Age As A Factor In Inter-tissue Spacing Of Stable Carbon Isotope Values In Juvenile Human Remains From The Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt

Although stable isotope analysis is routinely utilized in bioarchaeology and relies on principles that are well-understood, there are still fundamental issues that have not been thoroughly investigated. This thesis examines the relationship between inter-tissue spacing of carbon stable isotope values (δ13C) and age in juvenile human remains. Analyses of tissues within the same individual reveal disparate isotopic values for a variety of physiological and biological reasons discussed herein. This project examines the distance between the δ13C values in bone collagen, skin, hair, and nail, and examines how these distances vary between different age groups, utilizing data collected from 52 well-preserved human remains from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt: 28 individuals between the ages of 1 and 4 years, 14 between 5 and 10 years, and 10 between the ages of 11-15 years. The mean carbon isotope values for each tissue were compared across each age group, and used to calculate the differences between each tissue type. Although distances between tissues were found to vary across all age categories, the distances between collagen and hair, collagen and skin, and collagen and nail are all substantially greater in the 11-15 year old category than those in the 1-4 and 5-10 year categories. Possible physiological, developmental and social factors are discussed in an effort to explain this discrepanc

Increased use of dental services by children covered by Medicaid: 2000-2010

This report analyzes the use of dental services by children enrolled in Medicaid from federal fiscal years (FFY) 2000 to 2010. The number and percent of children receiving dental services under Medicaid climbed continuously over the decade. In FFY 2000, 6.3 million children ages 1 to 20 were reported to receive some form of dental care (either preventive or treatment); the number more than doubled to 15.4 million by FFY 2010. Part of the increase was because the overall number of children covered by Medicaid rose by 12 million (50%), but the percentage of children who received dental care climbed appreciably from 29.3% in FFY 2000 to 46.4% in FFY 2010. In that same time period, the number of children ages 1 to 20 receiving preventive dental services climbed from a reported 5.0 million to 13.6 million, while the percentage of children receiving preventive dental services rose from 23.2% to 40.8%. For children ages 1 to 20 who received dental treatment services, the reported number rose from 3.3 million in FFY 2000 to 7.6 million in FFY 2010. The percentage of children who obtained dental treatment services increased from 15.3% to 22.9%. In FFY 2010, about one sixth of children covered by Medicaid (15.7%) ages 6-14 had a dental sealant placed on a permanent molar. While most states have made steady progress in improving children’s access to dental care in Medicaid over the past decade, there is still substantial variation across states and more remains to be done

Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients.

In December 2017, the National Academy of Neuropsychology convened an interorganizational Summit on Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients in Denver, Colorado. The Summit brought together representatives of a broad range of stakeholders invested in the care of older adults to focus on the topic of cognitive health and aging. Summit participants specifically examined questions of who should be screened for cognitive impairment and how they should be screened in medical settings. This is important in the context of an acute illness given that the presence of cognitive impairment can have significant implications for care and for the management of concomitant diseases as well as pose a major risk factor for dementia. Participants arrived at general principles to guide future screening approaches in medical populations and identified knowledge gaps to direct future research. Key learning points of the summit included: recognizing the importance of educating patients and healthcare providers about the value of assessing current and baseline cognition;emphasizing that any screening tool must be appropriately normalized and validated in the population in which it is used to obtain accurate information, including considerations of language, cultural factors, and education; andrecognizing the great potential, with appropriate caveats, of electronic health records to augment cognitive screening and tracking of changes in cognitive health over time

Reduced blood flow through intrapulmonary arteriovenous anastomoses at rest and during exercise in lowlanders during acclimatization to high altitude

Blood flow through intrapulmonary arteriovenous anastomoses (QIPAVA ) is elevated during exercise at sea level (SL) and at rest in acute normobaric hypoxia. Following high altitude (HA) acclimatization, resting QIPAVA is similar to SL, but it is unknown if this is true during exercise at HA. We reasoned that exercise at HA (5,050 m) would exacerbate QIPAVA due to heightened pulmonary arterial pressure. Using a supine cycle ergometer, seven healthy adults free from intracardiac shunts underwent an incremental exercise test at SL (25, 50, 75% of SL VO2peak ) and at HA (25, 50% of SL VO2peak ). Echocardiography was used to determine cardiac output (Q) and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) and agitated saline contrast was used to determine QIPAVA (bubble score; 0-5). The principal findings were: (1) Q was similar at SL-rest (3.9 +/- 0.47 l min-1 ) compared with HA-rest (4.5 +/- 0.49 l min-1 ; P = 0.382), but increased from rest during both SL and HA exercise (P < 0.001); (2) PASP increased from SL-rest (19.2 +/- 0.7 mmHg) to HA-rest (33.7 +/- 2.8 mmHg; P = 0.001) and, compared with SL, PASP was further elevated during HA exercise (P = 0.003); (3) QIPAVA was increased from SL-rest (0) to HA-rest (median = 1; P = 0.04) and increased from resting values during SL exercise (P < 0.05), but were unchanged during HA exercise (P = 0.91), despite significant increases in Q and PASP. Theoretical modeling of microbubble dissolution suggests that the lack of QIPAVA in response to exercise at HA is unlikely caused by saline contrast instability

Hypoxia, not pulmonary vascular pressure induces blood flow through intrapulmonary arteriovenous anastomoses

Blood flow through intrapulmonary arteriovenous anastomoses (IPAVA) is increased with exposure to acute hypoxia and has been associated with pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP). We aimed to determine the direct relationship between blood flow through IPAVA and PASP in 10 participants with no detectable intracardiac shunt by comparing: (1) isocapnic hypoxia (control); (2) isocapnic hypoxia with oral administration of acetazolamide (AZ; 250 mg, three times-a-day for 48 h) to prevent increases in PASP, and (3) isocapnic hypoxia with AZ and 8.4% NaHCO3 infusion (AZ+HCO3-) to control for AZ-induced acidosis. Isocapnic hypoxia (20 min) was maintained by end-tidal forcing, blood flow through IPAVA was determined by agitated saline contrast echocardiography and PASP was estimated by Doppler ultrasound. Arterial blood samples were collected at rest before each isocapnic-hypoxia condition to determine pH, [HCO3-], and PaCO2. AZ decreased pH (-0.08 ± 0.01), [HCO3-] (-7.1 ± 0.7 mmol/l), and PaCO2 (-4.5 ± 1.4 mmHg; p<0.01), while intravenous NaHCO3 restored arterial blood gas parameters to control levels. Although PASP increased from baseline in all three hypoxic conditions (p<0.05), a main effect of condition expressed an 11 ± 2% reduction in PASP from control (p<0.001) following AZ administration while intravenous NaHCO3 partially restored the PASP response to isocapnic hypoxia. Blood flow through IPAVA increased during exposure to isocapnic hypoxia (p<0.01) and was unrelated to PASP, cardiac output and pulmonary vascular resistance for all conditions. In conclusion, isocapnic hypoxia induces blood flow through IPAVA independent of changes in PASP and the influence of AZ on the PASP response to isocapnic hypoxia is dependent upon the H+ concentration or PaCO2. Abbreviations list: AZ, acetazolamide; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; FIO2, fraction of inspired oxygen; FVC, forced vital capacity; Hb, total haemoglobin; HPV, hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction; HR, heart rate; IPAVA, intrapulmonary arteriovenous anastomoses; MAP, mean arterial pressure; PASP, pulmonary artery systolic pressure; PETCO2, end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide; PETO2, end-tidal partial pressure of oxygen; PFO, patent foramen ovale; PVR, pulmonary vascular resistance; Q̇c, cardiac output; RVOT, right ventricular outflow tract; SpO2, oxyhaemoglobin saturation; SV, stroke volume; TRV, tricuspid regurgitant velocity; V̇E, minute ventilation; VTI, velocity-time integra

Discrimination in lexical decision.

