Hardy S. Clemons Oral History

Audio interview with Dr. Hardy S. Clemons, Furman Trustee Emeritus, and former pastor of the First Baptist Church in Greenville, SC. Dr. Clemons is a 1955 graduate of Texas Tech University, and later earned a Doctorate of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Furman in 1994. In this 2004 oral history, Dr. Clemons discusses his work in civil rights early in his career in Texas. He tells of how he came to Greenville First Baptist, and how his relationship with Furman began. Dr. Clemons tells of his friendships with Gordon Blackwell, John Johns, and David Shi. He details the changing nature of the Southern Baptist Convention throughout the 1970s and 1980s, how it affected Greenville First Baptist, and gives his opinions regarding the causes and effects of the split between Furman and the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Dr. Clemons discusses the split between Greenville First Baptist and the Southern Baptist Convention as well. He discusses Furman\u27s religious identity since the early 1990\u27s, and speaks of some controversial issues the board faced during his tenure as a trustee.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/oral-histories/1022/thumbnail.jp

An Evaluation of Palliative Care Education at the UNC School of Medicine: Redesigning an Undergraduate Medical Curriculum

This study illustrates that the national trends in attitudes about palliative care also apply to UNC. Some of the students and faculty still believe the fallacy that palliative care and end-of-life care are the same. This demonstrates a need to further educate students about the subject. The proposed ideas for modifying the curriculum reflected similar actions taken by other medical schools that have proven to be effective. The study provides those ideas along with a plan for action to the TEC Committee to help them start the process for change.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt

An Investigation into Cognitive Radio System Performance

The objective of this thesis is to explore cognitive radio performance through an in-depth literature review and an implementation of a software-defined radio prototyping system. Specifically, this thesis investigates the spectrum-sensing aspect of cognitive radio by comparing two spectrum-sensing methods. It was found in the literature review that a system utilizing matched filter detection would provide higher probability of detection in low signal-to-noise ratio environments when compared to a system utilizing energy detection. These spectrum sensing methods were thus implemented and compared in the cognitive radio systems presented in this thesis. Additionally, experiments were conducted to determine the most efficient intervals for the spectrum sensing and cycle interval periods. Therefore, system performance was measured on the basis of probability of successful primary user signal detection and maximum throughput capabilities, quantified by bit error rate. It was found that a cognitive radio system based on matched filter detection was more robust, given that the transmitted signal of interest was previously known. However, compared to a system based on energy detection, the implementation of the matched filter required more complex algorithms and computational power. These results are consistent with the findings in the literature review

Prevalence, attitudes and knowledge of misoprostol for self-induction of abortion in women presenting for abortion at Midwestern reproductive health

Expansive restrictions to legal abortion have led to reports of self-induced termination of undesired pregnancies with misoprostol obtained without a prescription or provider. This study seeks to describe the prevalence of women seeking or employing misoprostol for self-induced abortion and how they access information. Women are accessing information regarding misoprostol for self-induction of abortion on the internet and as barriers to legal abortion increase, women may be more likely to self-induce abortion

Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration is not a synucleinopathy

Aims:  Mutations in the pantothenate kinase 2 gene (PANK2) are responsible for the most common type of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA), known as pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN). Historically, NBIA is considered a synucleinopathy with numerous reports of NBIA cases with Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites and some cases reporting additional abnormal tau accumulation. However, clinicopathological correlations in genetically proven PKAN cases are rare. We describe the clinical, genetic and neuropathological features of three unrelated PKAN cases. Methods:  All three cases were genetically screened for the PANK2 gene mutations using standard Sanger PCR sequencing. A detailed neuropathological assessment of the three cases was performed using histochemical and immunohistochemical preparations. Results:  All cases had classical axonal swellings and Perl's positive iron deposition in the basal ganglia. In contrast to neuroaxonal dystrophies due to mutation of the phospholipase A2, group VI (PLA2G6) gene, in which Lewy body (LB) pathology is widespread, no α-synuclein accumulation was detected in any of our PKAN cases. In one case (20-year-old male) there was significant tau pathology comprising neurofibrillary tangles and neuropil threads, with very subtle tau pathology in another case. Conclusions:  These findings indicate that PKAN is not a synucleinopathy and, hence the cellular pathways implicated in this disease are unlikely to be relevant for the pathomechanism of Lewy body disorders. © 2012 The Authors. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology © 2012 British Neuropathological Society

SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody and neutralization assays reveal the wide range of the humoral immune response to virus.

Development of antibody protection during SARS-CoV-2 infection is a pressing question for public health and for vaccine development. We developed highly sensitive SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody and neutralization assays. SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein or Nucleocapsid protein specific IgG antibodies at titers more than 1:100,000 were detectable in all PCR+ subjects (n = 115) and were absent in the negative controls. Other isotype antibodies (IgA, IgG1-4) were also detected. SARS-CoV-2 neutralization was determined in COVID-19 and convalescent plasma at up to 10,000-fold dilution, using Spike protein pseudotyped lentiviruses, which were also blocked by neutralizing antibodies (NAbs). Hospitalized patients had up to 3000-fold higher antibody and neutralization titers compared to outpatients or convalescent plasma donors. Interestingly, some COVID-19 patients also possessed NAbs against SARS-CoV Spike protein pseudovirus. Together these results demonstrate the high specificity and sensitivity of our assays, which may impact understanding the quality or duration of the antibody response during COVID-19 and in determining the effectiveness of potential vaccines

Assessing the Health of the U.S. West Coast with a Regional-Scale Application of the Ocean Health Index

Management of marine ecosystems increasingly demands comprehensive and quantitative assessments of ocean health, but lacks a tool to do so. We applied the recently developed Ocean Health Index to assess ocean health in the relatively data-rich US west coast region. The overall region scored 71 out of 100, with sub-regions scoring from 65 (Washington) to 74 (Oregon). Highest scoring goals included tourism and recreation (99) and clean waters (87), while the lowest scoring goals were sense of place (48) and artisanal fishing opportunities (57). Surprisingly, even in this well-studied area data limitations precluded robust assessments of past trends in overall ocean health. Nonetheless, retrospective calculation of current status showed that many goals have declined, by up to 20%. In contrast, near-term future scores were on average 6% greater than current status across all goals and sub-regions. Application of hypothetical but realistic management scenarios illustrate how the Index can be used to predict and understand the tradeoffs among goals and consequences for overall ocean health. We illustrate and discuss how this index can be used to vet underlying assumptions and decisions with local stakeholders and decision-makers so that scores reflect regional knowledge, priorities and values. We also highlight the importance of ongoing and future monitoring that will provide robust data relevant to ocean health assessment

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty