Development and evaluation of lessons for class and group situations in grade I. Volume I.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University For volume II, please see: http://hdl.handle.net/2144/1415

Beef quality attributes: a systematic review of consumer perspectives.

Informed by quality theory, this systematic literature review seeks to determine the relative importance of beef quality attributes from a consumer perspective, considering search, experience and credence quality attributes. While little change is anticipated in consumer ranking of search and experience attributes in the future, movement is expected in terms of ranking within the credence category and also in terms of the ranking of credence attributes overall. This highlights an opportunity for quality assurance schemes (QAS) to become more consumer focused through including a wider range of credence attributes. To capitalise on this opportunity, the meat industry should actively anticipate new relevant credence attributes and researchers need to develop new or better methods to measure them. This review attempts to identify the most relevant quality attributes in beef that may be considered in future iterations of QAS, to increase consumer satisfaction and, potentially, to increase returns to industry

Primary reading exercises for use with the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Analysis of auditory functions in grades one, two, and three.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Influences on the food choices and physical activity behaviours of overweight and obese pregnant women: A qualitative stud

Objective: to qualitatively explore influences identified by overweight/obese pregnant women on food choices and physical activity (PA) behaviours; to determine the impact of pregnancy on these factors; and to inform development of future lifestyle interventions during pregnancy. Design: cross-sectional interview study. Setting: maternity hospital, Ireland. Participants: pregnant women (n=22), early pregnancy Body Mass Index > 25 kg/m2. Measures: barriers to and facilitators of healthy eating and PA in overweight/obese pregnancy. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Findings: overweight/obese women perceived the following factors to influence their food choices and PA behaviours: personal (e.g. age, enjoyment, health, aesthetic appearance, and response to fatigue); social (e.g. social support, food modelling, social facilitation and weight bias) and environmental (e.g. food salience and the obesogenic environment). These factors affected PA and food choice trajectories differently according to socio-economic and socio-cultural context. Conclusion and Implications: personal, social and environmental factors affect food choices and PA behaviours. Pregnancy is a powerful stimulus for positive changes in food choices particularly. This change is driven by desire for healthy pregnancy outcome, and is not intrinsically motivated. Healthy lifestyle interventions should aim to sustain positive changes beyond pregnancy through: empowerment, intrinsic motivation, family-centred approach, and behavioural goals

Chronic Embolic Pulmonary Hypertension Caused by Pulmonary Embolism and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibition

Our understanding of the pathophysiological basis of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) will be accelerated by an animal model that replicates the phenotype of human CTEPH. Sprague-Dawley rats were administered a combination of a single dose each of plastic microspheres and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor antagonist in polystyrene microspheres (PE) + tyrosine kinase inhibitor SU5416 (SU) group. Shams received volume-matched saline; PE and SU groups received only microspheres or SU5416, respectively. PE + SU rats exhibited sustained pulmonary hypertension (62 ± 13 and 53 ± 14 mmHg at 3 and 6 weeks, respectively) with reduction of the ventriculoarterial coupling in vivo coincident with a large decrement in peak rate of oxygen consumption during aerobic exercise, respectively. PE + SU produced right ventricular hypokinesis, dilation, and hypertrophy observed on echocardiography, and 40% reduction in right ventricular contractile function in isolated perfused hearts. High-resolution computed tomographic pulmonary angiography and Ki-67 immunohistochemistry revealed abundant lung neovascularization and cellular proliferation in PE that was distinctly absent in the PE + SU group. We present a novel rodent model to reproduce much of the known phenotype of CTEPH, including the pivotal pathophysiological role of impaired vascular endothelial growth factor-dependent vascular remodeling. This model may reveal a better pathophysiological understanding of how PE transitions to CTEPH in human treatments

The effect of adult Early Warning Systems education on nurses' knowledge, confidence and clinical performance: A systematic review

Aims: This review aims to determine the effect of adult Early Warning Systems education on nurses’ knowledge, confidence and clinical performance. Background: Early Warning Systems support timely identification of clinical deterioration and prevention of avoidable deaths. Several educational programmes have been designed to help nurses recognize and manage deteriorating patients. Little is known as to the effectiveness of these programmes. Design: Systematic review. Data sources: Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection, SocINDEX and the UK & Ireland Reference Centre, EMBASE, the Turning Research Into Practice database, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Grey Literature sources were searched between October and November 2015. Review methods: This is a quantitative systematic review using Cochrane methods. Studies published between January 2011 - November 2015 in English were sought. The risk of bias, level of evidence and the quality of evidence per outcome were assessed. Results: Eleven articles with 10 studies were included. Nine studies addressed clinical performance, four addressed knowledge and two addressed confidence. Knowledge, vital signs recording and Early Warning Score calculation were improved in the short term. Two interventions had no effect on nurses’ response to clinical deterioration and use of communication tools. Conclusion: This review highlights the importance of measuring outcomes using standardized tools and valid and reliable instruments. Using longitudinal designs, researchers are encouraged to investigate the effect of Early Warning Systems educational programmes. These can include interactive e-learning, on-site interdisciplinary Early Warning Scoring systems training sessions and simulated scenarios

Detection of a novel RYR1 mutation in four malignant hyperthermia pedigrees

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a potentially fatal autosomal dominant disorder of skeletal muscle and is triggered in susceptible people by all commonly used inhalational anaesthetics and depolarizing muscle relaxants. To date, six mutations in the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor gene (RYR1) have been identified in malignant hyperthermia susceptible (MHS) and central core disease (CCD) cases. Using SSCP analysis, we have screened the RYR1 gene in affected individuals for novel MHS mutations and have identified a G to A transition mutation which results in the replacement of a conserved Gly at position 2433 with an Arg. The Gly2433Arg mutation was present in four of 104 unrelated MHS individuals investigated and was not detected in a normal population sample. This mutation is adjacent to the previously identified Arg2434His mutation reported in a CCD/MH family and indicates that there may be a second region in the RYR1 gene where MHS/CCD mutations cluste