12190 research outputs found
Sort by
Analytic vs. Synthetic, Distinction or Myth?: Kant’s Kantribution, Quine’s Inquisition, Grice and Strawson’s Salvation
Get PDFPhilosophers have relied heavily on the distinction between analytic truths and synthetic ones for various philosophical pursuits. In this paper I explore Immanuel Kant’s explanation of the distinction, W.V.O. Quine’s qualms with it, and the attempt of H.P. Grice and Strawson at saving synonymy in order to salvage analyticity from doubts. I conclude that although valiant, the efforts put forth by Grice and Strawson fall short. I argue that this is so because they attack a weak interpretation of Quine’s contention
Community Needs-Based Planning for Rural Library Success
Get PDFI am a librarian from rural southern Oregon, and my community is a stereotype. NPR correspondent Jeff Brady visited our town during the summer of 2017 for a story highlighting rural communities in decline (Brady, 2017). We were a convenient case study. Our natural resource industry has been dying a slow and loud death for decades, our voters have notoriously voted down numerous tax levies, and Jeff Brady just happened to grow up here. Brady being a national business correspondent from Philadelphia, we were the perfect stereotype for a piece that closed with his grim statement: “Overall, the economic prospects for my hometown of Gold Beach, Oregon, look dim. Fortunately there’s always the beautiful beach, the river, and the forests to console those who still live here.” Despite the inevitable feeling of this conclusion, Brady could have asked much different questions and listened to different voices that would have resulted in a story about much more than malaise. In fact, when presented with innovative changes taking place, Brady commented to our library staff that a storyline of innovative change in its early stages would not help NPR make the point their audience wanted to hear.
I start with this story because librarians are extremely susceptible to the very mistake made by this NPR correspondent. We see what we want to see, and the decisions that follow (particularly in small rural communities) are more often than not rejected by the community because they do not truly address immediate needs. As for that Southern Oregon stereotype, our voters certainly fit the stereotype of being skeptical of paying taxes, but few taxpayers I have encountered are unwilling to pay taxes when the government entity in question has proven to be successful in addressing what they perceive as community needs. Working with this model, I believe Gold Beach is in the early phases of a renaissance rooted in the library’s community needs-based planning. Here is our story
Genealogical Society Libraries: A Treasure Trove of Family Histories
Get PDFOregon’s genealogical societies come in all shapes and sizes, and their collections and services are just as varied. Some societies operate and maintain a standalone library; others’ holdings are part of a private or public library system, or housed in alternative public or private buildings. One thing all have in common, though, is that their unique materials are made available to the general public in addition to the society’s members, enabling anyone tracing their family tree—whether writer, researcher, or casual investigator—to access their collections.
Genealogical library collections may include books, periodicals, microfilm/microfiche, maps, photographs, research aids, reference books, local city directories, scrapbooks, obituaries, and even original county court record books. Manuscript collections (frequently referred to as vertical files) gather the work of earlier researchers and include items often unavailable elsewhere such as pedigree charts, family group sheets, and other original records and documents donated to the society. These files might hold a naturalization certificate, Bible record, or letter from one of YOUR ancestors
Review of Richard Swinburne’s Revelation: From Metaphor to Analogy and the Resurrection of God Incarnate
Get PDFEarly Administration of Ketamine in Refractory Status Epilepticus
Get PDFPurpose: While protocols regarding how to treat status epilepticus (SE) has been universally accepted, management of refractory status epilepticus (RSE) is far from being evidence-based. Ketamine (KET), a NMDA-antagonist, may have a role in RSE when other conventional anesthetics fail due to its unique pharmacodynamic properties and good safety profile.
Methods: Exhaustive search of available medical literature was performed using MEDLINE-Ovid, MEDLINE-PubMed, Psych INFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL for relevant articles from 2012-2017 using keywords “ketamine” and “status epilepticus.” Additional criteria for consideration: articles applicable to the topic and published in the English language. Exclusion criteria includes all opinion articles, preclinical data, protocol articles, and case studies. Studies were then assessed for quality using GRADE criteria.
Results: The 4 studies reviewed found a good response rate ranging from 64-80% when KET was used as the first- or second-line agent in RSE. Furthermore, all studies found a good safety profile of KET at high doses and long duration of infusion. Although initial response rate of RSE to early administration of KET is high, all 4 studies have severe limitations.
Conclusion: Currently, RSE algorithms are inadequate and leave providers to choose the best course of action. Earlier introduction of KET after failure of first- and second-line agents shows promise to control RSE and avoid intubation and ventilation. This area of study needs larger, prospective, and randomized trials that clearly designate and follow a protocol to assess adequate efficacy of early administration of KET in RSE
Curcumin as an Aid to Improve Symptoms of Inflammatory or Irritable Bowel Diseases
Get PDFInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a poorly understood process that affects over a million people in the United States alone. The disease typically manifests as recurrent flares of abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea along with periods of remission. Standard therapy has focused around maintenance and remission, rather than a cure. These lifelong diagnoses carry devastating consequences for patients. Modern medical therapy consists primarily of steroids, aminosalicylate anti-inflammatories and immunomodulators.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common diagnoses in gastroenterology practices in the North American hemisphere. IBS shares many of the same symptoms as IBD and despite growing research and compelling data, it’s still unclear if there are genetic components and mucosal changes to explore.
Patients are becoming increasingly interested in how to maintain their remission or reverse the disease processes through diet and lifestyle changes. Current research focused on the chemical compound curcumin, found in the Turmeric rhizome, may hold the keys to maintaining remission in mild to moderate ulcerative colitis (UC). Through systematic literature review this article aims to explore existing research regarding natural food-based compounds, namely curcumin, and the potential benefits for patients with IBD and IBS diagnoses
PPI Use and Increased Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease
Get PDFBackground: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a class of gastric-acid reducing medications indicated for conditions including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), peptic ulcer disease (PUD), Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, and erosive esophagitis. With 119 million PPI prescriptions filled in 2009, these are currently one of the most commonly prescribed classes of medication. The current list of known side effects for PPIs includes pneumonia, Clostridium difficile, hip fractures, acute interstitial nephritis (AIN), and malabsorption. The purpose of this review is to investigate if PPI use is also associated with an increased risk in developing chronic kidney disease (CKD)
Methods: An exhaustive literature search using 3 search engines: Web of Science, MEDLINE-PubMed, and CINAHL databases. Key phrases used included: “proton pump inhibitors” and “chronic kidney disease”. Articles were assessed for quality using GRADE criteria.
Results: Four articles met eligibility criteria and were included in this systematic review. All four were observational studies. Within each study, it was determined that those taking a PPI were at an increased risk in developing CKD versus those not taking one. Three of the 4 articles were downgraded to very low, and one was graded as low.
Conclusion: PPI use appears to have an association with an increased risk in developing CKD. Providers should only prescribe PPIs when indicated and may want to try H2 blockers first to see if this helps the patient’s condition before progressing to a PPI. In order to determine a stronger association between PPI use and the development of CKD, further research needs to be conducted.
Keywords: Chronic kidney disease, proton pump inhibito
Integrating Interprofessional Education into an Academic Enrichment Program
Get PDFINTRODUCTION: Interprofessional education (IPE) is widely accepted as an important aspect of health professional programs. However, there is limited IPE research focused in the pre-health professional student population. The aim of this study was to measure pre-health student perceptions of IPE and their knowledge of other health professions during a summer academic enrichment program.
METHODS: Students who had completed their first or second year of college studies participated in the six week Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Students engaged in IPE through an online module, as well as small group activities.
RESULTS: Fifty-three students who participated in the 2017 SHPEP demonstrated statistically significant positive changes in IPE perceptions using the SPICE-R2 assessment tool. In addition, student perceived knowledge of the scope of practice of dental providers, physician providers and public health professionals also improved.
DISCUSSION: Our results suggest introducing pre-health students to IPE opportunities broadens their understanding of different healthcare professions’ roles and responsibilities, as well as team leadership that is influenced by context rather than traditional hierarchies.
CONCLUSION: Additional research engaging pre-health students in IPE is needed. However, initial findings suggest a positive impact in engaging early learners in IPE
Use of Probiotics in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Reduction of Liver Aminotransferases
Get PDFBackground
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in one of the most common liver diseases characterized by increases in serum aminotransferases and accumulation of fat in the liver. NAFLD can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular complications, end stage liver disease, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. At the moment there is no drug treatment for the management of NAFLD. Other treatment options should be explored for this disease that can progress to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Individual studies and systematic analysis have shown that the consumption of probiotics can decrease liver aminotransferase levels in adults with NAFLD.
Methods
An extensive literature search was performed using MEDLNE-Ovid, Web of Science, and CINAHL using the terms “probiotics,” and “ nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.” The studies were then limited to randomized control trials and restricted to human studies in the English language and performed within the last 5 years. Inclusion criteria included studies on adults diagnosed with NAFLD via ultrasonography or liver tissue biopsy. Studies were assessed for quality using GRADE criteria.
Results
Two studies were found which met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Both studies were randomized control studies performed in Spain, Aller et al, and the second study performed in Iran, Nabavi et al. Both studies showed that taking probiotics reduced liver aminotransferases levels in patients with NAFLD. The Aller et al study found that the intervention group was statistically different at baseline and at 3 months post probiotic therapy for ALT and AST. The Nabavi et al study found that at the end of the 2 weeks probiotic yogurt consumption results in a reduction of 4.67 and 5.42 in ALT and AST levels, respectively, compared to the conventional yogurt group.
Conclusion
The studies demonstrated a reduction in liver aminotransferases with treatment of probiotics in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Keywords Probiotics, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, liver aminotransferase