Patient Activation Through Community Paramedicine – Initial Assessment and Future Directions

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine.Community paramedicine (CP) is an evolving concept that promises to expand the role of emergency medical services to support patients beyond the conventional emergency activation. Community paramedics engage in a variety of activities during visits to patient homes including post hospital discharge follow up, medication reconciliation and monitoring of health parameters such as body weight and blood pressure. As CP programs develop, it is important to have a mechanism by which to measure their success. Patient activation is a holistic concept that describes a patient’s ownership of his or her health and healthcare. The survey based Patient Activation Measure (PAM) is a quantitative means to assess a patient’s level of activation. Is it possible that participation in a CP program could increase patient activation, which in turn could act to describe the success of the CP intervention? This study analyzed data derived from a PAM survey used in association with a CP program at Buckeye Fire Department in Buckeye, Arizona. It was expected that patient activation would increase among patients participating in the program. A clear correlation was not found however several insights were gained which hold promise to better define a future study.This item is part of the College of Medicine - Phoenix Scholarly Projects 2019 collection. For more information, contact the Phoenix Biomedical Campus Library at [email protected]

Electrothermic dry distillation of zinc

Although the work described in this thesis cannot be considered as complete, until certain mechanical changes have been made and the furnace operated continuously over a considerable period of time, this electrothermic dry distillation process for the extraction of zinc from ores offers excellent commercial possibilities. The literature has been reviewed, the process that was used at East St. Louis described, and the results of work at the Mississippi Valley Experiment Station of the United States Bureau of Mines, Department of Commerce, Rolla, Missouri along the line of electrothermic metallurgy of zinc considered --Summary, page 58

Endothelial function and urine albumin levels among asymptomatic Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic whites

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background-</p> <p>Mexican-Americans (MA) exhibit increases in various cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors compared to non-Hispanic Whites (NHW), yet are reported to have lower CVD mortality rates. Our aim was to help explain this apparent paradox by evaluating endothelial function and urine albumin levels in MA and NHW.</p> <p>Methods-</p> <p>One hundred-five MA and 100 NHW adults were studied by brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), blood and urine tests. Participants were studied by ultrasound-determined brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), blood and urine tests, at a single visit.</p> <p>Results-</p> <p>Despite higher BMI and triglycerides in MA, MA demonstrated higher FMD than did NHW (9.1 ± 7.3% vs. 7.1 ± 6.3%, p < 0.04). Among MA, urinary albumin was consistently lower in participants with FMD ≥ 7% FMD versus < 7% FMD (p < 0.006). In multivariate analyses in MA men, urinary albumin was inversely related to FMD (r = -0.26, p < 0.05), as were BMI and systolic blood pressure. In MA women, urinary albumin:creatinine ratio was an independent inverse predictor of FMD (p < 0.05 ).</p> <p>Conclusion-</p> <p>To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze, in asymptomatic adults, the relation of MA and NHW ethnicity to FMD and urine albumin levels. The findings confirm ethnic differences in these important subclinical CVD measures.</p

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr