Dissertations in Hispanic Languages and Literatures: Volume Two: 1967–1977

The decade covered by this second volume saw an enormous expansion of scholarship in the Hispanic languages; more than 3,500 dissertations were written in the United States and Canada and are now indexed here—twice the number contained in the first volume. Coverage has been expanded to include dissertations on the teaching and learning of Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish and on bilingualism of these languages with others.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_spanish_literature/1021/thumbnail.jp

Aging Influences Cardiac Mitochondrial Gene Expression and Cardiovascular Function following Hemorrhage Injury

Cardiac dysfunction and mortality associated with trauma and sepsis increase with age. Mitochondria play a critical role in the energy demand of cardiac muscles, and thereby on the function of the heart. Specific molecular pathways responsible for mitochondrial functional alterations after injury in relation to aging are largely unknown. To further investigate this, 6- and 22-month-old rats were subjected to trauma-hemorrhage (T-H) or sham operation and euthanized following resuscitation. Left ventricular tissue was profiled using our custom rodent mitochondrial gene chip (RoMitochip). Our experiments demonstrated a declined left ventricular performance and decreased alteration in mitochondrial gene expression with age following T-H and we have identified c-Myc, a pleotropic transcription factor, to be the most upregulated gene in 6- and 22-month-old rats after T-H. Following T-H, while 142 probe sets were altered significantly (39 up and 103 down) in 6-month-old rats, only 66 were altered (30 up and 36 down) in 22-month-old rats; 36 probe sets (11 up and 25 down) showed the same trend in both groups. The expression of c-Myc and cardiac death promoting gene Bnip3wereincreased, and Pgc1-α and Ppar-a a decreased following T-H. Eleven †RNA transcripts on mtDNA were upregulated following T-H in the aged animals, compared with the sham group. Our observations suggest a c-myc-regulated mitochondrial dysfunction following T-H injury and marked decrease in age-dependent changes in the transcrip-tional profile of mitochondrial genes following T-H, possibly indicating cellular senescence. To our knowledge, this is the first report on mitochondrial gene expression profile following T-H in relation to aging

Cerebral blood flow predicts differential neurotransmitter activity

Application of metabolic magnetic resonance imaging measures such as cerebral blood flow in translational medicine is limited by the unknown link of observed alterations to specific neurophysiological processes. In particular, the sensitivity of cerebral blood flow to activity changes in specific neurotransmitter systems remains unclear. We address this question by probing cerebral blood flow in healthy volunteers using seven established drugs with known dopaminergic, serotonergic, glutamatergic and GABAergic mechanisms of action. We use a novel framework aimed at disentangling the observed effects to contribution from underlying neurotransmitter systems. We find for all evaluated compounds a reliable spatial link of respective cerebral blood flow changes with underlying neurotransmitter receptor densities corresponding to their primary mechanisms of action. The strength of these associations with receptor density is mediated by respective drug affinities. These findings suggest that cerebral blood flow is a sensitive brain-wide in-vivo assay of metabolic demands across a variety of neurotransmitter systems in humans

Incontinence-associated dermatitis: reducing adverse events

Incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) is a common problem in patients with faecal and/or urinary incontinence. Urine alters the normal skin flora and increases permeability of the stratum corneum and faecal enzymes on the skin contribute to skin damage. Faecal bacteria can then penetrate the skin, increasing the risk of secondary infection. However, IAD can be prevented and healed with timely and appropriate skin cleansing and skin protection. This includes appropriate use of containment devices. This article also looks at HARTMANN incontinence pads that have been developed to absorb the fluids that cause IAD and maintain the skin's acidic pH. The acidic pH of the skin contributes to its barrier function and defence against infection. Therefore, maintaining an acidic pH will help protect the skin from damage

Individualized decision aid for diverse women with lupus nephritis (IDEA-WON): A randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundTreatment decision-making regarding immunosuppressive therapy is challenging for individuals with lupus. We assessed the effectiveness of a decision aid for immunosuppressive therapy in lupus nephritis.Methods and findingsIn a United States multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial (RCT), adult women with lupus nephritis, mostly from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds with low socioeconomic status (SES), seen in in- or outpatient settings, were randomized to an individualized, culturally tailored, computerized decision aid versus American College of Rheumatology (ACR) lupus pamphlet (1:1 ratio), using computer-generated randomization. We hypothesized that the co-primary outcomes of decisional conflict and informed choice regarding immunosuppressive medications would improve more in the decision aid group. Of 301 randomized women, 298 were analyzed; 47% were African-American, 26% Hispanic, and 15% white. Mean age (standard deviation [SD]) was 37 (12) years, 57% had annual income of <$40,000, and 36% had a high school education or less. Compared with the provision of the ACR lupus pamphlet (n = 147), participants randomized to the decision aid (n = 151) had (1) a clinically meaningful and statistically significant reduction in decisional conflict, 21.8 (standard error [SE], 2.5) versus 12.7 (SE, 2.0; p = 0.005) and (2) no difference in informed choice in the main analysis, 41% versus 31% (p = 0.08), but clinically meaningful and statistically significant difference in sensitivity analysis (net values for immunosuppressives positive [in favor] versus negative [against]), 50% versus 35% (p = 0.006). Unresolved decisional conflict was lower in the decision aid versus pamphlet groups, 22% versus 44% (p < 0.001). Significantly more patients in the decision aid versus pamphlet group rated information to be excellent for understanding lupus nephritis (49% versus 33%), risk factors (43% versus 27%), medication options (50% versus 33%; p ≤ 0.003 for all); and the ease of use of materials was higher in the decision aid versus pamphlet groups (51% versus 38%; p = 0.006). Key study limitations were the exclusion of men, short follow-up, and the lack of clinical outcomes, including medication adherence.ConclusionsAn individualized decision aid was more effective than usual care in reducing decisional conflict for choice of immunosuppressive medications in women with lupus nephritis.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT02319525

Labelling of electronic cigarettes : regulations and current practice.

More stringent enforcement of regulations is needed to ensure not only the user's safety and awareness, but also the safeguarding of the environment

Resting state EEG power spectrum and functional connectivity in autism: a cross-sectional analysis

BACKGROUND: Understanding the development of the neuronal circuitry underlying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is critical to shed light into its etiology and for the development of treatment options. Resting state EEG provides a window into spontaneous local and long-range neuronal synchronization and has been investigated in many ASD studies, but results are inconsistent. Unbiased investigation in large and comprehensive samples focusing on replicability is needed. METHODS: We quantified resting state EEG alpha peak metrics, power spectrum (PS, 2-32 Hz) and functional connectivity (FC) in 411 children, adolescents and adults (n = 212 ASD, n = 199 neurotypicals [NT], all with IQ > 75). We performed analyses in source-space using individual head models derived from the participants' MRIs. We tested for differences in mean and variance between the ASD and NT groups for both PS and FC using linear mixed effects models accounting for age, sex, IQ and site effects. Then, we used machine learning to assess whether a multivariate combination of EEG features could better separate ASD and NT participants. All analyses were embedded within a train-validation approach (70%-30% split). RESULTS: In the training dataset, we found an interaction between age and group for the reactivity to eye opening (p = .042 uncorrected), and a significant but weak multivariate ASD vs. NT classification performance for PS and FC (sensitivity 0.52-0.62, specificity 0.59-0.73). None of these findings replicated significantly in the validation dataset, although the effect size in the validation dataset overlapped with the prediction interval from the training dataset. LIMITATIONS: The statistical power to detect weak effects-of the magnitude of those found in the training dataset-in the validation dataset is small, and we cannot fully conclude on the reproducibility of the training dataset's effects. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that PS and FC values in ASD and NT have a strong overlap, and that differences between both groups (in both mean and variance) have, at best, a small effect size. Larger studies would be needed to investigate and replicate such potential effects

Between feminism and anorexia: An autoethnography

Critical feminist work on eating disorders has grown substantially since its establishment in the 1980s, and has increasingly incorporated the use of anorexic stories, voices and experiences. Yet rarely do such accounts offer the anorexic a space to respond to the now established feminist conceptions of the problem which structure the books or articles in which they appear. Anorexic, or recovered anorexic, voices are used by the researcher to interpret the role played by gender, even whilst the subjects are invited to respond to and critique, medical and popular discourses on the disorder. This lack of dialogue is all the more striking in the context of the feminist aim to fight ‘back against the tendency to silence anorexic women’s’ own interpretations of their starving, treatment and construction (Saukko, 2008: 34). As someone who suffered from anorexia for 20 years, this article offers an autoethnographic account of my experience of encountering the feminist literature on anorexia in a bid to speak back, or enter into a dialogue between feminist politics and eating disorder experience

Acute Regulation of Cardiac Metabolism by the Hexosamine Biosynthesis Pathway and Protein O-GlcNAcylation

OBJECTIVE: The hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) flux and protein O-linked N-acetyl-glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) levels have been implicated in mediating the adverse effects of diabetes in the cardiovascular system. Activation of these pathways with glucosamine has been shown to mimic some of the diabetes-induced functional and structural changes in the heart; however, the effect on cardiac metabolism is not known. Therefore, the primary goal of this study was to determine the effects of glucosamine on cardiac substrate utilization. METHODS: Isolated rat hearts were perfused with glucosamine (0-10 mM) to increase HBP flux under normoxic conditions. Metabolic fluxes were determined by (13)C-NMR isotopomer analysis; UDP-GlcNAc a precursor of O-GlcNAc synthesis was assessed by HPLC and immunoblot analysis was used to determine O-GlcNAc levels, phospho- and total levels of AMPK and ACC, and membrane levels of FAT/CD36. RESULTS: Glucosamine caused a dose dependent increase in both UDP-GlcNAc and O-GlcNAc levels, which was associated with a significant increase in palmitate oxidation with a concomitant decrease in lactate and pyruvate oxidation. There was no effect of glucosamine on AMPK or ACC phosphorylation; however, membrane levels of the fatty acid transport protein FAT/CD36 were increased and preliminary studies suggest that FAT/CD36 is a potential target for O-GlcNAcylation. CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: These data demonstrate that acute modulation of HBP and protein O-GlcNAcylation in the heart stimulates fatty acid oxidation, possibly by increasing plasma membrane levels of FAT/CD36, raising the intriguing possibility that the HBP and O-GlcNAc turnover represent a novel, glucose dependent mechanism for regulating cardiac metabolism