A baseline study of the health status of the residents in Kalapana, Hawaii, January--June 1987

A community health survey was conducted during the first five months of 1987 in Kalapana, Hawaii. Some 676 residents were interviewed during the study, which represents some 82% of all households in the community. The goal was to obtain base-line data on the health status of all community residents and ambient air quality, in order to evaluate any changes in health status of residents after geothermal development in the area

Multi-contrast photoacoustic microscopy

We developed multi-contrast photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) for in vivo anatomical, functional, metabolic, and molecular imaging. This technical innovation enables comprehensive understanding of the tumor microenvironment. With multi-contrast PAM, we longitudinally determined tumor vascular anatomy, blood flow, oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, and oxygen extraction fraction

Youth Practitioners Can Counter Fascism: What We Know and What We Need

Fascist, White nationalist, and misogynist groups are actively recruiting adolescent followers both online and in person. Youth development practitioners can play an important role in mitigating the influence of fascist ideologies on young people’s behavior and reducing the proliferation of youth-perpetrated harassment and violence. In this paper, we present a theoretical integration that draws on empirical research from multiple disciplines and youth development best practices to examine how youth practitioners can counter fascist recruitment of youth. There is much that youth development researchers and practitioners already know and do, or have the capacity to learn and do, that can mitigate the threat of fascist recruitment and deter young people from developmental trajectories leading them towards harmful ideologies and actions. In order to support youth development practitioners in effectively embodying this potential, we detail 3 sets of activities: (a) immunizing youth to reduce susceptibility to fascist recruitment, (b) intervening in fascist recruitment of specific youth, and (c) counter-recruiting youth into community organizing for social justice. For each set of activities, we describe the goals of each component, propose concrete actions it may entail, and highlight existing research and best practices in the field that can be applied to this current challenge. We then propose next steps in research–practice integration to further improve relevant strategies and point to existing resources for supporting youth in resisting fascist recruitment

Neuropilin 1 expression correlates with differentiation status of epidermal cells and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas

Neuropilins (NRP) are cell surface receptors for VEGF and SEMA3 family members. The role of NRP in neurons and endothelial cells has been investigated, but the expression and role of NRP in epithelial cells is much less clear. Herein, the expression and localization of neuropilin 1 (NRP1) was investigated in human and mouse skin and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Results indicated that NRP1 mRNA and protein was expressed in the suprabasal epithelial layers of skin sections. NRP1 staining did not overlap with that of keratin 14 (K14) or proliferating cell nuclear antigen, but did colocalize with staining for keratin 1, indicating that differentiated keratinocytes express NRP1. Similar to the expression of NRP1, VEGF-A was expressed in suprabasal epithelial cells, whereas Nrp2 and VEGFR2 were not detectable in the epidermis. The expression of NRP1 correlated with a high degree of differentiation in human SCC specimens, human SCC xenografts, and mouse K14-HPV16 transgenic SCC. UVB irradiation of mouse skin induced Nrp1 upregulation. In vitro, Nrp1 was upregulated in primary keratinocytes in response to differentiating media or EGF-family growth factors. In conclusion, the expression of NRP1 is regulated in the skin and is selectively produced in differentiated epithelial cells. NRP1 may function as a reservoir to sequester VEGF ligand within the epithelial compartment, thereby modulating its bioactivity

AKT1 Loss Correlates with Episomal HPV16 in Vulval Intraepithelial Neoplasia

Anogenital malignancy has a significant association with high-risk mucosal alpha-human papillomaviruses (alpha-PV), particularly HPV 16 and 18 whereas extragenital SCC has been linked to the presence of cutaneous beta and gamma–HPV types. Vulval skin may be colonised by both mucosal and cutaneous (beta-, mu-, nu- and gamma-) PV types, but there are few systematic studies investigating their presence and their relative contributions to vulval malignancy. Dysregulation of AKT, a serine/threonine kinase, plays a significant role in several cancers. Mucosal HPV types can increase AKT phosphorylation and activity whereas cutaneous HPV types down-regulate AKT1 expression, probably to weaken the cornified envelope to promote viral release. We assessed the presence of mucosal and cutaneous HPV in vulval malignancy and its relationship to AKT1 expression in order to establish the corresponding HPV and AKT1 profile of normal vulval skin, vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) and vulval squamous cell carcinoma (vSCC). We show that HPV16 is the principle HPV type present in VIN, there were few detectable beta types present and AKT1 loss was not associated with the presence of these cutaneous HPV. We show that HPV16 early gene expression reduced AKT1 expression in transgenic mouse epidermis. AKT1 loss in our VIN cohort correlated with presence of high copy number, episomal HPV16. Maintained AKT1 expression correlated with low copy number, an increased frequency of integration and increased HPV16E7 expression, a finding we replicated in another untyped cohort of vSCC. Since expression of E7 reflects tumour progression, these findings suggest that AKT1 loss associated with episomal HPV16 may have positive prognostic implications in vulval malignancy

On a Pathway Towards Thriving: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Tools to Promote Positive Development and Intentional Self Regulation in Youth

This article provides initial data about the reliability and validity of tools aimed at promoting youth intentional self regulation (ISR) within mentoring programs. Based on the translation of the theory-based research about ISR and youth thriving conducted within the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), the GPS to Success tools use the metaphor of a car’s GPS navigational system to enhance goal-directed behaviors among youth. The core GPS tools are “growth grids,” designed to help mentors appraise ISR skill development and to link these skills to other grids assessing the Five Cs of PYD and Contribution. Data from 152 mentor and youth pairs from 4-H program sites in Oregon and North Carolina indicated that the growth grids were generally reliable. Although validity evidence was mixed, rubrics for “G” and “P” and for a global GPS score were related to a well-validated measure of ISR

On a Pathway Towards Thriving: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Tools to Promote Positive Development and Intentional Self Regulation in Youth

This article provides initial data about the reliability and validity of tools aimed at promoting youth intentional self regulation (ISR) within mentoring programs. Based on the translation of the theory-based research about ISR and youth thriving conducted within the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), the GPS to Success tools use the metaphor of a car’s GPS navigational system to enhance goal-directed behaviors among youth. The core GPS tools are “growth grids,” designed to help mentors appraise ISR skill development and to link these skills to other grids assessing the Five Cs of PYD and Contribution. Data from 152 mentor and youth pairs from 4-H program sites in Oregon and North Carolina indicated that the growth grids were generally reliable. Although validity evidence was mixed, rubrics for “G” and “P” and for a global GPS score were related to a well-validated measure of ISR

Multi-contrast photoacoustic microscopy

We developed multi-contrast photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) for in vivo anatomical, functional, metabolic, and molecular imaging. This technical innovation enables comprehensive understanding of the tumor microenvironment. With multi-contrast PAM, we longitudinally determined tumor vascular anatomy, blood flow, oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, and oxygen extraction fraction