Digital Commons Network^™

In Utero Programming Of Later Adiposity: The Role Of Fetal Growth Restriction, Ousseynou Sarr, Kaiping Yang, Timothy R.H. Regnault

Paediatrics Publications

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is strongly associated with obesity in adult life. The mechanisms contributing to the onset of IUGR-associated adult obesity have been studied in animal models and humans, where changes in fetal adipose tissue development, hormone levels and epigenome have been identified as principal areas of alteration leading to later life obesity. Following an adverse in utero development, IUGR fetuses display increased lipogenic and adipogenic capacity in adipocytes, hypoleptinemia, altered glucocorticoid signalling, and chromatin remodelling, which subsequently all contribute to an increased later life obesity risk. Data suggest that many of these changes result from an enhanced activity …

Preventing Long-Term Risk Of Obesity For Two Generations: Prenatal Physical Activity Is Part Of The Puzzle, Stephanie May Ruchat, Michelle F. Mottola

Paediatrics Publications

Background. The period surrounding pregnancy has been identified as a risk period for overweight/obesity in both mother and child because of excessive gestational weight gain (GWG). The promotion of a healthy GWG is therefore of paramount importance in the context of the prevention of obesity in the current and next generations. Objective. To provide a comprehensive overview of the effect of prenatal physical activity interventions, alone or in combination with nutritional counselling, on GWG and to address whether preventing excessive GWG decreases the incidence of infant high birth weight and/or postpartum weight retention. Method. A search of the PubMed database …

Obesogenic Neighborhoods: The Impact Of Neighborhood Restaurants And Convenience Stores On Adolescents' Food Consumption Behaviors, Meizi He, Patricia Tucker, Jennifer D. Irwin, Jason Gilliland, Kristian Larsen, Paul Hess

Geography & Environment Publications

To examine the relationship between the neighbourhood food environment and dietary intake among adolescents. Cross-sectional design using: (i) a geographic information system to assess characteristics of the neighbourhood food environment and neighbourhood socio-economic status; (ii) the modified Healthy Eating Index (HEI) to assess participants' overall diet quality; and (iii) generalized linear models to examine associations between HEI and home and school food environmental correlates. Mid-sized Canadian city in Ontario, Canada. Participants Grade 7 and 8 students (n 810) at twenty-one elementary schools. Students living in neighbourhoods with a lower diversity of land-use types, compared with their higher diversity counterparts, had …

Fuzzy-Excom Software Project Risk Assessment, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Ekananta Manalif, Ali Bou Nassif, Danny Ho

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

A software development project can be considered to be risky project due to the uncertainty of the information (customer requirements), the complexity of the process, and the intangible nature of the product. Under these conditions, risk management in software development projects is mandatory, but often it is difficult and expensive to implement.

Expert COCOMO is an efficient approach to software project risk management, which leverages existing knowledge and expertise from previous effort estimation activities to assess the risk in a new software project. However, the original method has a limitation because it cannot effectively deal with imprecise and uncertain inputs …

A Treeboost Model For Software Effort Estimation Based On Use Case Points, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Ali Bou Nassif

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software effort prediction is an important task in the software development life cycle. Many models including regression models, machine learning models, algorithmic models, expert judgment and estimation by analogy have been widely used to estimate software effort and cost. In this work, a Treeboost (Stochastic Gradient Boosting) model is put forward to predict software effort based on the Use Case Point method. The inputs of the model include software size in use case points, productivity and complexity. A multiple linear regression model was created and the Treeboost model was evaluated against the multiple linear regression model, as well as the …

Estimating Software Effort Using An Ann Model Based On Use Case Points, Ali Bou Nassif, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Danny Ho

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

In this paper, we propose a novel Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to predict software effort from use case diagrams based on the Use Case Point (UCP) model. The inputs of this model are software size, productivity and complexity, while the output is the predicted software effort. A multiple linear regression model with three independent variables (same inputs of the ANN) and one dependent variable (effort) is also introduced. Our data repository contains 240 data points in which, 214 are industrial and 26 are educational projects. Both the regression and ANN models were trained using 168 data points and tested using …

University Magazine Winter 2012, University News Service, Office Of Alumni Relations

University Publications

This is the official magazine for RIT Alumni. Issued thrice a year in spring, fall and winter. Printing began in 1999.

Tourists' Perceptions Of Aboriginal Heritage Souvenirs, Janet Chang, Geoffrey Wall, Jul-Cheng (Richard) Hung

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Heritage souvenirs are an indispensable part of indigenous tourism and the authenticity of indigenous heritage is a vital aspect of such tourism. This study adopts a mixed methods approach to explore the perceived authenticity of glass bead souvenirs of the Paiwan Tribe in Pintung County, Taiwan. The study explores differences in the evaluations of authenticity among stakeholders and the factors that influence perceptions of authen- ticity. An understanding of tourists’ perceptions of indigenous heritage offers valuable information for the creation of indigenous souvenirs and for reviving the promotion of indigenous culture.

Imaging Atherosclerosis With Hybrid [(18)F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Imaging: What Leonardo Da Vinci Could Not See, Myra S. Cocker, Brian Mc Ardle, J. David Spence, Cheemun Lum, Robert R. Hammond, Deidre C. Ongaro, Matthew A. Mcdonald, Robert A. Dekemp, Jean Claude Tardif, Rob S.B. Beanlands

Department of Medicine Publications

Prodigious efforts and landmark discoveries have led toward significant advances in our understanding of atherosclerosis. Despite significant efforts, atherosclerosis continues globally to be a leading cause of mortality and reduced quality of life. With surges in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes, atherosclerosis is expected to have an even more pronounced impact upon the global burden of disease. It is imperative to develop strategies for the early detection of disease. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging utilizing [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) may provide a non-invasive means of characterizing inflammatory activity within atherosclerotic plaque, thus serving as a surrogate biomarker for detecting vulnerable plaque. …

Letter To The Editor: The Ezetimibe 'Controversy' Is A Misunderstanding, John David Spence

Department of Medicine Publications

No abstract provided.

The Dynamics Of Entrepreneurship: Hysteresis, Business Cycles And Government Policy, Emilio Congregado, Antonio A. Golpe, Simon C. Parker

Business Publications

This paper estimates an unobserved components model to explore the macro dynamics of entrepreneurship in Spain and the US. We ask whether entrepreneurship exhibits hysteresis, defined as a macro dynamic structure in which business cycle fluctuations have persistent effects on the natural rate of entrepreneurship. We find evidence of hysteresis in Spain, but not the US, while in both countries business cycle output variations significantly affect future rates of entrepreneurship. The article discusses implications of the findings for the design of entrepreneurship policies.

Some Textual Changes For A Scholarly Study Of The Book Of Mormon, Royal Skousen

BYU Studies

Royal Skousen has been working on the critical text project of the Book of Mormon since 1988. He has concluded that there are three important findings resulting from the critical text project of the Book of Mormon. The first is that Joseph Smith received an English-language text word for word, which he read off to his scribe. The second is that the original English-language text itself was very precisely constructed; where textual error has occurred in its transmission, the earliest reading is usually the superior reading. The third is the identification of 256 changes in the text that make a …

This Beginning Of Miracles, Marilyn N. Nielson

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Opening Anthropology: An Interview With Keith Hart At Savage Minds, Ryan B. Anderson

Faculty Publications

This interview is part of an ongoing series about open access (OA), publishing,communication, and anthropology. The first interview in this series was with Jason Baird Jackson. The second interview was with Tom Boellstorff. The third installment of this OA series is with Keith Hart (See Part 1, Part 2,and Part 3on Savage Minds). Full text also posted onThe Memory Bank.

Object Oriented Implementation Of The Parallel Toolkit Library, Sandhya Vinnakota

Computer Science Graduate Projects and Theses

With manufacturing efficiencies and technological innovation the computing power of commodity machines has been increasing accompanied by decreasing costs. With the very favorable price/performance ratio the computing community has shifted from monolithic machines to networked machines.

This has created the need for software to manage the parallelism of the network. One such work has been the Parallel Toolkit Library. The Parallel Toolkit Library provides support for common design functionalities used throughout parallel programs.

This work extends the PTK C library for C++ parallel programs. The motivation for the current project stems from the need to let parallel programs reap the …

Interpersonal Identity Formation In Conversations With Close Friends About Dating Relationships, Elizabeth M. Morgan, Neill Korobov

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present study explores how close same-sex friendship groups participate in the co-construction of identities in the interpersonal domain during young adulthood. Participants included 24 same-sex college student friendship triads (12 male and 12 female; 72 total participants) who took part in semi-structured group interviews that elicited stories about conversations with their friends about dating relationship problems. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed five common responses to dating problems evidencing identity work in the context of friends' conversations. These responses included relating the issue to one's own experiences, providing validation and encouragement, joking about the problem, offering advice, and providing concrete instrumental …

Hedonism, Cindy Crosby

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

I Wanted Him To Kiss Me, William P. Ramsey

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

City Streets, Mady Roskuszka

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Evil Intent, Abdul Malik

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

One More Day, Claire Katsion

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Dynamic Fiduciary Duties, Andrew S. Gold

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Educational Leadership Program Newsletter December 2012, Educational Leadership Program, University Of Southern Maine

Educational Leadership Newsletters

Inside the issue:

• Letter from the Department Chair
• Alumni Spotlight: Rachelle Tome
• Featured Faculty: Arts Educators: Maine Arts Assessment Initiative
• Thinking About Internship?
• Spring 2013 Schedule
• Notes of Interest
• Faculty & Staff Program Directory

Septohippocampal Gabaergic Neurons Mediate The Altered Behaviors Induced By N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Antagonists., Jingyi Ma, Siew Kian Tai, L Stan Leung

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

We hypothesize that selective lesion of the septohippocampal GABAergic neurons suppresses the altered behaviors induced by an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, ketamine or MK-801. In addition, we hypothesize that septohippocampal GABAergic neurons generate an atropine-resistant theta rhythm that coexists with an atropine-sensitive theta rhythm in the hippocampus. Infusion of orexin-saporin (ore-SAP) into the medial septal area decreased parvalbumin-immunoreactive (GABAergic) neurons by ~80%, without significantly affecting choline-acetyltransferase-immunoreactive (cholinergic) neurons. The theta rhythm during walking, or the immobility-associated theta induced by pilocarpine, was not different between ore-SAP and sham-lesion rats. Walking theta was, however, more disrupted by atropine sulfate in ore-SAP than …

December 2012, Issue 5, James Madison University Uhc Marketing Team

Potty Mouth

No abstract provided.

Voices Raised, Issue 38, University Of Dayton. Women's Center

Women’s Center Newsletter

Included in this issue: Consciousness Rising 2013; “low T”; The Experience of a Lifetime; WGS Program; Coaching by the Hoop, We Are in the Loop; What Does Venus Smell Like?; Short Story by Stacie Covington; We are all teachers and learners.

Continuing Professional Development Program On Second-Generation Antipsychotics For Psychiatric-Mental Health Staff Nurses, Brenda Lee Phillips

Doctoral Projects

The lack of continuous professional development education regarding second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) at a regional state acute care psychiatric hospital limits the ability of psychiatric-mental health (PMH) staff nurses to provide care for patients with or at risk for metabolic syndrome and other medical problems. The goals of the evidence-based program were to (1) examine PMH staff nurses’ knowledge of treatment guidelines for schizophrenia and SGAs; (2) provide education on schizophrenia, SGAs, and metabolic syndrome; and (3) provide continuous professional development training modules on schizophrenia and SGAs electronically for PMH staff nurses in an acute care mental health hospital. The effectiveness …

Identification And Prevention Of Secondary Traumatic Stress In Mental Health Professionals Who Work With Child Sexual Abuse Victims, Abby Duckworth Mcneil

Doctoral Projects

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is an issue that may be experienced by mental health professionals who are exposed to clients' trauma materials and become and become at risk of becoming traumatized themselves. Mental health professionals working with sexually abused children are more vulnerable to STS due to their empathic engagement and level of exposure to trauma. The impact of STS can result in poor productivity, increase in illness, and turnover rates for mental health professionals. Cumulative effects of STS make awareness and early intervention imperative. Research has shown that members of the helping profession suffer emotional and physical illness more …

Value Based Purchasing: Positioning A Healthcare Organization For The Future, James Dale Heard

Doctoral Projects

In 2005, the Deficit Reduction Act introduced Value Based Purchasing (VBP) into the healthcare system as a means of hospital reimbursement for acute care hospitals receiving reimbursements from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). The purpose of this Capstone Project was to increase the knowledge of healthcare executives concerning Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) and VBP and the effect it will place on the organization though the utilization of a consultant program. The role of the consultant in this project is to provide expert advice to healthcare executives about the impacts of HCAHPS and provide …

Exploration Of Self-Care Following Distribution Of Acute Management Tool For Elder Heart Failure Patients In Clinic Setting, Sharon Elaine Vincent

Doctoral Projects

The aim of this study was to develop a broad understanding of heart failure patients’ perceptions about their lived experiences. An acute symptom management tool, Red Flags I Need to Know: Heart Failure Action Plan (Health Net Federal Services, 2011), was distributed to the patients prior to initiation of the project.

The problem of heart failure rehospitalization is significant. Cost of treatment for heart disease in the United States exceeds all other conditions. The national excessive 30-day readmission rate in elders post-discharge is 24.8%. Pay-for-performance initiatives will reduce reimbursement for excessive readmissions beginning FY 2013.

The project was a mixed …