The Impact of Socioeconomic Factors and Familial Structure on Pediatric Health: An Analysis of Child Physical and Mental Health Outcomes

The minds and bodies of children are some of the most impressionable, open to influence from the environment and the actions and ideas of those around them. The ways which children think about themselves and those they may come into contact with can be strongly influenced by the way they are raised, in a rich or poor family, in a small or large one. Both the socioeconomic status and structure of a child\u27s family throughout their upbringing impacts the physical and mental health outcomes of the child. Children of lower socioeconomic statuses, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, minority racial and ethnic backgrounds, and those assigned female at birth, as well as those children whose families have little structure or adult influence tend to have less positive health outcomes, with higher incidences of both treated and untreated or unrecognized mental and physical health ailments. Through no fault of their own, children of lower socioeconomic statuses and less structured families are predisposed to poor health conditions which must be ameliorated through societal change aimed at bridging the gaps in healthcare

Beyond Marriage and Motherhood: The Motifs Involved in the Portrayal of Women in Literature

When I was in elementary school most of the books that I voluntarily read featured female characters. Part of the reason was that it was expected of me and those books (about girls/women) were the ones recommended to me. Another part was that female characters were the ones I could most closely relate to. They gave me ideas about what it is to be a woman, and subtly led me to approach the question of what kind of woman I wanted to be. It took me years to really pick up on the stereotypes and recurring female characters, and it is only recently that I began to realize how detrimental these stereotypes are. The fiction included in my portfolio are responses based on my question: what does literature tell us about women and their place in the patriarchal world? More specifically, where do women fit in a heteronormative society, in a world where men are the traditional rulers of the overall system

An Audit of the Management of ABPA in CF patients at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

Background: Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a persistent problem for many cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. It is a challenging condition to diagnose and manage.Aim: The CF team at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital aimed to assess how consistently and effectively they were managing the condition. A diagnosis and management monitoring tool was used to systematically draw data for auditing.Methods: Out of 87 patients under the care of the CF team, 20 had previously been diagnosed with ABPA. 60% had 4 out of the 4 minimal diagnostic criteria. 75% grew cultures positive for A. fumigatus at some point since their diagnosis of ABPA. All patients had received prednisolone therapy at some point since diagnosis, with 7 patients receiving the maximum starting dose of 40 mg and 1.29 mg/kg for those below maximum dose. 14 patients were prescribed antifungal therapy. 5 patients had levels ordered when they started the therapy, 5 had levels ordered between 45 and 1149 days after prescription, and 3 have had no levels ordered to date. A second audit was performed one year later to complete the audit cycle.Results: This cohort of patients had a much higher prevalence of ABPA than the general CF population.Discussion: Research into the relationship between ABPA exacerbation and concurrent infections or antibiotic therapy could help identify risk factors for developing an exacerbation. There should be discussions about how to improve the consistency in initial dosing of prednisolone, considering guidelines.Conclusion: There should be more itraconazole levels taken to ensure safety and effectiveness of antifungal therapy

Poetry as Social Justice in The English Review

Undergraduate Textual or Investigativ

Communication channel preferences of digitally-engaged national swine registry members

Understanding membership preferences for communication channels is important to the success of any breed association. Although research has studied beef breed associations, there is a lack of research focusing on swine breed associations and membership perceptions. The purpose of this study was to gauge digitally-engaged National Swine Registry members’ perspectives of the organization’s communication channels and provide the NSR more knowledge about its digitally-engaged members. Specifically, this study sought to determine members’ communication preferences, reasons for following digital media channels, and suggested enhancements for the organization’s current communication channels. A review of literature concluded livestock producers prefer print publications over social media as the primary form of communication from breed associations. The literature also indicated social media has the potential to be beneficial, and the most preferred platform for producers is Facebook. The Uses and Gratifications Theory undergirded this study. Dillman’s Tailored Design Method (2014) guided this study. The questionnaire combined 5-scale Likert-Type, demographic, and open-ended questions to achieve the research objectives. Due to the response rate, the findings from this study are only generalizable to the 85 respondents. Results noted digitally-engaged NSR members found the organization’s communication channels to be useful, appropriate, educational, informative, and engaging. This study aligned with many of the findings concluded from previous literature. The digitally-engaged members’ preferred Facebook as their primary communication channel. This finding contradicted previous research, which found social media to be the least preferred communication channel amongst producers. It is recommended the NSR conduct a digital media audit on all digital platforms and increase educational content across communication channels. Further research with swine breed associations and evaluating swine producers is recommended. Specifically, an evaluation of the remaining NSR communication channels, media platforms, as well as a qualitative study focusing on active members at shows is recommended

Postextinction Geographies: Audiovisual Afterlives of the Bucardo and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

How do technologies animate more-than-human geographies after extinction? How can geographical scholarship evoke, or bring presence to, extinct biota? In an epoch simultaneously characterized by biotic loss at an unthinkable scale and the increased presence of representations depicting nonhuman life through mass media and digitization, we examine the epistemic, affective, and ethical possibilities of extinct animal traces to shape more-than-human geographies. We show how technological apparatuses inaugurate afterlives of extinction troubling binaries of extinct–extant and absence–presence. Specifically, we consider audio and visual remains of two taxa producing awkward and unsettling postextinction geographies: the ivory-billed woodpecker and the bucardo. Sound recordings and other historical traces continue to forge contemporary connections between human searchers and the ivory-billed woodpecker, although no sighting of the ghost bird has been universally accepted since 1944. The bucardo was declared extinct in 2000, but it was tentatively reanimated through a failed 2003 cloning project; in this milieu, visual technologies and representations conjure alternative presence and speculative futures beyond technoscientific spectacle. Through conversing our own situated, speculative, and technologically mediated relations with these taxa—and situating the technological assemblages themselves—we present some of the lively, contested, and dispersed ways technological apparatuses affect and inaugurate animated geographies after extinction

Community Orchards for Food Sovereignty, Human Health, and Climate Resilience: Indigenous Roots and Contemporary Applications

Community orchards could play a valuable role as nature-based solutions to complex challenges we face today. In these unique plantings, a variety of nut- and fruit-producing trees and berry shrubs are often established together on public spaces to provide the community with healthy, fresh food. Interest in these plantings has been increasing in the United States, even more so since the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted vulnerabilities in our food systems. However, the roots of community orchards can be traced back to Indigenous foodways which have persisted for millennia. Then and now, community orchards support an array of functions, positioning them to contribute to solutions to major challenges related to food security, human health, and climate resilience. In this paper, contemporary applications are considered for Indigenous communities in the US that seek to care for their communities and the environment. A case study of the Osage Orchard project in Pawhuska, OK, USA, highlights the value of reconnecting with cultural foods and practices of Osage ancestors, to meet the needs and preferences of a contemporary Indigenous community

Restoration of SMN in Schwann cells reverses myelination defects and improves neuromuscular function in spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disease caused by low levels of SMN protein, primarily affecting lower motor neurons. Recent evidence from SMA and related conditions suggests that glial cells can influence disease severity. Here, we investigated the role of glial cells in the peripheral nervous system by creating SMA mice selectively overexpressing SMN in myelinating Schwann cells (Smn(−/−);SMN2(tg/0);SMN1(SC)). Restoration of SMN protein levels restricted solely to Schwann cells reversed myelination defects, significantly improved neuromuscular function and ameliorated neuromuscular junction pathology in SMA mice. However, restoration of SMN in Schwann cells had no impact on motor neuron soma loss from the spinal cord or ongoing systemic and peripheral pathology. This study provides evidence for a defined, intrinsic contribution of glial cells to SMA disease pathogenesis and suggests that therapies designed to include Schwann cells in their target tissues are likely to be required in order to rescue myelination defects and associated disease symptoms