Dietary counseling in the management of moderate malnourishment in children.

BACKGROUND: Dietary counseling is an integral part of treating malnutrition. A first step toward improving the management of moderate malnutrition is to evaluate dietary messages in current programs and assess their adequacy and effectiveness. OBJECTIVES: To ascertain current recommendations regarding family foods for the treatment of moderate malnutrition and assess whether these are likely to meet nutritional requirements for rehabilitation; to review the effectiveness of dietary counseling in the management of moderate malnutrition. METHODS: Information was requested from 10 United Nations agencies or donors, 20 international nongovernmental organizations, 3 pediatric associations, and 6 national programs about the dietary advice they give to caregivers of moderately malnourished children. Adequacy was assessed by comparing dietary recommendations with nutritional requirements. Linear programming was used to identify problem nutrients. A literature search was conducted of studies using family foods for rehabilitating malnourished children. RESULTS: There was a greater emphasis on providing food supplements for rehabilitation than on utilizing family foods. Dietary recommendations were mostly vague and unlikely to be effective. Those developed by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization for well-nourished children may meet nutritional requirements in moderate malnutrition if the recommendations are made more prescriptive. Zinc and vitamin E emerged as possible problem nutrients. Intervention studies in wasted children suggest that counseling caregivers about family foods can achieve good rates of weight gain. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary counseling can be effective in managing malnutrition, but it is often weak or absent and should be strengthened. More attention will need to be given to formulating the messages and improving counseling skills

Constructing Wildebeest Density Distributions by Spatio-temporal Smoothing of Ordinal Categorical Data Using GAMs

Spatio-temporal smoothing of large ecological datasets describing species distributions can be made challenging by high computational costs and deficiencies in the available data. We present an application of a GAM-based smoothing method to a large ordinal categorical dataset on the distribution of wildebeest in the Serengeti ecosystem

Molecular characterisation of Ovine CD1

The CD1 molecules are a family of ß2microglobulin- associated glycoproteins with strong structural homology, but weaker sequence homology, to the MHC class I antigens. In contrast to the classical class I antigens, CD1 molecules exhibit restricted tissue expression (cortical thymocytes, dendritic cells, a subset of B cells and some intestinal epithelial cells), and are nonpolymorphic. Five CD1 genes have been identified in humans, two in the mouse and several in other mammalian species (Calabi et al, 1991). CD1 expression has also been detected by immunohistological techniques in the cow, sheep and pig.The MHC class I -like structure of CD1 and the expression on classical antigen presenting cells of the immune system has pointed to a role for CD1 in antigen presentation. Indeed, evidence has been accumulating over the past few years to support this view, with several reports suggesting that CD4 -8- T cells in particular may be able to recognise nonclassical presentational elements including MHC class lb molecules such as TLa and Qa, as well as CD1. Most recently, CD1b molecules on human monocytes have been demonstrated to restrict the response of CD4 -8- T cells to antigens derived from M. tuberculosis (Porcelli et al, 1992).Previous studies on the ovine CD1 family have involved the use of monoclonal antibodies to assess tissue expression and distribution, and biochemical analyses of the ovine CD1 antigens. However, no studies have been carried out to investigate ovine CD1 at the molecular level. Therefore, a human CD1 C a3 probe was used to screen several sheep thymocyte cDNA libraries. The HCD1 B -like clone SCD1 A25 was isolated from a foetal thymocyte library. A homologous probe comprising the a3/TM /CYT domains from this clone was derived by PCR amplification and used to identify a further three ovine clones - SCD1 B -42, SCD1 B -52 and SCD1T10. Three of the four clones are truncated at the 5' end, with sequences beginning towards the end of the al domain or the start of the a2 domain. These 5' truncation events probably reflect poor reverse transcriptase activity during library preparation. The fourth clone, SCD1 B -52, represents a transcript containing a precise a3 deletion. The PCR technique was used to amplify the missing 5' ends from two of the three truncated$equences, thus generating full length coding sequence for two of the four ovine CD1's identified.Comparison of the ovine CD1 sequences amongst themselves has shown them to be 81 -96% identical at the nucleotide level and 79 -90% identical at the amino acid level, suggesting that the four clones represent different gene products rather than allelic variants of CD1. The sheep sequences have also been analysed by comparison to the human, mouse and rabbit coding seqences. Perhaps unexpectedly, given the existence of five different human CD1 genes, all of the ovine CD1 sequences are most homologous to human CD1 B at both the nucleotide and amino acid levels. The sheep CD1 sequences also show a high percentage sequence identity to the cottontail rabbit sequence, which is itself most similar to HCD1 B.Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA digested with a variety of enzymes and probed with the homologous a3 probe has indicated the possible existence of up to seven ovine CD1 genes. Further studies are required to determine which of these genes are expressed and to identify the genes encoding the CD1 molecules recognised by the monoclonal antibodies. The significance and implications of these results are discussed and potential further experiments suggested

Inference of the drivers of collective movement in two cell types: Dictyostelium and melanoma

Collective cell movement is a key component of many important biological processes, including wound healing, the immune response and the spread of cancers. To understand and influence these movements, we need to be able to identify and quantify the contribution of their different underlying mechanisms. Here, we define a set of six candidate models—formulated as advection–diffusion–reaction partial differential equations—that incorporate a range of cell movement drivers. We fitted these models to movement assay data from two different cell types: Dictyostelium discoideum and human melanoma. Model comparison using widely applicable information criterion suggested that movement in both of our study systems was driven primarily by a self-generated gradient in the concentration of a depletable chemical in the cells' environment. For melanoma, there was also evidence that overcrowding influenced movement. These applications of model inference to determine the most likely drivers of cell movement indicate that such statistical techniques have potential to support targeted experimental work in increasing our understanding of collective cell movement in a range of systems

A probabilistic model to evaluate population dietary recommendations.

Food-based dietary recommendations (FBR) play an essential role in promoting a healthy diet. To support the process of formulating a set of population-specific FBR, a probabilistic model was developed specifically to predict the changes in the percentage of a population at risk of inadequate nutrient intakes after the adoption of alternative sets of FBR. The model simulates the distribution of the number of servings per week from food groups or food items at baseline and after the hypothetical successful adoption of alternative sets of FBR, while ensuring that the population's energy intake distribution remains similar. The simulated changes from baseline in median nutrient intakes and the percentage of the population at risk of inadequate nutrient intakes are calculated and compared across the alternative sets of FBR. The model was illustrated using a hypothetical population of 12- to 18-month-old breast-feeding children consuming a cereal-based diet low in animal source foods

Does Stress Matter? Findings from a Self-Report Survey of Contract Cheating Behaviours of Canadian College Students

Presentation for the International Centre of Academic Integrity Annual Conference, March 2023.Othe

Analysis of trends in SMART Nutrition Survey data from South Sudan between 2004 and 2016

Introduction: Emergency levels of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) persist in former Northern Bar el Ghazal State in South Sudan despite ongoing interventions. Reasons for long-term trends in GAM in South Sudan have not been explored despite decades of nutrition and health interventions.Objective: This project aimed to identify and analyse changes in patterns of malnutrition and key factors associated with malnutrition from 2004 to 2016.Methods: Secondary data analysis was carried out using Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) nutrition surveys. Anthropometric data collected from children under five years of age from 2004 to 2016 were analysed to estimate seasonal differences in the prevalence of GAM (weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) <-2) and severe acute malnutrition (WHZ <-3). Risk factors for GAM were explored using data collected in 2014 and 2015 and analysed using logistic regression. Adjusted Wald tests investigated which variables were associated with GAM (p<0.05).Results: In Aweil West and North a reduction in GAM was observed between September 2004 (21.0%, CI 18.2-23.9) and November 2009 (16.2%, CI: 13.7-18.9). However, this apparent decline likely reflects a seasonal difference because the 5-year overall mean GAM was 20.4% (SD: 0.403) and 17.5% (SD: 0.380) in pre- and postharvest seasons respectively. In multivariable linear regression modelling, not having been sick in the past two weeks (aOR 0.78, 95% CI 0.61, 0.99, p=0.047), and not having consumed juice (aOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.45, 0.99, p=0.045) were protective against GAM after adjusting for all potential confounders.Conclusion: This study highlights the impact of instability on the nutritional status of a generation, with the high prevalence of GAM and severe acute malnutrition remaining unchanged since 2004. Regular collection of representative nutrition data is useful to inform decision making. The results of this study suggest that a focus on care seeking behaviours and hygiene practices would be beneficial. The persistent prevalence of GAM identifies a need, not just for nutrition programmes but also effective prevention programmes.Keywords: malnutrition, South Sudan, Aweil, illness, juice, SMART surve

'A Sentence of Last Resort': the order for lifelong restriction and the sentencing of dangerous offenders in Scotland

This thesis is a critical analysis of the order for lifelong restriction (OLR). The OLR is a risk-based indeterminate sentence of imprisonment. It is imposed when the offender satisfies certain statutory risk criteria for the protection of the public. This thesis has four main aims: (1) to identify an appropriate theoretical basis for the imposition of preventive detention that is capable of supporting an ethically defensible model of preventive sentencing, and of serving as an analytical model for application to the OLR; (2) to give a detailed and critical account of the OLR’s operational framework; (3) to assess the extent to which the current statutory framework conforms to the requirements identified in the analytical model proposed in relation to the first aim; and (4) in light of this to propose amendments to the relevant legislation. The thesis concludes that preventive sentencing is best conceptualised as a punitive form of societal self-defence, the right of which is engaged when an offender exercises his autonomy such as to violate the rights of others in a way that threatens lasting physical or psychological harm. Since the need to consider preventive detention has arisen from fault on the offender’s part, it is morally permissible to require him to bear the burden of any uncertainty as to repeat offending. The derogation from the principle of desert-proportionality requires to be tempered with threat-proportionality. This means that the offences to which preventive sentences may apply must be restricted to serious offences against the person, or other offences which threaten physical harm to persons – this has the effect of excluding property offences that do not endanger others. Finally, it is concluded that, while the OLR is, in general terms, an ethically defensible model of preventive detention, some modifications to the procedural framework ought to be considered in order to restrict its scope

