The Effectiveness of the Implementation of the Kids Eat Right RD Parent Empowerment Program at Johnson City Head Start Centers

Obesity among children is a public health concern. Preschool-­‐aged children, especially those from low-­‐income families, are no exception to the obesity epidemic. During the RD Parent Empowerment Program, parents of Head Start children in Johnson City, TN completed a structured education program over the course of 4 workshops related to healthy habits of families. The goal was to empower parents to shop smart, cook healthy, and eat right. The Family Nutrition and Physical Activity (FNPA) screening tool was used as an assessment tool to evaluate behavior change over the course of the program. Improvement in overall FNPA score was seen at the conclusion of the program. Individual assessment of breakfast consumption, family meal patterns, fruit and vegetable intake, beverage choices, and restriction occurred. Participation in the RD Parent Empowerment Program resulted in maintaining healthy behaviors or improved behaviors for many participants. A larger sample may provide more conclusive results

The E¤ect of Rurality on Mental and Physical Health

Any time researchers choose to conduct a study on any aspect of rural health care, they are faced with a di¢ cult methodological choice regarding the oper- ational de?nition of rural to use in their study. While this seems to many who are not familiar with rural research to be a straightforward question (and often naive rural researchers expect to ?nd a single answer that is commonly agreed upon by experts in rural research), to date there is no single answer that is based on a consensus and supported by scienti?c evidence. Coburn, et al. (2007) states that ?there is no single, universally preferred de?nition of rural that serves all policy purposes.? One goal of this paper is to provide a method useful in informing the choice of rural de?nitions for a speci?c research study. This methods paper presents a systematic evaluation of the impact of the choice of rural de?nition on results. It was stimulated by the need to select a rural de?nition to use in related papers on the impact of community resources on mental and general health outcomes in other research by the authors. A na- tional dataset, the Community Tracking Survey, 2000-2001, includes individual level observations from household interviews. We merge it with county level data re?ecting community resources, and we use econometric methods to ana- lyze this multi-level data, accounting for individuals from the same family being included in the dataset. The e¤ect of using four di¤erent de?nitions of rural available for use in county level analysis is presented. A statistical analysis of the impact of the choice of a rural de?nition on outcomes and on the esti- mates and signi?cance of explanatory variables in the model is presented and is used to inform the selection of the de?nition to use in other research. Dif- ferences in results for mental health, physical health, and utilization of health care variables are evaluated. The choice of a rural definition is presented and justi?ed using the methodological analyses presented in this paper. Strengths and weaknesses of using county-level community characteristics as compared to data from larger geographic areas, such as Health Services Areas, or from smaller geographic areas, such as census tracts or zip codes, are discussed. Fi- nally, the need for a methods study to guide the use of multi-level geographic data to re?ect community characteristics within health care studies is proposed.rural, mental health, physical health, testing

Spectroscopic Properties of the z=4.5 Lyman-alpha Emitters

We present Keck/LRIS optical spectra of 17 Lya-emitting galaxies and one Lyman break galaxy at z=4.5 discovered in the Large Area Lyman Alpha (LALA) survey. The survey has identified a sample of ~350 candidate Lya-emitting galaxies at z=4.5 in a search volume of 1.5 x 10^6 comoving Mpc^3. We targeted 25 candidates for spectroscopy; hence, the 18 confirmations presented herein suggest a selection reliability of 72%. The large equivalent widths (median W(rest)~80 A) but narrow physical widths (v < 500 km/s) of the Lya emission lines, along with the lack of accompanying high-ionization state emission lines, suggest that these galaxies are young systems powered by star formation rather than by AGN activity. Theoretical models of galaxy formation in the primordial Universe suggest that a small fraction of Lya-emitting galaxies at z=4.5 may still be nascent, metal-free objects. Indeed, we find with 90% confidence that 3 to 5 of the confirmed sources show W(rest) > 240 A, exceeding the maximum Lya equivalent width predicted for normal stellar populations. Nonetheless, we find no evidence for HeII 1640 emission in either individual or composite spectra, indicating that though these galaxies are young, they are not truly primitive, Population III objects.Comment: 12 pages, Accepted to Ap

