Lehigh University undergraduate information system

This thesis describes the information system Lehigh University maintains to gather, use and store data on the undergraduates and boys who apply for admission to the undergraduate colleges

Inventory of the Reptiles of the War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam

Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.There are no native amphibians on Guam. Reptile species of offshore islets were reported in an earlier paper (Perry et al.1998). In February through April 2001 we intensively sampled the reptiles of the mainland portions of War in the Pacific National Historical Park (WAPA). Snake populations were sampled using a mark-recapture technique to estimate population size. Two trapping grids, each four ha, were placed in the Opop section of the Asan unit. Snakes were captured, marked, released, and recaptured for 33 days. Lizards in selected units were sampled using a total removal methodology. In our application of this technique, six 10 × 10 m patches of habitat were surrounded by a lizard-proof barrier (fence at ground level to contain terrestrial lizards and canopy separation to contain arboreal species), and all aboveground vegetation was minutely inspected for lizards as it was being removed. Three samples were collected in each of two types of habitat: grassland and tangantangan forest. These yielded the first absolute population density estimates for lizards in grassland habitat on Guam and on National Park Service land. Concurrently, we sampled the lizards of the same habitat types using adhesive trapping, a technique for estimating relative abundance that has been used extensively throughout the Pacific region. Adhesive trap samples can be compared to the densities discovered through absolute removals to assess the sampling biases of the more widely used but unvalidated relative-density technique. In addition, we conducted eleven spot adhesive-trapping samples of park units not otherwise sampled. Only common species were found. Brown Treesnakes were found at low to moderate densities (7-20/ha compared to our Guam average of 29/ha). The lizard spot samples and removals indicated that several species, although fairly dense, do not generally attain densities in the sampled areas as high as in comparable tangantangan habitat elsewhere on Guam. For example, the Pacific Blue-tailed Skink (Emoia caeruleocauda) averaged 1933/ha and the Curious Skink (Carlia fusca) averaged 1800/ha compared to the Guam average of 2400/ha and 6000/ha respectively for tangantangan forest. Overall, about half of all lizard individuals were skinks (lizards in the family Scincidae, primarily day-active terrestrial species); the remainder were geckos (lizards in the family Gekkonidae, primarily nocturnal species found usually in trees). Because this sampling yielded the first absolute density estimates for grassland habitat in Guam, these samples cannot be readily compared to other samples from Guam. Compared to the tangantangan habitat of WAPA, the total density of grassland lizards was less than half, with the gecko fraction accounting for most of the difference. All geckos averaged 467/ha in the grassland plot, significantly less than the 4500/ha average in tangantangan. In addition to quantifying the lizard fauna of the WAPA in unprecedented detail, and providing data on the impact of the Brown Treesnake on Guam lizards, the data obtained from this work will be utilized for comparisons with tropical lizard assemblages throughout the world, for detailed evaluation of the role of forest structure in the habitat requirements of lizards, and for validating other techniques which may be used for sampling lizards. Representative analyses along these lines are presented.This study would not have transpired without the active encouragement of Karen Gustin, superintendent of War in the Pacific National Historical Park. Local residents in the Opop area graciously allowed us to use their land; we appreciate their friendship and generosity. Perhaps most importantly, the strenuous and difficult fieldwork was handled with great cheer and aplomb by: Renee J. Rondeau, Thalia Sachtleben, Krista Noel, Jason Hackman, Fiona Qualls, Carl Qualls, and Tony Tucker. Teri Kman assisted with preparation of this report

Novel zinc-based fixative for high quality DNA, RNA and protein analysis

We have developed a reliable, cost-effective and non-toxic fixative to meet the needs of contemporary molecular pathobiology research, particularly in respect of RNA and DNA integrity. The effects of 25 different fixative recipes on the fixed quality of tissues from C57BL/6 mice were investigated. Results from IHC, PCR, RT–PCR, RNA Agilent Bioanalyser and Real-Time PCR showed that a novel zinc-based fixative (Z7) containing zinc trifluoroacetate, zinc chloride and calcium acetate was significantly better than the standard zinc-based fixative (Z2) and neutral buffered formalin (NBF) for DNA, RNA and protein preservation. DNA sequences up to 2.4 kb in length and RNA fragments up to 361 bp in length were successfully amplified from Z7 fixed tissues, as demonstrated by PCR, RT–PCR and Real-Time PCR. Total protein analysis was achieved using 2-D gel electrophoresis. In addition, nucleic acids and proteins were very stable over a 6–14-month period. This improved, non-toxic and economical tissue fixative could be applied for routine use in pathology laboratories to permit subsequent genomic/proteomic studies

Improving the interpretation of quality of life evidence in meta-analyses: the application of minimal important difference units

Systematic reviews of randomized trials that include measurements of health-related quality of life potentially provide critical information for patient and clinicians facing challenging health care decisions. When, as is most often the case, individual randomized trials use different measurement instruments for the same construct (such as physical or emotional function), authors typically report differences between intervention and control in standard deviation units (so-called "standardized mean difference" or "effect size"). This approach has statistical limitations (it is influenced by the heterogeneity of the population) and is non-intuitive for decision makers. We suggest an alternative approach: reporting results in minimal important difference units (the smallest difference patients experience as important). This approach provides a potential solution to both the statistical and interpretational problems of existing methods

Methods to convert continuous outcomes into odds ratios of treatment response and numbers needed to treat: meta-epidemiological study

Background Clinicians find standardized mean differences (SMDs) calculated from continuous outcomes difficult to interpret. Our objective was to determine the performance of methods in converting SMDs or means to odds ratios of treatment response and numbers needed to treat (NNTs) as more intuitive measures of treatment effect. Methods Meta-epidemiological study of large-scale trials (≥100 patients per group) comparing active treatment with placebo, sham or non-intervention control. Trials had to use pain or global symptoms as continuous outcomes and report both the percentage of patients with treatment response and mean pain or symptom scores per group. For each trial, we calculated odds ratios of observed treatment response and NNTs and approximated these estimates from SMDs or means using all five currently available conversion methods by Hasselblad and Hedges (HH), Cox and Snell (CS), Furukawa (FU), Suissa (SU) and Kraemer and Kupfer (KK). We compared observed and approximated values within trials by deriving pooled ratios of odds ratios (RORs) and differences in NNTs. ROR <1 and positive differences in NNTs imply that approximations are more conservative than estimates calculated from observed treatment response. As measures of agreement, we calculated intraclass correlation coefficients. Results A total of 29 trials in 13 654 patients were included. Four out of five methods were suitable (HH, CS, FU, SU), with RORs between 0.92 for SU [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.86-0.99] and 0.97 for HH (95% CI, 0.91-1.04) and differences in NNTs between 0.5 (95% CI, −0.1 to −1.6) and 1.3 (95% CI, 0.4-2.1). Intraclass correlation coefficients were ≥0.90 for these four methods, but ≤0.76 for the fifth method by KK (P for differences ≤0.027). Conclusions The methods by HH, CS, FU and SU are suitable to convert summary treatment effects calculated from continuous outcomes into odds ratios of treatment response and NNTs, whereas the method by KK is unsuitabl

Comparing aging and fitness effects on brain anatomy

Recent studies suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) mitigates the brain’s atrophy typically associated with aging, via a variety of beneficial mechanisms. One could argue that if CRF is generally counteracting the negative effects of aging, the same regions that display the greatest age-related volumetric loss should also show the largest beneficial effects of fitness. To test this hypothesis we examined structural MRI data from 54 healthy older adults (ages 55–87), to determine the overlap, across brain regions, of the profiles of age and fitness effects. Results showed that lower fitness and older age are associated with atrophy in several brain regions, replicating past studies. However, when the profiles of age and fitness effects were compared using a number of statistical approaches, the effects were not entirely overlapping. Interestingly, some of the regions that were most influenced by age were among those not influenced by fitness. Presumably, the age-related atrophy occurring in these regions is due to factors that are more impervious to the beneficial effects of fitness. Possible mechanisms supporting regional heterogeneity may include differential involvement in motor function, the presence of adult neurogenesis, and differential sensitivity to cerebrovascular, neurotrophic and metabolic factors

Stability of stationary states in the cubic nonlinear Schroedinger equation: applications to the Bose-Einstein condensate

The stability properties and perturbation-induced dynamics of the full set of stationary states of the nonlinear Schroedinger equation are investigated numerically in two physical contexts: periodic solutions on a ring and confinement by a harmonic potential. Our comprehensive studies emphasize physical interpretations useful to experimentalists. Perturbation by stochastic white noise, phase engineering, and higher order nonlinearity are considered. We treat both attractive and repulsive nonlinearity and illustrate the soliton-train nature of the stationary states.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure

Users' Guides to the Medical Literature: How to Use an Article About Mortality in a Humanitarian Emergency

The accurate interpretation of mortality surveys in humanitarian crises is useful for both public health responses and security responses. Recent examples suggest that few medical personnel and researchers can accurately interpret the validity of a mortality survey in these settings. Using an example of a mortality survey from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), we demonstrate important methodological considerations that readers should keep in mind when reading a mortality survey to determine the validity of the study and the applicability of the findings to their settings