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Clinical And Demographic Predictors Of Short-Term Recovery From Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy, Peter Fabricant

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery are concerned with returning to activities of daily living (recovery) in addition to the long-term result of their surgery (end result). As evidence of predictors of rate of short-term recovery is limited to date, this study seeks to determine which patient clinical and demographic factors can serve as prognostic indicators for rate of short-term recovery from arthroscopic partial meniscectomy in the year following surgery and how they may differ from previously published associations with long-term outcome. Clinical (depth of meniscal excision, involvement of one or both menisci, extent of meniscal tear, extent of osteoarthritis) and demographic …

Association Of Gucy2c Expression In Lymph Nodes With Time To Recurrence And Disease-Free Survival In Pn0 Colorectal Cancer., Scott A Waldman, Terry Hyslop, Stephanie Schulz, Alan Barkun, Karl Nielsen, Janis Haaf, Christine Bonaccorso, Yanyan Li, David S Weinberg

Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers

CONTEXT: The established relationship between lymph node metastasis and prognosis in colorectal cancer suggests that recurrence in 25% of patients with lymph nodes free of tumor cells by histopathology (pN0) reflects the presence of occult metastases. Guanylyl cyclase 2C (GUCY2C) is a marker expressed by colorectal tumors that could reveal occult metastases in lymph nodes and better estimate recurrence risk.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of occult lymph node metastases detected by quantifying GUCY2C messenger RNA, using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, with recurrence and survival in patients with colorectal cancer.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective study of 257 patients …

Facilitated Monocyte-Macrophage Uptake And Tissue Distribution Of Superparmagnetic Iron-Oxide Nanoparticles., Arnaud Beduneau, Zhiya Ma, Cassi B. Grotepas, Alexander Kabanov, Barrett E. Rabinow, Nan Gong, R. Lee Mosley, Huanyu Dou, Michael D. Boska, Howard Gendelman

Journal Articles: Radiology

BACKGROUND: We posit that the same mononuclear phagocytes (MP) that serve as target cells and vehicles for a host of microbial infections can be used to improve diagnostics and drug delivery. We also theorize that physical and biological processes such as particle shape, size, coating and opsonization that affect MP clearance of debris and microbes can be harnessed to facilitate uptake of nanoparticles (NP) and tissue delivery.

METHODS: Monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) were used as vehicles of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) NP and immunoglobulin (IgG) or albumin coated SPIO for studies of uptake and distribution. IgG coated SPIO was …

Nonrigid Registration Of Three-Dimensional Ultrasound And Magnetic Resonance Images Of The Carotid Arteries, Nuwan D Nanayakkara, Bernard Chiu, Abbas Samani, J David Spence, Jagath Samarabandu, Grace Parraga, Aaron Fenster

Medical Biophysics Publications

Atherosclerosis at the carotid bifurcation can result in cerebral emboli, which in turn can block the blood supply to the brain causing ischemic strokes. Noninvasive imaging tools that better characterize arterial wall, and atherosclerotic plaque structure and composition may help to determine the factors which lead to the development of unstable lesions, and identify patients at risk of plaque disruption and stroke. Carotid magnetic resonance (MR) imaging allows for the characterization of carotid vessel wall and plaque composition, the characterization of normal and pathological arterial wall, the quantification of plaque size, and the detection of plaque integrity. On the other …

Endothelial Progenitor Cell Number And Colony-Forming Capacity In Overweight And Obese Adults, O J Maceneaney, E J Kushner, Gary P. Van Guilder, J J Greiner, B L Stauffer, C A Desouza

Health and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether adiposity influences endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) number and colony-forming capacity.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of normal weight, overweight and obese adult humans.
PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-seven sedentary adults (aged 45-65 years): 25 normal weight (body mass index (BMI) or=30 kg/m(2); 18 males/6 females). All participants were non-smokers and free of overt cardiometabolic disease.
MEASUREMENTS: Peripheral blood samples were collected and circulating EPC number was assessed by flow cytometry. Putative EPCs were defined as CD45(-)/CD34(+)/VEGFR-2(+)/CD133(+) or CD45(-)/CD34(+) cells. EPC colony-forming capacity was measured in vitro using a colony-forming unit (CFU) assay.
RESULTS: Number of circulating putative EPCs (either CD45(-)/CD34(+)/VEGFR-2(+)/CD133(+) or …

Multimodality Education For Airway Endoscopy Skill Development., Ellen S. Deutsch, Thomas Christenson, Joseph Curry, Jobayer Hossain, Karen Zur, Ian Jacobs

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: Airway endoscopy is a difficult skill to master. A unique practicum was designed to help otolaryngology residents develop endoscopy skills. The learning modalities included lectures, an animal laboratory, high-fidelity manikins, virtual bronchoscopy simulation, and standardized patients. This study compares the relative subjective value of these learning modalities for skill development and realism. METHODS: Participants used a Likert scale (1=disagree to 5=agree) and open responses to anonymously rate the efficacy of 5 learning modalities for teaching airway management, endoscopy skills, and clinical leadership and for providing a realistic experience. RESULTS: The results in 2007 were uniformly positive, with mean scores …

Cryptococcosis Of The Upper Genital Tract., Manish Gopal, Stacy Mccrosson, Pamela Edmonds, Thomas Klein

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Papers

Upper genital tract infection by Cryptococcus neoformans has not previously been reported. We describe such a case, in order to alert clinicians to the existence of this rare infection. A 34-year-old woman with AIDS presented with chronic menorrhagia, fever, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. Despite blood transfusions and hormonal therapy, her vaginal bleeding could not be controlled and she became hemodynamically unstable. Total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were performed, at which time granulomatous peritonitis and prominent myometrial blood vessels were found. Histologic examination revealed cryptococcal infection of all upper genital organs. This case demonstrates that disseminated cryptococcosis may involve the upper …

Multiple Independent Genetic Factors At Nos1ap Modulate The Qt Interval In A Multi-Ethnic Population, Wendy Post

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Extremes of electrocardiographic QT interval are associated with increased risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD); thus, identification and characterization of genetic variants that modulate QT interval may elucidate the underlying etiology of SCD. Previous studies have revealed an association between a common genetic variant in NOS1AP and QT interval in populations of European ancestry, but this finding has not been extended to other ethnic populations. We sought to characterize the effects of NOS1AP genetic variants on QT interval in the multi-ethnic population-based Dallas Heart Study (DHS, n = 3,072). The SNP most strongly associated with QT interval in previous samples …

The Specificity Of The Search Template, Mary J. Bravo, Hany Farid

Dartmouth Scholarship

When searching for a target object, observers use an internal representation of the target's appearance as a search template. This study used naturalistic stimuli to examine the specificity of this template. Observers first learned several name-image pairs; they then participated in a search experiment in which the names served as cues and the images served as targets. To test whether the observers searched for the targets using an exact image template, we included targets that were transformations of the studied image and targets that belonged to the same subordinate-level category as the studied image. The same stimuli were also used …

Aging And Endothelial Progenitor Cell Telomere Length In Healthy Men, Erich J Kushner, Gary P. Van Guilder, Owen J Maceneaney, Jennifer N Cech, Brian L Stauffer, Christopher A Desouza

Health and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Telomere length declines with age in mature endothelial cells and is thought to contribute to endothelial dysfunction and atherogenesis. Bone marrow-derived circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are critical to vascular health as they contribute to both reendothelialization and neovascularization. We tested the hypothesis that EPC telomere length decreases with age in healthy adult humans.

METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 40 healthy, non-obese, sedentary men: 12 young (age 21-34 years), 12 middle-aged (43-55 years) and 16 older (57-68 years). Putative EPCs were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and telomere length was determined using genomic DNA preparation and …

Interface Pressure Profile Analysis For Patellar Tendon-Bearing Socket And Hydrostatic Socket, E.K. Moo, Noor Azuan Abu Osman, Belinda Pingguan-Murphy, Wan Abu Bakar Wan Abas, W.D. Spence, S.E. Solomonidis

Research Publications (2006 to 2010)

Conventionally, patellar tendon-bearing (PTB) sockets, which need high dexterity of prosthetist, are widely used. Lack of chartered and experienced prosthetist has often led to painful experience of wearing prosthesis and this will in turn deter the patients to wear the prosthesis, which will further aggravate stump shrinkage. Thus, the hydrostatic socket which demands relatively lower level of fabricating skill is proposed to replace the PTB socket in order to produce the equivalent, if not better, quality of support to the amputee patients. Both sockets' pressure profiles are studied and compared using finite element analysis (FEA) software. Three-dimensional models of both …

Key Role Of T Cell Defects In Age-Related Vulnerability To West Nile Virus, James D. Brien, Jennifer L. Uhrlaub, Alec Hirsch, Clayton A. Wiley, Janko Nikolich-Zugich

Open Access Publications

West Nile virus (WNV) infection causes a life-threatening meningoencephalitis that becomes increasingly more prevalent over the age of 50 and is 40-50x more prevalent in people over the age of 70, compared with adults under the age of 40. In a mouse model of age-related vulnerability to WNV, we demonstrate that death correlates with increased viral titers in the brain and that this loss of virus control with age was the result of defects in the CD4 and CD8 T cell response against WNV. Specific age-related defects in T cell responses against dominant WNV epitopes were detected at the level …

Osteoarthritis Associated With Estrogen Deficiency., Jorge A Roman-Blas, Santos Castañeda, Raquel Largo, Gabriel Herrero-Beaumont

Jefferson Institute of Molecular Medicine Papers and Presentations

Osteoarthritis (OA) affects all articular tissues and finally leads to joint failure. Although articular tissues have long been considered unresponsive to estrogens or their deficiency, there is now increasing evidence that estrogens influence the activity of joint tissues through complex molecular pathways that act at multiple levels. Indeed, we are only just beginning to understand the effects of estrogen deficiency on articular tissues during OA development and progression, as well as on the association between OA and osteoporosis. Estrogen replacement therapy and current selective estrogen receptor modulators have mixed effectiveness in preserving and/or restoring joint tissue in OA. Thus, a …

Functional Interactions Between Distinct Sodium Channel Cytoplasmic Domains Through The Action Of Calmodulin, F. Potet, B. Chagot, Mircea Anghelescu, P. Viswanathan, S. J. Stepanovic, S. Kuperschmidt, W. J. Chazin, J. R. Balser

PCOM Scholarly Works

Sodium channels are fundamental signaling molecules in excitable cells, and are molecular targets for local anesthetic agents and intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i). Two regions of NaV1.5 have been identified previously as [Ca2+]i-sensitive modulators of channel inactivation. These include a C-terminal IQ motif that binds calmodulin (CaM) in different modes depending on Ca2+ levels, and an immediately adjacent C-terminal EF-hand domain that directly binds Ca2+. Here we show that a mutation of the IQ domain (A1924T; Brugada Syndrome) that reduces CaM binding stabilizes NaV1.5 inactivation, similarly and more extensively than even reducing [Ca2+]i. Because the DIII-DIV linker is an essential structure …

Aging And Endothelial Progenitor Cell Telomere Length In Healthy Men, Erich J Kushner, Gary Van Guilder, Owen J Maceneaney, Jennifer N Cech, Brian L Stauffer, Christopher A Desouza

Health and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Telomere length declines with age in mature endothelial cells and is thought to contribute to endothelial dysfunction and atherogenesis. Bone marrow-derived circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are critical to vascular health as they contribute to both reendothelialization and neovascularization. We tested the hypothesis that EPC telomere length decreases with age in healthy adult humans.
METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 40 healthy, non-obese, sedentary men: 12 young (age 21-34 years), 12 middle-aged (43-55 years) and 16 older (57-68 years). Putative EPCs were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and telomere length was determined using genomic DNA preparation and …

Thoracoscopic Decortication Vs Tube Thoracostomy With Fibrinolysis For Empyema In Children: A Prospective, Randomized Trial., Shawn D. St Peter, Kuojen Tsao, Troy L. Spilde, Scott J. Keckler, Christopher J. Harrison, Mary Anne Jackson, Susan W. Sharp, Walter S. Andrews, Douglas C. Rivard, Frank P. Morello, G W. Holcomb Iii, Daniel J. Ostlie

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

PURPOSE: Management of empyema has been debated in the literature for decades. Although both primary video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and tube thoracostomy with pleural instillation of fibrinolytics have been shown to result in early resolution when compared to tube thoracostomy alone, there is a lack of comparative data between these modes of management. Therefore, we conducted a prospective, randomized trial comparing VATS to fibrinolytic therapy in children with empyema.

METHODS: After Institutional Review Board approval, children defined as having empyema by either loculation on imaging or more than 10,000 white blood cells/microL were treated with VATS or fibrinolysis. Based on …

What Determines Auditory Similarity? The Effect Of Stimulus Group And Methodology., Kirsteen M. Aldrich, Elizabeth J. Hellier, Judy Edworthy

School of Psychology

Two experiments on the internal representation of auditory stimuli compared the pairwise and grouping methodologies as means of deriving similarity judgements. A total of 45 undergraduate students participated in each experiment, judging the similarity of short auditory stimuli, using one of the methodologies. The experiments support and extend Bonebright's (1996) findings, using a further 60 stimuli. Results from both methodologies highlight the importance of category information and acoustic features, such as root mean square (RMS) power and pitch, in similarity judgements. Results showed that the grouping task is a viable alternative to the pairwise task with N > 20 sounds whilst …

Activity Loss Is Associated With Cognitive Decline In Age-Related Macular Degeneration., Barry W. Rovner, Robin J. Casten, Benjamin E. Leiby, William S. Tasman

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND/METHODS: The objective of this study was to determine whether relinquishing cognitive, physical, and social activities is associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We conducted a 3-year longitudinal study of 206 nondemented patients with AMD.

RESULTS: Twenty-three subjects (14.4%) declined cognitively. Age, sex, education, decline in visual acuity, and number of dropped activities were associated with cognitive decline; each additional dropped activity increased the risk by 58%. Subjects who relinquished three activities were 3.87 times (95% confidence interval, 1.95-7.76) more likely to become demented than subjects who relinquished no activities; those …

A Glycosylated Recombinant Human Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor Produced In A Novel Protein Production System (Avi-014) In Healthy Subjects: A First-In Human, Single Dose, Controlled Study., Roslyn Varki, Ed Pequignot, Mark C Leavitt, Andres Ferber, Walter K Kraft

Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: AVI-014 is an egg white-derived, recombinant, human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). This healthy volunteer study is the first human investigation of AVI-014. METHODS: 24 male and female subjects received a single subcutaneous injection of AVI-014 at 4 or 8 mcg/kg. 16 control subjects received 4 or 8 mcg/kg of filgrastim (Neupogen, Amgen) in a partially blinded, parallel fashion. RESULTS: The Geometric Mean Ratio (GMR) (90% CI) of 4 mcg/kg AVI-014/filgrastim AUC(0-72 hr) was 1.00 (0.76, 1.31) and Cmax was 0.86 (0.66, 1.13). At the 8 mcg/kg dose, the AUC(0-72) GMR was 0.89 (0.69, 1.14) and Cmax was 0.76 (0.58, …

The Interaction Of Hab18g/Cd147 With Integrin Alpha6beta1 And Its Implications For The Invasion Potential Of Human Hepatoma Cells., Jing-Yao Dai, Ke-Feng Dou, Cong-Hua Wang, Pu Zhao, Wayne Bond Lau, Ling Tao, Ya-Mei Wu, Juan Tang, Jian-Li Jiang, Zhi-Nan Chen

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: HAb18G/CD147 plays pivotal roles in invasion by hepatoma cells, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Our previous study demonstrated that overexpression of HAb18G/CD147 promotes invasion by interacting with integrin alpha3beta1. However, it has never been investigated whether alpha3beta1 is solely responsible for this process or if other integrin family members also interact with HAb18G/CD147 in human hepatoma cells. METHODS: Human SMMC-7721 and FHCC98 cells were cultured and transfected with siRNA fragments against HAb18G/CD147. The expression levels of HAb18G/CD147 and integrin alpha6beta1 were determined by immunofluorescent double-staining and confocal imaging analysis. Co-immunoprecipitation and Western blot analyses were performed to examine …

Reduced Neutrophil Count In People Of African Descent Is Due To A Regulatory Variant In The Duffy Antigen Receptor For Chemokines Gene, Arti Tandon, Wen-Chi Hsueh, Ching-Yu Cheng, Josef Coresh, Eric Boerwinkle, Man Li, Alicja Waliszewska, Julie Neubauer, Rongling Li, Tennille S. Leak, Lynette Ekunwe, Joe C. Files, Cheryl L. Hardy, Joseph M. Zmuda, Herman A. Taylor, Elad Ziv, Tamara B. Harris, James G. Wilson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Persistently low white blood cell count (WBC) and neutrophil count is a well-described phenomenon in persons of African ancestry, whose etiology remains unknown. We recently used admixture mapping to identify an approximately 1-megabase region on chromosome 1, where ancestry status (African or European) almost entirely accounted for the difference in WBC between African Americans and European Americans. to identify the specific genetic change responsible for this association, we analyzed genotype and phenotype data from 6,005 African Americans from the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study, and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. …

Taxonomy Development And Knowledge Representation Of Nurses' Personal Cognitive Artifacts

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Nurses prepare knowledge representations, or summaries of patient clinical data, each shift. These knowledge representations serve multiple purposes, including support of working memory, workload organization and prioritization, critical thinking, and reflection. This summary is integral to internal knowledge representations, working memory, and decision-making. Study of this nurse knowledge representation resulted in development of a taxonomy of knowledge representations necessary to nursing practice.This paper describes the methods used to elicit the knowledge representations and structures necessary for the work of clinical nurses, described the development of a taxonomy of this knowledge representation, and discusses translation of this methodology to the cognitive …

Regulation Of The Fibrosis And Angiogenesis Promoter Sparc/Osteonectin In Human Adipose Tissue By Weight Change, Leptin, Insulin, And Glucose., Katrina Kos, Steve Wong, Bee Tan, Anders Gummesson, Margareta Jernas, Niclas Franck, David Kerrigan, Fredrik H. Nystrom, Lena M.S. Carlsson, Harpal S. Randeva, Jonathan H. Pinkney, John P.H. Wilding

Peninsula Medical School

OBJECTIVE: Matricellular Secreted Protein, Acidic and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC), originally discovered in bone as osteonectin, is a mediator of collagen deposition and promotes fibrosis. Adipose tissue collagen has recently been found to be linked with metabolic dysregulation. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that SPARC in human adipose tissue is influenced by glucose metabolism and adipokines. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Serum and adipose tissue biopsies were obtained from morbidly obese nondiabetic subjects undergoing bariatric surgery and lean control subjects for analysis of metabolic markers, SPARC, and various cytokines (RT-PCR). Additionally, 24 obese subjects underwent a very-low-calorie diet of 1,883 kJ …

Malignant Melanoma Metastatic To The Thyroid Gland: A Case Report And Review Of The Literature., Brian Kung, Md, Saba Aftab, Bs, Moira D. Wood, Md, David Rosen, Md

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

The thyroid gland is a relatively uncommon site for a secondary malignancy; even less common is a case of malignant melanoma metastatic to the thyroid. We describe the case of a 68-year-old man who presented with a neck mass in the posterior triangle. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) identified the mass as a malignant melanoma. The patient had had no known primary skin melanoma. He underwent a left modified radical neck dissection, and the mass was discovered to be a positive lymph node. Postoperatively, he declined to undergo radio- and chemotherapy. Eighteen months later, he returned with a diffusely enlarged thyroid. …

Intergenerational Wealth Transmission And The Dynamics Of Inequality In Small-Scale Societies, Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, Samuel Bowles, Tom Hertz, Adrian Bell, Jan Beise, Greg Clark, Ila Fazzio, Michael Gurven, Kim Hill, Paul L. Hooper, William Irons, Hillard Kaplan, Donna Leonetti, Bobbi Low, Frank Marlowe, Richard Mcelreath, Suresh Naidu, David Nolan, Patrizio Piraino, Robert Quinlan, Eric Schniter, Rebecca Sear, Mary Shenk, Eric Alden Smith, Christopher Von Reuden, Polly Wiessner

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Small-scale human societies range from foraging bands with a strong egalitarian ethos to more economically stratified agrarian and pastoral societies. We explain this variation in inequality using a dynamic model in which a population’s long-run steady-state level of inequality depends on the extent to which its most important forms of wealth are transmitted within families across generations. We estimate the degree of intergenerational transmission of three different types of wealth (material, embodied, and relational), as well as the extent of wealth inequality in 21 historical and contemporary populations. We show that intergenerational transmission of wealth and wealth inequality are substantial …

Objectively Measured Physical Activity And Its Association With Adiponectin And Other Novel Metabolic Markers: A Longitudinal Study In Children (Earlybird 38)., Bs Metcalf, An Jeffery, J Hosking, Ld Voss, N Sattar, Tj Wilkin

Peninsula Medical School

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence suggests that, in children, traditional markers of metabolic disturbance are related only weakly to physical activity. We therefore sought to establish the corresponding relationships with newer metabolic markers. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a nonintervention longitudinal study of 213 healthy children recruited from 54 schools in Plymouth, U.K. MTI accelerometers were used to make objective 7-day recordings of physical activity at ages 5 +/- 0.3 (mean +/- SD), 6, 7, and 8 years. Overall physical activity was taken as the average of the four annual time points. The metabolic markers at 8 years were adiponectin, leptin, …

Improving Follow-Up Of Abnormal Cancer Screens Using Electronic Health Records: Trust But Verify Test Result Communication, Brian Reis, Donna Espadas, Dean F Sittig

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Early detection of colorectal cancer through timely follow-up of positive Fecal Occult Blood Tests (FOBTs) remains a challenge. In our previous work, we found 40% of positive FOBT results eligible for colonoscopy had no documented response by a treating clinician at two weeks despite procedures for electronic result notification. We determined if technical and/or workflow-related aspects of automated communication in the electronic health record could lead to the lack of response.

METHODS: Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, we evaluated positive FOBT communication in the electronic health record of a large, urban facility between May 2008 and March 2009. …

Small Individual Loans And Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial Among South African Adults, Lia C. H. Fernald, Rita Hamad, Dean Karlan, Emily J. Ozer, Jonathan Zinman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: In the developing world, access to small, individual loans has been variously hailed as a poverty-alleviation tool – in the context of "microcredit" – but has also been criticized as "usury" and harmful to vulnerable borrowers. Prior studies have assessed effects of access to credit on traditional economic outcomes for poor borrowers, but effects on mental health have been largely ignored.

Methods: Applicants who had previously been rejected (n = 257) for a loan (200% annual percentage rate – APR) from a lender in South Africa were randomly assigned to a "second-look" that encouraged loan officers to approve their …

Identification Of G1-Regulated Genes In Normally Cycling Human Cells, Maroun J. Beyrouthy, Karen E. Alexander, Amy Baldwin, Michael L. Whitfield, Hank W. Bass, Dan Mcgee, Myra M. Hurt

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Obtaining synchronous cell populations is essential for cell-cycle studies. Methods such as serum withdrawal or use of drugs which block cells at specific points in the cell cycle alter cellular events upon re-entry into the cell cycle. Regulatory events occurring in early G1 phase of a new cell cycle could have been overlooked. Methodology and Findings: We used a robotic mitotic shake-off apparatus to select cells in late mitosis for genome-wide gene expression studies. Two separate microarray experiments were conducted, one which involved isolation of RNA hourly for several hours from synchronous cell populations, and one experiment which examined …

Scan-Rescan And Intra-Observer Variability Of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Of Carotid Atherosclerosis At 1.5 T And 3.0 T, Arvin Vidal, Yves Bureau, Trevor Wade, J David Spence, Brian K Rutt, Aaron Fenster, Grace Parraga

Medical Biophysics Publications

Carotid atherosclerosis measurements for eight subjects at baseline and 14 +/- 2 days later were examined using 1.5 T and 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A single observer blinded to field strength, subject and timepoint manually segmented carotid artery wall and lumen boundaries in randomized images in five measurement trials. Mean increases in the signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) for T1-weighted images acquired at 3.0 T compared to 1.5 T were 90% (scan) and 80% (rescan). Despite significantly improved SNR and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) for images acquired at 3.0 T, vessel wall volume (VWV) intra-observer variability was not significantly different using …