Mother-infant signalling during breastfeeding and infant growth: an investigation of physiological, psychological and anthropological aspects of infant feeding

Lactation is a dynamic process involving complex physiological signalling and behavioural negotiation between mother and the infant. Challenging behaviour amongst breastfed infants has been associated with higher milk cortisol, demonstrating maternal potential to shape infant behaviour by the transmission of bioactive factors in milk. Maternal psychological state is also recognised to be influential, largely affecting milk production. Thus increased stress can disrupt milk flow, whilst milk ejection can be improved by relaxation therapy; previously shown in mothers of pre-term infants. However, these mother-infant factors are inter-related, making it difficult to define cause and effect using an observational study design. Therefore, I aimed to investigate biological and anthropological aspects of mother-infant signalling during breastfeeding using an experimental approach. Maternal psychological state was manipulated using relaxation therapy in mothers breastfeeding their full-term infant to test the primary hypothesis that the intervention would reduce maternal stress, favourably affect breast milk composition and positively influence infant behaviour and growth; and the secondary hypotheses that milk composition (including hormones) and infant characteristics (temperament, appetite, gender) would associate with infant growth. Pregnant women, recruited from antenatal clinics in Malaysia, were randomised postnatally into control (no treatment) and intervention (audio relaxation recording) groups. Home visits were performed at 2-3, 6-8 and 12-14 weeks to assess infant anthropometry, maternal stress and infant behaviour, and to collect fore- and hindmilk samples for composition including cortisol, ghrelin and leptin. The relaxation therapy was effective in reducing maternal stress during lactation, favourably affecting breast milk composition and positively influencing infant sleeping behaviour and growth. Infant temperament, appetite and breast milk hormones were also found to be associated with infant growth. Overall, this thesis presents results based on the primary and secondary hypotheses, explores potential pathways for intervention effects, and discusses the findings from a biological and anthropological perspective

Usefulness of patient studies in learning family medicine at postgraduate level

Background: The Master's in Family Medicine (M Fam Med) is a postgraduate training programme in family medicine at Medunsa. M Fam Med students have to write patient studies as part of requirements to complete their degree. This research was undertaken to develop a deeper understanding of their perceptions about patient studies. Methods: A descriptive qualitative method was used. A purposeful sample of eight students was selected, with a maximum variation in dimensions of interest. Data were gathered by free attitude interviews, recorded on audiotape. These were transcribed verbatim; themes were identified from the text and were coded into categories. A model was developed to demonstrate the process, and the interrelatedness of and relationships between the themes. Results: The students generally perceive patient studies as a good learning tool. However, they face certain problems while doing patient studies. These problems arise from difficult student-facilitator relations and from the logistics of doing patient studies, such as a lack of orientation and difficulty in obtaining literature. Conclusion: Patient studies are appropriate assignments for the M Fam Med programme at Medunsa. The problems, such as strained facilitator-student relationship and logistic problems, encountered during the writing of patient studies, should be addressed. For full text, click here: SA Family Pract 2004;46(5): 25-2

