Public Space One – Unique Entity of Sustained Madness

Exposing Iowa City\u27s alternative art scene, PS1, is seen through the eyes of its director John Englebrect. As part of the Iowa Narratives Project, we interviewed John Englebrect, director of the local nonprofit organization Public Space One. The Narratives Project is similar to the NPR Story Corps broadcast in that a member of the community is interviewed to talk about their life. John told us about what it is like being director of Public Space One and what Public Space One does. John’s duties primarily concern working with members of the community who want to lease the space or use it to work on/display projects. John told us stories about some of his experiences working at Public Space One

Herpes simplex virus-2 may increase susceptibility of the sexual transmission of hepatitis C

OBJECTIVES: Antibodies against herpes simplex viruses-1 and -2, cytomegalovirus, and syphilis were determined in six heterosexual couples with strong indications of having sexually transmitted hepatitis C virus infection and in 17 other heterosexual couples in which one partner was hepatitis C virus viremic (source partner), but the other had remained hepatitis C virus uninfected (exposed partner). STUDY DESIGN. Antibody testing was done with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Anti-herpes simplex virus 2 and anti-hepatitis C virus findings were further confirmed by immunoblotting. Hepatitis C virus RNA was determined by polymerase chain reaction and genotyped with type-specific primers. RESULTS. Five of six anti-hepatitis C virus-positive exposed heterosexual partners without parenteral risk factors, compared with three of 17 anti-hepatitis C virus-negative exposed partners, had antibodies to herpes simplex virus-2. On the other hand, no statistically significant difference was found regarding the frequency of herpes simplex virus-2 seropositivity when source partners in the anti-hepatitis C virus concordant and discordant couples were compared. The presence of antibodies to herpes simplex virus-1, cytomegalovirus, and syphilis did not significantly differ between source or exposed partners in anti-hepatitis C virus concordant and discordant couples, respectively. No predominance of any one hepatitis C virus genotype or liver morphology in couples concordant compared with discordant for anti-hepatitis C virus was found. CONCLUSIONS. The findings support the role of herpes simplex virus-2 in the heterosexual transmission of hepatitis C virus infections, and more specifically an increase in susceptibility to hepatitis C virus infections in exposed heterosexual partners with antibodies to herpes simplex virus-2

Metabolomic Profiles and Pathways in Osteoarthritic Human Cartilage: A Comparative Analysis with Healthy Cartilage

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic joint disease with heterogenous metabolic pathology. To gain insight into OA-related metabolism, metabolite extracts from healthy (n = 11) and end-stage osteoarthritic cartilage (n = 35) were analyzed using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry metabolomic profiling. Specific metabolites and metabolic pathways, including lipid and amino acid pathways, were differentially regulated in osteoarthritis-derived and healthy cartilage. The detected alterations in amino acids and lipids highlighted key differences in bioenergetic resources, matrix homeostasis, and mitochondrial alterations in OA-derived cartilage compared to healthy cartilage. Moreover, the metabolomic profiles of osteoarthritic cartilage separated into four distinct endotypes, highlighting the heterogenous nature of OA metabolism and the diverse landscape within the joint in patients. The results of this study demonstrate that human cartilage has distinct metabolomic profiles in healthy and end-stage OA patients. By taking a comprehensive approach to assess metabolic differences between healthy and osteoarthritic cartilage and within osteoarthritic cartilage alone, several metabolic pathways with distinct regulation patterns were detected. Additional investigation may lead to the identification of metabolites that may serve as valuable indicators of disease status or potential therapeutic targets

Vital capacity and COPD: the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS)

Background: Spirometric diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is based on the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/vital capacity (VC), either as a fixed value &amp;lt;0.7 or below the lower limit of normal (LLN). Forced vital capacity (FVC) is a proxy for VC. The first aim was to compare the use of FVC and VC, assessed as the highest value of FVC or slow vital capacity (SVC), when assessing the FEV1/VC ratio in a general population setting. The second aim was to evaluate the characteristics of subjects with COPD who obtained a higher SVC than FVC. Methods: Subjects (n=1,050) aged 50-64 years were investigated with FEV1, FVC, and SVC after bronchodilation. Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) COPDFVC was defined as FEV1/FVC &amp;lt;0.7, GOLDCOPD(VC) as FEV1/VC &amp;lt;0.7 using the maximum value of FVC or SVC, LLNCOPDFVC as FEV1/FVC below the LLN, and LLNCOPDVC as FEV1/VC below the LLN using the maximum value of FVC or SVC. Results: Prevalence of GOLDCOPD(FVC) was 10.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 8.2-12.0) and the prevalence of LLNCOPDFVC was 9.5% (95% CI 7.8-11.4). When estimates were based on VC, the prevalence became higher; 16.4% (95% CI 14.3-18.9) and 15.6% (95% CI 13.5-17.9) for GOLDCOPD(VC) and LLNCOPDVC, respectively. The group of additional subjects classified as having COPD based on VC, had lower FEV1, more wheeze and higher residual volume compared to subjects without any COPD. Conclusion: The prevalence of COPD was significantly higher when the ratio FEV1/VC was calculated using the highest value of SVC or FVC compared with using FVC only. Subjects classified as having COPD when using the VC concept were more obstructive and with indications of air trapping. Hence, the use of only FVC when assessing airflow limitation may result in a considerable under diagnosis of subjects with mild COPD.Funding Agencies|Swedish Heart Lung Foundation; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Swedish Research Council (VR); VINNOVA; Swedish Council for Working Life, Health, and Welfare (FORTE); Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Krefting Research Centre; ALF/LUA in western Sweden</p

Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation estimated risk and prevalent subclinical atherosclerosis in coronary and carotid arteries : A population-based cohort analysis from the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study

Background: It is not clear if the European Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation algorithm is useful for identifying prevalent subclinical atherosclerosis in a population of apparently healthy individuals. Our aim was to explore the association between the risk estimates from Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation and prevalent subclinical atherosclerosis. Design: The design of this study was as a cross-sectional analysis from a population-based study cohort. Methods: From the general population, the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study randomly invited individuals aged 50–64 years and enrolled 13,411 participants mean age 57 (standard deviation 4.3) years; 46% males between November 2013–December 2016. Associations between Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation risk estimates and coronary artery calcification and plaques in the carotid arteries by using imaging data from a computed tomography of the heart and ultrasonography of the carotid arteries were examined. Results: Coronary calcification was present in 39.5% and carotid plaque in 56.0%. In men, coronary artery calcium score &gt;0 ranged from 40.7–65.9% and presence of carotid plaques from 54.5% to 72.8% in the age group 50–54 and 60–65 years, respectively. In women, the corresponding difference was from 17.1–38.9% and from 41.0–58.4%. A doubling of Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation was associated with an increased probability to have coronary artery calcium score &gt;0 (odds ratio: 2.18 (95% confidence interval 2.07–2.30)) and to have &gt;1 carotid plaques (1.67 (1.61–1.74)). Conclusion: Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation estimated risk is associated with prevalent subclinical atherosclerosis in two major vascular beds in a general population sample without established cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus. Thus, the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation risk chart may be of use for estimating the risk of subclinical atherosclerosis