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BackgroundThis paper presents a case study that demonstrates the evolution of a project entitled "Enhancing QUality-of-care In Psychosis" (EQUIP) that began approximately when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), and implementation science were emerging. EQUIP developed methods and tools to implement chronic illness care principles in the treatment of schizophrenia, and evaluated this implementation using a small-scale controlled trial. The next iteration of the project, EQUIP-2, was further informed by implementation science and the use of QUERI tools.MethodsThis paper reports the background, development, results and implications of EQUIP, and also describes ongoing work in the second phase of the project (EQUIP-2). The EQUIP intervention uses implementation strategies and tools to increase the adoption and implementation of chronic illness care principles. In EQUIP-2, these strategies and tools are conceptually grounded in a stages-of-change model, and include clinical and delivery system interventions and adoption/implementation tools. Formative evaluation occurs in conjunction with the intervention, and includes developmental, progress-focused, implementation-focused, and interpretive evaluation.ResultsEvaluation of EQUIP provided an understanding of quality gaps and how to address related problems in schizophrenia. EQUIP showed that solutions to quality problems in schizophrenia differ by treatment domain and are exacerbated by a lack of awareness of evidence-based practices. EQUIP also showed that improving care requires creating resources for physicians to help them easily implement practice changes, plus intensive education as well as product champions who help physicians use these resources. Organizational changes, such as the addition of care managers and informatics systems, were shown to help physicians with identifying problems, making referrals, and monitoring follow-up. In EQUIP-2, which is currently in progress, these initial findings were used to develop a more comprehensive approach to implementing and evaluating the chronic illness care model.DiscussionIn QUERI, small-scale projects contribute to the development and enhancement of hands-on, action-oriented service-directed projects that are grounded in current implementation science. This project supports the concept that QUERI tools can be useful in implementing complex care models oriented toward evidence-based improvement of clinical care.

Objectives. California's Proposition 36 offers nonviolent drug offenders community-based treatment as an alternative to incarceration or probation without treatment. We examined how treatment capacity changed to accommodate Proposition 36 clients and whether displacement of other clients was an unintended consequence. Methods. Treatment admissions were compared for the year before and 2 years after the law was enacted. Surveys of county administrators and treatment providers were conducted in Kern, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco counties. Results. The number of Proposition 36 offenders admitted to treatment continued to increase in the state (approximately 32000 in Year 1 and 48000 in Year 2) and in the 5 counties; total treatment admissions stabilized in Year 2 after increasing in Year 1. Voluntary clients decreased by 8000 each year statewide, but the change varied across counties. One third of treatment providers reported decreased treatment availability for non-Proposition 36 clients in Year 2. Conclusion. Despite expanded treatment capacity (mostly in outpatient treatment), indirect evidence suggests that displacement of voluntary clients may have occurred in part because of the demand for treatment by Proposition 36 clients. (doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.069336)

Abstract Background This paper presents a case study that demonstrates the evolution of a project entitled "Enhancing QUality-of-care In Psychosis" (EQUIP) that began approximately when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), and implementation science were emerging. EQUIP developed methods and tools to implement chronic illness care principles in the treatment of schizophrenia, and evaluated this implementation using a small-scale controlled trial. The next iteration of the project, EQUIP-2, was further informed by implementation science and the use of QUERI tools. Methods This paper reports the background, development, results and implications of EQUIP, and also describes ongoing work in the second phase of the project (EQUIP-2). The EQUIP intervention uses implementation strategies and tools to increase the adoption and implementation of chronic illness care principles. In EQUIP-2, these strategies and tools are conceptually grounded in a stages-of-change model, and include clinical and delivery system interventions and adoption/implementation tools. Formative evaluation occurs in conjunction with the intervention, and includes developmental, progress-focused, implementation-focused, and interpretive evaluation. Results Evaluation of EQUIP provided an understanding of quality gaps and how to address related problems in schizophrenia. EQUIP showed that solutions to quality problems in schizophrenia differ by treatment domain and are exacerbated by a lack of awareness of evidence-based practices. EQUIP also showed that improving care requires creating resources for physicians to help them easily implement practice changes, plus intensive education as well as product champions who help physicians use these resources. Organizational changes, such as the addition of care managers and informatics systems, were shown to help physicians with identifying problems, making referrals, and monitoring follow-up. In EQUIP-2, which is currently in progress, these initial findings were used to develop a more comprehensive approach to implementing and evaluating the chronic illness care model. Discussion In QUERI, small-scale projects contribute to the development and enhancement of hands-on, action-oriented service-directed projects that are grounded in current implementation science. This project supports the concept that QUERI tools can be useful in implementing complex care models oriented toward evidence-based improvement of clinical care.

Objectives. California's Proposition 36 offers nonviolent drug offenders community-based treatment as an alternative to incarceration or probation without treatment. We examined how treatment capacity changed to accommodate Proposition 36 clients and whether displacement of other clients was an unintended consequence. Methods. Treatment admissions were compared for the year before and 2 years after the law was enacted. Surveys of county administrators and treatment providers were conducted in Kern, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco counties. Results. The number of Proposition 36 offenders admitted to treatment continued to increase in the state (approximately 32 000 in Year 1 and 48 000 in Year 2) and in the 5 counties; total treatment admissions stabilized in Year 2 after increasing in Year 1. Voluntary clients decreased by 8000 each year statewide, but the change varied across counties. One third of treatment providers reported decreased treatment availability for non-Proposition 36 clients in Year 2. Conclusion. Despite expanded treatment capacity (mostly in outpatient treatment), indirect evidence suggests that displacement of voluntary clients may have occurred in part because of the demand for treatment by Proposition 36 clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Drosophila Y chromosome is gene poor and mainly consists of silenced, repetitive DNA. Nonetheless, the Y influences expression of hundreds of genes genome-wide, possibly by sequestering key components of the heterochromatin machinery away from other positions in the genome. To test the influence of the Y chromosome on the genome-wide chromatin landscape, we assayed the genomic distribution of histone modifications associated with gene activation (H3K4me3) or heterochromatin (H3K9me2 and H3K9me3) in fruit flies with varying sex chromosome complements (X0, XY, and XYY males; XX and XXY females). Consistent with the general deficiency of active chromatin modifications on the Y, we find that Y gene dose has little influence on the genomic distribution of H3K4me3. In contrast, both the presence and the number of Y chromosomes strongly influence genome-wide enrichment patterns of repressive chromatin modifications. Highly repetitive regions such as the pericentromeres, the dot, and the Y chromosome (if present) are enriched for heterochromatic modifications in wildtype males and females, and even more strongly in X0 flies. In contrast, the additional Y chromosome in XYY males and XXY females diminishes the heterochromatic signal in these normally silenced, repeat-rich regions, which is accompanied by an increase in expression of Y-linked repeats. We find hundreds of genes that are expressed differentially between individuals with aberrant sex chromosome karyotypes, many of which also show sex-biased expression in wildtype Drosophila. Thus, Y chromosomes influence heterochromatin integrity genome-wide, and differences in the chromatin landscape of males and females may also contribute to sex-biased gene expression and sexual dimorphisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on cancer-related topics including the functionality of the homologous repair pathway in zebrafish embryos, the racial disparities in BRCA testing and the quality of salpingo-oophorectomy in Australasian women at risk of pelvic serous cancer.

