Outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis associated with Norwalk-like viruses in campus settings

Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) are transmitted by fecally contaminated food, water, fomites, and person-to-person contact. They are a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis epidemics in industrialized countries. NLV outbreaks are characterized by a 12- to 48-hour incubation period; nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea for 24 to 72 hours; and high secondary attack rates. NLV infections spread rapidly on college and university campuses because of close living quarters, shared bathrooms and common rooms, many food handlers, popular self-service salad bars in dining halls, and person-to-person contact through sports and recreational activities. The illness is generally mild and self-limited but an outbreak can strain the resources of campus health services and cause high absenteeism among both students and staff. Treatment is primarily through antiemetic medication and oral rehydration. Prevention and control of NLV outbreaks rests on promoting hand washing; enforcement of strict hygiene in all food preparation areas; and prompt, rigorous cleaning of potentially contaminated areas where someone has been ill.     

Salience,Valence, Context,and Integration: Conceptualizing the Needs of Sexually and Gender Diverse Youth in P–12 Schools

A framework for conceptualizing the needs of lesbian, gay male, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and other sexually and gender diverse youth is essential for guiding service delivery throughout educational settings. Review and synthesis of the literature reveals that integrating assessment of the salience, valence, and context of issues related to sexual and gender diversity facilitates affirmative practice at the individual student, group, and school-wide levels. The authors describe the components of the salience, valence, context, and integration (SVCI) model with emphasis on practical application. The theoretical and empirical support for each component of the model is also discussed.     

Assessing Service Providers at LGBTQ-Affirming Community Agencies on Their Perceptions of Training Needs and Barriers to Service

Service providers (N = 109) at lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ)-affirming social service agencies were surveyed on their perceived training needs, experiences, and barriers to service access experienced by their clients. Hierarchical regression analysis identified that training experiences significantly influenced self-perceived competence, controlling for agency-related factors including the extent of perceived barriers to service. Findings are discussed with implications for training, practice, and future research.     

UNTANGLING A COMPLEX MEDIA SYSTEM

This article provides empirical insights into how one online service – Twitter – was used for political purposes during three separate election campaigns in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, specifically how Twitter users, with hyperlinks, connect with other channels for political communication. Methodologically, the study employs three large sets of data on Twitter use tagged as relevant for each of the election campaigns, covering a one-month period. The approach allows for an untangling of the complex interconnections between novel online services, mainstream media, official political party websites, public information, individual blogs and social network sites. By moving beyond a study merely of the type of websites linked to, to also include classification of the actors publishing the content linked to, the article provides insights into the actual use by politicians, interest groups as well as grassroots activists of diverse Web genres.     

Does emotional intelligence as ability predict transformational leadership? A multilevel approach

This study assesses to what extent emotional intelligence as ability (EI) can predict transformational leadership. Norwegian executives (N = 104) completed measures of personality (NEO PI-R) and EI (MSCEIT), and were rated on transformational leadership (MLQ 5X) by subordinates (N = 459). This study improves upon previous studies in three ways: First, because the validity and reliability of the scores from MSCEIT has been questioned, an alternative set of scales from MSCEIT were included, which provide reliable and interpretable scores (Føllesdal & Hagtvet, 2009). Second, in addition to personality, general mental ability (GMA) was controlled for by utilizing Monte Carlo studies. Third, a multilevel approach was used to analyze the scores, due to their hierarchical structure. Neither the four branch scores, nor the Total EI score from MSCEIT predicted transformational leadership. A suppression effect was found, however, among two subscales from Perceiving Emotions. The validity of scores from MSCEIT is questioned.     

Integrated Behavioral Health and Counseling Gender and Sexual Minority Populations

abstract

Counselors are increasingly expected to operate within an integrated behavioral health framework across systems of care. This critical literature review provides an overview of the integrated behavioral health paradigm, including the practice of interprofessional collaboration, with specific application to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), and other gender and sexual minority issues. Implications for practice and research are discussed, along with a focus on concrete recommendations for application practicing interprofessionally with and on behalf of LGBTQ clients.     

Weight and Weight-Related Behaviors Among 2-Year College Students

Abstract

Objectives and Participants: The purpose of this article is to describe weight indicators and weight-related behaviors of students enrolled in 2-year colleges, including sex differences. Methods: During Fall 2011 and Spring 2012, 441 students from 3 Minnesota community colleges enrolled in the Choosing Healthy Options in College Environments and Settings (CHOICES) Study and completed baseline assessments. Participants completed a baseline survey evaluating eating and activity patterns, sleep, and stress and measures of height, weight, waist circumference, and body fat. Results: Participants were primarily female (68%), white (73%), with a mean age of 22.8 years, and 66.2% reporting an annual income < $12,000. Almost half (47%) were overweight or obese. Young males appeared to engage the most in risky health behaviors and had higher levels of overweight or obesity, compared with young females. Conclusions: Findings confirm the need for innovative interventions targeting this understudied and underserved young adult population.     

Sequins,Sass, and Sisterhood: An Exploration of Older Women's Belly Dancing

Disempowering stereotypes plague public perceptions of older women's bodies, particularly within Western contemporary societies. Consequently, as women age, their bodies often become sources of shame, discomfort, and ridicule. Belly dance, as a form of recreative leisure, provides a unique and somewhat unexpected space for women to subvert such perceptions. Based on qualitative interviews with older American women who belly dance, this article examines the ways in which this form of recreation provides participants a means of (re)gaining mobility, (re)claiming social space, (re)building social support, and (re)defining what it means to be sensual later in life.     

Spivak,in other words

The publication of texts by Chicana feminists in the 1980s offered an alternative mapping of feminist literary cartographies and subject positions. This article examines the work of contemporary Chicana writer, Sandra Cisneros, whose literary text enacts a practice of Chicana feminism that engages with a transnational, transfronteriza practice of feminismo popular, which literally translates as ‘popular feminism’. This type of border feminism articulates a feminist materialist aesthetics that enables us to re-examine an emergent formation of feminism on the border, a formation characterized by specific types of movements of Mexican women across geopolitical boundaries and borders. The complex movements of this transnational Chicana feminism are announced in the story ‘Woman Hollering Creek’, which complicates the binarisms of the metropolitan opposed to the rural, the core and periphery, and militates against a reductionist opposition of First World versus Third World. I argue that armed with a transfrontera feminism, the protagonist Cleofilas and her peers can resist the power of a transnational media. This story changes the subject of dominant, patriarchal discourse and lets readers imagine how Chicana transfrontera feminism and Mexican feminismo popular can converge in other spaces and under other circumstances to produce socially nuanced global Chicana Mexicana coalitions.     

Exploring the relationships among practitioners’ consultation skills,competence to counsel lesbian,gay, and bisexual clients,and attitudes toward transgender people

Abstract

Consultation is an intervention that can diffuse expertise in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) issues throughout systems of care. Practitioners (N?=?145) were surveyed on their lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) counseling competence, attitudes toward transgender people, and consultation skills. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis identified that consultation competence significantly influenced (p?≤?.01) LGB counseling skills over and above LGB knowledge and awareness, attitudes toward transgender people, and participant demographic characteristics. The domains of LGB competence and attitudes toward transgender people were also significantly correlated within the participant sample. Implications for practice, training, and future research are discussed.