Paediatric neuropsychological assessment: an analysis of parents' perspectives

Purpose: Modern healthcare services are commonly based on shared models of care, in which a strong emphasis is placed upon the views of those in receipt of services. The purpose of this paper is to examine the parents' experiences of their child's neuropsychological assessment. Design/methodology/approach: This was a mixed-methodology study employing both quantitative and qualitative measures. Findings: The questionnaire measure indicated a high overall level of satisfaction. Qualitative analysis of parental interviews provided a richer insight into the parental experience and indicated four major themes. Practical implications: Implications covered three major areas. Firstly, whilst a high value was placed upon the assessment, the need for further comprehensive neurorehabilitation and intervention was highlighted. Secondly, this study highlights the significant adversity experienced by such families and subsequent unmet psychological needs which also require consideration. Finally, findings from the current study could assist in improving future measures of satisfaction in similar services. Originality/value: This is the first published study of parental experiences of and satisfaction with paediatric neuropsychological assessment in the UK. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

The Photographic Effect: Making Pictures After Photography, 1860-1895

This dissertation examines the effects of photography and photographic concepts of picturing on painterly practice and theory in late-nineteenth century Europe. It argues that the permeation of photography into the material production and critical interpretation of pictorial art impelled painters, art photographers, and their critics to differentiate more sharply the qualities of creative labor from those of unthinking imitation. Focusing on case studies in France and England, the two countries with the longest histories of photographic practice and discourse, I consider methods of making that challenged the framework of medium, and the standards of “art” and “truth” on which distinctions between media were based. Subjects of analysis include the art criticism of British painter Walter Sickert (1860-1942); a libel trial initiated by Belgian painter Jan Van Beers (1852-1927); the plein-air painting practice of French naturalist Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884); composite photographs and theories of pictorial art by British photographer Henry Peach Robinson (1830-1901); the “photographic” characteristics of paintings by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894); and the painterly realism of French artist Edgar Degas (1834-1917), which was set apart from photography in the nineteenth century and came to be aligned with it in the twentieth. I distinguish my approach from traditional narratives of cross-media exchange, which emphasize artists’ visual responses to paintings and photographs, by showing that photography’s influence was felt most palpably in the invisible realms of pictorial production and its theoretical conception. Photography provoked no single stylistic response from painters, nor was its presence in a picture substantiated by any fixed set of criteria. By the 1890s photography had destabilized “medium” as a secure category of classification, as paintings were designated “colored photographs” and photographers employed the term “picture” to classify their images as art. I examine the radical reconfiguration of the hierarchy of pictorial art that took place in the late nineteenth century, showing that photographic methods of making and paradigms of picturing undermined the visual surface as a reliable source of meaning. As a result, these hybrid pictorial practices intensified anxieties about the terms of truthful depiction, and how an authentic sense of the real might be conveyed through material means. Rather than being settled by the turn of the century, as modern theories of medium specificity would have it, I maintain that photography catalyzed tensions between the manual and intellectual aspects of art-making that trigger debates and fuel artistic experimentation to this day.PHDHistory of ArtUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140978/1/emtalbot_1.pd

Health−related quality of life (HRQL) of children and adolescents following encephalitis and its relationship with everyday memory and executive function: Parent/carer report

