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Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Discipline of Physiology, 2004. / Includes list of papers arising from this thesis. "July 2004" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-297). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Discipline of Physiology, 2004. / Includes list of papers arising from this thesis. "July 2004" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-297). Also available in print form.

Scholarly research has documented that environmental stresses affect developmental growth, and the degree of growth retardation is related to the exposure to those stressors (Bennike et al. 2005, Geber 2014, Ivanovsky 1923, Johnson and Gunnar 2011, and Stewart et al. 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects environmental stress has on craniofacial growth and development. It utilized a collection of skeletal remains from the Maagdenhuis Roman Catholic Girl’s Orphanage in Amsterdam, that dates to c 1850-1900AD. Craniometric landmarks from 427 crania were registered with a MicroScribe 3DX digitizer. The data collected was utilized to investigate whether growth retardation was present in the sample, along with an analysis correlating pathological features to growth and development. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to test for significance of growth patterns. The growth patterns were then compared to a dataset of normal growth patterns from the Michigan Craniofacial Growth Study (Riolo et al. 1974) in order to distinguish any differences in development. Further, a Chi-Square analysis and outliers test were used to examine the correlation between pathologies and age of the individuals in the collection. The intra-class correlation resulted in a low intra-observer error, with significant correlations ranging between .939 and .998. Additionally, the results of this study showed gradual positive slope growth curves for the inter-landmark distances tested, with similar shaped growth curves to the Michigan Craniofacial Growth Study (Riolo et al. 1974). Additionally, the multiple regression produced four age predictive models for this collection, with NLH, ZYB, MAL, UFHT, XCB, MAB, BPL and WFB being the most predictive inter-landmark distances. This study found a significant correlation between pathologies present and individuals’ age. Although there is a correlation between age and pathologies, given the data provided by the outlier analysis, having a score of minor porosity is not sufficient enough to influence or cause growth retardation, definitively. The qualitative analysis conducted for this study found that there was growth retardation present in this collection. A modern forensic application of this research can be applied to identify cases of child abuse and/or institutionalized care on skeletal remains in question, based on growth retardation.

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Background: Extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR) is multifactorial in etiology and predisposes infants to multiple morbidities that can be significantly ameliorated by adequate nutrition and appropriate longitudinal growth. Current strategies to reduce the risk of EUGR include optimization of parental nutrition, varying schedules of feeding advances, and caloric supplementation. Very low birthweight (VLBW) preterm infants are particularly affected by EUGR, therefore ensuring adequate postnatal growth is an essential component in improving the long-term health outcomes for VLBW infants. The objectives of this observational study were to examine potential risk factors for growth failure among premature infants that did not respond to caloric and volume supplementation. Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all infants born at the University of Massachusetts level III NICU from January 2016 to June 2020. Growth was tracked using PediTools electronic gestational age and growth calculators. (17) We reviewed the EMRs of infants who met the criteria for EUGR at the time of hospital discharge for a variety of potential factors affecting growth. Results: Overall, a total of 448 infants were screened with a final study cohort of 358 infants, of which 13% were discharge with EUGR. Analysis of demographic and clinical characteristics of infants with EUGR before and after nutritional intervention showed no statistically significant differences between the two cohorts. Pre-protocol, only weight percentiles and z-scores were statistically significant. Post-protocol, the change in z-score was also statistically significant. The only factor found to be statistically significantly different between was Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Timing of EUGR in the pre-protocol groups occurred between 33-35 weeks, while in the post-protocol group EUGR occurred between 32 and 37 weeks (Figure 2). Conclusions: Our findings confirmed the presence of several factors that have been previously shown to increase risk for EUGR, including male sex, lower gestational age, lower birth weight, and the occurrence of NEC. It also identified an additional risk factor, that of being born “constitutionally small”. In the post-protocol cohort, the change in z-score was statistically significant in addition to birth weight percentile and z-score and discharge weight percentile in z-score. The window in which EUGR occurred as well as the interquartile range was significantly widened post-protocol. These data suggest that the volume supplementation protocol successfully addressed the causes of EUGR in some infants, but other mechanisms may have occurred in infants who were still discharged with EUGR post-protocol.

published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

Growth retardation in King salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum) is a common and significant problem affecting marine farming operations in New Zealand. While the basic marine culture requirements for the King salmon species are well understood, the etiology of seawater adaptation and growth retardation remains understudied. Consequently, this study was established to investigate the physiological state and causative factors of growth retardation in collaboration with a leading New Zealand aquaculture company, New Zealand King Salmon Ltd (NZKS). Hypoosmoregulatory indicators are not currently used by marine farmers in New Zealand due to the belief that King salmon are more adaptable to seawater than their more highly cultured counterparts, Coho and Atlantic, and can be transferred to seawater anytime after a critical weight is achieved. This study sought to investigate changes in hypoosmoregulatory ability and its relation to water temperatures commonly used in the hatchery environment. This was determined by changes in the activity of the predominating seawater-adapting gill enzyme Na+/K+-ATPase, as an indirect measure of its abundance during smoltification. Changes in plasma ion profiles and the ability to regulate ions after abrupt transfer were also measured and compared with enzymatic activity throughout the austral springtime smoltification period in commercial strains of under-yearling King salmon. It was found that King salmon do undergo a distinct austral spring-time temporal increase in hypoosmoregulatory processes. This was characterised by a 2-fold increase Na+/K+-ATPase activity which was concomitant with reduced plasma Na+ in freshwater and following a seawater challenge in fish between fork lengths of 140-160 mm. Despite no consistent reduction in Na±/K+-ATPase activity during desmoltification, it was shown that the percent of ATP dependent activity specific to Na+/K+-ATPase diminished over time. Increased residual ATP dependent activity is hypothesised to be a result of apical H+-VATPase activity as a compensatory mechanism to rapidly normalise plasma Na+ during desmoltification concomitant with elevated basolateral Na+/K+-ATPase. Water temperature has been linked with the advancement and shortening of the smoltification period in several species. Gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity and hypoosmoregulatory ability in King salmon were negatively affected by increasing water temperatures above 12°C in contrast to a constant 12°C. The level of growth retardation was dependent on the time of transfer to seawater and was found to increase during a period of reducing hypoosmoregulatory ability. The transfer of growth retarded King salmon back to freshwater resulted in a complete reversal of the growth retarded state, comparable to that observed in Coho and Atlantic salmon. Growth retarded fish were able to readapt back to freshwater with higher survival and growth rates compared to the transfer of normal growing sub-adult King salmon, strongly demonstrating that growth retarded fish are more adapted to freshwater. Osmoregulatory physiology, and endocrinology during the transfer of growth retarded and normal growing fish were investigated. Overall, these results have fundamental implications for the aquaculture of King salmon that are able to be applied by industry to improve current husbandry practices.

Includes list of papers arising from this thesis. "July 2004" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-297)

Bibliography: p. 190-234. / 276 p. : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Aims to directly test the hypothesis that restricting placental delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus restricts fetal growth, in part by reducing endogenous production of insulin like growth factor-I / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1999?