Identifying the Education Needs and Conveying Related Information on Nutrition Topics for Pre-School Age Children by Educating Parents Through Writing and Media Communication.

As nutrition topics continue to gain media attention the general public is increasingly exposed to nutrition recommendations. The mass communication of health information presents increased education opportunity to promote implementation of healthy habits. In contrast, this increased presence also presents a risk of increased communication of information unsupported by scientific evidence. As these unreliable recommendations are communicated with frequency through popular sources it is the responsibility of healthcare professionals to provide the public with accurate and scientifically supported information. This information must be presented in a clear and appealing way in order to gain the attention of the public, helping to educate and make recommendations to support healthy habits that are realistic and maintainable. Young children grow and learn in an environment constantly surrounded by these forms of mass communication, making education vital to instill healthy habits that can maintained as they grow up. This project provided a healthy foundation for pre-school age children by educating their parents through a series of newsletters providing information on topics related to nutrition for pre-school aged children. Newsletter topics were chosen to reflect the education needs of parents as were identified through a focus group. This focus group was hosted at Oakland Beach School, in Warwick RI, and was composed of eight parents of pre-school age children. The evidence collected through the focus group reflected the need for information on many nutrition-related topics. Strong focus-group evidence and additional research further identified the need for education in the specific areas chosen as the newsletter topics. The topics chosen included: Overcoming picky eating, consuming more fruits and vegetables, and planning meals in advance. Research on these topics was gathered and presented through printed newsletters that were designed to be fun and easy to understand. These newsletters included information, helpful tips, healthy recipes, and activities intended to educate both parents and children. The development of these newsletters required scientific facts to be interpreted and communicated at an 8th grade reading level, which is recommended for education of the general public. These newsletters also included activities for the parents to complete with their children, allowing them to learn and work together. The presentation of the information and activities was designed to draw in the reader and create a clear understanding of the topics conveyed. By educating parents through these newsletters they will have tools to educate and empower their children to make healthy choices throughout their lives

Long-term, multiwavelength light curves of ultra-cool dwarfs: II. The evolving light curves of the T2. 5 SIMP 0136 & the uncorrelated light curves of the M9 TVLM 513

We present multiwavelength, multi-telescope, ground-based follow-up photometry of the white dwarf WD 1145+017, that has recently been suggested to be orbited by up to six or more, short-period, low- mass, disintegrating planetesimals. We detect 9 significant dips in flux of between 10% and 30% of the stellar flux from our ground-based photometry. We observe transits deeper than 10% on average every ∼3.6 hr in our photometry. This suggests that WD 1145+017 is indeed being orbited by multiple, short-period objects. Through fits to the multiple asymmetric transits that we observe, we confirm that the transit egress timescale is usually longer than the ingress timescale, and that the transit duration is longer than expected for a solid body at these short periods, all suggesting that these objects have cometary tails streaming behind them. The precise orbital periods of the planetesimals in this system are unclear from the transit-times, but at least one object, and likely more, have orbital periods of ∼4.5 hours. We are otherwise unable to confirm the specific periods that have been reported, bringing into question the long-term stability of these periods. Our high precision photometry also displays low amplitude variations suggesting that dusty material is consistently passing in front of the white dwarf, either from discarded material from these disintegrating planetesimals or from the detected dusty debris disk. For the significant transits we observe, we compare the transit depths in the V- and R-bands of our multiwavelength photometry, and find no significant difference; therefore, for likely compositions the radius of single-size particles in the cometary tails streaming behind the planetesimals in this system must be ∼0.15 μm or larger, or ∼0.06 μm or smaller, with 2σ confidence

Inhibitory properties of ibuprofen and its amide analogues towards the hydrolysis and cyclooxygenation of the endocannabinoid anandamide

A dual-action cyclooxygenase (COX)–fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor may have therapeutic usefulness as an analgesic, but a key issue is finding the right balance of inhibitory effects. This can be done by the design of compounds exhibiting different FAAH/COX-inhibitory potencies. In the present study, eight ibuprofen analogues were investigated. Ibuprofen (1), 2-(4-Isobutylphenyl)-N-(2-(3-methylpyridin-2-ylamino)-2-oxoethyl)propanamide (9) and N-(3-methylpyridin-2-yl)-2-(4′-isobutylphenyl)propionamide (2) inhibited FAAH with IC50 values of 134, 3.6 and 0.52 µM respectively. The corresponding values for COX-1 were ~29, ~50 and ~60 µM, respectively. Using arachidonic acid as substrate, the compounds were weak inhibitors of COX-2. However, when anandamide was used as COX-2 substrate, potency increased, with approximate IC50 values of ~6, ~10 and ~19 µM, respectively. Compound 2 was confirmed to be active in vivo in a murine model of visceral nociception, but the effects of the compound were not blocked by CB receptor antagonists. Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/14756366.2011.64330

Accuracy of ICD-9-CM Codes by Hospital Characteristics and Stroke Severity: Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program

Background—Epidemiological and health services research often use International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD‐9‐CM) codes to identify patients with clinical conditions in administrative databases. We determined whether there are systematic variations between stroke patient clinical diagnoses and ICD‐9‐CM codes, stratified by hospital characteristics and stroke severity. Methods and Results—We used the records of patients discharged from hospitals participating in the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program in 2013. Within this stroke‐enriched cohort, we compared agreement between the attending physician\u27s clinical diagnosis and principal ICD‐9‐CM code and determined whether disagreements varied by hospital characteristics (presence of a stroke unit, stroke team, number of hospital beds, and hospital location). For patients with a documented National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score at admission, we assessed whether diagnostic agreement varied by stroke severity. Agreement was generally high (\u3e 89%); differences between the physician diagnosis and ICD‐9‐CM codes were primarily attributed to discordance between ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA), and subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhage. Agreement was higher for patients in metropolitan hospitals with stroke units, stroke teams, and \u3e 200 beds (all P \u3c 0.001). Agreement was lowest (60.3%) for rural hospitals with ≤ 200 beds and without stroke units or teams. Agreement was also lower for milder (94.9%) versus more‐severe (96.4%) ischemic strokes (P \u3c 0.001). Conclusions—We identified disagreements in stroke/TIA coding by hospital characteristics and stroke severity, particularly for milder ischemic strokes. Such systematic variations in ICD‐9‐CM coding practices can affect stroke case identification in epidemiological studies and may have implications for hospital‐level quality metric

Turning points: the personal and professional circumstances that lead academics to become middle managers

In the current higher education climate, there is a growing perception that the pressures associated with being an academic middle manager outweigh the perceived rewards of the position. This article investigates the personal and professional circumstances that lead academics to become middle managers by drawing on data from life history interviews undertaken with 17 male and female department heads from a range of disciplines, in a post-1992 UK university. The data suggests that experiencing conflict between personal and professional identities, manifested through different socialization experiences over time, can lead to a ‘turning point’ and a decision that affects a person’s career trajectory. Although the results of this study cannot be generalized, the findings may help other individuals and institutions move towards a firmer understanding of the academic who becomes head of department—in relation to theory, practice and research

Overcoming cross-cultural group work tensions: mixed student perspectives on the role of social relationships

As universities worldwide rapidly internationalise, higher education classrooms have become unique spaces for collaboration between students from different countries. One common way to encourage collaboration between diverse peers is through group work. However, previous research has highlighted that cross-cultural group work can be challenging and has hinted at potential social tensions. To understand this notion better, we have used robust quantitative tools in this study to select 20 participants from a larger classroom of 860 students to take part in an in-depth qualitative interview about cross-cultural group work experiences. Participant views on social tensions in cross-cultural group work were elicited using a unique mediating artefact method to encourage reflection and in-depth discussion. In our analysis of emergent interview themes, we compared student perspectives on the role of social relationships in group work by their academic performance level. Our findings indicated that all students interviewed desired the opportunity to form social relationships with their group work members, but their motivations for doing so varied widely by academic performance level

Degradation of endogenous bacterial cell wall polymers by the muralytic enzyme mutanolysin prevents hepatobiliary injury in genetically susceptible rats with experimental intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

Jejunal self-filling blind loops with subsequent small bowel bacterial overgrowth (SBBO) induce hepatobiliary injury in genetically susceptible Lewis rats. Lesions consist of portal tract inflammation, bile duct proliferation, and destruction. To determine the pathogenesis of SBBO-induced hepatobiliary injury, we treated Lewis rats with SBBO by using several agents with different mechanisms of activity. Buffer treatment, ursodeoxycholic acid, prednisone, methotrexate, and cyclosporin A failed to prevent SBBO-induced injury as demonstrated by increased plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and elevated histology scores. However, hepatic injury was prevented by mutanolysin, a muralytic enzyme whose only known activity is to split the beta 1-4 N-acetylmuramyl-N-acetylglucosamine linkage of peptidoglycan-polysaccharide (PG-PS), a bacterial cell wall polymer with potent inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties. Mutanolysin therapy started on the day blind loops were surgically created and continued for 8 wk significantly diminished AST (101 +/- 37 U/liter) and liver histology scores (2.2 +/- 2.7) compared to buffer-treated rats (228 +/- 146 U/liter, P < 0.05, 8.2 +/- 1.9, P < 0.001 respectively). Mutanolysin treatment started during the early phase of hepatic injury, 16-21 d after surgery, decreased AST in 7 of 11 rats from 142 +/- 80 to 103 +/- 24 U/liter contrasted to increased AST in 9 of 11 buffer-treated rats from 108 +/- 52 to 247 +/- 142 U/liter, P < 0.05. Mutanolysin did not change total bacterial numbers within the loop, eliminate Bacteroides sp., have in vitro antibiotic effects, or diminish mucosal PG-PS transport. However, mutanolysin treatment prevented elevation of plasma anti-PG antibodies and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) levels which occurred in buffer treated rats with SBBO and decreased TNF alpha production in isolated Kupffer cells stimulated in vitro with PG-PS. Based on the preventive and therapeutic activity of this highly specific muralytic enzyme, we conclude that systemic uptake of PG-PS derived from endogenous enteric bacteria contributes to hepatobiliary injury induced by SBBO in susceptible rat strains