Superior maturation and patency of primary brachiocephalic and transposed basilic vein arteriovenous fistulae in patients with diabetes

AbstractPurpose: Primary radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas (RCAVFs) have classically been used for the initiation of dialysis. If a suitable forearm cephalic vein can be demonstrated, it is used to construct such a fistula. However, we have noted a tendency for RCAVF in patients with a history of diabetes mellitus (type I and type II) to remain patent but not mature to the point of cannulation. Therefore, the present study was undertaken. Methods: Fifty-eight consecutive patients with diabetes who required initial access for hemodialysis at an urban medical center and tertiary Veterans Medical Center underwent creation of an RCAVF (n = 10), brachiocephalic arteriovenous fistula (BCAVF; n = 22), or transposed basilic vein arteriovenous fistula (TBAVF; n = 26). The vein used was determined by physical examination with tourniquet compression. If neither forearm or upper-arm cephalic veins were 2 mm in diameter, a TBAVF was created after venography. Patency was determined by Kaplan-Meier estimate; differences between groups were assessed by Fisher's exact test. Results: The 70% rate of nonmaturation of RCAVFs was significantly greater than the 27% rate for BCAVFs and 0% for TBAVFs (p < 0.05). The 33% cumulative primary patency rate at 18 months for RCAVFs was significantly less than 78% for BCAVFs and 79% for TBAVFs (p < 0.001). Within and between groups, there were no significant differences in age, gender, aspirin use, history of congestive heart failure, erythropoietin use, hematocrit level, history of peripheral vascular disease, or mortality rate. Conclusions: In patients with renal failure and a history of diabetes, both primary BCAVFs and TBAVFs demonstrate significantly greater maturation and increased primary cumulative patency rates compared with RCAVFs; therefore, these autogenous conduits are considered to be optimal in this group of patients. Whether the discrepancy in lower-arm vein maturation is a result of a lack of compensatory increase in radial arterial flow or an intrinsic defect in the lower-arm cephalic vein is currently under investigation. (J Vasc Surg 1998;27:154-7.

Park Forest African American Pioneers: When and How We Entered, 1958-1968

The information contained in this presentation are copies of original documents and is based on information obtained from historical files of the Village of Park Forest, documents in the Park Forest [Public] Library and private citizens. This packet was produced with the help of Park Forest Historical Society Archivist Jane Nicoll in preparation for a program in February 1999 as a part of the 50th Anniversary of Park Forest. The original copy is located at the Park Forest Public Library, Park Forest Illinois, Ref 977.31 SCO Local History. Contents of Park Forest African American Pioneers, When and How we Entered 1958-1968 are: 1. Negroes in Residence in Park Forest as of January 1, 1969-By Street. This includes the date these families moved in (p. 4) 2. Policy on Minority Group Residence Adopted September 25, 1959. [which was unanimously adopted by the Commission on Human Relations at its September 1959 meeting.] (p. 13) 3. First Park Forest African American Co-op Residents, List from (Feb. 1964-1968). Includes some memos to Human Relations Commission. (p. 20) 4. (Section cover labeled: Federal Laws Affecting Housing) Fair Housing Ordinance, Village of Park Forest (Illinois), approved 1-29-1968. References 1963 Executive Order to affirmatively market VA and FHA Foreclosures, and 1964 Civil Rights Act. (p. 29) 5. Hello Dr. Wilson: Integration Comes to Park Forest. (December, 1959) (p. 33) 6. First Park Forest African-American Homeowners. A retyped list of the Negroes in Residence list. Includes memos and letters between Human Relation Commission Members, as a sample of what information was shared about new African American residents. (p. 38) 7. Human Relations Commission 1953. Includes a letter from John L. Scott, Village Manager about an incident in July 1959 when there was a rumored home sale to a Negro and memos from John Scott, Village Manager and Robert A. Dinerstein on how Village Employees should respond to the first Negro resident, which followed that incident later in July 1959. (p. 50) 8. William Simpson, Pioneer Resident and Community Activist. Mr. Simpson for years objected to and protested Integration Maintenance. (p. 58

Exploring faculty perspectives on open access at a medium-sized, American doctoral university

Faculty hold widely varying perspectives on the benefits and challenges afforded by open access (OA) publishing. In the United States, conversations on OA models and strategy have been dominated by scholars affiliated with Carnegie R1 institutions. This article reports findings from interviews conducted with faculty at a Carnegie R2 institution, highlighting disciplinary and individual perspectives on the high costs and rich rewards afforded by OA. The results reiterate the persistence of a high degree of skepticism regarding the quality of peer review and business models associated with OA publishing. By exploring scholars’ perceptions of and experiences with OA publishing and their comfort using or sharing unpublished, publicly available content, the authors highlight the degree to which OA approaches must remain flexible, iterative and multifaceted – no single solution can begin to accommodate the rich and varying needs of individual stakeholders

Champagne Wishes and a Domestic Beer Budget: Assessing and Supporting Serials Access at a Carnegie R2

As library budgets are cut or remain flat, librarians asked to do more with less are considering diverse data to investigate how best to invest limited funds. The data available to librarians are extensive but they may also be contradictory. In this presentation, we contextualize findings from interviews conducted with Illinois State University faculty with institutional and collections data. Using the words of faculty members across disciplines, we highlight some of the tensions around discovery and access to scholarly literature, perceptions of urgency, and engagement with open access. The interview results--triangulated with institutional usage and cost data—suggest a variety of ways by which to support serials access and align our practices with the strategic plan of our University and Library

Disciplinary Differences and Scholarly Literature: Discovery, Browsing, and Formats

This study reports faculty experiences regarding the discovery of scholarly content, highlighting similarities and differences across a range of academic disciplines. The authors interviewed twenty-five faculty members at a public, high-research university in the Midwest to explore the intersections of discovery, browsing, and format from diverse disciplinary perspectives. Although most participants rely on similar discovery tools such as library catalogs and databases and Google Scholar, their discovery techniques varied according to the discipline and type of research being done. Browsing is not a standard method for discovery, but it is still done selectively and strategically by some scholars. Journal articles are the most important format across disciplines, but books, chapters, and conference proceedings are core for some scholars and should be considered when facilitating discovery. The findings detail several ways in which disciplinary and personal experiences shape scholars’ practices. The authors discuss the perceived disconnect between browsability, discovery, and access of scholarly literature and explore solutions that make the library central to discovery and browsing

I’ll Wait Zero Seconds : Faculty Perspectives on Serials Access, Sharing, and Immediacy

This study explores how faculty across disciplines access and share scholarly serial content and what expectations they have for immediacy. The authors conducted twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews with faculty of various ranks representing all Illinois State University (ISU) colleges. The findings, presented in the words of participants and triangulated with data from local sources, suggest that faculty use a variety of context-specific mechanisms to access and share serial literature. Participants discuss how they use library services such as databases, subscriptions, interlibrary loan, and document delivery, coupled with academic social networks, disciplinary repositories, author websites, and other publicly available sources to obtain the full text of articles along with their manifold considerations for sharing and requesting content. The urgency with which faculty need to gain access to scholarly literature is dependent on intersecting elements of discipline, current projects, how the resource will be used, the perceived competitiveness of the field, career stage, and personal practices. The findings reiterate that scholarly literature remains integral to the research and teaching of faculty even as needs and practices for accessing and sharing it grow more individualized and distributed

2D Signal Estimation for Sparse Distributed Target Photon Counting Data

In this study, we explore the utilization of maximum likelihood estimation for the analysis of sparse photon counting data obtained from distributed target lidar systems. Specifically, we adapt the Poisson Total Variation processing technique to cater to this application. By assuming a Poisson noise model for the photon count observations, our approach yields denoised estimates of backscatter photon flux and related parameters. This facilitates the processing of raw photon counting signals with exceptionally high temporal and range resolutions (demonstrated here to 50 Hz and 75 cm resolutions), including data acquired through time-correlated single photon counting, without significant sacrifice of resolution. Through examination involving both simulated and real-world 2D atmospheric data, our method consistently demonstrates superior accuracy in signal recovery compared to the conventional histogram-based approach commonly employed in distributed target lidar applications

Isolation and characterization of centroacinar/terminal ductal progenitor cells in adult mouse pancreas

The question of whether dedicated progenitor cells exist in adult vertebrate pancreas remains controversial. Centroacinar cells and terminal duct (CA/TD) cells lie at the junction between peripheral acinar cells and the adjacent ductal epithelium, and are frequently included among cell types proposed as candidate pancreatic progenitors. However these cells have not previously been isolated in a manner that allows formal assessment of their progenitor capacities. We have found that a subset of adult CA/TD cells are characterized by high levels of ALDH1 enzymatic activity, related to high-level expression of both Aldh1a1 and Aldh1a7. This allows their isolation by FACS using a fluorogenic ALDH1 substrate. FACS-isolated CA/TD cells are relatively depleted of transcripts associated with differentiated pancreatic cell types. In contrast, they are markedly enriched for transcripts encoding Sca1, Sdf1, c-Met, Nestin, and Sox9, markers previously associated with progenitor populations in embryonic pancreas and other tissues. FACS-sorted CA/TD cells are uniquely able to form self-renewing 'pancreatospheres' in suspension culture, even when plated at clonal density. These spheres display a capacity for spontaneous endocrine and exocrine differentiation, as well as glucose-responsive insulin secretion. In addition, when injected into cultured embryonic dorsal pancreatic buds, these adult cells display a unique capacity to contribute to both the embryonic endocrine and exocrine lineages. Finally, these cells demonstrate dramatic expansion in the setting of chronic epithelial injury. These findings suggest that CA/TD cells are indeed capable of progenitor function and may contribute to the maintenance of tissue homeostasis in adult mouse pancreas

Teaching Matters, Volume 2: Essays by the faculty and staff at the University of Maine at Farmington

Essays by the faculty and staff at the University of Maine at Farmington.https://scholarworks.umf.maine.edu/publications/1087/thumbnail.jp

Coordinating Development of the SWARM-EX CubeSat Swarm Across Multiple Institutions

The Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment (SWARM-EX) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored CubeSat mission distributed across six colleges and universities in the United States. The project has three primary goals: (1) contributing to aeronomy and space weather knowledge, (2) demonstrating novel engineering technology, and (3) advancing higher education. The scientific focus of SWARM-EX is to study the spatial and temporal variability of ion-neutral interactions in the equatorial Ionosphere-Thermosphere (I-T) region. Since the mission consists of three spacecraft operating in a swarm, SWARM-EX will take in-situ measurements of the neutral and ion composition on timescales of less than an orbital period to study the persistence and correlation between different phenomena in the I-T region. The engineering objectives of SWARM-EX are focused on advancing the state of the art in spacecraft formation flying. In addition to being the first passively safe, autonomous formation of more than two spacecraft, SWARM-EX will demonstrate several other key innovations. These include a novel hybrid propulsive/differential drag control scheme and the realization of a distributed aeronomy sensor. Asa project selected by the NSF for its broader impacts as well as its intellectual merit, SWARM-EX aims to use CubeSat development as a vehicle for education. The six collaborating institutions have varying levels of CubeSat experience and involve students who range from first-year undergraduates to Ph.D. candidates. These differences in knowledge, as well as the distributed nature of the program, present a tremendous educational opportunity, but also raise challenges such as cross-institutional communication and coordination, document sharing and file management, and hardware development. By detailing its procedures for overcoming these challenges, the SWARM-EX team believes that it may serve as a case study for the coordination of a successful CubeSat program distributed across multiple institutions