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Introduction: Race and ethnicity along with social determinants of health have been identified as risk factors for COVID-19. The purpose of this clinical paper is to provide an overview of the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations (NCEMNA), present COVID-19 epidemiological data on five racial–ethnic groups, identify culturally congruent health care strategies for each group, and provide directions for practice and research. Method : NCEMNA collaborated to provide a clinical paper that addresses information about COVID-19 and culturally congruent health care in five racial–ethnic groups. Results : Every organization presented common themes across the different groups and unique perspectives that each group is faced with during this challenge. Discussion : This article provides an introduction to the issues that minority groups are facing. It is imperative that data are collected to determine the extent of the impact of COVID-19 in diverse communities in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study on the impact both of production and transportation from changes in taxation or costs of inputs in the United States paper industry. Background of paper production; Analysis of possible variations in tax policies; Comparison of results from scenario analysis; Discussion and conclusions.

In recent years, computer-based testing (CBT) has grown in popularity, is increasingly being implemented across the United States, and will likely become the primary mode for delivering tests in the future. Although CBT offers many advantages over traditional paper-and-pencil testing, assessment experts, researchers, practitioners, and users have expressed concern about the comparability of scores between the two test administration modes. To help provide an answer to this issue, a meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the administration mode effects of CBTs and paper-and-pencil tests on K-12 student reading assessments. Findings indicate that the administration mode had no statistically significant effect on K-12 student reading achievement scores. Four moderator variables—study design, sample size, computer delivery algorithm, and computer practice—made statistically significant contributions to predicting effect size. Three moderator variables—grade level, type of test, and computer delivery method—did not affect the differences in reading scores between test modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advisory Committees to the Food and Drag Administration provide FDA with expert advice on medical and scientific topics relevant to FDA's responsibility to protect and promote the public health. The history and experience with Advisory Committees (since authorization in federal law in 1972) provides a rich background to inform a review of best practices. The following best practices for the Advisory Committee process are noteworthy: • Role definition: A shared understanding of the roles of all participants in the Advisory Committee process helps to foster productive meetings and facilitates prompt resolution of potentially contentious issues. • Transparency: FDA and sponsor should operate with transparency in bidirectional sharing of information and perspectives before, during, and after a product-specific Advisory Committee meeting. • Regulatory knowledge: Advisory Committee members, .special government employees, consultants, and sponsors must all have a fundamental knowledge of the regulatory principles governing the Advisory Committee process, as well as development and registration of drug and biologic products. • Access and focus: FDA has an ongoing need for access to external medical and scientific experts to augment the agency's internal experts. Consultation with Advisory Committees should be focused on situations (as described in this article) where external advice is warranted to aid FDA in efforts to protect and promote the public health. • Training: Optimization of the Advisory Committee process and implementation of best practices across the multiple committees and reviewing divisions in FDA require training of all participants. PhRMA member companies strive to embrace these best practices in working with reviewing divisions, the Executive Secretary of each committee, and Advisory Committees. This white paper is presented to foster further dialogue to aid continuous improvement in the Advisory Committee process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of development, manufacturing, registration, distribution, and postmarketing support of drug and biologic products includes the need for clear, active, and ongoing communication between the sponsor/applicant and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Such communication occurs in written and spoken form, involving multiple media (including letters, secure e-mail, fax, face-to-face meetings, and teleconferences). Personnel in PhRMA member companies and FDA recognize the importance and challenges of communication. FDA's attention to a number of key principles of communication is illustrated in the guidance document Good Review Management Principles and Practices for PDUFA Products. this white paper, members of PhRMA's Best Practices Working Group have summarized key information on communication from the guidance document, proposed expectations for communications to facilitate a shared understanding between FDA and applicant about a communication strategy during review of a New Drug Application (NDA) or Biologics License Application (BLA), and drafted some basic principles for companies to adopt to help foster constructive, professional, and efficient communication with FDA on Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) products. Dialogue with FDA and other stakeholders about these principles and proposals is suggested as the logical next step in discussion of best practices for communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fresno, California, is home to more than 30,000 Hmong. The purpose of this research was to explore the utilization of Hmong shamans 40 years after the first Hmong immigrants arrived in the United States. Hmong shamanism is examined to identify and analyze changes to shamans' practices or patients. Methods: Using grounded theory, semistructured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 20 shamans in their homes. Transcribed data were qualitatively analyzed. Results: Shamans continue to train and practice in this community; utilization by older patients persists while young adult patients have become the fastest-growing group of users. Healing rituals have changed in response to the legalities of animal sacrifice in urban areas and the time demands of work schedules. Discussion: Nurses' awareness that the availability of biomedicine does not preclude the continuing or recurring utilization of traditional healers can facilitate understanding of culturally defined health care needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the yearbooks of the U.S. Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) from 1906 to 1930. MTNA is an organization for music teachers founded in 1876 by music educator Theodore Presser and sixty-two colleagues in Delaware, Ohio. The association was founded after recognizing the inadequacy and inconsistency of music teaching in the U.S. A background on how the group was created and the challenges it encountered as a new organization are presented.

