22 research outputs found
Elevated hydrogen peroxide and decreased catalase and glutathione peroxidase protection are associated with aging sarcopenia
Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome
The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead
From Refuge to Risk: Public Libraries and Children in World War I
During World War I public libraries in the United States functioned
in multiple ways as civic spaces. This was particularly true of libraries
in large, urban centers with diverse ethnic populations, many from
countries involved in the conflict. For children, the library was a refuge
that provided story hours, reading material, and space dedicated
to their needs. Just before the end of the war, the influenza pandemic
broke out and children were not allowed in the library building. In
a few short months, the library went from being a refuge to being a
health risk for children.published or submitted for publicatio
From Folktales to Fiction: Orphan Characters in Children's Literature
published or submitted for publicatio
Effie Louise Power: Librarian, Educator, Author
Effie Louise Power (1873???1969) represented the high standard of collaboration
among children???s librarians that characterized the entire development
of youth services work. This article examines Power???s role in U.S. library
history as a practitioner, library and information science educator, national
and regional professional leader, and author. Particular emphasis is given to
Power???s place in the network of children???s librarians in the early twentieth
century, her professional authority as the librarian selected by the American
Library Association to write the fi rst textbook for children???s librarianship,
and her success as one of the many librarians who have written and edited
children???s books, especially folktale collections for use in storytelling programs.
Emerging most notably from this research is the discovery of how
energetically, albeit quietly, Power infl uenced not only her contemporaries
but also the next several generations of children???s librarians who have followed
in her professional footsteps.published or submitted for publicatio
Seeing the World from Main Street: Early Twentieth-Century Juvenile Collections about Life in Other Lands
By the late nineteenth century, the United States had emerged as a
major industrial nation and an increasingly important force in world
politics. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, books
set in countries outside the United States proliferated. In particular,
books as part of a series, both fiction and nonfiction, were selected for
inclusion in public library collections. It is not surprising that large
urban libraries with diverse populations like St. Louis and Buffalo
would acquire children’s fiction and nonfiction on themes related
to life in other lands, but what did library collections in smaller, less
diverse communities include? The view from small-town Main Street
was similar to the view from large cities—children’s librarians acted
on their belief that their patrons needed to have access to materials
that discussed the world outside the borders of their town, state, and
country. An analysis of titles held by five small midwestern libraries,
book lists of the St. Louis Public Library, and lists of books included
in the classroom collections from the Buffalo Public Library in the
early twentieth century shows an increasing number of books that
described life in other countries. This suggests that there was widespread
agreement about the importance for children’s reading about
life outside the borders of the United States.published or submitted for publicationOpe
Scott Casper et al., Perspectives on American Book History: Artifacts and Commentaries. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2002. 480 pp. Cloth 24.95.
"A Home-like Atmosphere": The Advent of Children's Rooms at St. Louis Public Library, 1906-1912
Most public libraries in the United States did not include collections,
rooms, or librarians dedicated to work with children until the
early twentieth century. The establishment of children’s rooms as a
customary feature of U.S. public libraries coincided with bequests
to public libraries by the Carnegie Corporation. One such library,
St. Louis (Missouri) Public Library, provides an example of how
large, urban library systems expanded to included neighborhood
branches as well as a central branch building, all of which contained
a purpose-built space for work with children. As branch buildings
with children’s rooms emerged, so did the need for trained children’s
librarians. Paradoxically, as soon as there were rooms dedicated to
children, librarians extended their reach to municipal playgrounds,
schools, and other venues outside of the library. Children’s librarians
found themselves traversing a variety of spaces, serving a diverse
population in multiple sites.published or submitted for publicationLimitedpublisher requiremen
Quality of life after long-term biochemical control of acromegaly.
PURPOSE: To assess long-term quality of life (QoL) in patients with sustained biochemical control of acromegaly, comparing those receiving vs not receiving pharmacotherapy (primary analysis); to assess change in QoL over time (secondary analysis).
METHODS: Cross-sectional study, with a secondary longitudinal component, of 58 patients with biochemically controlled acromegaly. All had participated in studies assessing QoL years previously, after having undergone surgery ± radiotherapy. One cohort received medical therapy [MED (n = 33)]; the other did not [NO-MED (n = 25)]. QoL was assessed by the 36-Item-Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (AcroQoL), Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI), Symptom Questionnaire, and QoL-Assessment of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Adults (QoL-AGHDA).
RESULTS: Mean (± SD) duration of biochemical control was 15.0 ± 6.4 years for MED and 20.4 ± 8.2 years for NO-MED (p = 0.007). 58% of subjects scored \u3c 25% of normal on ≥ 1 SF-36 domain and 32% scored \u3c 25% of normal on ≥ 4 of 8 domains. Comparing MED vs NO-MED and controlling for duration of biochemical control, there were no significant differences in QoL by SF-36, AcroQOL, GIQLI, Symptom Questionnaire, or QoL-AGHDA. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) but not radiotherapy predicted poorer QoL. In MED, QoL improved over time in three AcroQoL domains and two GIQLI domains. In NO-MED, QoL worsened in two SF-36 domains and two Symptom Questionnaire domains; QoL-AGHDA scores also worsened in subjects with GHD.
CONCLUSION: A history of acromegaly and development of GHD, but not pharmacologic or radiotherapy, are detrimental to QoL, which remains poor over the long-term despite biochemical control
Effects of growth hormone receptor antagonism and somatostatin analog administration on quality of life in acromegaly
OBJECTIVE: Acromegaly is associated with impaired quality of life (QoL). We investigated the effects of biochemical control of acromegaly by growth hormone receptor antagonism vs somatostatin analog therapy on QoL.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional.
PATIENTS: 116 subjects: n = 55 receiving a somatostatin analog (SSA group); n = 29 receiving pegvisomant (PEG group); n = 32 active acromegaly on no medical therapy (ACTIVE group).
MEASUREMENTS: Acromegaly QoL Questionnaire (AcroQoL), Rand 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and Gastrointestinal QoL Index (GIQLI); fasting glucose, insulin and IGF-1 levels (LC/MS, Quest Diagnostics).
RESULTS: There were no group differences in mean age, BMI or sex [(whole cohort mean ± SD) age 52 ± 14 years, BMI 30 ± 6 kg/m
CONCLUSION: Our data support a comparable QoL in patients receiving pegvisomant vs somatostatin analogs, despite the fact that the vast majority receiving pegvisomant did not respond to or were not able to tolerate somatostatin analogs