Effects of a Game-Centered Health Promotion Program on Fall Risk, Health Knowledge, and Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(4): 1149-1160, 2019. Quality of life (QOL) is an important aspect of overall well-being in older adults and can be improved with increased physical activity. One in four older adults experiences a fall each year, making it necessary to focus public health interventions towards decreasing fall risk and improving QOL in older adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the health promotion program, Bingocize®, on QOL and fall risk in community-dwelling older adults (n = 36; mean age 73.63 ± 6.97). Participants were clustered and randomly assigned to (a) experimental (n = 19; participating in Bingocize® program, or (b) control (n = 17; only played normal bingo). Each group completed a 12-week intervention that consisted of two 45-60 minute sessions per week. There were no significant interactions for any of the variables, with the exception of positive affect (PA) (F (1,34) = 5.66, p = 0.02, = 0.15, power = 0.64) and handgrip strength (F (1,34) = 8.31, p = 0.007, = 0.196, power = 0.80). There was also a significant main effect for time for health knowledge. Participating in the Bingocize® health promotion program can produce a meaningful and detectable change in handgrip strength and PA in community-dwelling older adults

Chlamydial Pre-Infection Protects From Subsequent Herpes Simplex Virus-2 Challenge in a Murine Vaginal Super-Infection Model

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Chlamydia trachomatis and Herpes Simplex Virus-2 (HSV-2) genital tract co-infections have been reported in humans and studied in vitro but the clinical consequences are unknown. Limited epidemiologic evidence suggests that these co-infections could be more severe than single infections of either pathogen, but the host-pathogen interactions during co-infection remain uncharacterized. To determine whether disease progression and/or pathogen shedding differs between singly-infected and super-infected animals, we developed an in vivo super-infection model in which female BALB/c mice were vaginally infected with Chlamydia muridarum (Cm) followed later by HSV-2. Pre-infection with Chlamydia 3 or 9 days prior to HSV-2 super-infection conferred significant protection from HSV-2-induced neurologic disease and significantly reduced viral recovery compared to HSV-2 singlyinfected controls. Neither protection from mortality nor reduced viral recovery were observed when mice were i) super-infected with HSV-2 on day 27 post Cm; ii) infected with UV-irradiated Cm and super-infected with HSV-2; or iii) azithromycin-treated prior to HSV-2 super-infection. Therefore, protection from HSV-2-induced disease requires active infection with viable chlamydiae and is not observed after chlamydial shedding ceases, either naturally or due to antibiotic treatment. Thus, Chlamydia-induced protection is transient and requires the continued presence of chlamydiae or their components. These data demonstrate that chlamydial pre-infection can alter progression of subsequent HSV-2 infection, with implications for HSV-2 transmission from co-infected humans

Self-administration of methohexital, midazolam and ethanol: effects on the pituitary–adrenal axis in rhesus monkeys

There is disagreement in the literature with respect to how drugs of abuse affect the functioning of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, and whether these changes in endocrine function may be related to the rewarding effects of these drugs.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46363/1/213_2004_Article_1986.pd

Interaction of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) glycoprotein D with the host cell surface is sufficient to induce Chlamydia trachomatis persistence

When presented with certain unfavourable environmental conditions, Chlamydia trachomatis reticulate bodies (RBs) enter into a viable, yet non-cultivable state called persistence. Previously, we established an in vitro C. trachomatis and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) co-infection model. These data indicate that (i) viral co-infection stimulates chlamydial persistence, (ii) productive HSV replication is not required for persistence induction, and (iii) HSV-induced persistence is not mediated by any currently characterized anti-chlamydial pathway or persistence inducer. In this study we demonstrated that chlamydial infectivity, though initially suppressed, recovered within 44 h of co-infection with UV-inactivated HSV-2, demonstrating that HSV-induced persistence is reversible. Co-incubation of chemically fixed, HSV-2-infected inducer cells with viable, C. trachomatis-infected responder cells both suppressed production of infectious chlamydial progeny and stimulated formation of swollen, aberrantly shaped RBs. In addition, pre-incubation of viral particles with viral glycoprotein D (gD)-specific neutralizing antibody prevented co-infection-induced persistence. Finally, exposure of C. trachomatis-infected cells to a soluble, recombinant HSV-2 gD : Fc fusion protein decreased production of infectious EBs to a degree similar to that observed in co-infected cultures. Thus, we conclude that interaction of HSV gD with the host cell surface is sufficient to trigger a novel host anti-chlamydial response that restricts chlamydial development

Goodbye to That!: Student Suite: Performance for the Refereed Symposium Goodbye to All That! A Living Inquiry, for the Interdisciplinary Symposium on Qualitative Methodologies, University of South Florida, April 15, 2017, Tampa, Florida.

Post-performance photos and program program for the Refereed Symposium Goodbye to All That! A Living Inquiry, for the Interdisciplinary Symposium on Qualitative Methodologies, University of South Florida, April 15, 2017, Tampa, Florida

Live Performance for ‘Goodbye to That!: Student Suite’ EDA 7280 Curriculum Theory

Performance photos, program, and data collection plan from the invited visit to EDA 7280 Curriculum Theory, University of South Florida Tampa, Instructor, Dr. Vonzell Agosto, Saturday March 11th, 2017 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Tampa FL

Goodbye to That!: Student Suite: Performance for the Refereed Symposium Goodbye to All That! A Living Inquiry, for the Interdisciplinary Symposium on Qualitative Methodologies, University of South Florida, April 15, 2017, Tampa, Florida.

https://digital.stpetersburg.usf.edu/fac_images/1232/thumbnail.jp

Providing professional support to teachers who are implementing a middle school mathematics digital unit.

Middle school teachers\u27 use of digital curricula incorporating dynamic technology has been found to support student learning of complex algebraic concepts. This article reports on pilot research involving collaboration among faculty from a public university\u27s college of education, educational researchers from a nonprofit research organization, and school district leadership from a large, urban school district. The purpose of this paper is to document a series of inquiry-based professional development sessions provided to middle school teachers on the implementation of a digitally based mathematics replacement unit emphasizing algebraic concepts. The professional development experiences allowed the participating teachers to implement the digital unit successfully using a variety of instructional approaches