Reduction in incidence of experimental fowl typhoid by incorporation of a commercial formic acid preparation (Bio-Add™) into poultry feed

The experiment described evaluated the effect of a commercial in-feed preparation (Bio-Add™) involving a mixture of formic acid and propionic acid on the incidence of experimental fowl typhoid in groups of 41 and 42 1-wk-old Rhode Island Red chickens. The chickens were infected through contact with 12 identical chickens that had been inoculated orally with 10 8 cfu of Salmonella gallinarum strain 9. The incidence of mortality and morbidity due to fowl typhoid was 31/41 (76%) in birds given untreated feed and 14/42 (33%) in birds given feed treated with Bio-Add™.

Equipo AVORA de Robótica Marina de la ULPGC: experiencia y Perspectivas

[ES] AVORA es un grupo de trabajo multidisciplinar integrado por 11 estudiantes (este año con un nuevo miembro, Michael Smith proveniente de la Universidad de Rhode Island, USA) y 3 supervisores. Se ha creado para diseñar y desarrollar un AUV (Autonomous Underwarter Vehicle) capaz de detectar objetos bajo el agua sin supervisión, así como navegar de manera autónoma con la ayuda de un sonar. Todo esto se está llevando a cabo para superar las misiones que se plantean en la competición europea SAUCE. Como novedad este año, el equipo tiene intenciones también de presentarse a la competición EUROATHLON

Older Breast Cancer Survivors: Geriatric Assessment Domains Are Associated With Poor Tolerance of Treatment Adverse Effects and Predict Mortality Over 7 Years of Follow-Up

Purpose To evaluate geriatric assessment (GA) domains in relation to clinically important outcomes in older breast cancer survivors. Methods Six hundred sixty women diagnosed with primary breast cancer in four US geographic regions (Los Angeles, CA; Minnesota; North Carolina; and Rhode Island) were selected with disease stage I to IIIA, age ≥ 65 years at date of diagnosis, and permission from attending physician to contact. Data were collected over 7 years of follow-up from consenting patients' medical records, telephone interviews, physician questionnaires, and the National Death Index. Outcomes included self-reported treatment tolerance and all-cause mortality. Four GA domains were described by six individual measures, as follows: sociodemographic by adequate finances; clinical by Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) and body mass index; function by number of physical function limitations; and psychosocial by the five-item Mental Health Index (MHI5) and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS). Associations were evaluated using t tests, χ2 tests, and regression analyses. Results In multivariable regression including age and stage, three measures from two domains (clinical and psychosocial) were associated with poor treatment tolerance; these were CCI ≥ 1 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.49; 95% CI, 1.18 to 5.25), MHI5 score less than 80 (OR = 2.36; 95% CI, 1.15 to 4.86), and MOS-SSS score less than 80 (OR = 3.32; 95% CI, 1.44 to 7.66). Four measures representing all four GA domains predicted mortality; these were inadequate finances (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.89; 95% CI, 1.24 to 2.88; CCI ≥ 1 (HR = 1.38; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.88), functional limitation (HR = 1.40; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.93), and MHI5 score less than 80 (HR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.85). In addition, the proportion of women with these outcomes incrementally increased as the number of GA deficits increased. Conclusion This study provides longitudinal evidence that GA domains are associated with poor treatment tolerance and predict mortality at 7 years of follow-up, independent of age and stage of disease.

Longitudinal patterns in survival, comorbidity, healthcare utilization and quality of care among older women following breast cancer diagnosis

OBJECTIVES To compare longitudinal patterns of health care utilization and quality of care for other health conditions between breast cancer-surviving older women and a matched cohort without breast cancer. DESIGN Prospective five-year longitudinal comparison of cases and matched controls. SUBJECTS Newly identified breast cancer patients recruited during 1997–1999 from four geographic regions (Los Angeles, CA; Minnesota; North Carolina; and Rhode Island; N = 422) were matched by age, race, baseline comorbidity and zip code location with up to four non-breast-cancer controls (N = 1,656). OUTCOMES Survival; numbers of hospitalized days and physician visits; total inpatient and outpatient Medicare payments; guideline monitoring for patients with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and bone density testing and colorectal cancer screening. RESULTS Five-year survival was similar for cases and controls (80% and 82%, respectively; p = 0.18). In the first follow-up year, comorbidity burden and health care utilization were higher for cases (p < 0.01), with most differences diminishing over time. However, the number of physician visits was higher for cases (p < 0.01) in every year, driven partly by more cancer and surgical specialist visits. Cases and controls adhered similarly to recommended bone density testing, and monitoring of cardiovascular disease and diabetes; adherence to recommended colorectal cancer screening was better among cases. CONCLUSION Breast cancer survivors’ health care utilization and disease burden return to pre-diagnosis levels after one year, yet their greater use of outpatient care persists at least five years. Quality of care for other chronic health problems is similar for cases and controls.

Executive Reorganization: Building a State Government That Worked for People -- Tom Harrison, Diana Dowling & Sheena Wilson “In the Crucible of Change”

One of the primary accomplishments of Governor Forrest Anderson in 1969-71 was the reorganization of the Executive Branch of Montana government, something that had been attempted six different times between 1919 and 1962 as state government had grown from twenty agencies to almost 200 uncontrolled boards, bureaus and commissions. The chaotic structure of the executive branch disempowered governors of both parties and empowered the private corporations and organizations that were the power structure of Montana. With remarkable political acumen, Governor Anderson figured out how to get that near impossible job done. Central to his efforts was the creation of an Executive Reorganization Commission, including eight legislators and the Governor, the adoption of a Constitutional Amendment that limited the executive branch to no more than twenty departments under the Governor, and the timely completion of a massive research effort to delineate the actual structure of the twenty departments. That story is told in this episode by three major players in the effort, all involved directly with the Executive Reorganization Commission: Tom Harrison, Diana Dowling and Sheena Wilson. Their recollections reflect an insider’s perspective of this significant accomplishment that helped change Montana “In the Crucible of Change.” Tom Harrison is a former Republican State Representative and State Senator from Helena, who was a member of the Executive Reorganization Commission. As Majority Leader in the Montana House of Representatives in 1971, he was the primary sponsor of the House’s executive reorganization bill and helped shepherd the Senate’s version to passage. Harrison was the Republican candidate for Attorney General in 1976 after which he practiced private law for 3 more decades. He served in the Montana Army National Guard for almost 34 years, rising to the rank of Colonel in the position of Judge Advocate General. He was a founding Director of Federal Defenders of Montana (legal representation for indigents accused within the Federal Judicial System); appointed Chairman of the original Montana State Fund (workers' compensation insurance) by Gov. Stephens; served as President of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, Helena Kiwanis Club and St. Peter's Community Hospital Foundation, as well as Chairman and Director of AAA MountainWest; and was a founder, first Chairman and Director of the Valley Bank of Helena for over 25 years. Diana Dowling was an attorney for the Executive Reorganization Commission and helped draft the legislation that was passed. She also worked for Governor Forrest Anderson and for the 1972 Constitutional Convention where she prepared and directed publication of official explanation of the new Constitution that was mailed to all Montana voters. Diana was Executive Director of the Montana Bar Association and for 20 years held various legal positions with the Montana Legislative Council. For 12 years she was a commissioner on the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and for 7 years was a member of Montana State Board of Bar Examiners. Diana was the first director of the Montana Lottery, an adjunct professor at both Carroll College and the UM Law School, and an administrative officer for Falcon Press Publishing Co. Diana is currently - and intends to continue being - a perpetual college student. Sheena Wilson came fresh out of the University of Montana to become a Research Assistant for the Executive Reorganization Commission. Later she worked for seven years as a field representative in Idaho and Montana for the Mountain Plains Family Education Program, for thirteen years with Congressman Pat Williams as Executive Assistant in Washington and Field Assistant here in Montana, owned and managed a Helena restaurant for seven years, worked as Executive Assistant for State Auditor John Morrison and was Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Brian Schweitzer his full 8 years in the Governorship. Though currently “retired”, Sheena serves on the Montana Board of Investments, the Public Employees Retirement Board and the Capitol Complex Advisory Council and is a partner in a dry-land wheat farm in Teton County that was homesteaded by her great uncle.