0910, RES, Research Project, UofN: 4073827, UofL: 07091800 Page 1 of 200 Abstract Objective- Following encephalitis, children can experience neuropsychological, psychological and medical consequences, making health-related quality of life (HRQL) of particular interest in this clinical population. To explore this under-researched topic area, this study was designed to investigate whether a relationship exists between the two most frequently reported neuropsychological consequences of childhood encephalitis (parent/carer reported executive function and everyday memory problems) and parent/carer reported HRQL. In addition, it explored to what extent these and other illness specific factors are predictors of parent/carer reported HRQL in children following encephalitis. Design- The study took an exploratory cross-sectional design. Parametric and non-parametric correlations were employed to test the primary hypotheses and consider whether further illness-specific factors were related to parent/carer reported HRQL. Those variables found to correlate significantly with parent/carer reported HRQL were entered into a multiple linear regression to consider how predictive they were of HRQL. Method- Thirty-eight parents/carers of children/adolescents, aged eight – 15 years old, who had a history of encephalitis responded to an invitation to take part. Participants were recruited through the Encephalitis Society‟s database of families with children/adolescents who had been diagnosed with encephalitis at 0910, RES, Research Project, UofN: 4073827, UofL: 07091800 Page 2 of 200 any time during childhood. Each parent/carer completed a Pediatric Quality of Life InventoryTM (PedsQLTM), a Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), a Children‟s Memory Questionnaire (CMQ), and a demographic/illness specific questionnaire in relation to their child. Parents/carers of potential participants were sent a recruitment pack by post and asked to return the measures in a stamped addressed envelope should they wish to take part. Where possible, children/adolescents were asked to provide their assent to take part and their parent/carer was asked to provide their consent to provide information in relation to their child. Results- Parent/carer reported everyday memory problems and executive function impairment were found to significantly negatively correlate with parent/carer reported HRQL. Further exploratory analysis found that sleep difficulties significantly correlated with parent/carer reported HRQL, while age at time of illness and diagnosis of epilepsy did not correlate significantly with parent/carer reported HRQL. Through a forced entry multiple linear regression analysis, combined parent/carer reported everyday memory, executive function and sleep difficulties were found to account for up to 71% of the variance of parental-reported HRQL, with everyday memory being the most statistically significant predictor. Conclusions- Frequently reported neuropsychological impairments following childhood encephalitis are found to relate significantly to parent/carer reportedHRQL. This indicates important implications for children, and their families, following encephalitis, and suggests areas for specific intervention and rehabilitation. The finding of a significant relationship between parent/carer reported sleep difficulties and parent/carer reported HRQL is consistent with findings in general, and other health condition, populations. The finding of no significant relationship between the variables of age at time of illness, diagnosis of epilepsy and parent/carer reported HRQL is inconsistent with studies in other clinical populations, and warrants further investigation. Consideration of the findings, and their implications for clinical practice, are discussed. Consideration is given to the small sample size and recommendations for further research are proposed

A national-scale assessment of micro-organic contaminants in groundwater of England and Wales

A large variety of micro-organic (MO) compounds is used in huge quantities for a range of purposes (e.g. manufacturing, food production, healthcare) and is now being frequently detected in the aquatic environment. Interest in the occurrence of MO contaminants in the terrestrial and aquatic environments continues to grow, as well as in their environmental fate and potential toxicity. However, the contamination of groundwater resources by MOs has a limited evidence base compared to other freshwater resources. Of particular concern are newly ‘emerging contaminants’ such as pharmaceuticals and lifestyle compounds, particularly those with potential endocrine disrupting properties. While groundwater often has a high degree of protection from pollution due to physical, chemical and biological attenuation processes in the subsurface compared to surface aquatic environments, trace concentrations of a large range of compounds are still detected in groundwater and in some cases may persist for decades due to the long residence times of groundwater systems. This study provides the first national-scale assessment of micro-organic compounds in groundwater in England and Wales. A large set of monitoring data was analysed to determine the relative occurrence and detected concentrations of different groups of compounds and to determine relationships with land-use, aquifer type and groundwater vulnerability. MOs detected including emerging compounds such as caffeine, DEET, bisphenol A, anti-microbial agents and pharmaceuticals as well as a range of legacy contaminants including chlorinated solvents and THMs, petroleum hydrocarbons, pesticides and other industrial compounds. There are clear differences in MOs between land-use types, particularly for urban-industrial and natural land-use. Temporal trends of MO occurrence are assessed but establishing long-term trends is not yet possible

Trajectory Model Validation Using Newly Developed Altitude-Controlled Balloons During the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformations 2004 Campaign

During the summer of 2004, five altitude-controlled tracking balloons were flown as part of the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformations (ICARTT) campaign. These Controlled Meteorological (CMET) balloons, newly developed at the University of Massachusetts, are notable for their light weight (∼1 kg mass), efficient altitude control, case of launch, long-duration flight capability, and ability to perform repeated quasi-Lagrangian soundings. The balloons were embedded in urban plumes from New York and Boston which they tracked over New England, eastern Canada, and the Atlantic Ocean while maintaining a nearly constant altitude. The flights ranged from 10 to 111 hours and covered a maximum distance of 3000 km. Balloon flight tracks are used here to assess the accuracy of trajectory models during intensive aircraft sampling periods. A new method is presented for increasing the number of available reference trajectories by dividing the balloon flights into shorter segments for statistical analysis. For trajectory durations between 2 and 12 hours, mean trajectory errors are found to be approximately 26% and 34% of the flight distance for ECMWF-based and GFS-based trajectories, respectively. Anomalously large model errors observed during three of the flights are found to be the result of a narrow low-level jet (15 July) and synoptic-scale flow patterns (9 and 10 August). The results from this study should be useful to researchers evaluating the performance of trajectory models and chemical transport models during the ICARTT campaign. Complete CMET balloon and model trajectory data sets are available as a supplement to this paper

Population structure and plumage polymorphism: The intraspecific evolutionary relationships of a polymorphic raptor, Buteo jamaicensis harlani

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Phenotypic and molecular genetic data often provide conflicting patterns of intraspecific relationships confounding phylogenetic inference, particularly among birds where a variety of environmental factors may influence plumage characters. Among diurnal raptors, the taxonomic relationship of <it>Buteo jamaicensis harlani </it>to other <it>B. jamaicensis </it>subspecies has been long debated because of the polytypic nature of the plumage characteristics used in subspecies or species designations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To address the evolutionary relationships within this group, we used data from 17 nuclear microsatellite loci, 430 base pairs of the mitochondrial control region, and 829 base pairs of the melanocortin 1 receptor (<it>Mc1r</it>) to investigate molecular genetic differentiation among three <it>B. jamaicensis </it>subspecies (<it>B. j. borealis</it>, <it>B. j. calurus</it>, <it>B. j. harlani</it>). Bayesian clustering analyses of nuclear microsatellite loci showed no significant differences between <it>B. j. harlani </it>and <it>B. j. borealis</it>. Differences observed between <it>B. j. harlani </it>and <it>B. j. borealis </it>in mitochondrial and microsatellite data were equivalent to those found between morphologically similar subspecies, <it>B. j. borealis </it>and <it>B. j. calurus</it>, and estimates of migration rates among all three subspecies were high. No consistent differences were observed in <it>Mc1r </it>data between <it>B. j. harlani </it>and other <it>B. jamaicensis </it>subspecies or between light and dark color morphs within <it>B. j. calurus</it>, suggesting that <it>Mc1r </it>does not play a significant role in <it>B. jamaicensis </it>melanism.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data suggest recent interbreeding and gene flow between <it>B. j. harlani </it>and the other <it>B. jamaicensis </it>subspecies examined, providing no support for the historical designation of <it>B. j. harlani </it>as a distinct species.</p

An assessment of micro-organic pollutants in groundwater across England and Wales

In the last few decades there has been a growing interest in the occurrence of micro-organic (MO) contaminants in the terrestrial and aquatic environment, and in their environmental fate and potential toxicity. A large variety of MOs are used in huge quantities for a range of purposes including arable agriculture, industrial manufacturing processes, as well as human and animal healthcare. Improvements in analytical techniques have allowed identification of organic compounds at low concentrations previously undetected in the aqueous environment. The contamination of groundwater resources by MOs is a growing concern and relatively poorly understood compared to other freshwater resources. Of particular concern are newly ‘emerging contaminants’ such as pharmaceuticals and life-style compounds, particularly those with potential endocrine disrupting properties. While groundwater often has a high degree of protection from pollution due to physical, chemical and biological attenuation processes in the subsurface compared to surface aquatic environments, trace concentrations of a large range of compounds are still detected in groundwater. This study provides the first national scale assessment of micro-organic compounds in groundwater in England and Wales by analysing a national dataset to determine the relative occurrence and detected concentrations of different groups of compounds and aims to determine relationships with different land-use, aquifer types and groundwater vulnerability. MOs found included caffeine, DEET, anti-microbial agents and pharmaceuticals as well as a range of legacy contaminants including chlorinated solvents and THMs, petroleum hydrocarbons, pesticides and other industrial compound

