University of Vermont

About: University of Vermont is a education organization based out in Burlington, Vermont, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 17592 authors who have published 38251 publications receiving 1609874 citations. The organization is also known as: UVM & University of Vermont and State Agricultural College.

Leukocyte Telomere Length and Cardiovascular Disease in the Cardiovascular Health Study

Abstract: The telomere length of replicating somatic cells is inversely correlated with age and has been reported to be associated cross-sectionally with cardiovascular disease (CVD) Leukocyte telomere length, as expressed by mean terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length, was measured in 419 randomly selected participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study, comprising a community-dwelling cohort recruited in four US communities The authors investigated associations between TRF length and selected measures of subclinical CVD/risk factors for CVD (data were collected at the 1992/1993 clinic visit) and incident CVD (ascertained through June 2002) In these participants (average age = 742 years (standard deviation, 52)), mean TRF length was 63 kilobase pairs (standard deviation, 062) Significant or borderline inverse associations were found between TRF length and diabetes, glucose, insulin, diastolic blood pressure, carotid intima-media thickness, and interleukin-6 Associations with body size and C-reactive protein were modified by gender and age, occurring only in men and in participants aged 73 years or younger In younger (but not older) participants, each shortened kilobase pair of TRF corresponded with a threefold increased risk of myocardial infarction (hazard ratio = 308, 95% confidence interval: 122, 773) and stroke (hazard ratio = 322, 95% confidence interval: 129, 802) These results support the hypotheses that telomere attrition may be related to diseases of aging through mechanisms involving oxidative stress, inflammation, and progression to CVD

Trends in mortality and morbidity for very low birth weight infants, 1991-1999.

Abstract: Background. Medical care for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants and their mothers has changed dramatically during the 1990s, yet it is unclear how these changes have affected mortality and morbidity. Objective. We used the Vermont Oxford Network Database to identify trends in clinical practice and patient outcomes for VLBW infants born from 1991 to 1999. Methods. Logistic regression was used to evaluate temporal trends in practices and outcomes while adjusting for patient characteristics and accounting for clustering of cases within hospitals. Results. There were 118 448 infants 501 to 1500 g from 362 neonatal intensive care units enrolled in the Network Database from 1991 to 1999. Prenatal care, cesarean section, multiple births, antenatal steroids, and 1-minute Apgar scores increased during this period, as did the use of nasal continuous positive airway pressure, high-frequency ventilation, surfactant, and postnatal steroids. The proportion of white infants decreased; the proportions of Hispanic infants and those of other races increased. The crude and adjusted rates of mortality, pneumothorax, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), and severe IVH declined from 1991 to 1995, whereas from 1995 to 1999, the rates of mortality, IVH, and severe IVH did not change significantly, and pneumothorax increased. Conclusions. There have been major changes in both obstetric and neonatal care during the 1990s. These changes were associated with decreases in mortality and morbidity for VLBW infants during the first half of the decade. However, since 1995, no additional improvements in mortality or morbidity have been seen, ending a decades-long trend of improving outcomes for these infants.

Markers of Inflammation, Coagulation, and Renal Function Are Elevated in Adults with HIV Infection

Abstract: Background. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication and immune activation may increase inflammation and coagulation biomarkers. Limited data exist comparing such biomarkers in persons with and without HIV infection. Methods. For persons 45‐76 years of age, levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin (IL)‐6, D-dimer, and cystatin C were compared in 494 HIV-infected individuals in the Strategies for Management of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (SMART) study and 5386 participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study. For persons 33‐44 years of age, hsCRP and IL-6 levels were compared in 287 participants in the SMART study and 3231 participants in the Coronary Artery Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Results. hsCRP and IL-6 levels were 55% ( ) and 62% ( ) higher among HIV-infected participants P ! .001 P ! .001 than among CARDIA study participants. Compared with levels noted in MESA study participants, hsCRP, IL-6, D-dimer, and cystatin C levels were 50%, 152%, 94%, and 27% higher, respectively ( , for each), among P ! .001 HIV-infected participants. HIV-infected participants receiving antiretroviral therapy who had HIV RNA levels 400 copies/mL had levels higher (by 21% to 60%) ( ) than those in the general population, for all P ! .001 biomarkers. Conclusions. hsCRP, IL-6, D-dimer, and cystatin C levels are elevated in persons with HIV infection and remain so even after HIV RNA levels are suppressed with antiretroviral therapy. Additional research is needed on the pathophysiology of HIV-induced activation of inflammatory and coagulation pathways, to guide potential interventions.

Temporal Patterns of Happiness and Information in a Global Social Network: Hedonometrics and Twitter

Abstract: Individual happiness is a fundamental societal metric. Normally measured through self-report, happiness has often been indirectly characterized and overshadowed by more readily quantifiable economic indicators such as gross domestic product. Here, we examine expressions made on the online, global microblog and social networking service Twitter, uncovering and explaining temporal variations in happiness and information levels over timescales ranging from hours to years. Our data set comprises over 46 billion words contained in nearly 4.6 billion expressions posted over a 33 month span by over 63 million unique users. In measuring happiness, we construct a tunable, real-time, remote-sensing, and non-invasive, text-based hedonometer. In building our metric, made available with this paper, we conducted a survey to obtain happiness evaluations of over 10,000 individual words, representing a tenfold size improvement over similar existing word sets. Rather than being ad hoc, our word list is chosen solely by frequency of usage, and we show how a highly robust and tunable metric can be constructed and defended.

First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. II. Array and Instrumentation

Abstract: The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) array that comprises millimeter- and submillimeter-wavelength telescopes separated by distances comparable to the diameter of the Earth. At a nominal operating wavelength of ~1.3 mm, EHT angular resolution (λ/D) is ~25 μas, which is sufficient to resolve nearby supermassive black hole candidates on spatial and temporal scales that correspond to their event horizons. With this capability, the EHT scientific goals are to probe general relativistic effects in the strong-field regime and to study accretion and relativistic jet formation near the black hole boundary. In this Letter we describe the system design of the EHT, detail the technology and instrumentation that enable observations, and provide measures of its performance. Meeting the EHT science objectives has required several key developments that have facilitated the robust extension of the VLBI technique to EHT observing wavelengths and the production of instrumentation that can be deployed on a heterogeneous array of existing telescopes and facilities. To meet sensitivity requirements, high-bandwidth digital systems were developed that process data at rates of 64 gigabit s^(−1), exceeding those of currently operating cm-wavelength VLBI arrays by more than an order of magnitude. Associated improvements include the development of phasing systems at array facilities, new receiver installation at several sites, and the deployment of hydrogen maser frequency standards to ensure coherent data capture across the array. These efforts led to the coordination and execution of the first Global EHT observations in 2017 April, and to event-horizon-scale imaging of the supermassive black hole candidate in M87.