The Neonatal Microbiome and Necrotizing Enterocolitis.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating disorder that affects approximately 10% of premature infants. Its mortality remains high (15-30%), and its cause remains unknown. About 80% of cases occur within 35 days of birth among hospitalized newborns of low birth weight. Probiotics diminish the incidence and severity of NEC, and NEC does not occur antepartum. NEC affects a readily identifiable at-risk group, has a tightly defined interval before its onset, occurs in an organ system that is intimately associated with a microbial population in flux, has a plausible association with the intestinal microbiota, and cohorts at risk have rarely been studied in large numbers, or prospectively. This disorder, therefore, provides a unique opportunity to explore the role of the human enteric microbiome in a devastating disease. Moreover, NEC epidemiology and age-incidence present an ability to enroll and study cohorts that are highly likely to provide valuable pathophysiologic and microbiologic insights.

In this project, we will identify and quantify the microbial components of stool and its products before and at the onset of NEC. In doing so, we will test the overarching hypothesis that NEC is a direct or indirect consequence of the enteric biomass, its products, or both. We will use multicenter cohorts of premature infants at high risk of developing NEC, extend our research on this disease currently sponsored by the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences, and continue our longstanding collaborations with the Genome Center at Washington University and the Washington University Digestive Diseases Research Core Center (Informatics Core). The Aims of this proposal are to (1) conduct a case cohort study in which we compare clinical data and biological specimens from cases and well-matched controls; (2) determine if the kind and density of intestinal biomass, its gene content, and transcriptional activity are associated with, and potential determinants of, NEC; and (3) determine if host risk alleles for intestinal inflammation play a role in the development of NEC. These efforts will be accomplished using subjects from three collaborating neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), focusing on the critical, instructive, and understudied pre-NEC stage of illness, and formulating a data repository that will be a resource for investigators worldwide who wish to focus their efforts on NEC, its precipitants, and its prevention and cure.
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Treflan and the Oxygen Consumption of Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)

Oxygen consumption rates of 51 green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus, Rafinesque) were monitored over five hours exposure to Treflan E.C. concentrations of 0, 0.32, 0.56, 1.0, and 2.0 ppm. There was a great variation in the responses of the fish at each concentration; and Student\u27s t-tests revealed no significant differences. However, graphs of the mean hourly oxygen consumption rates showed certain trends. During the fifth hour of exposure, there appears to be an acclimation to the Treflan at concentrations of 0.32 and 0.56 ppm; but no such acclimation at the higher concentrations of 1.0 and 2.0 ppm. Hourly oxygen consumption rates at 2.0 ppm Treflan fluctuated less than at the other concentrations. Also, Treflan concentrations of 0.56, 1.0, and 2.0 ppm altered the consumption rates of the larger fish more than those of the smaller fish. Further tests with longer periods of exposure to Treflan are recommended to determine further reactions to the higher Treflan concentrations

Care levels for fetal therapy centers

Fetal therapies undertaken to improve fetal outcome or to optimize transition to neonate life often entail some level of maternal, fetal, or neonatal risk. A fetal therapy center needs access to resources to carry out such therapies and to manage maternal, fetal, and neonatal complications that might arise, either related to the therapy per se or as part of the underlying fetal or maternal condition. Accordingly, a fetal therapy center requires a dedicated operational infrastructure and necessary resources to allow for appropriate oversight and monitoring of clinical performance and to facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration between the relevant specialties. Three care levels for fetal therapy centers are proposed to match the anticipated care complexity, with appropriate resources to achieve an optimal outcome at an institutional and regional level. A level I fetal therapy center should be capable of offering fetal interventions that may be associated with obstetric risks of preterm birth or membrane rupture but that would be very unlikely to require maternal medical subspecialty or intensive care, with neonatal risks not exceeding those of moderate prematurity. A level II center should have the incremental capacity to provide maternal intensive care and to manage extreme neonatal prematurity. A level III therapy center should offer the full range of fetal interventions (including open fetal surgery) and be able manage any of the associated maternal complications and comorbidities, as well as have access to neonatal and pediatric surgical intervention including indicated surgery for neonates with congenital anomalies

Preventing Violence in Low-Income Communities: Facilitating Residents\u27 Ability to Intervene in Neighborhood Problems

The violence found in low-income communities, including areas of concentrated poverty, is often extensive and can involve illegal drugs, juvenile delinquency, and even homicide. A large body of research has emerged which points to the positive effects of informal social control and social capital in preventing violence in lowincome communities, including neighbors taking leadership roles by intervening themselves. This article contains a description of an exploratory study ofa pilot training program the authors developed to facilitate residents\u27 ability to intervene in neighborhood problems in a low-income community in Atlanta, Georgia. The training incorporated concepts from restorative justice, peacemaking criminology, and macro social work, particularly consensus organizing. The results demonstrated that after their participation in the training, residents were more likely to intervene in a variety of neighborhood problems and were more likely to use direct, non-violent and peaceful intervention strategies. Participants also improved their attitudes about intervening,feeling it was appropriate to intervene and their neighborhood was safer if residents intervened in problem behaviors. This article provides an important step in exploring the development of informal social control and social capital in low-income neighborhoods. Moreover, the strategies used in the training program can be used by social workers to design programs to prevent violence

Impact of neonatal intensive care bed configuration on rates of late-onset bacterial sepsis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization

OBJECTIVES: Infections cause significant morbidity and mortality in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The association between nursery design and nosocomial infections has not been delineated. We hypothesized that rates of colonization by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), late-onset sepsis, and mortality are reduced in single-patient rooms. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: NICU in a tertiary referral center. METHODS: Our NICU is organized into single-patient and open-unit rooms. Clinical datasets including bed location and microbiology results were examined over a 29-month period. Differences in outcomes between bed configurations were determined by Chi-square and Cox regression. PATIENTS: All NICU patients. RESULTS: Among 1823 patients representing 55,166 patient-days, single-patient and open-unit models had similar incidences of MRSA colonization and MRSA colonization-free survival times. Average daily census was associated with MRSA colonization rates only in single-patient rooms (hazard ratio 1.31, p=0.039), while hand hygiene compliance on room entry and exit was associated with lower colonization rates independent of bed configuration (hazard ratios 0.834 and 0.719 per 1% higher compliance, respectively). Late-onset sepsis rates were similar in single-patient and open-unit models as were sepsis-free survival and the combined outcome of sepsis or death. After controlling for demographic, clinical and unit-based variables, multivariate Cox regression demonstrated that bed configuration had no effect on MRSA colonization, late-onset sepsis, or mortality. CONCLUSIONS: MRSA colonization rate was impacted by hand hygiene compliance, regardless of room configuration, while average daily census only affected infants in single-patient rooms. Single-patient rooms did not reduce the rates of MRSA colonization, late-onset sepsis or death

The Ursinus Weekly, May 3, 1948

Students to pick White House favorite; Stassen, Vandenberg groups organized • Crowning of queen and spring play feature varied May Day program • Dippel voted prexy by class of 1950 • Poll shows opinion of Weekly readers • Dr. Weygandt speaks on famous Irish poet • Cheyney students visit Ursinus to participate in YM-YW panel • Board suggests WNAR hookup • College supply is favorite hangout of many students • Women conduct elections for 1949 representatives • IRC elects Burt Landes as prexy • Softballers maintain pace by thumping Albright, 14-1 • Soph class earns intra-mural crown in cinder tourney • Don Stauffer\u27s hurling paces bruins to 4-1 triumph over Chester Cadets • Track team gains win by downing PMC 88-38 • Coeds whitewash Albright to even season\u27s record • Thirty YM-YWCA members attend retreat at Unami • F&M outhits bears to win 14-11 fracas • Softballers chalk up third win by trouncing Swarthmore 20-1 • Bears bow to Swarthmore prowess on tennis court • Garnet coeds trip golfers, 4-1https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1638/thumbnail.jp

Einführung: Nachhaltige Raumentwicklung für die große Transformation - Neue Anforderungen an Raumwissenschaften und -planung

Die Lösung der derzeitigen sozial-ökologischen Krise erfordert eine wirksame politische Steuerung unter Einbeziehung zahlreicher raumwirksamer Akteure. Für die Transformation zu einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung sind Raum- und Umweltplanungen zentrale Akteure. Den Raum- und Planungswissenschaften kommt dabei eine umfassende Integrationsfunktion zu. Der Arbeitskreis "Nachhaltige Raumentwicklung für die große Transformation" greift die Kernaussagen des Hauptgutachten des Wissenschaftlichen Beirates der Bundesregierung Globale Umweltveränderungen (WBGU) (2011) auf, beleuchtet die Rolle der Raumentwicklung und ihrer Akteure sowie deren mögliche Beiträge zur großen Transformation in Richtung einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung. Das Leitziel der nachhaltigen Raumentwicklung wird seit den 1990er Jahren intensiv diskutiert. Nachdem die Rolle staatlicher und kommunaler Politik und Planung lange als eine eher moderierende verstanden wurde, greift der Arbeitskreis die Forderung nach dem "gestaltenden Staat" (WBGU 2011) auf und führt die Diskussion mit Blick auf Strategien der Raumentwicklung und -planung für eine große Transformation weiter. Für Planungswissenschaften und -praxis bedeutet die Auseinandersetzung hiermit ein Zusammendenken ökologischer, ökonomischer und sozialer Entwicklungen, was nur mit integrativen Steuerungsmechanismen im Sinne einer Vorsorgeorientierung gelingen kann. Im vorliegenden Band positioniert sich der Arbeitskreis zu Strategien und Instrumenten räumlicher Entwicklung für die große Transformation. Mit Blick auf die hiermit verbundenen Herausforderungen für die räumliche Planung und Entwicklung werden die Transformationsfelder "Urbanisierung" und "Landnutzung" genauer betrachtet: Verfahren, Instrumente und auch Treiber einer Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit werden - auf das Verständnis von "Natur" und Ökosystemleistungen rekurrierend - analysiert und das zugrunde liegende und notwenige Raumverständnis und -wissen wird reflektiert.Resolving the present social-ecological crisis requires effective political management and the involvement of numerous actors who affect spatial development. Spatial and environmental planning are central actors in the transformation towards sustainable development. Spatial and planning sciences have an important function in ensuring comprehensive integration in this context. The working group "Sustainable Spatial Development for the Great Transformation" examines the core statements of the 2011 flagship report by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), highlights the role of spatial development and its actors and discusses how spatial planning and development can make a positive contribution to the great transformation towards sustainable development. Sustainable spatial development has been intensively discussed as a key objective since the 1990s. The role of state and municipal planning was long understood to be that of a moderator. However, the working group addresses the call for a "formative state" (WBGU 2011) and further develops the discussion about strategies of spatial development and planning for a great transformation. For planning sciences and practice this debate requires the conceptual bringing together of ecological, economic and social developments, something that is only possible with integrative management mechanisms such as the precautionary approach. In this volume the working group outlines its position on strategies and instruments of spatial planning for the great transformation. Special attention is paid to the transforming fields of urbanisation and land use, as spatial planning and development face particular challenges here. The analysis of the procedures, instruments and drivers of a transformation towards sustainability revisits notions of "nature" and ecosystem services and reflects on underlying and necessary spatial understandings and knowledge

Talking Us Into War: Problem Definition By Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush

How presidents talk us into war merges the study of problem definition in public policy with the study of rhetoric in communications. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this research analyzes the key words used by two presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush, to persuade us into escalating a war in Vietnam and engaging in a pre-emptive war in Iraq, respectively. The findings indicate that presidents repeat words that are patriotic, emotive, metaphorical, symbolic and religious, tapping into American themes of Manifest Destiny and even predicting dire outcomes if we do not accept their definitions of the dangers and rewards involved in going to war. The study also finds that presidents develop a sustaining narrative that highlights what problem definition literature calls a causal story, which identifies the harm done, describes its cause, assigns moral blame and claims government is responsible for the remedy (Stone 1989). This research indicates that Johnson used far less antithetical, religious and repetitive language than did Bush, in some cases strikingly so. This work relies upon the literature on problem definition, presidential rhetoric and presidential leadership as a backdrop for studying the major speeches of these two presidents prior to their escalation or initiation of war. It employs content analysis using the computerized program, NVivo 7. The study concludes that while we may not be able to measure the degree to which various audiences are persuaded by presidential rhetoric, we can see that presidents, who wield the powerful bully pulpit, carefully choose their words and repeat them often to afford themselves maximum persuadability with their audiences as they try to talk us into war. Such language also appears designed to quell dissent and to enlarge the authority of the president