University of North Carolina at Wilmington

About: University of North Carolina at Wilmington is a education organization based out in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 3329 authors who have published 6797 publications receiving 186308 citations.

Health literacy: the sixth vital sign.

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this project was to describe the concept of health literacy, and to assess health literacy levels in diabetic patients receiving care in primary care settings. Data sources: Health literacy was measured by the Newest Vital Sign (NVS), an assessment tool that was developed for use in primary care settings. The sample consisted of 54 participants of whom 22% were Caucasian, 43% Black, and 35% Latino/Latina. Health literacy scores ranged from 0–6, with a mean of 2.87. Nearly 2/3 of the participants obtained scores of 3 or less, indicating a strong possibility of limited literacy. Significant correlations were obtained between health literacy and educational level, and between health literacy and ethnicity/race. Conclusions: Limited health literacy is so common that health literacy assessment needs to be considered in all clinical practice settings. Health literacy is considered the sixth vital sign—along with temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and pain level. Implications for practice: The NVS takes about three minutes to administer and the assessment is easily accomplished during the initial visit for each patient. Healthcare providers will then be aware of the health literacy level of each patient and base their communication appropriately.

Rapid Evolution of Coral Proteins Responsible for Interaction with the Environment

Abstract: Background: Corals worldwide are in decline due to climate change effects (e.g., rising seawater temperatures), pollution, and exploitation. The ability of corals to cope with these stressors in the long run depends on the evolvability of the underlying genetic networks and proteins, which remain largely unknown. A genome-wide scan for positively selected genes between related coral species can help to narrow down the search space considerably. Methodology/Principal Findings: We screened a set of 2,604 putative orthologs from EST-based sequence datasets of the coral species Acropora millepora and Acropora palmata to determine the fraction and identity of proteins that may experience adaptive evolution. 7% of the orthologs show elevated rates of evolution. Taxonomically-restricted (i.e. lineagespecific) genes show a positive selection signature more frequently than genes that are found across many animal phyla. The class of proteins that displayed elevated evolutionary rates was significantly enriched for proteins involved in immunity and defense, reproduction, and sensory perception. We also found elevated rates of evolution in several other functional groups such as management of membrane vesicles, transmembrane transport of ions and organic molecules, cell adhesion, and oxidative stress response. Proteins in these processes might be related to the endosymbiotic relationship corals maintain with dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium. Conclusion/Relevance: This study provides a birds-eye view of the processes potentially underlying coral adaptation, which will serve as a foundation for future work to elucidate the rates, patterns, and mechanisms of corals’ evolutionary response to global climate change.

Organic Complexation of Fe(II) and Its Impact on the Redox Cycling of Iron in Rain

Abstract: More than 80% of the iron(II) present in a dilute (pH 4.5) H2SO4 solution was oxidized by hydrogen peroxide (3 μM) in 24 h, whereas in rainwater Fe(II) remained stable for days indicating that a complexed form of Fe(II) exists in rainwater that protects it against oxidation. When a rain sample was irradiated for 2 h with simulated sunlight, there was a 57 nM increase in Fe(II) resulting from photoreduction of organic Fe(III) complexes. Once irradiation ceased, the photoproduced Fe(II) rapidly oxidized back to its initial concentration of 32 nM prior to irradiation, but not to zero. These photochemical studies demonstrate that during the daytime when sunlight is present there are dynamic interconversions between complexed and uncomplexed Fe(II) and Fe(III) species in rainwater. During the night, after the photochemically produced Fe(II) is reoxidized to Fe(III), virtually all remaining Fe(II) is complexed by ligands which resist further oxidation. Rain samples oxidized under intense UV light lost their abi...