Modified technique increases effectiveness
of coronary procedure

Dr. Kiesz, assistant professor of medicine, and his colleagues studied the modified rotablation technique in 111 patients with very hard, calcified coronary blockages. Rotablation is a procedure in which a tiny burr, called a rotablator, is strung through the artery on an extremely thin wire. The spinning rotablator works like a buzz saw in the artery, chipping away plaque from diseased walls.

"I see a lot of patients who have this form of blockage," Dr. Kiesz said. "Our center is one of the busiest rotablation centers in Texas. We modified the rotablation technique in such a way that we were able to decrease the restenosis rate--the incidence of arteries closing again--to about 26 percent of patients after six months." Restenosis generally occurs in 40 percent to 60 percent of patients with such blockages.

The study is reported in the September issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, a peer-reviewed journal. In the paper, Dr. Kiesz and his co-authors write that the modified technique should be taught to physicians who perform rotablation. The modifications are described in detail in the body of the paper.

"The laundry list for describing what we've done is long, but it includes proper pharmacological preparation of the patient before the procedure, shorter passes with the burr, and a back-and-forth motion," he said. Health Science Center faculty conducted the trial in the interventional cardiology unit of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Audie Murphy Division.

Preliminary trial results have been presented at national and international meetings, including the proceedings of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Kiesz presented the modified technique Saturday (Sept. 25) at the 11th Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) symposium in Washington, D.C.

The rotablator used in the study is made by Boston Scientific. "The device works beautifully if it is properly used," Dr. Kiesz said. "The person who is doing this procedure should be certified by the company and should be performing a large number of procedures per year to keep up his skills. The procedures should show a high success rate and low complication rate. This is a subspecialty procedure that should be done only by high-volume, experienced operators."

Blockages were successfully treated in more than 98 percent of study patients. Previous studies showed rotablation success rates of 88 percent to 90 percent. Minor complications were reported in fewer than 5 percent of patients, which compared favorably with any previously reported data.

Parking in effect Oct. 1

• Police officers will be on duty Oct. 1 at the parking garages and in the lots on campus and at the McDermott and Allied Health/Research buildings to assist with the new parking assignments.

  Remember: Lot number 14 across from Medical Drive will be closed as of Oct. 1.

• Properly display your new parking permit starting on the morning of Friday, Oct. 1;

• Park your vehicle in the correct zone (non-reserved permits) or in the correct space (reserved permits);

• If you have a reserved permit and somebody else's car is parked in your parking space:
  • park your car in any non-reserved space in the same zone;

  • report the license plate, model of car and parking permit number of the improperly parked vehicle to the University Police;

  • check back in a couple of hours to see if your space is cleared and available to you.

• Owners of vehicles who park in zones other than where their permits indicate will:

  • be contacted, cited and asked to move their vehicles immediately;

  • have their cars towed if they are not moved in a reasonable amount of time;

  • be required to pay a commercial wrecker fee (about $85) and storage/impounding fees (about $15) to recover their vehicles.

Additional information will be provided in next week's edition of The News.

Chalupas for charity

Newly Granted

"Holistic Intervention in the Management of Elder Chronic Pain," Dr. Susan Ruzicka, San Antonio Area Foundation, $6,200, 1 year.

"Higher Order Organization of In Vivo-Assembled Chromatin,"Dr. Jeffrey Hansen, National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), $202,483, 2 years.

"Ligand-Receptor Interactions in the TGF-Beta Superfamily," Dr. Andrew Hinck, Robert A. Welch Foundation, $135,000, 1 year.

"Multi-user Two-Photon Excitation Microscope," Dr. Brian Herman, National Science Foundation, $200,000, 1 year.

"Mechanisms of Cell Death in Liver Cells," Dr. Brian Herman, NIH/ National Institute on Aging (NIA), $1,931,655, 5 years.

"Role of MMP-8 in Melanoma Invasiveness," Dr. Robert Klebe,San Antonio Cancer Institute, $15,000, 1 year.

"Enhancing Cultural Competence in the Medical School Curriculum," Dr. Martha Medrano, San Antonio Area Foundation, $7,500, 1 year.

"Academic Training in Dental Hygiene Education," Dr. Renee Cornett, Department of the Army, $53,361, 1 year.

"University Health System Training for the Safe Family Project," Dr. Margaret Brackley, San Antonio Area Foundation, $25,000, 1 year.

"Assessing Attitudinal Changes Toward Elders Among First-Year Medical Students," Dr. David Espino, Texas Academy of Family Physicians, $1,400, 1 year.

"CDC34 Regulation of DNA Replication in Vertebrates," Dr. Patricia Yew, San Antonio Cancer Institute, $18,381, 1 year.

"Prevention of Restenosis With Tranilast & Its Outcomes," Dr. Steven Bailey, SmithKline Beecham, $79,450, 1 year.

"Endothelial Seeding of Ischemic Myocardium for Vascular Angiogenesis," Dr. Steven Bailey, San Antonio Area Foundation, $37,600, 1 year.

"PK & PD of Piperacillin/Tazobactam by Continuous Infusion & Intermittent Dosing," Dr. David Burgess, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, $41,500, 1 year.

"Regulation of Renin & Preeclamptic Hypertension," Dr. John Chirgwin, Case Western Reserve University, $166,722, 1 year.

"Estrogen's Modulation of Collagen in the Rat Heart After Myocardial Infarction & Its Functional Significance," Dr. Laura Collins, American Heart Association-Texas Affiliate, $100,000, 2 years.

"A Phase IIA, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study in Subjects with Heart Failure Due to Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction, Undergoing Cardiac Catheterization," Dr. Marc Feldman, Coromed Inc./Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., $175,500, 8 months.

"Development of a Diet-Dependent Rodent Model for Type II Diabetes Responsive to Sulfonyluria Drugs," Dr. Gabriel Fernandes, Diatex Inc., $4,092, 6 months.

"Intergovernmental Personnel Act Agreement for Babatunde Oyajobi," Dr. Gregory Mundy, Biomedical Research Foundation of South Texas, $32,886, 2 years.

"The Genetic Epidemiology of Diabetic Nephropathy," Dr. Rosemarie Plaetke, San Antonio Area Foundation, $31,000, 1 year.

"Intergovernmental Personnel Act Agreement for Elaine Chiquette," Dr. Jacqueline Pugh, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, $69,300, 1 year.

"Retinoblastoma Proteins in Diabetic Renal Hypertrophy," Dr. Daniel Riley, National Kidney Foundation, $150,000, 4 years.

"Risk Factors for Venous Thromboembolism in the San Antonio Hispanic Community," Dr. John Sheehan, San Antonio Area Foundation, $23,400, 1 year.

"Identifying Eye Disease in Preschool Children in Underserved Areas of San Antonio," Robert Hobson, San Antonio Area Foundation, $24,360, 1 year.

"A Comparison of the Efficacy & Safety of Latanoprost," Dr. William Sponsel, Pharmacia & Upjohn, $20,000, 1 year.

"Purchase of Heidelberg Tetinal Flowmeter/Tomograph with 1999 System Upgrade," Dr. William Sponsel, San Antonio Area Foundation, $44,500, 1 year.

"Development of Instruments for the Study of the Bone Implant Interface," Dr. John Schmitz, San Antonio Area Foundation, $47,000, 1 year.

"Effects of Age-Related Changes in Collagen on Bone Fracture," Dr. Mauli Agrawal, San Antonio Area Foundation, $26,700, 1 year.

"Comparison of Short vs. Long Transmetatarsal Amputations," Dr. David Armstrong, American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons, $5,150, 1 year.

"Possible Role of NF-KB in Atherogenesis," Dr. Sumathy Mohan, San Antonio Area Foundation, $16,000,1 year.

"A Phase II, Randomized, Double-Blind Study of DFMO vs. Placebo in Low-Grade Superficial Bladder Cancer," Dr. Francis Sharkey, $20,000, 1 year.

"Student Research Fellowship for Wendy O'Haver," Dr. Franklin Garcia-Godoy, American Association for Dental Research, $3,000, 1 year.

"An Experimental Dog Study Evaluating the Guided Tissue Regeneration Principle in Endodontic Surgery for Treatment of Communicating Endo-Perio Lesions," Dr. David Cochran, Geistlich Biomaterials/Kavo/Foundation for Education & Dental Research, $44,736, 1 year.

"PKC Modulation of Serotonin Transporter," Dr. Aurelio Galli, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia & Depression, $5,402, 1 year.

"Activation of the Protein Kinase AKT Inhibits G-Induced Apoptosis in Cultured Cardiac Myocytes," Dr. Richard Lin, American Heart Association-Texas Affiliate (AHA-Texas), $99,552, 2 years.

"Incidence & Prevention of ACL Injury in Female High School Soccer Players," Thomas Turturro, Texas Physical Therapy & Research Foundation, $2,400, 1 year.

"Thrombin Initiation of Acute Cerebral Vasospasm," Dr. Cory Acuff, AHA-Texas, $100,000, 2 years.

"Stealth Gerontology-Infusing Lessons from Aging Research & Education Center," Linda Pruski, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board/Eisenhower Professional Development Grant, $72,308, 18 months.

"Child & Adolescent Psychiatry to the Center for Health Care Services," Dr. Charles Bowden, Center for Health Care Services, $15,360, 1 year.

"Mechanism of Intravascular Lung Accumulation of Liposomes in a Rat Model," Dr. Beth Goins, AHA-Texas, $86,795, 2 years.

"Melatonin for Supportive Care Management," Dr. Mohan Natarajan, San Antonio Area Foundation (SAAF), $19,900, 1 year.

"One-Step Anti-Microbial Surgical Preparation," Dr. Bakul Bhatt, Biomedical Development Corp., $26,137, 1 year.

"Student Research Fellowship for Aliasgar Mogri," Dr. Henry Rawls, American Association for Dental Research, $3,000, 1 year.

"Engineering Bone Regeneration in Osteoporosis," Dr. Kumin Whang, SAAF, $23,000, 1 year.

"Exposures to a New Bleach Formulation Reported to the South Texas Poison Center," Dr. William Watson, Prosar Product Safety Resources, $2,000, 9 months.

Slam Dunked

Technology training offered

A. The desktop applications that will be offered initially through the Technology Training Office are Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft Excel 97, Microsoft PowerPoint 97, Microsoft Outlook 98, Microsoft Access 97, Internet and Microsoft Windows 98. Additional course offerings are planned for later this year.

Q. Where are the classes being held?

A. The desktop applications will be offered at the Allied Health Sciences/Research Building in classroom 2.106, the computing resources classroom 493L, and the Administrative Building training classroom.

Q. How long will classes last?

A. Each class lasts 3 1/2 hours and class times are usually from 8:30 a.m. to noon or from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

Q. How do I register?

A. Visit our Web site at <http://www.uthscsa.edu/computing/training/training.html> and click on the button that says "training registration." Registration for the campus at large will begin Sept. 27. Courses will begin the week of Oct. 18.

Q. Does it cost anything to take a class?

A. The desktop application courses are offered free of charge. In the event that an individual registers for a class and fails to show without sending an alternate, the individual's department will be charged $50.

Q. Can I cancel a class for which I have registered?

A. Anyone may cancel his or her registration five business days prior to the date of training without penalty. To cancel registration for a course, individuals may e-mail the Technology Training Office at <techtraining@uthscsa.edu> and send a copy to their supervisors with the following information: full name and Social Security number, and the name and date of the course(s). Otherwise, the individual's department can e-mail the Technology Training Office to notify us that a substitute is being sent to avoid the penalty charges.

Q. What if I don't have access to the Internet?

A. Any employee who does not have access to the Internet may register for one of the classes offered by faxing the Technology Training Office the appropriate information. Call ext. 2072 for more information.

Q. Do I need supervisor approval to register for classes?

A. Yes, all training offered on campus requires the approval of a supervisor or director. Please follow the policies and procedures as determined by each individual department.

Q. Where are the class schedule and catalog located?

A. To view the class schedule and course catalog, please visit our Web site at <http://www.uthscsa.edu/computing/training/training.html>. Updated schedules will also be posted in the classrooms, on the bulletin board outside Computing Resources, and periodically in The News.

Q. What if the class I need isn't on the schedule?

A. If there is a particular technology training need that is not addressed on the printed schedule, please e-mail the Technology Training Office at <techtraining@uthscsa.edu>.

Q. Who do I contact if I have additional questions or special circumstances?

A. The Technology Training Office can be contacted by email at <techtraining@uthscsa.edu>. Call ext. 2072 to speak with someone who will help.

October - November 1999
Technology Training Schedule

AH-Allied Health Classroom
CR-Computing Resources Classroom
AB-Administration Bldg. Classroom

October (Listed in order of date, time, class name and location.)

