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SIP"smart"ER is a 6-month behavioral intervention designed using a health literacy universal precautions approach that has been found effective at reducing sugary beverage intake in rural, low socioeconomic adults. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to determine if health literacy status influenced participants' satisfaction and perceptions of each intervention component: small group classes, interactive-voice response (IVR) calls, personal action plans and self-monitoring logs. Of the 155 participants enrolled in SIPsmartER, 105 (68%) completed an interview-administered summative evaluation including 68 high and 37 low health literate participants. The quantitative findings show participant satisfaction with each intervention component was high (i.e. classes = 9.6, IVR calls = 8.1, action plans = 8.9-9.1, logs = 8.7 on a 10-point scale) and similar across both health literacy groups. The majority of qualitative responses were positive (81.8%) and code counts were comparable between literacy groups with a few exceptions. As compared with high health literacy respondents, low health literacy respondents more frequently mentioned liking the content and length of IVR calls, liking the motivational aspects of the personal action plans, and identified numeracy issues with the self-monitoring logs. Overall, applying a health literacy universal precautions approach is an effective and acceptable strategy for both high and low health literacy groups.

The study investigated the extent to which 20 regular education teachers modified the mainstream learning environment for visually impaired children attending public day schools in British Columbia, Canada. Elementary teachers tried to make modifications to a greater extent than did secondary teachers, but both types of teachers made both "typical" and "substantial" modifications. (DB)

In the deepest sense, this Article seeks to bridge the gap between philosophy, political theory, and constitutional law. It examines how our constitutional tradition conceives of freedom, perhaps the most important value in the American legal order. It discusses five distinct though intertwined traditions, each drawn from a different philosophical theory of freedom. These five laces of freedom are (1) the "positive" ideal--freedom as the right to vote and to take part in government, (2) the "negative" ideal--freedom from constraint or government interference, (3) the progressive ideal, (4) self-individuating liberalism--freedom as the right to discover, develop, and express one's core identity, and (5) the "homeostatic-communitarian" ideal--freedom as inhering in a network of communal social relations located within a broader pluralistic society. Each Part provides an overview of the philosophical foundation of one of the faces of freedom and then traces its constitutional development. The Article concludes by discussing how the contours of freedom have changed over the course of our history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three strains of bacteria which induce reactive arthritis were collected: a Shigella flexueri, designated 7060; another Sh. flexneri, designated 316; and a Yersinia enterocolitica of serotype 03. Rabbit antisera were generated against each of them to test for the extent and nature of cross-reactivity among these strains. When analysed by the ELISA technique, antisera against 7060 and 316 showed strong cross-reactivity with Y. enterocolitica. In contrast, the reaction of antisera prepared against putatively non-arthritis-causing bacteria reacted several-folds less. Using immunoprecipitation, sodium dodecyl suiphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western Blot procedures, a 92,000 MW cross-reactive antigen on the Yersinia was identified. The antigen was present on the outer membranes of the Y. enterocolitica, and enzyme digestion experiments showed that this antigen was protein in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an enzyme immunoassay, the development and persistence of serum IgG and IgA class antibody responses against porins, a class of the major outer membrane proteins, were compared between patients who developed reactive arthritis and subjects who did not after infection. A significant difference was seen between the two patient groups in the beginning of the disease: those with reactive arthritis had higher levels of IgG and IgA class antibodies against the porins. A similar difference in the IgA class antibodies was also seen at follow-up. This supports the hypothesis of persistence of the pathogen within the arthritic host. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]