Prenatal Care Utilization as a Predictor of Failure to Thrive

This case-control study used an academic health sciences center sample to examine differences in prenatal care utilization (defined by the number of prenatal care visits and gestational age at entry into prenatal care) between failure to thrive infants and healthy infants; and test prenatal care utilization as a predictor of failure to thrive. This study described maternal bonding characteristics (prenatal care utilization, infant length of hospital stay, feeding method, frequency of all/visits, and discharge teaching) of hospitalized failure to thrive infants. Using the Medical University of South Carolina Perinatal Information System, Keane System, and Practice Partner databases, a study sample (N=222) was obtained from mothers who received prenatal care service, delivered their child at MUSC, and obtained pediatric health services through the university network during 2001-2004. The conceptual model used to guide this study was Barnard and Eyres\u27 (1979) Child Health Assessment Model; an ecological model based on the assumption that the mother, infant and environment are all in interaction. Failure to thrive often results from dysfunctional maternal infant interactions triggered by interference. The maternal health seeking behavior of prenatal care use was utilized as a proxy for maternal-fetal/infant attachment. Maternal variables examined in this study were: adequacy of prenatal care utilization, education, age, parity, and pregnancy interval. The environmental variable was marital status and child variables were intrauterine growth and gender. Cases and controls were matched 1 to 1 in terms of age, race, and insurance status. Preliminary data analyses found that prenatal care utilization, based on the number of prenatal care visits and gestational age at entry into care, and gender were independently associated with failure to thrive. There were no significant differences in adequate/less than adequate prenatal care utilization, maternal age, education, parity, pregnancy interval, and intrauterine growth between cases and controls. The odds for females developing failure to thrive were 1.834 times higher than for males (p = 0.027); prenatal care utilization was not a predictor of failure to thrive when controlling for confounding variables (p = 0.502). Using the Child Health Assessment Model only 2.5% of the variance of the predictive independent variables were explained

The definite determiner in Early Middle English: What happened with þe?

This paper offers new data bearing on the question of when English developed a definite article, distinct from the distal demonstrative. It focuses primarily on one criterion that has been used in dating this development, namely the inability of þe (Modern English the, the refl ex of the demonstrative se) to be used as a pronoun. I argue that this criterion is not a satisfactory one and propose a treatment of þe as a form which could occupy either the head D of DP or the specifier of DP. This is an approach consistent with Crisma’s(2011) position that a definite article emerged within the Old English (OE)period. I offer a new piece of evidence supporting Crisma’s demonstration of a difference between OE poetry and the prose of the ninth century and later

What Did(n’t) Happen to English?: A Re-evaluation of Some Contact Explanations in Early English

McWhorter (2002) argued that contact with Norse caused simplifications in English grammar that set English apart from other Germanic languages. This paper focuses on one of the losses McWhorter attributed to the linguistic impact of the Scandinavian invasions, External Possessors. An investigation of electronic Old and Early Middle English corpora reveals that the construction was already on the decline in the Old English period, and that Norse contact cannot explain the Early Middle English data. There is no support for the view that the loss of the construction spread from the Scandinavianized areas southwards. The facts are consistent with the view that while Celtic influence did not cause the loss of the construction in Old English, Celtic speakers shifting to English may have played a role in triggering the initial decline of the construction. Study of non-standard variants of other Germanic languages is needed to increase our understanding of the history of External Possessor constructions in those languages

Topics in diachronic English syntax.

Abstract not availabl

Impacting Occupational Therapy Assistant Student Knowledge about Occupation and Occupation-Based Practice

It is important for occupational therapy assistant (OTA) programs to teach about occupation and occupation-based practice (OBP). Few have published on this topic in relation to OTA education. This study focuses on determining if an educational module covering occupation and OBP would increase student knowledge of occupation and occupation-based practice. In this mixed-methods parallel convergent study, OTA students were immersed in an author-designed educational module to increase their knowledge of occupation, OBP, and the selection of occupation-based interventions. The students engaged in pretesting activities, prior to the module, consisting of short-answer essay and intervention selection tasks. At the conclusion of the module, the students completed posttest activities. The study results demonstrated significant learning in the areas of occupation, OBP, and the selection of occupation-based interventions. Quantitative analysis indicated a statistically significant increase in student learning, and qualitative analysis revealed increased levels of performance, when classified according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. This study addresses a gap in the OTA education literature by showing evidence that use of the learning module increased OTA student knowledge of occupation, OBP, and the ability to select occupation-based interventions. This module was an efficient and effective method of meeting accreditation standards related to OTA education

Long-term survival after traumatic brain injury: a population-based analysis controlled for nonhead trauma

OBJECTIVE: To examine the contribution of co-occurring nonhead injuries to hazard of death after traumatic brain injury (TBI). PARTICIPANTS: A random sample of Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents with confirmed TBI from 1987 through 1999 was identified. DESIGN: Each case was assigned an age- and sex-matched, non-TBI "regular control" from the population. For "special cases" with accompanying nonhead injuries, 2 matched "special controls" with nonhead injuries of similar severity were assigned. MEASURES: Vital status was followed from baseline (ie, injury date for cases, comparable dates for controls) through 2008. Cases were compared first with regular controls and second with regular or special controls, depending on case type. RESULTS: In total, 1257 cases were identified (including 221 special cases). For both cases versus regular controls and cases versus regular or special controls, the hazard ratio was increased from baseline to 6 months (10.82 [2.86-40.89] and 7.13 [3.10-16.39], respectively) and from baseline through study end (2.92 [1.74-4.91] and 1.48 [1.09-2.02], respectively). Among 6-month survivors, the hazard ratio was increased for cases versus regular controls (1.43 [1.06-2.15]) but not for cases versus regular or special controls (1.05 [0.80-1.38]). CONCLUSIONS: Among 6-month survivors, accounting for nonhead injuries resulted in a nonsignificant effect of TBI on long-term mortality

The Health Effects Of Expanding The Earned Income Tax Credit: Results From New York City.

Antipoverty policies may hold promise as tools to improve health and reduce mortality rates among low-income Americans. We examined the health effects of the New York City Paycheck Plus randomized controlled trial. Paycheck Plus tests the impact of a potential fourfold increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income Americans without dependent children. Starting in 2015, Paycheck Plus offered 5,968 study participants a credit of up to $2,000 at tax time (treatment) or the standard credit of about$500 (control). Health-related quality of life and other outcomes for a representative subset of these participants (n = 3,289) were compared to those of a control group thirty-two months after randomization. The intervention had a modest positive effect on employment and earnings, particularly among women. It had no effect on health-related quality of life for the overall sample, but women realized significant improvements

Advancing our pharmacy reformation-accelerating education and practice transformation: Report of the 2019-2020 argus commission

© 2020, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. All rights reserved. The Argus Commission examined changes that should be considered by colleges and schools of pharmacy to meet the bold aim of better integrating pharmacists’ and physi-cians’ practices articulated by President Sorensen. The Commission assessed the readiness of pharmacy educators to contribute to the acceleration of practice transformation. The primary focus of the report is on how the doctor of pharmacy curriculum and post-graduate training might be modified and better aligned to ensure that graduates complete their education ready to engage in roles partnered with primary care clinicians. The aim is to achieve comprehensive medication management and other pharmacist patient care services as standards of care. The Argus Commission provides preliminary recommendations for new or more intensified priorities by the 2020-21 AACP Strategic Planning Committee as they update the AACP plan. This includes the recommendation that AACP should create the Center for Academic Innovation and Practice Transformation, a hub to coordinate many current and emerging activities relevant to accelerating change in pharmacy education and practice

Adolescent testosterone influences BDNF and TrkB mRNA and neurotrophin–interneuron marker relationships in mammalian frontal cortex

AbstractLate adolescence in males is a period of increased susceptibility for the onset of schizophrenia, coinciding with increased circulating testosterone. The cognitive deficits prevalent in schizophrenia may be related to unhealthy cortical interneurons, which are trophically dependent on brain derived neurotrophic factor. We investigated, under conditions of depleted (monkey and rat) and replaced (rat) testosterone over adolescence, changes in gene expression of cortical BDNF and TrkB transcripts and interneuron markers and the relationships between these mRNAs and circulating testosterone. Testosterone removal by gonadectomy reduced gene expression of some BDNF transcripts in monkey and rat frontal cortices and the BDNF mRNA reduction was prevented by testosterone replacement. In rat, testosterone replacement increased the potential for classical TrkB signalling by increasing the full length to truncated TrkB mRNA ratio, whereas in the monkey cortex, circulating testosterone was negatively correlated with the TrkB full length/truncated mRNA ratio. We did not identify changes in interneuron gene expression in monkey frontal cortex in response to gonadectomy, and in rat, we showed that only somatostatin mRNA was decreased by gonadectomy but not restored by testosterone replacement. We identified complex and possibly species-specific, relationships between BDNF/TrkB gene expression and interneuron marker gene expression that appear to be dependent on the presence of testosterone at adolescence in rat and monkey frontal cortices. Taken together, our findings suggest there are dynamic relationships between BDNF/TrkB and interneuron markers that are dependent on the presence of testosterone but that this may not be a straightforward increase in testosterone leading to changes in BDNF/TrkB that contributes to interneuron health

A tale of two community networks program centers: Operationalizing and assessing CBPR principles and evaluating partnership outcomes

BACKGROUND: Community Networks Program (CNP) centers are required to use a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach within their specific priority communities. Not all communities are the same and unique contextual factors and collaborators’ priorities shape each CBPR partnership. There are also established CBPR and community engagement (CE) principles shown to lead to quality CBPR in any community. However, operationalizing and assessing CBPR principles and partnership outcomes to understand the conditions and processes in CBPR that lead to achieving program and project level goals is relatively new in the science of CBPR. OBJECTIVES: We sought to describe the development of surveys on adherence to and implementation of CBPR/CE principles at two CNP centers and examine commonalities and differences in program- versus project-level CBPR evaluation. METHODS: A case study about the development and application of CBPR/CE principles for the Missouri CNP, Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities, and Minnesota CNP, Padres Informados/Jovenes Preparados, surveys was conducted to compare project versus program operationalization of principles. Survey participant demographics were provided by CNP. Specific domains found in CBPR/CE principles were identified and organized under an existing framework to establish a common ground. Operational definitions and the number of survey items were provided for each domain by CNP. CONCLUSION: There are distinct differences in operational definitions of CBPR/CE principles at the program and project levels of evaluation. However, commonalities support further research to develop standards for CBPR evaluation across partnerships and at the program and project levels