Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: Claims versus Evidence

The purpose of this paper is to review and critique studies that have been conducted on dolphin-assisted therapy for children with various disorders. Studies have been released claiming swimming with dolphins is therapeutic and beneficial for children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, physical disabilities, and other psychological disorders. The majority of the studies conducted supporting the effectiveness of dolphin-assisted therapy have been found to have major methodological concerns making it impossible to draw valid conclusions. Readers will be informed of the history of, theory behind, and variations of dolphin-assisted therapy along with a review and critique of studies published which purportedly support its use

Validation of the English version of the Scale for Psychosocial Factors in Food Allergy and the relationship with mental health, quality of life, and self-efficacy

Background. The Scale for Psychosocial Factors in Food Allergy (SPS-FA) is based on the biopsychosocial model of health and was developed and validated in Chile to measure the interaction between psychological variables and allergy symptoms in the child. We sought to validate this scale in an English speaking population and explore its relationship with parental quality of life, self-efficacy, and mental health. Methods. Parents (n = 434) from the general population in the UK, who had a child with a clinical diagnosis of food allergy, completed the SPS-FA and validated scales on food allergy specific parental quality of life (QoL), parental self-efficacy, and general mental health. Findings. The SPS-FA had good internal consistency (alphas = .61-.86). Higher scores on the SPS-FA significantly correlated with poorer parental QoL, self-efficacy, and mental health. All predictors explained 57% of the variance in SPS-FA scores with QoL as the biggest predictor (β = .52). Discussion. The SPS-FA is a valid scale for use in the UK and provides a holistic view of the impact of food allergy on the family. In conjunction with health-related QoL measures, it can be used by health care practitioners to target care for patients and evaluate psychological interventions for improvement of food allergy management

Thermally Activated Magnetization and Resistance Decay during Near Ambient Temperature Aging of Co Nanoflakes in a Confining Semi-metallic Environment

We report the observation of magnetic and resistive aging in a self assembled nanoparticle system produced in a multilayer Co/Sb sandwich. The aging decays are characterized by an initial slow decay followed by a more rapid decay in both the magnetization and resistance. The decays are large accounting for almost 70% of the magnetization and almost 40% of the resistance for samples deposited at 35 $^oC$. For samples deposited at 50 $^oC$ the magnetization decay accounts for $\sim 50$ of the magnetization and 50% of the resistance. During the more rapid part of the decay, the concavity of the slope of the decay changes sign and this inflection point can be used to provide a characteristic time. The characteristic time is strongly and systematically temperature dependent, ranging from $\sim1$x$10^2 s$ at 400K to $\sim3$x$10^5 s$ at 320K in samples deposited at $35 ^oC$. Samples deposited at 50 $^oC$ displayed a 7-8 fold increase in the characteristic time (compared to the $35 ^oC$ samples) for a given aging temperature, indicating that this timescale may be tunable. Both the temperature scale and time scales are in potentially useful regimes. Pre-Aging, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) reveals that the Co forms in nanoscale flakes. During aging the nanoflakes melt and migrate into each other in an anisotropic fashion forming elongated Co nanowires. This aging behavior occurs within a confined environment of the enveloping Sb layers. The relationship between the characteristic time and aging temperature fits an Arrhenius law indicating activated dynamics

VirusBoxing: A HIIT-based VR boxing game

Physical activity or exercise can improve people's health and reduce their risk of developing several diseases; most importantly, regular activity can improve the quality of life. However, lack of time is one of the major barriers for people doing exercise. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can reduce the time required for a healthy exercise regime but also bring similar benefits of regular exercise. We present a boxing-based VR exergame called VirusBoxing to promote physical activity for players. VirusBoxing provides players with a platform for HIIT and empowers them with additional abilities to jab a distant object without the need to aim at it precisely. In this paper, we discuss how we adapted the HIIT protocol and gameplay features to empower players in a VR exergame to give players an efficient, effective, and enjoyable exercise experience.Comment: Corresponding author: [email protected]

Simulation of metallic nanostructures for emission of THz radiation using the lateral photo-Dember effect

A 2D simulation for the lateral photo-Dember effect is used to calculate the THz emission of metallic nanostructures due to ultrafast diffusion of carriers in order to realize a series of THz emitters.Comment: Corrected version of a paper given at 2011 36th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz

Sustained release of decorin to the surface of the eye enables scarless corneal regeneration

Ophthalmology: novel eye drop brings sustained drug delivery to ocular surface An eye drop formulation that applies anti-scarring drugs to the surface of the eye helps reverse infection-induced corneal damage in mice. Hill et al. from the University of Birmingham, UK, formulated a fluid gel loaded with a wound-healing protein called decorin that conforms to the ocular surface and is cleared gradually through blinking. With colleagues in California, they applied the therapeutic eye drop to mice with bacterial eye infections that trigger sight-threatening corneal scarring. Within a matter of days, the team saw improvements in corneal transparency, with reductions in scar tissue and reconstitution of healthy cells. Such a drug delivery system, if successful in humans, could help save many people’s sight and reduce the need for corneal transplantation

Sex differences in intraorgan fat levels and hepatic lipid metabolism: implications for cardiovascular health and remission of type 2 diabetes after dietary weight loss

Aims/hypothesis: Type 2 diabetes confers a greater relative increase in CVD risk in women compared with men. We examined sex differences in intraorgan fat and hepatic VLDL1-triacylglycerol (VLDL1-TG) export before and after major dietary weight loss. Methods: A group with type 2 diabetes (n = 64, 30 male/34 female) and a group of healthy individuals (n = 25, 13 male/12 female) were studied. Intraorgan and visceral fat were quantified by magnetic resonance and VLDL1-TG export by intralipid infusion techniques. Results: Triacylglycerol content of the liver and pancreas was elevated in people with diabetes with no sex differences (liver 16.4% [9.3–25.0%] in women vs 11.9% [7.0–23.1%] in men, p = 0.57, and pancreas 8.3 ± 0.5% vs 8.5 ± 0.4%, p = 0.83, respectively). In the absence of diabetes, fat levels in both organs were lower in women than men (1.0% [0.9–1.7%] vs 4.5% [1.9–8.0%], p = 0.005, and 4.7 ± 0.4% vs 7.6 ± 0.5%, p< 0.0001, respectively). Women with diabetes had higher hepatic VLDL1-TG production rate and plasma VLDL1-TG than healthy women (559.3 ± 32.9 vs 403.2 ± 45.7 mg kg−1 day−1, p = 0.01, and 0.45 [0.26–0.77] vs 0.25 [0.13–0.33] mmol/l, p = 0.02), whereas there were no differences in men (548.8 ± 39.8 vs 506.7 ± 29.2 mg kg−1 day−1, p = 0.34, and 0.72 [0.53–1.15] vs 0.50 [0.32–0.68] mmol/l, p = 0.26). Weight loss decreased intraorgan fat and VLDL1-TG production rates regardless of sex, and these changes were accompanied by similar rates of diabetes remission (65.4% vs 71.0%) and CVD risk reduction (59.8% vs 41.5%) in women and men, respectively. Conclusions/interpretation: In type 2 diabetes, women have liver and pancreas fat levels as high as those of men, associated with raised hepatic VLDL1-TG production rates. Dynamics of triacylglycerol turnover differ between sexes in type 2 diabetes and following weight loss. These changes may contribute to the disproportionately raised cardiovascular risk of women with diabetes

The IKKâ related kinase TBK1 activates mTORC1 directly in response to growth factors and innate immune agonists

The innate immune kinase TBK1 initiates inflammatory responses to combat infectious pathogens by driving production of type I interferons. TBK1 also controls metabolic processes and promotes oncogeneâ induced cell proliferation and survival. Here, we demonstrate that TBK1 activates mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) directly. In cultured cells, TBK1 associates with and activates mTORC1 through siteâ specific mTOR phosphorylation (on S2159) in response to certain growth factor receptors (i.e., EGFâ receptor but not insulin receptor) and pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) (i.e., TLR3; TLR4), revealing a stimulusâ selective role for TBK1 in mTORC1 regulation. By studying cultured macrophages and those isolated from genome edited mTOR S2159A knockâ in mice, we show that mTOR S2159 phosphorylation promotes mTORC1 signaling, IRF3 nuclear translocation, and IFNâ β production. These data demonstrate a direct mechanistic link between TBK1 and mTORC1 function as well as physiologic significance of the TBK1â mTORC1 axis in control of innate immune function. These data unveil TBK1 as a direct mTORC1 activator and suggest unanticipated roles for mTORC1 downstream of TBK1 in control of innate immunity, tumorigenesis, and disorders linked to chronic inflammation.SynopsisTBK1, an IKKâ related kinase that drives interferon production as well cancer cell proliferation and survival, phosphorylates mTOR to activate mTORC1 in response to EGF and innate immune agonists, suggesting unanticipated roles for mTORC1 downstream of TBK1 in control of innate immunity and tumorigenesis.TBK1 interacts with mTORC1 and phosphorylates mTOR on S2159 to increase its catalytic activity.Cells lacking TBK1 or expressing a mTOR S2159A allele exhibit reduced mTORC1 signaling in response to EGFâ receptor and TLR3/4 activation.Primary macrophages derived from genome edited mTOR S2159A mice exhibit reduced mTORC1 signaling in response to TLR3/4 activation.Primary macrophages treated with rapamycin as well as those derived from mTORS2159A mice produce reduced levels of IFNâ β due to impaired nuclear translocation of the transcription factor IRF3.Innate immune kinase TBK1â dependent activation of mTORC1 occurs in response to pathogen recognition and EGF receptor activation and drives interferon production, thus highlighting the role of mTOR for innate immunity.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141029/1/embj201696164.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141029/2/embj201696164.reviewer_comments.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141029/3/embj201696164_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141029/4/embj201696164-sup-0001-EVFigs.pd