Legislative Legacy: Big Changes in Legislative Article of 1972 Constitution -- Jerry Loendorf, Arlyne Reichert & Rich Bechtel “In the Crucible of Change”

The fulcrum upon which were leveraged many of the dramatic progressive changes in Montana that are documented "In the Crucible of Change" series was the lead up to, preparation, writing and adoption of the 1972 Montana Constitution. As Montana citizens exhibited their concern over the dysfunctional state government in MT under its 1889 Constitution, one of the areas that stood out as needing serious change was the Montana Legislature. Meeting for only sixty calendar days every two years, the Legislature regularly tried to carry off the subterfuge of stopping the wall clock at 11:59 PM on the sixtieth day and placing a shroud over it so they could continue to conduct business as if it were still the 60th day. Lawyers hired by the Anaconda Company drafted most bills that legislators wanted to have introduced. Malapportionment, especially in the State Senate where each county had one Senator regardless of their population, created a situation where Petroleum County with 800 residents had one senator while neighboring Yellowstone County with 80,000 people also had one senator -- a 100-1 differential in representation. Reapportionment imposed by rulings of the US Supreme Court in the mid-1960s created great furor in rural Montana to go along with the previous dissatisfaction of the urban centers. Stories of Anaconda Company “thumbs up – thumbs down” control of the votes were prevalent. Committee meeting and votes were done behind closed doors and recorded votes were non-existent except for the nearly meaningless final tally. People were in the dark about the creation of laws that affected their daily lives. It was clear that change in the Legislature had to take the form of change in the Constitution and, because it was not likely that the Legislature would advance Constitutional amendments on the subject, a convention seemed the only remedy. Once that Convention was called and went to work, it became apparent that the Legislative Article provided both opportunity for change and danger that too dramatic a change might sink the whole new document. The activities of the Legislative Committee and the whole Convention when acting upon Legislative issues provides one of the more compelling stories of change. The story of the Legislative Article of the Montana Constitution is discussed in this episode by three major players who were directly involved in the effort: Jerry Loendorf, Arlyne Reichert and Rich Bechtel. Their recollections of the activities surrounding the entire Constitutional Convention and specifically the Legislative Article provide an insider’s perspective of the development of the entire Constitution and the Legislative portion which was of such a high degree of interest to the people of Montana during the important period of progressive change documented “In the Crucible of Change.” Jerry Loendorf, who served as Chair of the Legislative Committee at the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention, received a BA from Carroll College in 1961 and a JD from the University of Montana Law School in 1964. Upon graduation he served two years as a law clerk for the Montana Supreme Court after which he was for 34 years a partner in the law firm of Harrison, Loendorf & Posten, Duncan. In addition to being a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, Jerry served on the Board of Labor Appeals from 2000 to 2004. He was designated a Montana Special Assistant Attorney General to represent the state in federal court on the challenge to the results of the ratification election of Montana's Constitution in 1972. Jerry served on the Carroll College Board of Directors in the late 1960s and then again as a member of the Board of Trustees of Carroll College from 2001 to 2009. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Development Council since 1970 and was on the board of the Helena YMCA from 1981 to 1987. He also served on the board of the Good Samaritan Ministries from 2009 to 2014. On the business side, Jerry was on the Board of Directors of Valley Bank to Helena from 1980 to 2005. He is a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Montana, the First Judicial District Bar Association, and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association. Carroll College awarded Jerry the Warren Nelson Award 1994 and the Insignias Award in 2007. At Carroll College, Jerry has funded the following three scholarship endowments: George C and Helen T Loendorf, Gary Turcott, and Fr. William Greytek. Arlyne Reichert, Great Falls Delegate to the Constitutional Convention and former State Legislator, was born in Buffalo, NY in 1926 and attended University of Buffalo in conjunction with Cadet Nurses Training during WWII. She married a Montanan in Great Falls in 1945 and was widowed in 1968. She is mother of five, grandmother of seven, great-grandmother of four. Arlyne was employed by McLaughlin Research Institute in Great Falls for 23 years, serving as Technical Editor of Transplantation Journal in 1967, retiring as Assistant Director in 1989. In addition to being a state legislator (1979 Session) and a delegate to the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention, she has filled many public roles, including Cascade County Study Commissioner (1974), MT Comprehensive Health Council, US Civil Rights Commission MT Advisory Committee, MT Capitol Restoration Committee, and Great Falls Public Library Trustee. Arlyne has engaged in many non-profit activities including League of Women Voters (State & Local Board Officer – from where her interest in the MT Constitutional change developed), Great Falls Public Radio Association (President & Founder), American Cancer Society (President Great Falls Chapter), Chair of MT Rhodes Scholarship Committee, and Council Member of the National Civic League. She also served a while as a Television Legislative Reporter. Arlyne has been recipient of numerous awards, the National Distinguished Citizens Award from the National Municipal League, two Women of Achievement Awards from Business & Professional Women, the Salute to Women Award by YWCA, Heritage Preservation Award from Cascade County Historical Society and the State of Montana, and the Heroes Award from Humanities Montana. She remains active, serving as Secretary-Treasurer of Preservation Cascade, Inc., and as Board Member of the McLaughlin Research Institute. Her current passion is applied to the preservation/saving of the historic 10th Street Bridge that crosses the Missouri River in Great Falls. Rich Bechtel of Helena was born in Napa, California in 1945 and grew up as an Air Force brat living in such places as Bitberg, Germany, Tripoli, Libya, and Sevilla, Spain. He graduated from Glasgow High School and the University of Montana. Rich was a graduate assistant for noted Montana History professor Professor K. Ross Toole, but dropped out of graduate school to pursue a real life in Montana politics and government. Rich has had a long, varied and colorful career in the public arena. He currently is the Director of the Office of Taxpayer Assistance & Public Outreach for MT’s Department of Revenue. He previously held two positions with the National Wildlife Federation in Washington, DC (Sr. Legislative Representative [1989-91] and Sr. Legislative Representative for Wildlife Policy [2004-2006]). While in Washington DC, he also was Assistant for Senator Lee Metcalf (D-MT), 1974-1976; Federal-State Coordinator for State of Montana, 1976-1989; Director of the Western Governors’ Association Washington Office, 1991-2000; and Director of Federal Affairs for Governor Kitzhaber of Oregon, 2001- 2003. Earlier in Montana Government, between 1971 and 1974, Rich was Research Analyst for MT Blue Ribbon Commission on Postsecondary Education, Legislative Consultant and Bill Drafter for MT Legislative Council, Research Analyst for the MT Constitutional Convention Commission where he provided original research on legislatures, as well as Researcher/Staff for the MT Constitutional Convention Legislative Committee, from where he drafted the various provisions of the Legislative Article and the majority and minority reports on behalf of the Committee members. Rich has represented Montana’s Governor on a trade and cultural mission to Republic of China and participated in US-German Acid Rain Committee sessions in Germany and with European Economic Community environmental officials in Belgium. He is married to Yvonne Seng (Ph.D.) - T’ai Chi apprentice; author and birder.

The Getting-Out-of-Bed (GoB) scale: a measure of motivation and life outlook in older adults with cancer

OBJECTIVE: To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a measure of motivation and life outlook (Getting-Out-of-Bed [GoB]). DESIGN: Secondary analysis of baseline and 6-month data from a longitudinal follow-up study of older breast cancer survivors. PARTICIPANTS: Women (N = 660) diagnosed with primary breast cancer stage I-IIIA disease, age >or=65 years, and permission to contact from an attending physician in four geographic regions in the United States (city-based Los Angeles, California; statewide in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Rhode Island). MEASUREMENT: Data were collected over 6-months of follow-up from consenting patients' medical records and telephone interviews with patients. Data collected included the 4-item GoB, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), breast cancer, sociodemographic, and health-related characteristics. RESULTS: Factor analysis produced, as hypothesized, one principal component with eigen values of 2.74(baseline) and 2.91(6-months) which explained 68.6%(baseline) and 72.7%(6-months) of total variance. In further psychometric analyses, GoB exhibited good construct validity (divergent: low nonstatistically significant correlations with unrelated constructs; convergent: moderate statistically significant correlations with related constructs; discriminant: distinguished high HRQoL groups with a high level of significance), excellent internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.84(baseline), 0.87(6-months)), and produced stable measurements over 6-months. Women with GoB scores >or=50 at baseline were more likely at 6-months to have good HRQoL, good self-perceived health, and report regular exercise, indicating good predictive ability. CONCLUSION: GoB demonstrated overall good psychometric properties in this sample of older breast cancer survivors, suggestive of a promising tool for assessing motivation and life outlook in older adults. Nevertheless, because it was developed and initially evaluated in a select sample, using measures with similar but not exact content overlap further evaluation is needed before it can be recommended for widespread use.

Predicting 5- and 10-year survival in older women with early-stage breast cancer: self-rated health and walking ability.

OBJECTIVES To determine life expectancy for older women with breast cancer. DESIGN Prospective longitudinal study with 10 years of follow-up data. SETTING Hospitals or collaborating tumor registries in four geographic regions (Los Angeles, California; Minnesota; North Carolina; Rhode Island). PARTICIPANTS Women aged 65 and older at time of breast cancer diagnosis with Stage I to IIIA disease with measures of self-rated health (SRH) and walking ability at baseline (N = 615; 17% aged ≥80, 52% Stage I, 58% with ≥2 comorbidities). MEASUREMENTS Baseline SRH, baseline self-reported walking ability, all-cause and breast cancer-specific estimated probability of 5- and 10-year survival. RESULTS At the time of breast cancer diagnosis, 39% of women reported poor SRH, and 28% reported limited ability to walk several blocks. The all-cause survival curves appear to separate after approximately 3 years, and the difference in survival probability between those with low SRH and limited walking ability and those with high SRH and no walking ability limitation was significant (0.708 vs 0.855 at 5 years, P ≤ .001; 0.300 vs 0.648 at 10 years, P < .001). There were no differences between the groups in breast cancer-specific survival at 5 and 10 years (P = .66 at 5 years, P = .16 at 10 years). CONCLUSION The combination of low SRH and limited ability to walk several blocks at diagnosis is an important predictor of worse all-cause survival at 5 and 10 years. These self-report measures easily assessed in clinical practice may be an effective strategy to improve treatment decision-making in older adults with cancer.

Effects of Study Area Size on Geographic Characterizations of Health Events: Prostate Cancer Incidence in Southern New England, USA, 1994-1998.

ABSTRACT : BACKGROUND : We consider how representations of geographic variation in prostate cancer incidence across Southern New England, USA may be affected by selection of study area and/or properties of the statistical analysis. METHOD : A spatial scan statistic was used to monitor geographic variation among 35,167 incident prostate cancer cases diagnosed in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island from 1994 to 1998, in relation to the 1990 populations of men 20+ years of age living in that region. Results from the combined-states analysis were compared to those from single-states. Impact of scanning procedures set to examine up to 50% or no more than10% of at-risk populations also was evaluated. RESULTS : With scanning set to 50%, 5 locations in the combined-states analysis were identified with markedly distinct incidence rates. Fewer than expected cases were estimated for nearly all Connecticut, Rhode Island and West Central Massachusetts, whereas census tracts on and around Cape Cod, and areas of Southwestern Connecticut and adjacent to greater Boston were estimated to have yielded more than expected incidence. Results of single-state analyses exhibited several discrepancies from the combined-states analysis. More conservative scanning found many more locations with varying incidence, but discrepancies between the combined- and single-state analysis were fewer. CONCLUSION : It is important to acknowledge the conditional nature of spatial analyses and carefully consider whether a true cluster of events is identified or artifact stemming from selection of study area size and/or scanning properties.

Fort Richardson Ordnance Detonations and the Harbor Porpoise: A Case Study in Marine Mammal Bioacoustics

Hearing is extremely important for cetaceans because it is their “principal sense” (Weilgart, 2007) thus the harbor porpoise and other marine animals are highly dependent on sound for survival. This is why we should care about the impact of noise on animals like the harbor porpoise. Since sound travels so well in water, an explosion, sonar, boat noise, etc. can affect a very large area and thus many different species of marine mammals. Although military actions such as low frequency sonar have made recent news, noise has been affecting cetaceans, especially beaked whales, since at least 1991 (Weilgart, 2007). This study is an investigation of the possible impacts of artillery detonated on land on harbor porpoise hearing and covers some of the history of Fort Richardson, the legal and historical aspects and history of this type of concern, the science and physics of sound, marine mammal hearing and general biology of the harbor porpoise. Data were collected at the Fort Richardson Army base during June of 2007 by researchers from the University of Connecticut and the University of Rhode Island and will be used to determine the possible impacts that these detonations could have on the harbor porpoise.