Associations of sedentary behaviour patterns with cardiometabolic risk in children: the sit less for health study

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science by ResearchThis study investigated the association between patterns of sedentary behaviour and cardiometabolic risk in children aged 11–12-years-old. Inclinometer and accelerometer determined sedentary behaviour patterns were measured in 118 (51 males) school children, in addition to cardiometabolic risk markers. Data were analysed using partial correlations and multiple linear regression. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, prolonged sedentary time was significantly negatively associated with weight (β=-.681), waist circumference (WC) (β=-.557), body mass index (BMI) (β=-.675) and body fat% (β=-.685) and significantly positively associated with total cholesterol (TC) (β=.410) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) (β=.432). The number of breaks in sedentary time was significantly negatively associated with weight (β=-.661), WC (β=-.597), BMI (β=-.601) and body fat% (β=-.546) and significantly positively associated with TC (β=.334) and HDL (β=.415). Total standing time was significantly negatively associated with weight (β=-.270), WC (β=-.272) and body fat% (β=-.286) and significantly positively associated with HDL (β=.312). This study provides evidence that the number of breaks in sedentary time and total standing time are beneficially associated with cardiometabolic risk in children aged 11–12-years-old. However, the associations of other sedentary behaviour variables cardiometabolic risk is mixed and thus requires further research

The Role of GIS to Enable Public-Sector Decision Making Under Conditions of Uncertainty

Uncertainty is inherent in environmental planning and decision making. For example, water managers in arid regions are attuned to the uncertainty of water supply due to prolonged periods of drought. To contend with multiple sources and forms of uncertainty, resource managers implement strategies and tools to aid in the exploration and interpretation of data and scenarios. Various GIS capabilities, such as statistical analysis, modeling and visualization are available to decision makers who face the challenge of making decisions under conditions of deep uncertainty. While significant research has lead to the inclusion and representation of uncertainty in GIS, existing GIS literature does not address how decision makers implement and utilize GIS as an assistive technology to contend with deep uncertainty. We address this gap through a case study of water managers in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, examining how they engage with GIS in making decisions and coping with uncertainty. Findings of a qualitative analysis of water mangers reveal the need to distinguish between implicit and explicit uncertainty. Implicit uncertainty is linked to the decision-making process, and while understood, it is not displayed or revealed separately from the data. In contrast, explicit uncertainty is conceived as separate from the process and is something that can be described or displayed. Developed from twelve interviews with Phoenix-area water managers in 2005, these distinctions of uncertainty clarify the use of GIS in decision making. Findings show that managers use the products of GIS for exploring uncertainty (e.g., cartographic products). Uncertainty visualization emerged as a current practice, but definitions of what constitutes such visualizations were not consistent across decision makers. Additionally, uncertainty was a common and even sometimes helpful element of decision making; rather than being a hindrance, it is seen as an essential component of the process. These findings contradict prior research relating to uncertainty visualization where decision makers often express discomfort with the presence of uncertainty.

Assessing Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (Acari:Ixodidae) Population Changes in Texas using the U.S. Drought Monitor Classification Scheme

Desiccation is the greatest risk to maximum survivorship during the off-host phase of ixodid tick (Acari: Ixodidae) life cycles. Ixodid tick development, survivorship and population responses have typically been assessed across habitat types in association with microclimate and mesoclimate temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, dew point or vapor pressure deficits, while assessment of ixodid tick populations at larger spatial scales have relied more upon macroclimate temperature and precipitation variables. We conducted a retrospective, observational study to assess Amblyomma maculatum Koch (Acari:Ixodidae) population changes using tick collection records and regional drought data for the state of Texas for the period 2000 – 2014. Collection records containing A. maculatum were obtained from the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) as submitted by inspectors at local county livestock markets. A “collection” was a single laboratory submission of one or more A. maculatum ticks. These records were assumed to be representative of A. maculatum abundance over time for each year in a 148 county study area. The Drought Mitigation Center, Lincoln, Nebraska provided Texas drought data from the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) for the same period and county area, based on their D0-D4 drought stress categories. Repeated measures analyses were used to compare changes in A. maculatum collections and drought stress across the 15-year period between two adjacent geographical areas of Texas, defined as Coastal and Inland zones. Data were then combined, to test whether trends in A. maculatum population changes could be explained by corresponding changes in drought stress. These analyses indicated significant difference (P = <0.0001) between the Coastal and Inland zone for tick collections, from June – November annually. There was significant interaction (P = <0.0001) between year and location for all drought stress categories. Subsequently, the combination of drought stress categories (D2-D4), across a 2-year lag was significant for both January – December and June – November tick collections, P = 0.0029 and P = 0.0043, respectfully. These results support our hypothesis that A. maculatum population changes in Texas can be associated with drought stress levels of the USDM and a 2-year rolling predictive model is feasible

Potential for sublethal insecticide exposure to impact vector competence of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) for dengue and Zika viruses

