Could NICE guidance on the choice of blood pressure lowering drugs be simplified?

Reecha Sofat and colleagues argue that prescribing advice needs updating in the light of recent evidence that all classes of blood pressure lowering drugs are broadly equivalen

Molecular and Morphological Evidence for Multiple Cryptic Crayfish Invasions in the Southern Appalachian Mountains

The crayfish genus Orconectes is widespread in North America and most diverse in the southeastern river drainages. Orconectes includes numerous drainage or regional endemics as well as several species considered to be aggressive invaders of freshwater ecosystems. During the last decade, the invasive O. rusticus was reported from three western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee streams. I used mtDNA and morphological analyses to examine species boundaries in Orconectes populations in the southern Appalachian Mountains and assess the validity of morphological diagnoses of invasive populations. I sequenced and analyzed a portion of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and compared data with individuals collected from O. rusticus’ native range in Kentucky as well as from GenBank specimen reference sequences. I evaluated the ability of dichotomous keys and quantitative morphological analyses to correctly classify specimens. Comparisons with reference sequences revealed a high level of cryptic diversity among populations. Furthermore, my data demonstrates the incongruence between using molecular data and morphological identifications for some crayfish taxa

Utopia : work of art or totalitarianism schematic?

In Thomas More’s 1516 masterpiece, Utopia, seafarer Raphael Hythloday tells the author (who is depicted as a fictive character) and his friend, Peter Giles, about the virtues of an almost perfectly governed, communalistic society. More and Giles are enthralled with Hythloday’s historic and present-day accounts of Utopia, primarily because they describe a society that treats its citizenry with far more equality, dignity, and respect than either man has ever seen their own country, England. Among the reasons that Hythloday cites for Utopia’s social successes is that it is a classless and moneyless society that doesn’t allow for the ownership of private property. Each Utopian citizen works in an agrarian collective for the common good of all. In other words, everyone happily shares the harvest of all things equally with everyone else—no one goes without. As commendable as Hythloday’s espousals seem to be about Utopia, it is my contention throughout this thesis that twentieth-century despots like Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and Jim Jones may have ascertained, either directly or indirectly from the textual gaps, nuances, and hypocrisies in More’s book, what they deemed necessary and then implemented such notions not only to create their own social utopias but also to mercilessly control and maintain them

The highly preorganized ligand 2,9-BIS(Hydroxymethyl)-1,10-Phenanthroline, and its complexation properties with metal ions

Preorganization has been shown to be an important concept in inorganic chemistry. Preorganization increases the thermodynamic stability of complexes and metal ion selectivity of ligands. A ligand is more highly preorganized the more nearly it is constrained as the free ligand to be in the conformation required to complex the metal ion. The ligand 2,9-bis(hydroxymethyl)-1,10-phenanthroline (PDALC) was used to study the effects of preorganization and effects of addition of neutral oxygen donor atoms on the thermodynamic complex stability. The rigid extended aromatic backbone of PDALC should lead to unprecedented levels of preorganization for a non-macrocyclic ligand. PDALC was synthesized and characterized using NMR and IR analysis. UV/Vis spectrophotometry was used in titrations to determine protonation constants of the free ligand and its formation constants with metal ions. These were obtained by plotting absorbance, corrected for dilution caused by addition of acid or base during the titration, against pH. Log K1 values for PDALC were obtained for Ba(II), Bi(III), Ca(II), Cd(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Gd(III), In(III), La(III), Mg(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Sr(II), Zn(II), and Zr(IV) in 0.1 M NaClO4 at 25 oC. A titration with Zr(IV) was used to determine the charge of the complex at biological pH for potential use in positron emission tomography (PET). The crystal structures of the PDALC complexes [Bi(PDALC)(H2O)2](ClO4)3·H2O, [Pb(PDALC)(ClO4)2]· H2O, and [Ca(PDALC)2](ClO4)2·H2O are reported. The stability constants along with crystal structures are discussed in relation to the high level of preorganization of the PDALC ligand, and the effects of the neutral O-donors of the hydroxymethyl groups of PDALC on its complexes

Marital quality and interspousal self-concept congruency

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between marital quality and interspousal self-concept congruency. This study also sought to investigate the influence of changing sex-role attitudes on marriage. The consensus among researchers appears to be that sex-role attitudes are changing, and that this is having significant impact on marriages. This study sought to look at the relationship between a couple's sex-role attitudes toward the marriage and the amount of interspousal self-concept congruence that existed. Testable hypotheses were developed within the framework of symbolic interaction theory. Within this perspective the processes of self-conception and self-evaluation are key elements in shaping the relationship between individual behavior and one's social environment. This framework suggests that individuals act by using symbols as well as by physical stimuli that are learned through reflective interaction with significant others. Thus, couples who are aware of the symbols (both verbal and nonverbal) that are exchanged, will be more aware of each other, and therefore, more able to accurately perceive each other's needs. This, in turn, should have a positive impact on the self-concept that each partner develops as well as the resulting quality of that marriage

Legal aspects of faculty employment : tenure, contracts, and dismissal in the community colleges and technical institutes in North Carolina

The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze certain legal aspects of faculty employment in the community colleges and technical institutes in North Carolina. Major legal aspects of faculty employment studied were tenure, contracts, and dismissal. The study included examination of court cases, faculty contracts, procedural manuals, and unpublished documents used in community colleges and technical institutes. A survey was conducted among the presidents of the twenty-one community colleges and thirty-six technical institutes in North Carolina. The investigation revealed that there was little uniformity in tenure plans across the United States. There was no definitive legal norm which judges applied with consistency. Courts tended to stress procedures, giving the tenure plan itself the weight of law in terms of faithfulness in applying it as written

Parent and teacher perceptions of discipline problems and solutions in small, urban, western Piedmont North Carolina high schools

This study investigated the extent of discipline problems in small, urban, Western Piedmont North Carolina high schools as perceived by teachers and parents of high school students. It examined and compared teacher and parent responses to the severity of serious acts of student misbehavior and selected contributors to student misbehavior. It compared preferences of inschool suspension, out-of-school suspension, and exclusion from school in dealing with students involved in fighting, assault, intimidation, vandalism, possession of weapons, and use/possession and sale of illegal drugs. Also, the study examined involvement of law enforcement agencies in addressing serious discipline matters. Finally, the study compared teacher and parent suggestions for improving current systems of managing and reforming unruly high school youths. Parents and teachers agreed that serious acts of misbehavior are significant problems for schools. There was also agreement on external and internal contributors to school discipline problems

The effects of verbal consequences for rule-following on sensitivity to programmed contingencies of reinforcement

This study examined the effects of two types of verbal consequences for rule-following and their impact on subject's responses to programmed schedules of reinforcement. The first type of consequence involved feedback on the correspondence between the subject's behavior and the behavior specified in an antecedent rule. A second type of consequence involved this same feedback plus feedback on the number of points earned for task performance. Some subjects were given accurate feedback with respect to rule-following and some were told that the rule was being followed regardless of behavior. The task involved moving a circle through a grid on a video screen using telegraph keys operating on a multiple schedule of reinforcement. Successful task performance resulted in the delivery of a point, exchangeable for chances at a cash prize. The subjects were given an accurate rule that specified the appropriate behavior for a DRL 6/FR 18 multiple schedule of reinforcement with two-minute components. After 32 minutes of responding, this schedule was changed, without announcement, to a FR 1/FI Yoked schedule of reinforcement. The change from the DRL 6 to the FR 1 enabled an increase in effectiveness (more points could be earned in a given unit of time) and the change from the FR 18 to the FI Yoked enabled an increase in efficiency (fewer responses could earn the same number of points). The changed contingencies were kept in place for 64 minutes

Legal aspects of no-pass/no-play in high school extracurricular activities

The popular phrase "no-pass/no-play" describes the rules or statutes being adopted by an increasing number of state legislatures, state boards of education, and local school districts. In the interest of educational reform, school leaders are increasingly limiting participation in extracurricular activities for students that fail courses or do not achieve at least a "C" (2.00 GPA) average. Because of this, there is a need to know and understand recent court decisions relative to no-pass/no-play for student participation in extracurricular activities. The purpose of this study was to identify the critical legal issues affecting the implementation of no-pass/no-play rules at the state and local level. The second purpose was to review and analyze state statutes and case law relative to extracurricular activities. The final purpose of this study was to form a legal reference for persons at the state and local levels to assist them in the adoption and implementation of more stringent academic requirements for student participation in extracurricular activities

Light and space in the figure, still-life and landscape

The landscape, the figure and the still-life exist as living forms and ideas. Each imparts to its constituent parts an essential and integral order reflecting contrast, growth, change and temporal movements and harmonies. The substance of such a scheme surely defines the existence of a living presence and the collective dialogue establishes a rhythm of form, light and space. I maintain a position as an observer and interpreter of the movements and procession of events in each situation. As light shifts, expands, blends and contains, I try to follow its path, attempt to see its completeness in each situation. As a scheme reveals itself to me, I hold fast to the form and the flow of light that engages my vision. The area in question may be small, but one, nevertheless, that seems to have a harmony of space and form. Some parts are strongly defined, others seem to disappear or be barely present. This soft range of tone is most crucial to an appreciation of the strength of light and the sensitive relationships that can be formed by its presence. To observe such subtle tonalities and movements, I attempt to empathize as much as possible with each situation as it appears. To this end, I become part of a larger and more substantive function in respect to a final vision, a participant, an extension of the vision that directs my purpose