Interview of Fred J. Foley, Jr., Ph.D.

Dr. Fred Foley, Jr. was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in December of 1946. His parents were Fred Joseph Foley and Doris Nelson Foley. He moved to the Philadelphia area with his family when he was four years old. He is married, has three children and four grandchildren. He lived in Delaware County growing up. Dr. Foley attended St. Andrew\u27s Grade School and Monsignor Bonner High School for Boys. He attended St. Joseph’s College as an undergrad majoring in Politics. He graduated with a B.A. in Politics in 1968. He attended Princeton University for his Master’s and Ph.D. programs. He graduated with his Master’s in Politics in 1970 and with his Ph.D. in Politics in 1979. His dissertation Title was “Decentralization and Community Control in the Philadelphia Public Schools in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s: The Politics of School Reform.” His dissertation advisors were Duane Lockard and Robert F. Lyke. Dr. Foley currently lives in Philadelphia. Dr. Foley has been either a teacher or administrator at La Salle University for almost the last 50 years. He began teaching in 1970 and taught either full-time or part-time off and on until the present. He spent much of his time at La Salle as an administrator in the Fundraising, Grants and Development areas. He is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Political Science Department at LaSalle University. He teaches American Federal Government (Principles of American Government), The American Presidency and the Executive Branch, State and Local Government in the United States, Public Administration and United States Congress: The Legislative Process. Dr. Foley’s publications and conference presentations include “The Stormy Reformation of Philadelphia’s Politics,” LaSalle Magazine, Winter, 1974., Book Review: “Black Politics in Philadelphia.” Edited by Miriam Ershowitz and Joseph Zikmund. American Political Science Review, Volume 69, March, 1975, pages 270-271., “Community Control and the Philadelphia Public School.” Urban Education, Winter, 1975,. “Public Employee Unionism in Pennsylvania: Impacts on Local Power Distribution.” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, September, 1975., “Community Control: The Politics of Urban School Reform.” Polity, March, 1976., “The Effectiveness of Federal Programs: The Politics of Bureaucracy,” Polity, 1976., and “Unionization and the Public Sector: The Impact of Legislative and Judicial Action in Pennsylvania.” Region Magazine, 1976. As he is now “semi-retired”, Dr. Foley enjoys traveling with his wife and spending time with his children and grandchildren. He also enjoys teaching part-time and is having “terrific fun”

Recommendations for a Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS)

Background: Cognitive impairment in MS impacts negatively on many patients at all disease stages and in all subtypes. Full clinical cognitive assessment is expensive, requiring expert staff and special equipment. Test versions and normative data are not available for all languages and cultures. Objective: To recommend a brief cognitive assessment for multiple sclerosis (MS) that is optimized for small centers, with one or few staff members, who may not have neuropsychological training and constructed to maximize international use. Methods: An expert committee of twelve members representing the main cultural groups that have so far contributed considerable data about MS cognitive dysfunction was convened. Following exhaustive literature review, peer-reviewed articles were selected to cover a broad spectrum of cultures and scales that targeted cognitive domains vulnerable to MS. Each was rated by two committee members and candidates scales were rated on psychometric qualities (reliability, validity, and sensitivity), international application, ease of administration, feasibility in the specified context, and acceptability to patients. Results: The committee recommended the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, if only 5 minutes was available, with the addition of the California Verbal Learning Test – Second Edition and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test – Revised learning trials if a further 10 minutes could be allocated for testing. Conclusions: A brief cognitive assessment for MS has been recommended. A validation protocol has been prepared for language groups and validation studies have commenced

Interrelationships between serum levels of amiodarone, desethylamiodarone, reverse T3 and the QT interval during long-term amiodarone treatment

The interrelationships between serum levels of amiodarone, desethylamiodarone, and reverse T3, and changes in the corrected QT interval ([Delta]QTc) were examined in 22 patients during long-term treatment with amiodarone. At 1, 3, and 6 months of follow-up, the correlation coefficient between serum levels of amiodarone or desethylamiodarone and reverse T3 ranged from 0.01 to -0.2 (p > 0.4). At the same time intervals, the correlation coefficient between both amiodarone and desethylamiodarone levels and [Delta]QTc ranged from 0.1 to -0.1 (p > 0.6), and the correlation coefficient between reverse T3 and [Delta]QTc also ranged between 0.1 to -0.1 (p> 0.5). Substituting percent [Delta]QTc for [Delta]QTc also did not reveal a significant correlation. These data demonstrate that serum levels of reverse T3 cannot be used as a substitute for serum levels of amiodarone in monitoring patients being treated with amiodarone. The absence of a correlation between serum reverse T3 levels and [Delta]QTc suggests that the delay in repolarization which occurs during amiodarone therapy is not secondary to an amiodarone-induced abnormality in thyroid hormone metabolism.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26433/1/0000521.pd

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Culturally Congruent Intervention to Increase Condom Use and HIV Testing Among Heterosexually Active Immigrant Latino Men

This randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of an HIV prevention intervention to increase condom use and HIV testing among Spanish-speaking, heterosexually active immigrant Latino men. A community-based participatory research partnership developed the intervention and selected the study design. Following baseline data collection, 142 immigrant Latino men were randomized to the HIV prevention intervention or the cancer education intervention. Three-month follow-up data were collected from 139 participants, for a 98% retention rate. Mean age of participants was 31.6 years and 60% reported being from Mexico. Adjusting for baseline behaviors, relative to their peers in the cancer education comparison, participants in the HIV prevention intervention were more likely to report consistent condom use and receiving an HIV test. Community-based interventions for immigrant Latino men that are built on state of the art prevention science and developed in partnership with community members can greatly enhance preventive behaviors and may reduce HIV infection

Hyperhomocysteinemia is independently associated with albuminuria in the population-based CoLaus study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increased serum levels of homocysteine and uric acid have each been associated with cardiovascular risk. We analyzed whether homocysteine and uric acid were associated with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and albuminuria independently of each other. We also investigated the association of <it>MTHFR </it>polymorphisms related to homocysteine with albuminuria to get further insight into causality.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional population-based study in Caucasians (<it>n </it>= 5913). Hyperhomocysteinemia was defined as total serum homocysteine ≥ 15 μmol/L. Albuminuria was defined as urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio > 30 mg/g.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Uric acid was associated positively with homocysteine (r = 0.246 in men and r = 0.287 in women, <it>P </it>< 0.001). The prevalence of albuminuria increased across increasing homocysteine categories (from 6.4% to 17.3% in subjects with normal GFR and from 3.5% to 14.5% in those with reduced GFR, <it>P </it>for trend < 0.005). Hyperhomocysteinemia (OR = 2.22, 95% confidence interval: 1.60-3.08, <it>P </it>< 0.001) and elevated serum uric acid (OR = 1.27, 1.08-1.50, per 100 μmol/L, <it>P </it>= 0.004) were significantly associated with albuminuria, independently of hypertension and type 2 diabetes. The 2-fold higher risk of albuminuria associated with hyperhomocysteinemia was similar to the risk associated with hypertension or diabetes. <it>MTHFR </it>alleles related to higher homocysteine were associated with increased risk of albuminuria.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In the general adult population, elevated serum homocysteine and uric acid were associated with albuminuria independently of each other and of renal function.</p