Longitudinal Study of Growth of Children With Unilateral Cleft-Lip Palate From Birth to Two Years of Age

Objective: To study the growth of children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) from birth to 2 years of age and to construct specific UCLP growth curves. Design: Physical growth was a secondary outcome measure of a National Institutes of Health-sponsored longitudinal, prospective clinical trial involving the University of Florida (United States) and the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Patients: Six hundred twenty-seven children with UCLP, nonsyndromic, both genders. Methods: Length, weight, and head circumference were prospectively measured for a group of children enrolled in a clinical trial. Median growth curves for the three parameters (length, weight, head circumference) were performed and compared with the median for the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) curves. The median values for length, weight, and head circumference at birth and 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age were plotted against NCHS median values and statistically compared at birth and 24 months. Setting: Hospital de Reabilitacao de Anomalias Craniofaciais, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Bauru, Brazil (HRAC-USP). Results: At birth, children of both genders with UCLP presented with smaller body dimensions in relation to NCHS median values, but the results suggest a catch-up growth for length, weight, and head circumference for girls and for weight (to some degree) and head circumference for boys. Conclusions: Weight was the most compromised parameter for both genders, followed by length and then head circumference. There was no evidence of short stature. This study established growth curves for children with UCLP.

Prospective Clinical Trial Comparing Outcome Measures Between Furlow and von Langenbeck Palatoplasties for UCLP

The goal of this prospective randomized clinical trial was to compare 2 cohorts of standardized cleft patients with regard to functional speech outcome and the presence or absence of palatal fistulae. The 2 cohorts are randomized to undergo either a conventional von Langenbeck repair with intravelar velarplasty or the double-opposing Z-plasty Furlow procedure. A prospective 2 x 2 x 2 factorial clinical trial was used in which each subject was randomly assigned to 1 of 8 different groups: 1 of 2 different lip repairs (Spina vs. Millard), 1 of 2 different palatal repair (von Langenbeck vs. Furlow), and 1 of 2 different ages at time of palatal surgery (9-12 months vs. 15-18 months). All surgeries were performed by the same 4 surgeons. A cul-de-sac test of hypernasality and a mirror test of nasal air emission were selected as primary outcome measures for velopharyngeal function. Both a surgeon and speech pathologist examined patients for the presence of palatal fistulae. In this study, the Furlow double-opposing Z-palatoplasty resulted in significantly better velopharyngeal function for speech than the von Langenbeck procedure as determined by the perceptual cul-de-sac test of hypernasality. Fistula occurrence was significantly higher for the Furlow procedure than for the von Langenbeck. Fistulas were more likely to occur in patients with wider clefts and when relaxing incisions were not used.

Leukotrienes Target F-actin/Cofilin-1 to Enhance Alveolar Macrophage Anti-fungal Activity

Candida albicans is the most common opportunistic fungal pathogen and causes local and systemic disease in immunocompromised patients. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are pivotal for the clearance of C. albicans from the lung. Activated AMs secrete 5-lipoxygenase-derived leukotrienes (LTs), which in turn enhance phagocytosis and microbicidal activity against a diverse array of pathogens. Our aim was to investigate the role of LTB(4) and LTD(4) in AM antimicrobial functions against C. albicans and the signaling pathways involved. Pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of LT biosynthesis as well as receptor antagonism reduced phagocytosis of C. albicans when compared with untreated or WT controls. Conversely, exogenous LTs of both classes augmented base-line C. albicans phagocytosis by AMs. Although LTB(4) enhanced mainly mannose receptor-dependent fungal ingestion, LTD(4) enhanced mainly dectin-1 receptor-mediated phagocytosis. LT enhancement of yeast ingestion was dependent on protein kinase C-delta (PKC delta) and PI3K but not PKC alpha and MAPK activation. Both LTs reduced activation of cofilin-1, whereas they enhanced total cellular F-actin; however, LTB(4) accomplished this through the activation of LIM kinases (LIMKs) 1 and 2, whereas LTD(4) did so exclusively via LIMK-2. Finally, both exogenous LTB(4) and LTD(4) enhanced AM fungicidal activity in an NADPH oxidase-dependent manner. Our data identify LTB(4) and LTD(4) as key mediators of innate immunity against C. albicans, which act by both distinct and conserved signaling mechanisms to enhance multiple antimicrobial functions of AMs.

Camtasia Mania: Using Video in Exemplary Online Course Design

This basis of our presentation is to share a method of creating a fully online course experience for the student. The LMS (Learning Management System) in our presentation will be Blackboard. Our presentation will include the course design (following a weekly syllabus or course weekly module, the various content areas of the course and most importantly, the rich media included in the course. Our presentation will also include the creation process via CAMTASIA, video production software.

