Ovine progressive pneumonia in sheep

1 online resource (PDF, 4 pages)This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu

The use of vaccines in sheep

1 online resource (PDF, 4 pages)This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu

Mobile Devices for Early Literacy Intervention and Research with Global Reach

Extensive work focuses on the uses of technology at scale for post-literate populations (e.g., MOOC, Learning Games, LMS’s). Little attention is afforded to non-literate populations, particularly in the developing world. This paper presents an approach using mobile devices with the ultimate goal to reach 770 million people. We developed a novel platform with a cloud backend to deliver educational content to over a thousand marginalized children in different countries:specifically, in remote villages without schools, urban slums with overcrowded schools, and at-risk, rural schools. Here we describe the theoretical basis of our system and results from case studies in three educational contexts. This model will help researchers and designers understand how mobile devices can help children acquire basic skills and aid each other’s learning when the benefit of teachers is limited or non-existent.Italian Development CouncilMRP FoundationRoanoke County School

Developmental Effects of Perfluorononanoic Acid in the Mouse Are Dependent on Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Alpha

Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) is one of the perfluoroalkyl acids found in the environment and in tissues of humans and wildlife. Prenatal exposure to PFNA negatively impacts survival and development of mice and activates the mouse and human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARα). In the current study, we used PPARα knockout (KO) and 129S1/SvlmJ wild-type (WT) mice to investigate the role of PPARα in mediating PFNA-induced in vivo effects. Pregnant KO and WT mice were dosed orally with water (vehicle control: 10 ml/kg), 0.83, 1.1, 1.5, or 2 mg/kg PFNA on gestational days (GDs) 1–18 (day of sperm plug = GD 0). Maternal weight gain, implantation, litter size, and pup weight at birth were unaffected in either strain. PFNA exposure reduced the number of live pups at birth and survival of offspring to weaning in the 1.1 and 2 mg/kg groups in WT. Eye opening was delayed (mean delay 2.1 days) and pup weight at weaning was reduced in WT pups at 2 mg/kg. These developmental endpoints were not affected in the KO. Relative liver weight was increased in a dose-dependent manner in dams and pups of the WT strain at all dose levels but only slightly increased in the highest dose group in the KO strain. In summary, PFNA altered liver weight of dams and pups, pup survival, body weight, and development in the WT, while only inducing a slight increase in relative liver weight of dams and pups at 2 mg/kg in KO mice. These results suggest that PPARα is an essential mediator of PFNA-induced developmental toxicity in the mouse

Body Awareness: Construct and Self-Report Measures

OBJECTIVES:Heightened body awareness can be adaptive and maladaptive. Improving body awareness has been suggested as an approach for treating patients with conditions such as chronic pain, obesity and post-traumatic stress disorder. We assessed the psychometric quality of selected self-report measures and examined their items for underlying definitions of the construct. DATA SOURCES:PubMed, PsychINFO, HaPI, Embase, Digital Dissertations Database. REVIEW METHODS:Abstracts were screened; potentially relevant instruments were obtained and systematically reviewed. Instruments were excluded if they exclusively measured anxiety, covered emotions without related physical sensations, used observer ratings only, or were unobtainable. We restricted our study to the proprioceptive and interoceptive channels of body awareness. The psychometric properties of each scale were rated using a structured evaluation according to the method of McDowell. Following a working definition of the multi-dimensional construct, an inter-disciplinary team systematically examined the items of existing body awareness instruments, identified the dimensions queried and used an iterative qualitative process to refine the dimensions of the construct. RESULTS:From 1,825 abstracts, 39 instruments were screened. 12 were included for psychometric evaluation. Only two were rated as high standard for reliability, four for validity. Four domains of body awareness with 11 sub-domains emerged. Neither a single nor a compilation of several instruments covered all dimensions. Key domains that might potentially differentiate adaptive and maladaptive aspects of body awareness were missing in the reviewed instruments. CONCLUSION:Existing self-report instruments do not address important domains of the construct of body awareness, are unable to discern between adaptive and maladaptive aspects of body awareness, or exhibit other psychometric limitations. Restricting the construct to its proprio- and interoceptive channels, we explore the current understanding of the multi-dimensional construct and suggest next steps for further research

Body Awareness: a phenomenological inquiry into the common ground of mind-body therapies

Enhancing body awareness has been described as a key element or a mechanism of action for therapeutic approaches often categorized as mind-body approaches, such as yoga, TaiChi, Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, Body Awareness Therapy, mindfulness based therapies/meditation, Feldenkrais, Alexander Method, Breath Therapy and others with reported benefits for a variety of health conditions. To better understand the conceptualization of body awareness in mind-body therapies, leading practitioners and teaching faculty of these approaches were invited as well as their patients to participate in focus groups. The qualitative analysis of these focus groups with representative practitioners of body awareness practices, and the perspectives of their patients, elucidated the common ground of their understanding of body awareness. For them body awareness is an inseparable aspect of embodied self awareness realized in action and interaction with the environment and world. It is the awareness of embodiment as an innate tendency of our organism for emergent self-organization and wholeness. The process that patients undergo in these therapies was seen as a progression towards greater unity between body and self, very similar to the conceptualization of embodiment as dialectic of body and self described by some philosophers as being experienced in distinct developmental levels

Interobserver Variability in the Assessment of Neurologic History and Examination in the Stroke Data Bank

Interobserver Reliability in Obtaining Neurologic Histories and Examinations Was Investigated among Neurologists Collaborating in the Stroke Data Bank (SDB). Seventeen In-Hospital Stroke Patients Were Examined by Six Neurologists Experienced in Stroke over the Course of Three Days. Patients Were Examined Twice a Day for Two Successive Days, with Each Patient Seen by Four Different Neurologists. Data Were Recorded on SDB Forms, According to Definitions and Procedures Established for the SDB. Percent Agreement and Κ Coefficients Were Calculated to Assess the Levels of Agreement for Each Item. Important Differences in Levels of Agreement Were Found among Items on Both Neurologic History and Examination. Agreement among Neurologists Was Higher for Neurologic Examination Than for History. Patterns of Agreement for Items with Low Prevalence or with Numerous Unknown Ratings Are Discussed. Improvement in Interobserver Agreement Due to Data Editing for Intra-Observer Consistency Was Shown. © 1985, American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved

Interobserver Agreement in the Diagnosis of Stroke Type

Interobserver Agreement is Essential to the Reliability of Clinical Data from Cooperative Studies and Provides the Foundation for Applying Research Results to Clinical Practice. in the Stroke Data Bank, a Large Cooperative Study of Stroke, We Sought to Establish the Reliability of a Key Aspect of Stroke Diagnosis: The Mechanism of Stroke. Seventeen Patients Were Evaluated by Six Neurologists. Interobserver Agreement Was Measured When Diagnosis Was based on Patient History and Neurologic Examination Only, as Well as When It Was based on Results of a Completed Workup, Including a Computed Tomographic Scan. Initial Clinical Impressions, based Solely on History and One Neurologic Examination, Were Fairly Reliable in Establishing the Mechanism of Stroke (Ie, Distinguishing among Infarcts, Subarachnoid Hemorrhages, and Parenchymatous Hemorrhages). Classification into One of Nine Stroke Subtypes Was Substantially Reliable When Diagnoses Were based on a Completed Workup. Compared with Previous Findings for the Same Physicians and Patients, the Diagnosis of Stroke Type Was Generally More Reliable Than Individual Signs and Symptoms. These Results Suggest that Multicentered Studies Can Rely on the Independent Diagnostic Choices of Several Physicians When Common Definitions Are Employed and Data from a Completed Workup Are Available. Furthermore, Reliability May Be Less for Individual Measurements Such as Signs or Symptoms Than for More-Complex Judgments Such as Diagnoses. © 1986, American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved

Interobserver Reliability in the Interpretation of Computed Tomographic Scans of Stroke Patients

Interobserver Reliability in Interpretation of Computed Tomographic Images Was Studied by Six Senior Neurologists Who Independently Evaluated on a Standardized Stroke Data Bank Form the Brain Lesions of 17 Patients. the Results Analyzed with K Statistics Yielded Moderate to Substantial Agreement on Most Items of Interest Including the Stroke Pathology and Anatomy. in General, the Levels of Agreement Were as High as Previously Reported for the Diagnosis of the Mechanism of the Stroke, and Much Higher Than on Many Stroke History Items and Items of Neurologic Examination. Excellent Agreement Was Obtained for the Detection of Infarcts and Intracerebral Hemorrhage, and Substantial Agreement Was Obtained on Whether the Computed Tomographic Images Were Normal or Indicative of Small Deep Infarcts, Superficial and Deep Infarcts, and Aneurysms. the Level of Agreement on Anatomy of the Lesions Was Best for the Frontal, Parietal, and Temporal Lobes, Putamen, Cerebellum, and Subarachnoid Space. Implications for Clinical Research and Diagnosis Are Discussed. © 1987 American Medical Association All Rights Reserved