Almost 30 years ago, the National Research Council published Criminal Careers and “Career Criminals.” This report reviewed research on the initiation, continuation, and termination of individual offending patterns over a lifetime, otherwise known as criminal careers. The landmark report set in motion a research agenda focused on how antisocial behavior rises and falls during a lifetime and the antecedents to those patterns. But what about the report’s policy implications for the criminal justice system? Did the report have any impact on criminal justice operations? This article argues that it is difficult to ascertain the report’s direct impact, in part, because of the crime and criminal justice climate that was pervasive at the time of the report’s release. Indirect impacts of the report, however, are plausible. And although unintended, the report may have accentuated short-term attention to individual explanations of criminal behavior and individual-focused crime control policies, to the exclusion of social explanations and community-focused crime control policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barotrauma caused by rapid decompression during hydroturbine (turbine) passage may occur as fish move through the low pressure region below the turbine runner. This scenario is of particular concern in North American rivers with populations of ESA-listed salmon. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory released Sensor Fish into lower Snake and Columbia River turbines to determine the magnitude and rate of pressure change fish might experience. Recorded pressures were applied to simulated turbine passage (STP) in laboratory studies to determine the effect of rapid decompression on juvenile Chinook salmon. These STP studies have increased our understanding of how pressure effects fish passing through turbines and suggest that the ratio of pressure change [acclimation pressure (the depth upstream of the dam where fish are neutrally buoyant) divided by nadir pressure (lowest pressure)] is highly predictive in determining the effect on smolt survival. However, uncertainty remains in smolt acclimation depth prior to entering turbine intakes at hydroelectric facilities. The USACE continues to make progress on salmon survival and recovery efforts through continued research and by applying pressure study results to turbine design. Designing new turbines with higher nadir pressure criteria is likely to provide safer fish passage for all salmonid species experiencing turbine passage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Migrating juvenile salmonids experience rapid decompression that could result in injury or mortality due to barotrauma as they pass turbines at hydropower facilities. Recent research indicates that the risk of injury or mortality due to barotrauma is higher in fish bearing surgically implanted transmitters. Since tagged fish are used to represent the entire population, this tag effect potentially leads to inaccuracies in survival estimates for fish passing turbines. This problem led to development of a novel transmitter, the use of which may eliminate bias associated with the passage of transmitter-bearing fish through turbines. Juvenile Chinook salmonOncorhynchus tshawytschawere tagged with two different neutrally buoyant, externally attached transmitters (types A and B). The effects of transmitter presence on swimming performance were examined by comparing critical swimming speeds (Ucrit; an index of prolonged swimming performance) of externally tagged fish, untagged individuals, and fish that received surgically implanted Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System acoustic transmitters. Fish tagged with external transmitters had lowerUcritthan untagged individuals. However, there was no difference inUcritbetween fish with external transmitter type A or B and fish with surgically implanted transmitters. Testing was conducted to determine whether predator avoidance was affected by the presence of type A transmitters compared with untagged fish. No difference in predation mortality was detected between tagged and untagged fish. Although results suggest thatUcritwas affected by externally attached transmitters in comparison with untagged fish, the overall impact as reflected by survival was similar; field-based survival studies involving juvenile salmonids passing through hydroturbines are recommended. The absence of swimming performance effects in fish with external tags relative to fish with internally implanted transmitters and the lack of an increased predation risk relative to untagged fish suggest that an externally attached, neutrally buoyant transmitter is a viable option for telemetry studies in estimating survival of juvenile salmonids passing through hydroturbines. Received November 5, 2011; accepted April 20, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Web 2.0 technology has impacted the information literacy (IL) program at The American University in Cairo. Librarians use Flickr to teach databases in a required IL course. The article presents a case study and gives recommendations for developing similar lesson plans and for incorporating 2.0 technologies into librarians' personal and professional lives. Using social software to teach IL concepts is appropriate for today's tech savvy, visual students and makes for a creative, student-centered teaching and learning environment. The authors call for a move toward IL 2.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An index of articles in the December 2014 issue of "Fisheries" is presented.

A list of articles published in the September 2012 issue of the journal "Transactions of the American Fisheries Society" is presented including "Dam Removal Increases American Eel Abundance in Distant Headwater Streams," "Evidence for Parr Growth As a Factor Affecting Parr-to-Smolt Survival" and "Estimating and Predicting Collection Probability of Fish at Dams Using Multistate Modeling."