Functional annotation of the transcriptome of the pig, Sus scrofa, based upon network analysis of an RNAseq transcriptional atlas

The domestic pig (Sus scrofa) is both an economically important livestock species and a model for biomedical research. Two highly contiguous pig reference genomes have recently been released. To support functional annotation of the pig genomes and comparative analysis with large human transcriptomic data sets, we aimed to create a pig gene expression atlas. To achieve this objective, we extended a previous approach developed for the chicken. We downloaded RNAseq data sets from public repositories, down-sampled to a common depth, and quantified expression against a reference transcriptome using the mRNA quantitation tool, Kallisto. We then used the network analysis tool Graphia to identify clusters of transcripts that were coexpressed across the merged data set. Consistent with the principle of guilt-by-association, we identified coexpression clusters that were highly tissue or cell-type restricted and contained transcription factors that have previously been implicated in lineage determination. Other clusters were enriched for transcripts associated with biological processes, such as the cell cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. The same approach was used to identify coexpression clusters within RNAseq data from multiple individual liver and brain samples, highlighting cell type, process, and region-specific gene expression. Evidence of conserved expression can add confidence to assignment of orthology between pig and human genes. Many transcripts currently identified as novel genes with ENSSSCG or LOC IDs were found to be coexpressed with annotated neighbouring transcripts in the same orientation, indicating they may be products of the same transcriptional unit. The meta-analytic approach to utilising public RNAseq data is extendable to include new data sets and new species and provides a framework to support the Functional Annotation of Animals Genomes (FAANG) initiative

Targeting phosphoglycerate kinase 1 with terazosin improves motor neuron phenotypes in multiple models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder with heterogeneous aetiology and a complex genetic background. Effective therapies are therefore likely to act on convergent pathways such as dysregulated energy metabolism, linked to multiple neurodegenerative diseases including ALS. METHODS: Activity of the glycolysis enzyme phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) was increased genetically or pharmacologically using terazosin in zebrafish, mouse and ESC-derived motor neuron models of ALS. Multiple disease phenotypes were assessed to determine the therapeutic potential of this approach, including axon growth and motor behaviour, survival and cell death following oxidative stress. FINDINGS: We have found that targeting a single bioenergetic protein, PGK1, modulates motor neuron vulnerability in vivo. In zebrafish models of ALS, overexpression of PGK1 rescued motor axon phenotypes and improved motor behaviour. Treatment with terazosin, an FDA-approved compound with a known non-canonical action of increasing PGK1 activity, also improved these phenotypes. Terazosin treatment extended survival, improved motor phenotypes and increased motor neuron number in Thy1-hTDP-43 mice. In ESC-derived motor neurons expressing TDP-43(M337V), terazosin protected against oxidative stress-induced cell death and increased basal glycolysis rates, while rescuing stress granule assembly. INTERPRETATION: Our data demonstrate that terazosin protects motor neurons via multiple pathways, including upregulating glycolysis and rescuing stress granule formation. Repurposing terazosin therefore has the potential to increase the limited therapeutic options across all forms of ALS, irrespective of disease cause. FUNDING: This work was supported by project grant funding from MND Scotland, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, Medical Research Council Doctoral Student Training Fellowship [Ref: BST0010Z] and Academy of Medical Sciences grant [SGL023\1100]

Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Challenge: Taking Action. Managing invasive species in the context of climate change

Climate change is likely to alter the timing and effect of invasive species management, as well as the suite of species we are managing. Despite concern about the effects of climate change, lack of information about how and when to take action is a barrier to climate-smart invasive species management. Here, we outline strategies for incorporating climate change into management along with examples of tools that can inform proactive decision-making