Opioid Use:True Colors

Sun Street Centers mission is to prevent alcohol and drug addiction, and they do this by providing education, prevention, treatment options, and recovery to individuals and their family members in the Monterey County community, regardless of their income level. Sun Street Centers has been providing effective services and programs for those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction since 1968. Some of these programs and services that are offered to youth and parents include gateway drug presentations, cannabis education and substance abuse, and bullying presentations. They also offer the Safe Teens Empowerment Project (STEPS) where students are not only encouraged to engage within their community, but also able to obtain community service hours. The purpose of this project is to educate the community about opioid use and its effects on overall health while also providing Narcan training. Through research and putting together a presentation along with a flier and a post survey, this presentation is available for parents, caregivers, guardians or anyone over the age of 18. After presenting this project to staff members at Sun Street Centers, there were few suggestions to make this presentation stronger and successful. The goal of this project is to reduce opioid overdose fatalities in Monterey County, because in 2019, there were 96 fatalities due to opioid overdose (KSBW, 2022). With an ongoing opioid epidemic, this presentation could also be adapted and presented to youth, so they can avoid an overdose and possibly save a life by using or having easy access to a Narcan

The Role of a Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance Diagnosis in Healthcare Utilization

Background Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance (MGUS) is an understudied precursor of multiple myeloma (MM), the second most prevalent hematologic malignancy in the United States. This dissertation was designed to: (1) Describe the trajectories of serum biomarkers over time in patients with an MGUS diagnosis, (2) Determine if an MGUS diagnosis is associated with changes in healthcare service utilization, and (3) explore the patient- and provider-level drivers of healthcare utilization in patients with MGUS. Methods Data sources include health claims and electronic health records from a community-based population of patients seeking care in central Massachusetts and primary qualitative data collected from providers and patients’ interviews. The analyses included descriptive statistics, group-based trajectory modeling, conditional Poisson regression, and qualitative data analyses. Results (1) Three distinct multi-trajectory groups of creatinine and hemoglobin were identified. (2) The rates of emergency room, hospital, and outpatient visits were higher for patients with MGUS than patients without MGUS. (3) Patients have a basic understanding of MGUS; however, some patients feel anxiety, which may affect other aspects of their lives. Patients primarily see hematologists for follow-up care; other providers have less knowledge about MGUS. Conclusions Biomarker trajectories characterize specific subpopulations of patients with MGUS over time. We found that an MGUS diagnosis is associated with higher healthcare utilization, especially during the months surrounding the diagnosis date. Finally, our study suggests that some patients with MGUS may need psychosocial support services and identifies a gap in knowledge around caring for MGUS patients among primary care providers

Small bowel imaging in inflammatory bowel disease: updates for 2023

INTRODUCTION: Cross-sectional imaging techniques including MR and CT enterography and ultrasound are integral to Crohn's disease management, accurate, responsive, and well tolerated. They assess the full thickness of the bowel wall, perienteric environment, and distant complications. As we strive toward tighter disease control, imaging's role will expand further with transmural healing becoming an increasingly important therapeutic target. AREAS COVERED: MEDLINE and Web of Science were searched from 2012 to 2023 inclusive. We review the evidence for cross-sectional imaging in assessing disease activity, phenotyping, and therapeutic response assessment. Emerging novel imaging applications such as quantifying enteric motility and fibrosis, prognostication, and potential utility of artificial intelligence will be covered. Recent international consensus statements highlight the need for standardized imaging reporting and definitions of transmural healing and remission. We will discuss how recent advances may be best integrated into patient care and highlight key outstanding research questions. EXPERT OPINION: Cross-sectional imaging is established in Crohn's disease management. Research emphasis should be placed on optimal integration of imaging modalities in clinical care pathways, workforce training, definitions, and evidence for use of imaging based therapeutic targets such as transmural healing, better phenotyping of stricturing disease, and developing novel techniques, including integration of artificial intelligence

On the origin of trisomy 21 Down syndrome

Background: Down syndrome, characterized by an extra chromosome 21 is the most common genetic cause for congenital malformations and learning disability. It is well known that the extra chromosome 21 most often originates from the mother, the incidence increases with maternal age, there may be aberrant maternal chromosome 21 recombination and there is a higher recurrence in young women. In spite of intensive efforts to understand the underlying reason(s) for these characteristics, the origin still remains unknown. We hypothesize that maternal trisomy 21 ovarian mosaicism might provide the major causative factor. Results: We used fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with two chromosome 21-specific probes to determine the copy number of chromosome 21 in ovarian cells from eight female foetuses at gestational age 14–22 weeks. All eight phenotypically normal female foetuses were found to be mosaics, containing ovarian cells with an extra chromosome 21. Trisomy 21 occurred with about the same frequency in cells that had entered meiosis as in pre-meiotic and ovarian mesenchymal stroma cells. Conclusion: We suggest that most normal female foetuses are trisomy 21 ovarian mosaics and the maternal age effect is caused by differential selection of these cells during foetal and postnatal development until ovulation. The exceptional occurrence of high-grade ovarian mosaicism may explain why some women have a child with Down syndrome already at young age as well as the associated increased incidence at subsequent conceptions. We also propose that our findings may explain the aberrant maternal recombination patterns previously found by family linkage analysis

The Bile Response Repressor BreR Regulates Expression of the Vibrio cholerae breAB Efflux System Operon

Enteric pathogens have developed several resistance mechanisms to survive the antimicrobial action of bile. We investigated the transcriptional profile of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor strain C6706 under virulence gene-inducing conditions in the presence and absence of bile. Microarray analysis revealed that the expression of 119 genes was affected by bile. The mRNA levels of genes encoding proteins involved in transport were increased in the presence of bile, whereas the mRNA levels of genes encoding proteins involved in pathogenesis and chemotaxis were decreased. This study identified genes encoding transcriptional regulators from the TetR family (vexR and breR) and multidrug efflux pumps from the resistance-nodulation-cell division superfamily (vexB and vexD [herein renamed breB]) that were induced in response to bile. Further analysis regarding vexAB and breABexpression in the presence of various antimicrobial compounds established that vexAB was induced in the presence of bile, sodium dodecyl sulfate, or novobiocin and that the induction of breAB was specific to bile. BreR is a direct repressor of the breAB promoter and is able to regulate its own expression, as demonstrated by transcriptional and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA). The expression of breR and breAB is induced in the presence of the bile salts cholate, deoxycholate, and chenodeoxycholate, and EMSA showed that deoxycholate is able to abolish the formation of BreR-PbreR complexes. We propose that deoxycholate is able to interact with BreR and induce a conformational change that interferes with the DNA binding ability of BreR, resulting in breAB and breR expression. These results provide new insight into a transcriptional regulator and a transport system that likely play essential roles in the ability of V. cholerae to resist the action of bile in the host

Characterization of BreR Interaction with the Bile Response Promoters breAB and breR in Vibrio cholerae

The Vibrio cholerae BreR protein is a transcriptional repressor of the breAB efflux system operon, which encodes proteins involved in bile resistance. In a previous study (F. A. Cerda-Maira, C. S. Ringelberg, and R. K. Taylor, J. Bacteriol. 190:7441-7452, 2008), we used gel mobility shift assays to determine that BreR binds at two independent binding sites at the breAB promoter and a single site at its own promoter. Here it is shown, by DNase I footprinting and site-directed mutagenesis, that BreR is able to bind at a distal and a proximal site in the breAB promoter. However, only one of these sites, the proximal 29-bp site, is necessary for BreR-mediated transcriptional repression of breAB expression. In addition, it was determined that BreR represses its own expression by recognizing a 28-bp site at the breR promoter. These sites comprise regions of dyad symmetry within which residues critical for BreR function could be identified. The BreR consensus sequence AANGTANAC-N(6)-GTNTACNTT overlaps the -35 region at both promoters, implying that the repression of gene expression is achieved by interfering with RNA polymerase binding at these promoters

Early TBI-Induced Cytokine Alterations are Similarly Detected by Two Distinct Methods of Multiplex Assay

Annually, more than a million persons experience traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the US and a substantial proportion of this population develop debilitating neurological disorders, such as, paralysis, cognitive deficits, and epilepsy. Despite the long-standing knowledge of the risks associated with TBI, no effective biomarkers or interventions exist. Recent evidence suggests a role for inflammatory modulators in TBI-induced neurological impairments. Current technological advances allow for the simultaneous analysis of the precise spatial and temporal expression patterns of numerous proteins in single samples which ultimately can lead to the development of novel treatments. Thus, the present study examined 23 different cytokines, including chemokines, in the ipsi and contralateral cerebral cortex of rats at 24 h after a fluid percussion injury (FPI). Furthermore, the estimation of cytokines were performed in a newly developed multiplex assay instrument, MAGPIX (Luminex Corp), and compared with an established instrument, Bio-Plex (Bio-Rad), in order to validate the newly developed instrument. The results show numerous inflammatory changes in the ipsi and contralateral side after FPI that were consistently reported by both technologies

The Associative Field Of The Lexemes "Work" In Russian And Tatar Language Consciousness

At present time, one of the most important directions in linguistics is the study of the linguistic consciousness of man, the tradition of research of which goes back to the ideas of W. von Humboldt about the link between the language and the spirit of the people. Among the methods of research of linguistic consciousness, one distinguishes an associative experiment, which is a survey of the informants united by some commonality (language, profession, territory of residence, etc.) for revealing their associations-reactions to a certain stimulus. The following methods of linguistic analysis were used in the paper: generalization and systematization, analytical method, descriptive, comparative methods, and also the method of association experiment, etc.The association experiments with 500 students of the city of Kazan, the native speakers of the Tatar language,were conductedIn the course of the research. The results were compared with the materials of the “The Slavic Associative Dictionary” (2004).This paper analyzes and identifies the general and specific features of the associative fields of the lexemes “Ñш”in the Tatar language and “работа”/“work” in the Russian language. An analysis of the responses received by the respondents showed that the associative fields of the lexemes “Ñш” in Tatar and“работа”/“work” in Russian coincided in general. However, Tatar native speakers have more associations with the components of the meaning “Ñ‚Ñжелый”/ “heavy”, “трудноÑÑ‚ÑŒ”/“difficulty”, etc., often characterizing physical labour. Russian-speaking young people more often associate their future with comfortable mental work indoors.The associations of Russian speakers are distinguished by a wide variety of associates with negative connotations, reduced stylistic characteristics, and the use of answers of paremiological origin.Thus, the association experiment allows of revealing the content systemacyof thetypeofconsciousness behind the word in different languages, and confirms the uniqueness, the inimitability of the image of the world of each culture. The research to have been carried out has practical significance, since the obtained results are a valuable and sufficiently reliable material for studying certain fragments of linguistic consciousness, national-specific phenomena, knowledge, value orientations, and so on.

The meV mass frontier of axion physics

We explore consequences of the idea that the cooling speed of white dwarfs can be interpreted in terms of axion emission. In this case the Yukawa coupling to electrons has to be g_{ae} 10^-13, corresponding to an axion mass of a few meV. Axions then provide only a small fraction of the cosmic cold dark matter, whereas core-collapse supernovae release a large fraction of their energy in the form of axions. We estimate the diffuse supernova axion background (DSAB) in the universe, consisting of 30 MeV-range axions with a radiation density comparable to the extra-galactic background light. The DSAB would be challenging to detect. However, axions with white-dwarf inspired parameters can be accessible in a next generation axion helioscope.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur