Educational Campaign on Opioid Awareness for Grant County, Indiana

The fall 2020 PR Cases & Campaigns class undertook an educational PR campaign. With an overall goal of creating awareness and change surrounding the opioid epidemic in Grant County and providing ways to combat it, 15 students, led by Dr. Donna Downs, worked with the Community Opioid Response team

Three Related Enzymes in Candida albicans Achieve Arginine- and Agmatine-Dependent Metabolism That Is Essential for Growth and Fungal Virulence

We thank Jane Usher (University of Exeter) for constructive criticism of the manuscript. We thank Valmik K. Vyas and Gerald R. Fink from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom, for providing the Candida CRISPR plasmid (CaCas9 Solo system pV1200 vector). N.A.R.G. acknowledges support provided by Wellcome as a Senior Investigator Award (101873/Z/13/Z), Collaborative Award (200208/A/15/Z), and Strategic Award (097377/Z11/Z) and by the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/2). R.M.A. acknowledges support from an EPSRC/BBSRC Interface Innovation Fellowship (EP/S001352/1). K.S., N.A.R.G., S.B., and J.W. conceived the study. N.A.R.G. was awarded the grant that served as a resource for this study. K.S., S.C., D.M.M., and S.B. performed experiments. K.S., N.A.R.G., S.B., and R.M.A. analyzed and interpreted results. K.S., N.A.R.G., and S.B. wrote the paper, and all of us provided comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Genetic and lifestyle risk factors for MRI-defined brain infarcts in a population-based setting.

OBJECTIVE: To explore genetic and lifestyle risk factors of MRI-defined brain infarcts (BI) in large population-based cohorts. METHODS: We performed meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and examined associations of vascular risk factors and their genetic risk scores (GRS) with MRI-defined BI and a subset of BI, namely, small subcortical BI (SSBI), in 18 population-based cohorts (n = 20,949) from 5 ethnicities (3,726 with BI, 2,021 with SSBI). Top loci were followed up in 7 population-based cohorts (n = 6,862; 1,483 with BI, 630 with SBBI), and we tested associations with related phenotypes including ischemic stroke and pathologically defined BI. RESULTS: The mean prevalence was 17.7% for BI and 10.5% for SSBI, steeply rising after age 65. Two loci showed genome-wide significant association with BI: FBN2, p = 1.77 × 10-8; and LINC00539/ZDHHC20, p = 5.82 × 10-9. Both have been associated with blood pressure (BP)-related phenotypes, but did not replicate in the smaller follow-up sample or show associations with related phenotypes. Age- and sex-adjusted associations with BI and SSBI were observed for BP traits (p value for BI, p [BI] = 9.38 × 10-25; p [SSBI] = 5.23 × 10-14 for hypertension), smoking (p [BI] = 4.4 × 10-10; p [SSBI] = 1.2 × 10-4), diabetes (p [BI] = 1.7 × 10-8; p [SSBI] = 2.8 × 10-3), previous cardiovascular disease (p [BI] = 1.0 × 10-18; p [SSBI] = 2.3 × 10-7), stroke (p [BI] = 3.9 × 10-69; p [SSBI] = 3.2 × 10-24), and MRI-defined white matter hyperintensity burden (p [BI] = 1.43 × 10-157; p [SSBI] = 3.16 × 10-106), but not with body mass index or cholesterol. GRS of BP traits were associated with BI and SSBI (p ≤ 0.0022), without indication of directional pleiotropy. CONCLUSION: In this multiethnic GWAS meta-analysis, including over 20,000 population-based participants, we identified genetic risk loci for BI requiring validation once additional large datasets become available. High BP, including genetically determined, was the most significant modifiable, causal risk factor for BI

Association Between Trust and Mental, Social, and Physical Health Outcomes in Veterans and Active Duty Service Members With Combat-Related PTSD Symptomatology

Background: Trust represents a complex emotion and interpersonal concept which assumes abandoning control over a given situation or set of circumstances, in turn yielding such control to another party. Advances in our knowledge of post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury have underscored the need to more closely examine how trust stands to impact health outcomes in these disorders. The aim of the present study is to examine and identify relationships linking general trust with select health outcomes in a mixed sample of Veterans and Service members with a self-reported history of deployment to a combat theater and PTSD symptomatology.Methods: This study applied a cross-sectional methodology, surveying n = 427 participants recruited across six sites. This included 373 Veterans and 54 active duty Service members in the United States. Measures included demographic characteristics, combat exposure, general trust, post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology, depressive/anxiety symptomatology, alcohol use, social involvement, religiosity, and physical health. Data were analyzed descriptively as well as using Pearson correlations, Student's t-test, and multivariate regression.Results: Several significant relationships were identified, indicating an inverse relationship between trust and PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptomatology. Greater levels of trust were also significantly associated with increased social interaction and religiosity. Lastly, no significant associations were identified with either physical functioning or pain level.Conclusion: The findings suggest that trust is correlated with a variety of health outcomes in Veterans and Service members affected by combat-related PTSD. Additional, hypothesis-driven research, informed by longitudinal data, is needed to better understand how trust stands to impact health outcomes, including the development of strategies and intervention options for repairing trust

Association Between Trust and Mental, Social, and Physical Health Outcomes in Veterans and Active Duty Service Members With Combat-Related PTSD Symptomatology

Background: Trust represents a complex emotion and interpersonal concept which assumes abandoning control over a given situation or set of circumstances, in turn yielding such control to another party. Advances in our knowledge of post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury have underscored the need to more closely examine how trust stands to impact health outcomes in these disorders. The aim of the present study is to examine and identify relationships linking general trust with select health outcomes in a mixed sample of Veterans and Service members with a self-reported history of deployment to a combat theater and PTSD symptomatology. Methods: This study applied a cross-sectional methodology, surveying n = 427 participants recruited across six sites. This included 373 Veterans and 54 active duty Service members in the United States. Measures included demographic characteristics, combat exposure, general trust, post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology, depressive/anxiety symptomatology, alcohol use, social involvement, religiosity, and physical health. Data were analyzed descriptively as well as using Pearson correlations, Student's t-test, and multivariate regression. Results: Several significant relationships were identified, indicating an inverse relationship between trust and PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptomatology. Greater levels of trust were also significantly associated with increased social interaction and religiosity. Lastly, no significant associations were identified with either physical functioning or pain level. Conclusion: The findings suggest that trust is correlated with a variety of health outcomes in Veterans and Service members affected by combat-related PTSD. Additional, hypothesis-driven research, informed by longitudinal data, is needed to better understand how trust stands to impact health outcomes, including the development of strategies and intervention options for repairing trust

Soybean aphid : a new insect pest discovered in Virginia : background and survey

A new insect pest was discovered in Virginia soybean fields in the summer of 2001. Following is a brief summary of its biology, its occurrence in the U.S. and Virginia, and its potential threat to, and impact on, soybean production.Originating text in English.Citation: Herbert, D. Ames, Day, Eric R., Tuckey, Donna M., Virginia Cooperative Extension. (2002). Soybean aphid : a new insect pest discovered in Virginia : background and survey. Virginia Cooperative Extension, 444-202, 2-2