Screening for Torticollis and Plagiocephaly: The Role of the Pediatrician

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of providing a standardized screening examination to a group of attending and resident physicians on the rate of torticollis and plagiocephaly diagnoses, the age at time of diagnosis, and the attitudes and practice patterns of the physicians. All subjects were given a standardized screening procedure by verbal instruction and handout, and also completed a pre-­‐ and post-­‐intervention questionnaire, which assessed the practice regarding the diagnosis and management of torticollis and plagiocephaly. A retrospective chart review was conducted to ascertain the changes in frequency and mean age of patients diagnosed by subjects over the 6-­‐month intervention period compared to the previous 3 years. Pediatric residents reported significant increases in their frequency of diagnosing torticollis and plagiocephaly, their comfort level in screening for these diagnoses, and their frequency of referral to physical therapy for torticollis. Attending pediatricians reported significant increases in their diagnosis of plagiocephaly only. There was a significant increase in the percent of patients diagnosed with plagiocephaly at one of the six clinics during the intervention year. There was a significant decrease in the age at the time of diagnosis of torticollis patients at one of the six clinics during the intervention year

Clinical Use of PPARγ Ligands in Cancer

The role of PPARγ in adipocyte differentiation has fueled intense interest in the function of this steroid nuclear receptor for regulation of malignant cell growth and differentiation. Given the antiproliferative and differentiating effects of PPARγ ligands on liposarcoma cells, investigation of PPARγ expression and ligand activation in other solid tumors such as breast, colon, and prostate cancers ensued. The anticancer effects of PPARγ ligands in cell culture and rodent models of a multitude of tumor types suggest broad applicability of these agents to cancer therapy. This review focuses on the clinical use of PPARγ ligands, specifically the thiazolidinediones, for the treatment and prevention of cancer

INTEGRATION OF HUMMINGBIRD RESEARCH INTO PUBLIC SCHOOL SCIENCE

Hummingbirds are beautiful, acrobatic and mysterious synanthropes in urban ecosystems, providing important benefits to humans such as pollination, insectivory, and biophilia. However, environmental factors that affect behaviors that lead to such services are largely unknown, and could be altered by urbanization and climate change. Though their extremely high metabolism can make detailed observations of hummingbird behavior difficult, simple and low-cost methodologies, such as remote monitoring equipment deployed at feeders and nests, allow students at all levels of education to closely observe hummingbirds directly from their school sites. The Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) and the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) have partnered, to implement CURes urban ecology curricula Urban EcoLab in various Los Angeles area schools and classrooms. With support from the Daniel and Susan Gottlieb Foundation, internet protocol (IP) cameras have been installed as a key element in the curriculum that will allow participation in world wide hummingbird research in the classroom. Beyond enriching the understanding of how animals thrive in urban environments, we propose to develop a model that will facilitate the investigation of complex scientific questions through collaboration with citizen science and integration of the Urban EcoLab curricula into primary and secondary-level public school curricula.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cures_posters/1022/thumbnail.jp

Food Safety Training Needs at Evacuation Shelters Operated by Faith-Based Organizations

Citation: Kwon, J., Zottarelli, L., Kwon, S., Lee, Y. M., & Ryu, D. (2013). Food safety training needs at evacuation shelters operated by faith-based organizations. Journal of Environmental Health, 76(2), 14-21.The authors conducted a survey to identify food safety training needs at evacuation shelters operated by faith-based organizations (FBOs) in four hurricane-prone states. Five thousand randomly selected FBO leaders were asked questions about their food safety attitudes and food handling practices at evacuation shelters. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance were calculated to summarize and prioritize the responses. Results from 138 leaders revealed that on average, 590 ± 4,787 evacuees were served for 36 ± 72 days at FBO-operated shelters. Only 19.6% felt they were well prepared for the shelter. Only 5.8% had professional food preparation staff and many accepted hot (47.8%) and cold (37%) prepared food donations. Some lacked adequate refrigerator (18.8%) or freezer (16.7%) spaces, but 40% kept hot food leftovers for later use. The majority did not provide food safety training before opening the shelters (73.2%), yet 76.9% said they will provide food to evacuation shelters again. The results show a need for food safety training and specific strategies for training at FBOs

OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE: IMPACTS ON CONSUMER DEMAND FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

In the growing body of literature on consumer acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods, there are significant differences on the impact of knowledge on acceptance of GM foods. One potential explanation is the manner in which knowledge is measured. The goal of this study is to differentiate and examine the impact of both subjective and objective knowledge related to acceptance of genetically modified foods. Data from surveys collected in the United States, England, and France is used.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The Establishment Risk of Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) in the United States and Globally

Native to Asia, the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is an emerging pest of many commercially important plants in Korea, Japan, and the United States. Determining its potential distribution is important for proactive measures to protect commercially important commodities. The objective of this study was to assess the establishment risk of L. delicatula globally and in the United States using the ecological niche model MAXENT, with a focus on Washington State (WA), where large fruit industries exist. The MAXENT model predicted highly suitable areas for L. delicatula in Asia, Oceania, South America, North America, Africa, and Europe, but also predicted that tropical habitats are not suitable for its establishment, contrary to published information. Within the United States, the MAXENT model predicted that L. delicatula can establish in most of New England and the mid-Atlantic states, the central United States and the Pacific Coast states, including WA. If introduced, L. delicatula is likely to establish in fruit-growing regions of the Pacific Northwest. The most important environmental variables for predicting the potential distribution of L. delicatula were mean temperature of driest quarter, elevation, degree-days with a lower developmental threshold value of 11°C, isothermality, and precipitation of coldest quarter. Results of this study can be used by regulatory agencies to guide L. delicatula surveys and prioritize management interventions for this pest

The Evidence Base for Interventions Delivered to Children in Primary Care: An Overview of Cochrane Systematic Reviews

Background: As a first step in developing a framework to evaluate and improve the quality of care of children in primary care there is a need to identify the evidence base underpinning interventions relevant to child health. Our objective was to identify all Cochrane systematic reviews relevant to the management of childhood conditions in primary care and to assess the extent to which Cochrane reviews reflect the burden of childhood illness presenting in primary care.Methodology/Principal Findings: We used the Cochrane Child Health Field register of child-relevant systematic reviews to complete an overview of Cochrane reviews related to the management of children in primary care. We compared the proportion of systematic reviews with the proportion of consultations in Australia, US, Dutch and UK general practice in children. We identified 396 relevant systematic reviews; 385 included primary studies on children while 251 undertook a meta-analysis. Most reviews (n=218, 55%) focused on chronic conditions and over half (n=216, 57%) evaluated drug interventions. Since 2000, the percentage of pediatric primary care relevant reviews only increased by 2% (7% to 9%) compared to 18% (10% to 28%) in all child relevant reviews. Almost a quarter of reviews (n=78, 23%) were published on asthma treatments which only account for 3-5% of consultations. Conversely, 15-23% of consultations are due to skin conditions yet they represent only 7% (n=23) of reviews.Conclusions/Significance: Although Cochrane systematic reviews focus on clinical trials and do not provide a comprehensive picture of the evidence base underpinning the management of children in primary care, the mismatch between the focus of the published research and the focus of clinical activity is striking. Clinical trials are an important component of the evidence based and the lack of trial evidence to demonstrate intervention effectiveness in substantial areas of primary care for children should be addressed.</p

此時彼刻文化研究 = Cultural studies still in the making

時光荏苒，MCS15年了！ 今年MCS年度研討會與過去有點不同，主題是「展演CROSSOVER：香港文化研究的變奏與另類新選擇」。在舉步維艱的社會政治泥沼中，我們如何理解和面對這境地？透過這次研討會，MCS表達對這個時代的關切，並在這關口中提出新概念，加入「表演研究」元素──不但帶來學術上的協同效應，而且使未來教育的路更闊、與大家走得更遠，發揮更大的潛質。 研討會分為兩部分。第一部分以MCSian的論文為引旨，透過對話去思考在當前處境如何尋找出路，由梁旭明主持，分別由吳紹奇主講〈作為歷史哲學家的班雅明：論歷史哲學兼評〈歷史哲學論綱〉〉，Kong Yee主講〈The Identity of Cheung Chau Kai-fong : The Cultural Disparity of The Northern and Southern Cheung Chau〉，古卓嵐主講〈Modern Educayshun 的啟示──從恐懼女性主義心理 到課室政治的省思〉，並由羅冠聰評論及與講者進行討論

Identifying continuous quality improvement publications: what makes an improvement intervention ‘CQI’?

Background: The term continuous quality improvement (CQI) is often used to refer to a method for improving care, but no consensus statement exists on the definition of CQI. Evidence reviews are critical for advancing science, and depend on reliable definitions for article selection. Methods: As a preliminary step towards improving CQI evidence reviews, this study aimed to use expert panel methods to identify key CQI definitional features and develop and test a screening instrument for reliably identifying articles with the key features. We used a previously published method to identify 106 articles meeting the general definition of a quality improvement intervention (QII) from 9427 electronically identified articles from PubMed. Two raters then applied a six-item CQI screen to the 106 articles. Results: Per cent agreement ranged from 55.7% to 75.5% for the six items, and reviewer-adjusted intra-class correlation ranged from 0.43 to 0.62. ‘Feedback of systematically collected data’ was the most common feature (64%), followed by being at least ‘somewhat’ adapted to local conditions (61%), feedback at meetings involving participant leaders (46%), using an iterative development process (40%), being at least ‘somewhat’ data driven (34%), and using a recognised change method (28%). All six features were present in 14.2% of QII articles. Conclusions: We conclude that CQI features can be extracted from QII articles with reasonable reliability, but only a small proportion of QII articles include all features. Further consensus development is needed to support meaningful use of the term CQI for scientific communication

Co-infection with Chikungunya virus alters trafficking of pathogenic CD8(+) T cells into the brain and prevents Plasmodium-induced neuropathology

Arboviral diseases have risen significantly over the last 40 years, increasing the risk of co‐infection with other endemic disease such as malaria. However, nothing is known about the impact arboviruses have on the host response toward heterologous pathogens during co‐infection. Here, we investigate the effects of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV ) co‐infection on the susceptibility and severity of malaria infection. Using the Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA) experimental cerebral malaria (ECM ) model, we show that concurrent co‐infection induced the most prominent changes in ECM manifestation. Concurrent co‐infection protected mice from ECM mortality without affecting parasite development in the blood. This protection was mediated by the alteration of parasite‐specific CD8+ T‐cell trafficking through an IFN γ‐mediated mechanism. Co‐infection with CHIKV induced higher splenic IFN γ levels that lead to high local levels of CXCL 9 and CXCL 10. This induced retention of CXCR 3‐expressing pathogenic CD8+ T cells in the spleen and prevented their migration to the brain. This then averts all downstream pathogenic events such as parasite sequestration in the brain and disruption of blood–brain barrier that prevents ECM ‐induced mortality in co‐infected mice