In this study we present a novel set of discrimination-based indicators of language processing derived from Naive Discriminative Learning (ndl) theory. We compare the effectiveness of these new measures with classical lexical-distributional measures-in particular, frequency counts and form similarity measures-to predict lexical decision latencies when a complete morphological segmentation of masked primes is or is not possible. Data derive from a re-analysis of a large subset of decision latencies from the English Lexicon Project, as well as from the results of two new masked priming studies. Results demonstrate the superiority of discrimination-based predictors over lexical-distributional predictors alone, across both the simple and primed lexical decision tasks. Comparable priming after masked corner and cornea type primes, across two experiments, fails to support early obligatory segmentation into morphemes as predicted by the morpho-orthographic account of reading. Results fit well with ndl theory, which, in conformity with Word and Paradigm theory, rejects the morpheme as a relevant unit of analysis. Furthermore, results indicate that readers with greater spelling proficiency and larger vocabularies make better use of orthographic priors and handle lexical competition more efficiently

Integrating data types to estimate spatial patterns of avian migration across the Western Hemisphere

For many avian species, spatial migration patterns remain largely undescribed, especially across hemispheric extents. Recent advancements in tracking technologies and high-resolution species distribution models (i.e., eBird Status and Trends products) provide new insights into migratory bird movements and offer a promising opportunity for integrating independent data sources to describe avian migration. Here, we present a three-stage modeling framework for estimating spatial patterns of avian migration. First, we integrate tracking and band re-encounter data to quantify migratory connectivity, defined as the relative proportions of individuals migrating between breeding and nonbreeding regions. Next, we use estimated connectivity proportions along with eBird occurrence probabilities to produce probabilistic least-cost path (LCP) indices. In a final step, we use generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) both to evaluate the ability of LCP indices to accurately predict (i.e., as a covariate) observed locations derived from tracking and band re-encounter data sets versus pseudo-absence locations during migratory periods and to create a fully integrated (i.e., eBird occurrence, LCP, and tracking/band re-encounter data) spatial prediction index for mapping species-specific seasonal migrations. To illustrate this approach, we apply this framework to describe seasonal migrations of 12 bird species across the Western Hemisphere during pre- and postbreeding migratory periods (i.e., spring and fall, respectively). We found that including LCP indices with eBird occurrence in GAMMs generally improved the ability to accurately predict observed migratory locations compared to models with eBird occurrence alone. Using three performance metrics, the eBird + LCP model demonstrated equivalent or superior fit relative to the eBird-only model for 22 of 24 species–season GAMMs. In particular, the integrated index filled in spatial gaps for species with over-water movements and those that migrated over land where there were few eBird sightings and, thus, low predictive ability of eBird occurrence probabilities (e.g., Amazonian rainforest in South America). This methodology of combining individual-based seasonal movement data with temporally dynamic species distribution models provides a comprehensive approach to integrating multiple data types to describe broad-scale spatial patterns of animal movement. Further development and customization of this approach will continue to advance knowledge about the full annual cycle and conservation of migratory birds

Problematizing ‘Knowledge-for-Development’

This article argues that measures designed to improve the availability and accessibility of information as a key strategy to facilitate development have become ends in themselves, de-linked from their potential to have an impact on Southern knowledge systems that may lead to improved development outcomes. The production and dissemination of ever-greater volumes of information in response to concerns about the uneven availability of infor- mation, particularly for individuals and intermediaries based in the global South, are unable to address the persistent problem of the fragmentation of knowledge systems that result from knowledge for development (K4D) initiatives in which information and knowledge are treated as isolated enti- ties. The article presents the findings of a study into the K4D practices of a network of women/gender information intermediaries. It reveals that at- tempts to strengthen Southern knowledge systems are forestalled by efforts that merely improve the supply of information rather than engaging with knowledge processes in their entirety, thus limiting their potential to pro- mote improved development outcomes. Proxy measures of success are used that fail to challenge the typically neoliberal underpinnings of the dominant knowledge infrastructure. The author concludes that, if knowledge-based development interventions are to be made more effective, K4D stakeholders need to find ways to engage not just with the supply but with the demand for information, as part of broader efforts to strengthen entire knowledge systems in ways that take account of concerns around hegemony