Koinonia

Spotlight on SpeakersHow Do We Measure Up, Kay Arthur Considering CallingCalling vs. Career, Todd Lake Great Expectations, Damon Seacott Exploring EventsMan Hunt, Jesse Brown and Ron Coffey Spotlight on SeminarsFrom Loneliness to Solitude: The Human Equalizer, Rhonda Good Regular FeaturesPresident\u27s Corner Editor\u27s Disk ACSD Accoladeshttps://pillars.taylor.edu/acsd_koinonia/1032/thumbnail.jp

Example Based Learning for View-Based Human Face Detection

We present an example-based learning approach for locating vertical frontal views of human faces in complex scenes. The technique models the distribution of human face patterns by means of a few view-based "face'' and "non-face'' prototype clusters. At each image location, the local pattern is matched against the distribution-based model, and a trained classifier determines, based on the local difference measurements, whether or not a human face exists at the current image location. We provide an analysis that helps identify the critical components of our system

Golimumab 3-year safety update: an analysis of pooled data from the long-term extensions of randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials conducted in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis

OBJECTIVE: To assess pooled golimumab safety up to year 3 of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) trials. METHODS: Golimumab 50 and 100 mg, administered subcutaneously (SC) every 4 weeks (q4wk), were assessed in patients with active RA (methotrexate-naive, methotrexate-experienced and anti-TNF (tumour necrosis factor)-experienced), PsA or AS, despite conventional therapy. Placebo control continued up to week (wk) 24 (wk 52, methotrexate-naive), with early escape at wk 16 (wk 28, methotrexate-naive); subsequently, all patients received golimumab 50 or 100 mg q4wk. After the blinded controlled period, golimumab doses could be adjusted per investigator discretion. Pooled safety analyses reported herein include data from placebo-controlled and uncontrolled study periods up to wk 160. Determinations of incidences/100 patient-years (pt-yrs) for rare events also included RA patients from a phase IIb trial. RESULTS: Across five phase III trials of SC golimumab, 639 patients received placebo and 2226 received golimumab 50 mg (n=1249) and/or 100 mg (n=1501) up to wk 160 (patients may be included in more than one group because non-responders were allowed early escape); 1179 patients were treated for \u3e /=156 weeks. For placebo, golimumab 50 mg and golimumab 100 mg, respective adverse event incidences/100 pt-yrs (95% CIs) up to wk 160 were: 0.28 (0.01 to 1.56), 0.30 (0.12 to 0.62), 0.41 (0.23 to 0.69) for death; 5.31 (3.20 to 8.30), 3.03 (2.36 to 3.82), 5.09 (4.36 to 5.90) for serious infection; 0.00 (0.00 to 0.84), 0.17 (0.05 to 0.44), 0.35 (0.18 to 0.62) for tuberculosis; 0.00 (0.00 to 0.84), 0.13 (0.03 to 0.38), 0.24 (0.10 to 0.46) for opportunistic infection; 0.00 (0.00 to 0.84), 0.00 (0.00 to 0.13), 0.12 (0.03 to 0.30) for demyelination; and 0.00 (0.00 to 0.84), 0.04 (0.00 to 0.24), 0.18 (0.06 to 0.38) for lymphoma. CONCLUSIONS: SC golimumab safety up to 3 years remained consistent with that of other TNF antagonists. Golimumab 100 mg showed numerically higher incidences of serious infections, demyelinating events and lymphoma than 50 mg; safety follow-up up to year 5 continues

The physiological effect of a 'climb assist' device on vertical ladder climbing.

Climb assist systems claim to reduce strain when climbing ladders; however, no research has yet substantiated this. The purpose of this study was to assess the physiological and psychophysical effects of climb assist on 30 m ladder climbing at a minimum acceptable speed. Eight participants (six male and two female) climbed a 30 m ladder at 24 rungs per minute with and without climb assist, and were monitored for heart rate (HR), O2 and rate of perceived exertion (RPE). All three variables decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with climb assist with O2 decreasing by 22.5%, HR by 14.8% and RPE decreasing by a mean of 2.3 units on the 10-point Borg scale. When descending the ladder O2 decreased by a mean of 42% compared to that ascending. At the minimal acceptable climbing speed climb assist decreases the physiological strain on climbers, as demonstrated by reduced O2, HR and perceived exertion

Effects of Quasar Feedback in Galaxy Groups

We study the effect of quasar feedback on distributions of baryons and properties of intracluster medium in galaxy groups using high-resolution numerical simulations. We use the entropy-conserving Gadget code that includes gas cooling and star formation, modified to include a physically-based model of quasar feedback. For a sample of ten galaxy group-sized dark matter halos with masses in the range of 1 to $5\times 10^{13} M_{\odot}/h$, star formation is suppressed by more than 50% in the inner regions due to the additional pressure support by quasar feedback, while gas is driven from the inner region towards the outer region of the halos. As a result, the average gas density is 50% lower in the inner region and 10% higher in the outer region in the simulation, compared to a similar simulation with no quasar feedback. Gas pressure is lowered by about 40% in the inner region and higher in the outer region, while temperature and entropy are enhanced in the inner region by about 20-40%. The total group gas fraction in the two simulations generally differs by less than 10%. We also find a small change of the total thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich distortion, leading to 10% changes in the microwave angular power spectrum at angular scales below two arcminutes.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 8 tables. MNRAS accepted June 10 2008. Matches the accepted version. Error in the implementation has been corrected leading to few minor changes in conclusion