Objective: We sought to understand the relative impact of fielding mode on response rate among public health alumni. Methods: As part of the 2021 Career Trends Survey of alumni from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, we designed a fielding mode experiment to ascertain whether a paper survey, a postcard with a custom survey link ("postcard push-to-web"), a mobile telephone call or text (mobile), or an email invitation would garner the highest response rates. Invitations were randomly assigned from available contact information. Results: Of 8531 alumni invited, 1671 alumni (19.6%) completed the survey. Among the initial fielding modes, the paper survey had the highest response rate (28%), followed by mobile (19%), email (10%), and postcard push-to-web (10%). More robust recent engagement with alumni relations, paper survey invitation or mode switch, and recent graduation were all significantly associated with a higher likelihood of response. Conclusions: Paper and mobile invitations had the highest response rates to our survey among public health alumni. Findings from this fielding mode experiment are relevant to schools and programs of public health seeking to capture similar information among their alumni, especially given current trends in investment in the public health workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In all health system sectors, electronic health information (EHI) is created, used, released, and reused. We examined states' efforts to address EHI uses in law to provide an understanding of the EHI legal environment. Methods: Attorney researchers used WestlawNext to search for EHI-related statutes and regulations of the US states, US territories, and the District of Columbia in effect as of January 2014. The researchers independently catalogued provisions by the EHI use described in the law. Researchers resolved discrepancies through peer review meetings and recorded the consensus codes for each law. Results: This study identified 2364 EHI-related laws representing 49 EHI uses in 54 jurisdictions. A total of 18 EHI uses were regulated by ≥10 jurisdictions. More than 750 laws addressed 2 or more EHI uses. Jurisdictions varied by the number of EHI laws in effect, with a mean of 44 laws. Texas had the most EHI laws (n = 145). Hawaii and South Carolina had the fewest (n = 14 each). Conclusions: The EHI legal landscape is complex. The large quantity and diversity of laws complicate legal analysis, likely delay implementation of public health solutions, and might be detrimental to the development of emerging health information technology. Research is needed to understand the effect of EHI-related laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has formed a Working Group on Adaptive Designs. The group aims to contribute to a constructive dialogue on adaptive designs by engaging statisticians, clinicians, and other stakeholders in academia, regulatory agencies, and industry. Hopefully this will facilitate broader consideration and implementation of these designs. The papers that follow in this issue comprise the Full White Paper of the group and summarize its findings and recommendations from its first year of activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses various studies that investigated the influence of colored paper on the response-rate to mail surveys in the U.S. Response-rates to surveys and questionnaires using differently colored paper; Scores from the meta-analyses of the colors separately and their statistical significance; Variables possible in the design and presentation of printed surveys and questionnaires.

