Assessing Graduate Student Needs and Structures of Support at Virginia Commonwealth University

The purpose of this multi-case study was to explore how the institutional landscape is designed to support graduate student success at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), a large, public, urban, R1 research university. The study included review of existing literature on the various factors that contribute to or limit graduate student success at institutions across the country. A major aim of this study was to collect qualitative data from participants with a key stake in this issue, including enrolled graduate students, and faculty/staff supporting graduate (master’s and doctoral) programs at VCU. Participants included 39 graduate students and 23 institutional stakeholders. All graduate students were invited to participate by email, with 39 final graduate students participating in seven, 60-90 minute focus groups of 6-8 students via Zoom with two members of the research team. Institutional stakeholders, with roles as full-time faculty or staff members at the university, were identified through institutional mapping and website review and invited via email, participated in 60-minute, one-on-one interviews via Zoom with one member of the research team. The study resulted in data coalescing around larger themes of graduate student support, factors promoting graduate student success, and challenges and barriers to success. A benchmarking comparison of VCU alongside peer institutions related to standards for graduate studies further identified areas of interest in 1) Programs and Services for Student Success, 2) Social Justice and Accessibility, 3) Collaboration, and 4) Assessment and Strategic Planning. Findings from the study indicated that, although VCU students appear to excel academically, there are challenges to graduate students balancing the demands of academic rigor with other obligations including, familial support, mental health and wellbeing needs, financial obligations, and social engagement. VCU students will continue to need increased support for funding, social connections, and referrals to appropriate resources. These findings have significant implications for structuring support for graduate students both at Virginia Commonwealth University and could influence institutions similarly situated across the country

Does microbicide use in consumer products promote antimicrobial resistance? A critical review and recommendations for a cohesive approach to risk assessment

The increasing use of microbicides in consumer products is raising concerns related to enhanced microbicide resistance in bacteria and potential cross resistance to antibiotics. The recently published documents on this topic from the European Commission have spawned much interest to better understand the true extent of the putative links for the benefit of the manufacturers, regulators, and consumers alike. This white paper is based on a 2-day workshop (SEAC-Unilever, Bedford, United Kingdom; June 2012) in the fields of microbicide usage and resistance. It identifies gaps in our knowledge and also makes specific recommendations for harmonization of key terms and refinement/standardization of methods for testing microbicide resistance to better assess the impact and possible links with cross resistance to antibiotics. It also calls for a better cohesion in research in this field. Such information is crucial to developing any risk assessment framework on microbicide use notably in consumer products. The article also identifies key research questions where there are inadequate data, which, if addressed, could promote improved knowledge and understanding to assess any related risks for consumer and environmental safety

“Economic man” in cross-cultural perspective: Behavioral experiments in 15 small-scale societies

Researchers from across the social sciences have found consistent deviations from the predictions of the canonical model of self-interest in hundreds of experiments from around the world. This research, however, cannot determine whether the uniformity results from universal patterns of human behavior or from the limited cultural variation available among the university students used in virtually all prior experimental work. To address this, we undertook a cross-cultural study of behavior in ultimatum, public goods, and dictator games in a range of small-scale societies exhibiting a wide variety of economic and cultural conditions. We found, first, that the canonical model – based on self-interest – fails in all of the societies studied. Second, our data reveal substantially more behavioral variability across social groups than has been found in previous research. Third, group-level differences in economic organization and the structure of social interactions explain a substantial portion of the behavioral variation across societies: the higher the degree of market integration and the higher the payoffs to cooperation in everyday life, the greater the level of prosociality expressed in experimental games. Fourth, the available individual-level economic and demographic variables do not consistently explain game behavior, either within or across groups. Fifth, in many cases experimental play appears to reflect the common interactional patterns of everyday life

Increased Severity of HSV-1 Keratitis and Mortality in Mice Lacking The 2–5A-Dependent RNase L Gene

Purpose: The2′,5′-oligoadenylate-dependent RNase L gene functions in the interferon-inducible RNA decay pathway known as the 2–5A system. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the absence of this gene affects the pathogenesis of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) ocular infection in the mouse. Methods: HSV-1 (strain McKrae) was applied bilaterally to unscarified corneas of RNase L–null mice and congenic controls. To evaluate the severity of herpetic keratitis, slit lamp examinations (SLE) were performed every other day for 14 days. To study corneal histology and apoptosis, HSV-1–inoculated RNase-L-null and congenic control mice, as well as mock-inoculated mice (apoptosis negative control), were killed at 6 and 18 hours postinoculation (PI). Uninoculated mice that underwent corneal scarification (apoptosis positive control) were killed 2 hours after scarification. Eyes were dissected and the corneas processed for light and transmission electron microscopy and the TUNEL assay. Results: In comparison with the congenic control mice, RNase L–null mice showed significantly more severe herpetic keratitis (PI day 8, SLE score, mean ± SEM: 3.27 ± 0.10 vs. 2.34 ± 0.06; P \u3c 0.001) and significantly higher mortality (PI day 14, 70% vs. 20%; P \u3c 0.001). Few apoptotic cells were seen in HSV-1–infected RNase L–null mice, although DNA fragmentation consistent with apoptosis was detected in the corneas of congenic control mice 6 and 18 hours after HSV-1 inoculation and in uninfected mice with scarified corneas. Signs of apoptosis were not present in the mock-infected corneas. Electron microscopic evidence of keratocytic apoptosis was detected only in the uninfected scarified corneas and the HSV-1–infected congenic control corneas. Conclusions: The increased severity of ocular disease and increased mortality in the RNase L–null mice provides evidence, for the first time, that the 2–5A system contributes to protection during ocular herpetic infection. The reduced frequency of apoptosis in these mice suggests that one possible mechanism for this protective effect could be the induction of apoptosis in corneal cells as a means of reducing the spread of infectious virus

The effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone and scopolamine in Alzheimer's disease and normal volunteers

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), a neuromodulator and possibly a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, was shown in a prior study of young normal volunteers to attenuate the memory impairment induced by the anticholinergic drug scopolamine. In the present study, the cognitive, behavioral and physiologic effects of high dose TRH (0.5 mg/kg), both alone and following administration of scopolamine, were examined in 10 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients (mean age±SD=63.5 years) and 12 older normal volunteers (mean age=64.9±8.8 years). On the day AD subjects received TRH alone, modest but statistically significant improvement from baseline performance was documented on some tests of learning and memory, especially in those with mild dementia severity. In comparing cognitive test performance between the scopolamine alone and scopolamine+TRH conditions, only two test scores were significantly higher in the latter condition. In the group of older volunteers, TRH did not attenuate scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment, contrary to prior findings in a group of younger controls. In fact, older subjects performed worse after receiving scopolamine followed by TRH than after receiving scopolamine alone. In addition, no change from baseline cognitive performance was detected after subjects received TRH alone. These findings raise several questions and speculations on possible age-related changes in the cholinergic system, as well as on the mechanism of the interaction of TRH with the cholinergic system.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68371/2/10.1177_026988119200600404.pd

Lifelong exercise, but not short-term high-intensity interval training, increases GDF11, a marker of successful aging: a preliminary investigation

Lifelong exercise is associated with regulation of skeletal mass and function, reductions in frailty, and successful aging. Yet, the influence of exercise on myostatin and myostatin-interacting factors is relatively under examined in older males. Therefore, we investigated whether serum total myostatin, free myostatin, follistatin, and growth and differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) were altered following high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in a group of 13 lifelong sedentary (SED; 64 [6] years) and 11 lifelong exercising (LEX; 62 [6] years) older males. SED follistatin was moderately greater than LEX pre-HIIT (Cohen's d = 0.66), and was largely greater post-HIIT (Cohen's d = 1.22). The HIIT-induced increase in follistatin was large in SED (Cohen's d = 0.82) and absent in LEX (Cohen's d = 0.03). GDF11 was higher in LEX pre-HIIT (Cohen's d = 0.49) and post-HIIT (Cohen's d = 0.63) compared to SED. HIIT resulted in no change to GDF11 in LEX or SED (Cohen's d = 0.00–0.03). Peak power output and GDF11 were correlated (r = 0.603), independent of grouping. Differences in GDF11 with lifelong exercise training, paired with the correlation between GDF11 and peak power output, suggested that GDF11 may be a relevant myostatin-interacting peptide to successful aging in humans, and strategies to maintain this need to be further explored