Development of a Modified-Atkins Ketogenic Diet Educational Handbook for Children With Epilepsy

The ketogenic diet as a therapeutic intervention for epilepsy is usually indicated after a patient has tried a second antiepileptic medication without improvement in seizure activity. The diet is indicated for patients of any age, including infants, if drug treatment failure occurs and the epilepsy is classified as drug-resistant epilepsy. The Ketogenic Clinic at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) has prioritized the Modified-Atkins diet for its epilepsy patients due to its less stringent nature. However, the current educational materials for the Modified-Atkins diet are not as robust as those for the classic ketogenic diet. The student investigator has developed a handbook that outlines the Modified-Atkins diet to increase understanding of the diet for the treatment of pediatric epilepsy by children and families receiving treatment at CHOA

Clergy stress : a study of stressors and stress-relieving practices among United Methodist clergy across three districts of the Western North Carolina Conference

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1393/thumbnail.jp

Faculty Development and Adult Learning: A Model for Transforming Higher Education

Excerpt: Summer classes were about to begin and we sat around a table wondering what the three of us might have in common to teach the seventy master\u27s students coming next week. Leo was a sociologist and we (Karen and Mary) are curriculum and instruction faculty. We all agreed it was going to require a transformed approach to teaching and collaborating together; that was six years and three cohorts ago. Our intent is to share..

Beeworks Farm Intern

Working with honeybees was a thrilling and fascinating experience. I got to learn about the complex and somewhat fragile lives of honeybees. These small yet sophisticated creatures provide a service for our agriculture system that makes it impossible to sustain without them. Rob Rienstra was a great mentor and was very generous to share his knowledge of beekeeping with me. He has been beekeeping for over 12 years and is very passionate about raising strong and healthy honeybees. Over 10 weeks I learned a lot about the anatomy of a beehive, the different social castes of bees, and the biggest threats that honeybees face. We used smokers to calm the bees while we were moving the frames around, I was told it has no effect on the bees’ wellbeing. Our bee suits were effective at keeping the bees out, but I endured many stings and I quickly learned that the pain is minimal

The language use and language development of blind and sighted preschool children

The purposes of this study were to investigate the language use and language development of blind and sighted preschool children who were in the same daily environment by means of naturalistic, observational research and to field test the methodology for the investigation. The sample consisted of 12 children who were attending the Infant Care Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During each year of the study, 1980 and 1981, the vocalizations of two blind children were compared to those of the sighted boy and girl closest to them in age. The data were collected by observing each of the six (per year) subjects for 15 randomly selected minutes on 15 days. All vocalizations spoken by the subjects were recorded on observation sheets and classified by function. The percentage of each child's vocalizations in each category— spontaneous, response, imitated, and initiated—was computed and compared within each age group

First impressions of clothing as related to personality traits of authoritarianism

It was the purpose of this study to determine whether the personality complex, authoritarianism, affects a person's perception of others as based on clothing. A secondary purpose was to determine whether the type of clothing worn by the stimulus person influences the impression received. Stated in its alternate form, the general hypothesis tested was that authoritarian, moderate, and nonauthoritarian subjects will differ in their perceptions of others. The subjects for the study were 75 female undergraduate residents of a dormitory at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The subjects were administered a clothing perception measure which consisted of five sketches depicting a female model wearing different types of dress ranging from conventional to unconventional for classroom wear. Accompanying each sketch was a personality trait check list including favorable and unfavorable traits. Subjects were asked to check traits which, in their opinion, best described the student who would wear each costume. Subjects were also administered Form E of Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale as a measure of authoritarianism and a form requesting background information

Alemtuzumab pre-conditioning with tacrolimus monotherapy in pediatric renal transplantation

We employed antibody pre-conditioning with alemtuzumab and posttransplant immunosuppression with low-dose tacrolimus monotherapy in 26 consecutive pediatric kidney transplant recipients between January 2004 and December 2005. Mean recipient age was 10.7 ± 5.8 years, 7.7% were undergoing retransplantation, and 3.8% were sensitized, with a PRA >20%. Mean donor age was 32.8 ± 9.2 years. Living donors were utilized in 65% of the transplants. Mean cold ischemia time was 27.6 ± 6.4 h. The mean number of HLA mismatches was 3.3 ± 1.3. Mean follow-up was 25 ± 8 months. One and 2 year patient survival was 100% and 96%. One and 2 year graft survival was 96% and 88%. Mean serum creatinine was 1.1 ± 0.6 mg/dL, and calculated creatinine clearance was 82.3 ± 29.4 mL/min/1.73 m 2. The incidence of pre-weaning acute rejection was 11.5%; the incidence of delayed graft function was 7.7%. Eighteen (69%) of the children were tapered to spaced tacrolimus monotherapy, 10.5 ± 2.2 months after transplantation. The incidence of CMV, PTLD and BK virus was 0%; the incidence of posttransplant diabetes was 7.7%. Although more follow-up is clearly needed, antibody pre-conditioning with alemtuzumab and tacrolimus monotherapy may be a safe and effective regimen in pediatric renal transplantation. © 2007 The Authors

