Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Pilot Trial Of A Telephone-Linked Patient Service System: Spinal Cord Injury Patients As An Example, Tsung-Yu Wei, Shao-Li Han, Wen-Hsien Tseng, Fong-Bin Yan, Kwan-Yu Chan, Polun Chang, Wai-Keung Lee

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

The pressure of lack of enough resources on our National Health Insurance program and an increasing population of the aged and chronic patients has made the tele-home care technology an important choice. The tele-home care service is also regarded by our government as one of the core new service businesses for 2008. In this study, a prototype Tele-Home Care system, composed of Telephone-linked Care (TLC), Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Text-To-Speech (TTS) and automatic questionnaire recognition, was developed and evaluated for spinal cord injury patient care.The prototype systems included a personal computer with an EASYTAPI voice card, a Fax card and …

Aphasics' Needs And Performance In Functional Communication, Yu-Chen Liao, Chin-Hsing Tseng

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

The purpose of the study was to find out aphasics' needs for functional communication and their performance in it. Using a functional communication activities questionnaire as tool, we investigated the needs and performance on functional communication among 32 stroke patients with aphasia and 60 normal subjects.The researcher discovers that the importance of needs for functional communication and the independence of communication performance are significantly different between the two groups. Furthermore, a significant correlation is found between the importance of needs and the performance independence in the aphasic group. Finally, the language impairment level is moderately correlated with the importance of …

Kajian Keamanan Pemakaian Obat Anti-Hipertensi Di Poliklinik Usia Lanjut Instalasi Rawat Jalan Rs Dr Sardjito, Zullies Ikawati

Majalah Ilmu Kefarmasian

Increasing age is generally followed by increasing chronic diseases so that the elderly needs much therapy using drugs for therapy of numerous diseases they have. Hyper-tension is one of diseases of which its prevalence increases along with increasing age. Most of the elderly diagnosed as having hypertension finally take therapy using anti-hypertension drugs. Physiological changes that happen to the elderly lead to use of drugs for side effect diseases of which their consumption should be considered while having anti-hypertension drugs. Changes in biological system to the elderly will af-fect the process of drug molecular interaction, which finally affects clinical efficacy …

Tinjauan Filsafat Kesehatan Reproduksi, Farida Mutiarawati Tri Agustina

Kesmas

Kesehatan reproduksi tidak dapat dipisahkan dari kesehatan seksual yang menyangkut peran dua aktor utama laki-laki dan perempuan yang harus dalam kondisi sehat untuk mendapat hasil reproduksi yang sehat. Dari sudut pandang filsafat, ontologi berupaya memahami, mendalami dan mengembangkan pengetahuan kesehatan reproduksi pada tingkat individu dan tingkat masyarakat. Secara epistemologi, kesehatan reproduksi banyak mengalami kemajuan, sejak dari teknologi kontrasepsi sederhana sampai teknologi cloning yang kontroversial. Secara aksiologi, kesehatan reproduksi mampu meningkatkan kesejahteraan dan pemenuhan kebutuhan hidup manusia sesuai perkembangan teknologi. Pemanfaatan dan keberhasilan kesehatan reproduksi dipengaruhi berbagai faktor yang saling terkait dan saling tergantung. Landasan perkembangan ranah kesehatan reproduksi adalah serangkaian …

Faktor Sosio Ekonomi Yang Mempengaruhi Kepatuhan Minum Obat Antihipertensi, Pujiyanto Pujiyanto

Kesmas

Hipertensi merupakan penyakit degeneratif yang banyak diderita penduduk dengan kecenderungan meningkat seiring bertambahnya umur. Dengan bertambahnya umur harapan hidup maka dimasa depan hipertensi akan menjadi masalah kesehatan yang serius. Salah satu upaya mengatasi hipertensi adalah dengan minum obat antihipertensi. Keteraturan meminum obat ditentukan oleh kepatuhan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengelaborasi pengaruh faktor sosio-ekonomi terhadap kepatuhan minum obat. Jenis penelitian adalah studi kualitatif dengan teknik wawancara mendalam. Informan adalah penderita hipertensi yang tinggal di wilayah kerja Puskesmas Beji Kota Depok, berjumlah 8 orang meliputi kategori lansia/non lansia dan laki-laki/perempuan. Wawancara dilakukan di rumah informan pada minggu pertama dan kedua Juni 2007. …

Studi Kualitatif : Pelayanan Rujukan Asfiksia Bayi Baru Lahir Di Kabupaten Cirebon Jawa Barat, Ella Nurlaella Hadi

Kesmas

Pada tahun 2005, studi penatalaksanaan asfiksia bayi baru lahir (BBL) oleh bidan di desa Kabupaten Cirebon menemukan kematian asfiksia BBL yang dirujuk ke rumah sakit masih tinggi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan informasi yang mendalam tentang proses rujukan, alur penanganan rujukan kasus asfiksia BBL di RS dan kualitas pelayanan di RS rujukan Kabupaten Cirebon. Untuk itu, digunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode studi kasus. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan BdD sudah menangani asfiksia BBL dengan benar, tetapi rujukan sering terlambat karena adanya faktor penghambat dari keluarga (ekonomi dan keputusan merujuk harus melibatkan keluarga besar) dan faktor lingkungan (transportasi di desa terpencil sulit terutama …

Genotyping And Drug Resistance Patterns Of M. Tuberculosis Strains In Pakistan., Mahnaz Tanveer, Zahra Hasan, Amna R Siddiqui, Asho Ali, Akbar Kanji, Solomon Ghebremicheal, Rumina Hasan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background:The incidence of tuberculosis in Pakistan is 181/100,000 population. However, information about transmission and geographical prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and their evolutionary genetics as well as drug resistance remains limited. Our objective was to determine the clonal composition, evolutionary genetics and drug resistance of M. tuberculosis isolates from different regions of the country.

Methods:

M. tuberculosis strains isolated (2003-2005) from specimens submitted to the laboratory through collection units nationwide were included. Drug susceptibility was performed and strains were spoligotyped.

Results:

Of 926 M. tuberculosis strains studied, 721(78%) were grouped into 59 "shared types", while 205 (22%) were identified …

Splenic Rupture, Secondary To G-Csf Use For Chemotherapy Induced Neutropenia: A Case Report And Review Of Literature., Nehal Masood, Asim Jamal Shaikh, Wasim Ahmed Memon, Romana Idress

Section of Haematology/Oncology

Introduction: Chemotherapy Induced neutropenia is a frequent and serious complication of cytotoxic cancer treatment. Granulocyte colony stimulating factors (G-CSF) are frequently used to counter neutropenia, attempt rapid recovery of Patients and allow for continuation of treatment without compromise on dose, especially in curative malignancies. Generally regarded as safe, G-CSF use has been very rarely reported to have resulted in serious side effects, such as, splenic rupture. Case Presentation: We are reporting a case of a twenty years old man, who was being treated for T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and received colony stimulating factors for treatment of severe neutropenia and …

The Relationship Between Nonword Repetition Performance And Social Behaviors In 7- To 11-Year-Old Children With Language Impairment, Bethany Lynne Hillary

Theses and Dissertations

Recent literature has suggested a link between verbal working memory and language impairment (LI) in children. There is limited research, however, about the link between verbal working memory and social behaviors in children with LI. This study was designed to explore the relationship between social behaviors (measured by the Teacher Behavior Rating Scale; Hart & Robinson, 1996) and verbal working memory abilities (measured by a 3-, 4-, and 5-syllable nonword repetition task) in children with LI. Thirty-six children (18 with LI and 18 typically developing) aged 7 to 11 years participated in the study. Children with LI were rated by …

A Selective Gβγ-Linked Intracellular Mechanism For Modulation Of A Ligand-Gated Ion Channel By Ethanol, Gonzalo E. Yevenes, Gustavo Moraga-Cid, Robert W. Peoples, Günther Schmalzing, Luis G. Aguayo

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The current understanding about ethanol effects on the ligand-gated ion channel (LGIC) superfamily has been restricted to identify potential binding sites within transmembrane (TM) domains in the Cys-loop family. Here, we demonstrate a key role of the TM3–4 intracellular loop and Gβγ signaling for potentiation of glycine receptors (GlyRs) by ethanol. We discovered 2 motifs within the large intracellular loop of the GlyR α₁ subunit that are critical for the actions of pharmacological concentrations of ethanol. Significantly, the sites were ethanol-specific because they did not alter the sensitivity to general anesthetics, neurosteroids, or longer n-alcohols. Furthermore, Gβγ scavengers …

