Cardiometabolic health in students and young adults with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities : results from a longitudinal follow-up study and a school intervention

Background Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) develop the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease more frequently than individuals without ID. The knowledge about cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents with mild/moderate ID is scarce. Aims The aims were 1) to examine cardiometabolic health among adolescents with ID 2) to study the progress of cardiometabolic risk factors from adolescence to young adulthood among young adults with and without ID 3) to evaluate whether a health-promoting program in an upper secondary school for students with ID could reduce cardiometabolic risk factors 4) to evaluate whether the plate model pattern, inlayed in a specially designed lunch plate, increases vegetable intake. Material and Methods Sixty-six adolescents with mild/moderate ID, mean age 18.6y recruited from one upper secondary school for students with ID (year 1-4) were investigated in a cross sectional study (Paper I). Controls were 90 students without ID, mean age 17.8y, recruited from practical and theoretical programs at schools nearby. In the follow-up study five years later 35% (n=23) of the now young adults with ID and 33% (n =30) from the control group were re-investigated (Paper II). Measures were anthropometrics, blood pressure, DXA, fasting blood samples and a submaximal cardiovascular fitness test. The multifactorial school intervention was evaluated on last year students after two years of intervention (n = 11) and compared with their base-line data (Paper I) and with last year students in Paper I (Paper III). The special plate with the plate model inlayed was evaluated in an observational study. The intervention group (n = 27) had eaten on the special plate during school lunches for at least six months. The control group (n=62) was recruited from two other upper secondary schools for students with ID. Food intake was estimated from video recordings and digital photos (Paper IV). Results Adolescents with ID had a higher prevalence and severity of cardiometabolic risk factors together with low cardiovascular fitness compared to the control group. At follow-up as young adults (mean age 24.3) 35% were classified as obese and 22% had developed the metabolic syndrome. Those without ID from practical educational programs also developed cardiometabolic risk factors but they did not reach the same level as the group with ID. After two years of school intervention cardiometabolic risk factors had decreased and no one were obese. Evaluation of the special plate showed no difference in vegetable intake between intervention and control group. Eighty-eight percent ate ≥ 37.5% vegetables. The intervention group chose food with a lower fat content and with more carbohydrates, had less plate waste and took fewer portions. Conclusions Already during adolescence individuals with ID have more cardiometabolic risk factors than those without ID and as young adults individuals with ID in this study has a cardiometabolic health and cardiovascular fitness similar to the Swedish middle-age population. Actions to promote healthy living habits during school hours including the use of the special plate were promising. This indicates that it is not the ID condition itself but the effects ID has on the living conditions that causes the high cardiometabolic risk. Thus, the results in this thesis shows that initiatives especially designed for individuals with ID to promote healthier living habits are required and are likely to be effective

Anticipatory Repudiation: A Clear Barrier to Communication

This Comment explores anticipatory repudiation under the U.C.C. in order to address the inherent disincentive to communicate among the parties to a contract when uncertainty of performance occurs. This Comment presents a brief history of anticipatory repudiation, the framework of the doctrine in the U.C.C., and previously recognized instances of anticipatory repudiation. This Comment argues that the current framework discourages open, honest communication among the parties to a contract in contradiction to the requirements of good faith and fair dealing necessary in any agreement. This Comment reviews some of the previous recommendations for changes to this section of the U.C.C. and attempts to provide potential solutions to overcome the barriers to communication found here, by compelling certain communications in specific situations. The value in reviewing and addressing the problems found in anticipatory repudiation are further explored in this Comment from a marketing standpoint. This Comment argues that the effects of anticipatory repudiation may devalue relational assets when concepts from exchange orientation are taken into consideration, and relationship marketing suffers from these inherent barriers to communication

Title VII Retaliation Claims: But-For Causation Gets Back at Price Waterhouse in the Wake of University of Texas Southwest Medical Center v. Nassar, 133 S. Ct. 2517 (2013)

In the summer of 2013, the Supreme Court ruled on University of Texas Southwest Medical Center v. Nassar, and, in doing so, the Court established a higher burden of proof for plaintiffs bringing claims for discrimination on the basis of retaliation. This Note explores the history of Title VII discrimination claims and the Court’s changing approach to the burden of proof from Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins through Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. and on to Nassar. This Note goes on to argue that the decision in Nassar was inappropriate, both in the Court’s reasoning and for the Court’s failure to anticipate the inevitable confusion, inadequate protections from discrimination, and more frequent status-based discrimination claims

