Tulane University

About: Tulane University is a education organization based out in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Blood pressure. The organization has 24478 authors who have published 47205 publications receiving 1944993 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Louisiana.

Neuropsychological Outcomes of Army Personnel Following Deployment to the Iraq War

Abstract: ContextThe effects of war-zone deployment on neuropsychological health remain poorly understood. Neuropsychological performance deficits serve as sensitive measures of neural dysfunction and are often associated with psychosocial and occupational problems. Previous studies have not conducted objective neuropsychological assessments both before and after a major war-zone deployment.ObjectiveTo examine objective neuropsychological outcomes of Iraq War deployment in a large military cohort.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThe Neurocognition Deployment Health Study, a prospective, cohort-controlled study conducted at military installations. This report centers on 961 male and female active-duty Army soldiers drawn from the larger cohort. Deploying Army soldiers (n = 654) were examined prior to deployment to Iraq (April-December 2003) and shortly after return (within a mean of 73 days [median, 75 days]; January-May 2005) from Iraq deployment. A comparison group of soldiers (n = 307) similar in military characteristics but not deploying overseas during the study was assessed in sessions timed to be as close as possible to the assessment of deployers. Military unit sampling procedures facilitated representation of combat, combat support, and combat service support functions among both deployers and nondeployers.Main Outcome MeasuresIndividually administered, performance-based neuropsychological tasks. Estimates (β; the unstandardized parameter estimate) for the absolute differences in adjusted mean outcome scores between deployed and nondeployed groups were determined using generalized estimating equations.ResultsMultiple linear regression analyses adjusted for battalion membership revealed that Iraq deployment, compared with nondeployment, was associated with neuropsychological compromise on tasks of sustained attention (β = 0.11; P<.001), verbal learning (β = −1.51; P = .003), and visual-spatial memory (β = −3.82; P<.001). Iraq deployment was also associated with increased negative state affect on measures of confusion (β = 1.40; P<.001) and tension (β = 1.24; P<.001). In contrast, deployment was associated with improved simple reaction time (β = 4.30; P = .003). Deployment effects remained statistically significant after taking into account deployment-related head injury and stress and depression symptoms.ConclusionsDeployment to Iraq is associated with increased risk of neuropsychological compromise. Findings point to the need to investigate further the impact of deployment on neural functioning. Public health implications include consideration of neuropsychological compromise in health prevention and postdeployment clinical and occupational management.

The prevalence of nontraditional risk factors for coronary heart disease in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Abstract: In this cross-sectional study based on the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, patients with chronic kidney disease had lower levels of apolipoprotein A1 and higher levels of ho...

Site-dependent regulation of population size:a new synthesis

Abstract: The nature and extent of population regulation remains a principal unanswered question for many types of organisms, despite extensive research. In this paper, we provide a new synthesis of theoretical and empirical evidence that elucidates and extends a mechanism of population regulation for species whose individuals preemptively use sites that differ in suitability. The sites may be territories, refuges from predation, oviposition sites, etc. The mechanism, which we call site dependence, is not an alternative to density dependence; rather, site dependence is one of several mechanisms that potentially generate the negative feedback required for regulation. Site dependence has two major features: (1) environmentally caused heterogeneity among sites in suitability for reproduction and/or survival; and (2) preemptive site occupancy, with the tendency for individuals to move to sites of higher quality as they become available. Simulation modeling shows that these two features, acting in concert, generate nega...

Synthetic approaches for the preparation of cyclic polymers

Abstract: Despite decades of studies devoted to the unique physical properties and potential applications of cyclic polymer topologies, their exploration has remained limited because of synthetic inefficiencies and acyclic impurities. Many recently developed synthetic techniques offer efficient routes to well-defined cyclic macromolecules to answer this need. This tutorial review aims to provide a concise overview of the most significant synthetic contributions in this field, and highlight the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach.