Cystometric and perineal electromyography in spinal cord-injured patients

The results of combined cystometry and perineal electromyography were reviewed retrospectively in 50 consecutive, traumatic spinal cord-injured patients. Early and frequent uro-dynamic evaluation was found necessary in order to tailor treatment to the changing cystometric and electromyography states in these patients.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23281/1/0000218.pd

Predicting lower urinary tract dysfunctions in patients with spinal cord injury

The results of combined cystometry and perineal electromyography were reviewed retrospectively in 75 consecutive, traumatic spinal cord-injured patients to predict lower urinary tract dysfunctions. In patients with vertebral spinal injuries at vertebral level T7 or above a reflex neurogenic bladder eventually developed. In those with vertebral level injuries T11 or below a lower motor neuron bladder dysfunction developed. Injuries at the vertebral levels T8, T9, and T10 represent a gray zone; and, depending on adjacent soft tissue injury, in these patients an upper or lower motor neuron bladder dysfunction developed. The transition from spinal shock (areflexia) to reflex neurogenic (hyperreflexia) bladder occurred at different times in different patients and could not be correlated to level of injury or its severity. The periurethral striated muscle was generally denervated if a lower motor neuron bladder dysfunction existed, however, rarely, dissociation may occur. When a reflex neurogenic bladder existed, sphincter dyssynergia was present 68 per cent of the time. This also could not be correlated with time after injury, level of injury, or severity of injury.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24218/1/0000477.pd

Hidden Inequality: Financial Aid Information Available to College Students with Disabilities Attending Public Four-Year Institutions

College students with disabilities often encounter systems and processes that do not serve them well. Financial aid, structured in ways that can be particularly burdensome to students with disabilities, is one such system. This study used web-based content analysis of the largest public four-year institution in each state to explore how institutions explain and provide information and resources related to financial aid and whether they are equitable, consistent, and useful for students with disabilities specifically. The findings suggest that available information most often does not assist students in understanding how their disability-related needs can be supported or hindered by financial aid policies. The authors offer recommendations for practices that can improve equitable access to financial aid information

Effect of vesical overdistention on bladder mucin

Histochemical staining of bladder tissue demonstrates a discrete layer of mucopolysaccharide (mucin) on the surface of human and rabbit bladders. Studies have shown that an intact mucin layer may be important in helping the bladder to resist bacterial infections. This report correlates vesical overdistention with destruction of the mucin layer in the rabbit bladder. These findings suggest that vesical overdistention may predispose to urinary tract infection because of bladder mucin disruption.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24244/1/0000507.pd

Rethinking Work and Family Policy: The Making and Taking of Parental Leave in Australia

Despite the continued increase in female participation rates, Australia remains one of only two developed nations in the world without a paid maternity leave scheme. While research interest and public policy debate about paid maternity leave entitlements continues, little is known about the actual utilization of the 52 weeks unpaid parental leave that is currently available to all employees. Moreover, research and policy debate on the availability and provision of paid paternity leave has only just begun. This paper argues that, given the gendered nature of employee entitlements, it is time to re-evaluate all aspects of parental leave policy in Australia. Using unique data from a national survey of Australian employees, the paper provides a statistical analysis of the use of unpaid parental leave and the availability of paid maternity leave. The paper models the availability of paid maternity leave to Australian employees as a function of demographic and organizational characteristics, including annual income, union status, and establishment size. A parallel analysis of the likelihood that an individual has used the unpaid parental leave provision is also provided. The results show that the existing unpaid parental leave provision is rarely used and that the current availability of paid maternity leave is inequitable. The paper discusses the conceptual and policy implications of these results and concludes that a re-thinking of parental leave policy in Australia is essential if gender inequities at work and in society are to be addressed

