Patience

A short piece of creative nonfiction about my grandma teaching me how to play solitaire in the wake of Hurricane Irma

The Irish Theology: Formation of Celtic Christianity in Ireland (5th to 9th Century)

The conversion process of Ireland resulted in a culture that reflected both its pagan, Celtic roots and the new Christian ontology. From the fifth to ninth century, Ireland’s learned elite began to be converted to Christianity and created the early monastic settlements that shaped how Christianity was introduced. The interactions between the early Irish monastic founders and the pre-Christian Irish influenced the ways in which early monasteries were established and why Christianity was introduced the way it was. By establishing the Christian faith on the basis of Irish learning, the early church worked with the learned men to establish a written vernacular language and develop an education system. This paper explores the way in which those education centers produced Irish myths, hagiographies and illuminated manuscripts, preserving the pre-Christian past within the Christian era. Ultimately, the two cultures adapted to each other, through varying levels of incorporation regarding different aspects of society, creating a culture which was both Christian and native to Ireland

Lindy And Rastus

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4741/thumbnail.jp

Validation of a recommender system for prompting omitted foods in online dietary assessment surveys

Recall assistance methods are among the key aspects that improve the accuracy of online dietary assessment surveys. These methods still mainly rely on experience of trained interviewers with nutritional background, but data driven approaches could improve cost-efficiency and scalability of automated dietary assessment. We evaluated the effectiveness of a recommender algorithm developed for an online dietary assessment system called Intake24, that automates the multiple-pass 24-hour recall method. The recommender builds a model of eating behavior from recalls collected in past surveys. Based on foods they have already selected, the model is used to remind respondents of associated foods that they may have omitted to report. The performance of prompts generated by the model was compared to that of prompts hand-coded by nutritionists in two dietary studies. The results of our studies demonstrate that the recommender system is able to capture a higher number of foods omitted by respondents of online dietary surveys than prompts hand-coded by nutritionists. However, the considerably lower precision of generated prompts indicates an opportunity for further improvement of the system

Queer/Green collaboration as a radical response to climate crises:Foregrounding the Green Stripe

This article has two aims. Firstly, to highlight a general marginalisation of queer and trans voices within the environmental/ecological movement. Secondly, to identify and explore some contemporary efforts to overcome these tensions and forge closer alliances between queer and green politics. Drawing on queer and trans ecology literatures, we highlight the radical potential that closer synergy between the progressive goals and activities of environmentalist and LGBTQIA2+ politics can bring about. Examining the online content of a number of activist organisations and platforms, we highlight some of the ways in which the queering of green politics and the greening of queer politics are being given practical contemporary expression. In doing so, we highlight the space that this type of politics can create for a reimagining of alternative ecological futures and a more progressive political economy based around a transformation of relationships both within human populations and between humans and other-than-human species and ecologies

Development of food photographs for use with children aged 18 months to 16 years:comparison against weighed food diaries – The Young Person’s Food Atlas (UK)

Traditional dietary assessment methods, used in the UK, such as weighed food diaries impose a large participant burden, often resulting in difficulty recruiting representative samples and underreporting of energy intakes. One approach to reducing the burden placed on the participant is to use portion size assessment tools to obtain an estimate of the amount of food consumed, removing the need to weigh all foods. An age range specific food atlas was developed for use in assessing children’s dietary intakes. The foods selected and portion sizes depicted were derived from intakes recorded during the UK National Diet and Nutrition Surveys of children aged 1.5 to 16 years. Estimates of food portion sizes using the food atlas were compared against 4-day weighed intakes along with in-school / nursery observations, by the research team. Interviews were conducted with parents the day after completion of the diary, and for children aged 4 to 16 years, also with the child. Mean estimates of portion size consumed were within 7% of the weight of food recorded in the weighed food diary. The limits of agreement were wide indicating high variability of estimates at the individual level but the precision increased with increasing age. For children 11 years and over, agreement with weighed food diaries, was as good as that of their parents in terms of total weight of food consumed and of intake of energy and key nutrients. The age appropriate food photographs offer an alternative to weighed intakes for dietary assessment with children

Dolutegravir reduces migration and invasion abilities of trophoblasts by ​decreasing HIF-1α expression and MMPs activities

