Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Standing Orders In An Ambulatory Setting Increases Influenza Vaccine Usage In Older People, Lynne Goebel, Shirley Neitch, Maurice Mufson

Maurice A. Mufson

Objectives: To determine whether standing orders for influenza vaccine increase its usage in an ambulatory setting in elderly patients. Design: Retrospective analysis of influenza vaccine usage over 4 years (1999–2002). Setting: University ambulatory setting. Participants: Overall, 912 elderly patients of two physicians who issued standing orders and 884 elderly patients of two physicians who did not do so constituted the study group. Measurements: Physicians were categorized as to whether they issued a verbal or written standing order to their nurses to administer the influenza vaccine to patients aged 65 and older. Rates of influenza vaccination of patients whose physicians used …

Standing Orders In An Ambulatory Setting Increases Influenza Vaccine Usage In Older People, Lynne Goebel, Shirley Neitch, Maurice Mufson

Shirley M. Neitch

Objectives: To determine whether standing orders for influenza vaccine increase its usage in an ambulatory setting in elderly patients. Design: Retrospective analysis of influenza vaccine usage over 4 years (1999–2002). Setting: University ambulatory setting. Participants: Overall, 912 elderly patients of two physicians who issued standing orders and 884 elderly patients of two physicians who did not do so constituted the study group. Measurements: Physicians were categorized as to whether they issued a verbal or written standing order to their nurses to administer the influenza vaccine to patients aged 65 and older. Rates of influenza vaccination of patients whose physicians used …

Standing Orders In An Ambulatory Setting Increases Influenza Vaccine Usage In Older People, Lynne Goebel, Shirley Neitch, Maurice Mufson

Lynne J. Goebel

Objectives: To determine whether standing orders for influenza vaccine increase its usage in an ambulatory setting in elderly patients. Design: Retrospective analysis of influenza vaccine usage over 4 years (1999–2002). Setting: University ambulatory setting. Participants: Overall, 912 elderly patients of two physicians who issued standing orders and 884 elderly patients of two physicians who did not do so constituted the study group. Measurements: Physicians were categorized as to whether they issued a verbal or written standing order to their nurses to administer the influenza vaccine to patients aged 65 and older. Rates of influenza vaccination of patients whose physicians used …

Evaluation Of Student Outcomes In Online Vs. Campus Biostatistics Education In A Graduate School Of Public Health, John Mcgready, Ron Brookmeyer

Ron Brookmeyer

Objective: To compare student outcomes between concurrent online and on-campus sections of an introductory biostatistics course offered at a U.S. school of public health in 2005. Methods: Enrolled students (95 online, 92 on-campus) were invited to participate in a confidential online survey. The course outcomes were compared between the two sections adjusting for differences in student characteristics. Results: Seventy-two online (76%) and 66 (72%) on-campus enrollees participated. Unadjusted final exam scores for the online and on-campus sections were respectively 85.1 and 86.3 (p = 0.50) in term 1, and 87.7 and 86.9 (p=0.58) in term 2. After adjustment for student …

Fpin's Clinical Inquiries. Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists For The Treatment Of Allergic Skin Disorders., Brian Stello, Linda Schwartz, David Fiore

Linda Matula Schwartz MDE, AHIP, CM

No abstract provided.

Regulation Of Contractile Proteins And Protein Translational Signaling In Disused Muscle, Hua Liu, Eric Blough, Ravi Arvapalli, Yeling Wang, Peter Reiser, Satyanarayana Paturi, Anjaiah Katta, Robert Harris, Niraj Nepal, Miaozong Wu

Eric Blough

Background/Aims: Muscle disuse can lead to muscle atrophy and impaired skeletal muscle function. How skeletal muscle modulates protein translational signaling in response to prolonged muscle disuse is not well understood. Using the hindlimb unloading (HU) model of muscle atrophy we examined how hindlimb unweighting affects protein translational signaling, including the activation of Akt/mTOR/p70S6K/S6 signaling and the inhibitory association of 4EBP1 with translation initiation factor eIF4E. Methods: Male F344BN rats were randomized into baseline control, or subjected to HU for 3, 7 or 14 days. Body weight, gastrocnemius muscle, and individual myofiber cross-sectional area were measured to evaluate the degree of …

Assembly And Function Of Myosin Ii On Ultraviolet/Ozone Patterned Trimethylchlorosilane Substrates, Hideyo Takatsuki, Madhukar Kolli, Kevin Rice, B. Day, Shinichi Asano, Mashiur Rahman, Yue Zhang, Ryoki Ishikawa, Kazuhiro Kohama, Eric Blough

Eric Blough

The study of biomolecular motors represents a rapidly and progressing field of nanobiotechnology. Here, we present a simple method for patterning myosin II on a microstructured surface. Our findings indicate that UV/ozone treatment can be used to alter the hydrophobicity of trimethyl-chloro-silane (TMCS) coated glass surfaces, to alter protein binding, and effectively produce localized motor activity. Taken together, these data suggest that photoreactive patterning may be useful for the selective localization of functional myosin II motor tracks.

Deferasirox Removes Cardiac Iron And Attenuates Oxidative Stress In The Iron-Overloaded Gerbil, Rabaa Al-Rousan, Satyanarayana Paturi, Joseph Laurino, Sunil Kakarla, Anil Gutta, Ernest Walker, Eric Blough

Eric Blough

Iron-induced cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in iron-overloaded patients. Deferasirox is a novel, once daily oral iron chelator that was recently approved for the treatment of transfusional iron overload. Here, we investigate whether deferasirox is capable of removing cardiac iron and improving iron-induced pathogenesis of the heart using the iron overload gerbil model. Animals were randomly divided into three groups: control, iron overload, and iron overload + deferasirox treatment. Iron-dextran was given 100 mg/kg per 5 days i.p for 10 weeks. Deferasirox treatment was taken post iron loading and was given at 100 mg/kg/day p.o for 1 …

Iron-Induced Cardiac Damage: Role Of Apoptosis And Deferasirox Intervention, Yeling Wang, Miaozong Wu, Rabaa Al-Rousan, Hua Liu, Jacqueline Fannin, Satyanarayana Paturi, Ravi Arvapalli, Anjaiah Katta, Sunil Kakarla, Kevin Rice, William Triest, Eric Blough

Eric Blough

Excess cardiac iron levels are associated with cardiac damage and can result in increased morbidity and mortality. Here, we hypothesize that elevations in tissue iron can activate caspase-dependent signaling, which leads to increased cardiac apoptosis and fibrosis, and that these alterations can be attenuated by iron chelation. Using an iron-overloaded gerbil model, we show that increased cardiac iron is associated with reduced activation of Akt (Ser473 and Thr308), diminished phosphorylation of the proapoptotic regulator Bad (Ser136), and an increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. These iron-overload-induced alterations in Akt/Bad phosphorylation and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio were coupled with increased activation of the downstream caspase-9 (40/38- …

Aortic Aging In The Fischer 344 / Nniahsd × Brown Norway / Binia Rat, Kevin Rice, Miaozong Wu, Eric Blough

Eric Blough

Aging is now recognized as one of major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is well documented that elderly populations show increased incidence of CVD symptomology but whether these changes are directly related to aging is not well understood since the possibility exists that other age-associated pathologies in different organ systems could impact on cardiovascular function. Hence, the development of an aging model with reduced systemic illness could invigorate efforts to understand the direct role of aging in CVD progression. The Fischer 344 / NNIaHSD × Brown Norway / BiNia rat (F344BN) has been proposed as a potential model …

Age-Associated Changes In Hearts Of Male Fischer 344/Brown Norway F1 Rats, Ernest Walker, Michael Nillas, Elsa Mangiarua, Sylvestre Cansino, Ryan Morrison, Romaine Perdue, William Triest, Gary Wright, Mark Studeny, Paulette Wehner, Kevin Rice, Eric Blough

Paulette S. Wehner

Aging is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, dilatation, and fibrosis of the heart. The Fischer 344/Brown Norway F1 (F344/BNF1) rat is recommended for age-related studies by the National Institutes on Aging because this hybrid rat lives longer and has a lower rate of pathological conditions than inbred rats. However, little is known about age-associated changes in cardiac and aortic function and structure in this model. This study evaluated age-related cardiac changes in male F344/BNF1 rats using ECHO, gross, and microscopic examinations. Rats aged 6-, 30-, and 36-mo were anesthetized and two-dimensional ECHO measurements, two-dimensional guided M-mode, Doppler M-mode, and other …

Il-7 Is A Critical Factor In Modulating Lesion Development In Skn-Directed Autoimmunity, Pamela Staton, A. Carpenter, Susan Jackman

A. Betts Carpenter

In a murine model of autoimmunity targeted against the epidermal cell Ags, Skn, adoptive transfer of Skn-immune T cells to immunosuppressed recipients elicits skin lesions in areas of mild epidermal trauma. In this study, we examined peripheral regulation of Skn-induced autoreactivity disrupted by rendering the mice immunoincompetent. We found that regulation of Skn-directed autoimmunity was restored by cotransfer of normal syngeneic spleen cells at twice the concentration of Skn-immune cells and was evidenced by significantly reduced lesion severity by days 5–7 post-cotransfer compared with animals given injections of Skn-immune cells alone. Enrichment and depletion of normal CD4 or CD8 spleen …

Estimation Of Hiv Incidence Using Multiple Biomakers, Ron Brookmeyer, Jacob Konikoff, Oliver Laeyendecker, Susan Eshleman

Ron Brookmeyer

The incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the rate at which new HIV infections occur in populations. The development of accurate, practical, and cost-effective approaches to estimation of HIV incidence is a priority among researchers in HIV surveillance because of limitations with existing methods. In this paper, we develop methods for estimating HIV incidence rates using multiple biomarkers in biological samples collected from a cross-sectional survey. An advantage of the method is that it does not require longitudinal follow-up of individuals. We use assays for BED, avidity, viral load, and CD4 cell count data from clade B samples collected …

Familial Clustering Of Habitual Constipation: A Prospective Study In Children From West Virginia, Yoram Elitsur, Jenna Dolan

Jenna B. Dolan M.D.

Objective: To investigate familial clustering of habitual constipation in pediatric patients who attended our medical facilities.

Patients and Methods: Children with the diagnosis of functional, habitual constipation or patients without constipation and their respective family members were prospectively recruited to our study. Constipation was established in all participants using a standard questionnaire (Rome criteria).

Results: A total of 112 children and their families participated in the study, of which 37 were probands families (test) and 75 children and their respective family members constituted the control group. A total of 310 family members completed the questionnaire. No significant differences were found …

Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation For Patients With Limited-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer With Response To Chemoradiation, Patricia Tai, Avi Assouline, Kurian Joseph, Larry Stitt, Edward Yu

Edward Yu

Background Previous clinical studies have generally reported that prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) was given to patients with a complete response (CR) to chemotherapy and chest radiotherapy in limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). It is not clear if those with incomplete response (IR) would benefit from PCI. Patients and Methods The Saskatchewan experience from 1981 through 2007 was reviewed. Patients were treated with chest radiotherapy and chemotherapy with or without PCI (typical doses: 2500 cGy in 10 fractions over 2 weeks, 3000 cGy in 15 fractions over 3 weeks, or 3000 cGy in 10 fractions over 2 weeks). Results There were …