Through Saudi Eyes: Insight into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through Children’s Artwork

Grade Level(s): 5-12Franklin Central H

Testing the hypothesis of Rothman and Salovey (1997) under a choice task, a time constraint and when decision making on the behalf of another

The presentation of information is central to decisions to engage in a treatment and the uptake of health care behaviours. Hence understanding the processes which are responsible for framing effects within the health domain is crucial to achieving effective and unbiased communication. Within the message framing literature decision making is considered being a function of the valence of the information which is presented. Research has shown that individuals are more likely to attend a screening examination when information is presented as a loss a frame and more likely to engage in preventative behaviour when information is presented as a gain frame. However according to Rothman and Salovey (1997); Rothman, Kelly, Hertel, and Salovey (2003) it is the degree to which performing a health behaviour presents risk to the individual that determines whether a positively or negatively valenced version of information is more likely to be effective in encouraging the behaviour advocated. To date, studies assessing the hypothesis by Rothman and Salovey (1997); Rothman et al (2003) have only considered framing effects in the case of decision making for the self, and have not considered how framing of information may influence choice tasks. Additionally emotional reactions to risk information may play a part in determining the influence of framing effects (Lowe and Ferguson, 2003). The first experiment explored the acceptance of a blood transfusion for the self and on the behalf of a family member and friend within the frameworks of Rothman and Salovey (1997). In relation to this, the risk – as - feelings hypothesis by Lowenstein, Weber, Hsee, and Welch (2001) which postulates a direct effect of feelings onto choice, was examined. In the second chapter a standardised(word study changed to chapter as this not an experiment and so it is correct not to call as such chapter) instrument to measure factors around which people decide to accept blood transfusion products was developed. The final two experiments tested the two hypotheses in relation to a choice task and under a time constraint. Under a time constraint the potential for cognitive processes to play a role in decision making is reduced and the role of hot cognitions (emotions) is heightened. Hence the last experiment aimed to expose the role that affect may contribute to message framing effects by investigating whether the same framing effects could be observed when choosing between two blood transfusion products with and without a time constraint. When making a decision on the behalf of the self, a family member and a friend to accept a blood transfusion or to choose between two blood transfusion types a gain frame effect was observed. The framing effect did not alter under a time constraint in the case of decision making on the behalf of any potential recipient. Investigations of affect (trait, anticipated and immediate emotion) and cognitive motivational factors important to decision making as potential mediators produced null results. However, direct effects of immediate emotion were observed when decision making was for the self, family member and a friend in the first experiment and in the case of the self in Experiment 3. The findings obtained lend support to the increasing call for both cognitive and emotive processes to be incorporated into models of decision making, and to the argument by Rothman and Salovey (1997) that the function of the treatment under consideration moderates framing effects. The blood transfusion service gains valuable information on the importance of psychological factors to aid in planning public information campaigns

Escape the bear and fall to the lion: the impact of avoidance availability on threat acquisition and extinction

Pervasive avoidance behaviour is a core feature of anxiety disorders. However, little is known about how the availability of avoidance modulates learned threat responding. To assess this question, we recorded avoidance behaviour, electrodermal activity and expectancy ratings in 53 healthy participants during an associative learning paradigm with embedded unavoidable and avoidable trials. When avoidance was available, we observed greater avoidance behaviour for threat versus safety cues, as well as reduced differential skin conductance responses for unavoidable threat versus safety cues. When avoidance was unavailable, as during the extinction phase, we observed sustained differential skin conductance responses for threat versus safety cues. For all phases, we found greater expectancy ratings for threat versus safe cues. Furthermore, greater avoidance behaviour predicted larger differential skin conductance responses to threat versus safety cues during extinction. Overall, the results show that the conditioned response is attenuated during situations where avoidance is available, but it recovers when avoidance is unavailable, subsequently prolonging threat extinction

Executive education programs in the construction industry : an analysis of existing national programs and current industry participation

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1992.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 316-317).by Susan Ann Tomlinson-Dykens.M.S

Mouthguard usage during sport: a participants’ perspective.

Orofacial traumas account for a third from all injuries sustained during contact sports. Wearing a mouthguard (MG) could reduce the risk of such injuries. Yet, there is an underlying belief amongst many players that the device could cause impedances with comfort, breathing and speech. This might be due to the type of MG or athletes knowledge of which one is best. For example, custom-made MGs were found to provide superior protection and fit compared to ‘boil-and-bite’ or stock MGs. The aim of the present study was to examine the current attitudes and awareness of MGs in the UK via online questionnaire. An online survey was distributed to 308 participants via email and social media, which consisted of 18 questions, addressing the usage of mouth protection in different levels of sport (e.g. national/international), rate of dental injuries and common issues previously raised within the literature. The results showed that 23% of the 308 respondents competed at national level, 15% at international and 10% were part of a club. The majority were rugby union players (57%) and the rest participated in sports such as ice hockey (17%), martial arts (5%) and other team sports. It was found that 40% currently wore a customised MG, however many of them had experienced problems with discomfort and breathing. Almost half of the respondents highlighted that they had stopped wearing a MG due to the device being uncomfortable. These factors are raised quite considerably throughout the literature and within this study; it is therefore a recommendation that these issues need to be addressed. More education about why customised MGs should be worn is required to improve usage and compliance as well as improving manufacturing techniques to reduce the highlighted issues

The Neogene seismic stratigraphy and uplift history of the Otago Shelf, New Zealand