Dolutegravir (DTG) is a first-line antiretroviral drug used in combination therapy for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection. Due to roll out of generic DTG-based regimen and rising pretreatment resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in resource limited countries, 15 million HIV-1 infected people will be treated with DTG by year 2025. This includes women of child-bearing age who remain a significant infected population. However, growing data have suggested that DTG is associated with birth defects. Thus, uncovering an underlying mechanism for DTG-associated adverse fetal development outcomes has gained research interest. To this end, there is a knowledge gap of known adverse events reflecting DTG-associated trophoblasts impairments. We previously reported that DTG inhibits matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) activities. It is known that activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 are required for the successful invasion of trophoblasts during early pregnancy and abnormalities in the activities of these proteins can influence impairment in placental implantation, vascular restructuring, and fetal development. We now report that DTG reduces invasion abilities of trophoblasts. Herein, we evaluated concentration dependent effects of DTG on HTR-8 trophoblastic cells. DTG was found to inhibit activities of MMP-2 and 9 under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Moreover, DTG treatment decreased expression of HIF-1α under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Interestingly, decrease in expression of beclin 1 protein was observed, suggesting an effect on autophagy. Further assessments to determine the effects of DTG on trophoblasts functions showed that DTG reduces migration and invasion abilities of HTR-8 cells. In addition, studies performed in pregnant mice validated that DTG decreases HIF-1α expression in placenta. Thus, our proof-of-concept work concludes that DTG can potentially impair placental development by affecting HIF-1α expression and MMPs activities.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/surp2022/1021/thumbnail.jp

A descriptive study of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome

BackgroundGuillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated polyneuropathy characterised by progressive, symmetric muscle weakness with depressed or absent deep tendon reflexes. This is a relatively rare disorder. The long term outcomes in Australasian populations are not well described.AimsTo describe the epidemiology of patients with GBS attending an Australian metropolitan hospital over a 10-year period, including long-term (12 months) functional outcomes.Methods Review of medical records of GBS patients admitted to Frankston Hospital over a ten year period (June 2004 to July 2014).Results Thirty seven patients were identified. Median (IQR) age of onset was 60 years (51.5–73), with a M:F ratio of 1.06:1. A seasonal trend was noted, with one-third of cases occurring in winter, and another third in spring. An antecedent event was identified in many patients, with 17 patients having a preceding viral illness, and 10 having diarrhoea. Symptoms started in the legs in the majority of patients (67.5 per cent). Peak disability occurred at admission, with only 34.3 per cent able to mobilise independently at this time. This improved to 70.8 per cent of patients by 12 months. Eleven patients required ICU admission; six of whom required mechanical ventilation, with 50 per cent of them (N=3) requiring tracheostomy. 67.6 per cent of patients required inpatient rehabilitation prior to returning home.ConclusionThe findings are consistent with previous epidemiologic studies. The vast majority of patients were independent at 12-month follow-up

Assessing dietary intake in primary school children

The foods we eat in childhood impact on health in adult life. With the increasing incidence of diet related diseases such as non insulin dependent diabetes and cancer it is important that food intakes are monitored. Further in order to assess the effectiveness of health promotion initiatives methods of assessing intake are required which are both accurate and sensitive enough to detect changes in diet. If nutrient intakes are of interest these methods must include a measure or estimate of the amount of food consumed. Weighing foods imposes a large burden on the subject, may not be practical or possible in some sub-sections of populations e. g. children, and often results in underreporting. The purpose of this work was to develop methods for assessing dietary intake in 4 to 11 year olds; to assess the relative validity of these methods; to utilise the methods to assess the effectiveness of a dietary intervention and to assess the validity of current methods of assessing portion size for use with children. Two methods of assessing dietary intake were developed and pilot tested with children aged 4 to 11 years old. A food record designed to measure frequency of fruit and vegetable intake and a food diary with interview using food photographs to measure nutrient intake. Following refinement the methods were used to assess the effectiveness of a fruit and vegetable intervention. In a further study the validity of adult food photographs and food models in estimating portion size with children was assessed in an interview where children were shown known weights of foods. The food record and food diary were successful in detecting changes in intake of fruit and vegetables as a result of the intervention. The food record was found to be difficult to complete and was accurate in measuring fruit and vegetable intakes only at the group level. Accuracy of chi ' ldren's estimates of portion size were poor, children significantly overestimated food portion sizes on average using both the food photographs and the food models. The precision of children's estimates of portion size was also poor with a large range of over- and underestimates of portion size using both the food models and the food photographs.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceFood Standards Agency, Fruit and Vegetable Intervention study, Bradlaw fundGBUnited Kingdo