Multi-causational approach to illness in young children: the role of psychological and social factors

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Liminal Bodies

This collection of thirty-three mostly free-verse poems explores the liminal, or threshold, modes of being encountered by bodies, especially in conjunction with other bodies, with places, and with the spirit or the divine. The sections of the manuscript progress from exploring the interstices and large gaps between women and girls, mothers and daughters, to the merging and colliding of lovers, friends, even rapists, to place and its ability to root the body to shadows of the past and present, to the merging of the divine with the human. As a collection, each section seeks to explore the body as a process in relation to and informed by other bodies, places, and spirits

Noise-induced changes to the bifurcation behaviour of semi-implicit Euler methods for stochastic delay differential equations

We are concerned with estimating parameter values at which bifurcations occur in stochastic delay differential equations. After a brief review of bifurcation, we employ a numerical approach and consider how bifurcation values are influenced by the choice of numerical scheme and the step length and by the level of white noise present in the equation. In this paper we provide a formulaic relationship between the estimated bifurcation value, the level of noise, the choice of numerical scheme and the step length. We are able to show that in the presence of noise there maybe some loss of order in the accuracy of the approximation to the true bifurcation value compared to the use of the same approach in the absence of noise

Ideology and disease identity : the politics of rickets, 1929-1982

How can we assess the reciprocal impacts of politics and medicine in the contemporary period? Using the example of rickets in twentieth century Britain, I will explore the ways in which a preventable, curable non-infectious disease came to have enormous political significance, first as a symbol of socioeconomic inequality, then as evidence of racial and ethnic health disparities. Between the 1920s and 1980s, clinicians, researchers, health workers, members of Parliament and later Britain's growing South Asian ethnic communities repeatedly confronted the British state with evidence of persistent nutritional deficiency among the British poor and British Asians. Drawing on bitter memories of the ‘Hungry Thirties’, postwar rickets—so often described as a ‘Victorian’ disease—became a high-profile sign of what was variously constructed as a failure of the Welfare State; or of the political parties charged with its protection; or of ethnically Asian migrants and their descendants to adapt to British life and norms. Here I will argue that rickets prompted such consternation not because of its severity, the cost of its treatment, or even its prevalence; but because of the ease with which it was politicised. I will explore the ways in which this condition was envisioned, defined and addressed as Britain moved from the postwar consensus to Thatcherism, and as Britain's diverse South Asian communities developed from migrant enclaves to settled multigenerational ethnic communities

Systematic review of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, and economic evaluation, of denosumab for the treatment of bone metastases from solid tumours

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Backward Design: A Handy Tool for Remote Teaching

The Vanderbilt Law Library recently revamped its 1 L legal research curriculum. In order to ensure that the revamp was effective, the librarians utilized backward design, which requires that instructors formulate a set of teaching objectives prior to creating course materials. When the University transitioned to remote teaching as a result of COVID-19, the prior preparation as a group made the transition much easier because the teaching librarians were able to utilize the core concepts that were agreed to by all while still customizing their instruction to fit the needs of their individual sections and teaching styles

Breeding Cool-Season Forage Grasses for a Warming Climate

In many parts of the world, changing climatic conditions are resulting in increased temperatures and more variable precipitation, intensifying the duration and severity of drought, especially in summer. Warming climate is considered one reason for the increasing failure of traditional, summer-active cool-season perennial grasses at the margin of their zone of adaptation in naturally C4 grass-dominated ecosystems of the Southern Great Plains of the USA. Two cool-season perennial forage grasses orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) and tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.) are of major economic and ecological importance in these regions. In 2008, we initiated a breeding program of summer-dormant (Mediterranean) cool-season perennial grasses originating from the Mediterranean Basin, including tall fescue, orchardgrass, and perennial ryegrass. In this publication, we present breeding history and morphological characteristics of cv. Yonatan (also known under research name TAL-02), a new cultivar of summer-dormant tall fescue. Recurrent selection cycles were conducted to develop cv. Yonatan during 2007-2010. Evaluations were performed on several locations across north Texas, Australia and New Zealand during 2015-2020. Yonatan tall fescue has improved forage production and persistence compared with check cultivars Flecha and Chisholm. It also differs from them in terms of wider leaves, earlier maturity, and development of a bulbous storage organ at the base of the tiller. Yonatan is adapted to changing climatic conditions in the Southern Great Plains of the USA, Australia, and New Zealand

GGE Biplot Analysis of Forage Yield Performance and Stability Assessment of Tall Fescue Experimental Populations Selected Under Grazing Pressure in a Stress Environment

Integrating the yield and stability of genotypes selected under grazing pressure is an important objective in breeding forage crops. Genotype × environment (G x E) interaction is a major source of inconsistency in crop performance across locations. As a result, a genotype is considered stable if it has a low contribution to the G x E interaction. This study explores the effects of G x E interaction on yield and stability of 10 tall fescue experimental populations selected for persistence under grazing pressure outside the area of adaptation of the species (stress environment). Six standard checks were included. The populations were tested in a randomized complete block design with 5 replications in 9 environments. The pooled analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed highly significant (p \u3c 0.01) variations between populations, locations, years, and G × E interaction. The first two principal components generated by the GGE biplot accounted for 46.78% and 28.45% variation in GGE for yield. The locations (Athens and Blairsville) were found to be the most significant causes of yield variation. The GGE biplot revealed three winning populations GALA1301 (ga1), GALA1302 (ga2), and GALA1306 (ga6) in terms of yield across environments. These populations performed better than all the checks. GALA1502T (g2t) was the most stable and GALA1502A(g2a), GALA1301(ga1), and GALA1303(ga3) are both comparatively stable and high yield performers. Comparison of the two populations g2t and g2a that were selected from the same base population but in different environments (g2t selected for persistence at Tifton under grazing pressure and g2a selected for yield without grazing in Athens) showed that g2t was the most stable across environments but lower in yield than g2a. Our results suggest that selection under grazing pressure in stress environments could result in improved stability across environments while yield performance will still depend on the genetic background of the germplasm

Building a bridge over troubled waters : an analysis of fishers’ trust in UK fisheries management

1. Effective management of fisheries relies on high levels of trust between the fishing industry and managers and scientists. We therefore used an online questionnaire to examine how well the UK fishing industry trusted the key governing and scientific bodies, and how the views of fishers aligned with UK Governments stated management goals and measures. 2. Participants in our study had low levels of trust in nearly all the institutions included in the survey, however, there was high variation between individual responses. Only the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) had a mean score above 3 of out 5, significantly higher than Defra, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and NGOs. 3. The management goals of fishers aligned well with several goals from Defra’s 25-year Environment Plan, particularly sustainability and the need to protect the seabed. However, increasing the coverage of marine protected areas (MPAs) was the least popular goal among participants. Increased use of selectivity devices was most favoured as a management tool, while MPAs were again the least popular. 4. More encouragingly, those fishers who had previously collaborated with scientists and managers showed higher levels of trust across the board. We recommend increased use of fishing industry-science partnerships and co-management as key ways to increase trust as the UK seeks to reform and improve its management of fisheries after Brexit

Educational attainment trajectories among children and adolescents with depression, and the role of sociodemographic characteristics: longitudinal data-linkage study

Background Depression is associated with lower educational attainment, but there has been little investigation of long-term educational trajectories in large cohorts with diagnosed depression. Aims: To describe the educational attainment trajectories of children with a depression diagnosis in secondary care, and to investigate whether these trajectories vary by sociodemographic characteristics. / Method: We identified new referrals to South London and Maudsley's NHS Foundation Trust between 2007 and 2013 who received a depression diagnosis at under 18 years old. Linking their health records to the National Pupil Database, we standardised their performance on three assessments (typically undertaken at ages 6–7 years (school Year 2), 10–11 (Year 6) and 15–16 (Year 11)) relative to the local reference population in each academic year. We used mixed models for repeated measures to estimate attainment trajectories. / Results: In our sample of 1492 children, the median age at depression diagnosis was 15 years (interquartile range = 14–16). Their attainment showed a decline between school Years 6 and 11. Attainment was consistently lower among males and those eligible for free school meals. Black ethnic groups also showed lower attainment than White ethnic groups between Years 2 and 6, but showed a less pronounced drop in attainment at Year 11. / Conclusions: Those who receive a depression diagnosis during their school career show a drop in attainment in Year 11. Although this pattern was seen among multiple sociodemographic groups, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status predict more vulnerable subgroups within this clinical population who might benefit from additional educational support or more intensive treatment