Binational/Cross Cultural Health Enhancement Center (BiCCHEC) at IUPUI

poster abstractBiCCHEC fosters multidisciplinary research collaborations that address the biological, cultural, historical, legal, behavioral and demographic issues that impact the health status of communities where Latinos are born and where they live in Indiana. BiCCHEC has a commitment not only to research but also to teaching and service, and works always in partnership with communities. Current projects include: A microcredit project for residents of rural villages in Mexico, in partnership with the Indianapolis Rotary Club and ProMujer; a study on international service-learning outcomes of health professional students in the U.S., Latin America (Mexico), Africa (Kenya), and Asia (China), a partnership among IUSD, IUSM and IUSON faculty; a study on oral health disparities using community-based participatory research methodology, in partnership with La Plaza, and the Institute for Mexicans Abroad; and, a study on the dissemination of the Helping Babies Breath program in small rural communities, in partnership with the UAEH

Teeth With Mild and Moderate Enamel Fluorosis Demonstrate Increased Caries Susceptibility In Vitro

Subjects In this laboratory study, 49 human unerupted third molars extracted for clinical reasons and classified as scores 0-4 using the Thylstrup and Fejerskov (TF) index (n = 9 for TF0, n = 10 for TF1, n = 10 for TF2, n = 10 for TF3, and n = 10 for TF4) were included. TF1-TF4 teeth were collected in Colombia, and TF0 teeth were obtained from the University of Copenhagen. Ethical approval was obtained. Key Risk/Study Factor Teeth in the study were subjected to pH cycling to induce caries lesions. Main Outcome Measure The primary outcome measure was resistance to a cariogenic challenge determined using cross-sectional microhardness. A series of indentations, starting at 10 μm below the anatomic surface down to 200 μm, were placed in the teeth using a Knoop indenter. These measurements were performed before and after pH cycling, yielding baseline and demineralization areas, both calculated “by numerical integration of the hardness vs depth values using the trapezoidal rule.” The demineralization data were then normalized for differences at baseline and a “percentage reduction” was calculated, with higher numbers being indicative of greater susceptibility to caries lesion formation. Main Results Teeth with scores of TF3 and TF4 exhibited greater susceptibility to caries lesion formation than all other teeth, with no differences being observed between unaffected teeth (TF0) and teeth with scores of TF1 and TF2. Teeth with scores of TF3 and TF4 also displayed a lower mean baseline area than those with TF1 and TF2, although not compared to TF0 teeth, indicative of greater hypomineralization. Conclusions The authors concluded that the results of their study suggest that teeth with moderate fluorosis had an increased caries susceptibility when compared to teeth with very mild or no fluorosis. They hypothesized that these differences in caries susceptibility are mainly due to dissimilarities in porosity of the enamel—in fluorotic teeth, a greater subsurface mineral area is exposed to demineralization, and deeper acid diffusion through enamel is facilitated

Metabolic and functional consequences of cytosolic 5′-nucleotidase-IA overexpression in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes

Adenosine exerts a spectrum of energy-preserving actions on the heart negative chronotropic effects. The pathways leading to adenosine formation have remained controversial. In particular, although cytosolic 5′-nucleotidases can catalyze adenosine formation in cardiomyocytes, their contribution to the actions of adenosine has not been documented previously. We recently cloned two closely related AMP-preferring cytosolic 5′-nucleotidases (cN-IA and -IB); the A form predominates in the heart. In this study, we overexpressed pigeon cN-IA in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes using an adenovirus. cN-IA overexpression increased adenosine formation and release into the medium caused by simulated hypoxia and by isoproterenol in the absence and presence of inhibitors of adenosine metabolism. Adenosine release was not affected by an ecto-5′-nucleotidase inhibitor, α,β-methylene-ADP, but was affected by a nucleoside transporter, dipyridamole. The positive chronotropic effect of isoproterenol (130 ±3 vs. 100 ±4 beats/min) was inhibited (107 ±3 vs. 94 ±3 beats/min) in cells overexpressing cN-IA, and this was reversed by the addition of the adenosine receptor antagonist 8-(p-sulfophenyl)theophilline (120 ± 3 vs. 90 ± 4 beats/min). Our results demonstrate that overexpressed cN-IA can be sufficiently active in cardiomyocytes to generate physiologically effective concentrations of adenosine at its receptors.Fil: Sala-Newby, Graciela B.. University of Bristol; Reino UnidoFil: Freeman, Nicola V. E.. University of Bristol; Reino UnidoFil: Curto, Maria de Los Angeles. University of Bristol; Reino Unido. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Newby, Andrew C.. University of Bristol; Reino Unid

Cromosomal location of four genes encoding Class III peroxidases in wheat

In a previous work, deduced amino acid sequences from twenty wheat peroxidase genes were assigned to seven groups designated as TaPrx108 to TaPrx114. Some of these apoplastic peroxidases have previously shown to play different roles in the plant defense responses to infection by the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera avenae. In the present study, PCR marker analysis using Sears’s aneuploid wheat lines cv. ‘Chinese Spring’ was used to locate four genes encoding peroxidase isozymes. The TaPrx111-A, TaPrx112-D and TaPrx113-F genes were located on the short arm of chromosome 2B and the TaPrx109-C on the long arm of chromosome 1B. These results would agree with the synteny between wheat and rice chromosomes previously established in other studies

