Readership and Buying Patterns of Students, Faculty and Staff of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

This research report examines the readership habits and buying patterns of the students, faculty and staff of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale with a focus on the Daily Egyptian, the student-run newspaper. Newspapers require an understanding of who is reading their publication to address content and advertising needs. This is important to ensure that the newspaper features relevant content for its target audience and enables the publication to be attractive to its advertisers. The goals of the study are to gain factual information dealing with readership and buying patterns regarding the Daily Egyptian through analysis of online and offline surveys distributed using convenience sampling. Findings indicate that 68 percent of the university population read the Daily Egyptian daily, and 80 percent read it for local news content. This illustrates how strong the Daily Egyptian is at reaching the university population and also remains the predominant reason why the university’s population reads this newspaper. The goal of the study is to provide the Daily Egyptian with ample data about its reader base with an eye on understanding who is reading, how often they are reading and why people are reading

Long‐term hematologic and clinical outcomes of splenectomy in children with hereditary spherocytosis and sickle cell disease

BackgroundTotal splenectomy (TS) and partial splenectomy (PS) are used for children with congenital hemolytic anemia (CHA), although the long‐term outcomes of these procedures are poorly defined. This report describes long‐term outcomes of children with CHA requiring TS or PS.ProcedureWe collected data from children ages 2‐17 with hereditary spherocytosis (HS) or sickle cell disease (SCD) requiring TS or PS from 1996 to 2016 from 14 sites in the Splenectomy in Congenital Hemolytic Anemia (SICHA) consortium using a prospective, observational patient registry. We summarized hematologic outcomes, clinical outcomes, and adverse events to 5 years after surgery. Hematologic outcomes were compared using mixed effects modeling.ResultsOver the study period, 110 children with HS and 97 children with SCD underwent TS or PS. From preoperatively compared to postoperatively, children with HS increased their mean hemoglobin level by 3.4 g/dL, decreased their mean reticulocyte percentage by 6.7%, and decreased their mean bilirubin by 2.4 mg/dL. Hematologic improvements and improved clinical outcomes were sustained over 5 years of follow‐up. For children with SCD, there was no change in hemoglobin after PS or TS following surgery, although all clinical outcomes were improved. Over 5 years, there was one child with HS and five children with SCD who developed postsplenectomy sepsis.ConclusionsFor children with HS, there are excellent long‐term hematologic and clinical outcomes following either PS or TS. Although hemoglobin levels do not change after TS or PS in SCD, the long‐term clinical outcomes for children with SCD are favorable.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155920/1/pbc28290.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155920/2/pbc28290_am.pd

The utility of 6-minute walk distance in predicting waitlist mortality for lung transplant candidates.

BACKGROUND The lung allocation score (LAS) has led to improved organ allocation for transplant candidates. At present, the 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) is treated as a binary categorical variable of whether or not a candidate can walk more than 150 feet in 6 minutes. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that 6MWD is presently under-utilized with respect to discriminatory power, and that, as a continuous variable, could better prognosticate risk of waitlist mortality. METHODS A retrospective cohort analysis was performed using the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS) transplant database. Candidates listed for isolated lung transplant between May 2005 and December 2011 were included. The population was stratified by 6MWD quartiles and unadjusted survival rates were estimated. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to assess the effect of 6MWD on risk of death. The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) Waitlist Risk Model was used to adjust for confounders. The optimal 6MWD for discriminative accuracy in predicting waitlist mortality was assessed by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS Analysis was performed on 12,298 recipients. Recipients were segregated into quartiles by distance walked. Waitlist mortality decreased as 6MWD increased. In the multivariable model, significant variables included 6MWD, male gender, non-white ethnicity and restrictive lung diseases. ROC curves discriminated 6-month mortality was best at 655 feet. CONCLUSIONS The 6MWD is a significant predictor of waitlist mortality. A cut-off of 150 feet sub-optimally identifies candidates with increased risk of mortality. A cut-off between 550 and 655 feet is more optimal if 6MWD is to be treated as a dichotomous variable. Utilization of the LAS as a continuous variable could further enhance predictive capabilities

Successful Lung Transplantation From Hepatitis C Positive Donor to Seronegative Recipient

Lung transplantation using RNA+ hepatitis C (HCV+) donors to seronegative recipients is not currently performed due to the very high risk of transmission. Previous reports have shown poor survival when this practice was applied. The emergence of new direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAA) suggests a high chance of sustained virologic response in immunocompetent patients. We report here successful transplantation of lungs from HCV+ donor to HCV- recipient. The recipient was an HCV- patient with chronic lung allograft dysfunction. Viral transmission occurred early posttransplant but excellent clinical outcomes were observed including elimination of HCV after 12 weeks of treatment using DAAs