Osteocyte lacunar density and area in newly formed bone of the augmented sinus

OBJECTIVES Osteocytes, the most common cells of the bone, are buried in lacunae. Density and area of the osteocyte lacunae change with increasing maturation of the newly formed bone. Evaluation of osteocyte lacunae can therefore provide insights into the process of graft consolidation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Here, we determined the osteocyte lacunar density (number of osteocyte lacunae per bone area; N.Ot/BAr) and the osteocyte lacunar area in μm(2) (Lac.Ar) in histological specimens 6 and 12 weeks after the sinuses of 10 minipigs were augmented with Bio-Oss(®) , a deproteinized bovine bone mineral, and Ostim(®) , an aqueous paste of synthetic nanoparticular hydroxyapatite. The region of interest was defined by the following criteria: (i) >1 mm from the host bone, (ii) >0.5 mm from the sinus mucosa, (iii) minimum area of 0.2 mm(2) , and (iv) bone tissue spanning at least two bone substitute particles. RESULTS The overall osteocyte lacunar density was significantly higher in the Bio-Oss(®) group than in the Ostim(®) group and decreased during the observation period at a similar range in both groups. The osteocyte lacunar area was smaller in the Bio-Oss(®) group than the Ostim(®) group but there was no significant change within the groups over time. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that bone substitutes affect the osteocyte lacunar density and the osteocyte lacunar area in the newly formed bone within the augmented sinus in this particular model situation. These measures can provide insights into the maturation of newly formed bone in the augmented sinus.

Effect of Yeast Supplement on Performance of Steer Calves

The effect of Prosponse® yeast supplement fed to newly arrived steers was evaluated at the ISU Armstrong Research Farm near Lewis, Iowa. Four pens of approximately 32 head were fed similar diets with 2 pens receiving yeast supplement and 2 pens not. Calves were weighed on delivery to the feedlot and allocated on weight and sire. Calves were on test 34 days. There was no effect on daily gain or feed to gain. Dry matter intake trended higher for the yeast supplemented calves (P=.10). These data suggest that yeast supplement may improve dry matter intake in newly arrived feedlot calves.

Tracks of immigrant political incorporation

Models of Immigrant Political Incorporation brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars to consider pathways by which immigrants may be incorporated into the political processes of western democracies. It builds on a rich tradition of studying immigrant incorporation, but each chapter innovates by moving beyond singular accounts of particular groups and locations toward a general causal model with the scope and breadth to apply across groups, places, and time. Models of Immigrant Political Incorporation addresses three key analytic questions: what, if anything, are the distinctive features of immigrants or immigrant groups? How broadly should one define and study politics? What are the initial premises for analyzing pathways toward incorporation; does one learn more by starting from an assumption of racialization and exclusion or from an assumption of engagement and inclusion? While all models engage with all three key analytic questions, chapters vary in their relative focus on one or another, and in the answers they provide. Most include graphical illustrations of the model, as well as extended examples applying the model to one or more immigrant populations. At a time when research on immigrant political incorporation is rapidly accumulating - and when immigrants are increasingly significant political actors in many democratic polities — this volume makes a timely and valuable intervention by pushing researchers to articulate causal dynamics, provide clear definitions and measurable concepts, and develop testable hypotheses. Furthermore, the wide array of frameworks examining how immigrants become part of a polity or are shunted aside ensure that activists and analysts alike will find useful insights. By including historians, sociologists, and political scientists, by ranging across North America and Western Europe, by addressing successful and failed incorporative efforts, this handbook offers guides for anyone seeking to develop a dynamic, unified, and supple model of immigrant political incorporation.

Sport as a means of immigrant youth integration: An empirical study of sports, intercultural relations, and immigrant youth integration in Switzerland

Der Beitrag geht der Bedeutung des Sports für die Integration von jugendlichen Einwanderern in die Aufnahmegesellschaft nach. Aufgrund von Daten einer Querschnittstudie bei 454 Jugendlichen der ersten Einwanderergeneration aus Gymnasien, Berufsschulen und Vorlehreeinrichtungen der deutschen Schweiz zeigen unsere Ergebnisse, dass der Sport für die meisten Jugendlichen mit Migrationshintergrund ein wichtiger Teil ihrer Freizeit darstellt, auch wenn der Anteil von Migrantinnen, die Mitglied eines Sportvereins sind, im Vergleich zu Migranten zweimal niedriger ausfällt. Zudem haben sowohl männliche wie weibliche Jugendliche mit Migrationshintergrund, die Sport in einem Sportverein ausüben, deutlich mehr persönliche Kontakte mit Schweizer Peers während ihrer sportlichen Aktivitäten. Jugendliche, die von häufigen persönlichen Kontakt mit Schweizer Peers im Sport berichten, haben auch deutlich mehr interkulturelle Kontakte in ihrer Freizeit generell und innerhalb des Kreises ihren engsten Freunde. Schließlich vermögen häufige Kontakte mit Schweizer Peers im Sport das Gefühl der jugendlichen Einwanderer, in der Schweiz integriert zu sein, zu erhöhen.

Immigrant students’ psychological adjustment in the school context: A meta-synthesis of qualitative research on acculturation

This contribution focuses on the characteristics of the school context and their impact on immigrant students’ acculturation and adjustment at school. Research suggests that the ways immigrants acculturate is related to their well being (e.g. Phinney, et al., 2001; Ward & Rana-Deuba, 1999), although findings have been contradictory across methods and studies (e.g. Rogler, 1991; Escobar & Vega, 2001). Debates in acculturation research currently center on issues of acculturation measurement (e.g. Berry, 2009; Rudmin, 2009), as most research is conducted in the quantitative tradition. In addition, some have suggested (Birman, 2011) that research on acculturation in the tradition of cross-cultural psychology adopts an overly individualistic perspective, and lacks attention to the specific contexts of acculturation. Alternatively, the contextual approach proposes that the relationship between acculturation and adjustment is shaped by the surrounding context (Birman & Simon, 2013). For immigrant children, schools are the setting where the process of acculturation unfolds, and an important context in which to study their adjustment and well being (Birman, et al., 2007; Makarova & Herzog, 2011). Though rarely used in this tradition of acculturation research (Chirkov, 2009), qualitative methods are uniquely suited to gain insight to facilitate theory development, as well as appreciate the contextual nature of the acculturation process. Yet we are not aware of efforts to synthesize the empirical qualitative literature on this topic. Applying the methodology of meta-synthesis for qualitatieve research (Walsh & Downe, 2005) our contribution attempts to integrate results from qualitative studies on impact of acculturation on immigrant students’ psychological adjustment in the school context. For this purpose 84 articles which matched the inclusion criteria were selected. Overall, the results of our study show that within the school context a number of structural as well as process characteristics can be identified as crucial for immigrant youth psychological adjustment. Moreover, our findings indicate that immigrant youths’ psychological adjustment is related to other individual outcomes of acculturation in the school context such as behavioral adjustment, peer-relationships, academic achievement and identity development of immigrant youth.

Prevalence of HIV risk-related behaviors among undocumented Central American immigrant women in Houston, Texas, 2010

The primary aim of this dissertation research is to provide epidemiological data on HIV risk-related behaviors among undocumented Central American immigrant women living in Houston, Texas. Between February and May 2010, we used respondent driven sampling (RDS) to recruit 230 Guatemalan, Honduran, and El Salvadoran women, ages 18 to 50 years, living in Houston without a valid United States visa or residency papers. RDS is a probability-based sampling method that utilizes social networks to access members of hidden populations that lack a sampling frame. Participants completed an interview regarding their demographics, access to and utilization of healthcare services, HIV testing, and sexual behaviors. Data from this study were used 1) to describe the prevalence of sexual HIV risk-related behaviors among undocumented Central American immigrant women, comparing those who recently immigrated to the U.S. (within the past five years) to those with more established residency (of over five years); 2) to describe the prevalence of lifetime HIV testing and evaluate its associated factors in this target population; and 3) to describe the effectiveness of RDS to access members of this target population. ^ As described in Paper 1, there was a generally low prevalence of individual HIV risk-related behaviors (i.e., multiple, concurrent, convenience, and casual sexual partnerships) among the undocumented Central American immigrant women in this study. However, there was evidence of HIV risk due to unprotected sex with male partners who have concurrent sexual partnerships. We identified recent immigrants as the subpopulation at greatest risk, as they were significantly more likely than established immigrants to have multiple and/or concurrent sexual partners. As described in Paper 2, the lifetime prevalence of HIV testing was almost 70%. After adjusting for age, number of years living in the U.S., income security, and resource barriers, lifetime HIV testing was significantly associated with being from Honduras, having more than a sixth grade education, having a regular healthcare provider, and having knowledge of available healthcare resources. Finally, as described in Paper 3, RDS was an effective method for obtaining a diverse sample of Central American immigrant women in Houston. ^ This project is the first to use RDS to conduct an HIV behavioral survey among undocumented Central American immigrant women. Our results will inform the design of future research studies and the implementation of HIV prevention activities among undocumented Central American immigrants in the U.S.^

Pollen record and age determination of a sediment profile from Frengstadsetra, Norway

Innerdalen was once a mountain valley (ca. 780 m a.s.l.) with birch forests, bogs and several summer farms. Today it is a 6.5 km**2 artifical lake. In 1980 and 1981 archaeological and palynological investigations were carried out due to the hydroelectric power plans. Radiocarbon dated pollen diagrams from 9 different localities in Innerdalen provide information on a mountain environment which has been exploited to varying degrees by human groups for thousands of years. In the Birch Zone, ca. 9500-8500 years B.P., the deglaciated surface is vegetated by the normal sequence of pioneering species, first show-bed communities, then shrub/dwarf-shrub communities, and finally a birch forest community. In the Pine Zone, ca. 8500-7500 years B.P., the mixed Birch-Pine forest which prevailed at the end of the Birch Zone is replaced by a dense pine forest. The tree limit was higher than it is today. In the Alder Zone, ca. 7500-4000 years B.P., the newly arrived alder gradually succeeded pine, particularily on good soils. This alder forest has a modem analog in the pre-alpine gray alder forests in Norway. In the last part of the Alder Zone, ca. 6000-4000 years B.P., elm and hazel are nominally present on particularily rich soils, marking the edaphic and climatic optimum in Innerdalen. During this time the first evidence of human impact on the vegetation is apparent in the pollen diagrams. At both Sætersetra in the south of the valley and Liabekken in the north, forest clearance and the development of grazed grass meadows is documented, and human impact continues until the present. The Herb Zone, ca. 4000 years B.P. to 1600 A.D., is characterized by the rapid decline of alder. The forest is increasingly open, and bog formation is initiated. The sub-alpine belt of birch forest is established, probably due to the shift to a cooler, moister climate. Human activity can also have influenced the vegetational changes, although at 4 of the localities human activity also is first apparent after the alder decline. Some localities show measurably less human impact on the vegetation ca. 2600-2000 years B.P. Grazing intensity increases ca. 2000 years B.P. At the end of the Herb Zone rye and barley pollen is registered at Sætersetra and Flonan, indicating contact between the grazing activities of Innerdal and grain cultivation activities outside the valley. The Spruce Zone, ca. 1600 A.D. to the present, does not begin synchronously since the presence of long-distance transported spruce pollen at a locality is entirely dependent on the density of the vegetation ie. degree of human impact. The youngest spruce rise is ca. 1500 A.D. at Røstvangen, when summerfarming is initiated. Summerfarming activities in Innerdal produce an increasingly open landscape. Rye and barley pollen at several localities may indicate limited local cultivation, but is more likely long-distance transport via humans and domesticated animals from cultivated areas outside Innerdalen.

Evaluation of the Feasibility of a Yoga and Mindfulness-Based Mental Health Intervention for Latina Immigrant Mothers

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Challenges for expatriate managers:an exploration of cross-cultural management, adjustment, and training issues faced by Anglo-American managers in Hong Kong

This field work study furthers understanding about expatriate management, in particular, the nature of cross-cultural management in Hong Kong involving Anglo-American expatriate and Chinese host national managers, the important features of adjustment for expatriates living and working there, and the type of training which will assist them to adjust and to work successfully in this Asian environment. Qualitative and quantitative data on each issue was gathered during in-depth interviews in Hong Kong, using structured interview schedules, with 39 expatriate and 31 host national managers drawn from a cross-section of functional areas and organizations. Despite the adoption of Western technology and the influence of Western business practices, micro-level management in Hong Kong retains a cultural specificity which is consistent with the norms and values of Chinese culture. There are differences in how expatriates and host nationals define their social roles, and Hong Kong's recent colonial history appears to influence cross-cultural interpersonal interactions. The inability of the spouse and/or family to adapt to Hong Kong is identified as a major reason for expatriate assignments to fail, though the causes have less to do with living away from family and friends, than with Hong Kong's highly urbanized environment and the heavy demands of work. Culture shock is not identified as a major problem, but in Hong Kong micro-level social factors require greater adjustment than macro-level societal factors. The adjustment of expatriate managers is facilitated by a strong orientation towards career development and hard work, possession of technical/professional expertise, and a willingness to engage in a process of continuous 'active learning' with respect to the host national society and culture. A four-part model of manager training suitable for Hong Kong is derived from the study data. It consists of a pre-departure briefing, post-arrival cross-cultural training, language training in basic Cantonese and in how to communicate more effectively in English with non-native speakers, and the assignment of a mentor to newly arrived expatriate managers.

'Urine testing is a waste of time': newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes patients' perceptions of self-monitoring

Aims To date, there is no convincing evidence that non-insulin treated patients who undertake self-blood glucose monitoring (SBGM) have better glycaemic control than those who test their urine. This has led to a recommendation that non-insulin dependent patients undertake urine testing, which is the cheaper option. This recommendation does not take account of patients' experiences and views. This study explores the respective merits of urine testing and SBGM from the perspectives of newly diagnosed patients with Type 2 diabetes. Methods Qualitative study using repeat in-depth interviews with 40 patients. Patients were interviewed three times at 6-monthly intervals over 1 year. Patients were recruited from hospital clinics and general practices in Lothian, Scotland. The study was informed by grounded theory, which involves concurrent data collection and analysis. Results Patients reported strongly negative views of urine testing, particularly when they compared it with SBGM. Patients perceived urine testing as less convenient, less hygienic and less accurate than SBGM. Most patients assumed that blood glucose meters were given to those with a more advanced or serious form of diabetes. This could have implications for how they thought about their own disease. Patients often interpreted negative urine results as indicating that they could not have diabetes. Conclusions Professionals should be aware of the meanings and understandings patients attach to the receipt and use of different types of self-monitoring equipment. Guidelines that promote the use of consistent criteria for equipment allocation are required. The manner in which negative urine results are conveyed needs to be reconsidered.

Social support, risk, and adjustment of immigrant preadolescents

The current study was designed to explore the salience of social support, immigrant status, and risk in middle childhood and early adolescence across two time periods as indicated by measures of school adjustment and well-being. Participants included 691 children of public elementary schools in grades 4 and 6 who were interviewed in 1997 (Time 1) and reinterviewed two years later (Time 2); 539 were U.S.-born, and 152 were foreign-born. ^ Repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA's) were conducted to assess the effects of immigrant status and risk on total support, well-being, and school adjustment from Time 1 to Time 2. Follow-up analyses, including Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc tests, were used to test the significance of the differences among the means of support categories (low and high), immigrant status (U.S. born and non-U.S. born), risk (low and high) and time (time 1 and time 2). ^ Results showed that immigrant participants in the high risk group reported significantly lower levels of support than their peers. Further, children of low risk at Time 2 indicated the highest levels of support. Second, immigrant preadolescents, preadolescents who reported low levels of social support, and preadolescents of the high risk reported lower levels of emotional well-being. There was also an interaction of support by risk by time, indicating that children who are at risk and had low levels of social support reported more emotional problems at Time 1. Finally, preadolescents who are at risk and preadolescents who reported lower levels of support were more likely to show school adaptation problems. Findings from this study highlight the importance of a multivariable approach to the study of support, emotional adjustment, and academic adjustment of immigrant preadolescents. ^

Wage matters & globalization: South Florida's low-wage immigrant plant nursery workers and business protectionism in the age of neoliberalism

Ornamental plant production in the State of Florida is an anomaly with respect to current theories of globalization and particularly their explanation of the employment of low-wage, immigrant labor. Those theories dictate that unskilled jobs that do not need to be performed within highly developed countries are outsourced to where labor is cheaper and more flexible. However, the State of Florida remains an important site of ornamental plant production in the US amidst a global economic environment of outsourcing and transnational corporate expansion. This dissertation relies on 50 semi-structured interviews with insiders of the Florida plant nursery industry, focus groups, and participant observation to explain how US trade, labor, and migration policy-making at local levels are not removed from larger global processes taking place in the world since the 1970s. In Florida, elite market players of the plant nursery industry have been able to resist global trends in free trade, operating instead in a protected market. They have done this by appealing to scientific justifications and through arbitrary implementations of neoliberal ideology that keeps small and middle range business alive, while maintaining a seemingly endless supply of marginalized and exploited low-wage, immigrant workers.^

