Purine nucleoside phosphorylase: A new marker for free oxygen radical injury to the endothelial cell

The effect of ischemia and reperfusion on purine nucleoside phosphorylase was studied in an isolated perfused rat liver model. This enzyme is localized primarily in the cytoplasm of the endothelial and Kupffer cells; some activity is associated with the parenchymal cells. Levels of this enzyme accurately predicted the extent of ischemia and reperfusion damage to the microvascular endothelial cell of the liver. Livers from Lewis rats were subjected to 30, 45 and 60 min of warm (37° C) no flow ischemia that was followed by a standard reperfusion period lasting 45 min. Purine nucleoside phosphorylase was measured at the end of the no flow ischemia and reperfusion periods as was superoxide generation (O2‐). Bile production was monitored throughout the no flow ischemia and reperfusion periods. Control perfusions were carried out for 120 min. A significant rise in purine nucleoside phosphorylase levels as compared with controls was observed at the end of ischemia in all the three groups. The highest level, 203.5 ± 29.2 mU/ml, was observed after 60 min of ischemia. After the reperfusion period, levels of purine nucleoside phosphorylase decreased in the 30‐ and 45‐min groups 58.17 ± 9.66 mU/ml and 67.5 ± 17.1 mU/ml, respectively. These levels were equal to control perfusions. In contrast, after 60 min of ischemia, levels of purine nucleoside phosphorylase decreased early in the reperfusion period and then rose to 127.8 ± 14.8 mU/ml by the end of reperfusion (p < 0.0001). Superoxide generation at the beginning of reperfusion was higher than in controls with similar values observed at the end of 30, 45 and 60 min of ischemia. During reperfusion, production of superoxide continued. Bile production was significantly lower at the end of 30 min (0.044 ± 0.026 μl/min/gm), 45 min (0.029 ± 0.0022 μ/min/gm) and 60 min of ischemia (0.022 ± 0.008 μ/min/gm) when compared with bile production by control livers during the corresponding time (0.680 ± 0.195, 0.562 ± 0.133 and 0.480 ± 0.100 μ/min/gm respectively; p < 0.001). During reperfusion, rates of bile production were normal after 30 and 45 min of ischemia. In contrast, significantly lower rates of bile production, 0.046 ± 0.36 μ/min/gm (p < 0.001) occurred during reperfusion after 60 min of ischemia. Control livers during the same period produced 0.330 ± 0.056 μl/min/gm of bile. The results indicate that purine nucleoside phosphorylase levels may be a good index of oxidative injury to the liver in ischemia reperfusion and reliably predict the functional state of the organ after reperfusion. Copyright © 1990 American Association for the Study of Liver Disease

A Longitudinal Relationship Between Resource Allocation and Student Performance in Postsecondary Education

Amidst increased enrollment, economic recession, and state budget cuts to postsecondary education over the past two decades, two and four-year colleges and universities have employed a multitude of different approaches to managing resource allocation. At the crux of this issue is the internal struggle each institution faces: improving the level of success and the overall experience of each enrolled student while also trying to keep costs down. Meanwhile, institutions must also ensure that each dollar spent contributes to the overall success and mission of the institution. This study examined adjustments in two and four-year institutions’ categorical FTE expenditures over a ten-year period and subsequent increases or decreases in graduation rates during that time-period. The results of this study indicated that a significant relationship existed between alterations in categorial expenditure patterns and improved graduation rates at both two-year colleges and four-year colleges and universities. Additional expenditures towards instruction and academic support at four-year institutions consistently shared a strong relationship with improved four-year graduation rates and a more modest relationship with improved six-year graduation rates. At two-year colleges, additional expenditures towards academic support were found to have a significant but modest negative relationship with improved three-year graduation rates. Multiple regression analyses revealed that resource allocation adjustments accounted for the largest amount of variance (14.4%) in four-year graduation rates at four-year colleges and universities. This study also noted that institutional selectivity at four-year institutions influences this relationship at four-year institutions. The primary objective of this study was to add a new layer and new perspective to the existing body of literature surrounding resource allocation; change over time. The findings of this study may have important implications for the trajectory of postsecondary education funding, investments in student level cohort tracking, and resource allocation priorities in the future as colleges and universities enter a competitive era resulting from the demographic shifts during the great recession

Made of Things that Aren\u27t Mine

Hadley is a devout reader and owner of two identical brown tabby cats, Jibby and Jinx. She is currently an undergraduate majoring in English and Psychology. In the future, she is hoping to attend law school and work in either family or divorce law. She is often sitting near the greenhouse gardens watching the bees, or walking to class with her nose buried in a book

Promoting Transgender Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity through Education: It Starts with a Pronoun

Background: Health and social disparities affect the quality of life of transgender and gender nonconforming people in a negative manner as opposed to that of their cisgender counterparts (James et al., 2016). Gender discrimination, the lack of medical insurance, and a shortage of culturally competent providers contribute to some of the healthcare barriers in this population. The absence of supportive education for healthcare practitioners for providing culturally sensitive care impacts the transgender and gender nonconforming persons’ desire to seek routine health maintenance due to stigma, which can result in poor health outcomes (Bauer et al., 2009). Methods: To help fill a gap in transgender communication techniques, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student at the University of San Francisco facilitated the assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation of a transgender pronoun education/simulation program for use in various settings, including the following: a health center in San Francisco California, a DNP-level assessment course at the University of San Francisco. Measures: Evaluations of the toolkit were done pre- and post-training to assess level of knowledge through questions asked in the aggregate. Data on apparent effectiveness and applicability of the Transgender Pronoun Toolkit was collected via a Likert scale during post training. Summary: Post implementation survey revealed an increase in comfort with using the name/pronoun that a patient asks them to use rather than the one in the chart, 85% reported knowing how to recover from mistakes when addressing a transgender person, and 84% reported knowing the steps that should be taken to resolve questions when a patient appears to be male even though the chart indicates them to be femal

An investigation of clarinet playing using a sensor-equipped mouthpiece

The purpose of this study is to characterize clarinet playing techniques through measurements of the pressure in the clarinet mouthpiece while a musician plays and to investigate the methods by which clarinet players transition from note to note, termed articulations. The results provide information about the clarinet-player system that can be incorporated in future models of the clarinet. The work reported here involves the use of a recent technological development, the sensor-equipped mouthpiece. Using the sensor-equipped mouthpiece, researchers are able to record pressure in the musician\u27s mouth and the clarinet mouthpiece. Six clarinet players of varying experience levels were asked to play two types of articulations, and a computational method developed by Coyle and Gabriel of Rollins College was adapted to determine the duration of an articulation. A survey about playing practices and preferences was also completed by fifteen clarinet players. Physical phenomena previously unmentioned in the literature, such as an increase in pressure during a single note as well as a brief increase in pressure at the beginning of a note are also investigated in this thesis. Through analysis of clarinet playing samples provided by clarinet players, this work will serve as a foundation for establishing quality markers for clarinet playing and possible pedagogical tools

Anglo-Russian Trade - 1919 - 1927

In the decade following World War I, British politicians continually debated the issue of trade with Soviet Russia. The Conservatives opposed trade with a revolutionary government which refused to acknowledge the debts of its predecessors. Members of the Labour Party favored resumption of trade as a means of alleviating British unemployment through the expansion of exports. Historians who have treated the subject of Anglo Russian trade have supported Labour\u27s view that the development of this trade would have benefited Britain\u27s economy and relieved unemployment

The Passion of Ken Williams: The Double Life of a Mayor, the Newspaper that Brought Him Down, and the Story of Journalism in America

In November 2007, a team of reporters from the Benton County Daily Record published an expose revealing that Ken Williams, the mayor of Centerton, Arkansas, had been living a double life. In his former life as Don LaRose, he was a preacher in the Northeast, who one day vanished without a trace. His wild saga includes Satanists, truth serums, and a supposed murder. The Benton County Daily Record confronted the former reverend several times before he finally confessed to his double life. The next morning, he resigned as mayor, saying that the decisions he made were for the protection of his family in the 1970s, before eventually pleading guilty in 2009 to a felony charge of forgery. To this day, the reporters say that the only person who knows the truth is Williams, himself; yet, since his disappearance in the 1970s, he has maintained a single narrative, warts and all, of kidnapping and brainwashing. As a case study, the story of Ken Williams investigates the role of local journalists as watchdogs over official misconduct and the dilemma journalists face when a public official firmly and repeatedly presents an alternate reality at odds with verified facts. This case study explores questions about myth and self-presentation. This project crafts a book proposal to catalogue the riveting narrative of Ken Williams and the Benton County Daily Record within the context of American and Arkansan history in the early aughts

Far from home

textThis is a story of the failing Texas foster care system, told by the people who work in it and more importantly, the children affected by it. Foster parents Jim and Kay Mayo and their foster children Brian and Heaven shared their troubled pasts and hopes for the future so more people could understand the problems facing them. There is no easy answer but hopefully some planned changes in policy will shape a better system. To delve deeper into the Mayo’s family dynamic and hear Brian tell his story in person, I invite you to see my video about Brian, Misael and Heaven here: “Far From Home” http://vimeo.com/41420290. The password is: foster care.Journalism and Medi