The phenomena of encroaching processes: Toward a theory of organizational change

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of Kansas, Business, 2002

Inflammatory bowel disease-specific autoantibodies in HLA-B27-associated spondyloarthropathies: Increased prevalence of ASCA and pANCA

Aims: An association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and spondyloarthropathies (SpA) has repeatedly been reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether serologic markers of IBD, e. g. antibodies against Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCA), antibodies against exocrine pancreas (PAB) and perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (pANCA) are present in HLA-B27-associated SpA. Methods: 87 patients with HLA-B27-positive SpA and 145 controls were tested for ASCA, PAB and pANCA employing ELISA or indirect immunofluorescence, respectively. Antibody-positive patients were interviewed regarding IBD-related symptoms using a standardized questionnaire. Results/Conclusion: When compared to the controls, ASCA IgA but not ASCA IgG levels were significantly increased in patients with SpA, in particular in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and undifferentiated SpA (uSpA). pANCA were found in increased frequency in patients with SpA whereas PAB were not detected. The existence of autoantibodies was not associated with gastrointestinal symptoms but sustains the presence of a pathophysiological link between bowel inflammation and SpA. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in type 2 diabetics

Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus has emerged as a common endocrine disorder in india. Thyroid dysfunction may complicate glycaemic control of diabetic patients. For better management of diabetes, it is necessary to detect and treat thyroid dysfunction in these patients.Methods: This was an observational study conducted at SMS Hospital Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, between March 2016 to November 2017. Total 100 patients were included out of which 50 were Diabetic patients and 50 were age and sex matched nondiabetic controls reported in outpatient department of SMS Hospital, Jaipur. Patients of type 1 Diabetes, previously known case of thyroid disorder, patients having endocrine disorder or autoimmune disorder other than Diabetes, critically ill patients and pregnant females were excluded from study. Serum Fasting Blood Sugar, Free T3, Free T4, TSH were measured in all study subjects and results were analysed statistically to find out if there is any difference in prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in Diabetic patients and non-diabetic controls.Results: Thyroid dysfunction was present in 16 (32%) of 50 type 2 diabetics and 3 (6%) of 50 nondiabetic controls.  The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in type 2 diabetic females and males was 43.3% and 15% respectively. Mean fasting blood sugar was higher in diabetic patients having thyroid dysfunction (209.12 mg/dl) as compared to euthyroid diabetic subjects (173.58 mg/dl). Twelve (75%), out of 16 study subjects with thyroid dysfunction have secondary hypothyroidism. Three (18.75%) of them have mild (sub-clinical) hypothyroidism. One person (6.25%) has subclinical hyperthyroidism.Conclusions: Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction is higher in type 2 diabetic patients as compared to nondiabetic. Better glycaemic control is observed in euthyroid diabetic patients as compared to diabetic patients having thyroid dysfunction

Echocardiographic evaluation of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Diastolic dysfunction in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus represents an earlier stage in the natural history of cardiomyopathy. This study was done to assess the left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in recently diagnosed (<5yr) Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by Echocardiography and also to determine association of glycemic status (by HBA1c levels) with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD).Methods: An observational descriptive study involving 100 diabetic patients, taken on first come first serve basis after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. In all the subjects, other than routine investigations, HbA1c was estimated and echocardiography was done to evaluate LVDD.Results: Mean value of HbA1c in the study was 8.31+ 1.408 %. 63 out of 100 subjects had LVDD. There was significant positive correlation between HbA1c and LVDD (p value <0.001). As HbA1c increased, severity of LVDD increased. In this study, as BMI increased, HbA1c and LVDD increased & both findings were statistically significant (p value =0.001).Conclusion: Our study indicates that myocardial damage in patients with diabetes affects diastolic function before systolic function &higher HbA1C level is strongly associated with presence of LVDD. Patients should be advised strict control of diabetes in order to reduce the risk for developing LVDD which is a precursor for more advanced disease.Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Diastolic dysfunction, BMI, HbA1

Use of Dogs in the Mediation of Conservation Conflicts

Conflicts between wildlife and humans are of global importance and are increasing. These conflicts may negatively impact wildlife, humans, and other resources, primarily livestock. Human safety and economic well-being can be adversely impacted by depredation of livestock and perpetuation of wildlife-borne diseases in agricultural systems. Conversely, management approaches to mitigate these conflicts may employ primarily lethal control methods that can negatively impact wildlife populations of conservation importance. Dogs, principally livestock protection breeds, have been used for centuries in some cultures to protect livestock from predators. Dogs have also been used for a variety of other conservation-specific practices. Here we provide an overview of a chapter we developed on this topic for a book entitled Free-ranging Dogs and Wildlife Conservation, just released by Oxford University Press (2013). We will review past and current use of dogs for mediating wildlife-human conflict and highlight future areas of research that are needed to more effectively use dogs for mediating conservation conflicts