Acute care nurses continue to rely on personally created paper-based tools—their “paper brains”—to support work during a shift, although standardized handoff tools are recommended. This interpretive descriptive study examines the functions these paper brains serve beyond handoff in the medical oncology unit at a cancer specialty hospital. Thirteen medical oncology nurses were each shadowed for a single shift and interviewed afterward using a semistructured technique. Field notes, transcribed interviews, images of nurses’ paper brains, and analytic memos were inductively coded, and analysis revealed paper brains are symbols of patient and nurse identity. Caution is necessary when attempting to standardize nurses’ paper brains as nurses may be resistant to such changes due to their pride in constructing personal artifacts to support themselves and their patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A content analysis of The Washington Post and the Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung revealed that both papers relied on official sources, but the German paper provided far less coverage of the conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the web sites of daily newspapers as well as web-only news sites for the presence of information referred to by media critic Steve Outing as credibility statements. The Internet allows journalists to post information almost as soon as they receive it, a quality seen by many journalists as having a positive impact on the profession. A total of 196 news sites were content analyzed. The online editions of the top 100 daily U.S. newspapers by circulation based on March 31, 2004, figures were made part of the sampling frame as were the top papers in the 11 states not represented in the top 100. 118 of the sites analyzed posted information satisfying at least one of the six criteria for editorial policy statements. More than half discussed journalistic principles and one-third disclosed their business relationships. There were significant differences between the two groups regarding their implementation of several of the criteria. Web-only news sites were more likely to post information about journalistic principles, report business relationships and discuss business influences on editorial content. Most Internet news sites do not provide information concerning employee conduct, the influence of business relationships on editorial content or standards for separating editorial content from advertising.

The article focuses on a study, entitled "Paper Versus Plastic in Packaging," by the Freedonia Group. The study reports that plastic is expected to increase its share to 53 percent by 2010 in the 18 competitive markets in the U.S. It notes that plastic's competitive cost and performance advantages will enable it to make further inroads in almost all of the markets studied.

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD)1 strongly supports comprehensive assessment and evaluation of students with learning disabilities by a multidisciplinary team for the identification and diagnosis of students with learning disabilities. Comprehensive assessment of individual students requires the use of multiple data sources. These sources may include standardized tests, informal measures, observations, student self-reports, parent reports, and progress monitoring data from response-to-intervention (RTI) approaches (NJCLD, 2005). Reliance on any single criterion for assessment or evaluation is not comprehensive, nor is a group assessment, such as universal screening or statewide academic assessment tests, sufficient for comprehensive assessment or evaluation. This paper is intended to inform administrators, educators, parents, and others concerned about the effective identification and education of students with learning disabilities about the components, processes, and participants necessary for comprehensive assessment and evaluation, as well as optimal practices that should further enhance the education of students with learning disabilities. The NJCLD has long recognized that inappropriate assessment and evaluation practices may result in questionable incidence rates for learning disabilities (NJCLD, 2001a). Similarly, the NJCLD (2001a, 2001b) has provided a solid foundation for addressing the issues of assessment, evaluation, identification, and eligibility of students with learning disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web-based surveys have become more prevalent in areas such as evaluation, research, and marketing research to name a few. The proliferation of these online surveys raises the question, how do response rates compare with traditional surveys and at what cost? This research explored response rates and costs for Web-based surveys, paper surveys, and mixed-mode surveys. The participants included evaluators from the American Evaluation Association (AEA). Results included that mixed-mode, while more expensive, had higher response rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to bring to the attention of regulatory economists and policymakers the existence of some approaches to utility regulation that have hitherto received little or no attention in the economics literature. It begins by noting that regulatory actions have discouraged certain kinds of retail contracts in the UK that are offered in Nordic countries, almost extinguished retail competition in Ohio, and distorted the market for merchant interconnectors in Australia. In contrast, Argentina secured an efficient appraisal and implementation of transmission expansions by empowering users and severely limiting the role for regulation. Some US and Canadian jurisdictions have fostered the emergence of negotiated settlements that exhibit considerable innovation, and greater benefits for all parties than would have been possible with the conventional regulatory approach. These examples of the actual regulatory world can inform the work of theorists and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-presidential candidates in 20 papers in 2002, 2004 and 2006 were analyzed. In addition to favoring incumbents, they endorsed candidates slightly more conservative than congressional averages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents survey results on improvement of open peer review and electronic transmission of papers in the U.S. Preference of the responders for electronic-mail; Concept of peer review system; Factors affecting transmission of articles.