Protein Concentration Elevations in Mouse Lungs Following Sudden Transient Cephalad (+Gz) Acceleration

Laboratory and feral lineages of mice were subjected to cephalad (+GZ) accelerations, for 1.8 seconds, aboard a solid fuel rocket. Spectrophotometric analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage retrieved post launch revealed significant (p \u3c .001) elevations of protein in the lungs of experimental mice. Sudden transient imposition of a mean +GZ acceleration of 6.22 ± .47 (SD) G, at lift-off, may have induced hypervolemia of basilar pulmonary microvasculature with concomitant migration of fluid and protein from intravascular to juxta-alveolar perivascular compartments. Exudates may have entered bronchiolar airways subsequently gravitating toward alveoli

Clinical features of alcoholic hepatitis in latinos and caucasians: A single center experience.

AimTo study differences of presentation, management, and prognosis of alcoholic hepatitis in Latinos compared to Caucasians.MethodsWe retrospectively screened 876 charts of Caucasian and Latino patients who were evaluated at University of California Davis Medical Center between 1/1/2002-12/31/2014 with the diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease. We identified and collected data on 137 Caucasians and 64 Latinos who met criteria for alcoholic hepatitis, including chronic history of heavy alcohol use, at least one episode of jaundice with bilirubin ≥ 3.0 or coagulopathy, new onset of liver decompensation or acute liver decompensation in known cirrhosis within 12 wk of last drink.ResultsThe mean age at presentation of alcoholic hepatitis was not significantly different between Latinos and Caucasians. There was significant lower rate of overall substance abuse in Caucasians compared to Latinos and Latinos had a higher rate of methamphetamine abuse (12.5% vs 0.7%) compared to Caucasians. Latinos had a higher mean number of hospitalizations (5.3 ± 5.6 vs 2.7 ± 2.7, P = 0.001) and mean Emergency Department visits (9.5 ± 10.8 vs 4.5 ± 4.1, P = 0.017) for alcohol related issues and complications compared to Caucasians. There was significantly higher rate of complications of portal hypertension including gastrointestinal bleeding (79.7% vs 45.3%, P < 0.001), spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (26.6% vs 9.5%, P = 0.003), and encephalopathy (81.2% vs 55.5%, P = 0.001) in Latinos compared to Caucasians.ConclusionLatinos have significant higher rates of utilization of acute care services for manifestations alcoholic hepatitis and complications suggesting poor access to outpatient care

Preserving non-negative porosity values in a bi-phase elasto-plastic material under Terzaghi’s effective stress principle

Poromechanics is a well-established field of continuum mechanics which seeks to model materials with multiple phases, usually a stiff solid phase and fluid phases of liquids or gases. Applications are widespread particularly in geomechanics where Terzaghi's effective stress is widely used to solve engineering soil mechanics problems. This approach assumes that the solid phase is incompressible, an assumption that leads to many advantages and simplifications without major loss of fidelity to the real world. Under the assumption of finite (as opposed to infinitesimal) strains, the poromechnaics of two- or bi-phase materials gains complexity and while the compressible solid phase case has received attention from researchers, the incompressible case has received less. For the finite strain - incompressible solid phase case there is a fundamental issue with standard material models, in that for some loadings solid skeleton mass conservation is violated and negative Eulerian porosities are predicted. While, to the authors' best knowledge, acknowledgement of this essential problem has been disregarded in the literature, an elegant solution is presented here, where the constraint on Eulerian porosity can be incorporated into the free energy function for a material. The formulation is explained in detail, soundly grounded in the laws of thermodynamics and validated on a number of illustrative examples

Violent victimization among immigrants: Using the National Violent Death Reporting System to examine foreign-born homicide victimization in the United States

Limited research attention has focused on homicides involving foreign-born victims. Using data from the National Violent Death Reporting System, we examined 9428 homicides that occurred in 2017 in the United States across 32 states and D.C. Approximately 8% of homicide victims were foreign-born. Homicide victimization rates were substantially lower for foreign-born persons, compared to U.S.-born persons. However, foreign-born persons from Honduras, El Salvador, and Jamaica had a substantially higher risk of homicide victimization. Notably, few homicides involving foreign-born victims were gang- or drug-trade-related. With the growing number of immigrants in the United States, policy and prevention efforts should be guided by research

Heads Up: Using Your Brain When Tackling Concussions

Introduction: A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) typically caused by bio-mechanical forces inflicted on the head that change the way the brain works. Concussions can also result from a blow elsewhere in the body causing an impulsive force transmitted to the head. These types of injuries often involve a sudden onset of neurologic function impairment such as confusion, amnesia, or loss of consciousness that quickly dissipates and is generally not life-threatening. Unfortunately, these seemingly “mild” symptoms have led numerous primary care providers to undermine its potential risks, often leading to inadequate evaluation, premature return to play, and poor psychological management. Complications of severe or repeated concussions include migraines, depression & mood changes, sleep disorders, convulsions, coma, and in some instances even death. The goals of our study were to evaluate public awareness and knowledge of concussion, identify common misconceptions, assess barriers to proper management, and propose uniform guidelines for education, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to be used in the Vermont school system.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1051/thumbnail.jp

Procalcitonin and midregional proatrial natriuretic peptide as biomarkers of subclinical cerebrovascular damage: the northern manhattan study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chronic infections and cardiac dysfunction are risk factors for stroke. We hypothesized that blood biomarkers of infection (procalcitonin) and cardiac dysfunction (midregional proatrial natriuretic peptide [MR-proANP]), previously associated with small vessel stroke and cardioembolic stroke are also associated with subclinical cerebrovascular damage, including silent brain infarcts and white matter hyperintensity volume. METHODS: The NOMAS (Northern Manhattan Study) was designed to assess risk factors for incident vascular disease in a multiethnic cohort. A subsample underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging and had blood samples available for biomarker measurement (n=1178). We used logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the association of these biomarkers with silent brain infarcts after adjusting for demographic, behavioral, and medical risk factors. We used linear regression to assess associations with log-white matter hyperintensity volume. RESULTS: Mean age was 70±9 years; 60% were women, 66% Hispanic, 17% black, and 15% were white. After adjusting for risk factors, subjects with procalcitonin or MR-proANP in the top quartile, compared with the lowest quartile were more likely to have silent brain infarcts (adjusted odds ratio for procalcitonin, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.3-3.7 and for MR-proANP, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.7-6.3) and increased white matter hyperintensity volume (adjusted mean change in log-white matter hyperintensity volume for procalcitonin, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.13-0.44 and for MR-proANP, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.004-0.36). CONCLUSIONS: Higher concentrations of procalcitonin, a marker of infection, and MR-proANP, a marker of cardiac dysfunction, are independently associated with subclinical cerebrovascular damage. If further studies demonstrate an incremental value for risk stratification, biomarker-guided primary prevention studies may lead to new approaches to prevent cerebrovascular disease

Avec Alain Epelboin et Jean-Charles Coulon. D’hier à aujourd’hui : enquêtes sur les talismans et les manuscrits de sciences occultes en Islam

Contrairement à la théologie ou la philosophie, les sciences occultes ont souvent été abordées avec dédain et mépris dans la tradition savante orientaliste au xixe siècle et au début du xxe. Pourtant, ces sciences étaient très importantes, notamment parmi les élites, comme en témoigne le mécénat exercé par des califes et des souverains dès le viiie siècle. Ce succès a persisté aux époques mameloukes et ottomanes, qui nous ont légué un grand nombre de manuscrits. L’apparition de la lithographie a cependant permis une plus large diffusion de ces savoirs, et, par exemple, le Shams al-maʿārif (Le Soleil des connaissances) attribué à al-Būnī (m. 1225 ou 1232) est devenu un véritable manuel indispensable à tous les praticiens. Il s’agit d’un des ouvrages fondamentaux des fabricants de talismans en Afrique de l’Ouest. Une enquête inaugurée par la découverte d’amulettes et d’écrits talismaniques dans une décharge à ordures de Dakar retrace les origines mystérieuses de ces talismans pour mettre au jour leurs hypotextes, issus de manuscrits de sciences occultes médiévaux. Un double regard sur ces objets-textes énigmatiques, celui de l’ethnologue Alain Epelboin et de l’historien Jean-Charles Coulon, révèle les liens qui se tissent entre l’art des écrits talismaniques, l’islam et certains savoirs ésotériques plus anciens

Evolution of a Sexually Dimorphic Trait in a Broadly Distributed Topminnow (Fundulus Olivaceus)

Understanding the interaction between sexual and natural selection within variable environments is crucial to our understanding of evolutionary processes. The handicap principle predicts females will prefer males with exaggerated traits provided those traits are indicators of male quality to ensure direct or indirect female benefits. Spatial variability in ecological factors is expected to alter the balance between sexual and natural selection that defines the evolution of such traits. Male and female blackspotted topminnows (Fundulidae: Fundulus olivaceus) display prominent black dorsolateral spots that are variable in number across its broad range. We investigated variability in spot phenotypes at 117 sites across 13 river systems and asked if the trait was sexually dimorphic and positively correlated with measures of fitness (condition and gonadosomatic index [GSI]). Laboratory and mesocosm experiments assessed female mate choice and predation pressure on spot phenotypes. Environmental and community data collected at sampling locations were used to assess predictive models of spot density at the individual, site, and river system level. Greater number of spots was positively correlated with measures of fitness in males. Males with more spots were preferred by females and suffered greater mortality due to predation. Water clarity (turbidity) was the best predictor of spot density on the drainage scale, indicating that sexual and natural selection for the trait may be mediated by local light environments

Evolution of a Sexually Dimorphic Trait In a Broadly Distributed Topminnow (\u3ci\u3eFundulus olivaceus\u3c/i\u3e)

Understanding the interaction between sexual and natural selection within variable environments is crucial to our understanding of evolutionary processes. The handicap principle predicts females will prefer males with exaggerated traits provided those traits are indicators of male quality to ensure direct or indirect female benefits. Spatial variability in ecological factors is expected to alter the balance between sexual and natural selection that defines the evolution of such traits. Male and female blackspotted topminnows (Fundulidae: Fundulus olivaceus) display prominent black dorsolateral spots that are variable in number across its broad range. We investigated variability in spot phenotypes at 117 sites across 13 river systems and asked if the trait was sexually dimorphic and positively correlated with measures of fitness (condition and gonadosomatic index [GSI]). Laboratory and mesocosm experiments assessed femalemate choice and predation pressure on spot phenotypes. Environmental and community data collected at sampling locations were used to assess predictive models of spot density at the individual, site, and river system level. Greater number of spots was positively correlated with measures of fitness in males. Males with more spots were preferred by females and suffered greater mortality due to predation. Water clarity (turbidity) was the best predictor of spot density on the drainage scale, indicating that sexual and natural selection for the trait may be mediated by local light environments