Today - December 22, 2008, Loma Linda University

TODAY

Inside this issue:

-- Loma Linda University, Atlantic Union College explore affiliation possibilities between institutions
-- Senior vice president for development/public affairs named
-- LLUMC, BMC nursing leadership contributes to China academic week
-- Cancer survivors return to Loma Linda
-- 6:10 to the Great Southwest
-- Loma Linda University participates in community emergency response training
-- Good Samaritan awards celebrate employees who fulfill institutional mission
-- Community Christmas Fiesta held at SACHS–Norton
-- Class projects helps chronically ill kids
-- Jan Fisher retires after half a century of service to physical therapy

Reducing The Public Health Impact Of Bovine Tuberculosis By Controlling Disease Transmission Between Cattle And White-Tailed Deer In Northwestern Minnesota, Barbara Knust

Michigan Bovine Tuberculosis Bibliography and Database

Bovine tuberculosis, caused by infection with Mycobacterium bovis, is a re-emerging zoonotic disease. It has staged a comeback by establishing infections in wildlife and cattle, creating the potential for human disease in locations where it was thought to be under control. In northwestern Minnesota, infected cattle and white-tailed deer were first discovered in 2005. A major bovine tuberculosis eradication campaign is underway in the state, with multiple efforts employed to control M. bovis infection in both cattle and deer populations. In order to effectively eradicate bovine tuberculosis in Minnesota, there is a need for better understanding of the …

Parental Hesitation As A Factor In Delayed Childhood Immunization, Karlen E. (Beth) Luthy, Renea L. Beckstrand, Neil E. Peterson

Faculty Publications

Introduction: One reason for lower immunization rates is that some parents hesitate to have their children immunized. A hesitancy questionnaire was developed to identify reasons parents hesitate in having their children immunized.

Methods: The hesitancy questionnaire was distributed from local pediatric and family practice offices and from the area's county health department. To be eligible, participants needed to be present in the clinic with a child needing a minimum of one immunization that was at least 6 months overdue.

Results: When questioned why their child was overdue for immunizations, the most common response was that participants were confused about the …

Text Mining In Radiology Reports, Tianxia Gong, Chew Lim Tan, Tze-Yun Leong, Cheng Kiang Lee, Boon Chuan Pang, C. C. Tchoyoson Lim, Qi Tian, Suisheng Tang, Zhuo Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Medical text mining has gained increasing interest in recent years. Radiology reports contain rich information describing radiologist's observations on the patient's medical conditions in the associated medical images. However as most reports are in free text format, the valuable information contained in those reports cannot be easily accessed and used, unless proper text mining has been applied. In this paper we propose a text mining system to extract and use the information in radiology reports. The system consists of three main modules: a medical finding extractor a report and image retriever and a text-assisted image feature extractor In evaluation, the …

Topical Application Of Entry Inhibitors As "Virustats" To Prevent Sexual Transmission Of Hiv Infection, Michael M. Lederman, Robin L.P. Jump, Heather A. Pilch-Cooper, Scott F. Sieg

Faculty Scholarship

With the continuing march of the AIDS epidemic and little hope for an effective vaccine in the near future, work to develop a topical strategy to prevent HIV infection is increasingly important. This stated, the track record of large scale "microbicide" trials has been disappointing with nonspecific inhibitors either failing to protect women from infection or even increasing HIV acquisition. Newer strategies that target directly the elements needed for viral entry into cells have shown promise in non-human primate models of HIV transmission and as these agents have not yet been broadly introduced in regions of highest HIV prevalence, they …

Outcomes In Culture Positive And Culture Negative Ascitic Fluid Infection In Patients With Viral Cirrhosis: Cohort Study, Lubna Kamani, Khalid Mumtaz, Umair S. Ahmed, Ailia W. Ali, Wasim Jafri

