Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-40).

Thesis (M.A.S.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1999. / Restricted until June 2000. Bibliography: leaves 98-99.

Introdução: A retinopatia da prematuridade (ROP) é uma das principais causas de cegueira e morbidade visual na infância. É uma doença ocular vasoproliferativa secundária à vascularização inadequada da retina dos recém-nascidos (RNs) prematuros (PMTs), cuja etiologia é multifatorial e não está completamente elucidada. Dentre os fatores implicados na sua patogênese estão a exposição da retina em desenvolvimento a níveis anormais de oxigênio e a deficiência do fator de crescimento insulínico-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1, IGF-1). O leite materno (LM) contém IGF-1 e pode ter um efeito protetor contra o desenvolvimento da ROP. Objetivos: Avaliar o possível efeito protetor do LM contra a ROP, através da comparação da quantidade de LM recebida entre os pacientes que desenvolveram ROP e aqueles livres da doença. Tentar determinar a quantidade mínima necessária e o momento em que o RN precisa receber o LM para que esse efeito seja significativo. Pacientes e métodos: Estudo de coorte observacional incluindo RNs com peso de nascimento (PN) inferior a 1500 gramas e / ou com idade gestacional (IG) inferior a 32 semanas, nascidos no período de janeiro de 2011 a outubro de 2014 e internados nas primeiras 24 horas de vida na UTI Neonatal do Hospital da Criança Conceição (HCC) em Porto Alegre. Resultados: A prevalência da ROP em qualquer grau foi de 31% (100 casos em 323 pacientes) e a de ROP grave foi de 9% (29 casos em 323 pacientes). A mediana da quantidade de LM recebida pelos pacientes foi de 10,2mL/kg/dia entre os pacientes sem ROP (amplitude interquartil 1,5-25,5) e de 4,9 mL/kg/dia entre os pacientes com ROP (0,3-15,4). A quantidade de LM recebida nas primeiras seis semanas de vida foi inversamente associada à incidência de ROP em qualquer grau e de ROP grave nas análises univariadas, mas a significância estatística não se manteve após análise multivariada para controle de fatores confundidores na maioria dos períodos avaliados, exceto na sexta semana de vida. Conclusão: Pequenas quantidades de LM não são suficientes para prevenção de ROP em PMTs de risco para a doença. / Introduction: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the major causes of blindness and visual morbidity in childhood. It is a vasoproliferative eye disease secondary to inad-equate vascularization of the retina in premature neonates. Its etiology is multifactorial and it is not completely elucidated. The exposure of the developing retina to abnormal oxygen levels and the deficiency of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) are among the factors involved in its pathogenesis. Breast milk (BM) contains IGF-1 and may have a protective effect against the development of ROP. Objectives: To evaluate the possible protective effect of BM against ROP by comparing the amount of breast milk received among patients who developed ROP and those who were disease-free. To attempt to determine both the required minimum amount and the time in which a neonate needs to receive BM for this effect to be significant. Patients and methods: Observational cohort study of newborns with a birth weight be-low 1500 grams and/or gestational age less than 32 weeks, born from January 2011 to October 2014 and hospitalized within their first 24 hours of life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Hospital da Criança Conceição (HCC), in Porto Alegre- RS- Brazil. Results: The prevalence of ROP at any degree was of 31% (100 cases in 323 patients) and of severe ROP was of 9% (29 cases in 323 patients). The median amount of BM received by patients was 10.2 mL/kg/day among patients without ROP (interquartile range 1.5-25.5) and 4.9 mL/kg/day among patients with ROP (0.3-15.4). The amount of breast milk received in the first six weeks of life was inversely associated with the inci-dence of ROP in any degree and of severe ROP in the univariate analyses. The statistical significance was not maintained after a multivariate analysis to control for confounding factors in the majority of the periods evaluated, except in the sixth week of life. Conclusion: Small amounts of BM are not enough to prevent ROP in premature new-borns at risk of the disease.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to gather information from mothers’ of children born with orofacial clefts (OFC) in order to more accurately describe their early feeding experiences, from the time of diagnosis through the first six months of life. METHODS: We surveyed mother’s whose babies with OFC were treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH) Craniofacial Clinic and were born on or after 1/1/2013 through 12/31/2016. Survey questions were geared toward understanding overall difficulty with feeding, access to supplies for feeding, and methods and duration of any breast milk feeding. RESULTS: Eighty-two percent of mothers wanted to exclusively breastfeed for the first 16 weeks prior to the OFC diagnosis, of which 79% attempted breastfeeding and 74% attempted any breast milk feeding. Donor milk was used in 18% of mothers and 41% supplemented with formula in the delivery hospital. The majority of women were knowledgeable about facts of breastfeeding and 41% reported they received information from a lactation specialist in their delivery hospital. The level of stress reported by mothers stayed relatively the same over first 4 weeks of life and dropped by 16 weeks. The majority of women who used a breast pump pumped for 0 to 20 minutes in first week and then 0 to 30 minutes between weeks 4 to 16. Thirty percent of mothers reported receiving information specifically from a craniofacial nurse and craniofacial pediatrician before delivery and 36% reported receiving information from a craniofacial nurse and craniofacial pediatrician after their birth hospital stay. CONCLUSION: Initial study results of feeding practices, knowledge of breast milk feeding, and feeding experiences of mothers with babies born with OFCs show that most mother’s intended to exclusively breastfeed prior to their birth and that the majority of women were reasonably informed about the benefits of breastfeeding. We also found that after the delivery of their child with an OFC more mothers reported having difficulty with feeding and wanted to provide breast milk longer than they were able to do so. Once the data collection is complete the survey data will be stratified for prenatal versus postnatal diagnosis and also when a breast pump was obtained. This information and additional data will be collected from a second phase of the study, which is a medical chart abstraction to look at the child’s demographics and growth chart data for the first six months of life.

According to the experts, the breastfeeding support and education of mothers in the Czech Republic is insuficient. There is declining number of children who are brestfed exclusively to six months of life, premature babies posing even greater problem in this matter. Much of this problematic trend resides in the lack of support for mothers. A major problem in the Czech Republic is the fact that there are still a few maternity hospitals which are arranged so that mothers can be with their babies immediately after birth, especially if we talk about preterm newborns. Breastfeeding is the most important way to ensure the healthiest nutritional needs of an infant. It allows not only nutrition, but also feeling of safety and security, which is very important in proper development of the child. Furthermore, the breastfeeding contributes to the creation of solid emotional relationship between mother and child. Among other things, breastfeeding is undoubtedly the cheapest possible child nutrition. Goal of this thesis is to draw attention to a small number of premature babies, who are fully breastfed at discharge from the hospital leading to many negative consequences such as reduced immunity, psychosocial issues, et cetera. In our opinion, the problem is caused by lack of time, excessive workload of nurses and doctors' little initiative. Through this thesis we would like to draw attention to current knowledge and information about the breastfeeding preterm infants in perinatal centers. We also mapped the number of premature babies fully breastfed at discharge from hospital and identified through research the causes of low prevalence of breastfeeding these children. Another objective was to map the knowledge and skills of nurses in practice, to determine the connection between these skills and the difference in diet between compared hospitals. Finally, we propose solutions to the identifed shortcomings. The theoretical part processed characteristics of a premature baby, anatomy and physiology of breastfeeding and its benefits for the child, proper breastfeeding technique, the importance of nurses in the management of breastfeeding and activities to promote breastfeeding in the Czech Republic and in the world. In the empirical part we used qualitative and quantitative research. We collected data in three randomly selected perinatal centers in the Czech Republic during the fourth quarter of 2012. The stated objectives of the study were processed using a questionnaire, content analysis of documents and methodology and regression trees. The research showed that all of the top centers have similar level of child care. However, there are significant differences in nutrition and ways of feeding the children and nursing care. The study showed that child nutrition at discharge from hospital is different, and this may have an impact on the later development of the child, as evidenced by other studies. Differences in nursing care most relevant to the proper and effective education of the mothers, which both can be observed from the investigation, have the greatest impact on the type of diet at the end of the hospitalization of the infant.

Introdução: A retinopatia da prematuridade (ROP) é uma das principais causas de cegueira e morbidade visual na infância. É uma doença ocular vasoproliferativa secundária à vascularização inadequada da retina dos recém-nascidos (RNs) prematuros (PMTs), cuja etiologia é multifatorial e não está completamente elucidada. Dentre os fatores implicados na sua patogênese estão a exposição da retina em desenvolvimento a níveis anormais de oxigênio e a deficiência do fator de crescimento insulínico-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1, IGF-1). O leite materno (LM) contém IGF-1 e pode ter um efeito protetor contra o desenvolvimento da ROP. Objetivos: Avaliar o possível efeito protetor do LM contra a ROP, através da comparação da quantidade de LM recebida entre os pacientes que desenvolveram ROP e aqueles livres da doença. Tentar determinar a quantidade mínima necessária e o momento em que o RN precisa receber o LM para que esse efeito seja significativo. Pacientes e métodos: Estudo de coorte observacional incluindo RNs com peso de nascimento (PN) inferior a 1500 gramas e / ou com idade gestacional (IG) inferior a 32 semanas, nascidos no período de janeiro de 2011 a outubro de 2014 e internados nas primeiras 24 horas de vida na UTI Neonatal do Hospital da Criança Conceição (HCC) em Porto Alegre. Resultados: A prevalência da ROP em qualquer grau foi de 31% (100 casos em 323 pacientes) e a de ROP grave foi de 9% (29 casos em 323 pacientes). A mediana da quantidade de LM recebida pelos pacientes foi de 10,2mL/kg/dia entre os pacientes sem ROP (amplitude interquartil 1,5-25,5) e de 4,9 mL/kg/dia entre os pacientes com ROP (0,3-15,4). A quantidade de LM recebida nas primeiras seis semanas de vida foi inversamente associada à incidência de ROP em qualquer grau e de ROP grave nas análises univariadas, mas a significância estatística não se manteve após análise multivariada para controle de fatores confundidores na maioria dos períodos avaliados, exceto na sexta semana de vida. Conclusão: Pequenas quantidades de LM não são suficientes para prevenção de ROP em PMTs de risco para a doença. / Introduction: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the major causes of blindness and visual morbidity in childhood. It is a vasoproliferative eye disease secondary to inad-equate vascularization of the retina in premature neonates. Its etiology is multifactorial and it is not completely elucidated. The exposure of the developing retina to abnormal oxygen levels and the deficiency of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) are among the factors involved in its pathogenesis. Breast milk (BM) contains IGF-1 and may have a protective effect against the development of ROP. Objectives: To evaluate the possible protective effect of BM against ROP by comparing the amount of breast milk received among patients who developed ROP and those who were disease-free. To attempt to determine both the required minimum amount and the time in which a neonate needs to receive BM for this effect to be significant. Patients and methods: Observational cohort study of newborns with a birth weight be-low 1500 grams and/or gestational age less than 32 weeks, born from January 2011 to October 2014 and hospitalized within their first 24 hours of life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Hospital da Criança Conceição (HCC), in Porto Alegre- RS- Brazil. Results: The prevalence of ROP at any degree was of 31% (100 cases in 323 patients) and of severe ROP was of 9% (29 cases in 323 patients). The median amount of BM received by patients was 10.2 mL/kg/day among patients without ROP (interquartile range 1.5-25.5) and 4.9 mL/kg/day among patients with ROP (0.3-15.4). The amount of breast milk received in the first six weeks of life was inversely associated with the inci-dence of ROP in any degree and of severe ROP in the univariate analyses. The statistical significance was not maintained after a multivariate analysis to control for confounding factors in the majority of the periods evaluated, except in the sixth week of life. Conclusion: Small amounts of BM are not enough to prevent ROP in premature new-borns at risk of the disease.

No description available.

The United States (U.S.) government has been attempting to combat the growing opioid epidemic ravaging the nation. The opioid epidemic has had a significant impact on public health and forensic science laboratories. Moreover, this epidemic has moderate to fatal health consequences for expectant mothers with substance use disorder and their child who may develop Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), otherwise known as Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS). The objective of this thesis is to emphasize that further research is needed for the identification and quantification of opioids in human breast milk. This topic has public health implications such as discussing the information gaps as it relates to a highly vulnerable group, women, and infants, affected by the opioid epidemic. Furthermore, there are implications in forensic science connected to postmortem toxicology and pathology when determining the cause of death and contributing factors in pediatric cases. This emphasis on the need for greater research will be accomplished by highlighting the opioid epidemic, its impact and further understanding of the addictive drug class known as opioids. The history of the crisis, effects on society as well as pharmaceutical knowledge of opioids will assist in development of plans to suppress growth and provide care for the afflicted. Furthermore, this thesis will attempt to demonstrate the need for further research involving opioids will be of significant value for public health and forensic science. As the forensic laboratories and various medical facilities are at the forefront of the opioid epidemic, there is a need for more robust, validated, inexpensive, and fast drug detection methodologies. Increasing rates of new designer drugs, addiction, and opioid-related deaths has caused a backlog in the forensic laboratories due to the great number of cases. While, the higher instances of maternal substance use disorder (SUD)/ opioid use disorder (OUD) with parallel increases in cases of NAS incidences are a few of the issues that need to be managed by public health leaders. Additionally, this thesis will examine current methodologies for drug quantification of opioids in human breast milk. The valid methodologies developed as well as the findings by the few available studies allowed for the current recommendations related to the acceptability of mothers in MAT programs, using methadone and buprenorphine during pregnancy and postpartum, being able to breastfeed their infant. By examining these studies and the findings, standardization criteria for the development of study designs for new methodologies relating to drug determination in human breast milk could be developed. The establishment of standardization criteria and acknowledging information gaps in current knowledge will be significant as these findings could influence policies, guidelines and procedures relating to maternal SUD/OUD, NAS/NOWS, and pediatric death determination as well as postmortem toxicology.

Passive immunization with neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) may prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1 and/or impact HIV-1 exposed infant outcomes. This study compared plasma neutralizing activity against heterologous HIV-1 variants and the quasispecies present in the infected mothers among exposed uninfected infants (HEU) to infants that eventually acquired infection and between transmitting versus non-transmitting mothers. HEU (n = 42), compared to those that eventually acquired infection (n = 21), did not possess higher nAb responses against heterologous envelopes (p = 0.46) or their mothers’ variants (p = 0.45). Transmitting as compared to non-transmitting mothers, however, had significantly higher plasma neutralizing activity against heterologous envelopes (p = 0.03), although these two groups did not have significant differences in their ability to neutralize autologous strains (p = 0.39). Furthermore, infants born to mothers with greater neutralizing breadth and potency were significantly more likely to have a serious adverse event (p = 0.03). These results imply that pre-existing anti-HIV-1 neutralizing activity does not prevent breast milk transmission. Additionally, high maternal neutralizing breadth and potency may adversely influence both frequency of breast milk transmission and subsequent infant morbidity. In addition to neutralization, passively acquired maternal antibodies that mediate antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) may impact both breast milk transmission and infant outcomes. To date, no study has rigorously compared ADCC activity against a broad panel of heterologous strains or circulating maternal viruses among HEU versus infants that eventually acquire infection and among transmitting versus non-transmitting mothers. We developed a high-throughput assay that measures the lysis of infected reporter target cells in the presence and absence of antibodies. This assay yields similar results as other methods that use decreases in reporter signal from target cells or lysis of primary cells estimated by flow cytometry. In contrast to other ADCC methods, we show that our assay allows assessment of ADCC breadth and potency in a relatively high throughput manner because it uses novel target cells that are susceptible to infection by diverse HIV-1 variants. Estimating ADCC breadth and potency and activity against maternal strains will have important insights about the impact of passively acquired maternal antibodies on MTCT.

No description available.