My thesis investigated the mechanisms important for the development of the mammalian optic pathway and whether Primodos, a hormonal pregnancy test drug used between 1958 and 1978, has the potential to cause birth defects. I found that DSCAM (Down's syndrome cell adhesion molecule) is required for the fasciculation and growth of RGC axons. In mice carrying spontaneous mutations in DSCAM (Dscamdel17) normal axon pathfinding occurs. However, growth of axons from the optic chiasm towards their targets is impaired and axon organisation in the optic chiasm and tracts, and RGC growth cone morphologies, are also altered. Conversely, DSCAM gain-of-function resulted in exuberant growth into the dorsal thalamus. In vitro, DSCAM promotes RGC axon growth and fasciculation independently of cell contact. Along with previous work in the lab, my findings identified DSCAM as a permissive signal that promotes the growth and fasciculation of RGC axons. Spondins and their LRP binding partners are expressed in both the retina and around the developing optic pathway, consistent with a role in regulating growth of RGC axons towards visual targets. In vitro retinal explant cultures exposed to cells transfected with F-spondin, or its TSR domains, did not however provide evidence of axon growth modulation via F-spondin. I used Zebrafish embryos, a human cell-line and mouse retinal explants to investigate the actions of the components of Primodos upon embryonic axon growth, intersomitic vessel development and changes to cell number, proliferation and cell death. NA/EE-mixture exposure caused rapid morphological damage in Zebrafish embryos, affecting multiple organ systems and affecting physical movement. The NA/EE-mixture also affects nerve outgrowth and blood vessel patterning directly and accumulates in the III developing embryo for at least 24 hours. These data demonstrate that Norethisterone acetate and Ethinyl estradiol are potentially teratogenic, depending on dose applied and embryonic stage of development.

Poor reproductive performance is a major challenge for the bovine dairy industry, with implications for profitability and animal welfare. Early pregnancy diagnosis and accurate oestrus detection can improve reproductive performance through efficient herd management. However currently available methods do not allow this. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been proposed as non-invasive biomarkers of reproductive status in humans. The hypothesis for this work was that differentially expressed miRNAs in plasma will be detectable during early pregnancy / oestrus, which may provide novel potential biomarkers. Using sequencing and PCR-based platforms I successfully identified and validated increases in miR-26a and the miR-26a / miR-205 ratio as early as Day 8 of pregnancy (max. 7.5-fold) in the plasma of pregnant compared to non-pregnant heifers. These miRNAs are known regulators of immunity, angiogenesis and metabolism, however their specific roles in early pregnancy remain to be investigated. I also identified small but significant increases in the levels of miR-125b, let-7f, miR-145 and miR-99a-5p at oestrus, when compared with the luteal phase of the cycle. These miRNAs have been previously shown to regulate the follicular to luteal transition in the bovine ovary. Finally, I provide a validated high-throughput resource which can help identify potential global biomarkers of tissue function, as shown for the liver-enriched miR-802 in the present results. The findings of this work may be useful in the development of diagnostic methods for early pregnancy and oestrus, and pave the way for the functional characterisation of these miRNAs in bovine reproduction.

‘Of Bellies and Books' refers to pregnancy and formal education, constructed as mutually exclusive processes. This thesis explores that opposition by tracing the confluence of discourses through which it is produced. In so doing, it dissolves dichotomies and proposes a shift to the subject as both constituted by and constituting of discourses. Both academic research and global and national social policy construct teenage pregnancy as problematic. This is heightened in development contexts, where in-school pregnancy triggers Malthusian fears of overpopulation and consequential poverty increase. Conversely, formal education and training are represented as a means to personal development and success, through acquiring knowledge and skills leading to formal employment and individual empowerment. In this sense, schooling is constructed as a symbol of - or entrance to - modernity, while pregnancy and parenthood are defined in terms of the opportunities they prevent. From this perspective, in-school pregnancy works against individual and social progress and is synonymous with backwardness and tradition within a modernising and globalised world. Exploring in-school pregnancy in this thesis becomes a means through which to revoke the binary symbolised by tradition and modernity which produces a deficit view of the pregnant schoolgirl. Within this context, the study has been driven by the following research questions: · How do education policy and practice frame in-school pregnancy in Mozambique? · How do families interpret and regulate in-school pregnancy? · How do young people – young women – navigate the available discourses in the performance of their identities? Stimulated by a desire to explore the national policy tackling in-school pregnancy indicating that pregnant schoolgirls should be transferred to night courses, the empirical data collection took place within 10 months in and around the capital Maputo. It entailed documentary analysis, interviews with 10 Ministry of Education officials, 20 school teachers and 33 young people (25 girls and 8 men/boys) in and out of education. Through the generation and analysis of data, I develop a nuanced interpretation of the discourses that construct and regulate in-school pregnancy within schools and families. Within the institutional space of schools, a textual analysis of the policy shows how language borrowed from the biomedical and legal fields is directed towards the production of in-school pregnancy as unwanted, unplanned and ultimately ‘wrong'. This normalises the difference between pregnant and non-pregnant schoolgirls, producing transfer to night courses as a rational strategy to tackle in-school pregnancy. Although understood as a means to bridge the gender gap in education by tackling one of the main causes of female dropout, the current policy acts de facto as a highway to dropout, thereby reproducing gender exclusion. Within families, pregnancy initiates the complex procedure of family formation by drawing on the mutually exclusive categories of childhood and adulthood and symbolising the transition between the two. I contend that these two spaces, schools and families, often associated by research participants with modernity and tradition respectively, are not stable and homogenous constructs, but offer shifting and contingent sets of norms which are both conflicting and intersecting. By engaging with young people's narratives, I argue that pregnant schoolgirls, while being constructed by discursive norms, also resist and react to them. At school, young pregnant females enact a number of strategies to resist transfer to night courses. At home, they resist family formation and find ways to combine their multiple identities. By drawing on this, I ultimately contend that young pregnant schoolgirls navigate different regulatory frameworks in the production of their identities. This means that the itineraries they construct in crossing boundaries within normative frameworks constitute their identities and reposition them as travellers.

by Cathy Yui Hung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-152). / Abstract --- p.i / List of A bbreviations --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.vii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1. --- Definitions & Morbid implication of PIH / Chapter 1.1. --- Definition of PIH --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2. --- Classification --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3. --- Background --- p.3 / Chapter 2. --- Aetiology PIH --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1. --- Anatomy of placenta --- p.4 / Chapter 2.2. --- Physiology of placenta --- p.4 / Chapter 2.3. --- The placenta as the cause of PIH --- p.6 / Chapter 2.4. --- Pathology of the placental bed --- p.7 / Chapter 3. --- Epidemiology of PIH --- p.9 / Chapter 3.1. --- Maternal risk factors --- p.9 / Chapter 3.2. --- Fetal risk factors --- p.10 / Chapter 3.3. --- Genetics of PIH --- p.10 / Chapter 3.4. --- Maternal outcome --- p.12 / Chapter 3.5. --- Fetal outcome --- p.13 / Chapter 4. --- Pathophysiologic changes in PIH --- p.14 / Chapter 4.1. --- Important Pathophysiologic changes in PIH --- p.14 / Chapter 4.1.1. --- Hyperdynamic circulation --- p.14 / Chapter 4.1.2. --- Changes in Intravascular volume --- p.15 / Chapter 4.1.3. --- Loss of resistance to Angiotensin II and catecholamines --- p.16 / Chapter 4.1.4. --- Coagulation abnormalities --- p.16 / Chapter 4.1.5. --- Platelets --- p.17 / Chapter 4.2. --- Multisystem disorder in PIH --- p.18 / Chapter 4.2.1. --- The kidney --- p.18 / Chapter 4.2.2. --- The liver --- p.19 / Chapter 4.2.3. --- The brain and nervous system --- p.19 / Chapter 4.2.4. --- Cardiovascular and renin-angiotensin systems --- p.20 / Chapter 4.2.5. --- Placenta --- p.21 / Chapter 5. --- Prediction of PIH --- p.22 / Chapter 5.1. --- Standard methods of antental care --- p.22 / Chapter 5.1.1. --- Blood pressure increase in antenatal period --- p.22 / Chapter 5.1.2. --- Second Trimester Mean Arterial Pressure --- p.23 / Chapter 5.1.3. --- Proteinuria --- p.25 / Chapter 5.1.4. --- Excessive weight gain and edema --- p.26 / Chapter 5.1.5. --- Platelet count --- p.27 / Chapter 5.2. --- Vasoconstriction tests --- p.27 / Chapter 5.2.1. --- The Isometric Handgrip Exercise Test --- p.27 / Chapter 5.2.2. --- Roll-Over Test --- p.28 / Chapter 5.2.3. --- Infusion of Angiotensin II --- p.31 / Chapter 5.3. --- Biochemical tests --- p.33 / Chapter 5.3.1. --- Urinary Calcium excretion --- p.33 / Chapter 5.3.2. --- Prostacyclin & throboxane A2 --- p.33 / Chapter 5.3.3. --- Platelet Angiotensin II receptors --- p.34 / Chapter 5.4. --- Ultrasougographic evaluation --- p.36 / Chapter 5.4.1. --- Doppler waveforms of uteroplacental circulation --- p.36 / Chapter 6. --- Prevention & treatment of PIH --- p.38 / Chapter 6.1. --- Antihypertensive drugs --- p.40 / Chapter 6.2. --- Antithrombotic agents --- p.40 / Chapter 6.2.1. --- Low-dose aspirin --- p.40 / Chapter 6.3. --- Calcium supplementation --- p.44 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- General Methodology / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.48 / Chapter 1.2. --- Materials --- p.48 / Chapter 2. --- Studies --- p.51 / Chapter 2.1. --- Validation of Cor-7000 Sphygmomanometer --- p.51 / Chapter 2.1.1. --- Patients --- p.51 / Chapter 2.1.2. --- Methods --- p.51 / Chapter 2.1.3. --- Statistics --- p.52 / Chapter 2.1.4. --- Results --- p.53 / Chapter 2.2. --- Platelet ANG II receptor status and systemic vascular resistance --- p.58 / Chapter 2.2.1. --- Control subjects --- p.58 / Chapter 2.2.2. --- Patient subjects --- p.58 / Chapter 2.2.3. --- Platelet preparation and platelet angiotensin II binding site assay --- p.60 / Chapter 2.2.3.1. --- Statistical analysis --- p.62 / Chapter 2.2.3.2. --- Results --- p.63 / Chapter 2.2.4. --- Using impedance techniques to measurement of systemic vascular resistance --- p.74 / Chapter 2.2.4.1. --- Measurement of Cardiac Output by impedance cardiography --- p.74 / Chapter 2.2.4.2. --- Validity of transthoracic electrical bioimpedance technique --- p.81 / Chapter 2.2.4.3. --- Measurement of mean arterial pressure --- p.87 / Chapter 2.2.4.3.1. --- Experimental technique --- p.87 / Chapter 2.2.4.3.2. --- Statistical analysis --- p.92 / Chapter 2.2.4.4. --- Results --- p.92 / Chapter 2.2.4.5. --- Data analysis --- p.93 / Chapter 2.2.4.6. --- Relationship between platelet ANG II binding and haemodynamic indices --- p.110 / Chapter 2.2.4.7. --- pregnancy outcome --- p.115 / Chapter CHAPTER 3. --- RESULTS / Chapter 1. --- Study 1 Validation of Cor 7000 sphygmomanometer --- p.116 / Chapter 2. --- Study 2 Platelet ANG II receptor status and systemic vascular resistance --- p.118 / Chapter 2.1. --- Platelet Angiotensin II binding Assay --- p.118 / Chapter 2.2. --- Limitation of the TEB technique --- p.121 / Chapter 2.3. --- Changes in blood pressure and other cardiovascular indices --- p.122 / Chapter 2.4. --- Relationship between Platelet ANG II binding and Haemodynamic indices --- p.124 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- CONCLUSION / Chapter 4.1. --- Conclusion --- p.126 / References --- p.129 / Acknowledgments

Ho Sin Yee, Stella. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-105). / Background --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Thyrotoxicosis --- p.3 / Graves' Disease --- p.5 / Laboratory Assessment of the Mothers --- p.7 / Placental Transfer --- p.10 / Effects of Maternal Thyroid and Antithyroid Agents on the Fetus --- p.13 / Diagnostic and Screening Tests for Fetal Thyroid Dysfunction --- p.19 / Fetal Treatment --- p.21 / Aims and Objectives of the Research --- p.24 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Subjects and Methods / Patients' Profile --- p.26 / Categorization of the Thyrotoxic Population --- p.28 / Intraobserver Error --- p.30 / Pilot Study --- p.31 / Equipment --- p.31 / Measurements --- p.32 / Growth Charts employed --- p.32 / Imaging Technique --- p.33 / Calculations --- p.39 / Gestational Age of the Fetus --- p.41 / Analytical Methods --- p.43 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Results / Intraobserver Error --- p.45 / Pilot Study --- p.45 / Maternal Thyroid Status (Thyrotoxic Population) --- p.48 / Fetal Thyroid Volume --- p.49 / Rate of Fetal Thyroid Growth --- p.59 / Fetal Thyroid Volume to Estimated Fetal Weight Ratios (V/W) --- p.60 / Birthweight of the Infants --- p.63 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Discussion / Methodology --- p.64 / Findings and Observations --- p.71 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusions --- p.92 / References --- p.94 / Appendix I --- p.106

