164 research outputs found
Insulin use and persistence in patients with type 2 diabetes adding mealtime insulin to a basal regimen: a retrospective database analysis
BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to characterize insulin use and examine factors associated with persistence to mealtime insulin among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) on stable basal insulin therapy initiating mealtime insulin therapy. METHODS: Insulin use among patients with T2D initiating mealtime insulin was investigated using Thomson Reuters MarketScan(® )research databases from July 2001 through September 2006. The first mealtime insulin claim preceded by 6 months with 2 claims for basal insulin was used as the index event. A total of 21 months of continuous health plan enrollment was required. Patients were required to have a second mealtime insulin claim during the 12-month follow-up period. Persistence measure 1 defined non-persistence as the presence of a 90-day gap in mealtime insulin claims, effective the date of the last claim prior to the gap. Persistence measure 2 required 1 claim per quarter to be persistent. Risk factors for non-persistence were assessed using logistic regression. RESULTS: Patients initiating mealtime insulin (n = 4752; 51% male, mean age = 60.3 years) primarily used vial/syringe (87%) and insulin analogs (60%). Patients filled a median of 2, 3, and 4 mealtime insulin claims at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively, with a median time of 76 days between refills. According to measure 1, persistence to mealtime insulin was 40.7%, 30.2%, and 19.1% at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Results for measure 2 were considerably higher: 74.3%, 55.3%, and 42.2% of patients were persistent at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Initiating mealtime insulin with human insulin was a risk factor for non-persistence by both measures (OR < 0.80, p < 0.01). Additional predictors of non-persistence at 12 months included elderly age, increased insulin copayment, mental health comorbidity, and polypharmacy (p < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Mealtime insulin use and persistence were both considerably lower than expected, and were significantly lower for human insulin compared to analogs
An Emancipatory Approach to Cultural Competency: The Application of Critical Race, Postcolonial, and Intersectionality Theories
Nurses teach, work, and conduct research in an increasingly hostile sociopolitical climate where health inequities persist among marginalized communities. Current approaches to cultural competency do not adequately equip nurses to address these complex factors and risk perpetuating stereotypes and discrimination. A theory-driven emancipatory approach to cultural competency will instead lead to lasting change and uphold the core nursing value of commitment to social justice. This article explicates key tenets of critical race, postcolonial feminist, and intersectionality theories and then applies them, using an emancipatory approach to cultural competency that can reshape nursing education, research, and practice
Moving Toward, Moving Against, and Moving Away: An Interpersonal Approach to Construct Validation of the Horney–Coolidge Type Inventory
Karen Horney’s interpersonal theory of adjustment defined three different neurotic trends involving characteristic social behavior and motives: compliant (moving toward people), aggressive (moving against people), and detached (moving away from people). The Horney–Coolidge Type Inventory (HCTI) was developed to assess these trends, but has not been validated using standard methods in the interpersonal perspective. The studies reported here refined the structure of the HCTI, and utilized the structural summary method (SSM) to identify relationships of the three shortened HCTI trend scales with the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) in single university (n = 514) and multisite university (n = 3,283) samples. Results across both studies confirmed predicted interpersonal characteristics of each trend: Compliance was associated with warm submissiveness, aggression was associated with hostile dominance, and detachment was associated with hostile or cold submissiveness. However, analyses of facets within the three HCTI trend domains revealed significant differences. Results are discussed as a potential guide to further refinement of assessments of the Horney maladaptive trends, and support inclusion of Horney’s model in current interpersonal theory
The impact of using BARCIST 1.0 criteria on quantification of BAT volume and activity in three independent cohorts of adults
Human brown adipose tissue (BAT) is commonly assessed by cold-induced 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose
(FDG) PET-CT using several quantification criteria. Uniform criteria for data analysis became available
recently (BARCIST 1.0). We compared BAT volume and activity following BARCIST 1.0 criteria
against the most commonly used criteria [Hounsfield Units (HU):-250, -50, standardized uptake
value (SUV):2.0; HU: Not applied, SUV:2.0 and HU:-180, -10, SUV:1.5] in a prospective study using
three independent cohorts of men including young lean adults, young overweight/obese adults and
middle-aged overweight/obese adults. BAT volume was the most variable outcome between criteria.
