Pittsburgh Center Research Articles

Virtual telepathology in Egypt, applications of WSI in Cairo University

Telepathology, the practice of pathology at a long distance, has advanced continuously since 1986. Today, fourth-generation telepathology systems, so-called virtual slide telepathology systems, are being used for education applications. Both conventional and innovative surgical pathology diagnostic services are being designed and implemented as well. We have a successful experience in Egypt in applying the static & dynamic techniques in a pilot project between the Italian Hospital in Cairo (NPO) and the Civico Hospital in Palermo This project began in 2003 and continued till now. In 2004, centers in Venice, London and Pittsburgh participated actively in our project. During the past seven years we consulted on many problematic pathological cases with these different specialized pathological centers in Italy, UK & USA. In addition to the highly specialized scientific value of consulting on the cases and exchanging knowledge, we saved a lot of time and money and succeeded in providing our patients with a better medical service. In view of this success we have already established a new Digital Telepathology unit (DTU) in the pathology department, Cairo University, using the latest technique of telepathology which is Whole Slide Imaging (WSI) since one year. This unit is considered the first Digital pathology unit in all the universities of the whole Middle East. During the passed year we created a digital pathology library for the under graduate students using the WSI technique and changed the teaching method of the histopathology slides to be completely digital. We are building another digital pathology library (for post graduate candidates) which will be available to all pathology candidates in Egyptian universities & universities in the surrounding Arabic countries. We are also creating a digital pathology network between pathology centers in the Middle East for exchanging knowledge & telepathology.

Cognitive function in families with exceptional survival

The authors investigated whether cognitive function may be used as an endophenotype for longevity by assessing the cognitive performance of a family-based cohort consisting of 1380 individuals from 283 families recruited for exceptional survival in field centers in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and Denmark. Cognitive performance was assessed in the combined offspring of the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) probands and their LLFS siblings as compared with their spouses' cognitive performance. Our results indicate that the combined offspring of the LLFS probands and their siblings achieve significantly higher scores on both digit forward and backward tasks (p = 5 10-5 and p = 8 10-4 respectively) as well as on a verbal fluency task (p = 0.008) when compared with their spouse controls. No differences between groups were found for the other cognitive tests assessed. We conclude that LLFS family members in the offspring generation demonstrate significantly better performance on multiple tasks requiring attention, working memory, and semantic processing when compared with individuals without a family history of exceptional survival, suggesting that cognitive performance may serve as an important endophenotype for longevity.

Artist's Statement: R&R (. . . &R)

