Baylor History of Medicine Society Schedule 2006-2007

After Western Medicine: From Hippocrates to Xavier Bichat (H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.) Who Goes First? The Story of Self-Experimentation in Medicine (David Sears, M.D.) Exercise and Health: From Pre-History to the Present (Carlos Valbonna, M.D.) Supernaturalism to Rationalism and the Man Between (Student Essay Contest Winners) (Don Lassus) The Fog of War’s Silver Lining: The Lasting Impact of Military Medicine (Student Essay Contest Winners) (Ajit Vyas) From Drummers to Detail Men: Medicine and the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, 1900-1960 (Howard Brody) Eyewash and Thunderbolts: The Medical Adventures of Lewis and Clark (Herbert M. Swick) Angry Arrows and Satin Dresses: Tales from the Annals of Plague (Herbert M. Swick) The Greatest Books in the History of Neurology (Robert Gordon) Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Paralytic Illness: What was the cause? (Armond S. Goldman)

The FReedom from Ischemic Events-New Dimensions for Survival (FRIENDS) registry: design of a prospective cohort study of patients with advanced peripheral artery disease.

BACKGROUND Advanced lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD), whether presenting as acute limb ischemia (ALI) or chronic critical limb ischemia (CLI), is associated with high rates of cardiovascular ischemic events, amputation, and death. Past research has focused on strategies of revascularization, but few data are available that prospectively evaluate the impact of key process of care factors (spanning pre-admission, acute hospitalization, and post-discharge) that might contribute to improving short and long-term health outcomes. METHODS/DESIGN The FRIENDS registry is designed to prospectively evaluate a range of patient and health system care delivery factors that might serve as future targets for efforts to improve limb and systemic outcomes for patients with ALI or CLI. This hypothesis-driven registry was designed to evaluate the contributions of: (i) pre-hospital limb ischemia symptom duration, (ii) use of leg revascularization strategies, and (iii) use of risk-reduction pharmacotherapies, as pre-specified factors that may affect amputation-free survival. Sequential patients would be included at an index "vascular specialist-defined" ALI or CLI episode, and patients excluded only for non-vascular etiologies of limb threat. Data including baseline demographics, functional status, co-morbidities, pre-hospital time segments, and use of medical therapies; hospital-based use of revascularization strategies, time segments, and pharmacotherapies; and rates of systemic ischemic events (e.g., myocardial infarction, stroke, hospitalization, and death) and limb ischemic events (e.g., hospitalization for revascularization or amputation) will be recorded during a minimum of one year follow-up. DISCUSSION The FRIENDS registry is designed to evaluate the potential impact of key factors that may contribute to adverse outcomes for patients with ALI or CLI. Definition of new "health system-based" therapeutic targets could then become the focus of future interventional clinical trials for individuals with advanced PAD.

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le-ha-Rav rabenu Mosheh ben Maimon ha-Sefaradi [[Elektronische Ressource]] : Bd. 1/3

Prevalence and trends of substance abuse in Harris County, Texas, 1989 to 1991

In the late 1980s, Harris County, Texas began experiencing an escalation of drug-related activities. Various indicators used in this analysis tracked drug-related trends from 1989 to 1991 to determine patterns for comparison of local (Houston/Harris County, Texas) to national levels.^ An important indicator of the drug scenario was drug-related activities among youths, which increased during the period of this study. The Harris County Juvenile Probation Department showed that among arrests for drug-related activities, felonies increased from 25% in 1988 to 53% in 1991. With the rise in drug-related crimes, and substance abuse among the student body, school districts were forced to institute drug education programs in an effort to curtail such activities.^ Law enforcement agencies in the county saw increased demands for their services as a result of drug activities. Harris County Sheriffs Department reported a 32% plus increase in drug-related charges between 1986 and 1991. Houston Police Department reported an increase of 109% for the same period.^ Data from the Harris County Medical Examiner, the National Institute of Justice's Drug Use Forecasting System (Houston), and drug treatment facilities around Houston/Harris County, Texas indicated similar drug usage trends. Over a four-year period (1988-91), the drugs most frequently detected during blood and urine analyses were cocaine, followed by marijuana, heroin, LSD, and methamphetamines.^ From 1988 to 1991, most drug rehabilitation organizations experienced increased demands for their services by approximately 35%. Several other organizations experienced as much as a 70 percent increase. Males accounted for roughly 70% and females about 30% of persons seeking treatment. However, the number of females pursuing treatment increased, thereby reducing the gender gap.^ Blacks in Houston/Harris County were at higher risk for drug usage among the general population, but sought treatment more readily than other ethnic groups. Whites sought treatment in similar numbers as Blacks, but overall the risk appeared smaller because they made up a larger portion of the Houston/Harris County population.^ This analysis concluded that drug trends for the Houston/Harris County, Texas did not follow national trends, but showed patterns of its own. It was recommended that other communities carry out similar studies to determine drug use trends particular to their local. ^

DNA alignment and Bayesian trees of partial sequences of COI, COIII and the haemocyanin functional unit f-g of 28 octopod species

Background: Octopods have successfully colonised the world's oceans from the tropics to the poles. Yet, successful persistence in these habitats has required adaptations of their advanced physiological apparatus to compensate impaired oxygen supply. Their oxygen transporter haemocyanin plays a major role in cold tolerance and accordingly has undergone functional modifications to sustain oxygen release at sub-zero temperatures. However, it remains unknown how molecular properties evolved to explain the observed functional adaptations. We thus aimed to assess whether natural selection affected molecular and structural properties of haemocyanin that explains temperature adaptation in octopods. Results: Analysis of 239 partial sequences of the haemocyanin functional units (FU) f and g of 28 octopod species of polar, temperate, subtropical and tropical origin revealed natural selection was acting primarily on charge properties of surface residues. Polar octopods contained haemocyanins with higher net surface charge due to decreased glutamic acid content and higher numbers of basic amino acids. Within the analysed partial sequences, positive selection was present at site 2545, positioned between the active copper binding centre and the FU g surface. At this site, methionine was the dominant amino acid in polar octopods and leucine was dominant in tropical octopods. Sites directly involved in oxygen binding or quaternary interactions were highly conserved within the analysed sequence. Conclusions: This study has provided the first insight into molecular and structural mechanisms that have enabled octopods to sustain oxygen supply from polar to tropical conditions. Our findings imply modulation of oxygen binding via charge-charge interaction at the protein surface, which stabilize quaternary interactions among functional units to reduce detrimental effects of high pH on venous oxygen release. Of the observed partial haemocyanin sequence, residue 2545 formed a close link between the FU g surface and the active centre, suggesting a role as allosteric binding site. The prevalence of methionine at this site in polar octopods, implies regulation of oxygen affinity via increased sensitivity to allosteric metal binding. High sequence conservation of sites directly involved in oxygen binding indicates that functional modifications of octopod haemocyanin rather occur via more subtle mechanisms, as observed in this study.