Obfuscation and Strict Online Anonymity

I consider the case for genuinely anonymous web searching. Big data seems to have it in for privacy. The story is well known, particularly since the dawn of the web. Vastly more personal information, monumental and quotidian, is gathered than in the pre-digital days. Once gathered it can be aggregated and analyzed to produce rich portraits, which in turn permit unnerving prediction of our future behavior. The new information can then be shared widely, limiting prospects and threatening autonomy. How should we respond? Following Nissenbaum (2011) and Brunton and Nissenbaum (2011 and 2013), I will argue that the proposed solutions—consent, anonymity as conventionally practiced, corporate best practices, and law—fail to protect us against routine surveillance of our online behavior. Brunton and Nissenbaum rightly maintain that, given the power imbalance between data holders and data subjects, obfuscation of one’s online activities is justified. Obfuscation works by generating “misleading, false, or ambiguous data with the intention of confusing an adversary or simply adding to the time or cost of separating good data from bad,” thus decreasing the value of the data collected (Brunton and Nissenbaum, 2011). The phenomenon is as old as the hills. Natural selection evidently blundered upon the tactic long ago. Take a savory butterfly whose markings mimic those of a toxic cousin. From the point of view of a would-be predator the data conveyed by the pattern is ambiguous. Is the bug lunch or potential last meal? In the light of the steep costs of a mistake, the savvy predator goes hungry. Online obfuscation works similarly, attempting for instance to disguise the surfer’s identity (Tor) or the nature of her queries (Howe and Nissenbaum 2009). Yet online obfuscation comes with significant social costs. First, it implies free riding. If I’ve installed an effective obfuscating program, I’m enjoying the benefits of an apparently free internet without paying the costs of surveillance, which are shifted entirely onto non-obfuscators. Second, it permits sketchy actors, from child pornographers to fraudsters, to operate with near impunity. Third, online merchants could plausibly claim that, when we shop online, surveillance is the price we pay for convenience. If we don’t like it, we should take our business to the local brick-and-mortar and pay with cash. Brunton and Nissenbaum have not fully addressed the last two costs. Nevertheless, I think the strict defender of online anonymity can meet these objections. Regarding the third, the future doesn’t bode well for offline shopping. Consider music and books. Intrepid shoppers can still find most of what they want in a book or record store. Soon, though, this will probably not be the case. And then there are those who, for perfectly good reasons, are sensitive about doing some of their shopping in person, perhaps because of their weight or sexual tastes. I argue that consumers should not have to pay the price of surveillance every time they want to buy that catchy new hit, that New York Times bestseller, or a sex toy.

Varför nationellt ämnesprov skolår 5?

Detta arbete har syftet att undersöka varför det nationella ämnesprovet (Np) i skolår 5 genomförs. För att undersöka den frågan har vi tagit del av information och åsikter från Skolverket samt intervjuat 16 personer som arbetar i eller för skolan i en av Sveriges kommuner. Informationsinsamlandet består bland annat av två rapporter (böcker) från Skolverket. Intervjuerna är basen för denna undersökning då det finns lite skrivet om detta ämne. Av de resultat vi redovisar kring varför det nationella ämnesprovet i skolår 5 genomförs har vi valt att utförligare presentera de viktigaste av dem, vilka är; Information/Kommunikation, Likvärdighet, Lärarunderlag och Resursfördelning.Denna undersökning visar att nationella ämnesprovet i skolår 5 är väldigt uppskattat bland lärarna, provet hjälper läraren att finna kvaliteter och brister hos elever och det ger dem även ett bra underlag för att följa och dokumentera elevernas utveckling. Många lärare framhåller samtidigt att provet är krävande vad det gäller planering och genomförande. Av personal på skolor i den aktuella kommunen efterfrågades att det nationella ämnesprovet skall ligga till grund för resursfördelningen, vilket den inte gör, idag. Resultatet av denna undersökning visar på stora brister i information och kommunikation mellan de olika nivåerna i skolan. Det vill säga från Barn- och skolnämnd till lärare, via skolområdeschefer och rektorer. Vidare visar resultatet att många lärare väljer att plocka bort vissa delar ur det nationella ämnesprovet i skolår 5, vilket inte är tillåtet enligt den aktuella kommunens bestämmelser.

Principles of High Quality Documentation for Provenance: A Philosophical Discussion

Computer technology enables the creation of detailed documentation about the processes that create or affect entities (data, objects, etc.). Such documentation of the past can be used to answer various kinds of questions regarding the processes that led to the creation or modification of a particular entity. The answer to such questions is known as an entity's provenance. In this paper, we derive a number of principles for documenting the past, grounded in work from philosophy and history, which allow for provenance questions to be answered within a computational context. These principles lead us to argue that an interaction-based model is particularly suited for representing high quality documentation of the past.

Security Issues in a SOA-based Provenance System

Recent work has begun exploring the characterization and utilization of provenance in systems based on the Service Oriented Architecture (such as Web Services and Grid based environments). One of the salient issues related to provenance use within any given system is its security. In a broad sense, security requirements arise within any data archival and retrieval system, however provenance presents unique requirements of its own. These requirements are additionally dependent on the architectural and environmental context that a provenance system operates in. We seek to analyze the security considerations pertaining to a Service Oriented Architecture based provenance system. Towards this end, we describe the components of such a system and illustrate the security considerations that arise within it. Concurrently, we outline possible approaches to address them.