Parents’ experiences of a new baby group

"This study explores parents’ experiences of attending an existing group that was developed for parents and their young babies. The group is located in a rural children’s centre. The study aims to use parents’ experiences of attending a ‘new baby’ group to infulence practice and the development of a parenting programme. The implications of the findings are examined.

New UT app will help students track symptoms, record COVID-19 test results

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Genetic and mechanistic analysis of rat mammary cancer susceptibility.

Breast cancer is a complex disease, which is influenced by genetic, epigenetic and environmental components. Genetic susceptibility to breast cancer is made up of high, moderate and low penetrance alleles. High and moderate penetrance alleles are rare and constitute only a small percentage of the genetic susceptibility. Most variation in genetic susceptibility is controlled by low- penetrance, common polymorphisms. Comparative genetics uses model organisms to study human disease. Rat strains exhibit different susceptibility phenotypes to chemical induced carcinogenesis. The Wistar-Furth (WF) rat strain is susceptible to chemically induced mammary carcinogenesis, while the Wistar-Kyoto (WKy) and Copenhagen (COP) rat strains are resistant. Selective breeding and linkage analyses of these rat strains after treatment with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) have been used to identify eight rat mammary cancer quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in the rat. This dissertation focuses on two of these QTLs, mammary carcinoma susceptibility loci 1b and 6 (Mcs1b and Mcs6). Mcs6 has been identified and physically confirmed using WF.WKy congenic animals and maps to a 33Mb region. This locus will have to be mapped to a narrower interval in order for functional studies to be practical. I was able to map the Mcs6 locus to a region of 8.5Mb on rat chromosome 7. The Mcs1b locus maps to a region of 1.8Mb on rat chromosome 2. Mcs1b contains the rat orthologous region to a breast cancer risk associated region marked by SNP rs889312. This makes the Mcs1b congenic rat an ideal model for studying the mechanism of rs889312. The goal of my project is to identify all Mcs1b sequence variants between the two rat strains and test for gene regulatory functions. I was able to identify 70 SNPs and 2 INDELs using next- generation sequencing. Three rat SNPs have gene regulatory function differences between the two rat alleles. Out of the seven human SNPs that tag SNP rs889312, four exhibit gene regulatory differences between the major and minor alleles, and therefore, may be functional orthologs to the rat Mcs1b candidate SNPs. Overall, I was able to fine map the Mcs6 region and identify several candidate rat and human Mcs1b/ MCS1B SNPs

An Evaluation of photo CD\u27s resolving power in scanning various-speed films for archival purposes

While the advantages of digital archiving are numerous, the process has been slow to be implemented because of several limitations, particularly high costs. Photo CD shows great promise as a technology for archiving not only because of its cost- effectiveness, but also its speed, multi- resolution format, and efficient compression. Organizations that are beginning to construct digital archives of their resources are doing so to the tune of several million images. When archiving such large quantities of images, one wants to anticipate as many future uses as possible to avoid further scanning costs. Of all potential uses for an archived image, printing on coated stock with a fine line-screen will have among the highest resolution requirements. Although the Photo CD master format offers much flexibility, there is some concern that the format does not provide enough resolution for commercial-grade printing, especially at greater enlargement percentages. In these cases, better results may be achieved with Pro Photo CD, which is more expensive and much slower, but provides four times as much resolution as the master Photo CD. However, simply having more resolution does not necessarily translate into improved image quality. The benefit of the added resolution is likely dependent on the speed of the film and whether there really is more information in the emulsion to be captured. For films above a certain speed, the graininess of the film may offset the extra resolution provided by Pro Photo CD, and no improvement in image quality will be gained. The film speed at which this would occur is currently unknown. Testing the scan quality of various film speeds at 16*base and 64*base can help define the boundary of when Pro Photo CD offers a real advantage, if any, for archiving 35mm film. The findings would supply some guidelines for organizations faced with making decisions about how to use Photo CD most appropriately for archival purposes. To this end, three films of varying speeds and resolving powers were chosen: Ektachrome Lumiere 100, Ektachrome Professional 100 and Ektachrome Elite 200. Two test objects were obtained: an RIT alphanumeric resolution target and a continuous tone photograph containing objects with fine detail. Scans of these chromes were made with both Photo CD and Pro Photo CD scanners. An objective analysis was made by observing the smallest levels resolved on the resolution target for each of the films at both the 16*base and the 64*base resolutions. A subjective analysis was conducted by a panel of respondents making pairedcomparison judgments of image quality for the continuous tone test images. It was hypothesized that differences between the 16*base scan and the 64*base scan would be detected only with the Ektachrome Lumiere 100 film in both the objective and subjective analyses. No differences were expected between the two resolutions for the other two films. This is because it was theorized that the added noise introduced by the higher grain of the faster films would offset the extra resolution provided by the 64*base scan. The results did not concur with the given hypothesis. Instead, differences were noted for all of the tested films in both the objective and subjective evaluations. The data from the alphanumeric resolution target shows an improvement in resolving power with the 64*base resolution for all three films tested. In the subjective test, an increase was also observed in the large enlargement of the Professional 100 and the Elite 200 films. Both of these indicate that none of the films tested contained enough noise to offset the benefit of the added resolution. It should be noted that the differences observed were slight. In terms of recommendations for choosing among Photo CD options for digital archives, the following guidelines can be concluded. All films with speeds of 100 or less will see some, though slight, added benefit from the extra resolution provided by Pro Photo CD. Films with an ISO speed rating of 200 that use fine- grain technology, such as Kodak\u27s TGRAIN, will also see benefit from added resolution. However, in either case the benefit does not seem to subjectively matter unless the image is enlarged beyond the standard dimensional limits of 16*base. Thus, unless large-format reproduction of archived images is likely, Pro Photo CD scans are not necessary

The Impact of Urban Context and Configuration on the Solar Energy Potential of Urban Areas

The aim of this thesis is to simplify buildings of similar morphological styles used in urban planning based on the factors of street grid rotation, building height, intermittent spacing between buildings, and angle of sunlight for a given season to determine the solar potential of a given area. Literary research is applied to examinations of relevant regulations that could influence the potential implementation large scale solar developments in urban areas. Limited case studies of existing building areas in densities of mid-rise and high-rise construction investigate the impact these factors have on the solar energy potential of building skins. The goal was to develop a simplified method of calculating approximate solar potential for building skins that can be applied over an area of multiple city blocks using the location’s latitude, street grid rotation, average height, and average street width. The purpose of these findings is to showcase the possible applications of planning strategies for transforming existing districts and building new districts into nearly zero energy or energy positive areas with solar installations

Age Estimation of Fetal Skeletal Remains from the Forensic Context

This study tested the efficacy of the traditional method (Fazekas and Kosa, 1978) of aging fetal remains from the forensic context against ultrasound (Chevernak et al., 1998)and radiographic (Sherwood et al., 2000) methods to determine which was most accurate. Two data sets were used in this study. The first consisted of measurements from historic (1902-1917) fetal remains of known age. The second consisted of measurements from modern fetal remains of known age from the forensic context. Using these samples in the different prediction models for aging fetal remains, the accuracy of each was determined

Imitating the Divine Interruption of Deteriorating Human Conversations: Speaking the Gospel in a New Language

Recent scholarship uses the metaphor of language to articulate why, even with good intentions, we Christians can hand on meanings and values at odds with the Christian message. Our “native” languages foreground our worlds, readily conforming our minds to the very realm we are called to transform (Rom 12:2). Related to the problem of “languages” is the brokenness of our conversations, themselves. Conversation can become a tool of destruction rather than a means of transformation. We Christians need a “new foundational language” in which to communicate the kerygma. This language is capable not only of communicating meanings and values that are faithful to the Christian message, but it is also capable of healing the very conversations we have by healing “the conversation that we are.” This article suggests how we Christians can learn a new foundational language by unfolding the radical consequences of our Trinitarian belief

Effects of Elementary General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, and Math Interventionists Collaborating in a Professional Learning Community

This qualitative research study examined how math interventionists and special education teachers collaborated with general education teachers. I focused on improving access to the core general education mathematics curriculum for elementary students with mathematics difficulty. Differing educational perspectives, divergent learning theories, and instructional approaches, as well as various curriculum materials, make collaboration between multiple teachers complex work. To foster collaboration and attend to the instructional needs of students with mathematics difficulty, I provided an eight-week professional development series. The series included the following topics: developing co-teaching roles and responsibilities, understanding principles of Cognitively Guided Instruction, understanding the Five Practices, creating rich math tasks, and using a multi-tiered system of support so students with mathematics difficulty could improve understandings. Data collected included interviews and observations before and after the professional development, as well as audio recordings during collaboration meetings and during professional learning community meetings. I found that for the teachers in this study, teachers' perception of student need and teachers' ability to create a learning trajectory affected the co-teaching relationship. I found that when participating teachers co-designed instruction by reframing math tasks and planned using the Five Practices, they focused on instruction to help students with mathematics difficulty attend to gaps in understandings. I also found that professional development supported math instruction through lesson summary enactment and lesson summary discourse patterns. Providing focused and intentional instruction, so students address and resolve mathematics difficulty is a worthy and important goal. This study endeavored to highlight ways mathematics educators and teacher leaders can support teachers and students who have mathematical difficulties

Postcards from the Field

Increasingly, botanic gardens and arboreta are highlighted as effective partners to conserve plant species diversity and restore natural communities at a time when the need for these activities has become more urgent. Capacity for restoration and conservation at botanic gardens comes directly from staff expertise for horticulture and research. Botanic gardens make good partners for connecting botanical science with conservation practice. They are in a position to communicate information about rare plant species to owners and managers of public and private lands, and they can be instrumental in creating networks for effective conservation action. Several examples from south-eastern United States of America illustrate how this has been put into practice. These examples provide evidence that efforts to expand collaboration between federal agencies, states and non-governmental organisations can lead to effective alliances to conserve plant biodiversity, especially when plants receive a disproportionately low share of resources for conservation

Multiplication is for White People : Raising Expectations for Other People\u27s Children

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