Duquesne University

About: Duquesne University is a education organization based out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 3615 authors who have published 7169 publications receiving 180066 citations. The organization is also known as: Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit.

The Development and validation of a self-administered quality-of-life outcome measure for young, active patients with symptomatic hip disease: the International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-33).

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a self-administered evaluative tool to measure health-related quality of life in young, active patients with hip disorders. Methods: This outcome measure was developed for active patients (aged 18 to 60 years, Tegner activity level 4) presenting with a variety of symptomatic hip conditions. This multicenter study recruited patients from international hip arthroscopy and arthroplasty surgeon practices. The outcome was created using a process of item generation (51 patients), item reduction (150 patients), and pretesting (31 patients). The questionnaire was tested for test-retest reliability (123 patients); face, content, and construct validity (51 patients); and responsiveness over a 6-month period in post-arthroscopy patients (27 patients). Results: Initially, 146 items were identified. This number was reduced to 60 through item reduction, and the items were categorized into 4 domains: (1) symptoms and functional limitations; (2) sports and recreational physical activities; (3) job-related concerns; and (4) social, emotional, and lifestyle concerns. The items were then formatted using a visual analog scale. Test-retest reliability showed Pearson correlations greater than 0.80 for 33 of the 60 questions. The intraclass correlation statistic was 0.78, and the Cronbach was .99. Face validity and content validity were ensured during development, and construct validity was shown with a correlation of 0.81 to the Non-Arthritic Hip Score. Responsiveness was shown with a paired t test (P .01), effect size of 2.0, standardized response mean of 1.7, responsiveness ratio of 6.7, and minimal clinically important difference of 6 points. Conclusions: We have developed a new quality-of-life patient-reported outcome measure, the 33-item International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-33). This questionnaire uses a visual analog scale response format designed for computer self-administration by young, active patients with hip pathology. Its development has followed the most rigorous methodology involving a very large number of patients. The iHOT-33 has been shown to be reliable; shows face, content, and construct validity; and is highly responsive to clinical change. In our opinion the iHOT-33 can be used as a primary outcome measure for prospective patient evaluation and randomized clinical trials.

The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents: A Review of the Research

Abstract: The recent proliferation of Internet-enabled technology has significantly changed the way adolescents encounter and consume sexually explicit material. Once confined to a personal computer attached to a telephone line, the Internet is now available on laptops, mobile phones, video game consoles, and other electronic devices. With the growth of the Internet has come easier and more ubiquitous access to pornography. The purpose of this article was to review the recent (i.e., 2005 to present) literature regarding the impact of Internet pornography on adolescents. Specifically, this literature review examined the impact of Internet pornography on sexual attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and sexual aggression. The authors also discuss the literature related to the influence of sexually explicit Internet material on self-concept, body image, social development, as well as the expanding body of research on adolescent brain function and physical development. Finally, recommendations for future research were discusse...

The Ecology of Arsenic

Abstract: Arsenic is a metalloid whose name conjures up images of murder. Nonetheless, certain prokaryotes use arsenic oxyanions for energy generation, either by oxidizing arsenite or by respiring arsenate. These microbes are phylogenetically diverse and occur in a wide range of habitats. Arsenic cycling may take place in the absence of oxygen and can contribute to organic matter oxidation. In aquifers, these microbial reactions may mobilize arsenic from the solid to the aqueous phase, resulting in contaminated drinking water. Here we review what is known about arsenic-metabolizing bacteria and their potential impact on speciation and mobilization of arsenic in nature.

A compound poisson process for relaxing the molecular clock.

Abstract: The molecular clock hypothesis remains an important conceptual and analytical tool in evolutionary biology despite the repeated observation that the clock hypothesis does not perfectly explain observed DNA sequence variation. We introduce a parametric model that relaxes the molecular clock by allowing rates to vary across lineages according to a compound Poisson process. Events of substitution rate change are placed onto a phylogenetic tree according to a Poisson process. When an event of substitution rate change occurs, the current rate of substitution is modified by a gamma-distributed random variable. Parameters of the model can be estimated using Bayesian inference. We use Markov chain Monte Carlo integration to evaluate the posterior probability distribution because the posterior probability involves high dimensional integrals and summations. Specifically, we use the Metropolis-Hastings-Green algorithm with 11 different move types to evaluate the posterior distribution. We demonstrate the method by analyzing a complete mtDNA sequence data set from 23 mammals. The model presented here has several potential advantages over other models that have been proposed to relax the clock because it is parametric and does not assume that rates change only at speciation events. This model should prove useful for estimating divergence times when substitution rates vary across lineages.