Effects of Military Life on Children’s Academic Performance

Children with at least one military parent are in public classrooms all over the United States. The military lifestyle is one of a kind, and it is essential for educators to understand its effects. Through use of literature review and interviews with local elementary teachers, this capstone examines the effects of the military lifestyle on their children’s academic performance. Military life can cause some emotional, social and behavioral problems among children depending on what they are currently experiencing. It is important for educators to understand what military children are experiencing in order to best support them academically and emotionally

Transatlantic security cooperation: counterterrorism analysis and policy in the post 9/11 era

The transatlantic relationship between the United States of America and Europe has traditionally been one of the closest alliances throughout modern history. The relationship remained close even after the loss of the common Soviet threat and into the twenty-first century. However, the morning of September 11, 2001 would become the turning point in the transatlantic relationship that highlighted fundamental differences in threat perceptions between the two allies. 9/11 introduced a new common threat to the twenty-first century—international religious-based terrorism. Despite the emergence of a new common threat, divergences in threat perceptions, legitimacy of force, and politicomilitary cultures have wedged themselves deep into the current transatlantic relationship. The European Union and the United States fundamentally differ on how to address the threat of terrorism. This raises the question: Why do the European Union and the United States differ in their respective threat analyses of modern terrorism and in their policies to address it

Neuropsychological Assessment, Neuroimaging, and Neuropsychiatric Evaluation in Pediatric and Adult Patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)

Traditionally, neuropsychological deficits due to Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) have been understudied in adults. We have begun to suspect, however, that symptomatic and asymptomatic Cerebrovascular Events (CVE) may account for an alarming number of deficits in this population. In the current brief review, we critically evaluated the pediatric and adult literatures on the neurocognitive effects of SCD. We highlighted the studies that have been published on this topic and posit that early detection of CVE via neurocognitive testing, neuropsychiatric evaluations, and neuroimaging may significantly reduce adult cognitive and functional morbidities

A single nucleotide polymorphism in the p27Kip1 gene is associated with primary patency of lower extremity vein bypass grafts

ObjectiveFactors responsible for the variability in outcomes after lower extremity vein bypass grafting (LEVBG) are poorly understood. Recent evidence has suggested that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the promoter region of the p27Kip1 gene, a cell-cycle regulator, is associated with coronary in-stent restenosis. We hypothesized an association with vein graft patency.MethodsThis was a retrospective genetic association study nested within a prospective cohort of 204 patients from three referral centers undergoing LEVBG for claudication or critical ischemia. The main outcome measure was primary vein graft patency.ResultsAll patients were followed up for a minimum of 1 year with duplex graft surveillance (median follow-up, 893 days; interquartile range, 539-1315). Genomic DNA was isolated and SNP analysis for the p27Kip1-838C>A variants was performed. Allele frequencies were correlated with graft outcome using survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards modeling. The p27Kip1-838C>A allele frequencies observed were CA, 53%; CC, 30%; and AA, 17%, satisfying Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Race (P = .025) and history of coronary artery disease (P = .027) were different across the genotypes; all other baseline variables were similar. Primary graft patency was greater among patients with the -838AA genotype (75% AA vs 55% CA/CC at 3 years; P = .029). In a Cox proportional hazards model including age, sex, race, diabetes, critical limb ischemia, redo (vs primary) bypass, vein type, and baseline C-reactive protein level, the p27Kip1-838AA genotype was significantly associated with higher graft patency (hazard ratio for failure, 0.4; 95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.93). Genotype was also associated with early (0-1 month) changes in graft lumen diameter by ultrasound imaging.ConclusionsThese data suggest that the p27Kip1-838C>A SNP is associated with LEVBG patency and, together with previous reports, underscore a central role for p27Kip1 in the generic response to vascular injury

How penalizing substance use in pregnancy affects treatment and research: A qualitative examination of researchers\u27 perspectives

INTRODUCTION: Laws regulating substance use in pregnancy are changing and may have unintended consequences on scientific efforts to address the opioid epidemic. Yet, how these laws affect care and research is poorly understood. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews using purposive and snowball sampling of researchers who have engaged pregnant people experiencing substance use. We explored views on laws governing substance use in pregnancy and legal reform possibilities. Interviews were double coded. Data were examined using thematic analysis. RESULTS: We interviewed 22 researchers (response rate: 71 per cent) and identified four themes: (i) harms of punitive laws, (ii) negative legal impacts on research, (iii) proposals for legal reform, and (iv) activism over time. DISCUSSION: Researchers view laws penalizing substance use during pregnancy as failing to treat addiction as a disease and harming pregnant people and families. Respondents routinely made scientific compromises to protect participants. While some have successfully advocated for legal reform, ongoing advocacy is needed. CONCLUSION: Adverse impacts from criminalizing substance use during pregnancy extend to research on this common and stigmatized problem. Rather than penalizing substance use in pregnancy, laws should approach addiction as a medical issue and support scientific efforts to improve outcomes for affected families

Comorbid Chronic Pain and Depression: Who Is at Risk?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and demographic risk factors of chronic pain and its comorbidity with depression. Computer-assisted telephone interviewing was utilized to obtain a representative community sample in the state of Michigan (N = 1,179). The prevalence of chronic pain due to any cause was 21.9%. Approximately 35% of participants with chronic pain also had comorbid depression (7.7% of the entire sample). Depression was not associated with pain types or sites. A multinomial regression analysis revealed several demographic correlates of chronic pain and depression. Participants with chronic pain or comorbid pain and depression were more likely to be older, female, employed less than full-time, and have less education than persons without either condition. Logistic regression analyses showed that younger participants were more likely to have comorbid pain and depression than chronic pain only. A similar but marginally significant effect was found for African-American participants. Compared to the depression only group, those in the comorbid group were more likely to be women and middle-aged. These findings provide additional evidence on the prevalence of comorbid pain and depression in the community and suggest that certain demographic groups with chronic pain may especially benefit from depression screenings

The Reproducibility of 31-Phosphorus MRS Measures of Muscle Energetics at 3 Tesla in Trained Men

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides an exceptional opportunity for the study of in vivo metabolism. MRS is widely used to measure phosphorus metabolites in trained muscle, although there are no published data regarding its reproducibility in this specialized cohort. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the reproducibility of (31)P-MRS in trained skeletal muscle

Genetic Determinants of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among African American and Hispanic Women in the Women’s Health Initiative

Current evidence suggests a multifactorial etiology to pelvic organ prolapse (POP), including genetic predisposition. We conducted a genome-wide association study of POP in African American (AA) and Hispanic (HP) women from the Women’s Health Initiative Hormone Therapy study. Cases were defined as any POP (grades 1–3) or moderate/severe POP (grades 2–3), while controls had grade 0 POP. We performed race-specific multiple logistic regression analyses between SNPs imputed to 1000 genomes in relation to POP (grade 0 vs 1–3; grade 0 vs 2–3) adjusting for age at diagnosis, body mass index, parity, and genetic ancestry. There were 1274 controls and 1427 cases of any POP and 317 cases of moderate/severe POP. Although none of the analyses reached genome-wide significance (p<5x10-8), we noted variants in several loci that met p<10−6. In race-specific analysis of grade 0 vs 2–3, intronic SNPs in the CPE gene (rs28573326, OR:2.14; 95% CI 1.62–2.83; p = 1.0x10-7) were associated with POP in AAs, and SNPs in the gene AL132709.5 (rs1950626, OR:2.96; 95% CI 1.96–4.48, p = 2.6x10-7) were associated with POP in HPs. Inverse variance fixed-effect meta-analysis of the race-specific results showed suggestive signals for SNPs in the DPP6 gene (rs11243354, OR:1.36; p = 4.2x10-7) in the grade 0 vs 1–3 analyses and for SNPs around PGBD5 (rs740494, OR:2.17; p = 8.6x10-7) and SHC3 (rs2209875, OR:0.60; p = 9.3x10-7) in the grade 0 vs 2–3 analyses. While we did not identify genome-wide significant findings, we document several SNPs reaching suggestive statistical significance. Further interrogation of POP in larger minority samples is warranted