19 Tues.
8:30 -12:00
MS Access 1 Getting Started with Access 97
AH 2.106

19 Tues.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Access 2 Queries and Forms
AH 2.106

20 Wed.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Excel 2 Beg. Formulas, Beg. Functions, and Multiple Worksheets
AH 2.106

20 Wed.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Word 3 Headers and Footers, Templates, Labels, Styles, and Outlines
AH 2.106

21 Thurs.
8:30 - 12:00
MS PowerPoint 2 Using Proofing Tools, Working with Drawn Objects, Clip Art, Building Slide Shows
AH 2.106

21 Thurs.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Excel 3 Formatting Worksheets, Styles, and Charts
AH 2.106

26 Tues.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Excel 4 Naming Cells, Advanced Functions, Advanced Formatting, and Outlines
AH 2.106

26 Tues.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Windows 1 Introduction to Windows, Part I
AH 2.106

27 Wed.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Outlook 1 Getting Started with Outlook 98Setting Up an Address Book, Creating Contacts, Using E-mail
AH 2.106

27 Wed.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Windows 2 Introduction to Windows, Part II
AH 2.106

28 Thurs.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Outlook 2 Managing Your Calendar, Configuring Tasks, and Using the Journal
AH 2.106

28 Thurs.
1:00 - 4:30
MS PowerPoint 3 Working with Slide Outlines, Creating Charts, Tables and Organization Charts
AH 2.106
To register for a class, visit the Technology Training Office Web Site http://www.uthscsa.edu/computing/training/training.html

November

2 Tues.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Excel 4 Naming Cells, Advanced Functions, Advanced Formatting, and Outlines
AH 2.106

2 Tues.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Outlook 3 Keeping Notes, Printing Outlook Data, and Organizing Outlook Data
AH 2.106

3 Wed.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Word 7 Mail Merge, Sorting, and Macros
AH 2.106

3 Wed.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Windows 2 Introduction to Windows, Part II
AH 2.106

4 Thurs.
8:30 - 12:00
MS PowerPoint 4 Adding Multimedia Elements, Animating Text and Objects
AH 2.106

4 Thurs.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Outlook 4 Adding Multimedia Elements, Animating Text and Objects
AH 2.106

9 Tues.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Word 7 Mail Merge, Sorting, and Macros
AH 2.106

9 Tues.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Excel 2 Beg. Formulas, Beg. Functions, and Using Multiple Worksheets
AH 2.106

10 Wed.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Excel 6 Screen Display Manipulation, Import/ Export Data, Templates, Simple Macros
AH 2.106

10 Wed.
1:00 - 4:30
Internet 1 Introduction to the Internet
AH 2.106

11 Thurs.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Access 3 Creating, Using, and Enhancing Forms and Reports
AH 2.106

11 Thurs.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Access 4 Charts, Filters, Setting Relationships, and Maintaining Data Integrity
AH 2.106

16 Tues.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Excel 3 Formatting Worksheets, Styles, and Charts
AH 2.106

16 Tues.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Excel 11 Working with Macros
AH 2.106

17 Wed.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Word 7 Mail Merge, Sorting, and Macros
AH 2.106

17 Wed.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Windows 1 Introduction to Windows, Part I
AH 2.106

18 Thurs.
8:30 - 12:00
MS Access 5 Advanced Forms, Reports, and Queries
AH 2.106

18 Thurs.
1:00 - 4:30
MS Access 6 Designing Applications, Advanced Controls, Dialog Boxes, and Macros
AH 2.106

OCTOBER

Basic Web Classes

11 Mon.
12:00 - 1:30
Introduction to Web Searching
Room 2A

Advanced Web Classes

18 Mon.
12:00 - 1:30
Evaluating The Web
Room 2A

25 Mon.
12:00 - 1:30
Advanced Web Searching
Room 2A

OVID Worshops

12 Tues.
1:30 - 3:00
Searching the Biomedical Databases
Room 2A

22 Fri.
9:00 - 10:30
Tips-n-Tricks: Shortcuts and Advanced Features
Room 2A

28 Thurs.
9:00 - 10:30
Searching the Biomedical Databases
Room 2A

Book fair to benefit Gifts For Children

Each year Health Science Center employees donate hundreds of presents through Gifts For Children. The presents are distributed to children hospitalized or receiving clinic care throughout the year.

IMS vendors to visit campus

As part of an effort to assess whether to replace existing administrative computing systems, the Health Science Center welcomes PeopleSoft to demonstrate its integrated suites of products on campus this month. The company will display its human resources, financial, purchasing, student financial aid, grants management and alumni/development systems. The university community is invited to meet with company representatives, see demonstrations of the products and ask questions. PeopleSoft will be on campus Sept. 28 in Room 3.104A.

Cable TV program to feature University Hospital

Witness the doctors, nurses and staff who make University Hospital's Level I Trauma Center one of the best. UH is the first hospital in Texas to be featured on the program and one of only 32 in the nation.

The show will air nationwide at 7 p.m. on Paragon Cable Channel 49.

Convocation moved to February

The new date enables the Health Science Center to host an outstanding national speaker, Dr. Roger Bulger, president of the Association of Academic Health Centers. Dr. Bulger will speak on the challenges and opportunities facing academic health centers.

Announcement of the Presidential Awards for Distinguished Scholars and for Teaching Excellence will be made in October. Awardees will be recognized at the Convocation in February.

The faculty practice clinic, which is located on the third floor of the Dental School in room 3.30R, is a full-service dental clinic that serves as the "private practice" facility for most of the full-time dentists who are faculty members in the Dental School. All dental specialties are represented and all of the dentists are providers under the Delta Standard and Delta Prevent insurance plans.

In keeping with the clinic's policy, a dentist must examine each new patient before a dental hygienist cleans the patient's teeth. Call ext. 3255 to make an appointment.

Mexican-American mothers in San Antonio cited embarrassment, inconvenience and lack of time as the main reasons they failed to breastfeed their infants.

The women were interviewed as part of an ongoing study conducted by researchers at the School of Nursing in cooperation with the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.

Faculty members Dr. Elizabeth Reifsnider, Dr. Sara Gill, Patty Villarreal and Dr. Mindy Tinkle spoke with staff members at four Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition clinics in San Antonio to learn their and their clients' perspectives on breastfeeding. The researchers then conducted four focus groups at WIC clinics with pregnant women, new mothers, the women's partners and the women's mothers. The interviewees' education levels ranged from seventh grade to one year of college, and average annual income was between $10,000 and $15,000.

The participants in all five groups, WIC staff and clients alike, understood that breast milk was best for babies and were even aware that infants who are breastfed for at least one year are only half as likely to develop diabetes later. "The knowledge is there," Villarreal said. "There has been a significant change in breastfeeding knowledge,
but behavior has not changed, and behavior is the most difficult level of change."

The women's mothers felt breastfeeding was the way to go, but weren't able to give advice and support to their daughters because none of them had breastfed their babies either. In addition, the grandmothers and mothers tended to consider pain as a deterrent. "We have to emphasize that breastfeeding doesn't hurt if it's done correctly," said Dr. Gill. "We almost have to have a cultural mind shift about breastfeeding behaviors before breastfeeding becomes socially acceptable in this population."

Besides embarrassment, another factor the women cited for not choosing to breastfeed was lack of time. "One interpretation is that the advantages [of breastfeeding] haven't been instilled to the extent that they would overcome the perception of inconvenience," Dr. Reifsnider said. She suggested one way to overcome that objection is by encouraging women to see feeding times as an opportunity to rest as well as nurture their babies. "They need to learn how to reframe their attitudes and fit breastfeeding into their current lifestyles," Dr. Reifsnider said.

The new mothers said they would be more likely to start breastfeeding and continue to do so after returning to work or school if they had access to adequate breast pumps, which most of the women that WIC serves cannot afford to buy or rent.

Male partners of childbearing women also recognized the health advantages of breastfeeding. They were supportive of breastfeeding, but their primary concern was that if or when their partners choose to breastfeed, that they do so discreetly and not expose any part of their breasts.

The WIC program has become a strong proponent of breastfeeding and has considered making pumps available in its centers. Ironically, though, some women in the study questioned why they would bother to breastfeed when they could get free formula through WIC.

The research team has a long-term goal of establishing a lactation center in the areas that WIC serves, to provide education and support for breastfeeding mothers. Support could range from tips on breastfeeding discreetly in public to a telephone hotline women could call for advice. The researchers are continuing to gather data on infant feeding beliefs through additional focus groups conducted at local WIC clinics. A complete report on the feeding beliefs of low-income Mexican American mothers will be released after the final data analysis is complete.