The ICD in heart failure - time for a rethink?

No abstract available

Determinants of the Closing Probability of Residential Mortgage Applications

After allowing applicants to "lock" the interest rate, mortgage originators are concerned with protecting themselves from adverse outcomes due to interest-rate changes. One may expect applicants would strive to close applications when rates rose, while letting themselves fall out when rates decline. Our results show that applicant response to interest-rate changes and volatility are modest. The most important predictor of closing probability is the length of the lock period, with shorter locks being more likely to close. Applications for single-family are more likely to close than are those for multiunit dwellings. Applications for owner-occupied properties are more likely to close than are those for investment properties. Applicant characteristics such as loan affordability, education and age have a small influence on closing rate. Gender has an effect for some loan programs, and marital status appears to be irrelevant. Discount points affect refinance mortgages more than purchase mortgages. Conventional applications are more likely to close than FHA and VA, and applications for refinance, in general, are less likely to close. Results are mixed for ARM and fifteen-year applications, as well as for whether it was the original application, or a relock.

Declining risk of sudden death in heart failure

No abstract available

The Influence of Race in Residential Mortgage Closings

This study examines how applicants identified as Asian, Black or Hispanic differ in mortgage closing outcomes compared to the remaining applicants. First, the findings show that minority applicants are somewhat less likely to close a loan for purchase, but equally likely to close a loan for refinance. A more important question this study addresses is whether minority borrowers have less efficient closing outcomes. The findings show no statistical difference between minority and non-minority applicants. This indicates that originators do not demonstrate a ‘‘taste for discrimination’’ by basing their loan approval for minorities on whether the loan can be profitably sold.

Some Disparities Between the Mackay Report on “Religion in the Schools” and the Conerns of Today’s Youth

In March 1969, the Mackay Committee published its Report on Religious Information and Moral Development. This Report was the result of a three-year study by the Mackay Committee on the state of religious education in the public schools of Ontario. Its purpose was to recommend a “program” of religious information and moral development which would meet the needs of youth in a pluralistic school system as they seek to live responsible lives in today’s world. This thesis contends that there are some disparities between the Mackay Report and the concerns of youth today. Its particular stance has been shaped by the writings of Strommen, Tillich, Keniston, Erikson, and May, and from personal involvement with youth in church-related young people’s work. It believes that youth have concerns which have deep religious roots, and that the needs of youth will not have been met until they have been provided with a religious interpretation of life. It is convinced that the Mackay Report will fail in its attempt to provide a dynamic “program” of religious information and moral development for our schools because it lacks an understanding of the real “felt-needs” of young people today. In order to show the disparities between the Mackay Report and the concerns of youth today, this thesis will consider the needs of youth as they are mirrored in contemporary writing; see how these concerns are reflected in the Mackay Report; and present an outline of a “program” of religious information and moral development which will provide a religious interpretation of life and meet the “felt-needs” of youth in our public school system

‘Hearts and minds’: association, causation and implication of cognitive impairment in heart failure

The clinical syndrome of heart failure is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation and mortality in older adults. An association between cognitive impairment and heart failure is well described but our understanding of the relationship between the two conditions remains limited. In this review we provide a synthesis of available evidence, focussing on epidemiology, the potential pathogenesis, and treatment implications of cognitive decline in heart failure. Most evidence available relates to heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and the syndromes of chronic cognitive decline or dementia. These conditions are only part of a complex heart failure-cognition paradigm. Associations between cognition and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and between acute delirium and heart failure also seem evident and where data are available we will discuss these syndromes. Many questions remain unanswered regarding heart failure and cognition. Much of the observational evidence on the association is confounded by study design, comorbidity and insensitive cognitive assessment tools. If a causal link exists, there are several potential pathophysiological explanations. Plausible underlying mechanisms relating to cerebral hypoperfusion or occult cerebrovascular disease have been described and it seems likely that these may coexist and exert synergistic effects. Despite the prevalence of the two conditions, when cognitive impairment coexists with heart failure there is no specific guidance on treatment. Institution of evidence-based heart failure therapies that reduce mortality and hospitalisations seems intuitive and there is no signal that these interventions have an adverse effect on cognition. However, cognitive impairment will present a further barrier to the often complex medication self-management that is required in contemporary heart failure treatment

Summer Phytoplankton Photosynthesis in a Northeastern Ohio Glacial Lake

Author Institution: Department of Biology, The University of AkronMCMURRAY, GREGORY AND JOHN H. OLIVE. Summer phytoplankton photosynthesis in a northeastern Ohio glacial lake. Ohio J. Sci. 75(5): 238, 1975