spatial scale-dependent concepts in recent metacommunity studies and identify potential pitfalls. We presented here the diversity patterns of Neotropical lepidopterans and spiders viewed both from metacommunity and biogeographical perspectives. Specifically, we investigated how the relative importance of niche- and dispersal-based processes for community assembly change at two spatial scales: metacommunity scale, i.e. within a locality, and biogeographical scale, i.e. among localities widely scattered along a macroclimatic gradient. As expected, niche-based processes dominated the community assembly at metacommunity scale, while dispersal-based processes played a major role at biogeographical scale for both taxonomical groups. However, we also observed small but significant spatial effects at metacommunity scale and environmental effects at biogeographical scale. We also observed differences in diversity patterns between the two taxonomical groups corresponding to differences in their dispersal modes. Our results thus support the idea of continuity of processes interactively shaping diversity patterns across scales and emphasize the necessity of integration of metacommunity and biogeographical perspectives.

Cephalometric And Anthropometric Data Of Obstructive Apnea In Different Age Groups.

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome usually present with changes in upper airway morphology and/or body fat distribution, which may occur throughout life and increase the severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome with age. To correlate cephalometric and anthropometric measures with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome severity in different age groups. A retrospective study of cephalometric and anthropometric measures of 102 patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome was analyzed. Patients were divided into three age groups (≥20 and <40 years, ≥40 and <60 years, and ≥60 years). Pearson's correlation was performed for these measures with the apnea-hypopnea index in the full sample, and subsequently by age group. The cephalometric measures MP-H (distance between the mandibular plane and the hyoid bone) and PNS-P (distance between the posterior nasal spine and the tip of the soft palate) and the neck and waist circumferences showed a statistically significant correlation with apnea-hypopnea index in both the full sample and in the ≥40 and <60 years age group. These variables did not show any significant correlation with the other two age groups (<40 and ≥60 years). Cephalometric measurements MP-H and PNS-P and cervical and waist circumferences correlated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome severity in patients in the ≥40 and <60 age group.

Quality Of Life On Arterial Hypertension: Validity Of Known Groups Of Minichal.

Introductions: In the care of hypertension, it is important that health professionals possess available tools that allow evaluating the impairment of the health-related quality of life, according to the severity of hypertension and the risk for cardiovascular events. Among the instruments developed for the assessment of health-related quality of life, there is the Mini-Cuestionario of Calidad de Vida en la Hipertensión Arterial (MINICHAL) recently adapted to the Brazilian culture. Objective: To estimate the validity of known groups of the Brazilian version of the MINICHAL regarding the classification of risk for cardiovascular events, symptoms, severity of dyspnea and target-organ damage. Methods: Data of 200 hypertensive outpatients concerning sociodemographic and clinical information and health-related quality of life were gathered by consulting the medical charts and the application of the Brazilian version of MINICHAL. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare health-related quality of life in relation to symptoms and target-organ damage. The Kruskal-Wallis test and ANOVA with ranks transformation were used to compare health-related quality of life in relation to the classification of risk for cardiovascular events and intensity of dyspnea, respectively. Results: The MINICHAL was able to discriminate health-related quality of life in relation to symptoms and kidney damage, but did not discriminate health-related quality of life in relation to the classification of risk for cardiovascular events. Conclusion: The Brazilian version of the MINICHAL is a questionnaire capable of discriminating differences on the health‑related quality of life regarding dyspnea, chest pain, palpitation, lipothymy, cephalea and renal damage.Fundamento: No cuidado ao hipertenso, é importante que o profissional de saúde disponha de ferramentas que possibilitem avaliar o comprometimento da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde, de acordo com a gravidade da hipertensão e o risco para eventos cardiovasculares. Dentre os instrumentos criados para avaliação da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde, destaca-se o Mini-Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida en la Hipertensión Arterial (MINICHAL), recentemente adaptado para a cultura brasileira. Objetivo: Estimar a validade de grupos conhecidos da versão brasileira do MINICHAL em relação à classificação de risco para eventos cardiovasculares, sintomas, intensidade da dispneia e lesões de órgãos-alvo. Métodos: Foram investigados 200 hipertensos em seguimento ambulatorial, cujos dados sociodemográficos, clínicos e de qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde foram obtidos por meio de consulta ao prontuário e da aplicação da versão brasileira do MINICHAL. O teste de Mann-Whitney foi utilizado para comparar qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação aos sintomas e às lesões de órgãos-alvo. Teste de Kruskal-Wallis e ANOVA com transformação nos ranks foram empregados para comparar qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação à classificação de risco para eventos cardiovasculares e intensidade da dispneia, respectivamente. Resultados: O MINICHAL discriminou qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação aos sintomas e dano renal (lesões de órgãos-alvo), porém não discriminou qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação à classificação de risco para eventos cardiovasculares. Conclusão: A versão brasileira do MINICHAL é um instrumento capaz de discriminar diferenças na qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação aos sintomas de dispneia, precordialgia, palpitação, lipotímia, cefaleia e presença de dano renal.

Identification of family variables in parents' groups of children with epilepsy

OBJECTIVE: To verify the effectiveness of the support group in the identification of family variables linked to epilepsy. METHOD: Pre-test were applied to parents of 21 children with benign epilepsy of childhood recently diagnosed, from 5 to 15 years, who participated in the groups at HC/Unicamp. There was a presentation of an educational video, discussion and application of the post-test 1. After six months, the post-test 2 was applied. RESULTS: The beliefs were: fear of swallowing the tongue during the seizures (76.19%) and of a future mental disease (66.67%). Facing the epilepsy, fear and sadness appeared. 76.19% of the parents presented overprotection and 90.48%, expected a new seizure. In the post-test 1, the parents affirmed that the information offered had modified the beliefs. In the post-test 2, 80.95% didn't report great doubts about epilepsy and 90.48% considered their relationship with their children better. CONCLUSIONS: The demystification of beliefs supplied from the groups influenced the family positively, prevented behavior alterations and guaranteed effective care in the attendance to the child with epilepsy.

Permeability of different groups of maxillary teeth after 38% hydrogen peroxide internal bleaching

This study evaluated the influence of internal tooth bleaching with 38% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the permeability of the coronal dentin in maxillary anterior teeth and premolars. Seventy teeth (14 per group) were used: central incisors (CI), lateral incisor (LI), canines (C), first premolars (1PM) and second premolars (2PM). Pulp chamber access and transversal sectioning at 2 mm from the cementoenamel junction were performed and the specimens were divided into 2 groups (n= 7): a) no treatment and b) bleaching with 38% H2O2. The bleaching agent was applied to the buccal surface and to the pulp chamber for 10 min. This procedure was repeated 3 times. The specimens were processed histochemically with copper sulfate and rubeanic acid, sectioned longitudinally, and digitalized in a scanner. The area of stained dentin was measured using Image Tool software. Data were analyzed statistically by ANOVA and Tukey's HSD test (?=0.05). There was statistically significant difference (p<0.001) among the untreated groups, CI (0.23 ± 0.26) having the lowest permeability and LI (10.14 ± 1.89) the highest permeability. Among the bleached groups, dentin permeability was increased in all groups of teeth except for 2PM. It may be concluded that bleaching with 38% H2O2 affected dentin permeability near the pulp chamber in maxillary anterior teeth and in first and second premolars.