Felt Stigma From Medical Professionals: Effects of Body Mass Index on Medical Use

This thesis examines the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and perceived discrimination, using the frequency of routine medical care as a proxy for discrimination using waves I (1995) and II (2005) of the Midlife in the U.S (MIDUS) survey. This thesis examines stigma and discrimination of the obese in medical care using the theoretical framework of Felt Stigma and Identity Theory. This thesis addresses 5 research questions: (1) What effect does body mass index have on health usage patterns? (2) What effect does gender have on the relationship between body mass index and health usage patterns? (3) What effect does age have on the relationship between body mass and health usage patterns? (4) What effect does socioeconomic status (SES) have on the relationship between body mass and health usage patterns? (5) How does the relationship between body mass and health usage differ over time? The current study finds that the frequency of medical use varies significantly with the category of obesity examined. There is partial support that obese respondents may engage in medical avoidance due to felt stigma in medical practice. Interactions between BMI and gender and BMI and age are strongest. Additionally, this study finds that the relationship between BMI and the frequency of medical use has changed significantly between 1995 and 2005. Relevant discussion regarding implications of findings, this study\u27s limitations, and possible directions for future research is given

A definite prosauropod dinosaur from the Lower Elliot Formation (Norian: Upper Triassic) of South Africa

Main articleA new sauropodomorph dinosaur specimen is described and identified as a prosauropod. It is tentatively placed as the sister taxon of Riojasaurus incertus from Argentina. The systematic position of all commonly accepted sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Lower Elliott Formation of South Africa is reviewed and it is found that none can be positively identified as prosauropod. Euskelosaurus browni is a nomen dubium based on material that cannot be identified further than Sauropodomorpha. Blikanasaurus cromptoni and Antetonitrus ingenipes are basal sauropods. Melanorosaurus readi is probably another basal sauropod but opinion remains divided. Plateosauravus cullingworthi presents conflicting character data and at present is classified as Sauropodomorpha incertae sedis. Consequently the specimen described here represents the only prosauropod specimen currently recognized in the Lower Elliot Formation of South Africa.NRF postdoctoral fellowship

A new theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and its implications for the early evolution of theropods

A new theropod, Dracovenator regenti, from the upper Elliot Formation is described, based upon a fragmentary skull. It can be diagnosed on the basis of a bilobed fossa on the lateral surface of the premaxilla that is connected to the alveolar margin by a narrow channel, the presence of a deep, oblique, lateral notch on the articular and hypertrophied dorsal processes on the articular. Other aspects of its morphology display a mosaic of coelophysoid and advanced theropod characteristics. A cladistic analysis of basal Theropoda, including the new taxon finds that the new taxon is closely related to Dilophosaurus wetherilli and Zupaysaurus rougieri although the clade formed by these three taxa is not robustly supported. It also finds that Coelophysoidea sensu lato is paraphyletic with respect to Ceratosauria + Tetanurae but that this topology is not a significantly better explanation of the data than an inclusive, monophyletic Coelophysoidea.Welles Fun

DEVELOPMENT, TESTING, AND APPLICATION OF STRESSOR GRADIENTS IN RURAL, HEADWATER STREAMS IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

Effective biological monitoring requires a conceptual model of how human activity varies and how this activity affects resident biota. This model can then be used to generate appropriate hypotheses and study designs in response to bioassessment needs. Stressor gradients have the potential to improve this process, but questions about the development and effectiveness of stressor gradients must be addressed before they can be widely applied to biological monitoring. With the aim of developing the most effective and efficient stressor gradient, four gradients were calculated from stressor information differing in level of detail and spatial explicitness for 479 rural, headwater basins. Fine detail gradients also described substantially more variation in the stressor environment than those using coarse detail data. Data that described the location of the stressors within the basin resulted in only minimal improvements to the description of the stressor environment. The responsiveness of aquatic biota to stressor gradients was determined using surveys of aquatic assemblages in 160 small, rural, streams. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that fish * and macroinvertebrates responded to stressor gradients through compositional shifts from intolerant to tolerant taxa as human activity intensified. This response was confounded by a similar compositional shift in response to a gradient of surface geology. Partial Mantel’s tests controlling for the effect of natural gradients indicated that aquatic assemblages are associated to gradients in the human environment. A stressor gradient was applied in the development of an objective method for selecting environmentally stratified, regional reference sites for the purpose of assessing ecological condition in freshwater ecosystems. This method groups potential sites based on their natural environments prior to establishing the degree of human activities occurring at each site within each group. Sites exhibiting the least amount of human activity are then selected to act as reference sites for each group. In addition to having immediate impact on how biological monitoring is conducted in the Southwestern Ontario region, the results of this study can be conceptually applied to bioassessments worldwide. Furthermore, this study can act as the 111 foundation for using stressor gradients for the development of predictive models that will aid in planning and management of future activities that may affect aquatic ecosystems

Preliminary report of a large theropod dinosaur trackway in Clarens Formation sandstone (Early Jurassic) in the Paul Roux district, northeastern Free State, South Africa

An isolated fallen block of Clarens Formation sandstone near the small northeastern Free State town of Paul Roux preserves part of the trackway of a bipedal dinosaur. Although well known as a local curiosity, this trackway has not previously been formally reported or described. It consists of five successive paces of what is interpreted as a medium-sized to large theropod dinosaur, and represents the largest known theropod trackway in the ‘Stormberg’ sequence in South Africa. The tracks are assigned to the ichnotaxon Grallator sp., and show similarities to North American tracks of comparable age originally described as Dilophosauripus. Until now no body fossils of a likely candidate trackmaker were known, but elsewhere in this volume a possible candidate is described by the second author

New information on the palate and lower jaw of Massospondylus (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha)

Additional anatomical details of the palate and lower jaw of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus Owen are documented on the basis of a previously undescribed skull from the upper Elliot Formation. The palate is generally similar to that of other early sauropodomorphs, but can be shown to differ from those of Plateosaurus, Lufengosaurus and Thecodontosaurus in several respects. For example, Massospondylus lacks the well-developed palatine boss seen in Plateosaurus and the pneumatic recess that is present on the ectopterygoid of Thecodontosaurus. In addition, Massospondylus possesses an expanded medioventral premaxillary process that is much larger than that of any other basal sauropodomorph.The Royal Society of London and the Palaeontological Research Fund of the Natural History Museu

The postcranial anatomy of Coloradisaurus brevis (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic of Argentina and its phylogenetic implications

Basal sauropodomorphs from the Upper Triassic Los Colorados Formation of northwestern Argentina have been known for several decades but most of them are only briefly described. New postrcanial remains of Coloradisaurus brevis, the most gracile sauropodomorph from this unit, are described here and evaluated within a phylogenetic context. These materials belong to a single individual and include elements of the vertebral column, pectoral girdle, incomplete forelimb, pelvis, and hindlimb. These elements share autapomorphic features with the type specimen of Coloradisaurus brevis, and provide novel and unique features that diagnose this taxon, such as pubic apron with semicircular cross section and with a depression on its anterior surface, distal surface of the tibia deflected and facing posterodistally, and well-developed pyramidal dorsal process of the posteromedial corner of the astragalus. Several postcranial characters of Coloradisaurus are exclusively shared with Lufengosaurus, from the Lower Jurassic of China. The inclusion of this information in two recent phylogenetic datasets depicts Coloradisaurus as closely related to Lufengosaurus and well nested within Plateosauria. Both datasets used indicate strong character support for the inclusion of Coloradisaurus and Lufengosaurus within Massospondylidae.Fil: Apaldetti, Graciela Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Museo de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Pol, Diego. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Yates, Adam. University of the Witwatersrand, Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research; Sudáfric

The effect of microstructure on mechanical properties in inertia welded titanium 6-4

The inertia welding (IW) of Ti64 was examined in terms of the microstructure and mechanical properties. The microstructure from two smalls scale inertia welded rings was observed using SEM. These microstructures were assessed in both the Hoop and Radial directions. Mechanical testing including micro-hardness, mechanical threshold and crack propagation testing, fracture toughness, tensile testing and low cycle testing was evaluated. The results show that the microstructures of both IW and LFW Ti64 are very similar with various weld zones being observed. The micro-hardness is far superior in the weld zone to that of the parent material. The most significant controlling parameter of the microstructure is the cooling rate. The Tensile properties of both IW and LFW Ti64 are superior to that of the parent and failure will not occur within the weld, although the LCF behaviour was not as favourable in IW. Crack growth rate is slower in the hoop direction than radial direction although this trend is reversed at increased temperature due to a switch from transgranular to intergranular crack growth. This work suggests that IW of Ti64 shows promise, although further work is required on larger scale welds before the manufacture of fan disks made from IW Ti64 can be substantiated