University of Memphis

About: University of Memphis is a education organization based out in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 7710 authors who have published 20082 publications receiving 611618 citations. The organization is also known as: U of M.

A meta-analysis of the effects of cigarette smoking on bone mineral density.

Abstract: To determine the magnitude and mediators of the association between cigarette smoking and bone mass in the epidemiologic literature we reviewed articles, published abstracts and conference proceedings, identified through MEDLINE, psychological abstracts, conference proceedings, and article bibliographies. We studied cross-sectional and prospective human studies that provided a quantitative measure of bone mass (X-ray, absorptiometry, or computed tomography) as a function of cigarette smoking exposure. Effects were expressed as pooled standardized mean differences for categorical comparisons (e.g. bone mass in current versus nonsmokers), and as pooled correlation coefficients for continuous comparisons (e.g., correlation of bone mass and pack-years of smoking). Effects were derived for combined bone sites (all bone sites pooled within each study) and four specific sites (hip, lumbar spine, forearm, and os calcis), and were examined overall and as a function of subject and methodologic characteristics (gender, age, body weight, menopausal status, health status). Data were pooled across 86 studies, enrolling 40, 753 subjects. Smokers had significantly reduced bone mass compared with nonsmokers (never and former smokers) at all bone sites, averaging a one-tenth standard deviation (SD) deficit for combined sites. Deficits were especially pronounced at the hip, where the bone mass of current smokers was one-third of a SD less than that of never smokers. Overall, effects were greatest in men and in the elderly, and were dosedependent. In prospective studies, smokers had greater rates of bone loss over time compared with nonsmokers. Bone mass differences remained significant after controlling for age and body weight differences between the two groups. Absolute effect sizes at most bone sites were greatest for current smokers compared with never smokers, intermediate for current smokers compared with former smokers, and lowest for former smokers compared with never smokers, suggesting that smoking cessation may have a positive influence on bone mass. Based on these data, it is estimated that smoking increases the lifetime risk of developing a vertebral fracture by 13% in women and 32% in men. At the hip, smoking is estimated to increase lifetime fracture risk by 31% in women and 40% in men. It appears that smoking has an independent, dose-dependent effect on bone loss, which increases fracture risk, and may be partially reversed by smoking cessation. Given the public health implications of smoking on bone health, it is important that this information be incorporated into smoking prevention and cessation efforts

Mutagenicity of azo dyes: structure-activity relationships.

Abstract: Azo dyes are extensively used in textile, printing, leather, paper making, drug and food industries. Following oral exposure, azo dyes are metabolized to aromatic amines by intestinal microflora or liver azoreductases. Aromatic amines are further metabolized to genotoxic compounds by mammalian microsomal enzymes. Many of these aromatic amines are mutagenic in the Ames Salmonella/microsomal assay system. The chemical structure of many mutagenic azo dyes was reviewed, and we found that the biologically active dyes are mainly limited to those compounds containing p-phenylenediamine and benzidine moieties. It was found that for the phenylenediamine moiety, methylation or substitution of a nitro group for an amino group does not decrease mutagenicity. However, sulfonation, carboxylation, deamination, or substitution of an ethyl alcohol or an acetyl group for the hydrogen in the amino groups leads to a decrease in the mutagenic activity. For the benzidine moiety, methylation, methoxylation, halogenation or substitution of an acetyl group for hydrogen in the amino group does not affect mutagenicity, but complexation with copper ions diminishes mutagenicity. The mutagenicity of benzidine or its derivatives is also decreased when in the form of a hydrochloride salt with only one exception. Mutagenicity of azo dyes can, therefore, be predicted by these structure-activity relationships.

The Behavioral Economics of Substance Use Disorders: Reinforcement Pathologies and Their Repair

Abstract: The field of behavioral economics has made important inroads into the understanding of substance use disorders through the concept of reinforcer pathology. Reinforcer pathology refers to the joint effects of (a) the persistently high valuation of a reinforcer, broadly defined to include tangible commodities and experiences, and/or (b) the excessive preference for the immediate acquisition or consumption of a commodity despite long-term negative outcomes. From this perspective, reinforcer pathology results from the recursive interactions of endogenous person-level variables and exogenous environment-level factors. The current review describes the basic principles of behavioral economics that are central to reinforcer pathology, the processes that engender reinforcer pathology, and the approaches and procedures that can repair reinforcement pathologies. The overall goal of this review is to present a new understanding of substance use disorders as viewed by recent advances in behavioral economics.

Critical Race Theory in Education : All God's Children Got a Song

Abstract: Foreword: The Evolving Role of Critical Race Theory in Educational Scholarship Gloria Ladson-Billings Introduction: All God's Children Got a Song Section I: Critical Race Theory and Education in Context 1. Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education Gloria Ladson-Billings and William F. Tate, IV 2. And We Are Still Not Saved: Critical Race Theory in Education Ten Years Later Adrienne Dixson and Celia Rousseau Section II: Critical Race Theory Constructs 3. The First Day of School: A CRT Story Celia Rousseau and Adrienne Dixson 4. Peddling Cackwards: Reflections of Plessy and Brown in the Rockford Public Schools De Jure Desegregation Efforts Thandeka Chapman 5. 'Proving Your Skin is White, You Can Have Everything': Race, Racial Identity and the Property Rights in Whiteness in the Supreme Court Case of Josephine DeCuir Jessica DeCuir-Gunby 6. Keeping it Real: Race and Education in Memphis Celia Rousseau 7. Critical Race Perspectives on Desegregation: The Forgotten Voices of Black Educators Jerome Morris 8. Parent(s): The Biggest Influences in the Education of African American Football Student-Athletes Jamel Donnor Section III: The Interdisciplinary Nature of Critical Race Theory 9. Whose Culture has Capital? A Critical Race Theory Discussion of Community Cultural Wealth Tara J. Yosso 10. Critical Race Ethnography in Education: Narrative, Inequality, and the Problem of Epistemology Garret Duncan 11. The Fire This Time: Jazz, Research and Critical Race Theory Adrienne Dixson Section IV: Critical Race Theory in US Classrooms and Internationally 12. Where the Rubber Hits the Road: CRT Goes to High School David Stovall 13. Critical Race Theory Beyond North America: Towards a Trans-Atlantic Dialogue on Racism and Antiracism in Educational Theory and Praxis David Gillborn Conclusion 14. Ethics, Engineering, and the Challenge of Racial Reform in Education William F. Tate, IV

Language Structure Is Partly Determined by Social Structure

Abstract: Author(s): Lupyan, Gary; Dale, Rick | Abstract: BackgroundLanguages differ greatly both in their syntactic and morphological systems and in the social environments in which they exist. We challenge the view that language grammars are unrelated to social environments in which they are learned and used.Methodology/principal findingsWe conducted a statistical analysis of g2,000 languages using a combination of demographic sources and the World Atlas of Language Structures--a database of structural language properties. We found strong relationships between linguistic factors related to morphological complexity, and demographic/socio-historical factors such as the number of language users, geographic spread, and degree of language contact. The analyses suggest that languages spoken by large groups have simpler inflectional morphology than languages spoken by smaller groups as measured on a variety of factors such as case systems and complexity of conjugations. Additionally, languages spoken by large groups are much more likely to use lexical strategies in place of inflectional morphology to encode evidentiality, negation, aspect, and possession. Our findings indicate that just as biological organisms are shaped by ecological niches, language structures appear to adapt to the environment (niche) in which they are being learned and used. As adults learn a language, features that are difficult for them to acquire, are less likely to be passed on to subsequent learners. Languages used for communication in large groups that include adult learners appear to have been subjected to such selection. Conversely, the morphological complexity common to languages used in small groups increases redundancy which may facilitate language learning by infants.Conclusions/significanceWe hypothesize that language structures are subjected to different evolutionary pressures in different social environments. Just as biological organisms are shaped by ecological niches, language structures appear to adapt to the environment (niche) in which they are being learned and used. The proposed Linguistic Niche Hypothesis has implications for answering the broad question of why languages differ in the way they do and makes empirical predictions regarding language acquisition capacities of children versus adults.