A Case Study of Extracurricular Activities in Central Indiana

poster abstractAlthough previous research noted that extracurricular activities are significantly associated with various students’ outcomes, little research to date has explored their current conditions. This case study examined the status and quality of extracurricular activities in 11 public schools around Central Indiana. Two sets of data were combined and matched by each school’s identification: the survey of extracurricular activities from schools and the schools’ characteristics from Indiana Department of Education. Of the sample, 67% were elementary schools and 42% were relatively low SES schools with a larger number of students receiving free meals. Our study showed that on average, schools provided 21 different extracurricular activities for their students. Academic activities were most prevalent (100%), followed by performing arts activities (83.3%), sports activities (83.3%), prosocial activities (75%), and school involvement activities (66.7%). For the quality of extracurricular activities, about 12% of students in each school participated in at least one activity and spent an average of 2.6 hours a week on extracurricular activities. The mean number of staff and volunteers who administered activities was 5. Approximately 39% of activities in each school were delivered by community partnerships. Our study also found that elementary schools had the lower mean scores in most measures of the quality of extracurricular activities, such as the frequency of the activities, hours spent per week, and the number of staff and volunteers. Furthermore, low SES schools tended to have lower levels of students’ participation in extracurricular activities, although they provided more frequent and diverse activities than high SES schools. These results may imply that more significant attention should be paid to elementary schools to improve the quality of activities as well as low SES schools to promote students’ active involvement

Ketogenic diet and fasting diet as Nutritional Approaches in Multiple Sclerosis (NAMS): protocol of a randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in young adults that may lead to progressive disability. Since pharmacological treatments may have substantial side effects, there is a need for complementary treatment options such as specific dietary approaches. Ketone bodies that are produced during fasting diets (FDs) and ketogenic diets (KDs) are an alternative and presumably more efficient energy source for the brain. Studies on mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis showed beneficial effects of KDs and FDs on disease progression, disability, cognition and inflammatory markers. However, clinical evidence on these diets is scarce. In the clinical study protocol presented here, we investigate whether a KD and a FD are superior to a standard diet (SD) in terms of therapeutic effects and disease progression. METHODS: This study is a single-center, randomized, controlled, parallel-group study. One hundred and eleven patients with relapsing-remitting MS with current disease activity and stable immunomodulatory therapy or no disease-modifying therapy will be randomized to one of three 18-month dietary interventions: a KD with a restricted carbohydrate intake of 20-40 g/day; a FD with a 7-day fast every 6 months and 14-h daily intermittent fasting in between; and a fat-modified SD as recommended by the German Nutrition Society. The primary outcome measure is the number of new T2-weighted MRI lesions after 18 months. Secondary endpoints are safety, changes in relapse rate, disability progression, fatigue, depression, cognition, quality of life, changes of gut microbiome as well as markers of inflammation, oxidative stress and autophagy. Safety and feasibility will also be assessed. DISCUSSION: Preclinical data suggest that a KD and a FD may modulate immunity, reduce disease severity and promote remyelination in the mouse model of MS. However, clinical evidence is lacking. This study is the first clinical study investigating the effects of a KD and a FD on disease progression of MS

A novel archaeal regulatory protein, Sta1, activates transcription from viral promoters

While studying gene expression of the rudivirus SIRV1 in cells of its host, the hyperthermophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus, a novel archaeal transcriptional regulator was isolated. The 14 kDa protein, termed Sulfolobus transcription activator 1, Sta1, is encoded on the host chromosome. Its activating effect on transcription initiation from viral promoters was demonstrated in in vitro transcription experiments using a reconstituted host system containing the RNA polymerase, TATA-binding protein (TBP) and transcription factor B (TFB). Most pronounced activation was observed at low concentrations of either of the two transcription factors, TBP or TFB. Sta1 was able to bind viral promoters independently of any component of the host pre-initiation complex. Two binding sites were revealed by footprinting, one located in the core promoter region and the second ∼30 bp upstream of it. Comparative modeling, NMR and circular dichroism of Sta1 indicated that the protein contained a winged helix–turn–helix motif, most probably involved in DNA binding. This strategy of the archaeal virus to co-opt a host cell regulator to promote transcription of its genes resembles eukaryal virus–host relationships

Colon Ascendens Stent Peritonitis (CASP) - a Standardized Model for Polymicrobial Abdominal Sepsis

Sepsis remains a persistent problem on intensive care units all over the world. Understanding the complex mechanisms of sepsis is the precondition for establishing new therapeutic approaches in this field. Therefore, animal models are required that are able to closely mimic the human disease and also sufficiently deal with scientific questions. The Colon Ascendens Stent Peritonitis (CASP) is a highly standardized model for polymicrobial abdominal sepsis in rodents. In this model, a small stent is surgically inserted into the ascending colon of mice or rats leading to a continuous leakage of intestinal bacteria into the peritoneal cavity. The procedure results in peritonitis, systemic bacteraemia, organ infection by gut bacteria, and systemic but also local release of several pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. The lethality of CASP can be controlled by the diameter of the inserted stent. A variant of this model, the so-called CASP with intervention (CASPI), raises opportunity to remove the septic focus by a second operation according to common procedures in clinical practice. CASP is an easily learnable and highly reproducible model that closely mimics the clinical course of abdominal sepsis. It leads way to study on questions in several scientific fields e.g. immunology, infectiology, or surgery

Design of a GMP-ready single-pass tangential flow filtration (SPTFF) and inline diafiltration (LILDF) system for continuous manufacturing operations

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Endotoxin Tolerance Acquisition and Altered Hepatic Fatty Acid Profile in Aged Mice

(1) Background: Aging is linked to an altered immune response and metabolism. Inflammatory conditions, such as sepsis, COVID-19, and steatohepatitis are more prevalent in the elderly and steatosis is linked both to severe COVID-19 and sepsis. We hypothesized that aging is linked to a loss of endotoxin tolerance, which normally protects the host from excessive inflammation, and that this is accompanied by elevated levels of hepatic lipids. (2) Methods: An in vivo lipopolysaccharide (LPS) tolerance model in young and old mice was used and the cytokine serum levels were measured by ELISA. Cytokine and toll-like receptor gene expression was determined by qPCR in the lungs and the liver; hepatic fatty acid composition was assessed by GC–MS. (3) Results: The old mice showed a distinct potential for endotoxin tolerance as suggested by the serum cytokine levels and gene expression in the lung tissue. Endotoxin tolerance was less pronounced in the livers of the aged mice. However, the fatty acid composition strongly differed in the liver tissues of the young and old mice with a distinct change in the ratio of C18 to C16 fatty acids. (4) Conclusions: Endotoxin tolerance is maintained in advanced age, but changes in the metabolic tissue homeostasis may lead to an altered immune response in old individuals

The Cytotoxicity and Insecticidal Activity of Extracts from Delphinium formosum Boiss. & Huet

Delphinium species are well-known toxic plants with diterpenoid alkaloid contents. There has been no previous investigation on the cytotoxicity of Delphinium formosum. The extracts of the different parts of D. formosum, an endemic species in Turkey, were investigated for their cytotoxic activity against the human liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2) and primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). The cytotoxic effects of twelve extracts and subfractions were determined against HepG2 cells using the MTT assay. The only active extract was applied to the HUVEC as a model for healthy cells. Only one of the alkaloidcontaining extracts from the aerial parts was toxic (IC50=244,9 µg/mL against HepG2 and 144,4 µg/mL against HUVEC), while the root extracts were inactive. The results were improbable although it is predicted secondary metabolites, such as diterpene alkaloids (methyllycaconitine, browniine, lycoctonine, avardharidine, antranoyllycoctonine, delsemine A/B and lycoctonine). Based on previous studies in the literature, the cytotoxic plants were also expected to exhibit insecticidal activity. Therefore, the cytotoxic extract of D. formosum was examined for its adulticidal and larvicidal activity against the yellow fever, dengue fever and the Zika virus vector Aedes aegypti L

A System for Publishing Sensor Data on the Semantic Web

The development of sensor technologies in the last years offers support for new applications for the Internet of Things. The availability of the data resulting from sensor networks deployed in different environments is important for a number of advanced services, such as traffic flow prediction and power consumption monitoring. We propose a system for publishing sensor data following the linked data principles and providing hereby integration with the Semantic Web. The main components are the Semantic Enrichment component and the Data Publishing component, while for storing sensor data we use a relational database