A comprehensive study of high-metallicity giant extragalactic H II regions: ionizing populations

This is an electronic version of an article published in Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. Castellanos, M., Díaz, A.I., and E. Terlevich. A comprehensive study of high-metallicity giant extragalactic H II regions: ionizing populations. Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica 12 (2002): 25

A Beam Driven Plasma-Wakefield Linear Collider: From Higgs Factory to Multi-TeV

Plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) holds much promise for advancing the energy frontier because it can potentially provide a 1000-fold or more increase in acceleration gradient with excellent power efficiency in respect with standard technologies. Most of the advances in beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration were obtained by a UCLA/USC/SLAC collaboration working at the SLAC FFTB[ ]. These experiments have shown that plasmas can accelerate and focus both electron and positron high energy beams, and an accelerating gradient in excess of 50 GeV/m can be sustained in an 85 cm-long plasma. The FFTB experiments were essentially proof-of-principle experiments that showed the great potential of plasma accelerators. The FACET[ ] test facility at SLAC will in the period 2012-2016 further study several issues that are directly related to the applicability of PWFA to a high-energy collider, in particular two-beam acceleration where the witness beam experiences high beam loading (required for high efficiency), small energy spread and small emittance dilution (required to achieve luminosity). The PWFA-LC concept presented in this document is an attempt to find the best design that takes advantage of the PWFA, identify the critical parameters to be achieved and eventually the necessary R&D to address their feasibility. It best benefits from the extensive R&D that has been performed for conventional rf linear colliders during the last twenty years, especially ILC[ ] and CLIC[ ], with a potential for a comparably lower power consumption and cost.Comment: Submitted to the proceedings of the Snowmass Process CSS2013. Work supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC02-76SF0051

Effects of introgressed 4Nv Aegilops ventricosa chromosome on yield and yield components in bread wheat.

Effects of introgressed 4Nv Aegilops ventricosa chromosome on yield and yield components in bread whea

Critical Thinking Activities and the Enhancement of Ethical Awareness: An application of a ‘Rhetoric of Disruption’ to the undergraduate general education classroom

This article explores how critical thinking activities and assignments can function to enhance students’ ethical awareness and sense of civic responsibility. Employing Levinas’s Othercentered theory of ethics, Burke’s notion of ‘the paradox of substance’, and Murray’s concept of ‘a rhetoric of disruption’, this article explores the nature of critical thinking activities designed to have students question their (often taken-for-granted) moral assumptions and interrogate their (often unexamined) moral identities. This article argues that such critical thinking activities can trigger a metacognitive destabilization of subjectivity, understood as a dialectical prerequisite (along with exposure to otherness) for increased ethical awareness. This theoretical model is illustrated through a discussion of three sample classroom activities designed to destabilize moral assumptions and identity, thereby clearing the way for a heightened acknowledgment of otherness. In so doing, this article provides an alternative (and dialectically inverted) strategy for addressing one of the central goals of many General Education curricula: the development of ethical awareness and civic responsibility. Rather than introducing students to alternative perspectives and divergent cultures with the expectation that heightened moral awareness will follow, this article suggests classroom activities and course assignments aimed at disrupting moral subjectivity and creating an opening in which otherness can be more fully acknowledged and the diversity of our world more fully appreciated

An In-Vitro Study to Determine Anti-Caries Efficacy of Fluoride Varnishes

poster abstractFundamental research on fluoride varnishes (FV) and how different formulations affect adherence to teeth, fluoride release into saliva and uptake by teeth is virtually non-existent. The objective of this in vitro study was to investigate the anti-caries efficacy of five commercially available FV: Enamel Pro® Varnish Clear, Flor-Opal® Varnish White, MI Varnish™, PreviDent® and Vanish™. Ninety bovine enamel specimens (4x4mm) were prepared and assigned to five groups (n=18). Early caries lesions were created in the specimens and characterized using Vickers microhardness (VHN). FV was applied to each group of specimens. Immediately afterwards, 7.5ml of artificial saliva (AS) were pipetted over each group, collected and renewed every 15min for 6h. AS samples were analyzed for fluoride using a ion-specific electrode and meter. FV was removed using chloroform and part of the specimens protected to determine enamel fluoride uptake (EFU) using the acid etch technique. Each group was then subjected to pH cycling consisting of a 4h/day acid challenge and two, one-minute treatments with Crest Cavity Protection. Post-pH cycling microhardness was measured and compared to baseline values to determine the ability of the FV to enhance remineralization/prevent demineralization. One-way ANOVA was used for data analysis (p Enamel Pro® (217μg/ml) > Flor-Opal® (153μg/ml) > PreviDent® (84μg/ml) > Vanish(28μg/ml). In conclusion, anti-caries efficacy (measured through EFU, fluoride release and VHN) differs among FV products and this difference may be attributed to different composition, fluoride source and other active ingredients