Röntgenhoitaja työssä ydinvoimalaitoksessa

Tulevaisuudessa työvoimatarve ydinenergia-alalla kasvaa, jonka vuoksi tutkimus on ajankohtainen. Aikaisempia tutkimuksia aiheesta ei ole. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kuvailla, millaisissa työtehtävissä röntgenhoitajat parhaillaan työskentelevät ydinvoimalaitoksessa ja millaisissa työtehtävissä heidän osaamistaan voidaan hyödyntää. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tehdä tunnetuksi röntgenhoitajan osaamista säteilynkäytön asiantuntijana ydinvoimalaympäristössä. Tutkimus on laadullinen, ja se etenee induktiivisesti perustuen aristoteeliseen lähestymistapaan, jonka pyrkimyksenä on ilmiön ymmärtäminen. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin avoimella ryhmähaastattelulla, jossa tiedonantajat keskustelivat vapaasti asetetun tutkimustehtävän pohjalta. Haastattelu toteutettiin verkkopu-heluna Adobe Connect -sovelluksella. Tutkimusaineisto analysoitiin aineistolähtöisellä sisällönanalyysilla. Tuloksista käy ilmi, että röntgenhoitajatutkinnon suorittanut henkilö työllistyy ydinvoimalaitokseen säteilyvalvojan työhön. Säteilyvalvojan tehtäviin kuuluu säteilytasojen seuranta, kontaminaatiomittaukset, kaluston huolto ja säteilyalueella työskentelevien valvonta. Lisäksi vuosihuoltosyklillä on osuutta työtehtävien vaihteluun. Röntgenhoitajataustaisia henkilöitä työskentelee ydinvoimalaitoksissa myös säteilysuojeluorganisaation ulkopuolella erilaisissa tehtävissä. Uralla eteneminen on ollut mahdollista säteilyvalvojan työn kautta. Röntgenhoitaja sitoutuu ydinvoimalaitoksessa työskennellessään turvallisuuskulttuuriin ja säteilyn käytön oikeuksien ja velvollisuuksien mukaiseen työskentelyyn. Tutkimustulokset lisäävät tietoutta röntgenhoitajan työskentelymahdollisuuksista ydinvoimalaitoksessa, ja ne ovat hyödynnettävissä laaja-alaisesti. Aiheesta ei ole aiempaa tutkimustietoa, joten yhtenä jatkotutkimushaasteena on tutkia säteilyvalvojan työtehtäviä yksityiskohtaisemmin.In the near future the number of employees in nuclear energy industry will increase. The subject is current and there are not any similar studies. The aim of this study was to discover and describe what kind of tasks a qualified radiographer has in a nuclear power plant currently and how their know-how could be exploited in the future. The study was qualitative and the material was collected using an open interview. Informants had knowledge or experience of working in a nuclear power plant. Some of them also had a radiographer’s degree. The open net interview was based on our study task which informants freely discussed. The recorded conversation was first transcribed and then combined into categories. The data was analysed using the method of inductive content analysis. According to the results a newly qualified radiographer can be employed in a nuclear power plant as a radiation supervisor. A radiation supervisor works in a radiation protection group and their tasks are to follow-up radiation levels, contamination measurements, equipment service and supervision of human traffic. An annual overhaul of the nuclear power plant also has an effect on a radiation supervisor’s tasks. There are some radiographers who work in nuclear power plants outside the radiation protection organization. The career advancement has been possible with further education. Working in a nuclear power plant always requires commitment to the safety culture. These results increase knowledge of a radiographer’s employment opportunities in nuclear energy industry and results can be exploited widely. Further research could deal with a radiation supervisor’s work more specifically

Sub-collision hyperfine structure of nonlinear-optical resonance with field scanning

Some experimental evidences for methane are produced that the simple transition from frequency scanning of nonlinear-optical resonances to magnetic one may be accompanied with transition from sub-Doppler collisionally broadened structure to sub-collision hyperfine one. It is conditioned by nonlinearity of splitting of hyperfine sublevel for molecules in the adiabatically varied magnetic field and respectively breaking the analogy of magnetic and frequency scannings. The exact calculation of the resonance structure is considered for molecules with only one spin subsystem. The approximately spin-additive calculation of the structure is given for sufficiently fast rotating molecules with greater number of spin subsystems. Within the same approximation an example of hyperfine doubling in the magnetic and electric spectra of nonlinear-optical resonance is considered for fluoromethane.Comment: 56 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in J. Mol. Spectrosc

On spin-rotation contribution to nuclear spin conversion in C_{3v}-symmetry molecules. Application to CH_3F

The symmetrized contribution of E-type spin-rotation interaction to conversion between spin modifications of E- and A_1-types in molecules with C_{3v}-symmetry is considered. Using the high-J descending of collisional broadening for accidental rotational resonances between these spin modifications, it was possible to co-ordinate the theoretical description of the conversion with (updated) experimental data for two carbon-substituted isotopes of fluoromethane. As a result, both E-type spin-rotation constants are obtained. They are roughly one and a half times more than the corresponding constants for (deutero)methane.Comment: 13 pages with single-spacing, REVTeX, no figures, accepted for publication in <J. Phys. B

Zfp36l2 is required for self-renewal of early erythroid BFU-E progenitors

Stem cells and progenitors in many lineages undergo self- renewing divisions, but the extracellular and intracellular proteins that regulate this process are largely unknown. Glucocorticoids stimulate red cell formation by promoting self-renewal of early erythroid burst forming unit-erythrocyte (BFU-E) progenitors1-4. Here we show that the RNA binding protein Zfp36l2 is a transcriptional target of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in BFU-Es and is required for BFU-E self-renewal. Zfp36l2 is normally downregulated during erythroid differentiation from the BFU-E stage but its expression is maintained by all tested GR agonists that stimulate BFU-E self-renewal, and the GR binds to several potential enhancer regions of Zfp36l2. Knockdown of Zfp36l2 in cultured BFU-E cells did not affect the rate of cell division but disrupted glucocorticoid-induced BFU-E self-renewal, and knockdown of Zfp36l2 in transplanted erythroid progenitors prevented expansion of erythroid lineage progenitors normally seen following induction of anemia by phenylhydrazine treatment. Zfp36l2 preferentially binds to mRNAs that are induced or maintained at high expression levels during terminal erythroid differentiation and negatively regulates their expression levels. Thus Zfp36l2 functions as part of molecular switch promoting BFU-E self-renewal and thus a subsequent increase in the total numbers of CFU-E progenitors and erythroid cells that are generated

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationAdvances in technology have produced efficient and powerful scientific instruments for measuring biological phenomena. In particular, modern microscopes and nextgeneration sequencing machines produce data at such a rate that manual analysis is no longer practical or feasible for meaningful scientific inquiries. Thus, there is a great need for computational strategies to organize and analyze huge amounts of data produced by biological experiments. My work presents computational strategies and software solutions for application in image analysis, human variant prioritization, and metagenomics. The information content of images can be leveraged to answer an extremely broad spectrum of questions ranging from inquiries about basic biological processes to highly specific, application-driven inquiries like the efficacy of a pharmaceutical drug. Modern microscopes can produce images at a rate at which rigorous manual analysis is impossible. I have created software pipelines that automate image analysis in two specific applications domains. In addition, I discuss general image analysis strategies that can be applied to a wide variety of problems. There are tens of millions of known human genetic variants. Prioritizing human variants based on how likely they are to cause disease is of huge importance because of the potential impact on human health. Current variant prioritization methods are limited by their scope, efficiency, and accuracy. I present a variant prioritization method, the VAAST variant prioritizer, which is superior in its scope, efficiency, and accuracy to existing variant prioritization methods. The rise of next-generation sequencing enables huge quantities of sequence to be generated in a short period of time. No field of study has been affected by rapid sequencing more than metagenomics. Metagenomics, the genomic analysis of a population v of microorganisms, has important implications for pathogen detection because metagenomics enables the culture-free detection of microorganisms. I have created Taxonomer, a comprehensive metagenomics pipeline that enables the real-time analysis of read datasets derived from environmental samples

Dielectrically Loaded Quad-ridge Flared Horns for Ultra Wideband Reflector Feed Applications in Radio Astronomy

Reflector-based radio telescopes are used as tools for observations in both radio astronomy and space geodesy. To observe the weak sources in space, highly sensitive receivers, fronted by optimized reflector feeds, are therefore needed. Wideband and ultra-wideband (UWB) systems enable large continuous frequency bandwidth and reduce the number of receivers that are needed to cover the radio spectrum. Therefore, they are attractive for existing and next generation of reflector arrays such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), Allen Telescope Array (ATA), Deep Synoptic Array (DSA), and the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA). To achieve sensitive wideband and UWB performance with reflector feeds, a near-constant beamwidth and good impedance match are required over large frequency bands. The quad-ridge flared horn (QRFH) is a robust and compact UWB feed technology for this purpose, and is easily designed with single-ended excitation for 50-Ohm ports. The QRFH is dual-linear polarized and can typically achieve good performance up to 6:1 bandwidth with high band-average aperture efficiency and good impedance match. A drawback in existing state-of-the-art QRFH designs, is that they suffer from gradually narrowing beamwidth and increasing cross-polarization in the upper part of the frequency band. This is especially challenging for QRFHs that are designed to illuminate deep reflector geometries. The narrowing beamwidth leads to reduced aperture efficiency, and therefore also reduced sensitivity. To meet the demand for high sensitivity observations over large bandwidths, these challenges need to be addressed.This thesis introduces and investigates low-loss, dielectric loading of the QRFH design to achieve ultra-wideband performance that reaches beyond decade bandwidth exemplified with 20:1 bandwidth in one single QRFH. The dielectric load is homogeneous, with a small and non-intrusive footprint and improves the beamwidth performance over the frequency band, while keeping the complexity low and the QRFH footprint compact. Keeping the QRFH robustness and compact footprint is favorable for practical receiver installation in real-world applications for radio observations. Three quad-ridge designs with dielectric loading are investigated, both for room temperature and cryogenic applications, and are shown to be highly suitable for wideband operation in existing and future reflector arrays