Prevalence Rates and Comparisons of Obesity Levels in Ireland

This article compares the prevalence of the overweight and obesity levels in Irish school children aged 4–13 years from data collected by one of the authors in 2007, with data collected from a previous Irish study in 2002 by Whelton et al (2007). Both data sets were analyzed using the International Obesity Taskforse (IOTF) international cut-off points for body mass index (BMI). From the data collected in 2007 the overall prevalence of the overweight was 17.8% and the rate of obesity was 6.8%. The prevalence of the overweight and obese was 24.6%. No correlation was found between gender and BMI, however a positive and significant correlation was observed between age and BMI, indicating that as age increased so too did BMI (R = 0.35, p < 0.001). Comparing results with data from 2002 (Whelton et al, 2007), no statistically significant changes in the proportions of overweight and obese children were observed within this age group in the 5-year period from 2002 to 2007. While the results of our data suggest that rates of being overweight or obese among Irish children in this age group may be stabilizing, larger and preferably longitudinal Irish studies are required if this assertion is to be fully validated in the Irish context

Take a Giant Step: A Blueprint for Teaching Young Children in a Digital Age

Calls for enhancing early childhood education and teacher preparation and development by incorporating digital learning and highlights best practices, policy and program trends, and innovative approaches. Outlines goals for 2020 and steps to achieve them

Report of the panel on the land surface: Process of change, section 5

The panel defined three main areas of study that are central to the Solid Earth Science (SES) program: climate interactions with the Earth's surface, tectonism as it affects the Earth's surface and climate, and human activities that modify the Earth's surface. Four foci of research are envisioned: process studies with an emphasis on modern processes in transitional areas; integrated studies with an emphasis on long term continental climate change; climate-tectonic interactions; and studies of human activities that modify the Earth's surface, with an emphasis on soil degradation. The panel concluded that there is a clear requirement for global coverage by high resolution stereoscopic images and a pressing need for global topographic data in support of studies of the land surface

Barriers to play and recreation for children and young people with disabilities : exploring environmental factors

This report reviews international research into the barriers to play for children with disabilities. The authors come from different disciplinary backgrounds, in Sociology, Social Policy, Anthropology, Occupational Health and Education and bring different concerns to this review. They are united, however, in their adoption of a rights-based perspective. The UNCRC and UNCRPD emphasise the right to play for children with disabilities. Play is vital for child development. The problem of 'play deprivation' for many children with disabilities is very real. Yet the right to, and value of 'play for the sake of play', for fun and recreation, must not be forgotten in relation to the lives of children with disabilities. The focus in this report is upon barriers to play that exist beyond the minds and bodies of individual children, within a 'disabling' environment. Barriers include those associated with the design of the built environment, social attitudes and professional practices. The report maps an agenda for further research in this area, emphasising the need for participatory methodologies that capture the views and voices of children with disabilities, their friends and families, on this important issue of play

Comparative genomics of the emerging human pathogen Photorhabdus asymbiotica with the insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Gram-negative bacterium <it>Photorhabdus asymbiotica </it>(Pa) has been recovered from human infections in both North America and Australia. Recently, Pa has been shown to have a nematode vector that can also infect insects, like its sister species the insect pathogen <it>P. luminescens </it>(Pl). To understand the relationship between pathogenicity to insects and humans in <it>Photorhabdus </it>we have sequenced the complete genome of Pa strain ATCC43949 from North America. This strain (formerly referred to as <it>Xenorhabdus luminescens </it>strain 2) was isolated in 1977 from the blood of an 80 year old female patient with endocarditis, in Maryland, USA. Here we compare the complete genome of Pa ATCC43949 with that of the previously sequenced insect pathogen <it>P. luminescens </it>strain TT01 which was isolated from its entomopathogenic nematode vector collected from soil in Trinidad and Tobago.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that the human pathogen Pa had a smaller genome (5,064,808 bp) than that of the insect pathogen Pl (5,688,987 bp) but that each pathogen carries approximately one megabase of DNA that is unique to each strain. The reduced size of the Pa genome is associated with a smaller diversity in insecticidal genes such as those encoding the Toxin complexes (Tc's), Makes caterpillars floppy (Mcf) toxins and the <it>Photorhabdus </it>Virulence Cassettes (PVCs). The Pa genome, however, also shows the addition of a plasmid related to pMT1 from <it>Yersinia pestis </it>and several novel pathogenicity islands including a novel Type Three Secretion System (TTSS) encoding island. Together these data suggest that Pa may show virulence against man via the acquisition of the <it>pMT1</it>-like plasmid and specific effectors, such as SopB, that promote its persistence inside human macrophages. Interestingly the loss of insecticidal genes in Pa is not reflected by a loss of pathogenicity towards insects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that North American isolates of Pa have acquired virulence against man via the acquisition of a plasmid and specific virulence factors with similarity to those shown to play roles in pathogenicity against humans in other bacteria.</p

Expressions 1980

Expressions contains selected work from the 1980 Creative Writing Contest winners and honorable mentions, Campus Chronicle Photography Contest entrants, and the Commercial Art students at Des Moines Area Community College. Design, typography and layout was done by Journalism students.https://openspace.dmacc.edu/expressions/1002/thumbnail.jp

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Potent Phototoxicity of Marine Bunker Oil to Translucent Herring Embryos after Prolonged Weathering

Pacific herring embryos (Clupea pallasi) spawned three months following the Cosco Busan bunker oil spill in San Francisco Bay showed high rates of late embryonic mortality in the intertidal zone at oiled sites. Dead embryos developed to the hatching stage (e.g. fully pigmented eyes) before suffering extensive tissue deterioration. In contrast, embryos incubated subtidally at oiled sites showed evidence of sublethal oil exposure (petroleum-induced cardiac toxicity) with very low rates of mortality. These field findings suggested an enhancement of oil toxicity through an interaction between oil and another environmental stressor in the intertidal zone, such as higher levels of sunlight-derived ultraviolet (UV) radiation. We tested this hypothesis by exposing herring embryos to both trace levels of weathered Cosco Busan bunker oil and sunlight, with and without protection from UV radiation. Cosco Busan oil and UV co-exposure were both necessary and sufficient to induce an acutely lethal necrotic syndrome in hatching stage embryos that closely mimicked the condition of dead embryos sampled from oiled sites. Tissue levels of known phototoxic polycyclic aromatic compounds were too low to explain the observed degree of phototoxicity, indicating the presence of other unidentified or unmeasured phototoxic compounds derived from bunker oil. These findings provide a parsimonious explanation for the unexpectedly high losses of intertidal herring spawn following the Cosco Busan spill. The chemical composition and associated toxicity of bunker oils should be more thoroughly evaluated to better understand and anticipate the ecological impacts of vessel-derived spills associated with an expanding global transportation network