Constraint-induced (CI) therapy is an approach adapted from motor rehabilitation to treat language deficits in individuals with poststroke aphasia. The principles of CI therapy were established from behavioral research with animal models that were later applied to human neurorehabilitation. There is a substantial body of evidence to support CI therapy for the treatment of postroke motor deficits; however, evidence for CI aphasia therapy is less established. This report examines the history and current state of evidence for the use of CI-based therapy to treat adults with poststroke aphasia. / text

Children suffering from noise-induced hearing loss could have disease burden such as communication difficulties, frustration, isolation as well as impaired self-cognition due to different degrees of hearing loss. Lack of hearing protection was the easiest way to tackle among the risk factors. Hence, the aim of this review is to review and synthesize existing evidence to show the effects of hearing conservation programs targeted on children and adolescents. Six studies included meeting strict requirements of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Significant improvements were shown in knowledge, attitude, intended behavior as well as hearing protective devices use regarding educational programs. However, limited effective consequence was shown in terms of audiometric threshold testing, thus, indicating limited effectiveness of educational programs in noise-induced hearing loss prevention. The results of hearing conservation programs were illustrated in details. And limitations as well as implications were discussed. / published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

The application of spectral induced polarization (SIP) to geohydrologic and geotechnical problems is considered. Some fundamental electrochemical characteristics of sulfides are reviewed. An alternate theory of the underlying cause of IP is presented. A modified field method is proposed. Two field sites are studied. Prevailing electrochemical thought is that most sulfides, especially pyrite and chalcopyrite, have passivating surface coatings. With this thought in mind, existing geophysically-oriented electrochemical measurements may be reinterpreted quite differently than has previously been done. Large impedances at low frequencies have traditionally been attributed by geophysicists to diffusional phenomena related to rapid reactions occurring at the sulfide surface. Large impedances at low frequencies with clays have traditionally been attributed to restrained ionic diffusion between zones of clay particles. Although they appear to be due to quite different mechanisms, both of these low frequency dispersions may be explained by a single rate limiting mechanism. Using fractal geometry, the large low frequency dispersions observed on sulfides may be explained by distributed high charge-transfer resistances on rough surfaces. With high surface resistances sulfides may behave like insulating clay particles and allow charge separation to occur in surface conduction current flow. Although displacement currents may flow in sulfides they are considered to be minimal in comparison to the surface conduction currents. The concept of a common polarization phenomenon allows the previous studies on rock samples containing clay particles and/or sulfides to be equated on the basis of particle size. With clay-coated sand grains it may be possible to estimate intrinsic hydraulic conductivity based on the interpreted polarizable grain size. Aquifers, and partially water saturated zones, may be IP targets if they have small amounts of polarizable clay minerals. Aquifer detection and grain size estimation are demonstrated. Theoretical work and field studies show the advantages of using a modified dipole-dipole array and data presentation methods. The large amounts of data gathered during broad-band SIP surveys are demonstrated to be very useful in layered-earth geohydrologic problems. The higher frequency data contain much earth-structure information, are easily gathered, and allow immediate qualitative structural interpretation. Lower frequency data contain information useful in aquifer characterization.

published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Doctor of Medicine

published_or_final_version / Industrial Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