The electronic structure and dynamics of the excited triplet state of octaethylaluminum(III)-porphyrin investigated with advanced EPR methods

The photoexcited triplet state of octaethylaluminum(III)-porphyrin (AlOEP) was investigated by time-resolved Electron Paramagnetic Resonance, Electron Nuclear Double Resonance and Electron Spin Echo Envelope Modulation in an organic glass at 10 and 80 K. This main group element porphyrin is unusual because the metal has a small ionic radius and is six-coordinate with axial covalent and coordination bonds. It is not known whether triplet state dynamics influence its magnetic resonance properties as has been observed for some transition metal porphyrins. Together with density functional theory modelling, the magnetic resonance data of AlOEP allow the temperature dependence of the zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters, D and E, and the proton AZZ hyperfine coupling (hfc) tensor components of the methine protons, in the zero-field splitting frame to be determined. The results provide evidence that the ZFS, hfc and spin–lattice relaxation are indeed influenced by the presence of a dynamic process that is discussed in terms of Jahn-Teller dynamic effects. Thus, these effects should be taken into account when interpreting EPR data from larger complexes containing AlOEP

A "superstorm": When moral panic and new risk discourses converge in the media

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Health, Risk and Society, 15(6), 681-698, 2013, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13698575.2013.851180.There has been a proliferation of risk discourses in recent decades but studies of these have been polarised, drawing either on moral panic or new risk frameworks to analyse journalistic discourses. This article opens the theoretical possibility that the two may co-exist and converge in the same scare. I do this by bringing together more recent developments in moral panic thesis, with new risk theory and the concept of media logic. I then apply this theoretical approach to an empirical analysis of how and with what consequences moral panic and new risk type discourses converged in the editorials of four newspaper campaigns against GM food policy in Britain in the late 1990s. The article analyses 112 editorials published between January 1998 and December 2000, supplemented with news stories where these were needed for contextual clarity. This analysis shows that not only did this novel food generate intense media and public reactions; these developed in the absence of the type of concrete details journalists usually look for in risk stories. Media logic is important in understanding how journalists were able to engage and hence how a major scare could be constructed around convergent moral panic and new risk type discourses. The result was a media ‘superstorm’ of sustained coverage in which both types of discourse converged in highly emotive mutually reinforcing ways that resonated in a highly sensitised context. The consequence was acute anxiety, social volatility and the potential for the disruption of policy and social change

Evaluation of a community pharmacy-based intervention for improving patient adherence to antihypertensives: a randomised controlled trial

BackgroundThe majority of patients using antihypertensive medications fail to achieve their recommended target blood pressure. Poor daily adherence with medication regimens and a lack of persistence with medication use are two of the major reasons for failure to reach target blood pressure. There is no single intervention to improve adherence with antihypertensives that is consistently effective. Community pharmacists are in an ideal position to promote adherence to chronic medications. This study aims to test a specific intervention package that could be integrated into the community pharmacy workflow to enable pharmacists to improve patient adherence and/or persistence with antihypertensive medications - Hypertension Adherence Program in Pharmacy (HAPPY).Methods/DesignThe HAPPY trial is a multi-centre prospective randomised controlled trial. Fifty-six pharmacies have been recruited from three Australian states. To identify potential patients, a software application (MedeMine CVD) extracted data from a community pharmacy dispensing software system (FRED Dispense&reg;). The pharmacies have been randomised to either \u27Pharmacist Care Group\u27 (PCG) or \u27Usual Care Group\u27 (UCG). To check for \u27Hawthorne effect\u27 in the UCG, a third group of patients \u27Hidden Control Group\u27 (HCG) will be identified in the UCG pharmacies, which will be made known to the pharmacists at the end of six months. Each study group requires 182 patients. Data will be collected at baseline, three and six months in the PCG and at baseline and six months in the UCG. Changes in patient adherence and persistence at the end of six months will be measured using the self-reported Morisky score, the Tool for Adherence Behaviour Screening and medication refill data.DiscussionTo our knowledge, this is the first research testing a comprehensive package of evidence-based interventions that could be integrated into the community pharmacy workflow to enable pharmacists to improve patient adherence and/or persistence with antihypertensive medications. The unique features of the HAPPY trial include the use of MedeMine CVD to identify patients who could potentially benefit from the service, control for the \u27Hawthorne effect\u27 in the UCG and the offer of the intervention package at the end of six months to patients in the UCG, a strategy that is expected to improve retention.Trial RegistrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12609000705280<br /