Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Columbia University”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Testing the stand-alone microbeam at Columbia University.

The stand-alone microbeam at Columbia University presents a novel approach to biological microbeam irradiation studies. Foregoing a conventional accelerator as a source of energetic ions, a small, high-specific-activity, alpha emitter is used. Alpha particles emitted from this source are focused using a compound magnetic lens consisting of 24 permanent magnets arranged in two quadrupole triplets. Using a 'home made' 6.5 mCi polonium source, a 1 alpha particle s(-1), 10 microm diameter microbeam can, in principle, be realised. As the alpha source energy is constant, once the microbeam has been set up, no further adjustments are necessary apart from a periodic replacement of the source. The use of permanent magnets eliminates the need for bulky power supplies and cooling systems required by other types of ion lenses and greatly simplifies operation. It also makes the microbeam simple and cheap enough to be realised in any large lab. The Microbeam design as well as first tests of its performance, using an accelerator-based beam are presented here.

Cell Culture Techniques↗
PubMed1992

The Columbia University Scale for Psychopathology in Alzheimer's disease.

The Columbia University Scale for Psychopathology in Alzheimer's disease is a new screening instrument developed for use by clinicians or trained lay interviewers. Interrater reliability was established between a psychiatrist and a lay interviewer in 20 patients. In an independent sample of 91 outpatients with very mild to moderate probable Alzheimer's disease, caregiver informants reported that depressed mood was common (46.2%) but rarely persistent (2.2%), and that sleep disturbance occurred frequently (41.8%) but was never severe (0%). There were significant but weak associations between the presence of specific subtypes of delusions and severity of dementia. Although a variety of delusional symptoms were reported, they were frequently transient and patients often accepted the truth if corrected by the caregiver. As a result, few patients met broad or narrow operational criteria used to define delusions. Prior studies may have overestimated the prevalence of psychotic features in Alzheimer's disease by not employing standard definitional criteria. The findings also indicate that new methodology such as that employed in this instrument needs to be evaluated more widely.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Use of the Columbia University Scale to assess psychopathology in Alzheimer's disease.

The Columbia University Scale for Psychopathology in Alzheimer's disease (CUSPAD) was developed as a short, semistructured instrument that can be administered by a clinician or trained lay interviewer to the relatives or caregivers of patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). The components of the scale focus on symptoms of psychosis, behavioral disturbance, and depression. A simple decision-tree approach is used to identify the presence of specific psychotic features and makes it possible for the instrument to be used by trained lay interviewers. Interrater reliability has been established. Use of this scale in a multicenter longitudinal study of patients with mild to moderate AD revealed that agitation was the most common and persistent symptom, depressed mood with vegetative signs was the least common and least persistent, and paranoid delusions and hallucinations showed moderate persistence over time. Besides its established psychometric properties, the strengths of the CUSPAD include its brevity, clarity in assessing psychotic symptoms, and ease of administration. These features make it useful for cross-sectional and longitudinal evaluation of the symptoms of psychopathology in AD. The main disadvantage is the lack of quantitative ratings of severity for many of the components, making it unsuitable for use in psychopharmacologic trials.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Columbia University's Informatics for Diabetes Education and Telemedicine (IDEATel) project: technical implementation.

The Columbia University Informatics for Diabetes Education and Telemedicine IDEATel) project is a four-year demonstration project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with the overall goal of evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of telemedicine. The focal point of the intervention is the home telemedicine unit (HTU), which provides four functions: synchronous videoconferencing over standard telephone lines, electronic transmission for fingerstick glucose and blood pressure readings, secure Web-based messaging and clinical data review, and access to Web-based educational materials. The HTU must be usable by elderly patients with no prior computer experience. Providing these functions through the HTU requires tight integration of six components: the HTU itself, case management software, a clinical information system, Web-based educational material, data security, and networking and telecommunications. These six components were integrated through a variety of interfaces, providing a system that works well for patients and providers. With more than 400 HTUs installed, IDEATel has demonstrated the feasibility of large-scale home telemedicine.

Case Management↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Columbia University's Informatics for Diabetes Education and Telemedicine (IDEATel) Project: rationale and design.

The Columbia University Informatics for Diabetes Education and Telemedicine (IDEATel) Project is a four-year demonstration project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with the overall goals of evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of telemedicine in the management of older patients with diabetes. The study is designed as a randomized controlled trial and is being conducted by a state-wide consortium in New York. Eligibility requires that participants have diabetes, are Medicare beneficiaries, and reside in federally designated medically underserved areas. A total of 1,500 participants will be randomized, half in New York City and half in other areas of the state. Intervention participants receive a home telemedicine unit that provides synchronous videoconferencing with a project-based nurse, electronic transmission of home fingerstick glucose and blood pressure data, and Web access to a project Web site. End points include glycosylated hemoglobin, blood pressure, and lipid levels; patient satisfaction; health care service utilization; and costs. The project is intended to provide data to help inform regulatory and reimbursement policies for electronically delivered health care services.

Case Management↗
PubMed2001

The Columbia University single-ion microbeam.

A single-ion microbeam facility has been constructed at the Columbia University Radiological Research Accelerator Facility. The system was designed to deliver defined numbers of helium or hydrogen ions produced by a van de Graaff accelerator, covering a range of LET from 30 to 220 keV/microm, into an area smaller than the nuclei of human cells growing in culture on thin plastic films. The beam is collimated by a pair of laser-drilled apertures that form the beam-line exit. An integrated computer control program locates the cells and positions them for irradiation. We present details of the microbeam facility including descriptions of the collimators, hardware, control program, and the various protocols available. Various contributions to targeting and positioning precision are discussed along with our plans for future developments. Beam time for outside users is often available (see www.raraf.org).

Equipment Design↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Building academic-practice partnerships: the Center for Public Health Preparedness at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, before and after 9/11.

The Center for Public Health Preparedness at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health is part of a national network of academic centers established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to strengthen links between public health practice and academe, especially for public health workforce development. Since its inception in Fall 2000, the Center has been working in partnership with the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) on planning and competency-based training in emergency preparedness (including bioterrorism and infectious diseases) and evaluation. Initial programs with DOHMH included development of a 3-hour orientation to basic emergency preparedness for their workforce. In the wake of 9/11 and the anthrax events, Center members gave over two dozen presentations at community forums, seminars, and clinical rounds, and over 100 press interviews, provided lay language information through community forum presentations and the School's Web site, and developed a database of volunteers for surge capacity. Subsequent programs include bioterrorism response training for clinicians and emergency medical services personnel, incident command for public health, and a study of evacuation from the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Bioterrorism↗
PubMed2002

The reactor facility that was built at Columbia University but never used.

A large and heavy experimental plasma vessel is located on the second floor of the Engineering Building at Columbia University. It sits atop the concrete shell of the old nuclear reactor facility. The reactor facility was built many years ago but no nuclear fuel was ever loaded into it. It was designed to contain a 250 kW reactor core. However, due to certain circumstances, it was never fueled or operated. This paper describes the events leading to the decision to not put the reactor into operation.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1996

Columbia University's fellowship in public psychiatry.

In 1981 the fellowship in public psychiatry was established at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons to provide subspecialty training for psychiatrists who plan careers in the public sector. Ten one-year postresidency fellowships are awarded annually. The fellowship consists of supervised work and didactic experiences focused on the clinical modalities most effective in public mental health services and the managerial skills that the psychiatrist must possess to make those services work well. Fellows work three days a week at collaborating public-sector agencies throughout the New York metropolitan area. The curriculum includes an academic seminar, which gives fellows an introductory overview of major topics in public psychiatry; an organizational practicum, which is an exercise in management principles and practices; an evaluation practicum, which addresses the theory and practice of program evaluation; and an applied seminar, organized as a cycle of clinical, administrative, fiscal, and evaluation presentations in which each fellow applies the concepts learned in the other seminars to his or her field placement work. Of the 75 fellows who have graduated from the program, only six have chosen to leave the public arena. Nearly all work full time in the public sector, where more than half hold management positions. More than three-fourths hold academic appointments at medical schools in the area in which they are working as public psychiatrists.

Career Choice↗
PubMed1999

[Columbia University experience of detection of circulating cells by RT-PCR PSA in prostate cancer as a predictive factor of stage and biochemical recurrence].

OBJECTIVES: The Columbia University experience of RT-PCR PSA as a predictive factor of stage and biochemical recurrence is reviewed by trying to explain its differences. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 319 patients were included between January 1993 and March 1998. Radical prostatectomy was performed in all patients by the same surgeon. The RT-PCR protocol has been previously described (Katz et al., Urology, 1994). Biochemical recurrence was defined by a PSA greater than or equal to 0.2 ng/ml. RESULTS: Histological examination diagnosed 218 pT2 and 101 pT3 tumours. Thirty-four of the 218 pT2 patients (16%) had a positive RT-PCR versus 51 of the 101 pT3 patients (51%, p < 0.001). Analysis of Kaplan-Meier curves showed an 84% recurrence-free survival when RT-PER was negative versus 47% when RT-PCR was positive (Log-rank test, p = 0.0002). Multivariate analysis showed that independent predictive factors of biochemical recurrence were stage (p = 0.004), Gleason score estimated on the operative specimen (p = 0.010) and serum PSA (p = 0.047); RT-PCR (p = 0.075), strongly correlated with stage, was not an independent predictive factor. By exclusively comparing preoperative parameters, PSA (p = 0.004) and RT-PCR (p = 0.006) were found to be independent predictive factors compared to digital rectal examination (p = 0.371) and Gleason score on biopsies (p = 0.076). CONCLUSION: In this institution, RT-PCR PSA is a predictive parameter of stage and biochemical recurrence. No consensus has yet been reached in the literature concerning the reference protocol, as each team has developed its own RT-PCR technique applied to its own patient population. Comparison of results is therefore difficult.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Inverse association of physical fitness with plasma fibrinogen level in children: the Columbia University BioMarkers Study.

