Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is a reversible form of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Patients typically present with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome including chest pain, shortness of breath, elevated cardiac biomarkers and ST elevation. As a result, patients are emergently taken to the coronary catheterization lab for angiography of the coronary arteries

An Assessment of Post-Professional Athletic Training Students\u27 Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions

The need for outcome measures in critical thinking skills and dispositions for post-professional athletic training programs (PPATPs) is significant. It has been suggested that athletic trainers who are competent and disposed towards thinking critically will be successful in the profession. The purpose of this study is to assess critical thinking skills and dispositions of PPATP students who entered a program in either the summer or fall of 2012 utilizing the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI). All PPATP first year students entering the program during fall or summer of 2012 and one program during fall 2013 were solicited to participate in this study. Of the 182, potential participants 65 responded for a response rate of 35.7% (age = 22.55±1.37), (BOC score = 578.20±54.32), (GRE verbal reasoning = 151±6.02), (GRE quantitative reasoning score = 149.91±6.75), (GRE analytical writing score 3.92±.57), (undergraduate GPA = 3.56±.28). Data collection occurred over six months starting in the fall of 2012. Three email reminders were sent approximately one week apart via email. Students reported moderate total critical thinking skills (73.14±9.87) and ambivalent truth-seeking (37.33±5.12), positive open mindedness (42.05±5.22), positive analyticity (44.43±7.71), positive systematicity (41.43±6.4), positive self-confidence (44.19±5.92), positive inquisitiveness (46.13±5.7), and positive maturity of judgment (42.35±4.97) on critical thinking dispositions. Cronbach\u27s alpha coefficients for the CCTST was excellent (.96) and acceptable (.79) for CCTDI. No significant correlation was found between BOC score and CCTST total score (r=.116, p=.412). No significant correlation was found between CCTST total score and GRE verbal reasoning score (r=.039, p=.836), GRE quantitative score (r=.203, p=.348), or GRE analytical writing score (r=-.070, p=.682). No significant correlation was found between undergraduate GPA and CCTDI total score ( r=.056, p=.663), nor between CCTST total score and CCTDI total score (r=.221, p=.082). Stepwise regression indicated age was a significant predictor of CCTST total score (R2=.396, F=13.755,df=1,21, p=.001) and involvement of clinical instructor in education and length of program were significant predictors of CCTDI total score (R2=.362, F=5.958,df=2,21, p=.009). Results indicate there is room for improvement in both critical thinking skills and dispositions of PPATP

Volume bounds for generalized twisted torus links

Twisted torus knots and links are given by twisting adjacent strands of a torus link. They are geometrically simple and contain many examples of the smallest volume hyperbolic knots. Many are also Lorenz links. We study the geometry of twisted torus links and related generalizations. We determine upper bounds on their hyperbolic volumes that depend only on the number of strands being twisted. We exhibit a family of twisted torus knots for which this upper bound is sharp, and another family with volumes approaching infinity. Consequently, we show there exist twisted torus knots with arbitrarily large braid index and yet bounded volume.Comment: Revised version to appear in Mathematical Research Letters. 21 pages, 14 figure

American Music in Wind Band Repertoire: the Importance and Need for Heritage Preservation

For an instrumental conductor in a music education program, repertoire selection is an important step while preparing for a concert program. Choosing quality music that represents varied genres, styles, and historical periods helps to create a stimulating concert for the listeners and a well-balanced musical preparation for the player. Performing music from other countries is essential and should be balanced with American music, specifically folk songs and marches. The purpose of this thesis is to show the placement and benefit, according to composers and arrangers, of utilizing American music within the music classroom, specifically in the choice of wind band repertoire. This qualitative study features five interviews with modern composers and arrangers, musical analysis of two scores, and the compilation of a repertoire database for American folk songs and marches. The three main research questions that guided this process were: 1) what is the accessibility of folk songs and marches in wind band repertoire, 2) why is the heritage of these categories important in the modern-day classroom, and 3) what musical elements contribute to traditional American music. Triangulation of the data helped demonstrate that distinguishing elements found in marches and folk songs are indicators of the musical heritage of the United States. The interviewees outlined musical components that are found in works defined as American music, how pieces belong to this category and notable past composers. The musical analyses outlined two chosen works, Shenandoah and The Stars and Stripes Forever, which includes detailed information about melody, accompaniment, form, articulation, and other performance practices employed in North American folk songs and marches. A reference database of folk songs and marches is included as a tool for educators to utilize when programming specifically for these categories of music

Impact of COPD and anemia on motor and cognitive performance in the general older population: results from the English longitudinal study of ageing

Background: Cognitive and motor-performance decline with age and the process is accelerated by decline in general health. In this study, we aimed to estimate the effects of COPD and HB levels on cognitive and motor performance in the general older population and assess potential interaction. Methods: The English Longitudinal Study of Aging is a population-based cohort study including measurements of lung-function and HB levels together with cognitive and motor performance testing. Data were collected from 5709 participants including three measurement time over eight years. COPD was defined using lung-function-parameters and clinical symptoms. HB was assessed continuously and low HB was defined using clinical anemia cutoffs. Linear mixed-effects regression models were used to quantify the associations of COPD and HB with outcome measures, both individually and in combination. Results: Participants with both low HB and COPD demonstrated worse motor performance compared to individuals with only one exposure, resulting in up to 1 s (95%CI, 0.04–1.8) longer time needed to complete the five times sit to stand task than what would be expected based on purely additive effects. Additionally in individuals with COPD, the time to complete the motor-performance task per unit decrease in continuous HB levels was longer than in participants without COPD after full adjustment for confounding (up to 1.38 s/unit HB level, 95% CI: 0.65–2.11). Conclusion: In persons with COPD low HB levels may contribute to low motor-performance in a supra additive fashion. Further studies should re-evaluate whether earlier treatment of lower HB in these individuals might be beneficial

Mineralogical Composition of Diabase and Altered Dolostone from the St. Francois Mountains near Annapolis, Missouri, USA

Dolostones of Cambrian and Ordovician age are found in the St. Francois Mountains on the Ozark Plateau in southeastern Missouri and often lie unconformably over Precambrian basement rocks due to the paleo-topography. In some areas, there is distinct evidence of alteration and mineralization within the dolostones. One such location is found near Annapolis, Missouri where nearly all of the original dolomitic material is replaced with quartz. A diabase dike is in close proximity to the silicified dolostone and may have provided the conduit for fluids during alteration. The purpose of this study was to examine samples from the relatively unaltered dolostone, the silicified dolostone, and the diabase in order to establish the mineral changes associated with the alteration. Several samples were collected and analyzed in hand sample, in thin section, and using X-Ray Diffraction. In the diabase, plagioclase was abundant in both hand sample and thin section. The XRD results confirmed the presence of plagioclase as labradorite and supported evidence of magnetite as well. The highly altered dolostone exhibited original sedimentary laminations and varied in color. In thin section, the altered dolostone was very fine grained and the minerals that appeared to be present were quartz and an opaque mineral. After XRD analysis it was concluded that quartz was present and a pyrite structured sulfide mineral was present as well. The other four samples were dolomitic with laminations that varied in color from dark red to cream. XRD results indicated that dolomite, ankerite, and minrecordite were present in the dolostone

Does Mutual Fund Performance Vary over the Business Cycle?

Conditional factor models allow both risk loadings and performance over a period to be a func- tion of information available at the start of the period. Much of the literature to date has allowed risk loadings to be time-varying while imposing the assumption that conditional performance is constant. We develop a new methodology that allows conditional performance to be a function of information available at the start of the period. This methodology uses the Euler equation restriction that comes out of the factor model rather than the beta pricing formula itself. The Euler equation restrictions that we develop can be estimated using GMM. It is also possible to allow the factor returns to have longer data series than the mutual fund series as in Stambaugh (1997). We use our method to assess the conditional performance of funds in the Elton, Gruber and Blake (1996) mutual fund data set. Using dividend yield to track the business cycle, we nd that conditional mutual fund performance moves with the business cycle, with all fund types except growth performing better in downturns than in peaks. The converse holds for growth funds, which do better in peaks than in downturns

The epigenetic regulator ATF7ip inhibits Il2 expression, regulating Th17 responses.

T helper 17 cells (Th17) are critical for fighting infections at mucosal surfaces; however, they have also been found to contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple autoimmune diseases and have been targeted therapeutically. Due to the role of Th17 cells in autoimmune pathogenesis, it is important to understand the factors that control Th17 development. Here we identify the activating transcription factor 7 interacting protein (ATF7ip) as a critical regulator of Th17 differentiation. Mice with T cell-specific deletion of Atf7ip have impaired Th17 differentiation secondary to the aberrant overproduction of IL-2 with T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation and are resistant to colitis in vivo. ChIP-seq studies identified ATF7ip as an inhibitor of Il2 gene expression through the deposition of the repressive histone mark H3K9me3 in the Il2-Il21 intergenic region. These results demonstrate a new epigenetic pathway by which IL-2 production is constrained, and this may open up new avenues for modulating its production

Measures of gender role attitudes over time

The dissertation deals with measures of gender role attitudes over time. I analyze whether measures of gender role attitudes in national and international omnibus surveys need to be revised or not. Furthermore, I show how measures of gender role attitudes can be revised using the example of the German General Social Survey. I present a revised measure. Finally, I analyze how gender role attitudes developed in East and West Europe since 1990 and whether the attitudes converge or diverge. I discuss how the analyses help to improve existing measures