Carbon allocation and carbon isotope fluxes in the plant-soil-atmosphere continuum: a review

The terrestrial carbon (C) cycle has received increasing interest over the past few decades, however, there is still a lack of understanding of the fate of newly assimilated C allocated within plants and to the soil, stored within ecosystems and lost to the atmosphere. Stable carbon isotope studies can give novel insights into these issues. In this review we provide an overview of an emerging picture of plant-soil-atmosphere C fluxes, as based on C isotope studies, and identify processes determining related C isotope signatures. The first part of the review focuses on isotopic fractionation processes within plants during and after photosynthesis. The second major part elaborates on plant-internal and plant-rhizosphere C allocation patterns at different time scales (diel, seasonal, interannual), including the speed of C transfer and time lags in the coupling of assimilation and respiration, as well as the magnitude and controls of plant-soil C allocation and respiratory fluxes. Plant responses to changing environmental conditions, the functional relationship between the physiological and phenological status of plants and C transfer, and interactions between C, water and nutrient dynamics are discussed. The role of the C counterflow from the rhizosphere to the aboveground parts of the plants, e.g. via CO<sub>2</sub> dissolved in the xylem water or as xylem-transported sugars, is highlighted. The third part is centered around belowground C turnover, focusing especially on above- and belowground litter inputs, soil organic matter formation and turnover, production and loss of dissolved organic C, soil respiration and CO<sub>2</sub> fixation by soil microbes. Furthermore, plant controls on microbial communities and activity via exudates and litter production as well as microbial community effects on C mineralization are reviewed. A further part of the paper is dedicated to physical interactions between soil CO<sub>2</sub> and the soil matrix, such as CO<sub>2</sub> diffusion and dissolution processes within the soil profile. Finally, we highlight state-of-the-art stable isotope methodologies and their latest developments. From the presented evidence we conclude that there exists a tight coupling of physical, chemical and biological processes involved in C cycling and C isotope fluxes in the plant-soil-atmosphere system. Generally, research using information from C isotopes allows an integrated view of the different processes involved. However, complex interactions among the range of processes complicate or currently impede the interpretation of isotopic signals in CO<sub>2</sub> or organic compounds at the plant and ecosystem level. This review tries to identify present knowledge gaps in correctly interpreting carbon stable isotope signals in the plant-soil-atmosphere system and how future research approaches could contribute to closing these gaps

Alemtuzumab preconditioning with tacrolimus monotherapy - The impact of serial monitoring for donor-specific antibody

BACKGROUND. Antibody preconditioning with tacrolimus monotherapy has allowed many renal allograft recipients to be maintained on spaced weaning. METHODS. Of 279 renal allograft recipients transplanted between March 2003 and December 2004, 222 (80%) had spaced weaning (i.e., reduction of tacrolimus monotherapy dosing to every other day, three times a week, twice a week, or once a week) attempted. Routine monitoring for donor-specific antibody (DSA) was begun in September 2004. Mean follow-up is 34±6.5 months after transplantation and 26±8.1 months after the initiation of spaced weaning. RESULTS. One hundred and twenty-two (44%) patients remained on spaced weaning. One- and 2-year actual patient/graft survival was 99%/99%, and 97%/96%. Fifty-six (20%) patients experienced acute rejection after initiation of spaced weaning. One- and 2-year actual patient/graft survival was 100%/98%, and 94%/78%. Forty-two (15%) patients with stable renal function had spaced weaning stopped because of the development of DSA, which disappeared in 17 (40%). One- and 2-year actual patient and graft survival was 100% and 100%. CONCLUSION. Adult renal transplant recipients who are able to be maintained on spaced weaning have excellent outcomes. Patients with stable renal function who have reversal of weaning because of the development of DSA also have excellent outcomes. Routine monitoring for DSA may allow patients to avoid late rejection after spaced weaning. © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc

Evidence for microplastics contamination of the remote tributary of the Yenisei River, Siberia - The pilot study results

This study is a pioneering attempt to count microplastics (MPs) in the Yenisei River system to clarify the role of Siberian Rivers in the transport of MPs to the Arctic Ocean. The average MPs content in the surface water of the Yenisei large tributary, the Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, varied from 1.20 ± 0.70 to 4.53 ± 2.04 items/m3, tending to increase along the watercourse (p < 0.05). Concentrations of MPs in bottom sediments of the two rivers were 235 ± 83.0 to 543 ± 94.1 with no tendency of downstream increasing. Linear association (r = 0.952) between average organic matter content and average counts of MPs in bottom sediments occurred. Presumably MPs originated from the daily activities of the in-situ population. Further spatial-temporal studies are needed to estimate the riverine MPs fluxes into the Eurasian Arctic seas