The Evolving Role of Faculty: Traditional Scholarship, Instructional Scholarship and Service Scholarship

Faculty workload decisions made by a departmental unit often create a conflict for faculty because promotion/tenure decisions usually focus primarily on individual scholarly achievements. This paper describes an approach to faculty evaluation that considers both departmental and individual needs by expanding the view of scholarship to include Research, Instruction, and Service

Preventing Suicide in Prisons, Part I Recommendations fromthe International Association for Suicide Prevention Task Force on Suicide in Prisons

Abstract. In 2000 the Department of Mental Health of the World Health Organization (WHO) published a guide named Preventing Suicide. A Resource for Prison Officers as part of the WHO worldwide initiative for the prevention of suicide. In 2007 there are new epidemiological data on prison suicide, a more detailed discussion of risk factors accounting for the generally higher rate of suicide in correctional settings in comparison to the general population, and several strategies for developing screening instruments. As a first step, this paper presents an update of the WHO guide by the Task Force on Suicide in Prisons, created by the International Association for Suicide Prevention. A second paper, by the same Task Force, will present some international comparisons of suicide prevention services in correctional facilities

Affine T-varieties of complexity one and locally nilpotent derivations

Let X=spec A be a normal affine variety over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic 0 endowed with an effective action of a torus T of dimension n. Let also D be a homogeneous locally nilpotent derivation on the normal affine Z^n-graded domain A, so that D generates a k_+-action on X that is normalized by the T-action. We provide a complete classification of pairs (X,D) in two cases: for toric varieties (n=\dim X) and in the case where n=\dim X-1. This generalizes previously known results for surfaces due to Flenner and Zaidenberg. As an application we compute the homogeneous Makar-Limanov invariant of such varieties. In particular we exhibit a family of non-rational varieties with trivial Makar-Limanov invariant.Comment: 31 pages. Minor changes in the structure. Fixed some typo

A search for pulsations from the compact object of GRB 060218

A fraction of massive stars are expected to collapse into compact objects (accreting black holes or rapidly rotating neutron stars) that successfully produce gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We examine the possibility of directly observing these gamma-ray burst compact objects (GCOs) using post-explosion observations of past and future GRB sites. In particular, we present a search for early pulsations from the nearby (z=0.0335) gamma-ray burst GRB 060218, which exhibited features possibly consistent with a rapidly spinning neutron star as its underlying GCO. We also consider alternative techniques that could potentially achieve a detection of GCOs either in the Local Volume or near the plane of our own Galaxy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Revised version, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The AViKA (Adding Value in Knee Arthroplasty) postoperative care navigation trial: rationale and design features

Background: Utilization of total knee arthroplasty is increasing rapidly. A substantial number of total knee arthroplasty recipients have persistent pain after surgery. Our objective was to design a randomized controlled trial to establish the efficacy of a motivational-interviewing-based telephone intervention aimed at improving patient outcomes and satisfaction following total knee arthroplasty. Methods/Design The study was conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. The study focused on individuals 40 years or older with a primary diagnosis of osteoarthritis who were scheduled for total knee arthroplasty. The study compared two management strategies over the first six months postoperatively: 1) enhanced postoperative care with frequent follow-up by a care navigator; 2) usual postoperative care. Those who were randomized into the enhanced postoperative care arm received ten calls from a trained non-clinician care navigator over the first six postoperative months. The navigator used motivational interviewing techniques to engage patients in discussions related to their rehabilitation goals, including patient’s plans for and confidence in achieving those goals. Patients in the usual care arm received standard postoperative management and received no navigator phone calls. Patients in both arms were assessed at baseline, three months, and six months postoperatively. Discussion The primary outcome of the study was improvement in function as measured by the difference in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index function score between preoperative (baseline) status and six months postoperatively. Data were collected to identify factors that may be related to total knee arthroplasty outcomes, including preoperative pain, pain catastrophizing, self-efficacy, and depression. A formal economic analysis is also planned to determine the cost-effectiveness of the care navigator as a component of total knee arthroplasty care. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0154085

The rapid formation a large rotating disk galaxy three billion years after the Big Bang

[Abridged] Over the past two decades observations and theoretical simulations have established a global frame-work of galaxy formation and evolution in the young Universe. Galaxies formed as baryonic gas cooled at the centres of collapsing dark matter halos. Mergers of halos led to the build up of galaxy mass. A major step forward in understanding these issues requires well resolved physical information on individual galaxies at high redshift. Here we report adaptive optics, spectroscopic observations of a representative luminous star forming galaxy when the Universe was only twenty percent of its age. The superior angular resolution of these data reveals the physical and dynamical properties of a high redshift galaxy in unprecedented detail. A large and massive rotating proto-disk is channelling gas towards a growing central stellar bulge hosting an accreting massive black hole.Comment: Narure, accepted (Released Aug 17th

Lifetime risk and age of diagnosis of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis in the US

The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.comOBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence and lifetime risk of diagnosed symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) and the age at diagnosis of knee OA based on self-reports in the US population. METHODS: We estimated the incidence of diagnosed symptomatic knee OA in the US by combining data on age-, sex-, and obesity-specific prevalence from the 2007-2008 National Health Interview Survey, with disease duration estimates derived from the Osteoarthritis Policy (OAPol) Model, a validated computer simulation model of knee OA. We used the OAPol Model to estimate the mean and median ages at diagnosis and lifetime risk. RESULTS: The estimated incidence of diagnosed symptomatic knee OA was highest among adults ages 55-64 years, ranging from 0.37% per year for nonobese men to 1.02% per year for obese women. The estimated median age at knee OA diagnosis was 55 years. The estimated lifetime risk was 13.83%, ranging from 9.60% for nonobese men to 23.87% in obese women. Approximately 9.29% of the US population is diagnosed with symptomatic knee OA by age 60 years. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of symptomatic knee OA occurs relatively early in life, suggesting that prevention programs should be offered relatively early in the life course. Further research is needed to understand the future burden of health care utilization resulting from earlier diagnosis of knee OA. Copyright 2013 by the American College of Rheumatology

Disease-modifying drugs for knee osteoarthritis: can they be cost-effective?

OBJECTIVE: Disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs) are under development. Our goal was to determine efficacy, toxicity, and cost thresholds under which DMOADs would be a cost-effective knee OA treatment. DESIGN: We used the Osteoarthritis Policy Model, a validated computer simulation of knee OA, to compare guideline-concordant care to strategies that insert DMOADs into the care sequence. The guideline-concordant care sequence included conservative pain management, corticosteroid injections, total knee replacement (TKR), and revision TKR. Base case DMOAD characteristics included: 50% chance of suspending progression in the first year (resumption rate of 10% thereafter) and 30% pain relief among those with suspended progression; 0.5%/year risk of major toxicity; and costs of $1,000/year. In sensitivity analyses, we varied suspended progression (20-100$1,000-$7,000). Outcomes included costs, quality-adjusted life expectancy, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), and TKR utilization. RESULTS: Base case DMOADs added 4.00 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and$230,000 per 100 persons, with an ICER of $57,500/QALY. DMOADs reduced need for TKR by 15$3,000/year achieved ICERs below $100,000/QALY if the likelihoods of suspended progression and pain relief were 20$5,000, these ICERs were attained if the likelihoods of suspended progression and pain relief were both 60%. CONCLUSIONS: Cost, suspended progression, and pain relief are key drivers of value for DMOADs. Plausible combinations of these factors could reduce need for TKR and satisfy commonly cited cost-effectiveness criteri