Time + Talent + Treasures = Partnerships for Success

The tools for philanthropy and successful development do not come in a box with instructions. Instead, they are crafted through building positive relationships over time, which unleashes potential in like-minded individuals, enriches the human experience, and propels broad-based prosperity for the many communities positively impacted by the outcomes. At UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management, we are working to make a difference and transform lives

DETERMINATION OF UREA IN SERUM BY USING NATURALLY IMMOBILIZED UREASE IN A FLOW-INJECTION CONDUCTIMETRIC SYSTEM

A flow injection method was developed, aimed at the determination of urea in human serum. The system makes use of the naturally immobilized urease present in Canavalia ensiformis DC (jack bean). A column is filled with small pieces of this bean, and the sample (50-mu-l) containing urea passes through it carried by a 1% NaCl solution. On leaving the column the stream is merged with an alkaline reagent (0.5 mol dm-3 NaOH; 0.5% disodium dihydrogen ethylenediaminetetraacetate). The ammonium ions, arising from the enzymatic reaction that occurs inside the column, are changed into the molecular form, which permeates a polytetrafluoroethylene membrane and is received in a de-ionized water acceptor stream. The ammonia ionizes causing an increase in the conductance, which is proportional to the urea content of the sample. About 40 samples can be processed in 1 h with negligible carry-over and with a relative standard deviation of 1% or less. The results are in agreement with those obtained by a standard spectrophotometric method.116435736

Adequacy of Cancer Screening in Adult Women with Congenital Heart Disease

Adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) face noncardiac healthcare challenges as the population ages. We assessed whether women with ACHD have comparable cancer screening rates to non-ACHD women in a cardiac practice and to the general population. We performed a retrospective review of 175 adult women seen in a cardiac care center in 2009–2011. Data on Pap tests, mammography, and colonoscopies, were collected through electronic medical records and primary care provider records. Adequate documentation was available for 100 individuals with ACHD and 40 comparator cardiac patients. The adequacy of screening was determined using guidelines set forth by the American Cancer Society in 2010. Compared with the national average, ACHD patients had significantly lower rates of Pap tests (60% versus 83%, P < 0.001) and mammography (48% versus 72%, P < 0.001). Compared with non-ACHD women in the same practice, ACHD patients had consistently lower rates of mammography (48% versus 81%, P = 0.02) and colonoscopies (54% versus 82%, P = 0.23). As the population of ACHD individuals ages, attention to cancer screening becomes increasingly important but may be overlooked in this population. Primary care physicians and cardiologists should collaborate to ensure appropriate cancer screening for this growing population

Vector Particle Interactions In the Quasipotential Approach

The composite system, formed by two $S=1$ particles, is considered. The field operators of constituents are transformed on the $(1,0)\oplus (0,1)$ representation of the Lorentz group. The problem of interaction of $S=1$ particle with the electromagnetic field is also discussed.Comment: LateX file, 7pp., Preprint IFUNAM FT-93-01

Random Series and Discrete Path Integral methods: The Levy-Ciesielski implementation

We perform a thorough analysis of the relationship between discrete and series representation path integral methods, which are the main numerical techniques used in connection with the Feynman-Kac formula. First, a new interpretation of the so-called standard discrete path integral methods is derived by direct discretization of the Feynman-Kac formula. Second, we consider a particular random series technique based upon the Levy-Ciesielski representation of the Brownian bridge and analyze its main implementations, namely the primitive, the partial averaging, and the reweighted versions. It is shown that the n=2^k-1 subsequence of each of these methods can also be interpreted as a discrete path integral method with appropriate short-time approximations. We therefore establish a direct connection between the discrete and the random series approaches. In the end, we give sharp estimates on the rates of convergence of the partial averaging and the reweighted Levy-Ciesielski random series approach for sufficiently smooth potentials. The asymptotic rates of convergence are found to be O(1/n^2), in agreement with the rates of convergence of the best standard discrete path integral techniques.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures; the two equations before Eq. 14 are corrected; other typos are remove

Documentation of body mass index and control of associated risk factors in a large primary care network

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Body mass index (BMI) will be a reportable health measure in the United States (US) through implementation of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) guidelines. We evaluated current documentation of BMI, and documentation and control of associated risk factors by BMI category, based on electronic health records from a 12-clinic primary care network.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 79,947 active network patients greater than 18 years of age seen between 7/05 - 12/06. We defined BMI category as normal weight (NW, 18-24.9 kg/m²), overweight (OW, 25-29.9), and obese (OB, ≥ 30). We measured documentation (yes/no) and control (above/below) of the following three risk factors: blood pressure (BP) ≤130/≤85 mmHg, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) ≤130 mg/dL (3.367 mmol/L), and fasting glucose <100 mg/dL (5.55 mmol/L) or casual glucose <200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>BMI was documented in 48,376 patients (61%, range 34-94%), distributed as 30% OB, 34% OW, and 36% NW. Documentation of all three risk factors was higher in obesity (OB = 58%, OW = 54%, NW = 41%, p for trend <0.0001), but control of all three was lower (OB = 44%, OW = 49%, NW = 62%, p = 0.0001). The presence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or diabetes modified some associations with obesity, and OB patients with CVD or diabetes had low rates of control of all three risk factors (CVD: OB = 49%, OW = 50%, NW = 56%; diabetes: OB = 42%, OW = 47%, NW = 48%, p < 0.0001 for adiposity-CVD or diabetes interaction).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In a large primary care network BMI documentation has been incomplete and for patients with BMI measured, risk factor control has been poorer in obese patients compared with NW, even in those with obesity and CVD or diabetes. Better knowledge of BMI could provide an opportunity for improved quality in obesity care.</p

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Autonomous Infrastructure Based Multihop Cellular Networks

In a multihop cellular network, mobile terminals have the capability to transmit directly to other mobile terminals enabling them to use other terminals as relays to forward traffic towards the base station. Previous studies of networks consisting of a single cell found that the SINR in a multihop cellular network is slightly lower than in a traditional cellular network. However, multihop cellular networks may have a higher capacity than traditional cellular networks due to their potential for lower intercell interference. For this reason, the effects of intercell interference are investigated in this thesis. Our simulations of a network with many cells show that multihop cellular networks have a higher SINR than traditional cellular networks due to the near elimination of intercell interference. However, multihop cellular networks still suffer from large amounts of interference surrounding the base station because all traffic either emanates or is destined to the base station making it the capacity bottleneck. To resolve this problem, we propose a novel architecture called the autonomous infrastructure multihop cellular network where users can connect their mobile terminals to the backbone network giving them the functionality of an access point. Access points receive traffic from other terminals and send it directly onto the backbone, as would a base station. This reduces the traffic handled by the base station and increases network capacity. Our analysis and simulations show that in autonomous infrastructure multihop cellular networks, the SINR at the base station is higher, the power consumption is lower and the coverage is better than in normal multihop cellular networks. Access points require parameters like their transmission range to be adjusted autonomously to optimal levels. In this thesis, we propose an autonomous pilot power protocol. Our results show that by adjusting a parameter within the protocol, a required coverage level of terminals can be specified and achieved without knowledge of the location or density of mobile terminals. Furthermore, we show that the protocol determines the transmission range that is optimal in terms of SINR and power consumption that achieves the required coverage while effectively eliminating the bottleneck that existed at the base station.Ph