Recent Suicidal Ideation Among Patients in an Inner City Emergency Department

The rates and associated features of suicidal ideation among 5,641 patients seeking routine, nonsuicide related care in an inner-city emergency department were examined. Approximately 8% of patients seeking routine care in the emergency department reported some form of suicidal ideation within the past 2 weeks. Suicidal ideation was common in individuals who were single with poorer mental health, had higher depression, and had received some drug or alcohol treatment in the past 3 months or had used cocaine or marijuana in the past 30 days. Improved screening procedures could help to identify routine care patients who are at risk for suicide.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79197/1/suli.2009.39.5.508.pd

BEHAVIOR OF CURVED REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS UNDER LOAD IN PLANE OF CURVATURE

Abstract not availabl

Quantitative chemical extraction for arsenic speciation in rice grains

Extraction using 0.28 M nitric acid at 95 °C for 90 min recovers not only arsenic quantitatively from rice grains independent of types but also preserves arsenic speciation completely. It is simple, economic, effective and reliable and is especially suitable for routine analysis of large amounts of samples

Trichothecenes and lipases are host-induced and secreted virulence factors of Fusarium graminearum

We investigate secreted virulence factors of F. graminearum , namely trichothecenes and lipases. The first gene of the trichothecene pathway, the trichodiene synthase ( Tri5 ), was disrupted in different F. graminearum wild-type strains, producing high or medium amounts of deoxynivalenol (DON) or nivalenol. All disruption mutants ceased to produce trichothecenes and showed a similar reduced virulence on wheat but unchanged virulence to barley. Nivalenol proved to be a weak virulence factor to maize, whereas DON production displayed no influence on maize infection. Therefore, trichothecenes are host specific virulence factors. Mutants lacking DON colonized only the inoculated wheat spikelets. These spikelets showed heavy cell-wall thickening that seemed to prevent the mutant from growing through the rachis node into the rachis. No such symptoms were found in spikelets inoculated with the wild type. Disruption mutants of FGL1 , a secreted lipase, showed similar symptoms on wheat spikelets as the Δ tri5 mutants. In contrast to the trichothecene mutants, the lipase mutants were unable to colonize barley and maize, defining the fungal lipase a general virulence factor. In wheat, Δ fgl1 mutants were able to colonize the inoculated spikelet but could not protrude into the rachis and the rest of the spike. The lipase-mutants produced a higher amount of DON compared to the wild type during initial infection of wheat spikelets, despite its inability to further colonize the spike. It seems that both virulence factors, lipases and trichothecenes, have to be present for an effective colonization of wheat.To gain further knowledge of the circumstances that lead to mycotoxin production we created a mutant that expresses eGFP under control of the endogenous tri5 promoter as well as a fully functional tri5 gene. To help tracing the fungus on the plant dsRed under constitutive control of the gpd promoter was additionally transformed into the mutant. Now, we are able to monitor trichothecene biosynthesis induction on the plant with cellular resolution

Warning signs for suicide within a week of healthcare contact in Veteran decedents

Objectives: This study examined warning signs for suicide observed in the final day(s) of life in Veteran decedents who received healthcare from Veterans Health Administration (VHA) (N=381), using data obtained from detailed chart reviews. Methods: Veterans who died within a week (7 days) of healthcare contact (18%) were compared to those who died later (82%). Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine differences in suicidal thoughts, psychiatric symptoms, and somatic symptoms as documented at the last visit, after controlling for demographic variables. A second multivariate regression examined whether the identified warning signs were also risk factors for suicide within a month (30 days) of contact. Results: Documented suicidal ideation, OR (95% CI)=3.46 (1.15-10.38), and psychotic symptoms, OR (95% CI)=2.67 (1.11-6.42), at the last visit increased the likelihood of suicide within a week of healthcare contact. Both variables also increased the odds of suicide within a month of contact. Conclusions: The assessment of suicidal ideation is critical to identify Veterans at immediate risk. However, recognition of psychotic symptoms may also improve identification. In addition to indicating immediate risk, some warning signs may also suggest on-going risk. © 2012

Effects of Channelization on Sabine Map Turtle Habitat in the Mermentau River Drainage, Louisiana: Use of Original vs. New Channels

Abstract -Graptemys sabinensis (Sabine Map Turtle) occurs in the Sabine, Calcasieu, and Mermentau river drainages of Louisiana and Texas. The Mermentau River was altered by construction of seven cut-offs between the towns of Mermentau and Lake Arthur, LA, in the 1970s, and several cut-offs also have been constructed along the river's largest tributary, Bayou Plaquemine Brule. We surveyed basking turtles on lower Plaquemine Brule and the Mermentau River to determine if the new channels are used to the same extent as the original channels. The original channels had nonsignificantly higher counts of basking Sabine Map Turtles and total turtles than the new channels. However, the shorter new channels had significantly higher densities of Sabine Map Turtles and total turtles than the original channels. The new channels create a bypass for excess water on the river following heavy rainfall, allowing higher flow on new channels, which may be preferred by Sabine Map Turtles. There was no significant difference in Sabine Map Turtle density between the inner and outer banks of the Mermentau's original channels, presumably because dredging made the depths along the inner and outer banks similar; new channels also divert water away from the original channels during high-flow events, which may maintain the anthropogenically homogenized condition of the original channels