Sub-dekahertz ultraviolet spectroscopy of 199Hg+

Using a laser that is frequency-locked to a Fabry-Perot etalon of high finesse and stability, we probe the 5d10 6s 2S_1/2 (F=0) - 5d9 6s 2D_5/2 (F=2) Delta-m_F = 0 electric-quadrupole transition of a single laser-cooled 199Hg+ ion stored in a cryogenic radio-frequency ion trap. We observe Fourier-transform limited linewidths as narrow as 6.7 Hz at 282 nm (1.06 X 10^15 Hz), yielding a line Q = 1.6 X 10^14. We perform a preliminary measurement of the 5d9 6s2 2D_5/2 electric-quadrupole shift due to interaction with the static fields of the trap, and discuss the implications for future trapped-ion optical frequency standards.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publicatio

Keeping Steady as She Goes: A Negotiated Order Perspective on Technological Evolution

A central idea in the theory of technology cycles is that social and political mechanisms are most important during the selection of a dominant design, and that eras of incremental change are socially uninteresting periods in which innovation is driven by technological momentum and elaboration of the dominant design. In this essay, we overturn the ontological assumption that social order is inherently stable, drawing on Anselm Strauss's concept of negotiated order to analyze the persistence of a dominant design as a social accomplishment: an outcome of ongoing processes that reinforce or challenge a socially negotiated order. Thus, we shift focus from battles over standards to periods of normal innovation. We extend the technology cycles model to explain social dynamics in periods of incremental change, and to make predictions specifying how contextual conditions in standards-setting organizations affect social interaction, leading to reinforcement or challenge to a socio-technical order

Health indicators associated with poor sleep quality among university students

Objective To associate the sleep quality of Brazilian undergraduate students with health indicators. Method A cross-sectional study was developed with a random sample of 662 undergraduate students from Fortaleza, Brazil. The demographic data, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and health data indicators (smoking, alcoholism, sedentary lifestyle, nutritional condition and serum cholesterol) were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Blood was collected at a clinical laboratory. In order to estimate the size of the associations, a Poisson Regression was used. Results For students who are daily smokers, the occurrence of poor sleep was higher than in non-smokers (p<0.001). Prevalence rate values were nevertheless close to 1. Conclusion The likelihood of poor sleep is almost the same in smokers and in alcoholics

Health Care Provider Knowledge and Practices Regarding Folic Acid, United States, 2002–2003

Objective: To assess health care providers (HCP) knowledge and practices regarding folic acid (FA) use for neural tube defect (NTD) prevention. Methods: Two identical surveys were conducted among 611 obstetricians/gynecologists (OB/GYNs) and family/general physicians (FAM/GENs) (2002), and 500 physician assistants (PAs), nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs), and registered nurses (2003) to ascertain knowledge and practices regarding FA. For analysis, T-tests, univariate and multivariate logistic regression modeling were used. Results: Universally, providers knew that FA prevents birth defects. Over 88% knew when a woman should start taking folic acid for the prevention of NTDs; and over 85% knew FA supplementation beyond what is available in the diet is necessary. However, only half knew that 50% of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned. Women heard information about multivitamins or FA most often during well woman visits in obstetrical/gynecology (ob/gyn) practice settings (65%), and about 50% of the time during well woman visits in family/general (fam/gen) practice settings and 50% of the time at gynecology visits (both settings). Among all providers, 42% did not know the correct FA dosage (400 μg daily). HCPs taking multivitamins were more than twice as likely to recommend multivitamins to their patients (Odds Ratio [OR] 2.27 95%, Confidence Interval [CI] 1.75–2.94). HCPs with lower income clients (OR 1.49, CI 1.22–1.81) and HCPs with practices having more than 10% minorities (OR 1.46, CI 1.11–1.92) were more likely to recommend supplements. NPs in ob/gyn settings were most likely and FAM/GENs were least likely to recommend supplements (OR 3.06, CL 1.36–6.90 and OR 0.64, CL 0.45–0.90 respectively). Conclusions: Knowledge about birth defects and the necessity of supplemental FA was high. Increasing knowledge about unintended pregnancy rates and correct dosages of FA is needed. The strongest predictor for recommending the use of FA supplements was whether the provider took a multivitamin