Conditions for Teaching and Learning in Religious Education (RE) : Perspectives of Teachers and Pupils at the Beginning of the 6th Grade in Sweden

In this article empirical findings from interviews with teachers of three classes of 12-year-old pupils are presented, together with questionnaire-responses from these 54 pupils. The interviews focus on teaching aims for Religious Education (RE), a subject that in Sweden, besides dealing with religion, also explores other kinds of beliefs, ethics and life questions. In the questionnaire the pupils are asked to solve four RE tasks with content that is central from a Swedish curriculum perspective. The research involves pupils at the beginning of the sixth grade and the purpose of this article is to look at the teachers’ aims and the pupils’ responses, and consider what these may indicate about conditions for teaching and learning RE in these classes. The findings show that the perspectives of the pupils at the beginning of the sixth grade seem to be rather far from the expectations of the RE syllabus. The pupils’ statements are rather vague with regard to religion as a phenomenon and there are few examples of pupils interpreting religious symbols in a way that is useful in further analysis. While existential and ethical plots, messages and point of views are comparatively easy to describe, it is harder to express multiple perspectives, reasons, comparisons and questions. A problem for the teachers in developing the perspectives of their pupils is that they find it hard to say what kind of general difficulties pupils have in RE, a fact that makes it hard to direct the teaching. Another challenge is that the teachers’ RE-aims are rather overarching and primarily related to fostering fundamental values. What improves the conditions for teaching and learning is the teachers’ concern for the pupils and their relationships with the teacher and with each other, a factor which is of vital importance for learning and which can also be used as a specific teaching method in subject matter education.

Wage Matters & Globalization: South Florida’s Low-Wage Immigrant Plant Nursery Workers and Business Protectionism in the Age of Neoliberalism

Ornamental plant production in the State of Florida is an anomaly with respect to current theories of globalization and particularly their explanation of the employment of low-wage, immigrant labor. Those theories dictate that unskilled jobs that do not need to be performed within highly developed countries are outsourced to where labor is cheaper and more flexible. However, the State of Florida remains an important site of ornamental plant production in the US amidst a global economic environment of outsourcing and transnational corporate expansion. This dissertation relies on 50 semi-structured interviews with insiders of the Florida plant nursery industry, focus groups, and participant observation to explain how US trade, labor, and migration policy-making at local levels are not removed from larger global processes taking place in the world since the 1970s. In Florida, elite market players of the plant nursery industry have been able to resist global trends in free trade, operating instead in a protected market. They have done this by appealing to scientific justifications and through arbitrary implementations of neoliberal ideology that keeps small and middle range business alive, while maintaining a seemingly endless supply of marginalized and exploited low-wage, immigrant workers.

The integration of immigrant-origin youths in Japan

The steadily growing immigration phenomenon in today’s Japan is showing a tangible and expanding presence of immigrant-origin youths residing in the country. International research in the migration studies area has underlined the importance of focusing on immigrant-origin youths to shed light on the character of the way immigrant incorporate in countries of destinations. In-deed, immigrants’ offspring, the adults of tomorrow, embody the interlocutor between first-generation immigrants and the receiving societal context. The extent of the presence of immigrants’ children in countries of destination is also a reliable yardstick to assess the maturation of the migration process, transforming it from a temporary phenomenon to a long-term settlement. Within this framework, the school is a privileged site to observe and analyze immigrant-origin youths’ integration. Alongside their family and peers, school constitutes one of the main agents of socialization. Here, children learn norms and rules and acquire the necessary tools to eventually compete in the pursuit of an occupation, determining their future socioeconomic standing. This doctoral research aims to identify which theoretical model articulated in the area of migration studies best describes the adaptation process of immigrant-origin youths in Japan. In particular, it examines whether (and to what extent) any of the pre-existing frameworks can help explain the Japanese occurring circumstances, or whether further elaboration and adjustment are needed. Alternatively, it studies whether it is necessary to produce a new model based on the peculiarities of the Japanese social context. This study provides a theoretical-oriented contribution to the (mainly descriptive but maturing) literature on immigrant-origin youths’ integration in Japan. Considering past growth trends of Japanese immigration and its expanding prospective projections (Korekawa 2018c), this study might be considered pioneering for future development of the phenomenon.