Women in Maine\u27s Paper Industry, 1880 - 2006

With support from a Women In Curriculum research grant, Pauleena MacDougall, Associate Director of the Maine Folklife Center assisted by Amy Stevens, graduate student in history, conducted a series of oral histories with women who work or used to work in the pulp and paper industry. The project began May 1, 2006 and was completed September 30, 2006. They asked questions about clothing women wore to work, stories they may have about the mill and relations between workers. Their primary focus was on the expressive culture of the women as we attempt to understand female culture in an industrial setting.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/wmp/1000/thumbnail.jp

The Power of Place in Memory: An Oral History of the Eastern Corporation in Brewer,Maine

“If preservationists are to be true to the insights of a broad, inclusive social history encompassing gender, race and class . . . it means emphasizing the building types — such as tenement, factory, union hall or church — that have housed the working people’s everyday lives.”1 This article introduces a special issue of Maine History on the state’s paper industry and particularly the fortunes of the Eastern Fine Paper Company in Brewer. The mill, which closed in 2005,was an economic and cultural mainstay of this Maine town, and in this article MacDougall and Stevens trace the history of a unique project that documented, from a variety of perspectives, the closure and its effect on the lives of the people who, for generations, had worked and lived in the mill community. Pauleena MacDougall is director of The Maine Folklife Center and faculty associate in Anthropology at the University of Maine. She received her Ph.D.in American history from the University of Maine in 1995 and has published widely on Penobscot Indian language, culture, and history, including The Penobscot Dance of Resistance: Tradition in the History of a People (University of New England Press).Amy Stevens, a lifelong Brewer resident, received her M.A. in history from the University of Maine in 2007 and worked for the Old York Historical Society, the Maine Folklife Center, Primary Source, and the American Folk Festival in Bangor, researching topics of special interest to Maine schools and Maine curriculums. She teaches elementary school

Twitchy, the Drosophila orthologue of the ciliary gating protein FBF1/dyf-19, is required for coordinated locomotion and male fertility

Primary cilia are compartmentalised from the rest of the cell by a ciliary gate comprising transition fibres and a transition zone. The ciliary gate allows the selective import and export of molecules such as transmembrane receptors and transport proteins. These are required for the assembly of the cilium, its function as a sensory and signalling centre and to maintain its distinctive composition. Certain motile cilia can also form within the cytosol as exemplified by human and Drosophila sperm. The role of transition fibre proteins has not been well described in the cytoplasmic cilia. Drosophila have both compartmentalised primary cilia, in sensory neurons, and sperm flagella that form within the cytosol. Here, we describe phenotypes for twitchy the Drosophila orthologue of a transition fibre protein, mammalian FBF1/C. elegans dyf-19. Loss-of-function mutants in twitchy are adult lethal and display a severely uncoordinated phenotype. Twitchy flies are too uncoordinated to mate but RNAi-mediated loss of twitchy specifically within the male germline results in coordinated but infertile adults. Examination of sperm from twitchy RNAi-knockdown flies shows that the flagellar axoneme forms, elongates and is post-translationally modified by polyglycylation but the production of motile sperm is impaired. These results indicate that twitchy is required for the function of both sensory cilia that are compartmentalised from the rest of the cell and sperm flagella that are formed within the cytosol of the cell. Twitchy is therefore likely to function as part of a molecular gate in sensory neurons but may have a distinct function in sperm cells.ISSN:2046-639

Effectiveness of behaviour change techniques used in hand hygiene interventions targeting older children - A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Promoting good hand hygiene in older children is an important measure to reduce the burden of common diseases such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. The evidence around what works to change this behaviour, however, is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To aid future intervention design and effective use of resources, this review aims to identify the individual components used in hand hygiene interventions and assesses their contribution to intended behavioural change. METHODS: We systematically searched seven databases for experimental studies evaluating hand hygiene interventions targeting children (age 5-12) and quantitively reporting hand hygiene behaviour. Interventions in each study were categorised as 'promising', or 'non-promising' according to whether they led to a positive change in the targeted behaviour. Behaviour change techniques (BCTs) were identified across interventions using a standard taxonomy and a novel promise ratio calculated for each (the ratio of promising to non-promising interventions featuring the BCT). 'Promising' BCTs were those with a promise ratio of ≥2. BCTs were ranked from most to least promising. RESULTS: Our final analysis included 19 studies reporting 22 interventions across which 32 unique BCTs were identified. The most frequently used were 'demonstration of the behaviour', 'instruction on how to perform the behaviour' and 'adding objects to the environment'. Eight BCTs had a promise ratio of ≥2 and the five most promising were 'demonstration of the behaviour', 'information about social and environmental consequences', 'salience of consequences', 'adding objects to the environment', and 'instruction on how to perform the behaviour'. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that hand hygiene interventions targeting older children should employ a combination of promising BCTs that ensure children understand the behaviour and the consequences of their hand hygiene habits, appropriate hardware is available, and social support is provided. Researchers are encouraged to consistently and transparently describe evaluated interventions to allow promising components to be identified and replicated

Measuring the impact of malaria infection on indicators of iron and vitamin A status: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

Inflammation and infections such as malaria affect estimates of micronutrient status. Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and the Cochrane library were searched to identify studies reporting mean concentrations of ferritin, hepcidin, retinol or retinol binding protein in individuals with asymptomatic or clinical malaria and healthy controls. Study quality was assessed using the United States National Institute of Health tool. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to generate summary mean differences. In total, 44 studies were included. Mean ferritin concentrations were elevated by: 28.2 µg/L (95%CI: 15.6, 40.9) in children with asymptomatic malaria, 28.5 µg/L (95%CI: 8.1, 48.8) in adults with asymptomatic malaria, and 366 µg/L (95%CI: 162, 570) in children with clinical malaria compared to individuals without malaria infection. Mean hepcidin concentrations were elevated by 1.52 nmol/L (95%CI: 0.92, 2.11) in children with asymptomatic malaria. Mean retinol concentrations were reduced by: 0.11 µmol/L (95%CI: -0.22, -0.01) in children with asymptomatic malaria, 0.43 µmol/L (95%CI: -0.71, -0.16) in children with clinical malaria and 0.73 µmol/L (95%CI: -1.11, -0.36) in adults with clinical malaria. Most of these results were stable in sensitivity analyses. In children with clinical malaria and pregnant women, difference in ferritin concentrations were greater in areas with higher transmission intensity. We conclude that biomarkers of iron and vitamin A status should be statistically adjusted for malaria and the severity of infection. Several studies analysing asymptomatic infections reported elevated ferritin concentrations without noticeable elevation of inflammation markers, indicating a need to adjust for malaria status in addition to inflammation adjustments

Predicting Cognitive Decline in Nondemented Elders Using Baseline Metrics of AD Pathologies, Cerebrovascular Disease, and Neurodegeneration

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dementia is a growing socio-economic challenge that requires early intervention. Identifying biomarkers that reliably predict clinical progression early in the disease process would better aid selection of individuals for future trial participation. Here we compared the ability of baseline, single time-point biomarkers (CSF amyloid 1-42, CSF ptau-181, white matter hyperintensities (WMH), cerebral microbleeds (CMB), whole-brain volume, and hippocampal volume) to predict decline in cognitively normal individuals who later converted to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (CNtoMCI), and those with MCI who later converted to an Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis (MCItoAD). METHODS: Standardised baseline biomarker data from ADNI2/Go, and longitudinal diagnostic data (including ADNI3), were used. Cox regression models assessed biomarkers in relation to time to change in clinical diagnosis using all follow-up timepoints available. Models were fit for biomarkers univariately, and together in a multivariable model. Hazard Ratios (HR) were compared to evaluate biomarkers. Analyses were performed separately in CNtoMCI and MCItoAD groups. RESULTS: For CNtoMCI (n = 189), there was strong evidence that higher WMH volume (individual model: HR 1.79, p = .002; fully-adjusted model: HR 1.98, p = .003), and lower hippocampal volume (individual: HR 0.54, p = .001; fully-adjusted: HR 0.40, p < .001) were associated with conversion to MCI individually and independently. For MCItoAD (n = 345), lower hippocampal (individual model: HR 0.45, p < .001; fully-adjusted model: HR 0.55, p < .001) and whole-brain volume (individual: HR 0.31, p < .001; fully-adjusted: HR 0.48, p = .02), increased CSF ptau (individual: HR 1.88, p < .001; fully-adjusted: HR 1.61, p < .001), and lower CSF amyloid (individual: HR 0.37, p < .001, fully-adjusted: HR 0.62, p = .008) were most strongly associated with conversion to AD individually and independently. DISCUSSION: Lower hippocampal volume was a consistent predictor of clinical conversion to MCI and AD. CSF and brain volume biomarkers were predictive of conversion to AD from MCI, while WMH were predictive of conversion to MCI from cognitively normal. The predictive ability of WMH in the CNtoMCI group may be interpreted as some being on a different pathological pathway, such as vascular cognitive impairment

The student resilience survey:psychometric validation and associations with mental health

Background: Policies, designed to promote resilience, and research, to understand the determinants and correlates of resilience, require reliable and valid measures to ensure data quality. The student resilience survey (SRS) covers a range of external supports and internal characteristics which can potentially be viewed as protective factors and can be crucial in exploring the mechanisms between protective factors and risk factors, and to design intervention and prevention strategies. This study examines the validity of the SRS.Methods: 7663 children (aged 11–15 years) from 12 local areas across England completed the SRS, and questionnaires regarding mental and physical health. Psychometric properties of 10 subscales of the SRS (family connection, school connection, community connection, participation in home and school life, participation in community life, peer support, self-esteem, empathy, problem solving, and goals and aspirations) were investigated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), differential item functioning (DIF), differential test functioning (DTF), Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s ω. The associations between the SRS scales, mental and physical health outcomes were examined.Results: The results supported the construct validity of the 10 factors of the scale and provided evidence for acceptable reliability of all the subscales. Our DIF analysis indicated differences between boys and girls, between primary and secondary school children, between children with or without special educational needs (SEN) and between children with or without English as an additional language (EAL) in terms of how they answered the peer support subscale of the SRS. Analyses did not indicate any DIF based on free school meals (FSM) eligibility. All subscales, except the peer support subscale, showed small DTF whereas the peer support subscale showed moderate DTF. Correlations showed that all the student resilience subscales were negatively associated with mental health difficulties, global subjective distress and impact on health. Random effects linear regression models showed that family connection, self-esteem, problem solving and peer support were negatively associated with all the mental health outcomes. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the SRS is a valid measure assessing these relevant protective factors, thereby serving as a valuable tool in resilience and mental health research

High consumption of unhealthy commercial foods and beverages tracks across the complementary feeding period in rural/peri-urban Cambodia.

Consumption of unhealthy commercial foods and beverages (UCFB) is common among infants and young children living in low- and middle-income countries. Such foods can displace other nutritious foods, however, there is limited evidence on how this consumption tracks across time. This study assessed and tracked UCFB consumption of children living in rural/peri-urban Cambodia during the complementary feeding period, identified UCFB consumption patterns of these children, and explored the association between UCFB consumption and growth. A 6-month longitudinal cohort study was implemented among 567 caregivers of children aged 10-14 months at recruitment. UCFB consumption was estimated each month via a telephone-administered 7-day food frequency questionnaire, and UCFB consumption patterns were identified based on changes in this frequency of consumption over time. The majority of children either maintained (45.7%, n = 246) or developed (43.5%, n = 234) an unhealthy consumption pattern and only 10.8% (n = 58) of children maintained/transitioned into a healthy consumption pattern. High consumers of UCFB at 10-14 months had a 4.7 (CI: 4.7 [3.1-7.2]) times odds of being high consumers of UCFB at 15-19 months (p < 0.001). There was a trend of lower length-for-age z-scores (LAZ) among children maintaining or developing an unhealthy consumption pattern (~-0. SD LAZ) compared to children maintaining/transitioning into a healthy consumption pattern, however, this association was not statistically significant. Findings indicate that high UCFB consumption begins during infancy and tracks into early childhood. National policies and programmes centred on early interventions addressing the use of UCFB for infant and young child feeding are needed

Trajectories of early growth and subsequent lung function in cystic fibrosis: An observational study using UK and Canadian registry data.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the pulmonary impact of changes in early life nutritional status over time in a paediatric CF population may help inform how to use nutritional assessment to guide clinical care. National registry data provides an opportunity to study patterns of weight gain over time at the level of the individual, and thus to gain detailed understanding of the relationship between early weight trajectories and later lung function in children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). METHODS: Using data from the United Kingdom (UK) and Canadian CF Registries, a mixed effects linear regression model was used to describe children's weight and BMI z-score trajectories from age 1 to 5 years. The intercept (weight-for-age at age 1) and slope (weight-for-age trajectory) from this model were then used as covariates in a linear regression of first lung function measurement at age 6 years. RESULTS: In both the UK and Canadian data, greater weight-for-age z-score at age 1 year and greater change in weight-for-age over time were associated with higher FEV1% predicted. A greater weight-for-age z-score at age 1 year was associated with a higher FEV1% predicted (UK: 3.78% (95% CI: 1.76; 4.70); Canada: 3.20% (95%CI: 1.76, 4.70)). These associations were reproduced for BMI z-scores and FVC% predicted. CONCLUSIONS: Early weight-for-age, specifically at age 1 year, and weight-for-age trajectories across early childhood are associated with later lung function. This relationship persists after adjustment for potential confounders. Current guidelines may need to be updated to place less emphasis on a specific cut-off (such as the 10th percentile) and encourage tracking of weight-for-age over time