The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of computed tomography screening for lung cancer: systematic reviews.

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A Case-Finding Protocol for High Cardiovascular Risk in a Primary Care Dental School—Model with Integrated Care

Background: National Health Service (NHS) strategies in the United Kingdom (UK) have highlighted the need to maximise case-finding opportunities by improving coverage in non-traditional settings with the aim of reducing delayed diagnosis of non-communicable diseases. Primary care dental settings may also help to identify patients. Methods: Case-finding appointments took place in a primary care dental school. Measurements of blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), cholesterol, glucose and QRisk were taken along with a social/medical history. Participants with high cardiometabolic risk were referred to their primary care medical general practitioner (GP) and/or to local community health self-referral services, and followed up afterwards to record diagnosis outcome. Results: A total of 182 patients agreed to participate in the study over a 14-month period. Of these, 123 (67.5%) attended their appointment and two participants were excluded for age. High blood pressure (hypertension) was detected in 33 participants, 22 of whom had not been previous diagnosed, and 11 of whom had uncontrolled hypertension. Of the hypertensive individuals with no previous history, four were confirmed by their GP. Regarding cholesterol, 16 participants were referred to their GP for hypercholesterolaemia: 15 for untreated hypercholesterolaemia and one for uncontrolled hypercholesterolaemia. Conclusions: Case-finding for hypertension and identifying cardiovascular risk factors has high acceptability in a primary dental care setting and supported by confirmational diagnoses by the GP.</jats:p

Exploring the dynamics of compliance with community penalties

In this paper, we examine how compliance with community penalties has been theorized hitherto and seek to develop a new dynamic model of compliance with community penalties. This new model is developed by exploring some of the interfaces between existing criminological and socio-legal work on compliance. The first part of the paper examines the possible definitions and dimensions of compliance with community supervision. Secondly, we examine existing work on explanations of compliance with community penalties, supplementing this by drawing on recent socio-legal scholarship on private individuals’ compliance with tax regimes. In the third part of the paper, we propose a dynamic model of compliance, based on the integration of these two related analyses. Finally, we consider some of the implications of our model for policy and practice concerning community penalties, suggesting the need to move beyond approaches which, we argue, suffer from compliance myopia; that is, a short-sighted and narrowly focused view of the issues

The Grizzly, February 9, 1979

False Alarm Leads To Student Arrest • Annual Report Reveals Enrollment Decline • SFARC Disbandment Questioned • ID Crackdown • USGA Election Results • Career Counseling & Placement Services • Letters to the Editor: Snack shop; Zeta Chi; Food waste angers waitress; Theft precautions cited • Roving Reporter: Forums requirement • Ursinus News In Brief: Soviet relations; Basses needed • An Inside View of Alice Cooper • Audio Corner: Turntables • Al Stewart: England\u27s Answer to Bob Dylan • Sheer Energy • Sport Book Review • New Semester; New Offerings • Grapplers Take Two • Bruins Split • Indoor Bears Off and Running • Men\u27s Swim Goes Under • Gymnasts Revenge Pennhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1012/thumbnail.jp

Matter Effects on Neutrino Oscillations in Long Baseline Experiments

We calculate matter effects on neutrino oscillations relevant for long baseline experiments. In particular, we compare the results obtained with constant density along the neutrino path versus results obtained by incorporating the actual density profiles in the Earth. We study the dependence of the oscillation signal on both $E/\Delta m^2_{atm}$ and on the angles in the leptonic mixing matrix. We also comment on the influence of $\Delta m^2_{sol}$ on the oscillations. The results show quantitatively how, as a function of these input parameters, matter effects can cause significant (25 %) changes in the oscillation probabilities. An important conclusion is that matter effects can be useful in amplifying certain neutrino oscillation signals and helping one to obtain measurements of mixing parameters and the magnitude and sign of $\Delta m^2_{atm}$.Comment: 26 pages, Latex, 17 postscript figures, published version, some references adde

The Fire and Tree Mortality Database, for Empirical Modeling of Individual Tree Mortality After Fire

Wildland fires have a multitude of ecological effects in forests, woodlands, and savannas across the globe. A major focus of past research has been on tree mortality from fire, as trees provide a vast range of biological services. We assembled a database of individual-tree records from prescribed fires and wildfires in the United States. The Fire and Tree Mortality (FTM) database includes records from 164,293 individual trees with records of fire injury (crown scorch, bole char, etc.), tree diameter, and either mortality or top-kill up to ten years post-fire. Data span 142 species and 62 genera, from 409 fires occurring from 1981-2016. Additional variables such as insect attack are included when available. The FTM database can be used to evaluate individual fire-caused mortality models for pre-fire planning and post-fire decision support, to develop improved models, and to explore general patterns of individual fire-induced tree death. The database can also be used to identify knowledge gaps that could be addressed in future research

The Grizzly, December 1, 1978

Task Force Reviews Health Services; Bookstore Also Discussed • New Curriculum Approved • SAC Discusses New Frat & Allocations • Biology Department Alters Curriculum • A Good Editorial • Let\u27s See Co-Ed Dorms • A Mutually Advantageous Symbiosis • Letters to the Editor: Sleeping Awareness; Disturbing Guyana Attitudes • Portrait of the Professor: Dr. Patrick J. Mulvanny • Parking: Problem At Ursinus • If Zacharias Could See Us Now... • Think Snow • The Rocky Horror Show: A Celluloid Wasteland • Audio Corner: Loudspeakers • Thompson-Gay Soon To Be Theater • Logic & Dance • Drinking Myths • Hopes High For Hoops • Football Ends On Good Note • Ursinus Girls Drown Dickinson • Marathon Men Compete • Bears Net .500 Against Florida Foes • First Winter Weather Day ; Stimeling Exhibit To Be Presentedhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1008/thumbnail.jp

Model-based evaluation of the long-term cost-effectiveness of systematic case-finding for COPD in primary care

Introduction'One-off' systematic case-finding for COPD using a respiratory screening questionnaire is more effective and cost-effective than routine care at identifying new cases. However, it is not known whether early diagnosis and treatment is beneficial in the longer term. We estimated the long-term cost-effectiveness of a regular case-finding programme in primary care.MethodsA Markov decision analytic model was developed to compare the cost-effectiveness of a 3-yearly systematic case-finding programme targeted to ever smokers aged ≥50 years with the current routine diagnostic process in UK primary care. Patient-level data on case-finding pathways was obtained from a large randomised controlled trial. Information on the natural history of COPD and treatment effects was obtained from a linked COPD cohort, UK primary care database and published literature. The discounted lifetime cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained was calculated from a health service perspective.ResultsThe incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of systematic case-finding versus current care was £16 596 per additional QALY gained, with a 78% probability of cost-effectiveness at a £20 000 per QALY willingness-to-pay threshold. The base case result was robust to multiple one-way sensitivity analyses. The main drivers were response rate to the initial screening questionnaire and attendance rate for the confirmatory spirometry test.DiscussionRegular systematic case-finding for COPD using a screening questionnaire in primary care is likely to be cost-effective in the long-term despite uncertainties in treatment effectiveness. Further knowledge of the natural history of case-found patients and the effectiveness of their management will improve confidence to implement such an approach

Identification and Preliminary Characterization of a Chitinase Gene in the Autographa californica Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus Genome

AbstractA functional chitinase gene (chiA) has been identified in the genome of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV). It is expressed in the late phase of virus replication in insect cells. High levels of both endo- and exochitinase activity were detected by 12 hr p.i. and remained stable throughout infection. An AcMNPV chiA protein-specific antibody was prepared using recombinant material prepared in bacteria. This was used to demonstrate that a product of approximately 58 kDa was synthesised in virus-infected cells. Immunofluorescence analysis of virus-infected cells showed that most chitinase was located in the cytoplasm. Primer extension analysis of mRNA from AcMNPV-infected cells confirmed that transcription initiated from a baculovirus late start site (TAAG), 14 nucleotides upstream from the putative translation initiation codon. The predicted protein sequence of the AcMNPV chiA shares extensive sequence similarity with chitinases from bacteria and, in particular, the Serratia marcescens chitinase A (60.5% identical residues). Phylogenetic analyses indicate that AcMNPV, or an ancestral baculovirus, acquired the chitinase gene from a bacterium via horizontal gene transfer

Towards an Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws a distinction between ways thinking and acting, and hence of policy and practice in higher education, in terms of different kinds of economy: economies of exchange and economies of excess. Crucial features of economies of exchange are outlined and their presence in prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning is illustrated. These are contrasted with other possible forms of practice, which in turn bring to light the nature of an economy of excess. In more philosophical terms, and to expand on the picture, economies of excess are elaborated with reference, first, to the understanding of alterity in the work of Emmanuel Levinas and, second, to the idea of Dionysian intensity that is to be found in Nietzsche. In the light of critical comment on some current directions in policy and practice, the implications of these ways of thinking for the administrator, the teacher and the student in higher education are explored