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Applies the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to help high school juniors understand their own personalities and the personalities of Shakespearean characters. Provides a format for interdisciplinary learning where teachers and counselors work together in the classroom. (LLL)

Analyses of eight widely used memory measures (Word List Acquisition and Recall used in the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale and the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease neuropsychology battery, Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised [WMS-R] Logical Memory I and II, WMS-R Visual Reproduction I and II, the memory scores from the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination [NCSE], memory scores from the Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]), and the MMSE total score showed each to have moderate predictive power in differentiating between patients with mild dementia and healthy normal controls. When these instruments were combined in a logistic regression analysis, three of them had substantial predictive power. Together, the Word List Acquisition, WMS-R Logical Memory II, and WMS-R Visual Reproduction II were 97.26% accurate (100% sensitive and 94.59% specific) in distinguishing these two groups. The Word List Acquisition is a brief test that alone had high accuracy (92%). These memory tests are highly useful in the diagnosis of mild dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Premenopausal black women have a greater rate of coronary artery disease (CAD) than do premenopausal white women. Plasma total homocysteine concentrations, a risk factor for CAD, have not been reported in premenopausal black women. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare plasma total homocysteine, folate, and vitamin B-12 concentrations in premenopausal black and white women. DESIGN: Eighty-nine black and 90 white, healthy, premenopausal women living in Portland, OR, were recruited. Dietary histories were obtained by using the Diet Habit Survey, a 40-item eating-behavior questionnaire. Plasma concentrations of total homocysteine, folate, and vitamin B-12 were measured. RESULTS: Black women had higher plasma total homocysteine (8.32 compared with 7.60 micromol/L;P = 0. 013), lower plasma folate (6.62 compared with 9.88 nmol/L;P < 0. 0001), and higher vitamin B-12 (355 compared with 283 pmol/L;P < 0. 001) concentrations than white women. White women had a greater rate of daily multivitamin supplement use (42.4% compared with 24.7%;P = 0.019) and ate more ready-to-eat cereal than did black women. After adjustment for multivitamin use and intake of ready-to-eat cereal, plasma total homocysteine concentrations did not differ significantly, but plasma folate remained significantly lower in the black women. None of the black women but 12.3% of the white women (P = 0.013) were homozygous for the cytosine to thymidine mutation at nucleotide 677 in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene. CONCLUSIONS: Black women had higher plasma total homocysteine and lower plasma folate concentrations than white women, largely because of lifestyle factors, which may contribute to the greater rate of CAD in premenopausal black than in white women. Copyright (c) 1999 American Society for Clinical Nutrition [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirteen patients with phenotypic type V hyperlipidemia were treated with either gemfibrozil (Lopid) or a placebo in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study for two 8-week periods. A 4-week baseline period of a low-fat diet preceded the study and served as a dietary control period. A 4-week washout period followed the two 8-week periods. Compared with the placebo phase, gemfibrozil produced a significant reduction in the concentrations of total plasma triglycerides (21.03 vs 5.50 mmol/L) and very low-density lipoprotein triglycerides (14.40 vs 4.59 mmol/L) as well as in total plasma cholesterol levels (10.88 vs 5.62 mmol/L) and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (6.66 vs 2.15 mmol/L). Chylomicronemia was virtually abolished by the drug treatment. As expected in treated patients with type V hyperlipidemia, concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol rose after therapy with gemfibrozil (3.08 mmol/L) as compared with placebo (1.84 mmol/L); high-density lipoprotein cholesterol also increased (0.85 mmol/L after therapy with gemfibrozil, 0.62 mmol/L after placebo). The previously very low values for both of these lipoproteins increased at the same time that the total plasma cholesterol value decreased. We conclude that gemfibrozil is a well-tolerated and effective hypolipidemic agent for the treatment of patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia when used in conjunction with a low-fat diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a conference paper about impact of adiposity on Crohn's Disease (CD) patient cohort, that was presented at the International Conference for Healthcare and Medical Students (ICHAMS) held in Dublin, Ireland from October 11-12, 2013. It mentions data suggesting that adipose tissue may play an immunoregulatory role in CD. It examines the role of adiposity in CD in disease activity, nutritional status and possibly corticosteroids.

The current gold standard grafting material is autologous bone due to its osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties. Autograft harvesting results in donors site morbidity. Coral scaffolds offer a natural autograft alternative, sharing the density and porosity of human bone. This study investigated the biocompatibility and osteogenic potential of a novel, sustainably grown Pocillopora scaffold with human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). The coral-derived scaffold displays a highly textured topography, with concavities of uniform size and a high calcium carbonate content. Large scaffold samples exhibit compressive and diametral tensile strengths in the range of trabecular bone, with strengths likely increasing for smaller particulate samples. Following the in vitro seeding of MSCs adjacent to the scaffold, the MSCs remained viable, continued proliferating and metabolising, demonstrating biocompatibility. The seeded MSCs densely covered the coral scaffold with organized, aligned cultures with a fibroblastic morphology. In vivo coral scaffolds with MSCs supported earlier bone and blood vessel formation as compared to control constructs containing TCP-HA and MSCs. This work characterized a novel, sustainably grown coral scaffold that was biocompatible with MSCs and supports their in vivo osteogenic differentiation, advancing the current repertoire of biomaterials for bone grafting., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: The majority of authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. However, two authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests. James Martin:•Was employed as Production Director by Zoan BioMed during the time of this study, but no longer holds that position.•Is inventor on 4 patents relating to the coral biomaterials used in this study, but has no direct or indirect personal gain from the impact of this study on patent values or outcomes. Martin Johnson:•Is the Head of R&D/CSO at Zoan BioMed, but has no direct personal gain from the impact of this work on the company.•Is inventor on 3 patents relating to the coral biomaterials used in this study, but has no direct or indirect personal gain from the impact of this study on patent values or outcomes.•Was co-PI with Cynthia Coleman on an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership, that expired in Feb 2024. Cynthia Coleman:•Was co-PI with Martin Johnson on an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership, that expired in Feb 2024., (© 2024 The Author(s).)