Artist's Statement:R&R (. . . &R) Susanne Slavick (bio) Responding to the ongoing disasters of war and the policies and conditions that lead to them, artists can condone or condemn. The challenge lies in finding a constructive stance, especially when confronting the aftermath of each war. Decimated and displaced peoples, ruined infrastructures and scorched earth follow each armed conflict. How can a place or people cohere after trauma and calamity? These works from the R&R ( . . . &R) series counter art-historical and contemporary media representations of war with interventions both remorseful and restorative. The series' title converts the military abbreviation for "rest and relaxation" to words like "regret and restitution." In face of perpetual carnage I cull images of regeneration from the art and architecture of the invader and the invaded. Referring to scenes of construction and cultivation from the workshops of Persian miniaturist Bihzâd to the court arts of Safavid Iran, I paint images of resurgence over scenes of devastation across Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East. Sources for these scenes are "documentary" photographs found on the Internet—from military and news media sites, FLICKR and Webshots, and blogs by soldiers and others in the midst of war. Recognizing and reconstituting what has been decimated, my palette begins to revive and replace the anonymous and ashen monochrome of rubble. Creativity is one measure of our seemingly miraculous recovery from incomprehensible and self-inflicted destruction. R&R ( . . . &R) embodies one artist's response as witness, critic, and agent of empathic unsettlement.1 Art is basically a generative force. Creativity is inherently iterative and redemptive. These gestures of debt and discovery are my attempts at renewal among the rubble and undoing some of the damage. Confronting and considering the cultural heritage of peoples and places under attack reminds us of what we stand to lose—the humanity of those we are urged to revile and [End Page 93] the humanity of those we revere. Ignoring this would leave us with no culture at all. Susanne Slavick susanne slavick is an artist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon. She graduated from Yale University, subsequently studied at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, and earned her MFA at the Tyler School of Art in Rome and Philadelphia. Recent works have traveled to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the McDonough Museum of Art in Ohio. Her book Out of Rubble, featuring over thirty international artists who respond to the aftermath of war, was published in 2011. Note 1. Dominick La Capra, Writing History, Writing Trauma (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), 41. [End Page 94] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 1. Heaven's Gate, 2009, gouache on archival digital print/Hahnemühle paper, 14 x 12 in. The clouds above a charred automobile in Baghdad are derived from a Persian battle scene illustration with the hero Faramurz scattering the troops of the king of Kabul. The persistence and futility of violence across nations and empires are reiterated in the blasted-out windows and doors that open to a bleached void. Is it the blinding light of paradise, the motive for so much "martyrdom," or nothing but a dead end? [End Page 95] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 2. Rocking Horse, 2010, gouache on archival digital print/Hahnemühle paper, 12 x 13.5 in. A horseman derived from a sixteenth-century painting by Qadimi is mounted above the wreckage in a southern Iraqi landscape, suggesting how we continue to treat war as a game, from cradle to grave. [End Page 96] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 3. Restore (Sarafiya Star over the Tigris), 2006, gouache on archival digital print/ Hahnemühle paper, 6 x 8.125 in. A thirteenth- or fourteenth-century Iranian tile design spans the gap of Baghdad's al-Sarafiya Bridge that was destroyed by a truck bomb in 2007. Pairing the elegant decorative geometry of Islamic design with the contemporary geometry of engineering points to the choices we make, how we direct our expertise and ingenuity. [End Page 97] Click for...

State Courts and Public Health: Building Partnerships to Enhance Preparedness

Laws and regulations can facilitate or impede emergency preparedness and response activities. State legislators, judges, and lawyers play critically important roles in creating and interpreting laws that affect the ability of public health practitioners and their partners to effectively respond to emergencies. In an age when political unrest, global travel, and emerging biological threats can combine to create social and economic havoc worldwide, it is critical that those responsible for upholding the rule of law during emergencies understand the law and its implications. In 2003, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Public Health Preparedness (UP-CPHP) created a Preparedness Law and Policy Program to advance legal preparedness for public health emergencies across Pennsylvania and the nation. To achieve this goal, UP-CPHP has partnered with local, state, and national organizations. In the course of these activities, Pennsylvania judges, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, UP-CPHP, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Law Program have developed a strong and enduring collaborative relationship that has put the Pennsylvania judiciary in a better position today to plan for and respond to a public health crisis than it has been at any other point in its history. The tools and resources developed through this collaboration can readily be adapted to assist other jurisdictions nationwide in their efforts to ensure that their judicial systems are similarly prepared.

Beyond the Lamppost

Beyond the Lamppost

Abstract 4973: C/EBPβ increases expression of the vitamin D3 catabolizing enzyme, CYP24, in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Abstract Introduction: We previously reported that the vitamin D3 catabolizing enzyme CYP24 is over-expressed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, where it decreases the growth inhibitory effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3). Studies were conducted to establish the clinical relevance of this finding and the mechanism for CYP24 over-expression in NSCLC cells. Methods: CYP24 mRNA expression was quantified by real-time PCR in patient-matched histologically normal lung tissue and primary lung tumors. To elucidate factors that control CYP24 expression, a panel of NSCLC cell lines that exhibit a 70-fold variation in CYP24 mRNA levels under basal growth conditions was used (relative mRNA expression H292 =1.0; 201T = 7.0; 128.88T = 68; A549 =69). CYP24 gene copy number was assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. CYP24 promoter activity was measured following transfection of NSCLC cells with either a wildtype promoter-luciferase reporter plasmid or plasmids harboring CYP24 promoter mutations. Transcription factor binding to CYP24 promoter elements was evaluated by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and electrophoretic mobility shift (EMSA) assays. Results: CYP24 was significantly over-expressed in tumors (p = 0.0017), with 53% of NSCLC cases showing a minimum of 5-fold over-expression. CYP24 gene copy number was comparable among the NSCLC cell lines used. When NSCLC cells were transfected with a wildtype CYP24 promoter-luciferase reporter plasmid, significant differences in promoter activity were observed that paralleled endogenous CYP24 transcript levels. ChIP assays revealed that the CCAAT-enhancer binding protein C/EBPβ binds to the endogenous CYP24 promoter under basal growth conditions in 128.88T cells. To establish a role for C/EBP proteins in regulating CYP24 transcription, we introduced mutations into the C/EBP binding site within the CYP24 promoter. The mutations disrupted C/EBP binding and significantly reduced basal promoter activity in 128.88T and A549 cells. EMSAs that employed a consensus C/EBP site as probe demonstrated that C/EBP binding increases with CYP24 promoter activity: nuclear extracts from untreated H292 and 201T cells contained low levels of C/EBP binding activity, whereas 128.88T and A549 extracts contained high levels. Conclusions: CYP24 mRNA is frequently over-expressed in primary lung tumors. A C/EBPβ-mediated transcriptional control mechanism contributes to the increased expression of CYP24 in NSCLC cells. Signaling pathways that increase C/EBPβ expression/activation may contribute to lung cancer by upregulating CYP24 and allowing neoplastic cells to bypass the antiproliferative effects of 1,25(OH)2D3. This work was supported by the University of Pittsburgh Center for Environmental Oncology, the Hillman Foundation, the Pittsburgh Foundation and R01 CA132844. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4973.

Cystatin C: expression and activity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurologic disease characterized by progressive motor neuron degeneration. Disease diagnosis is hindered by a reliance on clinical criteria and reliable protein biomarkers are needed in order to accelerate the diagnostic process and aid in monitoring and predicting disease progression. We evaluated Cystatin C as an ALS biomarker by assessing its longitudinal expression in both CSF and plasma using a quantitative ELISA. Plasma levels were significantly elevated in ALS patients and disease controls but showed no biomarker utility. Cystatin C levels in CSF were slightly reduced in ALS patients relative to controls and may have some diagnostic utility, particularly within specific subgroups of patients. Despite conflicting preliminary observations, CSF Cystatin C was not found to possess surrogate utility. However, CSF Cystatin C levels were directly associated with survival time in ALS patients, indicating a potential prognostic application for this protein. Additionally, preliminary activity assays show a strong, direct relationship between Cystatin C concentration and activity in CSF. These data support the utility of Cystatin C as both a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in ALS and suggest that differences in its abundance could have functional consequences in disease pathogenesis.Funding: U. of Pittsburgh Center for ALS Research

Making patient‐centered cancer care a reality

Making patient‐centered cancer care a reality

The Key to Life Nutrition Program: results from a community-based dietary sodium reduction trial

Evaluation of a dietary Na reduction trial in a community setting. Community-based randomized trial. Ten-week nutrition intervention activities focused on lifestyle modification to decrease dietary Na intake, under the supervision of a registered dietitian. Twenty-four hour urine specimens were collected at baseline and follow-up visits to determine 24 h urinary Na excretion. The University of Pittsburgh Center for Healthy Aging, Key to Life Nutrition Program. Hypertensive adults at least 65 years of age. Mean age of participants was 75 years. Twenty-four hour mean urinary Na excretion at baseline was 3174 mg/d. This reduced to 2944 mg/d (P = 0.30) and 2875 mg/d (P <or= 0.03) at 6- and 12-month follow-ups, respectively. In a sub-sample (urine volume of >or=1000 ml, baseline to 12 months), mean urinary Na excretion decreased from 3220 mg/d to 2875 mg/d (P <or= 0.02). Significant reductions in mean 24 h urinary Na were reported, but results fell short of the recommended guidelines of 1500 mg/d for at-risk individuals. Our results reiterate the difficulty in implementing these guidelines in community-based programmes. More aggressive public health efforts, food industry support and health policy changes are needed to decrease Na levels in older adults to the recommended guidelines.

Molecular Epidemiology of CTX-M-Producing Escherichia coli Isolates at a Tertiary Medical Center in Western Pennsylvania

A combination of phenotypic and genotypic methods was used to investigate 70 unique Escherichia coli clinical isolates identified as producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) at a medical center in Pittsburgh, PA, between 2007 and 2008. Fifty-seven isolates (81%) produced CTX-M-type ESBLs, among which CTX-M-15 was predominant (n = 46). Isolates producing CTX-M-2, -9, -14, and -65 were also identified. One CTX-M-producing isolate coproduced CMY-2 cephalosporinase. Ten isolates (14%) produced SHV-type ESBLs, either SHV-5 or SHV-7. Two isolates produced only CMY-2 or -32. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of two major clusters of CTX-M-15-producing E. coli isolates, one in phylotype B2 (n = 15) and the other in phylotype A (n = 19). Of four phylotype B2 isolates that were able to transfer the bla(CTX-M-15)-carrying plasmids, three showed fingerprints related (>60%) to those of plasmids from phylotype A isolates. In phylotype B2, all CTX-M-15-producing isolates, as well as three isolates producing CTX-M-14, two producing SHV-5, and one producing SHV-7, belonged to the international epidemic clone defined by serotype O25:H4 and sequence type 131. The plasmids from eight of nine CTX-M-15-producing E. coli isolates of phylotype A that were examined were highly related to each other and were also found in two isolates belonging to phylotype D, suggesting horizontal transfer of this bla(CTX-M-15)-carrying plasmid between phylotypes. Our findings underscore the need to further investigate the epidemiology and virulence of CTX-M-producing E. coli in the United States.

Inner-City Caregivers’ Perspectives on Bed Sharing With Their Infants

To understand parents' motivations for bed sharing with their infants aged 1-6 months, their beliefs about safety concerns, and their attitudes about bed-sharing advice. We conducted 4 focus groups with primary caregivers of infants ages 1-6 months who regularly shared beds with their infants. We recruited participants from an inner-city primary care center in Pittsburgh, serving primarily African American families who received medical assistance. Discussions were audiotaped and transcribed. Two investigators coded the transcripts and identified themes in an iterative process to achieve agreement between coders. A total of 28 caregivers aged 17-50 participated. The majority were African American (86%), female (93%), single (50%), and high school graduates (71%). Eleven percent of participants breast-fed their infants. We identified 5 themes, common to all groups, to explain parents' motivations for bed sharing: 1) better caregiver and infant sleep, 2) convenience, 3) tradition, 4) child safety, and 5) parent and child emotional needs. Parents expressed divergent views about the safety of bed sharing: 1) ambivalence regarding balancing risks of overlaying and suffocation with benefits of bed sharing, or 2) assertion that bed sharing poses no risks for their child. Common to all groups was the finding that clinicians' advice against bed sharing did not influence parents' decision, but advice to increase safety when bed sharing would be appreciated. Parents' motivation to bed share outweighed the concerns and the warnings of others. An understanding of parents' perspectives on bed sharing should inform counseling to promote safe sleeping practices.

Genetic Basis of Multidrug Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii Clinical Isolates at a Tertiary Medical Center in Pennsylvania

A total of 49 unique clinical isolates of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii identified at a tertiary medical center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between August 2006 and September 2007 were studied for the genetic basis of their MDR phenotype. Approximately half of all A. baumannii clinical isolates identified during this period qualified as MDR, defined by nonsusceptibility to three or more of the antimicrobials routinely tested in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Among the MDR isolates, 18.4% were resistant to imipenem. The frequencies of resistance to amikacin and ciprofloxacin were high at 36.7% and 95.9%, respectively. None of the isolates was resistant to colistin or tigecycline. The presence of the carbapenemase gene bla(OXA-23) and the 16S rRNA methylase gene armA predicted high-level resistance to imipenem and amikacin, respectively. bla(OXA-23) was preceded by insertion sequence ISAba1, which likely provided a potent promoter activity for the expression of the carbapenemase gene. The structure of the transposon defined by ISAba1 differed from those reported in Europe, suggesting that ISAba1-mediated acquisition of bla(OXA-23) may occur as an independent event. Typical substitutions in the quinolone resistance-determining regions of the gyrA and parC genes were observed in the ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates. Plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes, including the qnr genes, were not identified. Fifty-nine percent of the MDR isolates belonged to a single clonal group over the course of the study period, as demonstrated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Measuring Post-Traumatic Growth in People Diagnosed With Hepatobiliary Cancer: Directions for Future Research

To highlight and provide preliminary data regarding issues in the measurement of post-traumatic growth in people diagnosed with primary or metastatic hepatobiliary cancer. Prospective. A large medical center in Pittsburgh, PA. 120 patients with hepatobiliary cancer. Participants were administered a battery of questionnaires, including the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Hepatobiliary module. Family caregivers also rated patients' post-traumatic growth. Qualitative data collected from patients included positive and negative changes associated with their cancer diagnoses. Post-traumatic growth, depression, quality of life, and caregiver ratings of patients' post-traumatic growth. The results revealed that the PTGI is a reliable instrument in people diagnosed with cancer. The level of post-traumatic growth varies depending on hepatobiliary cancer type. The onset and process of post-traumatic growth differed based on the method of measurement employed (qualitative versus quantitative). Agreement on the PTGI was high between patients and caregivers, suggesting that the patients' growth was observable to others. Post-traumatic growth was not found to be associated with depressive symptoms, quality of life, or survival in patients diagnosed with hepatobiliary cancer. The results of this study underscore the need to understand differences in the measurement and the process of post-traumatic growth in people with cancer. For some patients, post-traumatic growth as a result of a cancer diagnosis may be associated with positive cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes that influence mental and physical health. For patients who experience post-traumatic growth, healthcare providers may be able to facilitate behavior changes to enhance health.

Cystatin C: A potential surrogate biomarker in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurological disease characterized by progressive motor neuron degeneration. Currently, disease management is hindered by a lengthy diagnostic process which is based heavily on clinical criteria. A reliable panel of biomarkers is needed in order to accelerate the diagnosis of this disease and aid in monitoring its progression. We have previously reported proteomic evidence supporting a reduction of Cystatin C protien levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of ALS patients relative to controls. In this study, we have evaluated the potential of Cystatin C as a diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker by assessing its expression over the course of disease progression. We used a quantitative ELISA to evaluate Cystatin C concentration in both CSF and plasma at multiple time points following ALS symptom onset. Cystatin C levels in both fluids were found to correlate strongly with clinical measures of disease progression. This correlation was maintained during transient functional improvements observed in some patients during drug trial participation. Additionally, expression patterns were observed to vary between specific subpopulations of ALS patients. These data support the utility of Cystatin C as both a diagnostic biomarker and a surrogate biomarker for monitoring disease progression and treatment response.Funded by: University of Pittsburgh Center for ALS Research

Spectral Gradient Acoustic Reflectometry Compared With Tympanometry in Diagnosing Middle Ear Effusion in Children Aged 6 to 24 Months

To evaluate the accuracy of spectral gradient acoustic reflectometry (SGAR) in children aged 6 to 24 months, and to compare SGAR with tympanometry. Comparison of diagnostic tests. Inner-city primary care center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A total of 786 healthy children aged 6 to 24 months. Test characteristics of SGAR (sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values) and receiver operating characteristic curves from the SGAR and tympanometric data. The SGAR results were available for 3096 otoscopic examinations in 647 children. Tympanometric results were available for 2854 otoscopic examinations in 597 children. Using the recommended SGAR pass or fail cutoff, 53% of the ears in which effusion was present would have been considered effusion free (sensitivity, 47%). Only 10% of the ears without effusion would have been considered to have effusion (specificity, 90%). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.78 for SGAR and 0.83 for tympanometry. Spectral gradient acoustic reflectometry is slightly less discerning than tympanometry in predicting the presence or absence of middle ear effusion in children younger than 2 years.

Choosing the Best Practice: Evidence to Support Fluoroquinolone Drops for Acute Otitis Media Through Tympanostomy Tubes

To the Editor .— In his commentary, “Why Don't Those Ear Drops Work for My Patients?”1 Isaacson presented his argument against the use of ototopical fluoroquinolones alone or in combination with a steroid as the first line of defense for the treatment of acute tube otorrhea in infants. He made several points to discount the use of these agents in pediatric patients with acute otitis media with tympanostomy tubes. However, rooted in the first sentence of the commentary was the fact that seems to lie at the epicenter of his concerns: “‘Topical Ciprofloxacin/Dexamethasone Is Superior to Oral Amoxicillin/Clavulanic Acid in Acute Otitis Media With Otorrhea Through Tympanostomy Tubes,’ [is] the latest in a series of pharmaceutical industry–funded articles… .” Isaacson's first critique of this article2 pertains to the study population. He stated that “[i]f one were trying to design a study to demonstrate the superiority of ototopical drops over oral antibiotics, the ideal population would be older children.” This statement directly contradicted his other criticism that “more than half of their subjects were >22 months of age.” In fact, 58% of the subjects in the study were <23 months of age, and the remaining patients were 2 to 11 years of age. These age distributions reflect …

Toys. Beer. Flags.

ROBERT RACZKA: AMERICAN BRAIN PITTSBURGH CENTER FOR THE ARTS PITTSBURGH FEBRUARY 2-MARCH 18, 2007 In the 1950s and 1960s the grandeur and power of mass media and marketing was palpable: the frenzied optimism over the production and reproduction of advertisements, objects, and signs is reflected in the exuberance of the era's images themselves. In today's visual culture, after a half-century of continuous media production, the novelty is long gone. representations coat surfaces thick with the history of the images that came before them. Signs and signifiers build upon each other in stacks of abstractions. The density of commercial spaces conflates contexts and remaps identities. Human environments stagger under the literal and symbolic weight of decades of aesthetic produce and refuse. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Robert Raczka's American Brain, a suite of forty-two large-scale color photographs, is not a survey of this proliferation of images, signs, and icons but a representation and repurposing all its own. It is an exploration of the territory where our coolly fabricated products meet the subjectivity of space and the inevitable decay of time. With a standard 35 mm camera, Raczka documents the seams of popular culture in his journeys into and out of urban centers, across highways, and through small towns. At the core of American Brain is the interface between fabrication and existence--the space between product and placement. Some images exploit the potent confusion of image planes stacked in three-dimensional space. Others subdue the drama of the depicted picture plane by exploring its boundaries or exposing its underbelly. Still others do less work, comfortably sitting back and letting the absurdity of the landscape speak on its own. The photographs remain spatially anonymous, titled simply by index number, offering the suggestion that the works are not illustrative of a certain place and the implication that these views can be had anywhere. Like the ambiguous non-place of advertising space, Raczka renders the landscape as a nonlinear and undifferentiated host to the intrusions of graphic space. Many of the exhibition's images smartly exploit the material properties of advertisements: their flatness, scale, framing, and surface quality. They employ windows, display cases, and translucent vinyl signs to reflect and composite spaces. These variables become tools that aid in Raczka's fractured and collage-like compositions, which thread these representations of space into the photographic space of his actual physical location. No photograph is digitally manipulated or post-processed; the images thus function like travel photographs in bookmarking location and experience. This understanding is crucial in order to comprehend what is at play in American Brain. In one image, a Frankenstein-like assemblage of plastic infant parts (toy genitals included) is suspended in a storefront display, walking through the air and offered up with a sticker: New Born Baby 4. …