In the homeotherm, core body temperature (T(bc)) is considered one of the vital signs by which physiologic normality can be assessed. In persons who are unable to self-regulate T(bc), hypothermia (HT) can result. Recognition of HT as a potential physiologic problem especially in the adult postsurgical patient who is recovering from anesthesia has been acknowledged. Recovery room (RR) nurses daily manage the shivering patient who not only experiences increased oxygen demand, but who may also exhibit airway obstruction and increased somnolence as a result of HT. Thus, a primary nursing activity in the RR is to assist the patient in recovery from anesthesia and to facilitate his return toward normothermia. No study has delineated the frequency, temperature range, or duration of HT in adult RR postsurgical patients. Additionally, no data exist to support the effectiveness of current nursing heat treatments directed against mild to moderate degrees of HT. The present study addresses both of these issues. Hypothermia is defined as T(bc) of less than 36.0 degrees centigrade (°C). One hundred ninety-eight patients were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups. Three groups received a form of external heat while the final group did not. Heat was applied with radiant heat lamps, thermal with bath blanket (warmed), and bath blankets (warmed) with change. The control group had one bath blanket at room temperature. The purposive, nonrandom sample consisted of consenting adults scheduled for various operative procedures. Previous approval for the protocol had been received from the Human Subjects Committee. In all patients requiring RR care, identifying and descriptive characteristics were recorded. Disposable tympanic membrane probes were used to assess T(bc) with measurements taken on RR admission and every 15 minutes thereafter until discharge. Descriptive statistical analyses demonstrated that 60 percent of the subjects (n = 118) were hypothermic on RR admission. Mean RR admission T(bc) and discharge T(bc) (mean ± standard error [range]) were 35.6°C ± 0.06 [32.5-37.5°C] and 36.3 ± 0.05 [33.5-38.0°C] respectively. Duration of HT averaged 47 ± 4 minutes. Eighteen percent of all subjects were discharged from the RR with T(bc) of less than 36.0°C. Among heat transfer treatment groups, one-way analysis of variance or group t-tests demonstrated no significant difference in the rate of T(bc) rise in the first hour of RR stay, T(bc) change every 15 minutes, change in T(bc) divided by RR time, or discharge T(bc). Statistical significance was set at p < .05). Aged subjects (≥ 60 years) compared to nonaged subjects (< 60 years) demonstrated significantly lower T(bc)'s on admission and throughout the mean RR stay (admission to +90 minutes; p < .05). Rate of T(bc) rise for aged subjects was not significantly different from nonaged subjects. In conclusion, RR nurses should be alert for HT in a significant number of adult postsurgical patients. Accurate monitoring of T(bc) is necessary particularly early during the RR stay. Application of the heat transfer treatments does not significantly affect T(bc). However, anesthetic type and age can significantly affect T(bc) and therefore prescribe alterations in nursing activities.

It began with the loss of the use of her forearm, then the use of her other arm, and then her legs. Headaches became severe migraines; seizures occurred. Her body wasted away and she became needle-thin. A neurologist, a psychiatrist, her family physician could not determine what was wrong. A local specialist, however, recognized the symptoms as those he had seen in others over several years. Concerned that the symptoms might be related to environmental toxins, he alerted the local health authorities. His concerns and those of his patients were not taken seriously, not, that is, until he and his patients coined a name for the symptoms: Somatic Chemically Induced Dysfunction Syndrome, or SCIDS. What was expected to be simply a name for a set of symptoms suddenly became contested. A social problem was defined, and experts from Agriculture, Health, and the Environment Ministries entered the fray. Unrelated at first, degradation of the local aquifer, death of wildlife, and a noticeable decrease in small mammals in the area had been noted. Questions were raised about the links between the two; between the environment and health. Somatic Chemically Induced Dysfunction Syndrome (SCIDS) suggested a causal link with chemicals, moreover with chemicals in the environment. This raised doubts in people's minds about the responsibility and accountability of government, and the authority of experts and the role of science was thrown into question. A private trouble became a public issue. The ensuing conflict revolved around naming and owning a social problem. Both experts and persons with SCIDS invoked science to make their case. Sides were drawn and the conflict was played out to the wider public through the media. It has been commented that research about illnesses of the environment have a bias towards the stories of the sufferers. This dissertation focuses mainly, though not exclusively, on the stories of the various experts involved. Set within the wider frame of social constructionism, I address the ways in which private troubles become public issues and are defined as a social problem. The frames used in this contest to wrest both ownership and thus management of the problem are investigated. The impact of this on a local social movement is examined.

A wound- and insect-inducible expression system for transgenic plants was developed. Specifically, I demonstrate wound- and insect-inducible, localized gene expression driven by the potato proteinase inhibitor II (pinII)-promoter in transformed Arabidopsis, tobacco and white spruce. As reporter and target genes driven by the pinII-promoter, I used the GUS gene and a terpenoid synthase gene, respectively. In addition, I found that the pinII-promoter drives trichome-specific, systemically-induced gene expression in tobacco and Arabidopsis. Finally, I demonstrate that the pinII–promoter, when transformed into Arabidopsis, is extremely sensitive to subtle, low-impact stress treatment. This latter finding prompted me to use, in the second part of my thesis, the pinII-promoter in conjunction with GUS reporter gene expression to test if intact Arabidopsis plants can respond to exposure to monoterpene volatiles. My experiments using the pinII–promoter GUS reporter system clearly established that Arabidopsis plants respond to the exposure of the monoterpene volatiles tested. It is thought that monoterpenes and other volatiles can act as airborne signals between plants under stress or between distant parts of the same plant. At the outset of my thesis research, and to some extent still today, the concept of plant-plant signalling with volatiles has been met with scepticism. After establishing that Arabidopsis plants do respond in a laboratory setting to certain monoterpene volatiles, I further tested the extent of the response at the transcriptome level using a 30 K microarray platform. The gene expression analysis revealed several hundred transcripts that respond with a change of abundance in response to treatment of intact Arabidopsis plants with the monoterpenes ocimene or myrcene. Many of these transcripts were annotated as stress and defense genes including genes involved in octadecanoid signaling. Real-time PCR analyses of octadecanoid mutants confirmed a role for octadecanoid signaling in the response to the monoterpene ocimene. In addition, treatment with ocimene or myrcene caused increased levels of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) in Arabidopsis rosette leaves. However, plants treated with monoterpene prior to wounding or feeding by cabbage looper did not reveal any significant priming effect for these pre-treatments.

The field of animal personality has been growing rapidly in the past 10 years, yet relatively little attention has been given to development of personality through ontogeny. To understand the stability of personality traits throughout animal’s life is particularly important as behavioural tendencies are likely to change in response to the different trade-offs animals face at each stage of the life cycle. The purpose of this research was to examine the stability of personality traits in common carp but also to determine whether personality traits can affect production of induced morphological defences in this species. To investigate the presence of behavioural syndrome and the stability of individual behaviours through ontogeny, common carp were monitored for a period of 10 months. Two different tests were used to investigate cross-situational consistency in behavioural traits: exploration and risk-taking. Juvenile carp were monitored at different time intervals to assess behavioural stability. Finally, morphometric data were collected to examine the link between body morphology and behavioural traits. No initial cross-situational consistency in behaviours was observed in juvenile common carp. Ranking of behaviour traits was consistent over a period of 14-16 weeks but not when the time interval was longer. Young carp that ranked lowest in both shelter use and activity used shelter significantly more compared to those individuals that ranked highest in use of shelter and activity even after a 10 month period. Development of a deeper body was also associated with the extreme levels of shelter seeking and activity. Fish pre-determined as being “Active” increased their body depth significantly more than did “Passive” fish. To my knowledge, this is the first study directly linking personality traits and change in body morphology in an aquatic species.

Comprehensive and reliable seismic analysis techniques can aid in achieving successful inference of rockmass behaviour in different stages of the caving process. This case study is based on field data from Telfer sublevel caving mine in Western Australia. A seismic monitoring database was collected during cave progression and breaking into an open pit 550 m above the first caving lift. Five seismic analyses were used for interpreting the seismic events. Interpretation of the seismic data identifies the main effects of the geological features on the rockmass behaviour and the cave evolution. Three spatial zones and four important time periods are defined through seismic data analysis. This thesis also investigates correlations between the seismic event rate, the rate of the seismogenic zone migration, mucking rate, Apparent Stress History, Cumulative Apparent Volume rate and cave behaviour, in order to determine failure mechanisms that control cave evolution at Telfer Gold mine.