Development and implementation of a community planning process for the ledge site in Mission Hill

As stated in the thesis project, "The Ledge Site Community Planning Process was a unique opportunity for members of the Mission Hill neighborhood to develop a vision and plan for the Ledge Site. The Ledge Site, a 9.38 acre parcel overlooking Brigham Circle, is the third largest underdeveloped parcel in the City of Boston. In most major urban settings, the typical approach to real estate development involves the developer (whether for profit or non-profit) who has an idea, owns property, hires an architect, presents a development scheme for permitting approval and holds the required community meeting. Designs may or may not be modified following public comment. Neighborhood residents are generally left out of the process and allowed to react at the very end. The Ledge Site Community Planning Process turned traditional development practices upside down. It started with soliciting the comments of residents on what they wanted to see built, who it should serve, and general concerns about changing the gateway to the community. Altogether, over four hundred participants were involved in creating a financially viable development plan that, when implemented, will create economic development and a new image for the neighborhood. The 25 million dollar development plan established will help to revitalize a depressed commercial district, create jobs and needed goods and services. It brought in technical consultants only when all interested community people had expressed their visions for the Ledge Site. The process demonstrated that individuals working together can have control of community development. It may very well be a model worthy of replication elsewhere. (Library-derived description)Ohlund, G. (1995). Development and implementation of a community planning process for the ledge site in Mission Hill. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster of Science (M.S.)School of Community Economic Developmen

Adolescent Suicide: A Study of Prediction Variables

The purpose of the current study was to examine data to determine if common demoninators could define predictor variables for risk assessment of adolescent suicide. The aim of this project was to offer comparisons among hospitalized adolescent suicide attempters and non-attempters , and outpatient adolescent suicide attempters and non-attempters . The data was then compared with data from non-hospitalized adolescents nationally. The study was designed as a systematic investigation of archival data. The data was taken from hospital records including interview forms and psychological evaluations. The subject sample was randomly selected from a larger inpatient/outpatient population. Subjects ranged in age from 12 to 18, and included both males and females. Analysis methods used for the study falls into the category of non-parametric statistics. Chi-square statistical methods were used. For the purpose of this study statistical significance was accepted at the level of p\u3c.05. The results of the study indicate that of the four hypotheses, only that which predicted adolescent inpatient attempters who reported abuse of drug and/or alcohol for themselves and/or family members were found to have a higher frequency of suicide attempts when compared to the other groups. However, the inpatient adolescent attempters who reported abuse of alcohol and other substances were not found to have a statistically significant higher rate of suicide attempts. Chi-square analysis did indicate that there was a significant difference beyond the .05 level when comparing the outpatient suicide attempter that had a history of incest with the inpatient groups, the outpatient non-attempter, and the national sample of adolescents. The other statistically significant finding was among outpatient adolescent attempters, 63.3% reported a history of physical abuse. Chi-square analysis indicated that this finding was significant at the .05 level. Though the finding does not support the predicted outcome hypothesis, it does offer a valuable clue to some of the dynamics underlying adolescent suicide

Survival, remission, and quality of life in diabetic cats

BackgroundRemission is documented in a substantial proportion of cats with diabetes. The effects of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the lives of cats and their owners should be considered when evaluating treatment success. ObjectivesTo study outcome in cats with DM and the impact DM has on the life situation of cat and owner. AnimalsDomestic and pedigree cats with a diagnosis of DM (n = 477) insured by a Swedish insurance company during 2009 to 2013. MethodsRetrospective cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was sent to 1369 owners of cats diagnosed with DM. The questions concerned the cat, treatment, owner perceptions of the disease and treatment and disease outcome. Data were analyzed using multiple linear and logistic regression, with outcomes set as survival for more than 4 weeks after diagnosis, survival time, achieving remission, remission without relapse and quality of life (QoL) for the cat. ResultsThe response rate was 35%, leaving 477 questionnaires for analysis. The remission rate among treated cats was 29% (118/405). Feeding a commercially available wet diet was associated with both remission (OR 3.16, 95% confidence interval 1.27-8.12) and remission without relapse (OR 14.8, 95% confidence interval 2.25-153.8). Remission was associated with a better QoL for the cat. Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceThe association between feeding a commercially available wet diet and remission is important and strengthens the role of diet in treatment of DM in cats. Linking remission and a better QoL for the cat emphasizes remission as a goal in disease management

Large-scale assessment of artificially coated seeds for forest regeneration across Sweden

We report the results of two years' field performance of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) seedlings regenerated using artificially coated seeds. The coated seeds were used for regeneration on 12 clearcut sites, covering a 1000 km latitudinal gradient across Sweden. The coating was either combined with arginine-phosphate fertilizer (10 mg N per seed) or had no additions. Interactions with environmental variables associated with sites were also assessed. Coated seeds were deployed in May-June 2017 and surveyed in August-September of 2018 and 2019. After two years, the mean establishment rate of seedlings from coated seeds was 56 +/- 4% across the 12 sites. The fertilizer addition did not affect survival, and the biomass response to fertilizer varied significantly between sites. Maximum precipitation and wind speed during the first six weeks after deployment were correlated with seedling survival, regardless of fertilization treatment. Establishment increased with increasing precipitation and decreased with increasing wind speed. This highlights the importance of initial weather conditions for the seeds' establishment. Our data suggest that Scots pine regeneration using coated seeds can be practiced in boreal forests, but also that the method is sensitive to the weather conditions at the time of deployment of the seeds

Male gender is an important clinical risk factor for iron deficiency in healthy infants

