Objective. To identify the causes of death and mortality risk in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who were being followed up at a single outpatient clinic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Methods. Patients enrolled in the PsA Clinic between 1978 and 1993 were compared with the general population of Ontario. Deaths were identified from the clinic database and through linkage with the provincial mortality database, and causes were confirmed by death certificates. A standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was computed, based on the assumption that patients lost to followup were alive at the end of the study.Results. Of the 428 patients with PsA (194 women and 234 men), 53 (26 women and 27 men) died. The 4 leading causes of death were diseases of the circulatory (36.2%) or respiratory (21.3%) system, malignant neoplasms (17.0%), and injuries/poisoning (14.9%). The SMR for the female cohort was 1.59, and for the men, it was 1.65, indicating a 59% and 65% increase in the death rate, respectively. Deaths due to respiratory causes were particularly increased in these patients.Conclusion. The results suggest that this PsA Clinic outpatient population had an increased mortality risk.

B. bovis, an intraerythrocytic protozoal parasite, establishes chronic infections in cattle in part through rapid variation of the polymorphic, heterodimeric VESA1 protein on the infected erythrocyte surface and sequestration of mature parasites. We describe the characterization of the ves1 alpha gene encoding the VESA1a subunit, thus providing a description of a gene whose product is involved in rapid antigenic variation in a babesial parasite. This three-exon gene, a member of a multigene family (ves), encodes a polypeptide with no cleavable signal sequence, a single predicted transmembrane segment, and a cysteine/lysine-rich domain. Variation appears to involve creation and modification or loss of a novel, transcribed copy of the gene.

This research investigated the link between oral narrative and reading skills in the first 3 years of reading instruction. Study 1 consisted of 61 children (M = 6:1 years) who had experienced 1 year of reading instruction on average. Children's story retelling was scored for memory and narrative quality. The quality of children's narratives correlated positively with their reading skill at this age, but narrative quality did not uniquely predict their reading skill 1 year later. Study 2 consisted of 39 children (M = 7:0 years) who had experienced 2 years of reading instruction on average. At this age, the quality of children's narratives uniquely predicted their reading skill concurrently and 1 year later, even after controlling for their receptive vocabulary and early decoding. These findings have implications for theories of the oral language foundations of reading and for assessment in the early years of reading instruction.

Criticisms of mass media productions often include a discussion of how women and minorities are systematicall y excluded and=or relegated to minor roles, or roles that match traditional stereotypes. These types of portrayals are important factors in the social construction of reality among the general public, and therefore may perpetuate racism and sexism on a larger scale. Using a content analysis of fifty popular films in 1996 the present study explores the demographic composition of the leading actresses and actors. The goal is to gauge the strength of female and minority presence and to provide an assessment of character representations through an analysis of labor force participation , sex-roles of occupation, prestige of occupation, and gender. Findings indicate that although both women and minorities have made some advancement in their film portrayals, compared to earlier studies, they still are under-represented in leading roles in Hollywood, and their portrayals are often consistent with traditional stereotypes.

Red blood cell hematocrit, aggregation and deformability, and plasma protein concentration influence the viscosity and elasticity of whole blood. These parameters affect the flow properties, especially at low shear rates (< 50 s(-1)). In particular, we have previously shown that the viscoelasticity of fluid affects the inlet filling characteristics and regions of flow separation in small pulsatile blood pumps. Although the viscosity of pediatric blood has been thoroughly studied, its elasticity has not been previously measured. Here we present the viscosity and elasticity of pediatric blood against shear rate for hematocrits from 19-56, measured using an oscillatory rheometer. There is little effect of patient age on blood viscoelasticity. A statistical analysis showed that when compared at constant hematocrit, blood from adult and pediatric patients had similar viscoelastic properties. We present blood analog solutions, as a function of hematocrit, constructed on the basis of the pediatric measurements. Flow field results for viscoelastic analogs of 20, 40 and 60% hematocrit and a Newtonian analog will be compared in the initial, in vitro testing of the Penn State pediatric blood pump, to determine the importance of incorporating a viscoelastic analog into the desigh interaction.