Childhood Obesity and Familial Hypercholesterolemia: Genetic Diseases that Contribute to Cardiovascular Disease

Childhood obesity occurs as the result of an imbalance between caloric intake and energy expenditure. Genetic risk factors for obesity have become an area of research due to its permanency. Mutated genes such as Fat Mass and Obesity Associated (FTO), Leptin (LEP), Leptin Receptor (LEPR), Melanocortin 4 Receptor (MC4R), Adiponectin C1Q and Collagen Domain Containing (ADIPOQ), Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 1 (PCSK1), and Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma (PPARG) all contribute to the development of childhood obesity. In the presence of high cholesterol caused by obesity, the genetic condition known as familial hypercholesterolemia is exacerbated. Familial hypercholesterolemia is caused by a mutation in the following genes: Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor (LDLR), Apolipoprotein B (APOB), Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor Adaptor Protein 1 (LDLRAP1), and the Proprotein Convertase Subtillisin/Kexin Type 9 (PCSK9). Familial hypercholesterolemia and childhood obesity both contribute to elevated serum cholesterol levels resulting in the accelerated progression of atherosclerosis in children. Another sequela of hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis, is an arterial disease that contributes to the development of cardiovascular disease in children. Nurses play a prominent role in the prevention of childhood obesity through education within the community and school setting. As a result of childhood obesity and familial hyperlipidemia, both genetically-linked, cardiovascular disease has become prevalent in the pediatric population

Balancing academia and family life: The gendered strains and struggles between the UK and China compared

Purpose: This paper aims to explore and compare academics’ experiences of managing work-life balance (WLB) in the British and Chinese contexts. The authors have three specific purposes. Firstly, to investigate whether there are marked gender differences in either context, given female and male academics’ work is considered fully comparable. Secondly, to examine contextual factors contributing to gender differences that influence and shape decisions in WLB and career paths. Thirdly, to explore the gendered consequences and implications. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-national and multilevel analytical approach to WLB was chosen to unpick and explore gender land contextual differences and their influence on individual academics’ coping strategies. To reflect the exploratory nature of uncovering individual experience and perceptions, the authors used in-depth, semi-structured interviews. In total, 37 academics participated in the study, comprised of 18 participants from 6 universities in the UK and 19 participants from 6 universities in China. Findings: This study reveals gendered differences in both the British and Chinese contexts in three main aspects, namely, sourcing support; managing emotions; and making choices, but more distinct differences in the latter context. Most significantly, it highlights that individual academics’ capacity in cultivating and using coping strategies was shaped simultaneously by multi-layered factors at the country level, the HE institutional level and the individual academics’ level. Originality/value: Very few cross-cultural WLB studies explore gender differences. This cross-national comparative study is of particular value in making the “invisible visible” in terms of the gendered nature of choices and decisions within the context of WLB. The study has significant implications for female academics exercising individual scope in carving out a career, and for academic managers and institutions, in terms of support, structure and policy

Cerebrovascular Accident Survival: Strategies of Flight Nursing and Aeromedical Transport

Cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), known as strokes, are a leading cause of death worldwide. The delivery and timing of treatment for CVAs is a critical factor in restoring health to the patient. One of the variables in recovery is the method of transport used in bringing the patient to a health care facility. Aeromedical transport remains a valuable resource to achieve full recovery in stroke patients. An ongoing debate of risk versus benefit of helicopter emergency services will be included as well as examination of variables including location, time, physiology of the flight, and the patient’s condition to be scrutinized. In conclusion, aeromedical service will be evaluated to determine the efficacy in transport of CVA patients and survivability outcomes

Soil particle-size analysis: A comparison of two methods

Knowing the proportion of particle sizes in soil is important to soil scientists and agronomists. The mixture of sand, silt, and clay influences water movement, solute transport, nutrient retention, and many other properties and processes in soil. The standard method for particle size determination is a somewhat time-consuming process. An equally accurate but shorter method would be appealing for many reasons. The objective of this study was to compare a standard method of particle-size analysis using a hydrometer to an abbreviated hydrometer method, which, instead of 12 h for the standard method, requires about 3 h to complete. Twenty-four soil samples of varying textural classes determined by the standard method were reprocessed for particle-size and textural-class determination using an abbreviated hydrometer method. Results of the methods comparison showed that the textural class from the abbreviated method matched that of the standard method in only 10 of 24 samples and that the abbreviated method over-estimated the amount of total sand in the soil sample. The abbreviated method was reasonably accurate in comparison to the standard method with respect to percentages of clay and silt. Based on this comparison, the time savings gained with the abbreviated method do not outweigh the lack of accuracy of particle-size determination with coarsetextured soils, but may be justifiable for fine-textured soils without a large fraction of sand-sized material

Validity of a visual impairment questionnaire in measuring cataract surgery outcomes [post print]

PURPOSE: To test the validity of the Impact of Visual Impairment (IVI) questionnaire in a cataract population. SETTING: Flinders Eye Centre, Flinders Medical Centre, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. METHODS: Cataract patients recruited from a hospital waiting list completed the IVI questionnaire. The scale was assessed for fit to the Rasch model. Unidimensionality, item and person fit to the model, response category performance, differential item functioning (whether different subgroups responded differently), and targeting of item difficulty to patient ability were assessed. RESULTS: Overall, the IVI questionnaire performed well; there were ordered thresholds, person separation reliability was 0.97, and it was free from differential item functioning. One item (worry about eyesight getting worse) misfit the model and was removed. There was evidence of multidimensionality, indicating that the overall IVI score should be discarded; however, the 3 subscales (reading and accessing information, mobility and independence, and emotional well-being) functioned well. Several items calibrated differently in cataract patients compared with low-vision patients, indicating different issues are important to each population and that there is a need for population-specific conversion algorithms. Targeting of the IVI items was biased toward more impaired patients. CONCLUSIONS: The 3 subscales of the IVI questionnaire functioned well in a cataract population. However, additional items targeting the less impaired patients, especially second-eye cataract patients, would improve measurement

Discovery of a binary icosahedral quasicrystal in Sc12_12Zn88_88

We report the discovery of a new binary icosahedral phase in a Sc-Zn alloy obtained through solution-growth, producing millimeter-sized, facetted, single grain, quasicrystals that exhibit different growth morphologies, pentagonal dodecahedra and rhombic triacontahedra, under only marginally different growth conditions. These two morphologies manifest different degrees of quasicrystalline order, or phason strain. The discovery of i-Sc$_12$Zn$_88$ suggests that a reexamination of binary phase diagrams at compositions close to crystalline approximant structures may reveal other, new binary quasicrystalline phases.Comment: Incorrect spelling in author list resolve

Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) Guidelines for CYP2C9 and HLA-B Genotype and Phenytoin Dosing

Phenytoin is a widely used antiepileptic drug with a narrow therapeutic index and large inter-patient variability partly due to genetic variations in CYP2C9. Furthermore, the variant allele HLA-B*15:02 is associated with an increased risk of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in response to phenytoin treatment. We summarize evidence from the published literature supporting these associations and provide recommendations for the use of phenytoin based on CYP2C9 and/or HLA-B genotype (also available on PharmGKB: www.pharmgkb.org)

Developmental Trajectories of Positive Emotion Regulation: The Moderating Effects of Gender and Parenting

This study examined the frequency of daily positive events as a predictor of positive emotion regulation strategies in adolescence, particularly dampening and positive rumination. Furthermore, I hypothesized this relationship may be moderated by the gender of the adolescent and their parent’s socialization of positive emotion, through enhancing or dampening their adolescent’s positive emotion. Lastly, I hypothesized that the moderation of parental socialization of positive emotion on emotion regulation would differ based on the gender of the adolescent. Adolescents in Belgium participated in a longitudinal self-report study (nbaseline= 815) assessed at three timepoints. Cross-sectionally, daily positive events significantly predicted adolescent positive rumination, such that as the frequency of daily positive events increased as youth positive rumination increased. Both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, maternal and paternal enhancing predicted youth positive rumination. Additionally, both maternal and paternal enhancing moderated the relationship between daily positive events and youth positive rumination, such that greater frequency of daily positive events predicted greater youth positive rumination, and the relationship was strengthened by greater parental enhancing. Maternal enhancing also buffered the relationship between daily positive events and dampening. Increased parental dampening cross-sectionally predicted greater dampening, and longitudinally predicted decreased dampening. Parental dampening did not moderate the relationship between daily positive events and emotion regulation strategies. The above relationships did not differ for boys and girls. Three-way interactions of gender on the moderation of the relationship between daily positive events and emotion regulation strategies by parental socialization of emotion were not able to be interpreted due to non-significance at the two-way interaction level. These results suggest a therapeutic value to increased daily positive events and parental enhancing in the development of adaptive emotion regulation strategies for adolescents

Association Between Regional COVID-19 Vaccine hesitancy And Reported Positive COVID-19 Cases in the Southern United States

The use of vaccinations has been shown to be beneficial in pandemics in the past, and in some cases, it has led to elimination of a particular disease (i.e. polio). The COVID-19 vaccination can also serve the same purpose, however, vaccine hesitancy within specific regions of the country may prevent and/or dilute the effectiveness of the vaccine. Vaccine hesitancy can be defined as a delay in acceptance, or refusal despite the availability of vaccine services. Southern regions have consistently had the lower vaccination rates compared to its other regional counterparts, even as the pandemic progressed and death rates increased over time. Therefore, this study will explore reasons for vaccine hesitancy in the South compared to other regions and its association with reported positive COVID-19 cases within the United States

Optimized Nonlinear Substrate Integrated Waveguide for Pulse Compression

The time compression and associated frequency broadening of electromagnetic pulses has numerous applications in communication and radar systems. In this work, a new type of pulse compression device based on nonlinear ferroelectric materials in a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) is proposed and simulated, with low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) fabrication compatibility considered. The ferroelectric material Barium Strontium Titanate commonly used with tunable microwave components, is placed in vertical slabs within the SIW and driven with an input pulse into the nonlinear polarization region. The nonlinearity causes field amplitude dependent propagation velocity, resulting in a tendency for energy to 'pile-up' or compress in time. The fields within the SIW are simulated with a Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method, and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) finds the optimal material configuration that maximizes pulse compression. Pulse compression of 58% is shown by simulation to be possible with the proposed design