Determining Sex And Ancestry Of The Hyoid From The Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection

One of the basic goals of the physical anthropologist is to create a biological profile, consisting of sex, ancestry, age, and stature, from the skeletal material that they are presented with. This thesis seeks to explore size and shape differences related to sex and ancestry from the hyoid bones of the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection in order to gauge its usefulness in the process of developing a biological profile. A series of measurements were taken from 398 hyoids and analysis was conducted using a number of statistical methods. Independent samples t-tests were used to examine size differences between sexes and ancestries, while linear regression analysis and principle component analysis were used to examine shape differences. Discriminant function analysis was employed to test the ability of the hyoids to be classified by sex or ancestry. The ultimate goal of the thesis is to provide physical anthropologists with a series of discriminant function equations that can be used to estimate the sex and ancestry of a hyoid. Five equations ranging in accuracy from 83-88% were developed to determine sex of a hyoid, while four equations ranging in accuracy from 70-89% can be used to determine ancestry. In addition, the t-tests, regression analyses, and principle component analysis have identified several variations in size and shape between sexes and ancestries. These analyses have provided further knowledge as to the morphological form of the hyoid, as well as a method that can be easily used by physical anthropologists to assess sex and ancestry

Avalanches on a conical bead pile: scaling with tuning parameters

Uniform spherical beads were used to explore the behavior of a granular system near its critical angle of repose on a conical bead pile. We found two tuning parameters that could take the system to a critical point where a simple power-law described the avalanche size distribution as predicted by self-organized criticality, which proposed that complex dynamical systems self-organize to a critical point without need for tuning. Our distributions were well described by a simple power-law with the power {\tau} = 1.5 when dropping beads slowly onto the apex of a bead pile from a small height. However, we could also move the system from the critical point using either of two tuning parameters: the height from which the beads fell onto the top of the pile or the region over which the beads struck the pile. As the drop height increased, the system did not reach the critical point yet the resulting distributions were independent of the bead mass, coefficient of friction, or coefficient of restitution. All our apex-dropping distributions for any type of bead (glass, stainless steel, zirconium) showed universality by scaling onto a common curve with {\tau} = 1.5 and {\sigma} = 1.0, where 1/{\sigma} is the power of the tuning parameter. From independent calculations using the moments of the distribution, we find values for {\tau} = 1.6 \pm 0.1 and {\sigma} = 0.91 \pm 0.15. When beads were dropped across the surface of the pile instead of solely on the apex, then the system also moved from the critical point and again the avalanche size distributions fell on a common curve when scaled similarly using the same values of {\tau} and {\sigma}. We also observed that an hcp structure on the base of the pile caused an emergent structure in the pile that had six faces with some fcc or hcp structure.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures; submitted to Granular Matter; Reformatted into LaTeX from Word; Fixed typo in uncertainty of tau; Rearranged two paragraphs to improve flo

Believe Our Stories & Listen: Portland Street Response Survey Report

Many advocates, local officials, and people experiencing homelessness agree that Portland needs a better way to respond to low-priority calls for service involving those experiencing homelessness and behavioral health crises. This report examines efforts to address homelessness in Portland through the development of a plan to dispatch the Portland Street Response unit rather than police. A team of community partners spread out across the city July 16 and 18 to interview people experiencing homelessness to help inform the design of the Portland Street Response pilot project (PSR). An additional team went out on Sept. 6. Members of Street Roots, Sisters of the Road, Right 2 Survive, Street Books, the Portland State University Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, the Map- ping Action Collective, Yellow Brick Road, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s office, and Alissa Keny-Guyer’s office interviewed 184 unhoused people. Participants formed teams of two to three, each lead by a Street Roots vendor or someone else who had experienced homelessness. Teams engaged people experiencing homelessness in discussions about what the PSR pilot should look like, including who the first responders should be, how they should approach individuals in crisis, what types of services and resources they should bring with them, and what types of training they should have. Following the interviews, responses were analyzed and summarized into this report to provide guidance for this important initiative based directly on the needs and experiences of unhoused people

The vaginal ecosystem in preterm birth and preeclampsia

Preterm birth is a leading cause of both maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. It occurs in roughly one in every ten pregnancies, and at an even higher rate among Black Americans and residents of underdeveloped nations. Preterm birth can be initiated in response to a maternal or neonatal indication, or can occur spontaneously. Though indications for the former may vary, the most frequent indication for indicated preterm birth is preeclampsia, a disorder of pregnancy marked by high blood pressure and systemic organ damage. While spontaneous preterm birth and preeclampsia account for a substantial fraction of the burden of prematurity, our understanding of the triggers for and pathogenesis of both diseases are lacking. As a result, we are not able to accurately identify women early in pregnancy who are at high risk of having a spontaneous preterm birth or of developing preeclampsia. There is mounting evidence that local and systemic inflammation, infection, and environmental exposures impact the vaginal ecosystem and may be triggers of spontaneous preterm birth and preeclampsia. In this thesis, I explore the role of vaginal microbes, metabolites, and immune factors in spontaneous preterm birth and preeclampsia. After reviewing what is known about the vaginal ecosystem in spontaneous preterm birth and preeclampsia, I present a paired study of the vaginal microbiome and metabolome in a cohort of 232 women, 80 of whom delivered spontaneously preterm, and whose vaginal ecosystems were profiled during the second trimester of pregnancy. In this study I identify several metabolites strongly associated with spontaneous preterm birth, and suggest that many of these may be exogenous in origin. I also use metabolic models to investigate tyramine, a metabolite found to be associated with lower risk of spontaneous preterm birth. Finally, using predictive models I show that vaginal metabolite levels can be used to identify women at risk of spontaneous preterm birth months in advance. I then present a second study of the vaginal microbiome and immune factors in a cohort of 124 women, 62 of whom developed severe preeclampsia, and whose vaginal ecosystems were profiled at the end of the first trimester. In this study, I demonstrate for the first time that the levels of vaginal microbes early in pregnancy as well as genomic variation in the vaginal microbiome are associated with the risk of developing preeclampsia. I also identify that many vaginal immune factors are significantly depleted in the vaginal ecosystem of women who develop severe preeclampsia. I then use predictive models to show that the levels of vaginal microbes are modestly predictive of preeclampsia risk, and that features from the vaginal ecosystem can be used to improve current methods for the identification of women at risk for severe preeclampsia. Finally, I show that the microbiome signature associated with severe preeclampsia replicates in an independent cohort, suggesting that the early pregnancy vaginal microbiome is robustly associated with the diagnosis of preeclampsia months later in pregnancy. Overall, the microbial and molecular signatures that I identify in these studies contribute novel insight to our understanding of the signs and pathogenesis of both spontaneous preterm birth and preeclampsia, and in doing so, suggest novel approaches to intervention and diagnosis

