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Many maternal and neonatal deaths can be avoided if quality healthcare is provided. To this end, the South African National Department of Health implemented a quality improvement (QI) programme (2018–2022) to improve maternal and neonatal health services in 21 public health facilities. This study sought to identify good practices aimed at improving QI teams' performance by identifying optimal facility-level contextual factors and implementation processes. We purposively selected 14 facilities of the 21 facilities for a longitudinal qualitative process evaluation. We interviewed 17 team leaders, 47 members, and five QI advisors who provided technical support to the teams. The data were analysed using framework analysis. We choose the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research as framework given that it explicates contexts and processes that shape programme implementation. Six quality improvement teams were assessed as well-performing, and eight as less well-performing. This research conceptualises a 'life course lens' for setting up and managing a QI team. We identified eight good practices, six related to implementation processes, and two contextual variables that will optimise team performance. The two most impactful practices to improve the performance of a QI team were (i) selecting healthcare workers with quality improvement-specific characteristics, and (ii) appointing advisors whose interpersonal skills match their technical quality improvement competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores disconnect between learner-centered teaching practices taught in Texas university teacher education courses and the teaching methods used by the teachers responsible for mentoring student teachers. Offers short- and long-term solutions for bridging the gap between theory and practice. (Contains 12 references.) (PKP)

Describes a course that linked first-grade students using emergent writing skills with university early-childhood majors studying the process of emergent literacy, and, in so doing provided an authentic and meaningful learning context for both groups. Suggests that the pen-pal project demonstrates the value of interactive writing exchanges. (Author)

Notes that current research on early brain development emphasizes early care and education. Cautions educators to interpret and correctly translate this information into appropriate, effective child care and early education practices. Highlights pros and cons of research findings in: (1) child development; (2) special needs intervention; (3) care and education practices; (4) parenting practices; and (5) public policy. (LBT)

High school students are not immediately attracted to poetry because they have never had to listen so carefully, especially to controlled and polished poems. In its report on "Freedom and Discipline in English," the College Board's Commission on English minimizes the value of the poem as art. (MSE)

Gillman, Laura. Unassimilable Feminisms: Reappraising Feminist, Womanist, and Mestiza Identity Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. 242 pp. As we make our way into this new century, is there a [...]

Doctors should be aware that a blood transfusion can damage the lungs, causing shortness of breath, fluid in the lungs, low blood pressure, and fever. If a patient experiences this after a blood transfusion, the blood bank should be notified so they can determine who else may have received blood from the same donor., Context Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a syndrome that includes dyspnea, hypotension, bilateral pulmonary edema, and fever. TRALI is the third leading cause of transfusion-related mortality, but it is probably underdiagnosed and underreported. Objective To determine if blood products from a frequent plasma donor, whose blood product was implicated in a fatal case of TRALI, caused symptoms of TRALI in other recipients of her plasma. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective chart review (conducted from November 2000 through April 2001) of 50 patients who received blood components within 2 years (October 1998 through October 2000) from a donor linked to a transfusion-related fatality. Main Outcome Measure Occurrence of mild/moderate (dyspnea with fever, chills, hypotension, and/or hypoxemia) or severe (acute pulmonary edema or need for mechanical ventilation) reaction associated with transfusion. Results Superimposed illness prevented assessment of TRALI in 14 patients. Of the 36 patient charts that could be reviewed, 7 mild/moderate reactions were reported in 6 patients (16.7%) and 8 severe reactions were reported in 8 patients (22.2%). Of 5 patients who received multiple transfusions from the same donor, 2 experienced 2 reactions: one had 2 mild/moderate reactions and the other had both a mild/moderate and a severe reaction. While 5 of the 7 mild/moderate reactions were reported to the hospital transfusion service, only 2 of the 8 severe reactions were reported. Only 2 reactions (1 mild! moderate and 1 severe) were reported to the regional blood collection facility. Conclusions TRALI was frequently underdiagnosed and underreported in recipients of blood products from a donor whose blood products may have caused TRALI in several transfusion recipients. Clinical education and awareness of this often-overlooked diagnosis are imperative for appropriate prevention and treatment.

Experimental evidence shows that both endothelial nitric oxide and endothelin-1 production increase in monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension. To prove this hypothesis, pulmonary vasoconstrictor response to nitric oxide synthase suppression in monocrotaline pulmonary hypertension in rats was investigated. Experimental results revealed that blockade of nitric oxide synthase shows a severe constriction stimulated by increased endogenous endothelin-1 acting on endothelin (sub A) receptors. Moreover, the extent of pressure increase in response to nitric oxide synthase inhibition is associated with the magnitude of pulmonary hypertension.

The effect of stretch and active wall tension on rat intrapulmonary arteries subjected to 40 minutes of hypoxia has been studied. The arteries vary in diameter from as large as one millimeter to as small as 400 micrometers. Male Wistar rats were treated with 10 mg of Ketalar intramuscularly and 50 mg/kg of pentobarbital sodium intraperitoneally. The rats were exsanguinated and the heart and lungs were removed and immersed in ice-cold Hanks' balanced salt solution. Results indicate that there is a significant change in the hypoxic response due to the stretch tension while the active tension has a lesser influence.

Partnerships ranging from cooperative arrangements to true collaborations are springing up across the country in response to the public focus on educational reform. University and K-12 faculty are recognizing the benefit of partnerships to students enrolled in both institutions involved in such arrangements. This article describes a partnership birthed out of a university professor's desire to have students engaged with children and teachers while concurrently enrolled in 'Early Childhood and Kindergarten Methods and Materials' and an elementary principal's desire to increase the number of adults working with children attending a supplemental summer school program. Results of a questionnaire regarding the value of working together reveal all involved, young school children, mentor teachers, university students, and professor, were able to construct important new knowledge because of the partnership., One current theme that runs through numerous reports on reforming education is the need for faculty in university programs and K-12 schools to share the responsibility for teacher preparation (Goodlad, [...]