Unlocking Embodied knowledge for Better Design: An Introduction to Co-generative Mapping

Clothing may be used to enhance well-being, yet for women size 22 and up, function is typically prioritized over aesthetics, and plus-size bodies are restricted from participating in normal fashion culture. This project explores a new methodology called co-generative mapping as a means to extract embodied knowledge from participants in order to collaboratively develop clothing that better meets functional, expressive, and aesthetic user needs. In this methodology, participants engage in body-mapping exercises to identify clothing needs, and participate in hands-on idea-generation activities designed to unlock personal lived experiences that may not be expressed as easily through traditional research and data collection methods. This research is the first phase of a larger project, wherein a series of three-dimensional dress forms will be produced based on participants\u27 body scans, and utilized in the production of better fitting and better designed plus-size clothing

The Early Interferon Alpha Subtype Response in Infant Macaques Infected Orally With SIV

Type I interferons play an important role in the early defense against viral and other pathogens. These innate responses are also critically important in shaping the subsequent adaptive response. Thus, a more thorough knowledge of innate response types and mechanisms will improve our understanding of pathogenesis and guide the development of new therapeutics

Training competent and effective Primary Health Care Workers to fill a void in the outer islands health service delivery of the Marshall Islands of Micronesia

BACKGROUND: Human resources for health are non-existent in many parts of the world and the outer islands of Marshall Islands in Micronesia are prime examples. While the more populated islands with hospital facilities are often successful in recruiting qualified health professionals from overseas, the outer islands generally have very limited health resources, and are thus less successful. In an attempt to provide reasonable health services to these islands, indigenous people were trained as Health Assistants (HA) to service their local communities. In an effort to remedy the effectiveness of health care delivery to these islands, a program to train mid-level health care workers (Hospital Assistants) was developed and implemented by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the hospital in Majuro, the capital city of the Marshall Islands. METHODS: A physician instructor with experience and expertise in primary health care in these regions conducted the program. The curriculum included training in basic health science, essentials of endemic disorders and their clinical management appropriate to the outer islands. Emphasis was given to prevention and health promotion as well as to the curative aspects. For clinical observation, the candidates were assigned to clinical departments of the Majuro hospital for 1 year during their training, as assistants to the nursing staff. This paper discusses the details of the training, the modalities used to groom the candidates, and an assessment of the ultimate effectiveness of the program. RESULTS: Out of 16 boys who began training, 14 candidates were successful in completing the program. In 1998 a similar program was conducted exclusively for women under the auspices of Asian Development Bank funding, hence women were not part of this program. CONCLUSION: For developing countries of the Pacific, appropriately trained human resources are an essential component of economic progress, and the health workforce is an important part of human resources for sustainable progress and development

Practical lessons learned for assessing and treating bipolar disorder via telehealth modalities during the COVID-19 pandemic

We briefly frame challenges and steps to overcoming those challenges in delivering care for patients with bipolar disorder via telehealth or telephone during COVID-19. Telehealth provides an invaluable opportunity to provide care for patients even under circumstances of social isolation. The issues discussed in this debate are intended to guide and assist clinicians, both in assessment and intervention, in adjusting to the use of virtual care for patients with bipolar disorder

Behavioural outcomes and psychopathology during adolescence

Preterm birth is associated with a high risk of residual neurodevelopmental disability and cognitive impairment. These problems are closely associated with psychiatric disorders and thus it is unsurprising that preterm birth also confers high risk for poor long term mental health. The risk associated with preterm birth is not a general one, but appears to be specific to symptoms and disorders associated with anxiety, inattention and social and communication problems, and manifest in a significantly higher prevalence of emotional disorders, ADHD and Autism. Adolescence is a key period for mental health and studies have shown that problems evident in childhood persist over this time and are more stable amongst preterm individuals than term-born peers. There is also modest evidence for an increased prevalence of psychotic symptoms in preterm adolescents. The high prevalence of psychiatric disorders, present in around 25% of preterm adolescents, requires long term screening and intervention

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Erratum: Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Interpretation: By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning