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Between 1906 and 1920, eight of the most prominent Black Greek-letter organizations were established. The creation of the Black fraternity had a dual purpose. First, these organizations were established for the greater purpose of pooling the resources of African Americans in the hopes of acquiring an education. Second, these organizations were formed as an attempt by Black students to gain acceptance into American society. Black Greek-letter organizations are some of the most influential organizations in the country. Collectively, these organizations claim approximately 800,000 members, with many coming from the social elite of Black culture. Despite the great influence and vast membership that these organizations possess, the activities of the Black Greek-letter organization have included secret meetings, selective membership, and a preference for lighter-complexioned members. Moreover, the failure and shortcomings of the Black Greek-letter organization have allowed Black elites to create a separate privileged society based on snobbery and arrogance and have thus enabled these organizations to perpetuate the vicious cycle of racial prejudice and White supremacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although case series suggest a higher burden of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared with the general population, the association between SLE and heart failure (HF) remains undefined. We sought to investigate the incidence and risk of HF in patients with SLE.Methods: In April 2016, we performed a retrospective cohort analysis using the Explorys platform, which provides aggregated electronic medical record data from 26 major integrated healthcare systems across the USA from 1999 to present. Demographic and regression analyses were performed to assess the impact of SLE on HF incidence.Results: Among 45 284 540 individuals in the database, we identified 95 400 (0.21%) with SLE and 98 900 (0.22%) with a new diagnosis of HF between May 2015 and April 2016. HF incidence was markedly higher in the SLE group compared with controls (0.97% vs 0.22%, relative risk (RR): 4.6 (95% CI 4.3 to 4.9)), as were other cardiovascular risk factors. In regression analysis, SLE was an independent predictor of HF (adjusted OR: 3.17 (2.63 to 3.83), p<0.0001). RR of HF was highest in young males with SLE (65.2 (35.3 to 120.5) for age 20-24), with an overall trend of increasing absolute risk but decreasing RR with advancing age in both sexes. Renal involvement in SLE correlated with earlier and higher incidence of HF.Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that patients with SLE have significantly higher risk of developing HF and a worse cardiovascular risk profile compared with the general population. These results need to be confirmed by prospective studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional West African organizations, called Asafo, bear a striking resemblance to Black Greek-letter organizations. The common bonds that link the Asafo companies of Ghana with the Black Greek-letter organizations of the United States lie within their rites of passage, the guiding principles, philosophical views, and overall character inherent to these organizations. While slavery and colonization strained, it did not completely break the cultural bond between Africans in Africa and those who reside in the West (the United States). Moreover, wherever people of African descent may reside, their cultural practices have always remained an intricate part of their lives. This article seeks to analyze the presence of African culture found within the Black Greek-letter organization and determine how African Americans were able to materialize, communicate, and ultimately sustain these African identities under antagonistic social conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify trends in Graves' orbitopathy research in the past two decades and to elaborate on hot topics in the field., Methods: The Web of Science database was used to extract articles on Graves' orbitopathy or its synonyms. Full data and references were exported to VOSviewer software to be analyzed. Visualization maps and charts were constructed accordingly., Results: We retrieved 1067 articles on Graves' orbitopathy from the Web of Science database. The United States ranked first in terms of the article count (25), followed by Italy (141) and the People's Republic of China (120). Wiersinga's and the University of Amsterdam's articles received the highest citation count (1509 and 3052, respectively). The University of Pisa and Thyroid published the highest number of articles (65 and 93, respectively). Co-authorship analysis showed four clusters of country collaborations: red cluster, European countries; green cluster, the United States, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, and Taiwan; a yellow cluster, People's Republic of China; and blue cluster, Japan, Australia, and Poland. Keyword analysis revealed five clusters of topics: pathogenesis, management, association, quality of life, and surgery. Analysis of co-cited references also revealed five clusters: pathogenesis, management, risk factors, clinical assessment, and surgical management., Conclusion: Research on Graves' orbitopathy has grown during the past two decades. Hot research topics are pathogenesis, management, risk factors, quality of life, and complications. Research trends have changed in the past two decades. Increasing interest in exploring Graves' orbitopathy mechanisms and associations is evident. European countries are cooperating in this field of research. The United States has established more extensive international cooperation than other countries. We believe that more international collaboration involving developing countries is required.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate disease-specific survival and cost related to radioactive iodine therapy (RAI) utilization in patients with early-stage papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC)., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, 2004-2012., Results: A total of 38,374 patients with PTC were identified. Of those, 56.3% had adjuvant RAI. RAI administration was not associated with a survival advantage in patients with PTC stage I (hazard ratio [HR] 1.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.11, 14.54; p = 0.85) or stage II (HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.05, 4.88; p = 0.55). Patients with PTC stage III who underwent adjuvant RAI had an improved survival (HR 0.30, 95% CI 0.10, 0.91; p = 0.033). In 2012, RAI was used in 45.5% of patients with stage I and in 71.4% of patients with stage II. The total expenditure on adjuvant RAI for PTC stage I throughout the study period was estimated to be USD 82.3 million with an annual average of USD 9.1 (±2.0) million/year. If the decline rate in the utilization of RAI continued, the model projected that the annual expenditure would decrease by USD 0.14 million/year., Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of adjuvant RAI utilization for early-stage PTC that is causing financial burden on the health system with no evidence of survival benefit., (© 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.)