Author's personal copy ; Acknowledgements to the children and families who were involved in this study, and to BH Pathology Clinic Dpt.Background & aims: To identify ID risk factors in infancy, and try to explore why ID is more prevalent in boys than in girls in the first year of life. Methods: A multiple logistic regression was performed on data of 201 infants, with ferritin<12 ng/ml as the dependent variable and months of breastfeeding, weight gain from birth to 9 months (WG), and gender as independent variables. To compare haematological parameters we used Manne-Whitney and t test. Results: From the 39 infants with IDA (19.4%), 24 (61.5%) were male and of the 162 infants without IDA, 50% were male (p ¼ 0.195). The median(minimum; maximum) ferritin concentrations in male infants at 9 months was of 9.8 ng/ml (0.5e67.0 ng/ml) and in females 14 ng/ml (0.5e74.5 ng/ml), p < 0.001. The average (±SD) WG was of 5863.3 g (±855.4 g) in male infants and 5556.9 g (±1054.3 g) in female infants (p = 0.027). A multiple logistic regression (OR; 95%CI) showed that male gender was the most important risk factor (OR: 3.3; 1.7e6.3; p < 0.001), followed by a higher weight increase (OR: 1.6; CI [1.1; 2.2]; p = 0.016) and longer breastfeeding time (OR: 1.1; CI [0.98; 1.2]; p = 0.099). Comparison of other haematological parameters at 9 months in relation to gender (males (M): 105; females (F): 96) showed significant differences in: mean ± SD, Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (M: 25.0 ± 2.1; F: 25.8 ± 2.4 pg, p = 0.001), Mean Corpuscular Volume (M: 73.4 ± 4.1; F: 75.3 ± 4.2 fl, 0.009), RDW (M: 14.6 ± 1.5; F: 14.1 ± 1.6%, p = 0.048), Plaquelets (M: 324.9 ± 77.9; F: 350.5 ± 81.4 x 10³/µl, p = 0.026). Conclusions: ID was significantly more frequent in male infants, independent of rapid growth or longer breastfeeding duration. The clinical risk profile for ID in infants includes male gender and not only rapid growth, and longer breastfeeding duration.This study received a scholarship from the Foment Commission for Investigation in Health Care, from the Health Ministry P.I. nº 87/07

Blockade of insulin-like growth factors increases efficacy of paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer.

Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in women owing to metastasis and the development of resistance to established therapies. Macrophages are the most abundant immune cells in the breast tumor microenvironment and can both inhibit and support cancer progression. Thus, gaining a better understanding of how macrophages support cancer could lead to the development of more effective therapies. In this study, we find that breast cancer-associated macrophages express high levels of insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2 (IGFs) and are the main source of IGFs within both primary and metastatic tumors. In total, 75% of breast cancer patients show activation of insulin/IGF-1 receptor signaling and this correlates with increased macrophage infiltration and advanced tumor stage. In patients with invasive breast cancer, activation of Insulin/IGF-1 receptors increased to 87%. Blocking IGF in combination with paclitaxel, a chemotherapeutic agent commonly used to treat breast cancer, showed a significant reduction in tumor cell proliferation and lung metastasis in pre-clinical breast cancer models compared to paclitaxel monotherapy. Our findings provide the rationale for further developing the combination of paclitaxel with IGF blockers for the treatment of invasive breast cancer, and Insulin/IGF1R activation and IGF+ stroma cells as potential biomarker candidates for further evaluation

Cancer associated fibroblasts: the architects of stroma remodelling

Fibroblasts have exceptional phenotypic plasticity and capability to secrete vast amount of soluble factors, ECM components and extracellular vesicles. While in physiological conditions this makes fibroblasts master regulators of tissue homeostasis and healing of injured tissues, in solid tumours cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) co-evolve with the disease, and alter the biochemical and physical structure of the tumour microenvironment, as well as the behaviour of the surrounding stromal and cancer cells. Thus CAFs are fundamental regulators of tumour progression and influence response to therapeutic treatments. Increasing efforts are devoted to better understand the biology of CAFs to bring insights to develop complementary strategies to target this cell type in cancer. Here we highlight components of the tumour microenvironment that play key roles in cancer progression and invasion, and provide an extensive overview of past and emerging understanding of CAF biology as well as the contribution that mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics has made to this field

Clustering patients on the basis of their individual course of low back pain over a six month period

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several researchers have searched for subgroups in the heterogeneous population of patients with non-specific low back pain (LBP). To date, subgroups have been identified based on psychological profiles and the variation of pain.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This multicentre prospective observational study explored the 6- month clinical course with measurements of bothersomeness that were collected from weekly text messages that were sent by 176 patients with LBP. A hierarchical cluster analysis, Ward's method, was used to cluster patients according to the development of their pain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four clusters with distinctly different clinical courses were described and further validated against clinical baseline variables and outcomes. Cluster 1, a "stable" cluster, where the course was relatively unchanged over time, contained young patients with good self- rated health. Cluster 2, a group of "fast improvers" who were very bothered initially but rapidly improved, consisted of patients who rated their health as relatively poor but experienced the fewest number of days with bothersome pain of all the clusters. Cluster 3 was the "typical patient" group, with medium bothersomeness at baseline and an average improvement over the first 4-5 weeks. Finally, cluster 4 contained the "slow improvers", a group of patients who improved over 12 weeks. This group contained older individuals who had more LBP the previous year and who also experienced most days with bothersome pain of all the clusters.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It is possible to define clinically meaningful clusters of patients based on their individual course of LBP over time. Future research should aim to reproduce these clusters in different populations, add further clinical variables to distinguish the clusters and test different treatment strategies for them.</p