Modelling collective movement across scales: from cells to wildebeest

Collective movements are ubiquitous in biological systems, occurring at all scales; from the sub-organismal movements of groups of cells, to the far-ranging movements of bird flocks and herds of large herbivores. Movement patterns at these vastly different scales often exhibit surprisingly similar patterns, suggesting that mathematically similar mechanisms may drive collective movements across many systems. The aims of this study were three-fold. First, to develop mechanistic movement models capable of producing the observed wealth of spatial patterns. Second, to tailor statistical inference approaches to these models that are capable of identifying drivers of collective movement that could be applied to a wide range of study systems. Third, to validate the approaches by fitting the mechanistic models to data from diverse biological systems. These study systems included two small-scale in vitro cellular systems, involving movement of groups of human melanoma cells and Dictyostelium discoideum (slime mould) cells, and a third much larger-scale system, involving wildebeest in the Serengeti ecosystem. I developed a series of mechanistic movement models, based on advection-diffusion partial differential equations and integro-differential equations, that describe changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of the study population as a consequence of various movement drivers, including environmental gradients, environmental depletion, social behaviour, and spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the response of the individuals to these drivers. I also developed a number of approaches to statistical inference (comprising both parameter estimation and model comparison) for these models that ranged from frequentist, to pseudo-Bayesian, to fully Bayesian. These inference approaches also varied in whether they required numerical solutions of the models, or whether the need for numerical solutions was bypassed by using gradient matching methods. The inference methods were specifically designed to be effective in the face of the many difficulties presented by advection-diffusion models, particularly high computational costs and instabilities in numerical model solutions, which have previously prevented these models from being fitted to data. It was also necessary for these inference methods to be able to cope with data of different qualities; the cellular data provided accurate information on the locations of all individuals through time, while the wildebeest data consisted of coarse ordinal abundance categories on a spatial grid at monthly intervals. By applying the developed models and inference methods to data from each study system, I drew a number of conclusions about the mechanisms driving movement in these systems. In all three systems, for example, there was evidence of a saturating response to an environmental gradient in a resource or chemical attractant that the individuals could deplete locally. I also found evidence of temporal dependence in the movement parameters for all systems. This indicates that the simplifying assumption that behaviour is constant, which has been made by many previous studies that have modelled movement, is unlikely to be justified. Differences between the systems were also demonstrated, such as overcrowding affecting the movements of melanoma and wildebeest, but not Dictyostelium, and wildebeest having a much greater range of perception than cells, and thus being able to respond to environmental conditions tens of kilometres away. The toolbox of methods developed in this thesis could be applied to increase understanding of the mechanisms underlying collective movement in a wide range of systems. In their current form, these methods are capable of producing very close matches between models and data for our simple cell systems, and also produce a relatively good model fit in the more complex wildebeest system, where there is, however, still some room for improvement. While more work is required to make the models generalisable to all taxa, particularly through the addition of memory-driven movement, inter-individual differences in behaviour, and more complex social dynamics, the advection-diffusion modelling framework is flexible enough for these additional behaviours to be incorporated in the future. A greater understanding of what drives collective movements in different systems could allow management of these movements to prevent the collapse of important migrations, control pest species, or prevent the spread of cancer

How Stressed are Students and What Can We Do About It? Findings from a Self-report Survey of Contract Cheating Behaviours and the Stressful Events College Students Experience

Empirical research on contract cheating in Canada has been limited (Eaton, 2022) and tends to focus on the university (Eaton, 2019; Stoesz & Los, 2019; Thacker, 2022) while there has been relatively little research on academic integrity and contract cheating in community colleges and other non-university higher education institutions (Bretag & Harper, 2020). To address this gap, in 2021, researchers collected data on student engagement in academic integrity violation behaviour and the stress they experienced as they were completing their programs at one Canadian community college. Using self-report survey methodology and utilizing students as partners in research, we found students engaged in a variety of contract cheating behaviours, and experienced a myriad of stressful events both in and outside the college context, including traumatic life events. In this presentation, we explore the link between stress and contract cheating behaviour and address how we can respond at all levels of our institutions to better support students and promote academic integrity.    &nbsp