Stochastic trajectory modelling of atmospheric dispersion

The stochastic trajectory-based (Lagrangian) approach has gained increasing importance and sophistication in atmospheric transport and dispersion modelling over the last few decades. State-of-the-art Lagrangian particle dispersion model (LPDMs) are used to compute trajectories of a large number of 'marked' particles and numerically simulate the dispersion of a pollutant (passive tracer) in the turbulent atmosphere. In this thesis, we mainly investigate the stochastic formulation and behaviour of LPDMs in the context of the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). A random flight model (RFM) is a type of LPDM that describes the paths of particles of an air pollutant in a turbulent flow, given a statistical knowledge of the random velocity field. Operational RFMs such as FLEXPART have not taken advantage of modern developments of numerical methods for stochastic differential equations. Chapter 2 of this thesis aims to determine whether current numerical schemes used in operational atmospheric dispersion modelling can be improved. Several commonly used numerical schemes are investigated in a simple one-dimensional dispersion model describing the vertical turbulence in the ABL. Eulerian Fokker-Planck equation (FPE) solutions with the required level of accuracy are used to validate the performance of the RFM numerical schemes. The results allow for optimal time-step selection and recommendations to be made for use in operational models. RFMs are known to have a finite Lagrangian decorrelation time. Another class of LPDMs are the random displacement models (RDMs), which are essentially the zero decorrelation time limit of the RFMs. In Chapter 3, the problem of shear dispersion in the ABL is revisited, with the aim to improve understanding of how and why the behaviour of RFMs can differ to the RDMs. First, the effective horizontal diffusivity is examined for a tracer in the long-time dispersion in the RFM. Second, with `poison gas release' problems in mind, a large-deviation approach is used to understand in greater detail the behaviour of the concentration in the tails of the distribution. Results are verified by solving the LPDM equations numerically for a large ensemble of particles. Chapter 4 discusses methods of kernel density estimation for the optimal construction of particle concentration fields from the trajectory distributions. We demonstrate these methods on a two-dimensional advection-diffusion model (equivalent to the RDM) in a chaotic advection flow. Some well-known techniques of bandwidth selection are briefly discussed and a new approach in constructing a kernel density estimator is developed

Ambitions of a global city: Arts, culture and creative economy in 'Post-Crisis' Singapore

10.1080/10286632.2011.639876International Journal of Cultural Policy183279-29

Identifying ‘win-win-win’ futures from inequitable value chain trade-offs: A system dynamics approach

Context There is growing recognition that food systems must adapt to become more sustainable and equitable. Consequently, in developing country contexts, there is increasing momentum away from traditional producer-facing value chain upgrades towards efforts to increase both the availability and affordability of nutritious foods at the consumer level. However, such goals must navigate the inherent complexities of agricultural value chains, which involve multiple interactions, feedbacks and unintended consequences, including important but often surprising trade-offs between producers and consumers. Objective and methods Based around the 'Loop' horticultural aggregation scheme of Digital Green in Bihar, India, we develop a system dynamics modelling framework to survey the value chain trade-offs emerging from upgrades that aim to improve the availability of fruits and vegetables in small retail-oriented markets. We model the processes of horticultural production, aggregation, marketing, and retailing – searching for futures that are ‘win-win-win’ for: (i) the availability of fruits and vegetables in small retail markets, (ii) the profits of farmers participating in aggregation, and (iii) the sustainability of the initial scheme for Digital Green as an organisation. We simulate two internal upgrades to aggregation and two upgrades to the wider enabling environment through a series of 5000 Monte Carlo trajectories – designed to explore the plausible future dynamics of the three outcome dimensions relative to the baseline. Results We find that ‘win-win-win’ futures cannot be achieved by internal changes to the aggregation scheme alone, emerging under a narrow range of scenarios that boost supplies to the small retail market whilst simultaneously supporting the financial takeaways of farmers. In contrast, undesirable producer versus consumer trade-offs emerge as unintended consequences of scaling-up aggregation and the introduction of market-based cold storage. Significance This approach furthers ongoing efforts to capture complex value chain processes, outcomes and upgrades within system dynamics modelling frameworks, before scanning the horizon of plausible external scenarios, internal dynamics and unintended trade-offs to identify ‘win-win-win’ futures for all

Penerapan teknik outbound untuk meningkatkan interaksi sosial siswa di SMP Negeri 1 Binamu Kabupaten Jeneponto. Skripsi.

