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Context: New accreditation standards require that all US colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) publically report the first-time pass rates of graduates on the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination-USA (COMLEX-USA) Level 3. Little is known about the extent to which admissions variables or COM performance measures relate to Level 3 performance. Objective: To examine the relationship of admissions variables and COM performance to scores on Level 3 and to assess whether a relationship existed between Level 3 scores and sex, curriculum track, year of graduation, and residency specialty in the first postgraduate year. Methods: Data were analyzed from 4 graduating classes (2008-2011) of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg. Relationships were examined between first-attempt scores on COMLEX-USA Level 3 and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores; undergraduate grade point averages (GPAs); GPAs in COM year 1, year 2, and clinical rotation years (years 3 and 4); and first-attempt scores on COMLEX-USA Level 1, Level 2-Cognitive Evaluation, and Level 2-Performance Evaluation. Results: Of the 556 graduates during this 4-year period, COMLEX-USA Level 3 scores were available for 552 graduates (99.3%). No statistically significant differences were found in Level 3 scores based on sex, curriculum track, graduating class, or residency specialty. The strongest relationship between Level 3 scores and any admissions variable was with total MCAT score, which accounted for 4.2% of the variation in Level 3 scores. The strongest relationship between Level 3 scores and COM year performance measures was with year 2 GPA, which accounted for 35.4% of the variation in Level 3 scores. Level 1 scores accounted for 38.5% of the variation in Level 3 scores, and Level 2-Cognitive Evaluation scores accounted for the greatest percentage of variation (45.7%). The correlation of Level 3 scores with passing the Level 2-Performance Evaluation on the first attempt was not statistically significant. Conclusion: A weak relationship was found between admissions variables and performance on COMLEX-USA Level 3, suggesting that graduates with lower MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs may have overcome their early disadvantage. Strong relationships were found between Level 3 scores and year 2 GPAs, as well as scores on COMLEX-USA Level 1 and Level 2-Cognitive Evaluation.

Pesticides are frequently detected in urban streams and are believed to be primarily the result of homeowner use. Although concentrations in most cases are low (

Pesticides are frequently detected in urban streams, with concentrations often exceeding those reported in surface waters within agricultural areas. The authors studied growth, survival, and return rates of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolts exposed to a pesticide mixture ("cocktail") representative of the pesticides most frequently reported within urban streams in western Washington State, USA, in fall through early spring. Exposure concentrations were selected to represent a reasonable worst-case scenario based on field monitoring data. Smolts were continuously exposed to pulses of the cocktail either from fertilization through swim-up (2007-2008) or from fertilization through smoltification (2007-2008 and 2008-2009), coded wire tagged, and released in 2008 and 2009. Pre-release endpoints (growth, survival, sex ratio, brain acetylcholinesterase activity, and gonado- and hepatosomatic indices) were not affected. However, the number of returning adults exposed to the cocktail to swim-up (0.90%, n = 42) was more than double that of unexposed controls (0.38%, n = 26) in 2008, whereas in 2009, fish exposed through smoltification returned in lower numbers (0.15%, n = 18) than controls (0.37%, n = 30). Variability in return rates among treatments between years was comparable to that observed in previous whole life cycle studies with Pacific salmon and other contaminants. Results suggest that exposure to pesticides in urban streams does not directly impair early life stages of coho salmon, and that additional studies incorporating releases of larger numbers of smolts across several years are necessary to adequately quantify effects on return rates.

This paper presents a comprehensive comparative study of composition-based Lohrenz-Bray-Clark (LBC) and principle of corresponding states (PCS) class viscosity prediction models for 11 different medium to heavy oils. The data sets span a wide range of pressures from 14.7 psia to 5000 psia; temperatures from 80 F to 180 F; and viscosities from 10 cP to 475 cP, typical of medium to heavy oils. The results show that all the LBC class models heavily underpredict the viscosities, whereas qualitatively PCS class models, in general, predict the viscosities in the range of the experimental values. However, none of the studied models were found to be truly predictive. [Received: June 2, 2007; Accepted: September 21, 2007]

Two studies were completed to determine predictability of group membership in learning disability and normally-achieving categories with a psycho-educational test battery measuring intelligence, achievement, visualmotor perception and personality constructs. Study 1 included upper elementary students in grades four to six (controls = 211, learning disabled (LD) = 25). Study 2 included grade three children (controls = 73, LD = 70). Several additional psycho-educational measures were added in Study 2 following the analysis of results in Study 1. A linear regression analysis revealed that, in Study 1, only 35 per cent of the total variance was accounted for in predicting group membership (LD vs controls). In Study 2, however, variance estimates increased to 77 per cent when new data were entered into the equation. The findings support the clause of discrepancy in identifying LD students and agree with previous research findings that tests used for a differential diagnosis of learning disabilities provide little evidence for prediction of group membership. Further study is recommended to examine the heterogeneous nature of learning disabilities.