The Otago continental shelf is a prospective petroleum area on the east side of the South Island New Zealand. During the Neogene it evolved from a post-rift to passive margin as giant progrades extended eastward across the shelf, fed by tectonic uplift and erosion of the Southern Alps to the west. Seismic reflection profiles reveal an uplifted limestone horizon near the Dunedin Volcano. This may be caused by a buoyant load under the lithosphere and can be spatially and temporally linked to the Dunedin Volcano and geophysical anomalies in the area. This thesis utilises 2D and 3D seismic data to map Neogene sequence boundaries over the Otago Shelf. Seven such sequence boundaries have been mapped based on distinctive seismic characteristics above and below these surfaces. These surfaces have been tied to nearby petroleum and Integrated Ocean Drilling Project wells using biostratigraphic data and then used to generate a series of isopach and depth maps that document the Neogene evolution of this margin. The maps depict the deposition of Neogene sediment and provide age constraints to structural events in the basin such as the uplift near Dunedin and fault movement on the Endeavour High. The maps are then used to develop a lithospheric flexure model where uplift is interpreted to have been caused by asthenospheric upwelling beneath Dunedin. The model provides insight into the conditions that led to the flexure of the lithosphere, specifically the elastic thickness of the plate and the magnitude and depth distribution of buoyant intrusive material that fed the Dunedin Volcano. Asthenospheric upwelling explains elevated heat flow around Dunedin and would result in enhanced petroleum maturity. This highlights the potential for petroleum generation in source rocks immediately offshore from Dunedin

Bidirectional Mendelian randomisation analysis of the relationship between circulating vitamin D concentration and colorectal cancer risk

Epidemiological evidence is consistent with a protective effect of vitamin D against colorectal cancer (CRC), but the observed strong associations are open to confounders and potential reverse causation. Previous Mendelian randomisation (MR) studies were limited by poor genetic instruments and inadequate statistical power. Moreover, whether genetically higher CRC risk can influence vitamin D level, namely the reverse causation, still remains unknown. Herein, we report the first bidirectional MR study. We employed 110 newly identified genetic variants as proxies for vitamin D to obtain unconfounded effect estimates on CRC risk in 26 397 CRC cases and 41 481 controls of European ancestry. To test for reserve causation, we estimated effects of 115 CRC-risk variants on vitamin D level among 417 580 participants from the UK Biobank. The causal association was estimated using the random-effect inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method. We found no significant causal effect of vitamin D on CRC risk [IVW estimate odds ratio: 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.88-1.07, P = .565]. Similarly, no significant reverse causal association was identified between genetically increased CRC risk and vitamin D levels (IVW estimate β: -0.002, 95% CI = -0.008 to 0.004, P = .543). Stratified analysis by tumour sites did not identify significant causal associations in either direction between vitamin D and colon or rectal cancer. Despite the improved statistical power of this study, we found no evidence of causal association of either direction between circulating vitamin D and CRC risk. Significant associations reported by observational studies may be primarily driven by unidentified confounders

Severe polyposis in Apc1322T mice is associated with submaximal Wnt signalling and increased expression of the stem cell marker Lgr5

Background and aims: Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) is a tumour suppressor gene mutated in the germline of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and somatically in most colorectal cancers. APC mutations impair β-catenin degradation, resulting in increased Wnt signalling. The most frequent APC mutation is a codon 1309 truncation that is associated with severe FAP. A previous study compared two mouse models of intestinal tumorigenesis, ApcR850X (Min) and. Apc1322T (1322T), the latter a model of human codon 1309 changes. 1322T mice had more severe polyposis but, surprisingly, these tumours had lower levels of nuclear β-catenin than Min tumours. The consequences of these different β-catenin levels were investigated. Methods: Enterocytes were isolated from 1322T and Min tumours by microdissection and gene expression profiling was performed. Differentially expressed Wnt targets and other stem cell markers were validated using quantitative PCR, in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry. Results: As expected, lower nuclear β-catenin levels in 1322T lesions were associated with generally lower levels of Wnt target expression. However, expression of the Wnt target and stem cell marker Lgr5 was significantly higher in 1322T tumours than in Min tumours. Other stem cell markers (Musashi1, Bmi1 and the Wnt target Cd44) were also at higher levels in 1322T tumours. In addition, expression of the Bmp antagonist Gremlin1 was higher in 1322T tumours, together with lower Bmp2 and Bmp4 expression. Conclusions: The severe phenotype caused by truncation of Apc at codon 1322 is associated with an increased number of stem cells. Thus, a submaximal level of Wnt signalling favours the stem cell phenotype and this may promote tumorigenesis. A level of Wnt signalling exists that is too high for optimal tumour growth

Phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) of colorectal cancer risk SNP effects on health outcomes in UK Biobank

BACKGROUND: Associations between colorectal cancer (CRC) and other health outcomes have been reported, but these may be subject to biases, or due to limitations of observational studies. METHODS: We set out to determine whether genetic predisposition to CRC is also associated with the risk of other phenotypes. Under the phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) and tree-structured phenotypic model (TreeWAS), we studied 334,385 unrelated White British individuals (excluding CRC patients) from the UK Biobank cohort. We generated a polygenic risk score (PRS) from CRC genome-wide association studies as a measure of CRC risk. We performed sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of the results and searched the Danish Disease Trajectory Browser (DTB) to replicate the observed associations. RESULTS: Eight PheWAS phenotypes and 21 TreeWAS nodes were associated with CRC genetic predisposition by PheWAS and TreeWAS, respectively. The PheWAS detected associations were from neoplasms and digestive system disease group (e.g. benign neoplasm of colon, anal and rectal polyp and diverticular disease). The results from the TreeWAS corroborated the results from the PheWAS. These results were replicated in the observational data within the DTB. CONCLUSIONS: We show that benign colorectal neoplasms share genetic aetiology with CRC using PheWAS and TreeWAS methods. Additionally, CRC genetic predisposition is associated with diverticular disease