Health Policy Development: Health Promotion and Illness Prevention Among Older Adults in Illinois

This paper offers recommendations for health promotion and illness prevention for older adults in Illinois and offers a structure for policy development. It is based on the premise that policy development should consider the experiences of older adults, family members, and health care providers delivering direct services. Personal experiences and expert analyses were examined in the context of strategies to promote health. This example of policy development is discussed in terms of its application to alternative methods of social and health change and identifies roles for the sociological practitioner

Serum microRNA profiling to distinguish papillary thyroid cancer from benign thyroid masses

Objectives: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is increasing in incidence. Fine needle aspiration is the gold standard for diagnosis, but results can be indeterminate. Identifying tissue and serum biomarkers, like microRNA, is therefore desirable. We sought to identify miRNA that is differentially expressed in the serum of patients with PTC. Methods: Serum miRNA was quantified in 31 female thyroidectomy patients: 13 with benign disease and 18 with PTC. qPCR results were compared for significant fold-changes in 175 miRNAs, against a pooled control. Results: 128 miRNA qualified for analysis. There were identifiable fold-changes in miRNA levels between benign and control, and between PTC and control. There were statistically significant fold changes in the level of four miRNAs between benign and PTC: hsa-miR-146a-5p and hsa-miR-199b-3p were down-regulated, while hsa-let7b-5p and hsa-miR-10a-5p were up-regulated. Conclusions: MicroRNA is differentially expressed in the serum of patients with PTC. Serum miRNA has the potential to aid in thyroid cancer diagnosis

Construing the child reader: a cognitive stylistic analysis of the opening to Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book (2009) charts the story of Nobody Owens, a boy who is adopted by supernatural entities in the local graveyard after his family is murdered. This article draws on the notion of the “construed reader,” and combines two cognitive stylistic frameworks to analyse the opening section of the novel. In doing so, the article explores the representation and significance of the family home in relation to what follows in the narrative. The analysis largely draws on Text World Theory (Werth, 1999; Gavins, 2007), but also integrates some aspects of Cognitive Grammar (Langacker, 2008), which allows for a more nuanced discussion of textual features. The article pays particular attention to the way Gaiman frames his narrative and positions his reader to view the fictional events from a distinctive vantage point and subsequently demonstrates that a stylistic analysis of children’s literature can lay bare how such writing is designed with a young readership in mind

A 4500-year time series of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) size and abundance: archaeology, oceanic regime shifts, and sustainable fisheries

A 4500-year archaeological record of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) bones from Sanak Island, Alaska, was used to assess the sustainability of the modern fishery and the effects of this fishery on the size of fish caught. Allometric reconstructions of Pacific cod length for eight prehistoric time periods indicated that the current size of the nearshore, commercially fished Pacific cod stocks is statistically unchanged from that of fish caught during 4500 years of subsistence harvesting. This finding indicates that the current Pacific cod fishery that uses selective harvesting technolog ies is a sustainable commercial fishery. Variation in relative Pacific cod abundances provides further insights into the response of this species to punctuated changes in ocean climate (regime shifts) and indicates that Pacific cod stocks can recover from major environmental perturbations. Such palaeofisheries data can extend the short time-series of fisheries data (<50 yr) that form the basis for fisheries management in the Gulf of Alaska and place current trends within the context of centennial- or millennial-scale patterns

Predation on an Upper Trophic Marine Predator, the Steller Sea Lion: Evaluating High Juvenile Mortality in a Density Dependent Conceptual Framework

The endangered western stock of the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) – the largest of the eared seals – has declined by 80% from population levels encountered four decades ago. Current overall trends from the Gulf of Alaska to the Aleutian Islands appear neutral with strong regional heterogeneities. A published inferential model has been used to hypothesize a continuous decline in natality and depressed juvenile survival during the height of the decline in the mid-late 1980's, followed by the recent recovery of juvenile survival to pre-decline rates. However, these hypotheses have not been tested by direct means, and causes underlying past and present population trajectories remain unresolved and controversial. We determined post-weaning juvenile survival and causes of mortality using data received post-mortem via satellite from telemetry transmitters implanted into 36 juvenile Steller sea lions from 2005 through 2011. Data show high post-weaning mortality by predation in the eastern Gulf of Alaska region. To evaluate the impact of such high levels of predation, we developed a conceptual framework to integrate density dependent with density independent effects on vital rates and population trajectories. Our data and model do not support the hypothesized recent recovery of juvenile survival rates and reduced natality. Instead, our data demonstrate continued low juvenile survival in the Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords region of the Gulf of Alaska. Our results on contemporary predation rates combined with the density dependent conceptual framework suggest predation on juvenile sea lions as the largest impediment to recovery of the species in the eastern Gulf of Alaska region. The framework also highlights the necessity for demographic models based on age-structured census data to incorporate the differential impact of predation on multiple vital rates

The effects of prey availability on pup mortality and the timing of birth of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) in Peru

Pup mortality and the timing of birth of South American sea lions Otaria flavescens were investigated to determine the possible relationship between fluctuations in prey availability in the Peruvian upwelling ecosystem and current and future reproductive success of sea lions during six consecutive breeding seasons. Our study from 1997 to 2002 encompassed the strongest El Niño on record and one La Niña event. Pup mortality ranged from 13 % before El Niño to 100 % during El Niño, and was negatively correlated with prey availability. Abortions were also more frequent when prey availability was low. However, pup mortality remained high following El Niño due to the punctuated short-term effects it had on population dynamics and subsequent maternal behaviour. Births occurred later in the season after years of low food availability and earlier following years of high food availability. The peak of pupping occurred around the peak of mortality in all years, and may have been the product of intensive competition between bulls at the peak of the breeding season. The stronger and more frequent El Niños that appear to be occurring along the Peruvian coast may produce significant stochastic changes in future births and pup mortality, which may place the vulnerable South American sea lion population in Peru at greater risk

Different vulnerability indicators for psychosis and their neuropsychological characteristics in the Northern Finland 1986 Birth Cohor

This study is one of very few that has investigated the neuropsychological functioning of both familial and clinical high risk subjects for psychosis. Participants (N = 164) were members of the Northern Finland 1986 Birth Cohort in the following four groups: familial risk for psychosis (n = 62), clinical risk for psychosis (n = 20), psychosis (n = 13), and control subjects (n = 69). The neurocognitive performance of these groups was compared across 19 cognitive variables. The two risk groups did not differ significantly from controls, but differed from the psychosis group in fine motor function. Neuropsychological impairments were not evident in a non-help-seeking high-risk sample