Socially Acceptable Alcohol Use: The normalization of binge-drinking and the influences of the COVID-19 pandemic in a college sample.

The relationship between college students and binge-drinking is a heavily researched and discussed topic. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic a whole new side of the issue is introduced. The impacts of the pandemic on binge drinking episodes, as well as personal desire to binge drink, is valuable data to be analyzed. This capstone project collected data from Georgia Southern students on their drinking habits, as well as how COVID-19 interrupted their social life. Their personal drinking habits were investigated, including how often they find themselves “black-out drinking” and how many drinks they usually consume on a single drinking occasion, as well as what they believe the opinion of their peers on what is acceptable alcohol consumption to be. The survey resulted in every respondent listing the maximum number of drinks they consider to be acceptable to drink as less than what they believe their peers considered acceptable. Additionally, 44% of respondents reported that their desire to drink when school moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while only 8% reported their desire decreased. Some common themes in reasoning for this change in actual consumption included students feeling like they had missed out on too much during isolation due to the pandemic, and drinking as a coping mechanism to deal with stress and depression that came about as a result of COVID-19. These results and more revealed interesting implications regarding social norms and the effects of limited social interaction on those internalized norms

Measuring Cultural Competence in the Acute Care Setting

Poster presentation on the psychometric properties of an instrument used in the assessment of cultural competence

Covid-19 shows us that prison healthcare is in dire need of reform

The spread of COVID-19 has had a huge negative impact on those involved with the criminal justice system – a group which already suffers from poorer healthcare outcomes. Cynthia Golembeski, Ans Irfan, Brie Williams, and Homer Venters write that the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to push for reforms to reduce prison populations and to move to a more humane evidence-based healthcare system for those involved with the justice system

Agricultural practices and nitrate pollution in ground water in the Central Valley of Chile

Nitrate contamination of groundwater is an issue of global concern. Anthropogenic fixation of nitrate has increased exponentially in the last century and the over-application of nitrogen fertilizer is currently the largest intrusion into the nitrogen cycle. Previous studies have determined that various regional conditions can contribute to the level of nitrate contamination in groundwater. In addition to chemical and physical conditions, fertilizer application rates and overirrigation can serve as compounding factors. This study attempted to analyze the previously mentioned conditions by monitoring nitrogen concentrations in ground water from sampling wells in the Central Valley of Chile over a 13-month period. Samples were collected monthly and nutrient concentrations were analyzed. In all wells, concentrations of nitrate and nitrite were determined to be well above the established MCL?s for each and a general trend was observed in the concentrations that correlates to seasonal changes in land-use practices. A field experiment was conducted to reduce fertilizer application rates and irrigation water volumes applied to test fields by deploying an experimental fertilizer/ irrigation system. Data from the sampling wells associated with the test fields shows a substantial decrease in nitrate and nitrite concentrations in the groundwater. Furthermore, when the experimental system was combined with improved water delivery methods (medium-volume furrow flooding and low-volume drip irrigation) a decrease in water volumes and fertilizer application rates of up to two? thirds was obtained without affecting crop yield rates. Results of this study suggest that the over-application of fertilizer and irrigation water reported in previous studies are in fact areas of concern and that a link exists between ground water recharge and irrigation volumes. It is further suggested that long-term application of the experimental system is necessary to prove its benefits to the agricultural, ecological, economical, and scientific communities. If the performance record for this device can be repeated under a variety of conditions its role in reducing global intrusions to the nitrogen cycle would be substantial

Impact of interleukin-6 on hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension and lung inflammation in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Inflammation may contribute to the pathogenesis of various forms of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Recent studies in patients with idiopathic PH or PH associated with underlying diseases suggest a role for interleukin-6 (IL-6).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To determine whether endogenous IL-6 contributes to mediate hypoxic PH and lung inflammation, we studied IL-6-deficient (IL-6^-/-) and wild-type (IL-6^+/+) mice exposed to hypoxia for 2 weeks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Right ventricular systolic pressure, right ventricle hypertrophy, and the number and media thickness of muscular pulmonary vessels were decreased in IL-6^-/-mice compared to wild-type controls after 2 weeks' hypoxia, although the pressure response to acute hypoxia was similar in IL-6^+/+and IL-6^-/-mice. Hypoxia exposure of IL-6^+/+mice led to marked increases in IL-6 mRNA and protein levels within the first week, with positive IL-6 immunostaining in the pulmonary vessel walls. Lung IL-6 receptor and gp 130 (the IL-6 signal transducer) mRNA levels increased after 1 and 2 weeks' hypoxia. In vitro studies of cultured human pulmonary-artery smooth-muscle-cells (PA-SMCs) and microvascular endothelial cells revealed prominent synthesis of IL-6 by PA-SMCs, with further stimulation by hypoxia. IL-6 also markedly stimulated PA-SMC migration without affecting proliferation. Hypoxic IL-6^-/-mice showed less inflammatory cell recruitment in the lungs, compared to hypoxic wild-type mice, as assessed by lung protein levels and immunostaining for the specific macrophage marker F4/80, with no difference in lung expression of adhesion molecules or cytokines.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data suggest that IL-6 may be actively involved in hypoxia-induced lung inflammation and pulmonary vascular remodeling in mice.</p

Molecular basis of flowering under natural long-day conditions in <i>Arabidopsis</i>

Plants sense light and temperature changes to regulate flowering time. Here, we show that expression of the Arabidopsis florigen gene, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), peaks in the morning during spring, a different pattern than we observe in the laboratory. Providing our laboratory growth conditions with a red/far-red light ratio similar to open-field conditions and daily temperature oscillation is sufficient to mimic the FT expression and flowering time in natural long days. Under the adjusted growth conditions, key light signalling components, such as phytochrome A and EARLY FLOWERING 3, play important roles in morning FT expression. These conditions stabilize CONSTANS protein, a major FT activator, in the morning, which is probably a critical mechanism for photoperiodic flowering in nature. Refining the parameters of our standard growth conditions to more precisely mimic plant responses in nature can provide a powerful method for improving our understanding of seasonal response

Investigating the role of NTT in the polarity of development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Understanding the role of transcriptional regulation has had enormous consequences for how we perceive the process of development in eukaryotic organisms, and Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant, is no exception. Transcription factors have key impacts on development through the regulation of complex genetic networks, which enable the construction in a complete and functional organism. The C2H2 zinc finger transcription factor, NO TRANSMITTING TRACT/ (NTT) was previously characterized as a regulator of transmitting tract formation in the gynoecium of the Arabidopsis flower. NTT belongs to a small subfamily of genes that encode for other zinc finger transcription factors, which include 5 other members. Because of the sequence homology between the related genes, we suspected that some of them might have redundant functions in floral development. Using expression analysis, misexpression studies and loss-of-function studies, we have discovered an unknown function for NTT as a major regulator of polarity. Misexpression of NTT fused with the glutacoid recptor causes dramatic effects on polarity in different aspects of plant development, Though much research still needs to be completed to understand the molecular mechanism by which these genes coordinate their essential function, this material begins the analysis towards that goa

The Cultural Production of Mayotte (Maore)

The new status of the island of Mayotte (Maore) as the fifth French Overseas Department means that Mahorais culture is now officially part of the Francophone world, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Has this change in status provided a boost to cultural production intended for audiences beyond Mayotte\u27s coral reef? Perhaps. Indeed, officially becoming part of France has resulted in renewed tension between French and Mahorais cultures, the latter now trying to carve out a space within a society where local cultures lack official status of virtually any kind. At the same time, traditional French society is struggling to understand how to integrate Mahorais culture into its own fabric, in much the same way as it attempts to embrace the many immigrant cultures already present in the Hexagon. In recent years, performances of island dances have gained in popularity in metropolitan France, a full-length film was produced on the island that will be broadcast on the Arte network in 2013, and French-language literature, mostly penned as yet by Wazungu natives of metropolitan France living on the island - is beginning to emerge. Some strides have been made in setting the stage for a future literature in Shimaore and Kibushi, but for the most part, creative work in the islands indigenous languages remains limited to music, dance, and oral narrative. In this talk, I survey existing cultural production and point out some recent developments