Leadership Influence: Adoption Professional, Birth Mother, and Adoptive Parents’ Knowledge of Open Adoption

Adoption needs a minimum of three sets of participants: the birth mother, the adoptive parents, and the adoptive professionals. Being the adoption expert, the adoption professional leads all parties through the process of adoption. However, as adoption research grows, it focuses on the adoptee, birth mother, and adoptive parents but rarely on the adoption professional. As the central figure in the adoption process, the assumption is the adoption professional would be the primary influencer affecting the culture of adoption practices. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive, correlational study was to evaluate if a relationship exists between the adoptive professional\u27s leadership and the existence of open adoption knowledge experienced by the birth mother and the adoptive parents controlling for the birth mother, adoptive parents, and adoption professionals for adoptions between 2010-2020. In addition, this study used quantitative methods to discover if the adoption triad members believe the adoption professional’s leadership contributed to the knowledge of openness in adoption. A Likert scale was disbursed to birth mothers, adoptive parents, and adoption professionals to discover the adoption professional\u27s role in their knowledge of open adoption. The Likert scale to the adoption professional asked about their thoughts on open adoption and their role in the process. Descriptive statics were used to analyze the results from the birth mothers and adoptive parents, and inferential statistics were used to analyze the results of the adoption professionals. The results showed that adoption professionals educate birth parents and adoptive parents about open adoption, and adoption professionals educate about the option of open adoption regardless of their age

Archaeological signatures of landscape and settlement change on the Isle of Harris

Between 2004 and 2011, a programme of archaeological investigation by the University of Birmingham on the Isle of Harris, a distinctive island forming part of the Western Isles of Scotland, has allowed the archaeological remains of this enigmatic place to be further characterised and understood. Despite intensive archaeological interest in the archipelago for a number of decades, the Isle of Harris has been overlooked and only now are we beginning to identify the archaeological resource and make comparisons to the wealth of published data from islands such as the Uists, Barra and Lewis. This paper highlights some generic overall patterns of archaeological signatures on the Isle which has been identified through a range of archaeological methods including field walking, intrusive excavation, aerial reconnaissance, geophysical and topographical survey, and documentary research. Several key case studies will be introduced including upland shieling complexes and mulitperiod settlement sites on the west coast machair systems. The purpose of the paper is not to present a gazetteer of the results of the work to date, but to highlight some of the key findings with a view to demonstrating that the Isle of Harris is directly comparable with the archaeologically rich landscapes of the other islands

A Bronze Age Round Barrow Cemetery, Pit Alignments, Iron Age Burials, Iron Age Copper Working, and Later Activity at Four Crosses, Llandysilio, Powys.

Excavation undertaken at the Upper Severn valley round barrow cemetery at Four Crosses, Llandysilio between 2004 and 2006 has increased the known barrows and ring-ditches to some 26 monuments, and revealed additional burials. Based on limited dating evidence, and the data from earlier excavations, the majority of the barrows are thought to be constructed in the Bronze Age. The barrows are part of a larger linear cemetery and the landscape setting and wider significance of this linear barrow cemetery are explored within this report. Dating suggests two barrows were later, Iron Age additions. The excavation also investigated Iron Age and undated pit alignments, Middle Iron Age copper working and a small Romano-British inhumation cemetery and field systems. Much of this evidence reflects the continuing importance of the site for ritual and funerary activity

Multi-modal digital documentation and visualization of the unesco painted churches in troodos (cyprus)

In 1985, the World Heritage Committee inscribed the site “Painted Churches in the Troodos Region” of the Republic of Cyprus on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The latter included nine Byzantine and Post Byzantine Churches to which a tenth church was added in 2001. In the framework of the IH-AT project, all the churches and the premises in their proximities were analysed using a wide array of non-destructive digital methodologies coupled with more traditional art-historical studies. Image- and Range-based techniques were used to document all the morphological features of the buildings with the final goal of understanding their humble architecture. Additionally, a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was performed to investigate the presence of buried structures that, according to historical sources, were once surrounding the religious sites. For the exploitation and visualization of the extensive database by the scientific community and the public at large, a web portal comprised of reliable and efficient technology-ready tools have been developed. The proposed methodology was implemented to provide new insights on the churches’ architectural features; confirm the presence or absence of buried remains of archaeological interest; and help heritage professionals, with lack or minimal programming skills, to customize online visualizations of 3D interactive models

Universal preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disease (Karyomapping): diagnosis of >1000 unique disorders with no detected misdiagnoses

