BACKGROUND: Adverse reactions in response to blood donation negatively affect the likelihood of donor return. In this study, the interpersonal skill of phlebotomists was examined as a potential ...predictor of both donor reactions and returns for future donation.
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants were 82 phlebotomists who completed the Social Skills Inventory, a global measure of interpersonal skill. Scores on this measure were used to predict the likelihood of donor reaction (rated by phlebotomists) and return for future donation in two samples of volunteer blood donors associated with these phlebotomists. Use of two samples permitted examination of phlebotomist interpersonal skill as a predictor of donor reactions and returns both before and after the phlebotomists were aware of the interpersonal skills assessment.
RESULTS: Results of multilevel logistic regression analyses demonstrated that a one‐standard‐deviation increase in Social Skills Inventory score was associated with a significant reduction in the likelihood of donor reaction in the first sample (odds ratio OR, 0.86; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.76‐0.96) and with a marginally significant reduction in the likelihood of donor reaction in the second sample (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.79‐1.02). Social Skills Inventory scores were not related to returns for future donation in either sample.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first empirical evidence that phlebotomist interpersonal skill predicts the experience of reactions among volunteer blood donors. A focus on the interpersonal skill of phlebotomists may therefore provide an additional avenue for improving donors’ physical well‐being and satisfaction, thereby enhancing donor retention.
The authors examined whether cardiovascular reactivity to and recovery from psychological challenge predict 3-year change in blood pressure (BP) among 216 initially normotensive, community-dwelling ...adults. Clinic BP assessments were conducted at baseline and follow-up. BP and heart rate (HR) readings were obtained before, during, and after 5 psychological tasks at baseline. Following adjustment for traditional predictors of BP and lifestyle factors, poorer systolic BP recovery across the tasks was associated with greater 3-year increases in clinic systolic and diastolic BP. Both diastolic BP recovery and HR recovery were also related to 3-year change in clinic BP, though cardiovascular reactivity measures were not. These findings suggest that the duration of stress-related cardiovascular responses may be important for predicting longitudinal changes in BP.
Because most studies have examined only one emotional factor at a time, it is not clear which features of these overlapping constructs are important determinants of sleep quality. Our aims were to ...determine which aspects of negative emotional factors are most strongly associated with poor sleep quality, whether positive emotional factors are independently related to improved sleep quality, and whether rumination explains the links between emotional factors and sleep quality. A total of 224 young men and women completed questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, trait anger, trait positive affect, trait rumination, and sleep quality. Structural equation models revealed that greater Negative Affect – the shared variance among the negative emotional factors – predicted poor Sleep Quality (
β
=
.62,
p
<
.0001, Δ
R
2
=
.38); however, unique effects of the positive and negative emotional factors were not detected. Rumination did not account for the observed relationship. Our findings suggest that the shared, but not unique, aspects of negative emotional factors may be key determinants of sleep quality.
Riparian buffers can improve stream water and habitat quality by reducing non‐point‐source pollution (e.g., nutrients and sediment), increasing canopy cover and thereby reducing water temperature, ...and contributing allochthonous organic matter (e.g., leaf litter and woody debris). However, the influence of riparian buffers on biotic assemblages in streams is poorly understood, particularly in the Midwestern United States. In this study, we evaluated the effects of riparian buffers on instream habitat, fish assemblage structure, and population characteristics (i.e., the growth of two small‐bodied species) in three streams in central Iowa. The streams were surveyed at two spatial scales; specifically, 41 reaches were sampled and 247 macrohabitat types (i.e., pool, riffle, and run) were subsampled in the summer of 2007. Fish assemblage structure data were summarized into separate data sets by the relative abundance of individual species (i.e., fish per minute of electrofishing) and guilds (e.g., trophic and spawning). Multivariate analysis of variance was used to evaluate the differences in instream habitat and fish assemblage structure between areas with and without riparian buffers. The results indicated little to no relationship between the presence of buffers and fish assemblage structure and instream habitat characteristics. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) was used to evaluate the patterns of fish assemblage structure for the reaches and macrohabitat types. The NMS further illustrated the similarity in fish assemblages between buffered and unbuffered reaches. However, the growth of central stonerollers Campostoma anomalum was greatest in unbuffered reaches, while that of creek chub Semotilus atromaculatus was greatest in buffered reaches. Differences in food availability associated with riparian buffers (e.g., increased algal production and decreased terrestrial invertebrate contributions in unbuffered reaches) probably resulted in growth disparities. The results of this study suggest that while riparian buffers have minimal local effects on instream habitat and fish assemblage structure in Iowa streams, they influence instream features (e.g., food availability) that affect fish population dynamics.
The contribution of rhabdomyolysis to acute kidney injury (AKI) in the context of burn injury is poorly studied. We sought to determine the impact of rhabdomyolysis on AKI (defined by the AKI Network ...classification), renal replacement therapy (RRT), and death. Patients admitted to the burn unit at our institution were examined. Information on sex, age, presence of inhalation injury, electrical burn, percentage TBSA burned, percentage of full-thickness burns, Injury Severity Score, and peak creatine kinase (CK) were recorded. These variables were examined via multivariate logistic regression analysis against AKI Network stage, RRT, and death. Of 1973 consecutive admissions meeting the inclusion criteria, 525 met our eligibility criteria. Log peak CK was found to be correlated with any stage of AKI (odds ratio OR, 1.71; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.36-2.16; P < .0001), moderate to severe AKI (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.40-3.11; P = .0003), need for RRT (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.16-2.40; P = .0057), and mortality (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.01-2.20; P = .0441), after adjustment. Each 10-fold increase in peak CK was associated with a 70% increase in the odds of AKI, more than a 100% increase in the odds of moderate to severe AKI, a nearly 70% increase in the odds of RRT, and an almost 50% increase in the odds of mortality in patients with burn injury.
The systematic sequencing of the cancer genome has led to the identification of numerous genetic alterations in cancer. However, a deeper understanding of the functional consequences of ...these alterations is necessary to guide appropriate therapeutic strategies. Here, we describe Onco-GPS (OncoGenic Positioning System), a data-driven analysis framework to organize individual tumor samples with shared oncogenic alterations onto a reference map defined by their underlying cellular states. We applied the methodology to the RAS pathway and identified nine distinct components that reflect transcriptional activities downstream of RAS and defined several functional states associated with patterns of transcriptional component activation that associates with genomic hallmarks and response to genetic and pharmacological perturbations. These results show that the Onco-GPS is an effective approach to explore the complex landscape of oncogenic cellular states across cancers, and an analytic framework to summarize knowledge, establish relationships, and generate more effective disease models for research or as part of individualized precision medicine paradigms.
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•Functional oncogene activation can be broken down into several distinct programs•Onco-GPS is a discovery tool to identify genomic features, i.e., drug responses•Onco-GPS map is a visualization tool to depict cancers, cell states, and transitions
Assessing the functional consequences of oncogene activation is critical for subsequently characterizing disease in a patient and devising effective therapeutic strategies. We describe Onco-GPS, a data-driven analysis framework to summarize, visualize, and discover new associations that may guide therapeutic strategies involving existing or new targets as part of individualized precision medicine paradigms.
Depression and hostility have been separately related to indicators of sympathetic hyperactivation and parasympathetic hypoactivation. We examined the associations of depressive symptoms, hostility, ...and their interaction with pre-ejection period (PEP) and high frequency heart rate variability (HRV), specific indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiac control, respectively. Healthy, young adults (
N
=
120) completed questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms and hostility and underwent autonomic testing. Although main effects were not observed, a depressive symptoms
×
hostility interaction was detected for PEP (
β
=
.25,
p
=
.01). Simple slope analyses revealed that hostility was negatively related to PEP among individuals with low depressive symptoms but was not associated with PEP among those with mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms. No interaction effect was detected for high frequency HRV. Our findings suggest that depressive symptoms may moderate the link between hostility and sympathetic activation such that hostility is accompanied by sympathetic hyperactivation only when depressive symptoms are minimal.
► Depression and hostility have been separately linked to autonomic dysfunction. ► We examined their joint effect on sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiac control. ► Hostility was related to sympathetic hyperactivation only at low depression levels.
: Although many variables that skeletal biologists examine have been standardized, the actual techniques used to collect these data from bone thin sections vary. This project compares different ...methods of obtaining data (relative cortical area values) for histomorphometric research. One visual and three digital methods of histomorphometric data collection are compared: (i) Merz microscopic eyepiece counting reticule, (ii) flatbed scanner, (iii) overlaying multiple images of a thin section, and (iv) digital SLR camera with macro settings. The discussion includes a comparison of usability factors such as cost, time, user‐experience, and ease‐of‐use, which vary for each method. Values from the different methods are compared using ANOVA tests to evaluate inter‐method, inter‐observer, and intra‐observer variability. Intra‐observer error was greater for the microscopic method, although the error values are concomitant with experience. We found no statistically significant differences between the four methods examined, but certain caveats must be addressed when these methods are used.
Square-planar carbyne complexes of the form Ru(⋮CR)(PCy3)2X (X = F, Cl, Br, I, O3SCF3) are prepared by net dehydrohalogenation of the Grubbs catalysts Ru(CHR)(PCy3)2Cl2 followed by substitution of ...the chloride ligand (when X ≠ Cl). The dehydrohalogenation can be effected in one step (R = n-Bu, Ph, p-C6H4Me) by Ge(CHSiMe32)2 or in two steps via treatment with excess aryloxide such as NaO-p-C6H4-t-Bu followed by SnCl2. The latter route gives greater yields but is more restricted in scope. Addition of HCl (1 equiv) to Ru(⋮CR)(PCy3)2X (X = Cl, Br, I) affords Ru(CHR)(PCy3)2ClX; those with mixed halide ligand sets undergo rapid halide exchange in solution. Upon treatment with the appropriate oxidant, each Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2X complex undergoes two-electron oxidation. Oxidation of Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2X (X = F, Cl, Br, I) by XeF2, C2Cl6, Br2, and I2, respectively, yields either six-coordinate bis-phosphine complexes Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2X3 (X = F, Cl) or square-pyramidal mono-phosphine complexes Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)X3 (X = Br, I) depending on the size of the halide ligands. Cationic square-pyramidal complexes of the form Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2X2+ (X = Cl, I) can be prepared from Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2Cl3 by chloride abstraction using Ph3CBF4 and from Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)X3 by addition of PCy3. Hydride addition to Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2Cl3 yields the carbene complex Ru(CHR)(PCy3)2Cl2, whereas fluoride addition affords the carbyne complex Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2Cl2F, results with important implications for metathesis of vinyl fluorides. X-ray structures of Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2X2F (X = F, Cl), Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2Cl2BF4, and Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)I3 reveal short Ru⋮C bonds in the 1.670(5)−1.714(3) Å range; when two PCy3 ligands are present, they are mutually trans. The benzylidyne ligands occupy the apical sites in the two square-pyramidal complexes. Of the five- and six-coordinate complexes, only the two fluoride-containing complexes Ru(⋮C-p-C6H4Me)(PCy3)2X2F (X = F, Cl) display reactivity toward alkynes, serving as alkyne dimerization catalysts.
Excerpts from the report: This study of the current wholesale food distribution facilities and methods used in the Memphis metropolitan area was requested by officials of the city of Memphis, Shelby ...County, the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, and the Shelby County Growers' Association and was endorsed by members of the local wholesale food industry. The study was begun in mid-1974. Participating were the former Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service, Shelby County; the Executive Office of Policy Planning and Analysis of the city of Memphis; and local wholesale food firms in Shelby County, Tenn., including Memphis, and in Crittenden County, Ark. The objectives of this study were to determine the adequacy of the present wholesale facilities and methods used in receiving and distributing food and to develop a plan for improvements to meet the needs not only of the present but of the foreseeable future. This report analyzes the present food distribution system in the metropolitan area and presents a guide for developing initial facilities for a wholesale food distribution center for those firms that must relocate. It also includes the requirements and considerations necessary for planning such facilities to serve the greater Memphis area to the year 2000.
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