Homeruns for health: an intervention using sports to increase physical activity in kids attending an after-school program

This health behavior intervention targets the physical activity of kids (ages 6-14) at the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley in Moline, Illinois. This intervention was developed with the application of the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) during a 10-week long internship at the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley’s (BGCMV) facility. A trend of lengthy “screen time” and a lack of emphasis on the importance of physical activity were both noticed during said internship. To address these observations, help was sought out from varsity athletic programs at Augustana College, a private institution in the area. The goal of this intervention is to have the club members be active for at least one hour a month with the help of Augustana College varsity athlete volunteers. Each month, a different team will volunteer to: teach the kids about their respective sport, the benefits of staying physically active, and play the sport with the kids. This intervention will also instill positive lifestyle habits in the club members by being educated on the importance of being physically active, being taught the rules of sports to pique their interest, and allowing them to participate to get the experience and feel for them. It is important to expose the kids to healthy habits so that they can start to build these habits during their adolescence and carry them on into adulthood

Study of proton radiation effects on solar vehicle electronic system

Radiation effects on electronic equipment of solar spacecraft - shielding requirement

Model-Independent Description and Large Hadron Collider Implications of Suppressed Two-Photon Decay of a Light Higgs Boson

For a Standard Model Higgs boson with mass between 115 GeV and 150 GeV, the two-photon decay mode is important for discovery at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We describe the interactions of a light Higgs boson in a more model-independent fashion, and consider the parameter space where there is no two-photon decay mode. We argue from generalities that analysis of the $t\bar t h$ discovery mode outside its normally thought of range of applicability is especially needed under these circumstances. We demonstrate the general conclusion with a specific example of parameters of a type I two-Higgs doublet theory, motivated by ideas in strongly coupled model building. We then specify a complete set of branching fractions and discuss the implications for the LHC.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Supersymmetric Baryogenesis from Exotic Quark Decays

In a simple extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model, out-of-equilibrium decays of TeV scale exotic vector-like squarks may generate the baryon asymmetry of the universe. Baryon number and CP violation are present in the superpotential, so this mechanism does not rely on CP violation in supersymmetry breaking parameters. We discuss phenomenological constraints on the model as well as potential signals for the Large Hadron Collider and electronic dipole moment experiments. A variation on the TeV scale model allows the exotic squarks to be the messengers of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures, 2 appendices, v2: typos corrected, results unchange

Inhalation exposure of animals.

Relative advantages and disadvantages and important design criteria for various exposure methods are presented. Five types of exposures are discussed: whole-body chambers, head-only exposures, nose or mouth-only methods, lung-only exposures, and partial-lung exposures. Design considerations covered include: air cleaning and conditioning; construction materials; losses of exposure materials; evenness of exposure; sampling biases; animal observation and care; noise and vibration control, safe exhausts, chamber loading, reliability, pressure fluctuations; neck seals, masks, animal restraint methods; and animal comfort. Ethical considerations in use of animals in inhalation experiments are also discussed

Precision medicine for suicidality: from universality to subtypes and personalization

Suicide remains a clear, present and increasing public health problem, despite being a potentially preventable tragedy. Its incidence is particularly high in people with overt or un(der)diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Objective and precise identification of individuals at risk, ways of monitoring response to treatments and novel preventive therapeutics need to be discovered, employed and widely deployed. We sought to investigate whether blood gene expression biomarkers for suicide (that is, a ‘liquid biopsy’ approach) can be identified that are more universal in nature, working across psychiatric diagnoses and genders, using larger cohorts than in previous studies. Such markers may reflect and/or be a proxy for the core biology of suicide. We were successful in this endeavor, using a comprehensive stepwise approach, leading to a wealth of findings. Steps 1, 2 and 3 were discovery, prioritization and validation for tracking suicidality, resulting in a Top Dozen list of candidate biomarkers comprising the top biomarkers from each step, as well as a larger list of 148 candidate biomarkers that survived Bonferroni correction in the validation step. Step 4 was testing the Top Dozen list and Bonferroni biomarker list for predictive ability for suicidal ideation (SI) and for future hospitalizations for suicidality in independent cohorts, leading to the identification of completely novel predictive biomarkers (such as CLN5 and AK2), as well as reinforcement of ours and others previous findings in the field (such as SLC4A4 and SKA2). Additionally, we examined whether subtypes of suicidality can be identified based on mental state at the time of high SI and identified four potential subtypes: high anxiety, low mood, combined and non-affective (psychotic). Such subtypes may delineate groups of individuals that are more homogenous in terms of suicidality biology and behavior. We also studied a more personalized approach, by psychiatric diagnosis and gender, with a focus on bipolar males, the highest risk group. Such a personalized approach may be more sensitive to gender differences and to the impact of psychiatric co-morbidities and medications. We compared testing the universal biomarkers in everybody versus testing by subtypes versus personalized by gender and diagnosis, and show that the subtype and personalized approaches permit enhanced precision of predictions for different universal biomarkers. In particular, LHFP appears to be a strong predictor for suicidality in males with depression. We also directly examined whether biomarkers discovered using male bipolars only are better predictors in a male bipolar independent cohort than universal biomarkers and show evidence for a possible advantage of personalization. We identified completely novel biomarkers (such as SPTBN1 and C7orf73), and reinforced previously known biomarkers (such as PTEN and SAT1). For diagnostic ability testing purposes, we also examined as predictors phenotypic measures as apps (for suicide risk (CFI-S, Convergent Functional Information for Suicidality) and for anxiety and mood (SASS, Simplified Affective State Scale)) by themselves, as well as in combination with the top biomarkers (the combination being our a priori primary endpoint), to provide context and enhance precision of predictions. We obtained area under the curves of 90% for SI and 77% for future hospitalizations in independent cohorts. Step 5 was to look for mechanistic understanding, starting with examining evidence for the Top Dozen and Bonferroni biomarkers for involvement in other psychiatric and non-psychiatric disorders, as a mechanism for biological predisposition and vulnerability. The biomarkers we identified also provide a window towards understanding the biology of suicide, implicating biological pathways related to neurogenesis, programmed cell death and insulin signaling from the universal biomarkers, as well as mTOR signaling from the male bipolar biomarkers. In particular, HTR2A increase coupled with ARRB1 and GSK3B decreases in expression in suicidality may provide a synergistic mechanistical corrective target, as do SLC4A4 increase coupled with AHCYL1 and AHCYL2 decrease. Step 6 was to move beyond diagnostics and mechanistical risk assessment, towards providing a foundation for personalized therapeutics. Items scored positive in the CFI-S and subtypes identified by SASS in different individuals provide targets for personalized (psycho)therapy. Some individual biomarkers are targets of existing drugs used to treat mood disorders and suicidality (lithium, clozapine and omega-3 fatty acids), providing a means toward pharmacogenomics stratification of patients and monitoring of response to treatment. Such biomarkers merit evaluation in clinical trials. Bioinformatics drug repurposing analyses with the gene expression biosignatures of the Top Dozen and Bonferroni-validated universal biomarkers identified novel potential therapeutics for suicidality, such as ebselen (a lithium mimetic), piracetam (a nootropic), chlorogenic acid (a polyphenol) and metformin (an antidiabetic and possible longevity promoting drug). Finally, based on the totality of our data and of the evidence in the field to date, a convergent functional evidence score prioritizing biomarkers that have all around evidence (track suicidality, predict it, are reflective of biological predisposition and are potential drug targets) brought to the fore APOE and IL6 from among the universal biomarkers, suggesting an inflammatory/accelerated aging component that may be a targetable common denominator

Complications arising from a misdiagnosed giant lipoma of the hand and palm: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Lipomas are benign tumors which may appear in almost any human organ. Their diagnosis rate in the hand region is not known.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 63-year-old Greek Caucasian woman with a giant lipoma of the hand and palm which was not initially diagnosed. After repeated surgical decompression of the carpal tunnel the patient was referred with persisting symptoms of median and ulnar nerve compression and a prominent mass of her left palm and thenar eminence. Clinical examination, magnetic resonance imaging, nerve conduction study and biopsy, revealed a giant lipoma in the deep palmar space (8.0 × 4.0 × 3.75 cm), which was also infiltrating the carpal tunnel. She had already undergone two operations for carpal tunnel syndrome with no relief of her symptoms and she also ended up with a severed flexor pollicis longus tendon. Definitive treatment was performed by marginal resection of the lipoma and restoration of the flexor pollicis longus with an intercalated graft harvested from the palmaris longus. Thirty months after surgery the patient had a fully functional hand without any neurological deficit.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Not all lipomas of the wrist and hand are diagnosed. Our report tries to emphasize the hidden danger of lipomas in cases with carpal tunnel symptoms. The need for a high index of suspicion in conjunction with good clinical evaluation and the use of appropriate investigative studies is mandatory in order to avoid unnecessary operations and complications. Marginal excision of these tumors is restorative.</p

Decaying Hidden Dark Matter in Warped Compactification

The recent PAMELA and ATIC/Fermi/HESS experiments have observed an excess of electrons and positrons, but not anti-protons, in the high energy cosmic rays. To explain this result, we construct a decaying hidden dark matter model in string theory compactification that incorporates the following two ingredients, the hidden dark matter scenario in warped compactification and the phenomenological proposal of hidden light particles that decay to the Standard Model. In this model, on higher dimensional warped branes, various warped Kaluza-Klein particles and the zero-mode of gauge field play roles of the hidden dark matter or mediators to the Standard Model.Comment: 15 pages; v4, several clarifications added, update on Fermi/HESS result

Astrophysical Uncertainties in the Cosmic Ray Electron and Positron Spectrum From Annihilating Dark Matter

In recent years, a number of experiments have been conducted with the goal of studying cosmic rays at GeV to TeV energies. This is a particularly interesting regime from the perspective of indirect dark matter detection. To draw reliable conclusions regarding dark matter from cosmic ray measurements, however, it is important to first understand the propagation of cosmic rays through the magnetic and radiation fields of the Milky Way. In this paper, we constrain the characteristics of the cosmic ray propagation model through comparison with observational inputs, including recent data from the CREAM experiment, and use these constraints to estimate the corresponding uncertainties in the spectrum of cosmic ray electrons and positrons from dark matter particles annihilating in the halo of the Milky Way.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure