Fetal and early neonatal death: Do the determinants vary?

Purpose: To compare the determinants and distribution of fetal and early neonatal deaths in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Background: Much attention is devoted to reducing the infant mortality rate which was declining up until 2002. The recent rise was parsed and found to stem from an increase in deaths during the early neonatal period. Fetal deaths are not well understood and are not routinely included when evaluating infant mortality. Methods: Using data collected from 2001 to 2006 fetal death and linked infant birth and death certificates by the Virginia Department of Health, crude mortality rates and leading causes of death were calculated for fetal and early neonatal mortality. Rates were calculated for each period of death by locality and mapped to determine if the distribution differed. Logistic regression was also used to evaluate sociodemographic and pregnancy risk factors and chi-square analyses were used to determine if the determinants varied significantly by timing of death outcome. Results: During the study period, the fetal death rate was 5.4 per 1,000 fetal deaths plus live births, the early neonatal death rate was 2.5 deaths per 1,000 live births and perinatal mortality rate was 7.9 deaths per 1,000 fetal deaths plus live births. Trends over time, gestational age specific mortality, geographic distribution, cause of death and many determinants were comparable between both death periods. Extremely low birth weight was the most significant risk factor for early neonatal death (OR = 1747.06). Congenital anomalies of the child were the leading predictor of fetal death (OR = 26.24, 95% CI: 19.62, 35.10) and second highest for early neonatal death (OR = 52.26, 95% CI: 35.21, 77.56). Conclusions: Because of the similarities in geographic distribution, sociodemographic factors, pregnancy risk factors and causes of death, analyzing neonatal and infant mortality rates in isolation from fetal deaths does not accurately depict the burden of adverse pregnancy outcomes

Human Impact on Global Extinction

For this project, I wanted to look at how heavily humans are impacting the current rate of global extinction. Many scientists and experts believe that Earth is either on the brink of experiencing a sixth mass extinction or that is it already occurring. The rate of extinction is argued to be happening at a much faster rate than during the Earth’s five previous mass extinctions which were before the evolution of humans. This project explores the different ways that humans are impacting global extinction, between a significant contribution to global warming, poaching, deforestation, and other factors. There is a limited amount of time left to try and reverse the effects humans have had on the rate of global extinction, and this project will also look at the different ways that humans can try and slow the global extinction rate

Attitude change regarding animal abuse in adults the effect of education and visual aids

Additionally, images of animals alone immediately increased attitudes regarding treatment of animals. This difference does not appear to increase further over time. Images of animals alone appear to aid in immediately altering individuals\u27 sense of continuity with animals. The attitude that animals and humans share some commonalities and exist in relation to each other could assist in adoption campaigns by allowing the potential owners to place themselves with the animals they are adopting. However, over time information combined with images of humans and animals significantly increase this sense of commonality. The applications for the results depend on what type of attitude one desires to change and how soon the change has to occur. The present research reveals that images appear to affect attitude change regarding companion animals and the way they are treated more than text information.; Companion animals now serve as more than tools for human use, they have become family. Many individuals now spend increasingly more money on animals than in years past and are more likely to acknowledge the animal as a family member. With this change in roles many humans have become more empathetic to animal cruelty. Studies have been conducted to examine various aspects of animal cruelty and how it relates to humans. However, few have examined attitude change regarding animal abuse. If attitudes can be positively changed in adults, these individuals are in a position to pass the information onto their children. Adults are also currently in the position to make changes in legislature regarding humane treatment of animals. An experiment was conducted which examined adults\u27 attitudes toward animal abuse and whether they can be changed. Text information was examined as a variable for attitude change. Additionally visual aids in the form of photographs were used in conjunction with and separate from the text information as variables. Two types of photographs were used: images of companion animals by themselves or the same animals accompanied by adult humans. The text information used was adapted from an ASPCA presentation obtained, with permission, from the Orange County ASPCA. The power point presentation included information on the connection between animal violence and violence toward humans, how to help stop animal cruelty and how to report it. Six conditions were created using the three variables. It was found that pictures have an immediate effect on attitude change and information affects individuals in certain measures but not others. On all measures, images had more of an effect than information alone. Only when the text was accompanied by a picture, did it produce a significant change. Attitudes regarding the treatment of animals saw an immediate increase in both conditions in which images of humans and animals were present

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationDisturbances play an integral role in regeneration and succession of many forested ecosystems in the Intermountain West region of the western United States. However, changes in climate have been shown to alter the occurrence, duration, and frequency of disturbances. The research presented here uses a paleoecological approach using multiple proxies from sediment cores from three different sites from the Intermountain West in order to assess the linkages among disturbances, climate, and vegetation composition. From the first site in the central Rocky Mountains, a paleoenvironmental data documents the sensitivity of past quaking aspen occurrence to increased temperatures, while frequent wildfire activity led to the persistence of a quaking aspen. From the second site located in south central Utah, a paleoenvironmental data documents how changes in the position of the El Nio Southern Oscillation dipole transition zone affects moisture availability across the state of Utah, which ultimately influences vegetation composition and wildfire frequency. Lastly, from the third site located on the north slope of the Uinta Mountains in northeastern Utah, paleoenvironmental data assesses the long-term primary control on wildfire activity from the region. The results from this dissertation suggest that disturbance regimes have been in a state of constant change throughout the Holocene as a result of climate variability and in combination these led to changes in vegetation composition. The information contained in this dissertation will be important for natural resource planning and management because it provides context regarding the natural range of disturbance and vegetation variability for three distinctly different forested settings located in the Intermountain West. Forest managers can use paleoenvironmental records as analogs to help place context of how forested ecosystems will respond to climatic changes. By providing forest managers with long-term information about forest composition and disturbance regimes at multiple sites, this dissertation can be used to enhance resource policy making, planning and management

Effects of low-dose naltrexone on feed intake, growth, endocrine and immune parameters in the recently-weaned pig

Weaning is a stressful event for pigs and causes decreased feed intake, poor growth, and increased susceptibility to disease. Previous studies have shown that syndyphalin-33, a synthetic opioid, was effective in increasing feed intake, abrogating the changes in appetite regulating genes during weaning, and abrogating the effects of a salmonella challenge on immune cells in newly-weaned pigs. However, there are several concerns associated with the administration of an opioid in commercial swine operations. Low-dose naltrexone (an opioid antagonist) has been used to alleviate symptoms from fibromyalgia and Crohn’s disease in humans. As inflammation is a common factor in both auto-immune diseases in humans and weaning stress in pigs, a logical next-step would be to examine the effects of low-dose naltrexone on pigs at weaning. In this study, low-dose naltrexone administration was evaluated for its affects on feed intake, growth, endocrine, and immune parameters in newly weaned pigs. Four treatments of 0 mg/day (d), 1 mg/d, 5 mg/d, 10 mg/d naltrexone were administered orally daily beginning 2 wk prior to weaning to 48 commercial crossbred pigs. Each treatment group included 12 pigs. Body weights and blood samples were collected d 0 and at 1, 4, and 7 post-weaning. All animals treated with naltrexone had increased total gain as compared to the control animals (P \u3c 0.05). A decrease in feed intake was seen in animals treated with 5 mg/d naltrexone as compared to the control animals (P \u3c 0.05). Plasma cortisol concentrations were similar to previously published concentrations and increased 1 d post-weaning in the control animals (P \u3c 0.01). Animals treated with 10 mg/d naltrexone had higher plasma concentrations of cortisol relative to all other treatments (P \u3c 0.01). On 1 d post-weaning, animals treated with 1 mg/d and 5 mg/d naltrexone had lower plasma cortisol concentration than the controls (P \u3c 0.01), and by d 4 post-weaning, all animals treated with naltrexone had lower cortisol concentrations relative to the control animals (P \u3c 0.01). As a non-opioid, oral low-dose naltrexone may be a promising therapy to decrease the growth lag associated with weaning

Teacher Leadership: A Content Analysis Assessing the Impact on District Policies and Practices

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze teacher leader models developed and implemented by the Tennessee Teacher Leader Network in order to assess the impact the models have on district policies and practices. Data were collected through a content analysis to analyze for recurring themes and differences to assess how models influence teaching and learning within districts. Fourteen district teacher leader models and strategic plans were analyzed for this study. Eleven research questions guided this study, and qualitative data were analyzed for recurring themes and differences. Findings from this study suggest teacher leader models are limiting the vision and implementation of shared leadership by focusing on the management of instruction and student achievement. Implications for practice recommend modifying models to better align with a shared leadership framework, developing a clearly defined framework for communication that actively includes teacher leaders, and developing alternative evaluative criteria beyond the use of student achievement and growth data from standardized assessments

How much atrial fibrillation is too much? The net clinical benefit of anticoagulation therapy in atrial fibrillation patients with an intermediate CHA2DS2-VASc Score

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained cardiac arrhythmia seen in medical practice, affecting 33.5 million people worldwide. Arterial thromboembolism, particularly ischemic stroke (IS), is a significant complication of AF. The most widely recommended tool used to evaluate AF patient’s risk of IS is the CHA2DS2-VASc score, which assigns a numerical value to predetermined IS risk factors and allows an overall estimation of the patient’s risk by adding these individual numerical values together. Current guidelines offer varying recommendations regarding oral anticoagulation (OAC) therapy use in patients with varying CHA2DS2-VASc scores, especially in those patients with intermediate scores, and so it is difficult for clinicians to know whether OAC use for these patients is beneficial or incurring unnecessary risk. Objective: The purpose of this review is to evaluate the net clinical benefit (NCB) when comparing IS risk to that of hemorrhagic complications when prescribing OAC therapy to patients who have at least 1 nongender-related (NGR) risk factor for IS or an intermediate CHA2DS2-VASc score. Design: Systematic literature review. Methods: Searches were performed on the PubMed database. The search terms used were “Atrial Fibrillation” and “CHA2DS2-VASc” with filters for full text and English. Results: The PubMed search resulted in finding three articles Chao T-F et al.,1 Faucher L et al.,2 and Joundi RA et al.3 Conclusions: Based on our review of the current literature, we found that the presence of even 1 NGR risk factor significantly increases a patient’s risk of IS. Therefore, we agree with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines that support considering OAC therapy in AF patients with 1 NGR risk factor, and we suggest that the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and the Heart Rhythm Society (ACC/AHA/HRS) guidelines follow suit

Effectiveness of Pelvic Floor Exercises on Women with Urinary Incontinence :

Effectiveness of Pelvic Floor Exercises in Women with Urinary Incontinence Purpose: Urinary incontinence is common in women; especially those who have had one or more vaginal deliveries. The purpose of our case study was to measure the effectiveness of pelvic floor exercises and biofeedback in women with urinary incontinence (VI) in a rural midwest physical therapy clinic. Methods: Patients participating in this study were referred to a physical therapy clinic by their physician for a urinary incontinence program. During the initial evaluations, baseline biofeedback readings were recorded and home exercise programs were given. Patients were then seen for follow-ups at approximately two weeks, four weeks, and three months thereafter. Final biofeedback testing and completion of the three inventories were performed at the three-month follow up. Results: Due to a small sample size, we chose to display our results on an individual case basis. Case study 1 showed improvement subjectively, however, did not improve in objective measures. Case studies 2 and 3 showed improvement both in subjective and objective measures. Discussion: Limitations of our study included a small sample size, rural community environment, lack of normative data for biofeedback, and time constraints. All three patients reported subjective improvement from the UI program, and the continuation of this study will help to determine the significance of this physical therapy intervention

Automated measurement of Drosophila wings

BACKGROUND: Many studies in evolutionary biology and genetics are limited by the rate at which phenotypic information can be acquired. The wings of Drosophila species are a favorable target for automated analysis because of the many interesting questions in evolution and development that can be addressed with them, and because of their simple structure. RESULTS: We have developed an automated image analysis system (WINGMACHINE) that measures the positions of all the veins and the edges of the wing blade of Drosophilid flies. A video image is obtained with the aid of a simple suction device that immobilizes the wing of a live fly. Low-level processing is used to find the major intersections of the veins. High-level processing then optimizes the fit of an a priori B-spline model of wing shape. WINGMACHINE allows the measurement of 1 wing per minute, including handling, imaging, analysis, and data editing. The repeatabilities of 12 vein intersections averaged 86% in a sample of flies of the same species and sex. Comparison of 2400 wings of 25 Drosophilid species shows that wing shape is quite conservative within the group, but that almost all taxa are diagnosably different from one another. Wing shape retains some phylogenetic structure, although some species have shapes very different from closely related species. The WINGMACHINE system facilitates artificial selection experiments on complex aspects of wing shape. We selected on an index which is a function of 14 separate measurements of each wing. After 14 generations, we achieved a 15 S.D. difference between up and down-selected treatments. CONCLUSION: WINGMACHINE enables rapid, highly repeatable measurements of wings in the family Drosophilidae. Our approach to image analysis may be applicable to a variety of biological objects that can be represented as a framework of connected lines