Plasma fibrinogen has emerged as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adults, but relatively little is known about the correlates of plasma fibrinogen level in childhood. In the Columbia University BioMarkers Study (1994-1998), the authors evaluated the association between physical fitness and plasma fibrinogen level in 193 children 4-25 years old; 68% were Hispanic and 46% male. Fitness level assessed by treadmill testing was inversely associated with plasma fibrinogen (r = -0.24, p<0.001). Plasma fibrinogen levels showed a graded inverse relation with tertiles of fitness assessed by treadmill (p<0.001). In multivariate analyses, after adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and presence of the A allele in the -455 position of the beta-fibrinogen promoter gene, the fitness level remained inversely associated with plasma fibrinogen level (beta = -1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): -2.3, -0.34). Resting heart rate was also correlated with plasma fibrinogen level (r = 0.18, p<0.05). Fibrinogen levels (mg/dl) increased over tertiles of resting heart rate (p = 0.002) and were significantly associated with resting heart rate in multivariate analysis (beta = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.17, 1.5). These findings indicate that plasma fibrinogen is inversely associated with physical fitness in children independent of body mass index.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Physical fitness and C-reactive protein level in children and young adults: the Columbia University BioMarkers Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of physical fitness with C-reactive protein (CRP) level in children and young adults. METHODS: Subjects (N = 205) aged 6 to 24 years were enrolled in the Columbia University BioMarkers Study (1994-1998). Physical fitness was assessed using a non-effort-dependent treadmill testing protocol (physical work capacity at heart rate of 170 beats per minute). CRP level was measured using a high-sensitivity assay. RESULTS: Subjects were 54% female and 65% of Hispanic origin. Mean fitness level was higher in boys than in girls, but CRP levels did not differ by gender. Fitness level was inversely correlated with CRP (r = -0.22). This relationship was significant in boys (r = -0.32) but not in girls (r = -0.15). After multivariate regression adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and family history of early-onset ischemic heart disease, physical fitness remained inversely associated with CRP level in boys (beta = -0.02; standard error = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that physical fitness is inversely related to CRP level in children and that this relationship is more pronounced in boys than in girls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Alvin W. Gouldner and industrial sociology at Columbia University.

Alvin W. Gouldner (1920--1980) was a prolific sociologist of the post-World War II era who spent the early part of his career (the 1950s) in the field of industrial sociology. A case study of Gouldner's early life and career is useful insofar as it intertwines with the development of industrial sociology as a distinct subfield within sociology. Through this analysis we are also better able to understand how and in what ways a burgeoning organizational studies program developed at Columbia University during the 1940s. This analysis of the historical and cultural contexts within which Gouldner came to prominence as an industrial sociologist at Columbia, and the intellectual program that resulted, can also help shed light on more recent trends in organizational studies.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed2006

Movement disorders fellowship training program at Columbia University Medical Center in 2001-2002.

Data regarding the clinical experience of movement disorders subspecialty training are currently not available. In order to provide information to help design a well-rounded clinical experience, we reviewed the number and types of patients seen by all clinical movement disorders fellows over the course of 1 year at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients seen by four full-time clinical fellows and one part-time fellow during the 2001-2002 academic year, using billing records to tabulate all clinic visits and patient charts to certify diagnosis. One thousand six hundred sixty-two patients (1,132 new and 530 follow-ups) were seen by five fellows. Each full-time fellow evaluated and treated a mean of 263 new patients, 116 follow-up patients, and 15 in-patient consultations. The part-time clinical fellow evaluated and treated 81 new patients and 65 follow-up patients. Approximately half of the new patients had idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Full-time fellows saw equivalent numbers of patients but they evaluated few patients with uncommon movement disorders. Weekly video rounds allowed all fellows to see many more patients, aiding the recognition of movement phenomenology and enhancing understanding of diagnoses and treatment strategies. Thus, CUMC fellows evaluate a large number of patients with a wide range of diagnoses within a 1-year period. Video rounds allow greater exposure to uncommon diagnoses. Similar data from other movement disorder training programs are needed to help create guidelines for formal accreditation and to improve clinical training in this subspecialty.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed2001

