How accurately do adult sons and daughters report and perceive parental deaths from coronary disease?

<b>OBJECTIVES</b>: To describe how adult sons and daughters report and perceive parental deaths from heart disease <b>DESIGN</b>: Two generation family study. <b>SETTING</b>: West of Scotland. <b>SUBJECTS</b>: 1040 sons and 1298 daughters aged 30-59 from 1477 families, whose fathers and mothers were aged 45-64 in 1972-76 and have been followed up for mortality over 20 years. <b>OUTCOME</b> : Perception of a "family weakness" attributable to heart disease. RESULTS : 26% of sons and daughters had a parent who had died of coronary heart disease (CHD). The proportion was higher in older offspring (+18% per 10 year age difference) and in manual compared with non-manual groups (+37%). Eighty nine per cent of parental deaths from CHD were correctly reported by offspring. Only 23% of sons and 34% of daughters with at least one parent who had died of CHD considered that they had a family weakness attributable to heart disease. Perceptions of a family weakness were higher when one or both parents had died of CHD, when parental deaths occurred at a younger age, in daughters compared with sons and in offspring in non-manual compared with manual occupations. <b>CONCLUSIONS</b>: Only a minority of sons and daughters with experience of a parent having died from CHD perceive this in terms of a family weakness attributable to heart disease. Although men in manual occupations are most likely to develop CHD, they are least likely to interpret a parental death from CHD in terms of a family weakness. Health professionals giving advice to patients on their familial risks need to be aware of the difference between clinical definitions and lay perceptions of a family history of heart disease

Assessing the Effectiveness of Studio Physics at Georgia State University

Previous studies have shown that many students have misconceptions about basic concepts in physics which persist after instruction. It has been concluded that one of the challenges lies in the teaching methodology. To address this, Georgia State University (GSU) has begun teaching studio algebra-based physics. Although many institutions have implemented studio physics, most have done so in calculus-based sequences. Additionally, the unique environment of GSU’s population as a diverse, urban research institution is considered. The effectiveness of the studio approach for this demographic in an algebra-based introductory physics course was assessed. This five-semester pilot study presents demographic survey results and compares the results of student pre- and post-tests using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). FCI results show that 1) the studio approach yields higher learning gains than the conventional course, 2) there are significant performance differences among ethnic groups, and 3) a gender gaps exists regardless of instructional method

Data and Geometry; Model Building at Calthorpe Analytics

This report documents my Summer 2016 internship with Calthorpe Analytics, a Berkeley CA based urban planning firm. Calthorpe Analytics specializes in scenario development for planning, modeling, and plan evaluation for government and municipal clients. The primary responsibility of my internship was model development and refinement using advanced spatial analytics working in the Python programming language. The internship was extremely successful: it gave me a great opportunity to strengthen my open source GIS skillset, deepen my understanding of data science, and vastly improve my geospatial programming skillset. It also gave me a chance to apply advanced geospatial modeling and spatial statistics in practice. The firm provided a great working environment and a very supportive culture in which to learn and test new ideas and techniques. The following paper will expand on the work of Calthorpe Analytics, their culture and organization, my contributions to their workflow, and reflect on the personal and professional impact of the internship

Alien Registration- Upton, Lillian M. (Bangor, Penobscot County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/10263/thumbnail.jp

Developing an On-Line Interactive Health Psychology Module.

On-line teaching material in health psychology was developed which ensured a range of students could access appropriate material for their course and level of study. This material has been developed around the concept of smaller 'content chunks' which can be combined into whole units of learning (topics), and ultimately, a module. On the basis of the underlying philosophy that the medium is part of the message, we considered interactivity to be a key element in engaging the student with the material. Consequently, the key aim of this development was to stimulate and engage students, promoting better involvement with the academic material, and hence better learning. It was hoped that this was achieved through the development of material including linked programmes and supporting material, small Java Scripts and basic email, forms and HTML additions. This material is outlined as are some of the interactive activities introduced, and the preliminary student and tutor experience described

EFFECT OF THE 1985 FARM BILL PROVISIONS ON FARMERS' SOIL CONSERVATION DECISIONS

Conservation initiatives in the 1985 Farm Bill affected farmers' decisions regarding soil conservation. A farmer survey was conducted and a multiperiod mixed-integer programming model was developed to determine an optimal farm plan with choice of crop-tillage combinations and land retirement. Results indicate that farmers' incentives to reduce soil loss in the Sand Mountain region in Alabama are not substantially affected by provisions of the 1985 Farm Bill. The bid price for the Conservation Reserve Program will have to be considerably higher than 1988 levels to provide an incentive to remove land from production.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Term admissions to neonatal units in England: a role for transitional care? A retrospective cohort study

Objective To identify the primary reasons for term admissions to neonatal units in England, to determine risk factors for admissions for jaundice and to estimate the proportion who can be cared for in a transitional setting without separation of mother and baby. Design Retrospective observational study using neonatal unit admission data from the National Neonatal Research Database and data of live births in England from the Office for National Statistics. Setting All 163 neonatal units in England 2011–2013. Participants 133 691 term babies born ≥37 weeks gestational age and admitted to neonatal units in England. Primary and secondary outcomes Primary reasons for admission, term babies admitted for the primary reason of jaundice, patient characteristics, postnatal age at admission, total length of stay, phototherapy, intravenous fluids, exchange transfusion and kernicterus. Results Respiratory disease was the most common reason for admission overall, although jaundice was the most common reason for admission from home (22% home vs 5% hospital). Risk factors for admission for jaundice include male, born at 37 weeks gestation, Asian ethnicity and multiple birth. The majority of babies received only a brief period of phototherapy, and only a third received intravenous fluids, suggesting that some may be appropriately managed without separation of mother and baby. Admission from home was significantly later (3.9 days) compared with those admitted from elsewhere in the hospital (1.7 days) (p<0.001). Conclusion Around two-thirds of term admissions for jaundice may be appropriately managed in a transitional care setting, avoiding separation of mother and baby. Babies with risk factors may benefit from a community midwife postnatal visit around the third day of life to enable early referral if necessary. We recommend further work at the national level to examine provision and barriers to transitional care, referral pathways between primary and secondary care, and community postnatal care

Measurement properties of the UK-English version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 (PedsQL™) generic core scales

Background Health related quality of life (HRQL) has been recognised as an important paediatric outcome measurement. One of the more promising measures to emerge in recent years is the Pediatric Quality Of Life Inventory (PedsQL™), developed in the US. Advantages of the PedsQL™ include brevity, availability of age appropriate versions and parallel forms for child and parent. This study developed a UK-English version of PedsQL™ generic module and assessed its performance in a group of UK children and their parents. Methods PedsQL™ was translated to UK-English. The psychometric properties of the UK version were then tested following administration to 1399 children and 970 of their parents. The sample included healthy children, children diagnosed with asthma, diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease and children in remission from cancer. Results Psychometric properties were similar to those reported for the original PedsQL™. Internal reliability exceeded 0.70 for all proxy and self-report sub-scales. Discriminant validity was established for proxy and self-report with higher HRQL being reported for healthy children than those with health problems. Sex differences were noted on the emotional functioning subscale, with females reporting lower HRQL than males. Proxy and self-report correlation was higher for children with health problems than for healthy children. Conclusion The UK-English version of PedsQL™ performed as well as the original PedsQL™ and is recommended for assessment of paediatric HRQL in the UK