Department of Medicine

Background: Ascitic fluid infection (AFI) in cirrhotic Patients has a high morbidity and mortality. It has two variants namely, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) and culture negative neutrocytic ascites (CNNA). The aim of this study was to determine the outcome in cirrhotic Patients with culture positive (SBP) and culture negative neutrocytic ascites. Methods: We analyzed 675 consecutive hepatitis B and/or C related cirrhosis Patients with ascites admitted in our hospital from November 2005 to December 2007. Of these, 187 Patients had AFI, clinical and laboratory parameters of these Patients including causes of cirrhosis, Child Turcotte Pugh (CTP) score were recorded. Results: …

Learning From Near Misses In Medication Errors: A Bayesian Approach, Jessica A. Myers, Francesca Dominici, Laura Morlock

Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers

Medical errors originating in health care facilities are a significant source of preventable morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Voluntary error report systems that collect information on the causes and contributing factors of medi- cal errors regardless of the resulting harm may be useful for developing effective harm prevention strategies. Some patient safety experts question the utility of data from errors that did not lead to harm to the patient, also called near misses. A near miss (a.k.a. close call) is an unplanned event that did not result in injury to the patient. Only a fortunate break in the chain of …

Identifying People At High Risk For Developing Sleep Apnea Syndrome (Sas): A Cross-Sectional Study In A Pakistani Population, Fawad Taj, Zarmeneh Aly, Mahwash Kassi, Mansoor Ahmed

Department of Medicine

Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is associated with many cardiovascular and psychiatric diseases. Day-time sleepiness is a common consequence of sleep apnea and correlates with road-traffic accidents (RTA). Pakistan has a high prevalence of factors which predispose an individual to OSA and death from RTAs are a huge burden. However there is a dearth of prevalence studies in this regard. We aim to understand local relevance of the disease and estimate the prevalence of individuals high-risk for OSA. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among 450 individuals at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), which is a tertiary care teaching hospital …

Incentives For Orphan Drug Research And Development In The United States, Enrique Seoane-Vazquez, Rosa Rodriguez-Monguio, Sheryl L. Szeinbach, Jay Visaria

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: The Orphan Drug Act (1983) established several incentives to encourage the development of orphan drugs (ODs) to treat rare diseases and conditions. This study analyzed the characteristics of OD designations, approvals, sponsors, and evaluated the effective patent and market exclusivity life of orphan new molecular entities (NMEs) approved in the US between 1983 and 2007.

Methods: Primary data sources were the FDA Orange Book, the FDA Office of Orphan Drugs Development, and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Data included all orphan designations and approvals listed by the FDA and all NMEs approved by the FDA during …

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 …

A Small Sample Correction For Estimating Attributable Risk In Case-Control Studies, Daniel B. Rubin

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

The attributable risk, often called the population attributable risk, is in many epidemiological contexts a more relevant measure of exposure-disease association than the excess risk, relative risk, or odds ratio. When estimating attributable risk with case-control data and a rare disease, we present a simple correction to the standard approach making it essentially unbiased, and also less noisy. As with analogous corrections given in Jewell (1986) for other measures of association, the adjustment often won't make a substantial difference unless the sample size is very small or point estimates are desired within fine strata, but we discuss the possible utility …

Denaturation And Unfolding Of Human Anaphylatoxin C3a: An Unusually Low Covalent Stability Of Its Native Disulfide Bonds, Jui-Yoa Chang, Curtis C-J Lin, Silvia Salamanca, Michael K Pangburn, Rick A Wetsel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The complement C3a anaphylatoxin is a major molecular mediator of innate immunity. It is a potent activator of mast cells, basophils and eosinophils and causes smooth muscle contraction. Structurally, C3a is a relatively small protein (77 amino acids) comprising a N-terminal domain connected by 3 native disulfide bonds and a helical C-terminal segment. The structural stability of C3a has been investigated here using three different methods: Disulfide scrambling; Differential CD spectroscopy; and Reductive unfolding. Two uncommon features regarding the stability of C3a and the structure of denatured C3a have been observed in this study. (a) There is an unusual disconnection …

Synthesis Of Marine Chemicals And Derivatives As Potential Anti-Cancer Drugs., Laude Bannerman-Akwei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two natural marine compounds, 3-bromo-4,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde 2 and 2,3-dibromo-4,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde 5 together with two novel derivatives, 3-bromo-5-(tert-butyl-dimethyl-silanyloxy)-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde 3 and 1-bromo-2,3-dimethoxy-5-nitrooxy-methylbenzene 9, were synthesized. Compounds 2, 3, and 5 were evaluated for their biological activity towards the inhibition of prostate cancer cell growth using staurosporine a a positive control. All three compounds have shown significant inhibition of prostate cancer cell growth. Compound 9 is yet to be evaluated.