Exploring Ancestral Variation Of The Hyoid

This study utilizes metric analysis to examine size and shape variation between hyoids of Africans and Europeans in the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection. A total of 200 fused and unfused hyoids were measured and three statistical methods were employed to explore variation between ancestries. First, independent sample t-tests showed that some significant size differences do occur between ancestries. Second, to examine shape variation, skeletal measurements were regressed on the geometric mean using least squares linear regression with the residuals used to evaluate size-corrected shape differences. Finally, discriminant function analysis was used to develop two functions for ancestry prediction with overall accuracies of 73% and 77%. Results of the analyses suggest hyoid size and shape differences do occur between ancestries, notably that European hyoids are broader than African hyoids, while the African hyoid is longer than Europeans. © 2011 American Academy of Forensic Sciences

Determination Of Sex From The Hyoid Bone

This article explores size differences related to sex in the hyoid bones from the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection. A series of measurements were taken from 398 hyoids, both fused and unfused. The inclusion of unfused hyoids in the study provides the opportunity to investigate previously unknown size differences between sexes as well as to determine their utility in determining sex. Two-way ANOVA was used to explore differences in hyoid size as related to ancestry and sex. Discriminant function analysis was employed to test the ability of the hyoids to be classified by sex. Six discriminant function equations ranging in accuracy from 82% to 85% are provided, each of which is more accurate than many of the discriminant functions developed in past hyoid research, are simple to use, and can be used to estimate the sex of a hyoid regardless of its state of fusion. In addition to providing further information about the morphological form of the hyoid, these analyses provide a method that can be easily employed to assess sex of the individual from the hyoid bone. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Engaging Unhoused Community Members in the Design of an Alternative First Responder Program Aimed at Reducing the Criminalization of Homelessness

Police are often called to address concerns about people experiencing homelessness, with arrests often resulting from low-level, nonviolent crimes, and violations of minor nuisance ordinances. In Portland, Oregon, advocates lobbied for a new model of emergency response for 911 calls involving unhoused community members and people experiencing behavioral health crises. To ensure the program reflected the needs and perspectives of people experiencing homelessness, teams of researchers, community volunteers, and people with lived experience interviewed 184 people in camps, shelters, and parks. Teams asked unhoused people how the program should be designed, including who the first responders should be, how they should approach individuals in crisis, what resources they should provide, and how they should be trained. This article describes the methods, findings, and recommendations from our collaborative survey process aimed at ensuring that the voices of people experiencing homelessness informed the development of the Portland Street Response pilot program

AGEs induce ectopic endochondral ossification in intervertebral discs

Ectopic calcifications in intervertebral discs (IVDs) are known characteristics of IVD degeneration that are not commonly reported but may be implicated in structural failure and dysfunctional IVD cell metabolic responses. This study investigated the novel hypothesis that ectopic calcifications in the IVD are associated with advanced glycation end products (AGEs) via hypertrophy and osteogenic differentiation. Histological analyses of human IVDs from several degeneration stages revealed areas of ectopic calcification within the nucleus pulposus and at the cartilage endplate. These ectopic calcifications were associated with cells positive for the AGE methylglyoxal-hydroimidazolone-1 (MG-H1). MG-H1 was also co-localised with Collagen 10 (COL10) and Osteopontin (OPN) suggesting osteogenic differentiation. Bovine nucleus pulposus and cartilaginous endplate cells in cell culture demonstrated that 200 mg/mL AGEs in low-glucose media increased ectopic calcifications after 4 d in culture and significantly increased COL10 and OPN expression. The receptor for AGE (RAGE) was involved in this differentiation process since its inhibition reduced COL10 and OPN expression. We conclude that AGE accumulation is associated with endochondral ossification in IVDs and likely acts via the AGE/RAGE axis to induce hypertrophy and osteogenic differentiation in IVD cells. We postulate that this ectopic calcification may play an important role in accelerated IVD degeneration including the initiation of structural defects. Since orally administered AGE and RAGE inhibitors are available, future investigations on AGE/RAGE and endochondral ossification may be a promising direction for developing non-invasive treatment against progression of IVD degeneration