Ethanol was applied directly to cultures of mouse cerebellum and cerebral neocortex while spontaneous electrical activity was monitored in the former and stimulus-elicited responses were monitored in the latter. Ethanol characteristically demonstrated an initial excitatory effect on cerebellar cultures, manifested by an increase in spontaneous discharge rate, followed by a depression of spontaneous activity. Only depressant effects were noted in ethanol-treated cerebral neocortex cultures. In both instances, removal of ethanol by washing with normal medium resulted in a return to baseline electrical activity. The rapid reversibility of the depressant effects was thought to favor a membrane-altering mechanism which impairs ionic exchange. Light and electron microscopic studies of cerebellar cultures treated with 0.21 to 1.55 g ethanol/100 ml medium for 6 to 15 days demonstrated only nonspecific changes, i.e., an increase in lysosomes and autophagic vacuoles, particularly in astrocytes. Both electrophysiological and morphological studies revealed that the effects of ethanol in vitro were generally manifested at concentrations well above levels producing effects in vivo.

In a 1965 paper [J. Math. and Phys., 44–45, pp. 301–311], Price, Varga and Warren deal with an observed oscillation in the numerical solution of \[ u_t = u_{xx} - ku_x ,\] subject to \[ u(x,0) = 0,\quad 0 < x < L,\]\[ u(0,t) = 1,\quad u_x (L,t) = 0,\quad 0 < t.\] They establish conditions under which oscillations are to be expected when using certain numerical techniques. The present paper extends this result to the recently (1971) proposed Kelley box numerical solution technique as applied to the diffusion-convection equation.

In the oxazolone-induced delayed hypersensitivity inflammation in the rat ear, betamethasone 17-valerate, in contrast to other topical corticosteroids, is incapable of suppressing oedema. When given in combination with triamcinolone acetonide, betamethasone 17-valerate competitively antagonizes the anti-inflammatory action of the active steroid. When tested in the mouse, betamethasone 17-valerate behaved as an anti-inflammatory agent 15 and 80 times as potent as betamethasone and hydrocortisone respectively. In an in vivo lymphocyte culture system in which preincubation with corticosteroids prevents subsequent phytohaemagglutinin induced DNA synthesis, betamethasone 17-valerate was less active than even hydrocortisone when rat lymph node cells were used, but with human cell preparations it was more potent than either hydrocortisone or betamethasone. Betamethasone 17-valerate behaves uniquely in the rat as an anticorticosteroid; in mouse and in man the compound behaves as a normal corticosteroid.

Total body water turnover and total body water volume in normal and severely parasitized cattle were studied with tritium labeled water. The parasitized cattle were all Hereford feeders which had acquired infections with Ostertagia ostertagi , Trichostrongylus axei , and Cooperia spp. while on permanent pasture. During the water turnover studies all animals had free access to feed and water. In one group of parasitized animals, an anthelmintic was used in order to determine the turnover rate of body water during convalescence. Analysis of results revealed the following: (1) The mean total body water volume in parasitized animals was 78 ± 1.08 per cent of the body weight. This represents an increase of 8 to 15 per cent over that found in normal animals of similar age. (2) The mean turnover rate (pool fraction per day) of body water in normal animals was 0.223 ± 0.043, while that of parasitized cattle was 0.110 ± 0.005. (3) After therapy the turnover rate in parasitized cattle began to increase within two to five days. Between 20 and 30 days after treatment the mean turnover rate was 0.158 ± 0.011. The reduced turnover rate of body water, assuming a steady state, reveals that in one group of parasitized animals the mean daily water flux was only 13.4 liters, whereas in normal animals having a comparable total body water volume the mean daily flux would have been 27.2 liters.

Those of us who learned our mathematics in a traditional way have been concerned primarily with models in applying calculus. In this paper, some problems will be considered using only rather elementary mathematics. The examples will range from very easy problems with solutions to more complex problems which don't really have fixed solutions. None of them need calculus, although the first problem could be solved using calculus. The main reason for avoiding calculus is that most community college students don't take calculus. The question these problems are aimed at answering is, "Is it possible to teach some non-calculus modeling at the community college level?" The answer is "Yes," but it involves a lot of work, including possibly some new course development along the lines of finite mathematics. Some of the mathematics needed for elementary modeling includes counting, probability, linear programming, statistics, and some linear algebra including matrices, graphs and graph theory.