Validation of a Sun-Exposure Questionnaire for Adolescent Girls

Sunlight is a major contributor to an individual\u27s vitamin D status. Determinants of sun exposure have been used in conjunction with dietary data to study the effect of sunlight on bone health of elderly populations. Sun-exposure questionnaires to assess vitamin D status have not been utilized or tested in populations of children in the United States. This is the first questionnaire, used in accordance with vitamin D research, to be tested against an objective measure of sun exposure and to account for diurnal variation in ultraviolet B (UVB) ray strength. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a sun-exposure questionnaire for adolescent girls and to further investigate the potential for skin synthesis of previtamin Dg (preD3) in northern climates. Thirty-five girls (ages 9-15) from northeastern Maine wore a polysulphone (PS) film badge for one day. The sun-exposure questionnaire was administered the following day. Minutes spent outdoors during each hour of the day were corrected for the strength of the UVB rays during that hour. The correction. factor was established using UVB data generated from a USDA UVB Monitoring Site. Corrected minutes were compared with PS badge readings for each subject. A series of PS badges and ampules containing 7dehydrocholesterol were exposed each hour of the day to further investigate the effect of time of day on cutaneous preD3 synthesis. Subject self-reported minutes outdoors, corrected for the time of day, strongly correlated with the change in absorbance (AA) of PS badges (~0.71, p=0.000). In conclusion, relative to each other, adolescent girls were able to report time spent outdoors, and time of day spent outdoors is a crucial component of a sun exposure questionnaire. Because daily UVB data is available in virtually any locale in the United States, the questionnaire and the correction factor for the time of day can be easily adapted for use in a variety of research settings

The Cult of Vesta in the Roman World

This thesis comprises a study of the origins, history and importance of the cult of Vesta in the Roman world. Its principal findings are that the cult was probably derived from the Greek cult of Hestia and entered Rome from the Greek colonies of Southern Italy no later than the sixth century BC., the period when it first appeared in the Forum. The organisation of the Vestal Virgins and the position of the temple near the Regia strongly suggests that the cult was connected with the monarchy and survived the expulsion of the regal family because the goddess had by then become regarded as one of the guardians of the State, whilst the Vestal Virgins participated in festivals such as the Parilia and the Argei which were connected with Rome's spiritual and material wellbeing. The public cult was confined to these areas where Roman influence was paramount, especially to Rome itself, Tibur and Colonia or military settlements in Spain, Gaul and Germany. Evidence for a private cult comprises scattered references by classical writers and Pompeian wall paintings discovered in private houses and pistrina which depict Vesta in the company of an ass. Her association with the ass probably occurred at an early period in the development of the cult and resulted in her becoming a goddess favoured by the baking trade, following the growth of the large baking establishments and the introduction of the donkey-driven mill in the second century BC. The cult achieved its greatest influence during the Empire when it became closely associated with the imperial house. Evidence from inscriptions and coinage indicates its prestige reached its zenith in the second and third centuries AD.; thereafter it declined owing to the rise of Christianity. There is no evidence of its survival into the fifth century

Modeling cancer genomic data in yeast reveals selection against ATM function during tumorigenesis

The DNA damage response (DDR) comprises multiple functions that collectively preserve genomic integrity and suppress tumorigenesis. The Mre11 complex and ATM govern a major axis of the DDR and several lines of evidence implicate that axis in tumor suppression. Components of the Mre11 complex are mutated in approximately five percent of human cancers. Inherited mutations of complex members cause severe chromosome instability syndromes, such as Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome, which is associated with strong predisposition to malignancy. And in mice, Mre11 complex mutations are markedly more susceptible to oncogene- induced carcinogenesis. The complex is integral to all modes of DNA double strand break (DSB) repair and is required for the activation of ATM to effect DNA damage signaling. To understand which functions of the Mre11 complex are important for tumor suppression, we undertook mining of cancer genomic data from the clinical sequencing program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which includes the Mre11 complex among the 468 genes assessed. Twenty five mutations in MRE11 and RAD50 were modeled in S. cerevisiae and in vitro. The mutations were chosen based on recurrence and conservation between human and yeast. We found that a significant fraction of tumor-borne RAD50 and MRE11 mutations exhibited separation of function phenotypes wherein Tel1/ATM activation was severely impaired while DNA repair functions were mildly or not affected. At the molecular level, the gene products of RAD50 mutations exhibited defects in ATP binding and hydrolysis. The data reflect the importance of Rad50 ATPase activity for Tel1/ATM activation and suggest that inactivation of ATM signaling confers an advantage to burgeoning tumor cells

Genetics of human and canine dilated cardiomyopathy

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in both humans and dogs. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) accounts for a large number of these cases, reported to be the third most common form of cardiac disease in humans and the second most common in dogs. In human studies of DCM there are more than 50 genetic loci associated with the disease. Despite canine DCM having similar disease progression to human DCM studies into the genetic basis of canine DCM lag far behind those of human DCM. In this review the aetiology, epidemiology, and clinical characteristics of canine DCM are examined, along with highlighting possible different subtypes of canine DCM and their potential relevance to human DCM. Finally the current position of genetic research into canine and human DCM, including the genetic loci, is identified and the reasons many studies may have failed to find a genetic association with canine DCM are reviewed

Digital divine : technology use by Indian spiritual sects

Spirituality-based organizations in India, centered around a set of beliefs and practices, with a charismatic guru figure at their head, have embraced the information age enthusiastically, and have come to the fore as key players in the national narrative around social welfare and development in recent years. We conducted a qualitative study of four Hinduism-oriented Spirituality-based Organizations (SBOs) in India using interviews, on-site observations, and in-depth examination of their online outreach material to understand the ways in which technology impacts and advances their core functions. We examine five core ways which technology plays a critical role in these SBO - community-building, dissemination of core practices, self-fashioning, philanthropic outreach, and organizational growth – all of which inform these organizations’ influence in society beyond the confines of their adherents. We find that all these functions are enabled in different ways by digital technologies, which have organizational value in and of themselves, but also play an equally important role in helping extend these organizations’ public image as modern, innovative organizations aligned with broader aspirations of national development and social welfare

Patient-derived iPSC-cerebral organoid modeling of the 17q11.2 microdeletion syndrome establishes CRLF3 as a critical regulator of neurogenesis

Neurodevelopmental disorders are often caused by chromosomal microdeletions comprising numerous contiguous genes. A subset of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patients with severe developmental delays and intellectual disability harbors such a microdeletion event on chromosome 17q11.2, involving the NF1 gene and flanking regions (NF1 total gene deletion [NF1-TGD]). Using patient-derived human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-forebrain cerebral organoids (hCOs), we identify both neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation and neuronal maturation abnormalities in NF1-TGD hCOs. While increased NSC proliferation results from decreased NF1/RAS regulation, the neuronal differentiation, survival, and maturation defects are caused by reduced cytokine receptor-like factor 3 (CRLF3) expression and impaired RhoA signaling. Furthermore, we demonstrate a higher autistic trait burden in NF1 patients harboring a deleterious germline mutation in the CRLF3 gene (c.1166T\u3eC, p.Leu389Pro). Collectively, these findings identify a causative gene within the NF1-TGD locus responsible for hCO neuronal abnormalities and autism in children with NF1

Reflection and Remembrance: Oral histories and critical thinking

The research assignment for this class was to interview someone who lived through World War II. The interviewee could be someone who served in the military service, someone on the home front or even a child-anyone who was touched by the experience of World War II

McDonough, GA

Prepared by the Spring 2014 Preservation Planning class. These Design Guidelines explain and interpret general design criteria in the local preservation ordinance for the McDonough, serves as a tool to guide preliminary design decisions, preserves historic character of the area, protects and stabilizes property values, makes suggestions for design appropriateness and provides neighborhood continuity, stability and predictability in assessing future change. The purpose of this report is to provide recommendations that aid in the preservation of the unique architectural and historic character of the city.https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_heritagepreservation/1028/thumbnail.jp