Characterization Of The Genes Involved In Biosynthesis And Transport Of Schizokinen, A Siderophore Produced By Rhizobium Leguminosarum Iari 917., David Jack Hammond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Iron is the 4th most abundant metal on the earth's crust and is required by most organisms as a cofactor for many enzymes; however, at physiological pH and aerobic conditions iron forms insoluble ferric oxyhydroxide polymers. Siderophores are low molecular weight compounds that scavenge ferric ions, bind with high affinity, and transport it into the cell via multicomponent transport systems. Rhizobia are soil dwelling organisms that form symbiotic relationships with host plants and fix atmospheric nitrogen, while the bacteria receive nutrients. R. leguminosarum IARI 917 produces a siderophore characterized as 'schizokinen'. In the present study, we have characterized the binding …

Cytotoxic Effects Of Ruthenium Compounds On Human Cancer Cell Lines., Katie Beth Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chemotherapy is the most common cancer treatment. Traditionally, platinum-based drugs are used in chemotherapy. More recently, researchers have focused on ruthenium based compounds as a substitute for the platinum compounds. Ruthenium-based compounds appear to be less toxic to healthy cells than traditional platinum-based compounds. In this study, 7 ruthenium-based compounds were tested on HT-29 (colon) and MCF-7 (breast) human cancer cell lines with the specific aim of determining whether or not any of the ruthenium-based compounds exhibited cytotoxic properties. In addition, levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production were tested in supernate from the cancer cells treated with various …

Characterization Of Murine Cardiac Cholinergic Innervation And Its Remodeling In Type 1 Diabetes., Abigail Marie Mabe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Murine models have become increasingly popular to study various aspects of cardiovascular diseases due to their ease of genetic manipulation. Unfortunately, there has been little effort put into describing the distribution of autonomic nerves in the mouse heart, making it difficult to compare current findings from clinical and experimental models related to cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, determination of the requirements for the development of this system and its maintenance in adult mice remains largely unexplored. This study represents the first detailed mapping of cholinergic neuroanatomy of the mouse heart based on immunohistochemical staining using true cholinergic markers. We found cholinergic innervation …

Elucidating The Role Of The Α7 Nicotinic Receptor In The Etiology Of Schizophrenia., Michelle Johnson Chandley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The α7 subunit of the nicotinic receptor, a ligand gated ion channel with an affinity for nicotine, has long been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia due to the extremely high rate of smoking within the patient population. However, the exact role of the receptor has never fully been determined. In the following studies, various functions the receptor may assume in disease state are evaluated. There is a strong relationship between the immune system and schizophrenia, with the α7 subunit possibly serving as the link between the two. One of the following studies looks at the possibility of the receptor …

Kelly, Rita Helen Roberts (Fa 353), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 353. Paper: "Good Mothering through Breast Feeding: Observations of a Meeting of the La Leche League" written by Rita H. Kelly for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Medicaid Financing: How The Fmap Formula Works And Why It Falls Short, Christie Provost Peters

National Health Policy Forum

Medicaid costs for health and long-term care services for low-income individuals are substantial. As a result, each state’s “match rate,” or federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), which determines the share of Medicaid benefit costs the federal government pays, has enormous implications for state budgets and state economies, as well as for Medicaid beneficiaries and providers. Shifts in the FMAP from year to year, even minor ones, can mean the gain or loss of tens or hundreds of millions of federal matching dollars, depending on the size of the state’s Medicaid program. This paper explains the FMAP formula, examines the limitations …

Social Support, Weight Loss Attempts And Satisfaction, Allison Drew

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the presence of social support correlates with attempts at weight loss in the past 12 months, attempts not to gain weight in the past 12 months, and participants’ satisfaction with their weight status. Methods: We used a cross-sectional study design using data collected by the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) (CDC). For this study we included males and females, of multiple ethnicities, and a range of ages from 40 to 70 + years. Participants with missing data on height and weight were …