Eosinophils and their secretory mediators play an important role in the pathogenesis of infectious and inflammatory disorders. Although eosinophils are largely evolutionally conserved, their ...physiologic functions are not well understood. Given the availability of new eosinophil-targeted depletion therapies, there has been a renewed interest in understanding eosinophil biology as these strategies may result in secondary disorders when applied over long periods of time. Recent data suggest that eosinophils are not only involved in immunological effector functions but also carry out tissue protective and immunoregulatory functions that actively contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis. Prolonged eosinophil depletion may therefore result in the development of secondary disorders. Here, we review recent literature pointing to important roles for eosinophils in promoting immune defense, antibody production, activation of adipose tissue, and tissue remodeling and fibrosis. We also reflect on patient data from clinical trials that feature anti-eosinophil therapeutics.
This is a case study of an evaluation of a Youth Fair Chance (YFC) program that discusses multiple challenges faced by our evaluation team. We consider the role of evaluators. in relation to the ...overall program structure, struggles among organizational stakeholders with special interests, and power differentials which impacted policy decision making, control of information, and ultimately, the outcomes of this evaluation. In identifying the particular issues that arose throughout the evaluation process, we hope others who face similar issues will benefit from our insights. We realize the issues we face are endemic to any evaluation process.
The Community Based Learning (CBL) Certificate and the Civic Honors Program provide unique opportunities for students to receive college credit for their civic participation. The authors describe ...these programs and the historical and administrative changes at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, which created an environment for their development and support. This support includes recruiting administrators and faculty who support CBL, developing an infrastructure to recruit students into these programs, building relationships with community partners, and providing training and professional development to faculty. Collaborations with the volunteer and career centers and clarification of roles have contributed to cooperation across university programs. Descriptions of promising practices in developing community partners and connecting with community resources are offered. Future challenges to expand CBL and credit faculty for their engagement efforts are discussed.
This study explores the role of community service learning (CSL) in promoting undergraduate persistence relative to other experiences students have in college, their entering characteristics, and ...institutional features. By following the 2009 freshmen cohort at three Midwestern universities over three years, this study finds that students' experiences while in college (CSL, full-time enrollment, and GPA) have a stronger effect on the likelihood of reenrollment than students' entering characteristics (age, gender, and race). Our separate analyses for each institution allow us to consider how the differences between the three universities (student body composition, retention rate, CSL program) might lead CSL courses to play a particularly critical role in student persistence in certain types of universities.
We examined police officer attitudes toward community policing over a 19-month period. Patrol officers' and investigators' attitudes toward community policing are less favorable toward community ...policing concepts, programming, decentralization of substations, and the community policing unit than senior command and, in some cases, sergeants. Both patrol and investigators indicate strained relationships with supervisors and are more supportive of a decentralized organizational structure than are sergeants and senior command. We ask if discretionary power and increased participatory management among all officers can be favorably viewed by management and if dissention can be tolerated and incorporated into a dialog for change.
Debates over the prevalence of elderly illicit drug addicts in the population divert our attention from this group as a viable study population. Due to their decelerated lifestyle, low crime rates, ...and our attitudes toward the elderly as nonstreet drug users, they are likely to remain hidden from the public eye. This paper reviews past trends in drug misuse among the elderly, the lifestyle of those addicted to drugs, the complications associated with drug misuse and aging, and the problems that the elderly face with traditional treatment programs. Given our aging society, is the study of elderly street addicts and users an important area of concern?
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