Changing ethnic disparity in ischemic stroke mortality in US children after the STOP trial.

ImportanceA prior report showed higher stroke mortality in US black children compared with white children (1979-1998), a disparity likely due in part to sickle cell disease, which leads to a high risk of childhood ischemic stroke. We hypothesized that this disparity has diminished since the publication of the Stroke Prevention Trial in Sickle Cell Anemia (STOP trial) in 1998 demonstrating the efficacy of long-term blood transfusions for primary stroke prevention.ObjectiveTo evaluate the demographics and secular trends in mortality from ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke (as a primary cause of death) in US children (<20 years) and determine if there has been a decrease in the disparity between white and black children since the publication of the STOP trial in 1998.DesignWe used death certificate data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 1988 through 2007.SettingUnited States.ParticipantsChildren who died in 1988 through 2007 in the United States.InterventionPublication of the STOP trial.Main outcome measuresIncidence rate ratios were calculated as the measure of relative risk.ResultsAmong 1.6 billion person-years of US children (1988-2007), there were 4425 deaths attributed to stroke, yielding an average of 221 deaths per year; 20% were ischemic; 67%, hemorrhagic; and 12%, unspecified. The relative risk of ischemic stroke mortality for black vs white children dropped from 1.74 from 1988 through 1997 to 1.27 from 1998 through 2007. The ethnic disparity in hemorrhagic stroke mortality, however, remained relatively stable between these 2 periods: black vs white relative risk, 1.90 (1988-1997) and 1.97 (1998-2007).Conclusions and relevanceThe excess risk of death from ischemic, but not hemorrhagic, stroke in US black children has decreased over the past decade. This may be related to the implementation of an effective ischemic stroke prevention strategy for children with sickle cell disease

Collaborative filtering: possibilities for libraries

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p120-Catenin Down-Regulation and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Overexpression Results in a Transformed Epithelium That Mimics Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is an aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis due to its highly invasive and metastatic potential. The molecular pathogenesis underlying the invasive mechanism of ESCC is not well known because of the lack of existing models to study this disease. p120-Catenin (p120ctn) and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have each been implicated in several cancers, including ESCC. p120ctn is down-regulated in 60% of ESCC tumors, whereas EGFR is the most commonly overexpressed oncogene in ESCC. For these reasons, we investigated the cooperation between p120ctn and EGFR and its effect on ESCC invasion. We show that p120ctn down-regulation is commonly associated with EGFR overexpression. By using a three-dimensional culture system, we demonstrate that the inverse relationship between p120ctn and EGFR has biological implications. Specifically, p120ctn down-regulation coupled with EGFR overexpression in human esophageal keratinocytes (EPC1-PE) was required to promote invasion. Morphological comparison of EPC1-PE cells grown in three-dimensional culture and human ESCC revealed identical features, including significantly increased cellularity, nuclear grade, and proliferation. Molecular characteristics were measured by keratin expression patterns, which were nearly identical between EPC1-PE cells in three-dimensional culture and ESCC samples. Altogether, our analyses have demonstrated that p120ctn down-regulation and EGFR overexpression are able to mimic human ESCC in a relevant three-dimensional culture model

Tsunami Digital Library Needs Assessment: Final Report to Oregon State University Libraries and the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science & Engineering

The project team surveyed and interviewed forty identified experts within the diverse tsunami community. The survey revealed that this community is a sophisticated user of Internet search engines and tools and is very familiar with existing information. The sites mentioned most frequently as being helpful were those of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as well as the International Tsunami Information Center and the National Earthquake Information Center. The primary criticism of other sites is that many of these sites are difficult to utilize. The survey results list uneven organization, dead links, and poor quality information as part of these difficulties. From the results, this community is looking for a centralized means to find and retrieve realtime as well as historical data, geographic resources, outreach materials, and modeling information. The data demonstrate a clear need for more coherent and effective access to tsunami information such as could be found in a Tsunami Digital Library. The following report describes the concept of the TDL, its technical framework and proposed content. We explain the methodology of the needs assessment, report the results of our survey, and recommend further work

Using Positive Deviance for Determining Successful Weight- Control Practices

Based on positive deviance (examining the practices of successful individuals), we identified five primary themes from 36 strategies that help to maintain long-term weight loss (weight control) in 61 people. We conducted in-depth interviews to determine what successful individuals did and/or thought about regularly to control their weight. The themes included weight-control practices related to (a) nutrition: increase water, fruit, and vegetable intake, and consistent meal timing and content; (b) physical activity: follow and track an exercise routine at least 3×/week; (c) restraint: practice restraint by limiting and/or avoiding unhealthy foods; (d) self-monitor: plan meals, and track calories/weight progress; and (e) motivation: participate in motivational programs and cognitive processes that affect weight-control behavior. Using the extensive data involving both the practices and practice implementation, we used positive deviance to create a comprehensive list of practices to develop interventions for individuals to control their weight

Evasions in Interactions: Examples from the Transcultural Nursing Research Field

Transcultural qualitative research is known for its utility in eliciting in-depth narratives, resulting in increased understanding about cultural phenomena. However, sometimes specific phenomena in the researcher’s inquiry are ignored, evaded, or denied; or a seemingly crucial experience demonstrating society’s unfairness, which the researcher had been expecting, does not emerge. In this paper, the issue of evasions in narratives is addressed, with two examples in which participants evaded the issue about which they were asked: perceptions of discrimination for aging adults of Mexican descent, and perceptions of living with life-limiting illnesses for aging African American adults. The Ethno-Cultural Gerontological Nursing Model framework’s Macro-level factors (climate of stereotypes, attitudes and ascriptions of the majority group) and Group-based influences (“Cultural/historical traditions” and “Cohort influences”) organize our thinking about addressing evasions by minority research participants. Four tools synthesized from the literature and our research experiences are recommended: (1) self-assessment of one’s own cultural values and lenses, (2) co-collaborating during the data collection and analysis phases, (3) acknowledging the power position of the researcher, and (4) over-reading

RAD sequencing resolves fine-scale population structure in a benthic invertebrate: implications for understanding phenotypic plasticity.

The field of molecular ecology is transitioning from the use of small panels of classical genetic markers such as microsatellites to much larger panels of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated by approaches like RAD sequencing. However, few empirical studies have directly compared the ability of these methods to resolve population structure. This could have implications for understanding phenotypic plasticity, as many previous studies of natural populations may have lacked the power to detect genetic differences, especially over micro-geographic scales. We therefore compared the ability of microsatellites and RAD sequencing to resolve fine-scale population structure in a commercially important benthic invertebrate by genotyping great scallops (Pecten maximus) from nine populations around Northern Ireland at 13 microsatellites and 10 539 SNPs. The shells were then subjected to morphometric and colour analysis in order to compare patterns of phenotypic and genetic variation. We found that RAD sequencing was superior at resolving population structure, yielding higher Fst values and support for two distinct genetic clusters, whereas only one cluster could be detected in a Bayesian analysis of the microsatellite dataset. Furthermore, appreciable phenotypic variation was observed in size-independent shell shape and coloration, including among localities that could not be distinguished from one another genetically, providing support for the notion that these traits are phenotypically plastic. Taken together, our results suggest that RAD sequencing is a powerful approach for studying population structure and phenotypic plasticity in natural populations

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Markers of Oxidative Stress in Healthy Women

Purpose There is accumulating evidence that oxidative stress is an important contributor to carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that genetic variation in genes involved in maintaining antioxidant/ oxidant balance would be associated with overall oxidative stress. Methods We examined associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in MnSOD, GSTP1, GSTM1, GPX1, GPX3, and CAT genes and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), a blood biomarker of oxidative damage, in healthy white women randomly selected from Western New York (n = 1402). We used general linear models to calculate age-adjusted geometric means of TBARS across the variants. We also examined the associations within strata of menopausal status. Results For MnSOD, being heterozygous was associated with lower geometric means of TBARS (less oxidative stress), 1.28 mg/dL, compared to homozygous T-allele or homozygous Callele, 1.35 mg/dL, and 1.31 mg/dL correspondingly (p for trend = 0.01). This difference remained among postmenopausal women, 1.40 mg/dL for TT, 1.32 mg/dL for TC, and 1.34mg/dL for CC (p for trend 0.015); it was attenuated among premenopausal women. SNPs in the other genes examined (GSTP1, GSTM1, GPX1, GPX3, and CAT) were not associated with TBARS. Conclusions Our findings suggest that genetic variation in MnSOD gene may be associated with oxidative status, particularly among postmenopausal women

RAD sequencing resolves fine-scale population structure in a benthic invertebrate: implications for understanding phenotypic plasticity

The field of molecular ecology is transitioning from the use of small panels of classical genetic markers such as microsatellites to much larger panels of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated by approaches like RAD sequencing. However, few empirical studies have directly compared the ability of these methods to resolve population structure. This could have implications for understanding phenotypic plasticity, as many previous studies of natural populations may have lacked the power to detect genetic differences, especially over micro-geographic scales. We therefore compared the ability of microsatellites and RAD sequencing to resolve fine-scale population structure in a commercially important benthic invertebrate by genotyping great scallops (Pecten maximus) from nine populations around Northern Ireland at 13 microsatellites and 10 539 SNPs. The shells were then subjected to morphometric and colour analysis in order to compare patterns of phenotypic and genetic variation. We found that RAD sequencing was superior at resolving population structure, yielding higher Fst values and support for two distinct genetic clusters, whereas only one cluster could be detected in a Bayesian analysis of the microsatellite dataset. Furthermore, appreciable phenotypic variation was observed in size-independent shell shape and coloration, including among localities that could not be distinguished from one another genetically, providing support for the notion that these traits are phenotypically plastic. Taken together, our results suggest that RAD sequencing is a powerful approach for studying population structure and phenotypic plasticity in natural populations

Atmospheric observation-based estimation of fossil fuel CO_2 emissions from regions of central and southern California

Combustion of fossil fuel is the dominant source of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere in California. Here, we describe radiocarbon (^(14)CO_2) measurements and atmospheric inverse modeling to estimate fossil fuel CO_2 (ffCO_2) emissions for 2009–2012 from a site in central California, and for June 2013–May 2014 from two sites in southern California. A priori predicted ffCO_2 mixing ratios are computed based on regional atmospheric transport model (WRF-STILT) footprints and an hourly ffCO_2 prior emission map (Vulcan 2.2). Regional inversions using observations from the central California site suggest that emissions from the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) are higher in winter and lower in summer. Taking all years together, the average of a total of fifteen 3-month inversions from 2009 to 2012 suggests ffCO_2 emissions from SFBA were within 6 ± 35% of the a priori estimate for that region, where posterior emission uncertainties are reported as 95% confidence intervals. Results for four 3-month inversions using measurements in Los Angeles South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) during June 2013–May 2014 suggest that emissions in SoCAB are within 13 ± 28% of the a priori estimate for that region, with marginal detection of any seasonality. While emissions from the SFBA and SoCAB urban regions (containing ~50% of prior emissions from California) are constrained by the observations, emissions from the remaining regions are less constrained, suggesting that additional observations will be valuable to more accurately estimate total ffCO_2 emissions from California as a whole