Q&amp;A with Lyn Arscott

Editor's Note: In recognition of SPE's 50th anniversary this year, JPT is conducting interviews with several Society luminaries about their careers, their relationship with SPE, and the changes they have seen in the oil and gas industry and the Society over the past several decades. How did you get involved in SPE? As a young engineer coming into the petroleum industry, I needed to learn petroleum technology and the obvious place was SPE. I had a PhD degree in rock mechanics and I had taken a job with the Gulf Oil Research Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For young engineers, there is no better place to learn the technology of petroleum engineering than SPE meetings and literature. It's simply a must-do. What was your early experience with SPE like? I began to get involved in the SPE Pittsburgh Chapter where there was a heavy involvement from the Gulf research people and a lot of representation from the natural gas sector because of all of the gas activity in that area. The meetings were exciting for me because I was young and eager to learn and I particularly enjoyed the Distinguished Lecturers. I would attend every meeting I could, and before long I was invited into the local officer rotation. About 1974, I became Chairperson of that section, and that is when I really got involved in SPE activities. How has SPE benefited you professionally? SPE helped me become knowledgeable about oil and gas production technology and it has kept me up to date for my whole career. Another important benefit has been networking. I have always found that the SPE community is nonconfrontational and offers a lot of mutual support. I would call an SPE member who worked for another company and expect to receive a very cordial response to any question, and I would reciprocate. People would call me and say, "I met you at an SPE meeting, and what do you know about this or that?" I have found the SPE network to be invaluable. What did you take away from your experience as SPE President in 1988? I joined the SPE Board of Directors as treasurer in 1984, so I had been on the board for several years before becoming President-elect. As President, I was able to travel throughout the United States and abroad, and it was then that I realized how big was the SPE global empire and how important was the role we play in the international oil and gas business. When traveling in the centrally planned economies of China and Russia, I remember the difficulty in explaining that SPE was a voluntary organization. They kept asking what part of the US government did we belong.

Connecting Environmental Health Data To People And Policy: Integrating Information And Mobilizing Communities For Environmental Public Health Tracking

Evaluation of available data is a critical preliminary step in the assessment of local environmental health. As part of a multi-organizational initiative to improve environmental health in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) interviewed 70 experts in the academic, government, non-profit, and private sectors and reviewed print and electronic resources to characterize environmental and public health data available in the region. The objectives of this undertaking were: to provide a conceptual framework for categorizing data locally on environmental hazards, exposures and health endpoints, to describe and evaluate the types of environmental public health data available nationally and locally, to identify existing endeavors to gather and categorize such data, and to present case studies on the real-life relevance of the availability or lack of availability of environmental health data. The purpose and relevance of this project, the evolution of the methodology, successes and challenges met, and anticipated next steps are presented. This process description and resulting comprehensive report is available to communities, at both the state and local health department level as well as lay community members, engaged in similar endeavors, to characterize their local and regional environmental health landscape. The framework outlined serves as background for a related statewide environmental health project sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Health through the Pennsylvania Consortium on Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy (PCIEP) and potentially as a foundation for community-based data evaluation for the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program.

Italian Center Back to Life

Italy's government is poised to rescue the Biomedical Research Center in Palermo. The project in regenerative medicine was jointly sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh and Palermo's ISMETT organ transplantation research center ( Science , 27 October 2006, p. [577][1]). More than 100 Italian scientists living abroad protested a government plan to withdraw support last year. Now the government has submitted a finance bill that would provide $340 million rather than the $410 million first proposed. The downsizing has forced a project review, but ISMETT says it hopes to begin recruiting staff later this month. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.314.5799.577c