Six-month follow-up of a primary care managed weight loss program for overweight and obese African-American women

Obesity is the number one public health concern in the United States, and is more prevalent in African-American women and those from lower socioeconomic groups. However, many primary care physicians do not feel confident in their ability to assist patients in weight management. Thus the challenge for physicians is to provide patients better assistance with weight management. The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of a primary care-managed weight loss program on weight reduction and cardiovascular fitness in overweight/obese women. Participants were randomized to intervention (n=54; Age: 44+12 yrs) or standard care (n=62; Age: 44=12yrs) and followed for 6 months. Intervention included monthly physician visits to address issues concerning diet, exercise, barriers, and motivation. Those in intervention experienced moderate weight loss after 6 months (Intervention: 216.89+48.38 to 208.86+42.11; Standard Care: 222.01+ 37.67 to 221.95+38.81, p=0.004). However, further analysis revealed the magnitude of weight loss appears to be dependent on the physician responsible for the delivery. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed the magnitude of weight loss was significantly associated with a change in waist circumference, 1-min heart rate recovery, and systolic blood pressure. In conclusion, this study reports a moderate weight loss following a physician directed program in overweight/obese women from lower socioeconomic groups. Independent of intervention moderate weight loss was associated with a reduction in other cardiovascular risk factors including BMI, heart rate recovery, blood pressure, and waist circumference

The Grassmannian Sigma Model in SU(2) Yang-Mills Theory

Spin-charge separation in pure SU(2) Yang-Mills theory was recently found to involve the dynamics of an O(3) non-linear sigma model and, seemingly, a Grassmannian non-linear sigma model. In this article we explicitly construct the Grassmannian sigma model of the form appearing in the the spin-charge separated SU(2) theory through a quaternionic decomposition of the manifold, thus verifying its relevance in this context. The coupling between this model and the O(3) non-linear sigma model is further commented upon.Comment: 11 pages, undergraduate research project; version published in J. Phys.

A market for speech : poetry recitation in late Mughal India, 1690-1810

This project focuses on 18th-century Persian and Urdu language mushairahs or poetry gatherings patronized by Mughal India’s urban elite and depicted in period compendiums or tazkirahs. Besides preserving poetry, the compendiums chronicle the social, aesthetic, and sensual aspects of 18th-century public and private gatherings from a stance that prizes the delight of lyric verse. The 1740s in particular mark a watershed decade for poetry exchange and criticism as they bridged several generations of India-based poets who were advancing the “fresh” goals of contemporary Persian writing and who were also recasting Persophone civility according to vernacular sensibilities in a social setting that was arguably the heart of Safavid and Mughal literary production. This dissertation examines how poets, listeners, and patrons enacted a material form of literary sociability that informed the circulation of people and verse over the 1700s. Analyzing this pre-colonial context allows for a more critical understanding of aesthetic and ethical drives in South Asian literary practices, providing a more grounded and critical understanding of lyricism as a cultural practice. By foregrounding the socio-aesthetic implications of recitation as a discursive practice, the present study understands the mushaʿirah as a unique site of literary subjectivity. Hence, the disciplinary boundaries between history, literary criticism, and ethnography are blurred to show that lyricism was not abstracted in 1700s poets’ gatherings. Instead, it formed a highly instantiated social script that allowed for the playfulness of Persian-based aesthetics to parallel the levity of Mughal-era sociability found in period salons. The Mughal literary sphere in the 1700s was governed by expectations of honesty, humor, exaggeration, enchantment, and originality, qualities that were not bounded by one language or textual medium. Historiographically, the compendiums from the 1700s attest to mushairah verse being self-referential, intertextual, and multilingual whereby the conventions of Persian-based aesthetics had a charismatic social life.Asian Studie

The Promise of a Healthy California: Overcoming the Barriers for Men and Boys of Color

PolicyLink argues for a community approach to expanding opportunities for men and boys of color, acknowledging the importance of "place" to ultimate life outcomes. The report takes key conclusions from "Building Equalizing Schools" and expands on it with recommendations for developing public will and building a platform and infrastructure for action

Treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (Klatskin tumors) with hepatic resection or transplantation