Age-related effects of genetic variation on lipid levels: The Columbia University BioMarkers Study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the genotype:phenotype association in children compared with their parents. METHODS: Variations at 4 key gene loci, namely lipoprotein lipase (LPL S447X), hepatic lipase (HL -480C>T), cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP TaqIB), and apolipoprotein CIII (APOC3 -455T>C and -482C>T), were examined in children (n = 495) and their parents (n = 353) in the Columbia University BioMarkers Study, 1994 to 1998. RESULTS: The frequencies of the rare alleles of the HL -480C>T and APOC3 -455T>C and -482C>T (but not LPL S447X or CETP TaqIB) were significantly lower in non-Hispanic white participants compared with Hispanics. Overall, genotype effects seen in the adults were weaker in the children, although similar trends were seen. In an examination of the effect of body fat on the genotypic effects in the children, there was significant HL -480C>T:sum of skinfold interaction. CONCLUSIONS: All genotypes were associated with clear relationships to plasma lipid levels in adults, but the effects were weaker in their children, unless stressed by body fat. atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, child, lipids, genetics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Productive international faculty exchange: one Columbia University to Gothenburg University example.

This article describes the preparation, implementation and outcomes of a visiting professor exchange experience from the United States to Sweden, and provides recommendations for other faculty who may be asked to enact a similar international role. The major goals of the visit were to coalesce the themes of the earlier administrative contacts into specific projects, and to model a scholarly faculty role consistent with the Columbia University School of Nursing mission as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for International Nursing Development. Professional nursing activities during the exchange visit were comprised of three main categories: teaching, consultation, and socialization. Strategies are described that enhanced the bilingual lectures for the Swedish students. The relationships that developed from consulting at the college and on site at various clinical locations culminated in the mutual identification of collaborative research projects and plans for the cross-cultural adaptation of the author's parent education model. Recommendations are made concerning the range of philosophical, institutional, professional and personal resources needed for international exchanges.

Education, Nursing, Graduate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Columbia University's competency and evidence-based Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program.

New clinical information is being generated faster than practicing clinicians can effectively assimilate it. Since the gold standard of clinical information is evidence-based information, tools and techniques that facilitate both the building of evidence for practice and the application of evidence to practice are essential for practicing clinicians. As such, the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) program at Columbia University's School of Nursing was reconfigured to incorporate both theoretically based competency evaluation standards and strategies to foster an evidence-based practice approach to clinical care. The purpose of this article is to describe a curriculum and set of learning activities used to foster both development of clinical competency and evidence-based practice in students in the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2000

Predictors of postprandial triacylglycerol response in children: the Columbia University Biomarkers Study.

BACKGROUND: Predictors of postprandial lipemia have not been explored in children. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine whether the postprandial triacylglycerol response is associated with low HDL-cholesterol and high fasting triacylglycerol concentrations and family history of early-onset ischemic heart disease (IHD) in children. DESIGN: We administered a standardized fat load (52.5 g fat/m(2)) to 60 children (mean age: 14.0 y), 20 with and 40 without a family history of early-onset IHD, and to 29 mothers, all recruited from families enrolled in the Columbia University Biomarkers Study. Plasma lipid and retinyl palmitate concentrations were measured in the fasting state and 3, 6, and 8 h after the oral fat load. RESULTS: In children, postprandial lipemia, as indicated by the incremental area under the triacylglycerol response curve, was associated with elevated fasting triacylglycerol concentrations (>/=1.13 mmol/L; P: < 0.01), with low fasting HDL-cholesterol concentrations (</=0.91 mmol/L; P: < 0.01), and with the combination of low HDL-cholesterol and high triacylglycerol concentrations (P: < 0.05). Family history of IHD, baseline LDL-cholesterol concentration, and apolipoprotein E genotype were not associated with the postprandial triacylglycerol or retinyl palmitate response. The mothers had fasting triacylglycerol concentrations similar to those of their children but a more prolonged response with higher triacylglycerol concentrations at 6 and 8 h (P: < 0.01 and P: < 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In children, a delayed postprandial triacylglycerol response to a fat load is associated with the combination of high fasting triacylglycerol and low HDL-cholesterol concentrations. Predictors of postprandial triacylglycerol concentrations may be similar in children and adults.

Adolescent↗