Phonemic processing in reading printed words :: effects of phonemic relationships between words on semantic categorization response time.

Thesis (M.S.

Congenital Heart Disease in Down Syndrome

Down syndrome remains the most common chromosomal abnormality in live-born infants in the world today. The association between Down syndrome and congenital heart disease (CHD) is well known, and it is widely recognized that CHD contributes significantly to the morbidity of children with Down syndrome. The reported incidence of CHD in Down syndrome patients is between 40 and 60%. The most commonly described defect is complete atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), which comprises 30–40% of all cardiac defects. Complex genetic factors are involved. Routine cardiac screening of all newborn babies with Down syndrome is recommended. Expert groups suggest that the cardiac status of all children with Down syndrome should be established by 6 weeks of age to permit appropriate and timely treatment avoiding the establishment of irreversible pulmonary vascular disease that would make corrective surgery impossible

The prevalence of thumb problems in Australian physiotherapists is high: an observational study

QuestionWhat is the lifetime and current prevalence of thumb problems in Australian physiotherapists and what are the factors associated with thumb problems?DesignSurvey of a random cross-section of physiotherapists.Participants1562 (approximately 10% of the total) registered Australian physiotherapists.Outcome measuresGeneral questions covered demographic information, area of practice, hours worked per week, and years worked as a physiotherapist. Specific questions about thumb problems covered thumb affected, symptoms, onset of symptoms, treatment sought, relevance of work-related factors, and joint hypermobility.Results1102 (71%) questionnaires were returned and 961 (68%) completed. The lifetime prevalence of thumb problems was 65% and the current prevalence was 41%. Factors that were significantly associated with thumb problems included: working in orthopaedic outpatients (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.8 to 5.8); using manual therapy (OR 2.3 to 3.4, 95% CI 1.7 to 5.1), trigger point therapy (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.7 to 3.0) and massage (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.6 to 2.8); having thumb joint hypermobility (OR 2.2 to 2.6, 95% CI 1.4 to 4.5); or an inability to stabilise the joints of the thumb whilst performing physiotherapy techniques (OR 4.2, 95% CI 2.9 to 5.9). Of those respondents who reported thumb problems, 19% had changed their area of practice and 4% had left the profession as a result of their thumb problems.ConclusionThe prevalence of thumb problems in Australian physiotherapists appears to be high and can be of sufficient severity to impact on careers

Spectral filtering for plant production

Both plants and animals have one general commonality in their perception of light. They both are sensitive primarily to the 400 to 700 nm wavelength portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. This is referred to as the visible spectrum for animals and as the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) spectrum for plants. Within this portion of the spectrum, animals perceive colors. Relatively recently it has been learned that within this same spectral range plants also demonstrate varying responses at different wavelengths, somewhat analogous to the definition of various colors at specific wavelengths. Although invisible to the human eye, portions of the electromagnetic spectrum on either side of the visible range are relatively inactive photosynthetically but have been found to influence important biological functions. These portions include the ultraviolet (UV approximately equal to 280-400 nm) and the far-red (FR approximately equal to 700-800 nm). The basic photoreceptor of plants for photosynthesis is chlorophyll. It serves to capture radiant energy which combined with carbon dioxide and water produces oxygen and assimulated carbon, used for the synthesis of cell wall polysaccarides, proteins, membrane lipids and other cellular constituents. The energy and carbon building blocks of photosynthesis sustain growth of plants. On the other hand, however, there are other photoreceptors, or pigments, that function as signal transducers to provide information that controls many physiological and morphological responses of how a plant grows. Known photomorphogenic receptors include phytochrome (the red/far-red sensor in the narrow bands of 655-665 nm and 725-735 nm ranges, respectively) and 'cryptochrome' (the hypothetical UV-B sensor in the 280-320 nm range). Since the USDA team of W. L. Butler, S. B. Hendricks, H. A. Borthwick, H. A. Siegleman and K. Norris in Beltsville, MD detected by spectroscopy, extracted and identified phytochrome as a protein in the 1950's, many other investigators have found evidence of its control functions in plants. Considerably less, however, is known about the yet non-isolated cryptochrome. The information-transferring roles of photoreceptors in plants at specific spectral ranges quite naturally stimulated plant scientists and engineers to consider physically manipulating light to achieve desired physiological and morphological characteristics. One way to manipulate light is to filter it through materials that selectively transmit portions of the sun's spectrum in and near the PAR range

Water Partnership Program Annual Report 2011: "Strengthen, Secure, Sustain"

This annual report outlines the World Bank's Water Partnership Program's activities and progress in its key focus areas of water resources management, climate change, food security, and energy security. The program is a multi-donor trust that was established in 2009 and is transitioning, as of June 2012, into a bolder Phase II of its operations. In addition to investing in research, technology and practice, the program is building partnerships, networks, and capacity, and working towards its new objective of green growth

An analysis of the pharmacist workforce capacity in Ireland over the past 15 years

Background: The FIP 2018 global pharmacy workforce report identified that the pharmacy workforce is facing increasing capacity challenges and predicted that globally, the pharmacy workforce would grow by 40% over the next 15 years. The purpose of this report was to specifically examine the pharmacist workforce in Ireland over the last 15 years with reference to a number of developments that have both directly and indirectly affected the capacity of the pharmacy sector. A second objective was to benchmark the pharmacy workforce capacity in Ireland against other countries of similar demographic and economic standing in order to assess how Ireland compares. Methods: Data was collected from PSI Annual Reports, Eurostat, OECD, PHARMINE Reports, UCAS, CSO Census Reports, WHO and FIP Global Pharmacy Workforce Reports regarding the pharmacy workforce in Ireland and selected comparison countries. Comparison countries were chosen based on population, GDP/capita, healthcare expenditure and HDI values. The data was analysed and presented using graphs and tables. Results: The number of pharmacists in Ireland has increased by 90% over the last 15 years. Despite two new Schools of Pharmacy opening in 2002 (RCSI) & 2003 (UCC), 57% of new registrants to the PSI over the last 15 years qualified via the EU route, predominately from the UK. Since the first graduates from RCSI and UCC qualified, PSI registrants via the national route range between 27-56% of total additions annually. Ireland’s output of pharmacy graduates per population is 40% lower than the UK and the number of pharmacy graduates per school of pharmacy in the UK is over twice that of Ireland. Ireland has the second highest number of pharmacies per 100,000 population out of 10 comparator countries. Ireland also has the joint highest number of pharmacists per 100,000, based on the total number of pharmacists registered with the PSI. This includes 5.5 % of PSI registrants who are in non-patient facing roles, 2.5% who are not-practicing/other and 21.5% of registrants who do not state their area of practice, with only 70.5% of registrants declaring as ‘patient-facing’. Conclusions: The pharmacy workforce in Ireland is highly dependent on new registrants applying via the EU mutual recognition route, predominantly from the UK. Any interruption to mutual recognition of pharmacists between the EU and UK, as a result of Brexit, would significantly affect the capacity of pharmacy services in Ireland. Compared to similar EU countries, pharmacists/pharmacies per head of population is relatively high. However, estimates of pharmacy workforce in Ireland based on all pharmacists registered with the PSI may overestimate capacity in Ireland. In order to meet global trends of the increasing number of patients needing access to pharmacy related services and diversification of pharmacist roles, ongoing review of capacity in pharmacy is essential