Background: Because of the rarity of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, its prognostic risk factors have not been sufficiently analyzed. This retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate various pathologic risk factors which influenced survival after curative hepatic resection or transplantation. Methods: Between 1981 and 1996, 72 patients (43 males and 29 females) with hilar cholangiocarcinoma underwent hepatic resection (34 patients) or transplantation (38 patients) with curative intent. Medical records and pathologic specimens were reviewed to examine the various prognostic risk factors. Survival was calculated by the method of Kaplan- Meier using the log rank test with adjustment for the type of operation. Survival statistics were calculated first for each kind of treatment separately, and then combined for the calculation of the final significance value. Results: Survival rates for 1, 3, and 5 years after hepatic resection were 74%, 34%, and 9%, respectively, and those after transplantation were 60%, 32%, and 25%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that T-3, positive lymph nodes, positive surgical margins, and pTNM stage III and IV were statistically significant poor prognostic factors. Multivariate analysis revealed that pTNM stage 0, I, and II, negative lymph node, and negative surgical margins were statistically significant good prognostic factors. For the patients in pTNM stage 0-II with negative surgical margins, 1-, 3-, and 5-year survivals were 80%, 73%, and 73%, respectively. For patients in pTNM stage IV-A with negative lymph nodes and surgical margins, 1-, 3-, and 5- year survivals were 66%, 37%, and 37%, respectively. Conclusions: Satisfactory longterm survivals can be obtained by curative surgery for hilar cholangiocarcinoma either with hepatic resection or liver transplantation. Redefining pTNM stage III and IV-A is proposed to better define prognosis

The Crystal Structure of Ethylenebis(biguanidine)nickel(II) Dichloride Monohydrate

The crystal structure of ethylenebis(biguanidine)nickel(II) dichloride monohydrate, Ni(C_6H_(16)N_(10))Cl_2.H_2O, has been determined and refined on the basis of three-dimensional intensity data collected on an automated diffractometer. The crystals are monoclinic, space group P2_1/c, with cell dimensions ɑ = 6-911, b = 11·678, c = 18·055 Å, β = 101·39°; there are four molecules in the cell. The structure was determined by Patterson methods and refined by least-squares to an R index of 0·048 and a goodness-of-fit of 1·11 for 2879 reflections of non-zero weight. The resulting standard deviations in the atomic positions are about 0·002-0·003 A for the C, N and 0 atoms, 0·02-0·03 Å for the H atoms and less than 0·001 Å for Ni and CI-. The organic ligand is tetradentate and forms a square-planar array about the central nickel atom; the average Ni-N distance is 1 ·865 Å. Chemically equivalent bonds are equal in length within experimental error, and the bond distances have been satisfactorily correlated with molecular-orbital and valencebond descriptions of the cation. All available hydrogen atoms are involved in hydrogen bonds to chloride ions or water molecules. An interesting feature is that, in spite of considerable double-bond character in the C-N bonds, many of the hydrogen atoms are displaced appreciably from the plane of the cation toward the hydrogen-bond acceptors; the bonding about the nitrogen atoms thus becomes pyramidal

The IMGT/HLA database

It is 12 years since the IMGT/HLA database was first released, providing the HLA community with a searchable repository of highly curated HLA sequences. The HLA complex is located within the 6p21.3 region of human chromosome 6 and contains more than 220 genes of diverse function. Many of the genes encode proteins of the immune system and are highly polymorphic. The naming of these HLA genes and alleles and their quality control is the responsibility of the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System. Through the work of the HLA Informatics Group and in collaboration with the European Bioinformatics Institute, we are able to provide public access to this data through the web site http://www.ebi.ac.uk/imgt/hla/. Regular updates to the web site ensure that new and confirmatory sequences are dispersed to the HLA community, and the wider research and clinical communities

Cardiac Surgery in a Patient with Idiopathic Aplastic Anemia: A Case Report

Major surgery in a patient with pancytopenia might be associated with increased surgical risks, especially for bleeding and infection. A 66-yr-old man was admitted to the hospital due to shortness of breath. His dyspnea was classified by the New York Heart Association (NYHA) as functional class III. Prior to admission, he had a 5-yr history of medical management for idiopathic aplastic anemia. The severity of aplastic anemia of the patient was graded as non-severe aplastic anemia. Echocardiography revealed reduced left ventricular function and severe aortic valve regurgitation (grade IV) with left ventricular end diastolic dimension measuring 87 mm. Because of dyspnea and echocardiographically documented aortic valve insufficiency, the patient underwent elective aortic valve replacement. Although extracorporeal circulation for valve operations might be associated with aggravation of impaired blood cell function, the patient recovered from surgery uneventfully. Here, we report a successful cardiac surgery with extracorporeal cardiopulmonary bypass in a patient with severe aortic valve insufficiency and concomitant idiopathic aplastic anemia

Ensuring Compliance: The Case of the Private Rented Sector

regulation, law and economics, governance, compliance, renting