STUDY QUESTION Can a universal diagnostic test (Karyomapping) be applied for preimplantation genetic testing for multiple monogenic disorders (PGT-M) and what is the misdiagnosis rate? SUMMARY ANSWER Among 9020 cases of PGT-M, >1000 different disorders were diagnosed by Karyomapping; independent validation of >70% of cases did not detect a misdiagnosis. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY PGT-M, first performed in 1992, has been used for ∼40 000 clinical cases worldwide. A limiting factor in direct testing for disease mutations, however, is the need to design assays specific for each affected allele. Karyomapping, based on haplotype phasing using SNP microarrays, was developed in 2010 as a single, method tracing inheritance of any monogenic disorder. Karyomapping eliminates the impact of allele drop-out and DNA contamination on test accuracy and facilitates a short work-up time as the same assay platform is used for every case. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION Here, we used Karyomapping on a large PGT-M series from one diagnostic base from January 2014 to December 2021. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS The 9020 individual Karyomapping cases were performed in three CooperSurgical genetic testing laboratories, in Livingston NJ, Michigan, or London (UK). All cases involved trophectoderm biopsy with embryo vitrification. DNA from cheek brush samples was obtained from both parents and an affected reference family member where possible. Genomic DNAs and that of whole genome amplified DNA from embryo biopsies were subjected to SNP microarray. Karyomapping was performed according to manufacturer’s instructions by first importing into BlueFuse Multi software. Inheritance was determined as to where at-risk allele(s) were inherited, with 10 supporting 5′ and 3′ Key SNPs in a 2 Mbp flanking window. Wherever possible, direct mutation testing was performed using Sanger sequencing. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE A total of 1017 unique disorders were detected from mutations in 912 genes. Validation of 4120 mutations was possible in 73% of cases by direct sequencing, which confirmed that all diagnoses that could be assayed were accurate. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Karyomapping can be limited by the availability of a reference, as well as parental genomic DNA, and some loci near the telomere may be more difficult to detect because of the limitations of the SNP array rather than the Karyomapping algorithm. Of the 27% of cases where we could not confirm the findings, we cannot comment on the misdiagnosis rate. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Karyomapping is now the single most used approach for PGT-M. As new approaches increasingly involve DNA sequencing, PGT for all genetic disease becomes possible by encapsulating the principles of Karyomapping and incorporating chromosome copy number analysis. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This research was funded by CooperSurgical. The PhD programs of A.S. and O.W. were supported by CooperSurgical (paid to institution). A.S. has received travel support and IT equipment from CooperSurgical. O.W. has received travel support and provision of a company laptop from CooperSurgical. L.X., P.C., E.B., and T.G. are employees of and hold stock/share ownership in CooperSurgical. N.-N.G. is an employee of, has received meeting registration fees from, and holds stock/share ownership in CooperSurgical. L.R. is an employee of CooperSurgical. D.K.G. has received consulting fees and travel support from CooperSurgical. P.E. has nothing to declare

Polar body array CGH for prediction of the status of the corresponding oocyte. Part I: clinical results

Several randomized controlled trials have not shown a benefit from preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) biopsy of cleavage-stage embryos and assessment of up to 10 chromosomes for aneuploidy. Therefore, a proof-of-principle study was planned to determine the reliability of alternative form of PGS, i.e. PGS by polar body (PB) biopsy, with whole genome amplification and microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH) analysis. In two centres, all mature metaphase II oocytes from patients who consented to the study were fertilized by ICSI. The first and second PBs (PB1and PB2) were biopsied and analysed separately for chromosome copy number by array CGH. If either or both of the PBs were found to be aneuploid, the corresponding zygote was then also processed by array CGH for concordance analysis. Both PBs were biopsied from a total of 226 zygotes from 42 cycles (average 5.5 per cycle; range 1-15) in 41 couples with an average maternal age of 40.0 years. Of these, the ploidy status of the zygote could be predicted in 195 (86%): 55 were euploid (28%) and 140 were aneuploid (72%). With only one exception, there was at least one predicted aneuploid zygote in each cycle and in 19 out of 42 cycles (45%), all zygotes were predicted to be aneuploid. Fresh embryos were transferred in the remaining 23 cycles (55%), and one frozen transfer was done. Eight patients had a clinical pregnancy of which seven were evolutive (ongoing pregnancy rates: 17% per cycle and 30% per transfer). The ploidy status of 156 zygotes was successfully analysed by array CGH: 38 (24%) were euploid and 118 (76%) were aneuploid. In 138 cases complete information was available on both PBs and the corresponding zygotes. In 130 (94%), the ploidy status of the zygote was concordant with the ploidy status of the PBs and in 8 (6%), the results were discordant. This proof-of-principle study indicates that the ploidy of the zygote can be predicted with acceptable accuracy by array CGH analysis of both PB

Geographic clustering of testicular cancer incidence in the northern part of The Netherlands

Geographic variations in testicular cancer incidence may be caused by differences in environmental factors, genetic factors, or both. In the present study, geographic patterns of age-adjusted testicular cancer incidence rates (IRs) in 12 provinces in The Netherlands in the period 1989–1995 were analysed. In addition, the age-adjusted IR of testicular cancer by degree of urbanization was evaluated. Cancer incidence data were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. The overall annual age-adjusted IR of testicular cancer in The Netherlands in the period 1989–1995 was 4.4 per 100 000 men. The province Groningen in the north of the country showed the highest annual IR with 5.8 per 100 000 men, which was higher (P < 0.05) than the overall IR in The Netherlands (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–1.6). The highest IR in Groningen was seen for both seminomas and non-seminomas. In addition, Groningen showed the highest age-specific IRs in all relevant younger age groups (15–29, 30–44 and 45–59 years), illustrating the consistency of data. The province Friesland, also situated in the northern part of the country, showed the second highest IR of testicular cancer with 5.3 cases per 100 000 men per year (IRR 1.2, 95% Cl 1.0–1.5, not significant). This mainly resulted from the high IR of seminoma in Friesland. Analysis of age-adjusted IRs of testicular cancer by degree of urbanization in The Netherlands showed no urban–rural differences at analysis of all histological types combined, or at separate analyses of seminomas and non-seminomas. Geographic clustering of testicular cancer seems to be present in the rural north of The Netherlands with some stable founder populations, which are likely to share a relatively high frequency of genes from common ancestors including genes possibly related to testicular cancer. Although this finding does not exclude the involvement of shared environmental factors in the aetiology of testicular cancer, it may also lend support to a genetic susceptibility to testicular cancer development. Testicular cancer cases in stable founder populations seem particularly suitable for searching for testicular cancer susceptibility genes because such genes are likely to be more frequent among affected men in such populations. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig