Fluctuating Asymmetry of \u3ci\u3eMenidia beryllina\u3c/i\u3e as a Measure of the Environmental Stress Caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is often used as an indicator of environmental stress on a population. Stress encountered during development can result in asymmetries in bilateral traits. By quantifying fluctuating asymmetry in Menidia beryllina, FA can be used as an indicator of possible environmental stress linked to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The hypothesis states that the levels of FA will be greater in M. beryllina from post oil spill samples compared to pre oil spill samples. Menidia beryllina were used because they are a numerically dominant species found in high wave action coastal estuaries, an area heavily affected by the oil spill. M. beryllina were collected monthly (beginning in May 2011) at Pascagoula River sites where specimens had been previously been collected for various pre oil spill studies. FA was then measured in three bilateral traits: eye diameter, pectoral fin length, and pelvic fin length. Data were analyzed using a two way mixed model ANOVA with side (left and right) as the fixed factor, individual and repeated measurements as factors. This model allows for measurement of FA while controlling for measurement error

Feeling “overloaded” and “shortcomings” : milieu therapists’ experiences of vulnerability in caring for severely mentally ill patients

Background: Milieu therapists’ relationships with patients with severe mental illnesses are viewed as challenging. Elucidating vulnerability from their perspective in daily face-to-face encounters with patients might contribute to extending our knowledge about milieu therapists’ vulnerability and the dynamics of the interaction between patients in mental health services and expertise in building caring and therapeutic relationships. The aim of this project was to study educated milieu therapists’ experiences of their own vulnerability in their interactions with patients in mental health services. Materials and methods: The data collection method was focus-group interviews. Thirteen part-time master’s in mental health students (eight nurses, three social workers, two social educators) participated. All participants had experience with community or specialized mental health services (2–8 years). Results: The milieu therapists mainly related their experiences of vulnerability to negative feelings elicited by challenging work conditions, disclosed as two main themes: 1) “overloaded”, by the possibility of being physically and mentally hurt and the burdens of long-lasting close relationships; milieu therapists were extremely vulnerable because of their difficulty in protecting themselves; and 2) “shortcomings”, connected to feelings of despair associated with not acting in concordance with their professional standards and insecurity about their skills to handle challenging situations, which was a threat to their professional integrity. There seemed to be coherence between vulnerability and professional inauthenticity. A misunderstanding that professionalism refers to altruism seems to increase milieu therapist vulnerability. Conclusion: Vulnerability in health care is of interest to multiple disciplines, and is of relevance for knowledge development in higher education. Extended knowledge and understanding about milieu therapists’ vulnerability might strengthen their personal and professional integrity in professional practice in mental health services. Health care managers’ focus on the supervision of individual professionals in practice and practical training is important. Further research on the coherence between vulnerability and professionalism is recommended. Keywords: vulnerability, milieu therapists, mental health services, caring and therapeutic relationships, threat to professional integritypublishedVersio

Using Tree Rings to Predict the Response of Tree Growth to Climate Change in the Continental United States during the Twenty-First Century

In the early 1900s, tree-ring scientists began analyzing the relative widths of annual growth rings preserved in the cross sections of trees to infer past climate variations. Now, many ring-width index (RWI) chronologies, each representing a specific site and species, are archived online within the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB). Comparing annual tree-ring-width data from 1097 sites in the continental United States to climate data, the authors quantitatively evaluated how trees at each site have historically responded to interannual climate variations. For each site, they developed a climate-driven statistical growth equation that uses regional climate variables to model RWI values. The authors applied these growth models to predict how tree growth will respond to twenty-first-century climate change, considering four climate projections. Although caution should be taken when extrapolating past relationships with climate into the future, the authors observed several clear and interesting patterns in the growth projections that seem likely if warming continues. Most notably, the models project that productivity of dominant tree species in the southwestern United States will decrease substantially during this century, especially in warmer and drier areas. In the northwest, nonlinear growth relationships with temperature may lead to warming-induced declines in growth for many trees that historically responded positively to warmer temperatures. This work takes advantage of the unmatched temporal length and spatial breath of annual growth data available within the ITRDB and exemplifies the potential of this ever-growing archive of tree-ring data to serve in meta-analyses of large-scale forest ecology

Cross-cultural adaptation and reliability analysis of the Brazilian version of Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS)