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini menelaah Penerapan teknik outbound untuk meningkatkan interaksi sosial siswa di SMP Negeri 1 Binamu Kabupaten Jeneponto. Masalah penelitian ini adalah: (1) Bagaimanakah gambaran interaksi sosial siswa sebelum dan setelah diberikan teknik Outbound di SMP Negeri 1 Binamu Kabupaten jeneponto, (2) Apakah penerapan teknik outbound dapat meningkatan interaksi sosial siswa di SMP Negeri 1 Binamu Kabupaten Jeneponto. Tujuan penelitian ini yaitu: (1) Untuk mengetahui gambaran interaksi sosial siswa sebelum dan setelah diberi teknik outbound di SMP Negeri 1 Binamu Kabupaten Jeneponto, (2) Untuk mengetahui penerapan teknik outbound dapat meningkatkan interaksi sosial siswa SMP Negeri 1 Binamu Kabupaten Jeneponto. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan jenis penelitian True-Eksperimental Design. Desain Experimen yang digunakan adalah Pretest-Posttest Control grup Design. Sampel pada penelitian ini adalah 20 orang siswa terbagi dalam dua kelompok yaitu 10 orang pada kelompok eksperimen dan 10 orang pada kelompok control semuanya berasal dari siswa kelas VII tahun ajaran 2013/2014, yang ditentukan dengan Simple Random Sampling. Instrumen penelitian yang digunakan adalah angket dan observasi. Analisis data menggunakan analisis statistik deskriptif, dan uji wilcoxon. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: (1) Tingkat interaksi sosial siswa di SMP Negeri 1 Binamu Kabupaten Jeneponto sebelum diberi perlakuan dalam hal ini penerapan teknik outbound berada pada kategori rendah, akan tetapi setelah diberi perlakuan tingkat perilaku interaksi sosial siswa mengalami peningkatan berada pada kategori tinggi, (2) Penerapan teknik outbound dapat meningkatkan interaksi sosial siswa di SMP Negeri 1 Binamu Kabupaten Jeneponto

Optimal damped-type single tuned filters for mitigating harmonics using MIDACO

This paper presents new method employing Mixed Integer Distributed Ant Colony Optimization to optimize the sizing parameters of single tuned damped filter in the nonsinusoidal system. The proposed method obtain the optimum value of inductance and capacitance along with the resistance of the inductor where the global minimum and maximum is achieved after considering the nonlinear loads, the voltage total harmonic distortion based on IEEE Std. 519-2014, the filter values which would introduce resonance and the quality factor of the tuning reactor. The optimal design of the single tuned damped filter is introduced and compared with the previous published filter

Effect of cooling protocol on mechanical properties and microstructure of dental veneering ceramics

Objectives: Understand how cooling protocols control the microstructure and mechanical properties of veneering porcelains. Methods: Two porcelain powders were selected, one used to veneer metallic frameworks (VM13) and one for zirconia frameworks (VM9). After the last firing cycle, the monolithic specimens were subjected to two cooling protocols: slow and fast. Flexural strength (FS) was evaluated by three-point beam bending and fracture toughness (KIC) was evaluated by the single-edge V-notch beam (SEVNB) method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to determine the leucite crystal volume fraction (%), particle size, and matrix microcrack density. The results were compared by analysis of variances (ANOVA) and Tukey's multiple comparison test. Results: The mechanical properties were significantly (p < 0.05) higher for the VM13 porcelain (FS = 111.0 MPa, KIC = 1.01 MPa.√m) compared to VM9 (FS = 79.6 MPa, KIC =0.87 MPa.√m) regardless of cooling protocol due to ∼250% higher volume fraction of leucite crystals. The slow cooled VM13 and fast cooled VM9 resulted in the highest and lowest mechanical properties, respectively, while the VM9 slow cooled properties were similar to the VM13 fast cooled. The SEM revealed that the slow cooling significantly increased the volume fraction of leucite crystals by 33–41 %. Across both porcelains, a significant linear correlation between both mechanical properties (strength and toughness) and leucite crystal content was found. Slow cooling was also associated with increased crystal growth resulting in more matrix microcracking. Significance: Controlled crystallization using slow cooling can be applied as a means of strengthening dental porcelains. However, the benefits of slow cooling may be partially offset by increasing the microcrack density in the glass matrix. To achieve the maximum benefit of slow cooling, it is recommending to develop heat treatments to produce porcelain with fine-grained and homogenously dispersed leucite crystals to achieve minimal glass matrix microcracking