Place matters: challenges and opportunities in four rural Americas

A survey of 7,800 rural Americans in 19 counties across the country has led to the Carsey Institute\u27s first major publication that outlines four distinctly different rural Americas—amenity, decline, chronic poverty, and those communities in decline that are also amenity-rich—each has unique challenges in this modern era that will require different policies than their rural neighbors

Aristaless-like homeobox protein 1 (ALX1) variant associated with craniofacial structure and frontonasal dysplasia in Burmese cats

AbstractFrontonasal dysplasia (FND) can have severe presentations that are medically and socially debilitating. Several genes are implicated in FND conditions, including Aristaless-Like Homeobox 1 (ALX1), which is associated with FND3. Breeds of cats are selected and bred for extremes in craniofacial morphologies. In particular, a lineage of Burmese cats with severe brachycephyla is extremely popular and is termed Contemporary Burmese. Genetic studies demonstrated that the brachycephyla of the Contemporary Burmese is a simple co-dominant trait, however, the homozygous cats have a severe craniofacial defect that is incompatible with life. The craniofacial defect of the Burmese was genetically analyzed over a 20 year period, using various genetic analysis techniques. Family-based linkage analysis localized the trait to cat chromosome B4. Genome-wide association studies and other genetic analyses of SNP data refined a critical region. Sequence analysis identified a 12bp in frame deletion in ALX1, c.496delCTCTCAGGACTG, which is 100% concordant with the craniofacial defect and not found in cats not related to the Contemporary Burmese

Metabolic Syndrome and Autoimmune Diabetes: Action LADA 3

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to estimate whether prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adult European diabetic patients is associated with type of diabetes

Improving survival for patients with advanced heart failure: A study of 737 consecutive patients

Objectives.This study sought to determine whether survival and risk of sudden death have improved for patients with advanced heart failure referred for consideration for heart transplantation as advances in medical therapy were systematically implemented over an 8-year period.Background.Recent survival trials in patients with mild to moderate heart failure and patients after a myocardial infarction have shown that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are beneficial, type I antiarrhythmic drugs can be detrimental, and amiodarone may be beneficial in some groups. The impact of advances in therapy may be enhanced or blunted when applied to severe heart failure.Methods.One-year mortality and sudden death were determined in relation to time, baseline variables and therapeutics for 737 consecutive patients referred for heart transplantation and discharged home on medical therapy from 1986 to 1988, 1989 to 1990 and 1991 to 1993. Medical care was directed by a single team of physicians with policies established by consensus. From 1986 to 1990, the hydralazine/isosorbide dinitrate combination or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were the initial vasodilators, and class I antiarrhythmic drugs were allowed. After 1990, captopril was the initial vasodilator, given to 86% of patients compared with 46% of patients before 1989. After mid-1989, class I agents were routinely withdrawn, and amiodarone was used for frequent ventricular ectopic beats or atrial fibrillation (53% of patients after 1990 vs. 10% before 1989).Results.The total 1-year mortality rate decreased from 33% before 1989 to 16% after 1990 (p = 0.0001), and sudden death decreased from 20% to 8% (p = 0.0006). Adjusted for clinical and hemodynamic variables in multivariate proportional hazards models, total mortality and sudden death were lower after 1990.Conclusions.The large reduction in mortality, particularly in sudden death, from advanced heart failure since 1990 may reflect an enhanced impact of therapeutic advances shown in large randomized trials when they are incorporated into a comprehensive approach in this population. This improved survival supports the growing practice of maintaining potential heart transplant candidates on optimal medical therapy until clinical decompensation mandates transplantation

Left gaze bias in humans, rhesus monkeys and domestic dogs

While viewing faces, human adults often demonstrate a natural gaze bias towards the left visual field, that is, the right side of the viewee’s face is often inspected first and for longer periods. Using a preferential looking paradigm, we demonstrate that this bias is neither uniquely human nor limited to primates, and provide evidence to help elucidate its biological function within a broader social cognitive framework. We observed that 6-month-old infants showed a wider tendency for left gaze preference towards objects and faces of different species and orientation, while in adults the bias appears only towards upright human faces. Rhesus monkeys showed a left gaze bias towards upright human and monkey faces, but not towards inverted faces. Domestic dogs, however, only demonstrated a left gaze bias towards human faces, but not towards monkey or dog faces, nor to inanimate object images. Our findings suggest that face- and species-sensitive gaze asymmetry is more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously recognised, is not constrained by attentional or scanning bias, and could be shaped by experience to develop adaptive behavioural significance

Celebrating 20 Years of the ExCEEd Teaching Workshop

In response to the clear need for faculty training, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) developed and funded Project ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) which is celebrating its twentieth year of existence. For the past two decades, 38 ExCEEd Teaching Workshops (ETW) have been held at six different universities. The program has 910 graduates from over 267 different U.S. and international colleges and universities. The ExCEEd effort has transformed from one that relied on the grass roots support of its participants to one that is supported and embraced by department heads and deans. This paper summarizes the history of Project ExCEEd, describes the content of the ETW, assesses its effectiveness, highlights changes in the program as a result of the assessment, and outlines the future direction of the program

Anti-cancer effects and mechanism of actions of aspirin analogues in the treatment of glioma cancer

INTRODUCTION: In the past 25 years only modest advancements in glioma treatment have been made, with patient prognosis and median survival time following diagnosis only increasing from 3 to 7 months. A substantial body of clinical and preclinical evidence has suggested a role for aspirin in the treatment of cancer with multiple mechanisms of action proposed including COX 2 inhibition, down regulation of EGFR expression, and NF-κB signaling affecting Bcl-2 expression. However, with serious side effects such as stroke and gastrointestinal bleeding, aspirin analogues with improved potency and side effect profiles are being developed. METHOD: Effects on cell viability following 24 hr incubation of four aspirin derivatives (PN508, 517, 526 and 529) were compared to cisplatin, aspirin and di-aspirin in four glioma cell lines (U87 MG, SVG P12, GOS – 3, and 1321N1), using the PrestoBlue assay, establishing IC50 and examining the time course of drug effects. RESULTS: All compounds were found to decrease cell viability in a concentration and time dependant manner. Significantly, the analogue PN517 (IC50 2mM) showed approximately a twofold increase in potency when compared to aspirin (3.7mM) and cisplatin (4.3mM) in U87 cells, with similar increased potency in SVG P12 cells. Other analogues demonstrated similar potency to aspirin and cisplatin. CONCLUSION: These results support the further development and characterization of novel NSAID derivatives for the treatment of glioma