Constantine Samuel Rafinesque: A Voice in the American Wilderness

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque was a quintessential nineteenth-century American scientist and naturalist. Exalted by some, cursed by others, Rafinesque gave Latin names to over 6,700 plant species, was acknowledged by Darwin for his early insights into biological variation, and is frequently mentioned in the great natural history archives. Yet he has been almost forgotten in our own day. During his long career, which included some five years as an innovative professor at Transylvania University in Kentucky, Rafinesque’s colorful and sometimes difficult personality led to troubles with his colleagues. In Constantine Samuel Rafinesque , the first full-length biography of this brilliant, original, and misunderstood naturalist, Leonard Warren presents a fair and surprising look at Rafinesque’s life and contributions to the world of science. Warren\u27s easy style combined with Rafinesque\u27s always entertaining, if not somewhat tragic, adventures make for a quick and informative read. —Academia A well-written book about a fascinating and misunderstood naturalist. . . . All readers interested in the people who practice science will enjoy it. Recommended. —Choice The reader comes away from this work satisfied that Rafinesque at last has found the biographer he deserves. . . . Will interest all those curious about science in early America —Indiana Magazine of History A balanced and informative biography. —Journal of the History of Biology Well-organized and engagingly written-Warren has done impressive research into all of Rafinesque\u27s endeavors: botany, zoology, ethnography, linguistics, geography. —Karen Reeds, Princeton Research Forum Rafinesque was plagued by the flaws of his personality, often undone by the sheer breadth and depth of his interest. . . . An engaging academic biography of a sad enigma. —Lexington Herald-Leader A comprehensive and readable biography of this remarkable and complex man. —Northern Kentucky Heritage One of the most exhilarating characters in American frontier history, a legend in scientific circles rivaled only by Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyon, Davy Crockett, or Daniel Boone in others. —Southern Seen, Clarksville (VA) News-Progress, Union City (TN) Messengerhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_history_of_science_technology_and_medicine/1002/thumbnail.jp

Thromboembolic and neurologic sequelae of discontinuation of an antihyperlipidemic drug during ongoing warfarin therapy

Warfarin and antihyperlipidemics are commonly co-prescribed. Some antihyperlipidemics may inhibit warfarin deactivation via the hepatic cytochrome P450 system. Therefore, antihyperlipidemic discontinuation has been hypothesized to result in underanticoagulation, as warfarin metabolism is no longer inhibited. We quantified the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and ischemic stroke (IS) due to statin and fibrate discontinuation in warfarin users, in which warfarin was initially dose-titrated during ongoing antihyperlipidemic therapy. Using 1999-2011 United States Medicaid claims among 69 million beneficiaries, we conducted a set of bidirectional self-controlled case series studies-one for each antihyperlipidemic. Outcomes were hospital admissions for VTE/IS. The risk segment was a maximum of 90 days immediately following antihyperlipidemic discontinuation, the exposure of interest. Time-varying confounders were included in conditional Poisson models. We identified 629 study eligible-persons with at least one outcome. Adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for all antihyperlipidemics studied were consistent with the null, and ranged from 0.21 (0.02, 2.82) for rosuvastatin to 2.16 (0.06, 75.0) for gemfibrozil. Despite using an underlying dataset of millions of persons, we had little precision in estimating IRRs for VTE/IS among warfarin-treated persons discontinuing individual antihyperlipidemics. Further research should investigate whether discontinuation of gemfibrozil in warfarin users results in serious underanticoagulation

Perceived need and willingness of a sample of registered casualty unit nurses to engage in supplementary counselling skills training

In 2002 there were an estimated 1.5 million people admitted into casualty emergency units within the Republic of South Africa. Many of these admissions dealt with events that were traumatic for both families and practitioners and these traumatic events have effects on the biological, psychological and social wellbeing of these individuals. Coupled with this is an ever increasing demand for mental health services and a worldwide shortage of qualified individuals to provide these services. Registered nurses in casualty units deal with the majority of these issues and the effect of these traumatic events. The crisis intervention model may provide these registered nurses with the necessary skills to deal with these problems not only for patients but possibly for themselves. Furthermore the biopsychosocial model of health allows these registered nurses to assess the impact of these events on the individuals. Yet, some registered nurses feel that they lack the necessary skills to deal with and assess these problems and intervene in these crisis situations. This study was exploratory descriptive in nature and aimed to examine whether there was a perceived need for registered casualty unit nurses to engage in supplementary counselling skills training. These perceptions were obtained through purposively sampled interviews and analysed qualitatively, using Tesch’s model of content analysis. Findings indicated that the registered nurses do perceive a need for supplementary counselling training, both for use with the patients and for themselves, and are willing to engage in this training although there are problems that inhibit this willingness. Recommendations regarding the implementation of a supplementary counselling skills training course as well as future research in the field were made

Hydrogeology and quaternary stratigraphy of the Richmond River Valley, New South Wales

The central approach of this thesis is to integrate three interrelated disciplines; geology, hydrodynamics and chemistry, and apply them to the sediment, fractured basalts and groundwater of the Richmond River Valley. Detailed geological investigations were carried out to determine the stratigraphic and chronological sequence of the unconsolidated sediments. Using bore hole samples, the areal boundaries and thicknesses of each formation were established. Rock lithology, sedimentology, grain size characteristics, quartz grain surface texture, palaeontology, palynology, clay mineralogy and age (radiocarbon and uranium series dating) were also determined. Evidence is presented for Quaternary history along the east coast of Australia. Satisfactory correlation with global climatic and geological events have been achieved for the first time in Australia. Close correlation exists between the oxygen isotope classification of the Pleistocene Period and events recorded in the unconsolidated sediments. Polycyclic deposits older than 135,000 years have been chronologically recognised and their mode of formation postulated. This model fully documents the last major interglacial facies deposits; establishes sea level heights and the duration for the period (134,000 to 118,000 years B.P.) in Australia. The last glacial and Holocene transgression are also established by radiocarbon dating. The physical three dimensional framework has been established. The aquifer parameters were determined with transmissivity values ranging from 0.0001 to ll66m2;day and storage co-efficient of 4.5 x l0-6 to 0.37. Mainly numerical methods of solution were employed. Using finite element techniques to produce equipotential and flow lines, under anisotropic/isotropic and homogeneous/heterogeneous conditions, the groundwater flow has been modelled and qualitatively interpretated along seven hydrostratigraphic cross sections. It was found that the predicted flow net configuration compared closely to that deduced from tritium analyses. Groundwater samples were taken from aquifers to determine geochemical reactions within and down the flow path. In several unconsolidated aquifers it was not always possible to explain the chemical analyses of groundwater in terms of ideal chemical reactions, principles and hydrochemical facies analyses. Many groundwater flow systems undergo progressive and frequently irreversible chemical changes, have multiple recharge sources and continually pass through variable lithological material. The chemical changes in other aquifers have predictable evolutionary paths