Typescript, etc. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Objective: Pregnancy requires thorough monitoring and management because not only is it a time where normal physiological and psychological changes put a mother under stress and strain, but maternal sensitivity begins to develop, and the developing foetus needs a well regulated intrauterine environment. Such important processes can be compromised by abnormal or inconsistent physiological and emotional regulation. The study aimed to explore pregnant women’s regulation capacity at rest and their physiological reactivity, and return to physiological baseline, in response to infant related stimuli. Methods: Extended analyses of previously acquired psycho-physiological data at baseline, and pre- and post-presentation of relevant audio-visual stimuli. Results: Baseline physiological activity was significantly different between pregnant participants and controls. There were, however, no other differences in reactivity. Conclusion: Findings were inconsistent with previous research which indicates infant stimuli to become increasingly salient throughout pregnancy.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A OrganizaÃÃo Mundial da SaÃde (OMS) define a faixa etÃria da adolescÃncia como sendo entre 10 e 19 anos e o Estatuto da CrianÃa e do Adolescente (ECA) entre 12 e 18 anos. à uma fase da vida em que ocorrem a maturaÃÃo sexual, o acirramento de conflitos familiares e a formaÃÃo e cristalizaÃÃo de atitudes, valores e comportamentos. Lidar com essas situaÃÃes exige das equipes de saÃde uma abordagem integral e interdisciplinar. A polÃtica nacional de saÃde do adolescente, oferece orientaÃÃes bÃsicas para nortear a implantaÃÃo e/ou implementaÃÃo de aÃÃes e serviÃos de saÃde aos adolescentes e jovens de forma integral, resolutiva e participativa. Reconhece como desafio o acesso de adolescentes a serviÃos de qualidade, com a compreensÃo do significado e importÃncia das dimensÃes econÃmica, social e cultural que permeiam a vida desse grupo. O estudo objetivou analisar as prÃticas de enfermeiras na promoÃÃo da saÃde do adolescente, adotadas na EstratÃgia de SaÃde da FamÃlia (ESF), visando à prevenÃÃo da gravidez na adolescÃncia. O mÃtodo utilizado foi descritivo- exploratÃrio, com abordagem qualitativa. Teve como ambiente investigativo oito Centros de SaÃde da FamÃlia (CSF) do MunicÃpio de Fortaleza. A populaÃÃo constou de enfermeiras vinculadas à ESF, cujo grupo pesquisado foi constituÃdo por oito participantes. A tÃcnica utilizada para a coleta de dados foi o grupo focal e, como mÃtodo de anÃlise dos dados, as prÃticas discursivas e produÃÃo de sentido no cotidiano, tendo como recursos os mapas de associaÃÃo de idÃias. Os resultados das discussÃes foram dispostos em colunas temÃticas e em categorias de anÃlise, previamente definidas como: ConcepÃÃo de saÃde; ConcepÃÃo de promoÃÃo da saÃde e AtuaÃÃo/prÃticas na prevenÃÃo da gravidez na adolescÃncia. O estudo aponta como resultado que as enfermeiras concebem a saÃde e a promoÃÃo da saÃde entre o conceito tradicional (prevenÃÃo da doenÃa) e o mais amplo, pautado na promoÃÃo da saÃde; o planejamento das aÃÃes de promoÃÃo da saÃde do adolescente na prevenÃÃo da gravidez na adolescÃncia à feito na maioria das vezes de forma contingÃnte e de cunho campanhista, sem privilegiar o indivÃduo em sua integralidade; fragilidade na organizaÃÃo do sistema de referÃncia e contra-referÃncia; as aÃÃes intersetoriais sÃo incipientes; hà necessidade de ampliar o conhecimento, por parte das enfermeiras, sobre as polÃticas pÃblicas voltadas ao adolescente. As aÃÃes de promoÃÃo da saÃde permeiam a consulta de enfermagem e as atividades em grupo, ressaltando o acolhimento e a Ãtica como dispositivos que contribuem para promover um ambiente favorÃvel à saÃde do adolescente. Recomenda-se que as diretrizes propostas pela polÃtica de saÃde do adolescente sejam fortalecidas, no Ãmbito municipal, de forma que proporcionem à enfermeira condiÃÃes de promover aÃÃes intersetoriais e interdisciplinares de educaÃÃo sexual na perspectiva de prevenÃÃo da gravidez precoce, que integrem famÃlia, escola, e comunidade, contribuindo para o exercÃcio de uma sexualidade mais responsÃvel e segura. / The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the age of adolescence as being between 10 and 19 years and the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) between 12 and 18 years. It is a stage of life that occur the sexual maturation, the fierce of family conflicts and formation and crystallization of attitudes, values and behaviors. Dealing with such situations requires of health teams an integrated approach, including the prevention of adolescent pregnancy. The national health policy for the adolescent, offers a basic guidelines to guide the implantation and / or implementation of actions and health services to adolescents and young people in integral, participatory and decisive way. Recognizes as a challenge the access of adolescents to quality services, with the understanding of the meaning and importance of economic, social and cultural fields that permeate the lives of this group. The study aimed to examine the practices of nurses in promoting health of adolescents, adopted in the Strategy of Family Health (SFH), aimed the prevention of teenage pregnancy. The method used was descriptive and exploratory, with a qualitative approach and had as investigative environment eight Family Health Centers (CSF) of the city of Fortaleza. The population consisted of nurses linked to the SFH, which the researched group consisted of eight participants. The technique used to collect data was the focus group and as a method of data analysis, the discursive practices and production of meaning in everyday life, having as resources, the maps of association of ideas. The results of the discussions were arranged in columns on topics and categories of analysis, previously defined as: Conception of health, Conception of health promotion and Practice / practices in the prevention of teenage pregnancy. The study points as a result the nurses concepts the health and health promotion between the traditional concept (prevention of the disease) and broader, based on health promotion and the planning of actions to promote the health of adolescents in the prevention of teenage pregnancy has been most often on campaigns, without focusing on the individual on its integrality; weakness in the organization of the reference and cross-reference system, the inter-sector actions are incipient, there is need to expand the knowledge, by the nurses, about public policies focused on the adolescent. The actions of health promotion permeate the nursing consultation and the activities in groups, emphasizing the reception and ethics as devices that help to foster an environment conducive to the health of adolescents. It is recommended that the guidelines proposed by the Health Policy of adolescent be strengthened, in the municipal level, in order to provide the nurse, conditions to promote inter-sector and interdisciplinary actions of sex education in the context of prevention of early pregnancy, which includes the family, school and community, contributing to the pursuit of a safer and more responsible sexuality.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Antepartum suicidal behaviors are a leading cause of maternal injury and death. Previous research has not investigated associations between antepartum suicidal ideation and perinatal complications. Our study objective was to evaluate the relationship of antepartum suicidal ideation with low infant birthweight, small for gestational age, and preterm birth. A cohort study was conducted among 1,108 women receiving prenatal care in Peru. Suicidal ideation was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 during pregnancy. Birth outcomes were extracted from medical records. Linear regressions and multivariable logistic regressions were used to estimate were used to investigate associations between suicidal ideation and pregnancy outcomes. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 8.7%, preterm delivery was 5.7%, low birthweight was 4.4%, and small for gestational age was 3.4%. In an adjusted model, infant birthweight was 94.2 grams lower for mothers with antepartum suicidal ideation (95% CI: −183.0, −5.5, p = 0.037) compared with those without suicidal ideation. After adjusting for confounders including depression, participants with suicidal ideation had a nearly four-fold increased odds of delivering a small for gestational age infant (OR: 3.73; 95% CI: 1.59–8.74). These findings suggest suicidal ideation during pregnancy is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, especially low infant birthweight. / Revisión por pares

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Substance use among pregnant women is a perennial problem in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. There are many influential factors are associated with substance use among women of childbearing-age. The study explored factors associated with substance use among pregnant women using a qualitative research design and the bio-ecological theoretical framework to explore and guide the researcher throughout the study. Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Only participants accessed from the Department of Social Development meeting the inclusion criteria of the study were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Immediate referral for psychological intervention during the interview was available for participants who needed it. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phases of thematic analysis were utilised to analyse the data. The study adheres to ethical guidelines for the participants’ protection. Participants were informed about the study before the initiation of the interviews and the details of their voluntary participation were explained. The key findings from this study illustrate that socio-cultural factors, personal factors, emotional response and intimate relationships are the major contributing factors to substance use among pregnant women in this sample. The results outline the preventative measures that pregnant women implement. Lastly, the study reveals the positive and negative perceptions of substance use programmes that participants share. Some of the study findings are similar to the existing literature and some of the findings differed. Recommendations emanating from the study include that the stakeholders, rehabilitation centres, Department of Health and future researchers should act proactively against substance use during pregnancy.