Striatal Dopamine and Norepinephrine Levels in Conjunction with OCD-like Behaviors in a Novel Animal Model of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

This study evaluated behaviors and monoamine levels of the neonatal clomipramine (neoCLOM) model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in male and female rats (36 of each). Subjects were injected with 15 mg/kg of the serotonin-norepinephrine uptake inhibitor clomipramine during a developmentally sensitive period. A unique combination of Hole Board (HB) and Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) apparatuses was used to evaluate compulsiveness and anxiety. There was a significant effect of Treatment in the HB. Male neoCLOMs had increased hole poke and repeats versus control male neoSALs. In contrast, there was a significant effect of Sex in the EPM. Female neoCLOMs spent more time in open arms than male neoCLOMs. HB and EPM behaviors did not correlate for any group. Serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA), and norepinephrine (NE) levels in post mortem tissue homogenates from the hypothalamus and amygdala were analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. There were significant effects of Treatment and Sex. Neurochemical abnormalities reflect monoamine dysfunction in OCD patients. Results support some aspects of the face and construct validity of the model. Further research is needed to evaluate the model\u27s predictive validity, sensitivity to sex differences, and potential usefulness in identification of new treatment methods for OCD patients.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_spring2020/1004/thumbnail.jp

Microstructural white-matter abnormalities and their relationship with cognitive dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder

open5Background: In recent years, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have detected subtle microstructural abnormalities of white matter (WM) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, findings have been inconsistent, and it is unclear whether WM abnormalities are related to cognitive processes. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship of WM alterations with cognitive variables in OCD in order to investigate the structural correlates of behaviorally relevant features of the disorder. Methods: We compared DTI-derived fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and radial diffusivity (RD) measures between OCD patients (n = 16) and healthy controls (n = 18) using a whole-brain tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) approach. We also explored the correlations of WM alterations with clinical and cognitive variables. Results: Patients with OCD demonstrated increases in MD in the bilateral posterior corona radiata; left anterior corona radiata; bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus; genu, body, and splenium of the corpus callosum; and left posterior limb of the internal capsule. An increase in RD values was also found in some of the same tracts (right posterior corona radiata, right superior longitudinal fasciculus, left anterior corona radiata, and corpus callosum). Furthermore, increased MD value in the internal capsule was correlated with the percentage of errors made during a target detection task, which was greater in the OCD group overall. Conclusions: These findings indicate that OCD patients show greater diffusivity in several white-matter regions. The correlation between cognitive performance and diffusivity in the internal capsule suggests that microstructural WM alternations may have functional consequences for the disorder.openMagioncalda, P; Martino, M; Ely, B.A.; Inglese, M; Stern, E. R.Magioncalda, P; Martino, M; Ely, B. A.; Inglese, M; Stern, E. R

Topographic analysis of individual activation patterns in medial frontal cortex in schizophrenia

Individual variability in the location of neural activations poses a unique problem for neuroimaging studies employing group averaging techniques to investigate the neural bases of cognitive and emotional functions. This may be especially challenging for studies examining patient groups, which often have limited sample sizes and increased intersubject variability. In particular, medial frontal cortex (MFC) dysfunction is thought to underlie performance monitoring dysfunction among patients with schizophrenia, yet previous studies using group averaging to compare schizophrenic patients to controls have yielded conflicting results. To examine individual activations in MFC associated with two aspects of performance monitoring, interference and error processing, functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while 17 patients with schizophrenia and 21 healthy controls (HCs) performed an event-related version of the multisource interference task. Comparisons of averaged data revealed few differences between the groups. By contrast, topographic analysis of individual activations for errors showed that control subjects exhibited activations spanning across both posterior and anterior regions of MFC while patients primarily activated posterior MFC, possibly reflecting an impaired emotional response to errors in schizophrenia. This discrepancy between topographic and group-averaged results may be due to the significant dispersion among individual activations, particularly in HCs, highlighting the importance of considering intersubject variability when interpreting the medial frontal response to error commission. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63054/1/20657_ftp.pd