211 research outputs found
Survey Responses 2nd Round.xlsx
No full textSee Spackman et al. Developing Key Performance Indicators for Prescription Medication Systems. Forthcoming in PLOS One.</p
Survey Responses 1st Round.xlsx
No full textSee Spackman et al. Developing Key Performance Indicators for Prescription Medication Systems. PLOS On
Park County inventory of critical biological resources: final report
No full textIncludes bibliographical references.April 2001.Prepared by Susan Spackman, Denise Culver, and John Sanderson; prepared for: Park County
Obituary for Dr. William Spackman (1919-2014)
No full textWilliam Spackman, known internationally for his work in the characterization of peat and coal deposits, and the utilization of coals of all types died on March 13, 2014, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Dr. Spackman, Professor Emeritus at The Pennsylvania State University, began his post-secondary education at North Park College in Chicago, where he received the Associate of Arts degree in 1940. He graduated with a Bachelor\u27s degree in botany from the University of Illinois in 1942. During World War II he served at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard applying biological research to marine wood preservation. In 1949 he earned his PhD in biology with a major in paleobotany from Harvard University, where he worked under the guidance of Dr. E.S. Barghoorn, investigating the peculiar characteristics of the Brandon Lignite; Vermont certainly is not known for its coal deposits, but the Brandon ended up being most significant from a paleobotanical point of view. Dr. Spackman spent his entire, and very illustrious career at Penn State, where he developed the Coal Research Section of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences into an internationally acclaimed research facility. According to a history of the Coal Research Section, written in the Penn State Geosciences newsletter by Dr. Spackman, summer 2003, the academic program took root from 1949–1951. Following establishment of classes in paleobotany, palynology, and coal petrology, there came a call from U.S. Steel Corporation in 1951 to assist in the analysis of metallurgical coke production; coke is used in iron ore reduction, and is produced entirely from suitable grades and compositions of bituminous coal. Thus began a decade-long and productive association between US Steel and the coal research group at Penn State. In 1955, the Coal Research Section became a reality, and proceeded to develop ties with Bethlehem Steel, Jones & Laughlin, Inland Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube and a variety of other corporations and agencies. These U.S. steel companies embraced Dr. Spackman\u27s maceral concept that sought to organize coal by rank and composition and employed the knowledge to improve coke and iron making operations. Industrial support, and more than 25 years of funding from the National Science Foundation led to a wide spectrum of research efforts, ranging from defining the petrographic characteristics of coking coals, to understanding the association of uranium minerals with lignites, to appreciating the historical development of peat deposits within the Okefenokee Swamp and the Everglades. Among his many accomplishments Dr. Spackman helped to establish the Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen, a research aid that included 44 volumes of illustrations and detailed descriptions of the known fossil taxa of spores and pollen; the Catalog was published at Penn State from 1957 to 1985. He also served as Chair of the Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America; Chair of the Coal Geology Division of the Geological Society of America; and was a member of the International Commission of Coal Petrology, serving from 1964 to 1975 as President of its Nomenclature Committee. Most notably, in 1980 he became the founding editor of the first research journal devoted to coal geology, the International Journal of Coal Geology. Dr. Spackman was probably best known to most coal technologists as a petrographer and organic geochemist. His publications in periodicals such as Fuel, Energy Sources, and the International Journal of Coal Geology reflect his long association with studies of coal characteristics and utilization. To many others, he is most associated with his work in the Florida Everglades. He was long a proponent of using those wetlands as a modern analog to environments of coal accumulation. In 1964, for example, he was senior author on “Environments of Coal Formation in Southern Florida”, a pre-meeting field guide published in association with the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (Spackman and Thompson, 1964). Later, a widely referenced publication appeared in a GSA Special Paper. That contribution, entitled “Geological and Biological Interactions in the Swamp–Marsh Complex of Southern Florida” (Spackman et al., 1969) helped to establish the ‘glades as a model wetland for understanding peat accumulation. This effort was expanded in 1974 when, once again in affiliation with GSA, and with the considerable assistance of Dr. Spackman\u27s former student, Dr. Arthur Cohen, and colleagues Drs. P.H. Given and D.J. Casagrande, a field guide was written and entitled “A Field Guidebook to Aid in the Comparative Study of the Okefenokee Swamp and the Everglades-Mangrove Swamp–Marsh Complex of Southern Florida”. Dr. Spackman\u27s love of the Everglades never abated, and for many of us the image of him standing at the helm of the Mariscus as it sped across Florida Bay toward the Everglades is most enduring
Colorado Natural Heritage Program 1995 (with material added in 1997)
Get PDFFrom cover: "Colorado Natural Heritage Program 1995 (with material added in 1997)."15 January 1996.Prepared for: U.S. Forest Service, Leadville Ranger District; by Susan Spackman, Mark Duff, Sandra Floyd
Inventory and status report of American ground nut (Apios americana Medicus) in Colorado
Get PDFIncludes bibliographical references.Prepared by: David G. Anderson and Susan C. Spackman; prepared for: City of Boulder Open Space
Cirsium perplexans (Rydb.) Petrak (Rocky Mountain thistle): a technical conservation assessment
Get PDFIncludes bibliographical references.August 31, 2004.Prepared for: the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Species Conservation Project; [by] Susan Spackman Panjabi and David G. Anderson
Cost-effectiveness of Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9 Inhibitors: An Economic Evaluation
No full textFamilial hypercholesterolemia is an autosomal inherited genetic disorder characterized by high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream. If left untreated, this condition can substantially increase cardiovascular risk, lead to the rapid development of premature coronary artery disease, or cause sudden cardiac death. Despite the high risks associated with familial hypercholesterolemia, a considerable number of these individuals are unable to achieve adequate reductions in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels with conventional lipid lowering therapy. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors are emerging pharmacological treatments for managing patients with these conditions. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to assess the cost-effectiveness of PCSK9 inhibitors for the treatment of elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia
Psoriatic Arthritis Screening: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Economic Evaluation
No full textPsoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an autoimmune disease that affects the skin and the musculoskeletal system. It causes joint damage and psoriasis of the skin. Untreated disease is usually related to a delayed diagnosis and has been associated with physical disability and high treatment costs later on. Although expensive biologic therapy has proven to slow disease progression and improve health outcomes, rheumatologists have suggested initiating treatment with less expensive Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs). Identifying early PsA is expected to improve health outcomes through early treatment with DMARDs. It is also expected to reduce the proportion of severe disease and biologic treatment. Given that the prevalence of PsA among psoriasis patients is relatively high, dermatologists are well-positioned to screen for arthritis symptoms with already validated self-administered screening questionnaires for patients with psoriasis. The goal of this thesis is to systematically review the characteristics and accuracy estimates of the validated PsA screening tools (chapter 2). It also seeks to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of implementing a PsA screening program in Canada relative to the current practice where psoriasis patients are not systematically screened (chapter 3). The National Institute of Health Research is currently developing a randomized controlled trial for PsA screening in the United Kingdom that will inform the cost-effectiveness model presented in this thesis
On the Optimization of Clostridioides difficile Diagnostics Through RT-PCR Cycle Threshold Defined Zones of Disease Probability
No full textClostridioides difficile is an opportunistic pathogen with a large burden of disease and no gold standard test. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) offers excellent sensitivity but overcalls clinical C. difficile infections (CDI) due to the prevalence of colonization. The hypothesis of this thesis is that the CDI qPCR results can be titrated to determine clinical CDI more accurately and aid in predicting disease severity. A cross-sectional study was conducted on suspected CDI patients evaluating if qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) can be correlated to probability of CDI. Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed with observed variables including four commercial qPCR tests, toxin detection by enzyme immunoassay, toxigenic culture, fecal calprotectin, and clinical diagnosis. Three defined zones as a function of qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) were identified: CDI likely (>90% probability), CDI equivocal (<90% and >10%), CDI unlikely (<10%). A model comprising toxigenic culture, clinical diagnosis, and toxin EIA demonstrated the best fitness. The following Ct cut-offs for 4 commercial test platforms delineated CDI probability zones: GeneXpert®: 24.00, 33.61; Simplexa®: 28.97, 36.85; Elite MGB®: 30.18, 37.43; and BD Max™: 27.60, 34.26. A prospective cohort study was conducted to investigate if these zones can be further correlated to indicators of severe CDI. Primary diagnosis, demographic data and indicators of disease severity were captured: white blood cell, creatinine, albumin, C-reactive protein, and hospital length of stay. A sub analysis was conducted evaluating a subset of the patient population attempting to isolate patients whose clinical variables were most influenced by CDI. No significant correlations were found between the clinical variables investigated and Ct values or Ct zones. This work establishes a method of using deployed diagnostics to allow clinicians to reduce overdiagnosis of CDI. Decreasing false positives could have broad impacts, increase targeted treatments, and decrease antibiotics. The average cost attributed to CDI for one patient is estimated at 929,000 annually with no additional investment in laboratory infrastructure
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