While BAT volume calculated using the HU: NA; SUV: 2.0 criteria was up to 207% higher than the BAT
volume calculated based on BARCIST 1.0 criteria, it was up to 57% lower using the HU: -250, -50; SUV:
2.0 criteria compared to the BARCIST 1.0. Similarly, BAT activity (expressed as SUVmean) also differed
between different thresholds mainly because SUVmean depends on BAT volume. SUVpeak was the most
consistent BAT outcome across the four study criteria. Of note, we replicated these findings in three
independent cohorts. In conclusion, BAT volume and activity as determined by 18F-FDG-PET/CT highly
depend on the quantification criteria used. Future human BAT studies should conduct sensitivity
analysis with different thresholds in order to understand whether results are driven by the selected HU
and/or SUV thresholds. The design of the present study precludes providing any conclusive threshold,
but before more definitive thresholds for HU and SUV are available, we support the use of BARCIST 1.0
criteria to facilitate interpretation of BAT characteristics between research groups
Epidemiology of the zoonotic malaria Plasmodium knowlesi in changing landscapes
Within the past two decades, incidence of human cases of the zoonotic malaria Plasmodium knowlesi has increased markedly. P. knowlesi is now the most common cause of human malaria in Malaysia and threatens to undermine malaria control programmes across Southeast Asia. The emergence of zoonotic malaria corresponds to a period of rapid deforestation within this region. These environmental changes impact the distribution and behaviour of the simian hosts, mosquito vector species and human populations, creating new opportunities for P. knowlesi transmission. Here, we review how landscape changes can drive zoonotic disease emergence, examine the extent and causes of these changes across Southeast and identify how these mechanisms may be impacting P. knowlesi dynamics. We review the current spatial epidemiology of reported P. knowlesi infections in people and assess how these demographic and environmental changes may lead to changes in transmission patterns. Finally, we identify opportunities to improve P. knowlesi surveillance and develop targeted ecological interventions within these landscapes
WormBase: a multi-species resource for nematode biology and genomics
WormBase (http://www.wormbase.org/) is the central data repository for information about Caenorhabditis elegans and related nematodes. As a model organism database, WormBase extends beyond the genomic sequence, integrating experimental results with extensively annotated views of the genome. The WormBase Consortium continues to expand the biological scope and utility of WormBase with the inclusion of large-scale genomic analyses, through active data and literature curation, through new analysis and visualization tools, and through refinement of the user interface. Over the past year, the nearly complete genomic sequence and comparative analyses of the closely related species Caenorhabditis briggsae have been integrated into WormBase, including gene predictions, ortholog assignments and a new synteny viewer to display the relationships between the two species. Extensive site-wide refinement of the user interface now provides quick access to the most frequently accessed resources and a consistent browsing experience across the site. Unified single-page views now provide complete summaries of commonly accessed entries like genes. These advances continue to increase the utility of WormBase for C.elegans researchers, as well as for those researchers exploring problems in functional and comparative genomics in the context of a powerful genetic system
An ALMA survey of submillimetre galaxies in the COSMOS field: The extent of the radio-emitting region revealed by 3 GHz imaging with the Very Large Array
We determine the radio size distribution of a large sample of 152 SMGs in
COSMOS that were detected with ALMA at 1.3 mm. For this purpose, we used the
observations taken by the VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project. One hundred and
fifteen of the 152 target SMGs were found to have a 3 GHz counterpart. The
median value of the major axis FWHM at 3 GHz is derived to be kpc.
The radio sizes show no evolutionary trend with redshift, or difference between
different galaxy morphologies. We also derived the spectral indices between 1.4
and 3 GHz, and 3 GHz brightness temperatures for the sources, and the median
values were found to be and K. Three of the
target SMGs, which are also detected with the VLBA, show clearly higher
brightness temperatures than the typical values. Although the observed radio
emission appears to be predominantly powered by star formation and supernova
activity, our results provide a strong indication of the presence of an AGN in
the VLBA and X-ray-detected SMG AzTEC/C61. The median radio-emitting size we
have derived is 1.5-3 times larger than the typical FIR dust-emitting sizes of
SMGs, but similar to that of the SMGs' molecular gas component traced through
mid- line emission of CO. The physical conditions of SMGs probably render
the diffusion of cosmic-ray electrons inefficient, and hence an unlikely
process to lead to the observed extended radio sizes. Instead, our results
point towards a scenario where SMGs are driven by galaxy interactions and
mergers. Besides triggering vigorous starbursts, galaxy collisions can also
pull out the magnetised fluids from the interacting disks, and give rise to a
taffy-like synchrotron-emitting bridge. This provides an explanation for the
spatially extended radio emission of SMGs, and can also cause a deviation from
the well-known IR-radio correlation.Comment: 32 pages (incl. 5 appendices), 17 figures, 7 tables; accepted for
publication in A&A; abstract abridged for arXi
BST-2 mediated restriction of simian–human immunodeficiency virus
AbstractPathogenic simian–human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIV) contain HIV-1 Vpu and SIV Nef, both shown to counteract BST-2 (HM1.24; CD317; tetherin) inhibition of virus release in a species-specific manner. We show that human and pig-tailed BST-2 (ptBST-2) restrict SHIV. We found that sequential “humanization” of the transmembrane domain (TMD) of the pig-tailed BST-2 (ptBST-2) protein resulted in a fluctuation in sensitivity to HIV-1 Vpu. Our results also show that the length of the TMD in human and ptBST-2 proteins is important for BST-2 restriction and susceptibility to Vpu. Taken together, our results emphasize the importance of tertiary structure in BST-2 antagonism and suggests that the HIV-1 Vpu transmembrane domain may have additional functions in vivo unrelated to BST-2 antagonism
Educational Evaluation, Assessment, & Effectiveness Glossary: A Claremont Graduate University EDUC 445 Fall 2021 Course Publication
This glossary is intended to support professionals who are seeking to understand evaluation, assessment, and effectiveness in the context of K-12 and higher education. The definitions in this e-book represent the shared meanings that were co-created by education professionals in EDUC 445 at the Claremont Graduate University during Fall 2021 under the guidance of Dr. Gwen Garrison, PhD
- …