Nitric Oxide Expression With Age and Diet in the Arterial Wall of Apoe Knockout Mice

Background: Hypertension is a dangerous condition that precedes many cardiovascular events including myocardial infarction, stroke, transient cerebral ischemic attack and symptomatic aortoiliac occlusive disease. While it is universally accepted that arteries stiffen with age, the physiological reason for this is debated. In a previous study, by Dr. Shana Roach Watson it was shown that collagen fibers re-orient themselves in a circumferential direction, resulting in increased arterial stiffness. The study hypothesized that this collagen remodeling could be a result of decreased nitric oxide production. Methods: This study measured nitric oxide in two different ways, indirectly via Immunoperoxidase staining for eNOS and directly via diaminofluorescein-2. In the design there were two timepoints: 6 weeks and 6 months. Groups of mice (n=5) were placed on either a high fat Western diet or a chow diet for 6 months. Young mice at 6 weeks of age on chow diet served as the baseline. For the immunoperoxidase staining procedure, 6 μm sections were stained via immunohistochemistry. For the diaminofluorescein-2 assay, the thoracic aorta (from the aortic arch to the diaphragm) was cut longitudinally and pinned en face onto culture dishes with a 3-millimeter-thick layer of black wax. They were stained with diaminofluorescein-2, and images were taken with the In Vivo Imaging System (IVIS). Results: There was no significantt difference in endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS) expression between the groups for the immunoperoxidase staining. There was also no significant difference in Nitric Oxide release between the groups for the DAF-2 staining. Conclusion: The lack of a significant decrease with age disproves our hypothesis that a decline in nitric oxide is responsible for the re-orientation of collagen fibers in the arterial wall

A comparison study on self-esteem of students with learning disabilities in different educational placements

The purpose of this study was to compare the self-esteem of students with learning disabilities who were being placed in different settings, such as inclusive classrooms, self-contained classrooms, and resource rooms. Students who were classified and eligible for special education under the category of specific learning disabilities participated in this study. Three groups of 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students with a total of 82 students were surveyed. The survey consisted of ten statements related to the students\u27 perceptions of themselves. The surveys were administered individually to the three groups of students. All responses of the survey were collected and analyzed using the SPSS program. The mean and standard deviation of each statement from each group were computed. An ANOVA analysis was also used to compare differences among the three groups. The results of this study indicate that class placement does not affect the self-esteem of students with learning disabilities significantly

Training-of-Trainers Neuroscience and Mental Health Teacher Education in Liberia Improves Self-Reported Support for Students

Education programs have been central to reestablishing social norms, rebuilding public educational institutions, and addressing public attitudes toward mental illness in Liberia following a protracted civil war and the Ebola epidemic. The aim of this study was to determine if a program combining an understanding of neuroscience with mental health literacy content could increase teachers’ awareness of students’ mental health issues and produce changes in teacher attitudes and classroom practices. A tiered Training-of-Trainers approach was employed. The first workshop trained 24 Liberian secondary science teachers in the neurobiology of learning, memory, emotions, stress and adolescent brain development. A Leadership Team formed from eight of the Tier I participants then adapted the curriculum, added in more mental health literacy content and led four Tier II workshops and four follow-up Refresher sessions. Participants completed a neuroscience knowledge test and surveys assessing stigma, general perceptions of people with mental illness, and burnout. A subset of Tier II teachers participated in a structured interview at the Refresher time point. Teachers in both tiers acquired basic neuroscience knowledge. Tier I, but not Tier II teachers significantly improved their surveyed attitudes toward people with mental illness. No changes were found in overall teacher burnout. Despite these survey results, the interviewed Tier II teachers self-reported behavioral changes in how they approached their teaching and students in their classrooms. Interviewees described how they now understood social and emotional challenges students might be experiencing and recognized abnormal behaviors as having a biopsychosocial basis. Teachers reported reduced use of verbal and corporal punishment and increased positive rewards systems, such as social and emotional support for students through building relationships. Refresher discussions concurred with the interviewees. In contrast to previous teacher mental health literacy programs which did not bring about a change in helping behaviors, this pilot program may have been successful in changing teacher knowledge and self-reported behaviors, improving teacher–student relationships and decreasing harsh discipline. The combination of basic neuroscience concepts with training on how to recognize mental health issues and refer students should be investigated further as a strategy to promote teacher mental health literacy

Vegetation response to invasive Tamarix control in southwestern U.S. rivers: a collaborative study including 416 sites

Most studies assessing vegetation response following control of invasive Tamarix trees along southwestern U.S. rivers have been small in scale (e.g., river reach), or at a regional scale but with poor spatial-temporal replication, and most have not included testing the effects of a now widely used biological control. We monitored plant composition following Tamarix control along hydrologic, soil, and climatic gradients in 244 treated and 172 reference sites across six U.S. states. This represents the largest comprehensive assessment to date on the vegetation response to the four most common Tamarix control treatments. Biocontrol by a defoliating beetle (treatment 1) reduced the abundance of Tamarix less than active removal by mechanically using hand and chain-saws (2), heavy machinery (3) or burning (4). Tamarix abundance also decreased with lower temperatures, higher precipitation, and follow-up treatments for Tamarix resprouting. Native cover generally increased over time in active Tamarix removal sites, however, the increases observed were small and was not consistently increased by active revegetation. Overall, native cover was correlated to permanent stream flow, lower grazing pressure, lower soil salinity and temperatures, and higher precipitation. Species diversity also increased where Tamarix was removed. However, Tamarix treatments, especially those generating the highest disturbance (burning and heavy machinery), also often promoted secondary invasions of exotic forbs. The abundance of hydrophytic species was much lower in treated than in reference sites, suggesting that management of southwestern U.S. rivers has focused too much on weed control, overlooking restoration of fluvial processes that provide habitat for hydrophytic and floodplain vegetation. These results can help inform future management of Tamarix-infested rivers to restore hydrogeomorphic processes, increase native biodiversity and reduce abundance of noxious species

Leading by Diversifying Collections : A Guide for Academic Library Leadership

Ithaka S+R fournit des recherches et des conseils stratégiques pour aider le monde universitaire. Ithaka S+R fait partie d’ITHAKA, un organisme sans but lucratif dont la mission est d’améliorer l’accès à l’éducation pour les populations du monde entier. Nous croyons que l’éducation est la clé du bien-être des individus et de la société, et nous nous efforçons de le rendre plus efficace et abordable

Nivolumab and brentuximab vedotin with or without bendamustine for R/R Hodgkin lymphoma in children, adolescents, and young adults

Children, adolescents, and young adults (CAYA) with relapsed/refractory (R/R) classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) without complete metabolic response (CMR) before autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT) have poor survival outcomes. CheckMate 744, a phase 2 study for CAYA (aged 5-30 years) with R/R cHL, evaluated a risk-stratified, response-adapted approach with nivolumab plus brentuximab vedotin (BV) followed by BV plus bendamustine for patients with suboptimal response. Risk stratification was primarily based on time to relapse, prior treatment, and presence of B symptoms. We present the primary analysis of the standard-risk cohort. Data from the low-risk cohort are reported separately. Patients received 4 induction cycles with nivolumab plus BV; those without CMR (Deauville score &gt;3, Lugano 2014) received BV plus bendamustine intensification. Patients with CMR after induction or intensification proceeded to consolidation (high-dose chemotherapy/auto-HCT per protocol). Primary end point was CMR any time before consolidation. Forty-four patients were treated. Median age was 16 years. At a minimum follow-up of 15.6 months, 43 patients received 4 induction cycles (1 discontinued), 11 of whom received intensification; 32 proceeded to consolidation. CMR rate was 59% after induction with nivolumab plus BV and 94% any time before consolidation (nivolumab plus BV ± BV plus bendamustine). One-year progression-free survival rate was 91%. During induction, 18% of patients experienced grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events. This risk-stratified, response-adapted salvage strategy had high CMR rates with limited toxicities in CAYA with R/R cHL. Most patients did not require additional chemotherapy (bendamustine intensification). Additional follow-up is needed to confirm durability of disease control. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02927769.</p

Vegetation response to invasive Tamarix control in southwestern U.S. rivers: a collaborative study including 416 sites

Most studies assessing vegetation response following control of invasive Tamarix trees along southwestern U.S. rivers have been small in scale (e.g., river reach), or at a regional scale but with poor spatial-temporal replication, and most have not included testing the effects of a now widely used biological control. We monitored plant composition following Tamarix control along hydrologic, soil, and climatic gradients in 244 treated and 172 reference sites across six U.S. states. This represents the largest comprehensive assessment to date on the vegetation response to the four most common Tamarix control treatments. Biocontrol by a defoliating beetle (treatment 1) reduced the abundance of Tamarix less than active removal by mechanically using hand and chain-saws (2), heavy machinery (3) or burning (4). Tamarix abundance also decreased with lower temperatures, higher precipitation, and follow-up treatments for Tamarix resprouting. Native cover generally increased over time in active Tamarix removal sites, however, the increases observed were small and was not consistently increased by active revegetation. Overall, native cover was correlated to permanent stream flow, lower grazing pressure, lower soil salinity and temperatures, and higher precipitation. Species diversity also increased where Tamarix was removed. However, Tamarix treatments, especially those generating the highest disturbance (burning and heavy machinery), also often promoted secondary invasions of exotic forbs. The abundance of hydrophytic species was much lower in treated than in reference sites, suggesting that management of southwestern U.S. rivers has focused too much on weed control, overlooking restoration of fluvial processes that provide habitat for hydrophytic and floodplain vegetation. These results can help inform future management of Tamarix-infested rivers to restore hydrogeomorphic processes, increase native biodiversity and reduce abundance of noxious species

Construction and analysis of tag single nucleotide polymorphism maps for six human-mouse orthologous candidate genes in type 1 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: One strategy to help identify susceptibility genes for complex, multifactorial diseases is to map disease loci in a representative animal model of the disorder. The nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse is a model for human type 1 diabetes. Linkage and congenic strain analyses have identified several NOD mouse Idd (insulin dependent diabetes) loci, which have been mapped to small chromosome intervals, for which the orthologous regions in the human genome can be identified. Here, we have conducted re-sequencing and association analysis of six orthologous genes identified in NOD Idd loci: NRAMP1/SLC11A1 (orthologous to Nramp1/Slc11a1 in Idd5.2), FRAP1 (orthologous to Frap1 in Idd9.2), 4-1BB/CD137/TNFRSF9 (orthologous to 4-1bb/Cd137/Tnrfrsf9 in Idd9.3), CD101/IGSF2 (orthologous to Cd101/Igsf2 in Idd10), B2M (orthologous to B2m in Idd13) and VAV3 (orthologous to Vav3 in Idd18). RESULTS: Re-sequencing of a total of 110 kb of DNA from 32 or 96 type 1 diabetes cases yielded 220 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Sixty-five SNPs, including 54 informative tag SNPs, and a microsatellite were selected and genotyped in up to 1,632 type 1 diabetes families and 1,709 cases and 1,829 controls. CONCLUSION: None of the candidate regions showed evidence of association with type 1 diabetes (P values > 0.2), indicating that common variation in these key candidate genes does not play a major role in type 1 diabetes susceptibility in the European ancestry populations studied.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are