The Maternal Perinatal Scale as a predictor of developmental risk

With increases in medical technology, infant mortality has decreased, while infant morbidity has increased over the past half century. Moreover, the definition of high-risk pregnancy continues to lack true universal acceptance. Thus, continued research in the area of perinatal complications is warranted. There have been studies that have suggested short-term and long-term deficits considered to be secondary to perinatal complications. Psychologists often gather information about a given child’s perinatal history, but do not always have means to interpret how those complications may impact the child later in life. The Maternal Perinatal Scale (MPS) has been shown to have good reliability and validity in past studies, but a scoring system has yet to be established. This project consisted of two studies. The first study created a preliminary scoring system for the developmental questionnaire, the Maternal Perinatal Scale. This questionnaire has proven to have potential for good clinical utility, but prior to this study, had nothing beyond item-by-item analysis for interpreting the results. To test the validity of the proposed scoring system, a second study was conducted to determine cutoff scores and classification rates for the scoring system on data previously collected with children in elementary school. Results revealed proposed scores for each item on the MPS and classification rates associated with certain developmental disorders later in life.Thesis (Ph. D.)Department of Educational Psycholog

Shock excitation of the knots of Hen 3-1475

We present new optical STIS HST spectroscopic observations of the jets of the proto-planetary nebula Hen 3-1475. The excitation conditions of the knots of Hen 3-1475 are derived from the observed optical spectra, confirming that the knots are shock excited. The shocked spectra are qualitatively reproduced by simple ``3/2''D bow shock models. We present a set of bow shock models devoted to planetary nebulae, and discuss the effects of the pre-ionization conditions, the bow shock velocity, the bow shock shape and the chemical abundances on the predicted spectra. To explore the reliability of the ``3/2''D bow shock models, we also compare the observed spectra of other three proto-planetary nebulae (M 1-92, M 2-56 and CRL 618) to the predicted spectra.Comment: 13 pages. A&A (in press

Landscape Loopholes: Moments for Change

Social-ecological systems are breaking down at local, regional, and global scales, and sustainability seems an increasingly distant aspiration. Social harmony and economic systems are connected to ecological systems and climate, in multiple complex ways, at many scales. Adapting research practice to match integration opportunities within social-ecological systems could contribute foresight capabilities emerging from landscape change studies, which can be coupled with emerging policy transformation opportunities. The shaping of landscapes by human imagination and physical action creates meaningful contexts for building sustainability. However, the policy landscape is often dominated by circularity and “lock-in” to unsustainable pathways that are hard to escape. Moments for change emerge through timely convergence of circumstances, within a landscape context, that provide a window of opportunity—a “landscape loophole”—through which the transformation to more sustainable social-ecological relationships might be achieved. Creating future options redundancy (FOR) plans, a variety of possible pathways and alternative landscape futures within the characteristics and capacity of a region, could facilitate policy shifts and adaptive capacity, and reduce risk through reflexive future options. The convergence of circumstances providing loophole opportunities to escape existing lock-in might be understood, and even predicted, by closely coupling landscape sciences and policy research

The Effect of Viewing Appearance-Based and Self-Compassion Social Media Content on Body Image

The present study investigated the impact of viewing appearance-focused body-positive content versus non-appearance focused self-compassion content on a person’s self-image. Previous studies have demonstrated that viewing body-positive content improves body self-esteem. Additionally, self-compassion content may be a protective factor against body dissatisfaction. Although body-positive content is associated with increased body self-esteem, some question remains whether the continued focus on appearance is an effective strategy. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to examine whether non-appearance based content provides benefits above and beyond those provided by body positivity. It was hypothesized that those who viewed non-appearance based content would report greater positive effects on body self-esteem than those who view appearance focused content, as non-appearance focused content directs the viewer\u27s attention away from self-objectifying tendencies. Covariation effects of ideal internalization and trait appearance comparison characteristics were also investigated. Both experimental conditions demonstrated a significant increase in measures of body self-esteem, however they did not differ significantly from each other. Ideal internalization was found to be a significant covariate. Exploratory gender analyses indicated that while both types of positive content significantly increased body self-esteem in both men and women, appearance-neutral content may have a stronger effect for men. Results of this study provide further evidence for the effectiveness of including both appearance-based and appearance-neutral content in social media interventions for increasing positive body image. Additionally results suggest that gender differences should be continued to be investigated in future research as varying the type of content may enhance effectivity by gender

Endophyte Status in Summer-Dormant Tall Fescue in the Southern Great Plains of USA

Non-toxic fungal endophytes provide persistence-related benefits to summer-active, continental-type tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), as well as reduced animal toxicosis compared to toxic endophytes. However, the benefits of fungal endophytes to summer-dormant, Mediterranean-type tall fescue persistence or production are unclear. Summer-dormant tall fescue has potential to replace traditional, annual small grain graze-out systems in the Southern Great Plains region of the USA. This region is characterized by severe water deficits accompanied by extreme heat in summer, and by relatively mild, rainy winters (Malinowski et al. 2009). Summer-active tall fescues are better suited to high rainfall areas (\u3e 900 mm annual average rainfall (AAR)) east of the 97° longitudinal meridian, while summer-dormant tall fescues are best adapted to lower rainfall areas (600 to 900 mm AAR) between the 97° and 99° longitudinal meridian (Butler et al. 2011). The objective of this field study was to determine the effects of the ‘novel’ endophyte strain AR542 on persistence of summer-dormant tall fescue ‘Flecha’ in the Southern Great Plains of the USA. Two field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of the novel endophyte AR542 on the survival of Flecha

Electrochemical and ligand binding studies of a de novo heme protein

Abstract Heme proteins can perform a variety of electrochemical functions. While natural heme proteins carry out particular functions selected by biological evolution, artificial heme proteins, in principle, can be tailored to suit specified technological applications. Here we describe initial characterization of the electrochemical properties of a de novo heme protein, S824C. Protein S824C is a four-helix bundle derived from a library of sequences that was designed by binary patterning of polar and nonpolar amino acids. Protein S824C was immobilized on a gold electrode and the formal potential of heme-protein complex was studied as a function of pH and ionic strength. The binding of exogenous N-donor ligands to heme/S824C was monitored by measuring shifts in the potential that occurred upon addition of various concentrations of imidazole or pyridine derivatives. The response of heme/S824C to these ligands was then compared to the response of isolated heme (without protein) to the same ligands. The observed shifts in potential depended on both the concentration and the structure of the added ligand. Small changes in structure of the ligand (e.g. pyridine versus 2-amino pyridine) produced significant shifts in the potential of the heme-protein. The observed shifts correlate to the differential binding of the N-donor molecules to the oxidized and reduced states of the heme. Further, it was observed that the electrochemical response of the buried heme in heme/S824C differed significantly from that of isolated heme. These studies demonstrate that the structure of the de novo protein modulates the binding of N-donor ligands to heme