Neuropathic pruritus: an early indicator of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders

Neuromyelitis optica is a relapsing, inflammatory astrocytopathic disorder, affecting predominantly the optic nerves and spinal cord. It is associated with antiaquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG) in up to 70% of patients. Spinal cord involvement typically presents as a longitudinally-extensive transverse myelitis, with associated sensorimotor and sphincter dysfunction. Sensory symptoms such as numbness, dysaesthesia, pain and tonic spasms are common. Here, we present a case of a 25years old female who came to the medicine OPD, with the chief complaints of intense itching over face and forehead, which was later on progressed to quadriparesis after 3 weeks. This case highlights neuropathic pruritus as an under-recognised early feature of neuromyelitis optica

An automated method to build groundwater model hydrostratigraphy from airborne electromagnetic data and lithological borehole logs

Abstract. Large-scale integrated hydrological models are important decision support tools in water resources management. The largest source of uncertainty in such models is the hydrostratigraphic model. Geometry and configuration of hydrogeological units are often poorly determined from hydrogeological data alone. Due to sparse sampling in space, lithological borehole logs may overlook structures that are important for groundwater flow at larger scales. Good spatial coverage along with high spatial resolution makes airborne time-domain electromagnetic (AEM) data valuable for the structural input to large-scale groundwater models. We present a novel method to automatically integrate large AEM data-sets and lithological information into large-scale hydrological models. Clay-fraction maps are produced by translating geophysical resistivity into clay-fraction values using lithological borehole information. Voxel models of electrical resistivity and clay fraction are classified into hydrostratigraphic zones using k-means clustering. Hydraulic conductivity values of the zones are estimated by hydrological calibration using hydraulic head and stream discharge observations. The method is applied to a Danish case study. Benchmarking hydrological performance by comparison of simulated hydrological state variables, the cluster model performed competitively. Calibrations of 11 hydrostratigraphic cluster models with 1–11 hydraulic conductivity zones showed improved hydrological performance with increasing number of clusters. Beyond the 5-cluster model hydrological performance did not improve. Due to reproducibility and possibility of method standardization and automation, we believe that hydrostratigraphic model generation with the proposed method has important prospects for groundwater models used in water resources management.</jats:p

Biosensor Integration Development ExMC/Canadian Space Agency Collaboration

In support of the NASA Human Research Program Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) established a collaborative effort with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The collaboration focuses on leveraging CSA capability in the areas of biosensors and decision support that will augment future development of such components for Exploration Missions. The CSA advancement of biosensors enables NASA to focus on the integration and data management associated with these types of components through the system currently under development by the Medical Data Architecture (MDA) project. This approach has enabled the establishment of a successful collaborative working relationship between ExMC and CSA.Applying lessons learned from the fiscal year 2016 (FY16) Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) campaign, CSA and NASA ARC developed a solution to provide real-time feedback to researchers who monitor the collection of vital signs data from a wearable Astroskin garment. The advances in the interfaces included the development of an iPad application (by CSA) to wirelessly forward the vital signs data to the MDA system, which collected the vital signs data through a receiver developed by NASA ARC. The development of these interfaces aims to provide communications between the Astroskin and the MDA system such that data may be seamlessly collected, stored and retrieved by the MDA. The first steps towards this goal were demonstrated in FY16. In FY17, ExMC will complete the first in a series of test beds that establishes a system to automate collection and management of vital sign data from the Astroskin, and other sources of data, to provide information for a crewmember to make medical decisions. In addition, the MDA Test Bed 1 will enable CSA to evaluate and optimize biosensor advancement and facilitate decision support algorithm development

Completeness of dagger-categories and the complex numbers

The complex numbers are an important part of quantum theory, but are difficult to motivate from a theoretical perspective. We describe a simple formal framework for theories of physics, and show that if a theory of physics presented in this manner satisfies certain completeness properties, then it necessarily includes the complex numbers as a mathematical ingredient. Central to our approach are the techniques of category theory, and we introduce a new category-theoretical tool, called the dagger-limit, which governs the way in which systems can be combined to form larger systems. These dagger-limits can be used to characterize the dagger-functor on the category of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces, and so can be used as an equivalent definition of the inner product. One of our main results is that in a nontrivial monoidal dagger-category with all finite dagger-limits and a simple tensor unit, the semiring of scalars embeds into an involutive field of characteristic 0 and orderable fixed field.Comment: 39 pages. Accepted for publication in the Journal of Mathematical Physic