Charlotte Michaud Correspondence

Entries include letters, a lengthy typed biography, and a photographic portrait

Reducing Blood Pressure through Education on Lifestyle Interventions

The purpose of this study was to develop an educational plan for patients with elevated blood pressure to increase their knowledge and self-efficacy of lifestyle interventions proven to help lower blood pressure rates.https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/scholarsday2023_spring-posters/1001/thumbnail.jp

Cryptocurrencies: An Introduction for Policy Makers

Cryptocurrencies are open-source, peer-to-peer digital currencies. Two of their most distinctive features include the use of public key cryptography to secure transactions and create additional currency units, as well as the decentralized nature of their digital payment systems. The underlying technical system which all cryptocurrencies are modelled after is that of the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Bitcoin was created by “Satoshi Nakamoto” a person or group credited with writing the first paper on the digital currency in 2008. Certain key elements differentiate cryptocurrencies from traditional electronic currency systems such as electronic banking and PayPal, most notably their decentralized control mechanisms. That is, traditional methods involve a single entity recording, verifying, and ensuring transactions. With many cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, past transactions are recorded on a public ledger and verification of transactions is outsourced to users. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies provide users many benefits, including ease of digital transactions, lower transaction costs, and enhanced privacy. However, these benefits come with concerns regarding consumer protection and fraud deterrence. Three pressure points persist: the irretrievability problem (the inability to call back a bitcoin once it has been transferred), bitcoin mining malware, and exchange services. Also problematic is the lack of uniformity from state-to-state regarding cryptocurrencies’ (predominately Bitcoin’s) categorization as either currency or property. Defining cryptocurrencies as currency facilitates its use as a method of exchange, while categorizing it as property may be easier for tax collection purposes. Bitcoin’s encrypted nature problematizes the digital currency as abandoned property. Traditionally, abandoned property reverts to the state after a statutorily set period of time. In instances of cash, gold, etc. this is fairly easy – ownership of the valuable goods transfers to the state after the statutory period. Generally, banks and financial institutions are required by state laws to retain a customer’s property for a period of time, usually five years, before the property will escheat to the state. However, Bitcoin creates circumstances in which the value of the abandoned property is permanently lost rather than transferred to the state. Finally, a fear concerning Bitcoin and other digital currencies is the potential for use in criminal activity. The pseudonymous nature of the transactions, the ease with which funds can be transferred across geographical distances, and the inherent risk in the currency have fueled hesitation and fear. This paper defines cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, and explains the processes and vulnerabilities facing Bitcoin user, as well as the currency’s potential as a tool for criminal activity. Additionally, each section concludes with policy suggestions to help inform legislators and general audiences on the nature and Bitcoin, as well as provide insights into the digital currency’s’ general usage. Note: This paper was prepared for general education purposes by students in the University of Washington School of Law\u27s Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic, under the guidance of Professor William Covingtonhttps://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/techclinic/1006/thumbnail.jp

Investigation of the blood proteome in response to spinal cord injury in rodent models

We would like to thank the Institute of Orthopaedics and the Midlands Centre for Spinal Cord Injury (MCSI) for funding this research. This work was also supported by the Wellcome Trust [grant number 094476/Z/10/Z] which funded the purchase of the TripleTOF 5600 mass spectrometer at the BSRC Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility, University of St Andrews.Study Design: Explanatory and mechanistic study. Objective: A better understanding of the 'whole-body' response following spinal cord injury (SCI) is needed to guide future research aimed at developing novel therapeutic interventions and identifying prognostic indicators for SCI. This study aimed to characterise the blood proteome following contusion or complete SCI compared to a sham injury in rat models. Setting: United Kingdom. Methods: Pooled blood samples from one and seven days after a contusion (serum; n = 5) or from 14 days and 112 days post-complete transection SCI (plasma; n = 8) and their sham-injured counterparts were subjected to independent iTRAQ nanoflow liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry proteomic analyses. Pathway analyses of the proteins that were differentially abundant between SCI and their matched sham injured counterparts were completed to indicate biological pathways that may be changed in response to SCI. Results: Eleven and 42 proteins were differentially abundant (≥±2.0 FC; p ≤ 0.05) between the contusion SCI and sham injured animals at 24 h and seven days post-injury, respectively. Seven and tweleve proteins were differentially abundant between complete and sham injured rats at 14 and 112 days post-injury, respectively. Acute-phase response signalling and Liver X Receptor/Retinoic X Receptor activation were identified as differentially regulated pathways in both models of SCI. Conclusions: We have utilised longitudinal preclinical SCI models to provide an insight into the blood proteome changes that result following SCI and to highlight a number of biological pathways of interest for future studies.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Innovating for a cause:the work and learning required to create a new approach to healthcare for homeless people

Innovation occupies a pivotal place in our understanding of knowledge-based economies, and this is raising questions about sources of innovation, how it originates, and the role played by employees, work practices and learning. This paper explores these issues through case study research into a new approach to providing healthcare for homeless people in England, and by bringing together conceptual insights from the employee-driven innovation literature, and more broadly from social and practice-based learning theory and organisational theory. Applying these perspectives to our case enables illumination of the innovation as a process – not an event – and as an ongoing set of organisational practices that transcend their origins. Through our analysis we argue that the notion of ‘a cause’ is helpful in elucidating the impetus and the commitment to making the innovation happen (and go on happening). Our findings are presented under three themes: ‘establishing a cause’, ‘organising for innovation’, and ‘innovative capability in practice’. Building on these, we have identified five key inter-related dimensions which help conceptualise the work and learning that it took to create and (re-)enact the innovation and that we suggest may have relevance for understanding and characterising other employee-led innovations in and perhaps beyond healthcare

Retrospective chart review study of use of cannabidiol (CBD) independent of concomitant clobazam use in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome

PURPOSE: This retrospective chart review study (GWEP20052) evaluated plant-derived highly purified cannabidiol (CBD; Epidyolex®; 100 mg/mL oral solution) use without clobazam as add-on therapy in patients aged ≥2 years with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) or Dravet syndrome (DS) enrolled in a European Early Access Program. METHODS: Data were extracted from patient charts covering a period starting 3 months before CBD treatment and concluding after 12 months of CBD treatment, or sooner if a patient discontinued CBD or started clobazam. RESULTS: Of 114 enrolled patients, data were available for 107 (92 LGS, 15 DS) who received CBD without clobazam for ≥3 months. Mean age: 14.5 (LGS) and 10.5 (DS) years; female: 44% (LGS) and 67% (DS). Mean time-averaged CBD dose: 13.54 (LGS) and 11.56 (DS) mg/kg/day. Median change from baseline in seizure frequency per 28 days over 3-month intervals varied from -6.2% to -20.9% for LGS and 0% to -16.7% for DS. Achievement of ≥50% reduction in drop (LGS) or convulsive (DS) seizures at 3 and 12 months: LGS, 19% (n = 69) and 30% (n = 53); DS, 21% (n = 14) and 13% (n = 8). Retention on CBD without clobazam (enrolled set): 94%, 80%, 69%, and 63% at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Adverse event (AE) incidence was 31%, most commonly somnolence, seizure, diarrhea, and decreased appetite. Two patients discontinued CBD owing to AEs, and four patients with LGS experienced elevated liver enzymes. CONCLUSION: Results support favorable effectiveness and retention of CBD without concomitant clobazam for up to 12 months in clinical practice