BACKGROUND: The Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) was developed from a modified version of the Berg Balance Scale aiming to obtain a balance scale more appropriate for the child population. OBJECTIVES: To adapt the PBS into Brazilian-Portuguese and to evaluate the intra and inter-rater reliability of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of PBS. METHODS: To perform the cross-cultural adaptation of the American version of PBS four translators were involved, who have performed two translations and their respective back-translations. Then, a review by a multidisciplinary committee and a subsequent an assessment of the equivalence of meaning between the back-translations and the original English scale were performed by 3 and 30 healthcare professionals respectively. The intra-rater reliability of the final version of the Brazilian-Portuguese PBS was evaluated using a test-retest design with one-week interval. The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the PBS was tested twice on the same day by two different raters to test the inter-rater reliability. The inter-rater reliability, which was measured from a video of the volunteers performance, was evaluated by comparing the score given by five raters independently. Reliability was evaluated by Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Fifteen volunteers (11±2.7 years) diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) classified at level I and II on the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) were assessed. RESULTS: The reliability of the PBS total score for both intra-rater (ICC=0.85) and inter-rater (ICC=0.91) was excellent. The inter-rater reliability (measured from the video) for the total score was also classified as excellent (ICC=0.98). CONCLUSION: The results showed adequate reliability for the PBS for pediatric population with CP diagnostic classified at level I and II on the GMFCS.CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO: A Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) foi desenvolvida a partir de uma modificação da Escala de Equilíbrio de Berg (EEB), visando obter uma escala de equilíbrio mais apropriada para a população infantil. OBJETIVOS: Adaptar para o português-Brasil e avaliar a confiabilidade intra-avaliador e interavaliadores/observadores da versão brasileira da PBS. MÉTODOS: Para a adaptação cultural da versão americana da PBS, foram envolvidos quatro tradutores que realizaram duas traduções e respectivas retrotraduções, uma revisão por um comitê multidisciplinar e uma avaliação subsequente da equivalência de significado entre as retrotraduções e o original (respectivamente três e 30 profissionais da área de saúde). A confiabilidade intra-avaliador da escala final em Português - Escala de Equilíbrio Pediátrica (EEP) - foi avaliada comparando-se duas avaliações repetidas pelo mesmo avaliador com o intervalo de uma semana. A confiabilidade interavaliadores foi testada comparando-se as avaliações de dois avaliadores diferentes que realizaram o teste no mesmo dia. A confiabilidade interobservadores, a partir do vídeo do desempenho dos voluntários, foi avaliada por meio da comparação da pontuação dada independentemente por cinco observadores. A confiabilidade foi avaliada por meio do Coeficiente de Correlação Intraclasse (CCI). Foram avaliados 15 voluntários (11±2,7 anos) com diagnóstico de Paralisia Cerebral (PC), classificados nos níveis I e II do Sistema de Classificação da Função Motora Grossa (GMFCS). RESULTADOS: A confiabilidade para o escore total da EEP foi excelente tanto para o teste intra-avaliador (CCI=0,85) como para o interavaliadores (CCI=0.91). A confiabilidade interobservadores (a partir do vídeo) para o escore total foi excelente (CCI=0,98). CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados mostraram confiabilidade adequada para a EEP para a população pediátrica com diagnóstico de PC classificada nos níveis I e II do GMFCS.Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina Postgraduate Program in Physical TherapyUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Descriptive analysis of preschool physical activity and sedentary behaviors - a cross sectional study of 3-year-olds nested in the SKOT cohort

Abstract Background Further collection of surveillance data is warranted, particularly in preschool populations, for optimizing future public health promotion strategies. This study aims to describe physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) across different settings, including time in and out of daycare, and to determine the proportion of children complying with suggested PA recommendations in a high income country. Methods Valid PA was assessed in 231 children (36.4 ± 1.1 months) with the Actigraph GT3X accelerometer, and information regarding date and time of dropping-off/picking-up children in daycare was provided by parents. Mean total PA (i.e., counts per minute (CPM)), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), SB time, and non-SB time was generated and compared across settings. Post hoc, PA and SB were examined in subgroups of low-active (1st quartile) and high-active (4th quartile) children. Results Overall, boys and girls spent 1.4 ± 0.3 h/day and 1.2 ± 0.4 h/day in MVPA, respectively. Likewise, boys and girls accumulated 6.7 ± 0.8 h and 6.8 ± 0.9 h of SB time per day, respectively. Higher PA levels consistently co-occurred with lower SB time in the daycare setting. Girls accumulated less SB time in daycare than before and after daycare (β = −12.2%, p < 0.001 & β = −3.8%, p < 0.001, respectively). In boys, daycare-days contained more PA and less SB than non-daycare-days (CPM: β =29, p = 0.046, %MVPA: β = 0.83, p = 0.007, %SB: β = −2.3, p < 0.001, respectively). All children fulfilled recommendations of at least 3 h of daily non-SB. Eighty-nine percent of boys and 72% of girls met the daily 1-h MVPA recommendation for 5 year-olds. Lower proportions of children, especially boys, fulfilled MVPA recommendation on days with no daycare attendance. Generally, large mean differences in MVPA and SB were observed across all settings between the most active and the least active children, and only 7% of the low-active girls and 59% of the low-active boys fulfilled MVPA recommendations. Conclusions Overall, the majority of children fulfilled MVPA guidelines for 5 year-olds, and all children complied with suggested recommendations of 180 min of daily activity. Daycare time was found to represent an important setting for PA. Substantial and consistent differences observed in the amount of time spent physically active between high- and low-active children across all settings indicate substantial variations in young children’s PA levels irrespective of the context

Pilot Study Assessment of Dynamic Vascular Changes in Breast Cancer with Near-Infrared Tomography from Prospectively Targeted Manipulations of Inspired End-Tidal Partial Pressure of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

The dynamic vascular changes in the breast resulting from manipulation of both inspired end-tidal partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide were imaged using a 30 s per frame frequency-domain near-infrared spectral (NIRS) tomography system. By analyzing the images from five subjects with asymptomatic mammography under different inspired gas stimulation sequences, the mixture that maximized tissue vascular and oxygenation changes was established. These results indicate maximum changes in deoxy-hemoglobin, oxygen saturation, and total hemoglobin of 21, 9, and 3%, respectively. Using this inspired gas manipulation sequence, an individual case study of a subject with locally advanced breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) was analyzed. Dynamic NIRS imaging was performed at different time points during treatment. The maximum tumor dynamic changes in deoxy-hemoglobin increased from less than 7% at cycle 1, day 5 (C1, D5) to 17% at (C1, D28), which indicated a complete response to NAC early during treatment and was subsequently confirmed pathologically at the time of surgery