Presented for World Environmental Health Day, September 26, 2016 in Greenville, North Carolina.Dengue and Zika viruses (DENV and ZIKV, Family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) are arboviruses that cause human epidemics. Due to lack of vaccines for many mosquito borne diseases, there is a need for mosquito control. In the United States and other regions, residual barrier insecticide sprays applied to foliage where female mosquitoes rest and/or sugar feed between blood meals are an important control method for anthropogenic day-active mosquitoes such as Aedes albopictus (vector of DENV and ZIKV). These mosquitoes are difficult to control using traditional sprays applied only at dusk or dawn when these mosquitoes are not active. In this exploratory study, we analyzed the extent to which ingestion of a sublethal dose of the active ingredient bifenthrin affected vector competence (i.e. infection, dissemination, and transmission) of Ae. albopictus for DENV and ZIKV

Integrating genomics into the care of people with palliative needs: A global scoping review of policy recommendations

BACKGROUND: Genomics has growing relevance to palliative care, where testing largely benefits relatives. Integration of genomics into the care of patients with palliative care needs has not received the critical attention it requires, and health professionals report a lack of policy guidance to support them to overcome practice barriers. SUMMARY: To identify policy recommendations related to: (1) integrating genomics into the care of patients with palliative care needs and their families, and (2) care of the family unit, we performed a scoping review of palliative care and genomic policies. Two of 78 policies recommended integrating genomics into palliative care. Six palliative care policies mentioned genomics in background information but were without relevant recommendations. No genomics policies mentioned palliative care in the background information. Across all policies, guidance related to “Delivering Family-Centred Care” was the most frequent recommendation related to care of the family unit, (n=62/78, 79.5%). KEY MESSAGES: We identified a policy gap related to integrating genomics into palliative care. Without policy guidance, health services are less likely to commit funding towards supporting health professionals, reducing the personal and clinical benefits of genomics to patients and relatives. Framing genomic information as family-centred care enables policy makers to communicate the value of genomics to palliative care that will resonate with genomic and palliative care stakeholders. These findings increase awareness among policy makers of the benefits of genomic information to patients with palliative care needs and their families and call for incorporation of appropriate recommendations into palliative care and genomic policy

Are There Place Cells in the Avian Hippocampus?

Birds possess a hippocampus that serves many of the same spatial and mnemonic functions as the mammalian hippocampus but achieves these outcomes with a dramatically different neuroanatomical organization. The properties of spatially responsive neurons in birds and mammals are also different. Much of the contemporary interest in the role of the mammalian hippocampus in spatial representation dates to the discovery of place cells in the rat hippocampus. Since that time, cells that respond to head direction and cells that encode a grid-like representation of space have been described in the rat brain. Research with homing pigeons has discovered hippocampal cells, including location cells, path cells, and pattern cells, that share some but not all properties of spatially responsive neurons in the rodent brain. We have recently used patterns of immediate-early gene expression, visualized by the catFISH method, to investigate how neurons in the hippocampus of brood-parasitic brown-headed cowbirds respond to spatial context. We have found cells that discriminate between different spatial environments and are re-activated when the same spatial environment is re-experienced. Given the differences in habitat and behaviour between birds and rodents, it is not surprising that spatially responsive cells in their hippocampus and other brain regions differ. The enormous diversity of avian habitats and behaviour offers the potential for understanding the general principles of neuronal representation of space

Context-Dependent Egr1 Expression in the Avian Hippocampus.

In mammals, episodic memory and spatial cognition involve context-specific recruitment of unique ensembles in the hippocampal formation (HF). Despite their capacity for sophisticated spatial (e.g., for migration) and episodic-like (e.g., for food-caching) memory, the mechanisms underlying contextual representation in birds is not well understood. Here we demonstrate environment-specific Egr1 expression as male brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) navigate environments for food reward, showing that the avian HF, like its mammalian counterpart, recruits distinct neuronal ensembles to represent different contexts

Assessment of urinary deoxynivalenol biomarkers in UK children and adolescents

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Deoxynivalenol (DON), the mycotoxin produced mainly by Fusarium graminearum and found in contaminated cereal-based foodstuff, has been consistently detected in body fluids in adults. Available data in children and adolescents are scarce. This study assessed urinary DON concentrations in children aged 3–9 years (n = 40) and adolescents aged 10–17 years (n = 39) in the UK. Morning urine samples were collected over two consecutive days and analysed for free DON (un-metabolised form), DON-glucuronides (DON-GlcA), deepoxy deoxynivalenol (DOM-1), and total DON (sum of free DON, DON-GlcA, and DOM-1). Total DON was detected in the urine of > 95% of children and adolescents on both days. Mean total DON concentrations (ng/mg creatinine) were 41.6 and 21.0 for children and adolescents, respectively. The greatest total DON levels were obtained in female children on both days (214 and 219 ng/mg creatinine on days 1 and 2, respectively). Free DON and DON-GlcA were detected in most urine specimens, whereas DOM-1 was not present in any sample. Estimation of dietary DON exposure suggested that 33–63% of children and 5–46% of adolescents exceeded current guidance regarding the maximum provisional tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) for DON. Although moderate mean urinary DON concentrations were shown, the high detection frequency of urinary DON, the maximum biomarker concentrations, and estimated dietary DON exposure are concerning

The “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138336/1/cdev12695.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138336/2/cdev12695_am.pd