Spectroscopic Study of Host-Guest Inclusion Complexes

A host-guest complex is formed by a host molecule encapsulating a guest molecule within it. The host materials in this study are basket-shaped structures, known as cyclodextrins, which can easily incorporate a variety of guests, such as drug molecules. These inclusion complexes made with cyclodextrins and drugs can be developed to have different release rates within the body. The cyclodextrin can be used to protect the drug until it reaches its destination within the body. This study focuses on Brooker’s merocyanine (BM) as the guest molecule, since it has a similar structure to stilbene-related drugs. UV/Vis and fluorometer spectroscopic studies have shown that β–cyclodextrin (B–CD) and 2-hydroxypropyl–β–cyclodextrin (2–HP–B–CD) formed 1:1 inclusion complexes with BM. The binding equilibrium constants, Keq, for the inclusion complexes formed with BM in B–CD and 2–HP–B–CD were approximately 450M^-1 and 250M^- 1, respectively. The latter value was smaller due to influential steric effects between the B-CD and BM. B-CD was used to confirm that our methodology of testing was accurate based on previous studies found Keq to be 430M^-1. (Hamasaki et al. J. Incl. Phenom. Mol. Rec. Chem. 13, 349–359 (1992))

Ridesharing as an Alternative to Ambulance Transport for Voluntary Psychiatric Patients in the Emergency Department

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) crowding is a growing problem. Psychiatric patients have long ED lengths of stay awaiting placement and transportation to a psychiatric facility after disposition.Methods: Retrospective analysis of length of ED stay after disposition for voluntary psychiatric patients before and after the use of Lyft ridesharing services for inter-facility transport.Results: Using Lyft transport to an outside crisis center shortens time to discharge both statistically and clinically from 113 minutes to 91 minutes (p = 0.028) for voluntary psychiatric patients. Discharge time also decreased for involuntary patients from 146 minutes to 127 minutes (p = 0.0053).Conclusion: Ridesharing services may be a useful alternative to medical transportation for voluntary psychiatric patients

Smoking and drug interactions

When patients enter hospital they may have to stop smoking abruptly if the hospital has a 'no smoking' policy. Abrupt smoking cessation can affect the metabolism of drugs. Cigarette smoking induces the activity of human cytochromes P450 (CYP) 1A2 and 2B6. These enzymes metabolise several clinically important drugs, including clozapine, olanzapine and methadone. Decreased CYP1A2 activity after smoking cessation increases the risk of adverse drug reactions, with reports of increased toxicity from clozapine and olanzapine. Predicting the required dose reduction of drugs metabolised by CYP1A2 after smoking cessation is challenging. Therapeutic drug monitoring should be used when possible. Nicotine replacement therapy does not influence CYP1A2 activity

Timeliness of electronic laboratory reporting vs. traditional laboratory reporting in Southern Nevada from 1999-2012

This project aims to compare timeliness between traditional laboratory reporting, ELR, and reporting after the implementation of TriSano, a modern electronic surveillance system, for common GI illnesses in Southern Nevada, with a prediction that ELR will be faster than traditional reports, and TriSano will be faster than the other two methods

Term limits alone do not cause legislators to shirk their duties—the actual results are far more complicated

A number of U.S. states currently impose some form of legislative term limits in order to ensure competition and accountability among elected officials. However, some argue that term limits actually make legislators less responsible to their constituents, causing them to abstain from more votes and shirk their duties. Jennifer Hayes Clark and R. Lucas Williams argue that the willingness to shirk depends more on future career goals and the type of vote rather than term limits alone

Centralized Project-Specific Metadata Platforms: Toolkit Provides New Perspectives on Open Data Management within Multi-Institution and Multidisciplinary Research Projects

Open science and open data within scholarly research programs are growing both in popularity and by requirement from grant funding agencies and journal publishers. A central component of open data management, especially on collaborative, multidisciplinary, and multi-institutional science projects, is documentation of complete and accurate metadata, workflow, and source code in addition to access to raw data and data products to uphold FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. Although best practice in data/metadata management is to use established internationally accepted metadata schemata, many of these standards are discipline-specific making it difficult to catalog multidisciplinary data and data products in a way that is easily findable and accessible. Consequently, scattered and incompatible metadata records create a barrier to scientific innovation, as researchers are burdened to find and link multidisciplinary datasets. One possible solution to increase data findability, accessibility, interoperability, reproducibility, and integrity within multi-institutional and interdisciplinary projects is a centralized and integrated data management platform. Overall, this type of interoperable framework supports reproducible open science and its dissemination to various stakeholders and the public in a FAIR manner by providing direct access to raw data and linking protocols, metadata and supporting workflow materials

Governing a Pandemic: Assessing the role of collaboration on Latin American responses to the COVID-19 crisis

How do governments address complex, cross-sectoral problems, like the COVID-19 pandemic? Why were some Latin American countries more successful at containing the pandemic´s most devastating health outcomes? We argue that national governments that were more collaborative in their response to COVID-19 were more successful in reducing death rates. Our original dataset offers a novel attempt to operationalise collaborative governance (CG). We undertake simple statistical tests to measure the relationship between CG and COVID-19-related mortality rates in Latin America. We then choose three case studies to assess whether collaboration was meaningful in practice. Initial evidence suggests governments that pursued CG were more effective at containing mortality rates early on in the pandemic. The collaboration helped to foster cooperation over resources; buy time to prepare for a potential case surge; and produce a unified message regarding what citizens should do to prevent viral spread.Fil: Cyr, Jennifer. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Departamento de Ciencia Política y Estudios Internacionales; ArgentinaFil: Bianchi, Matías Federico. University of Arizona; Estados Unidos. University of Arizona; Estados UnidosFil: Gonzalez, Lucas Isaac. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Perini, Antonella. University of Oxford; Reino Unid

Women's Words: Gender and Speechmaking in Congress

Abstract: Women have a unique impact in public office, particularly in the U.S. Congress. Studies of gender differences among legislative activities tend to focus on traditional indicators such as roll-call voting. However, speechmaking is a form of position taking that is antecedent to roll-call voting, and is more discretionary; members can choose whether to speak about a given issue. This greater discretion allows for the study of the intensity rather than simply the directionality of a member's positions. Therefore, I examine women's impact in Congress through an understudied activity critically important for the representation of marginalized constituencies: giving voice to concerns and interests through floor debate. I analyze the representation of women through a content analysis of congressional floor speeches. I find that female representatives are more likely to speak about women's experiences and concerns as well as issues associated with women, including children's issues, social issues, and issues pertinent to marginalized groups. However, I do not find that women representatives expand the definition of women's issues by speaking about women's concerns and experiences in issue areas traditionally defined as masculine. Using the feminine speech style framework, I also investigate whether women approach congressional discourse differently. Women are more likely to employ a rhetorical style that allows them to identify and connect with their constituents, as well as create a more personal and inclusive debate. Finally, I find some preliminary evidence that the presence of female members influences their male colleagues to speak about women's concerns as well. This suggests that women are expanding the scope of the conflict as well as transforming the terms of debate itself

Timeliness of Electronic and Traditional Laboratory Reporting in Southern Nevada, 1999-2012

This study compares the timeliness of Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR) with traditional reporting. ELR has been implemented in parts of the United States, and is perceived to be faster than traditional reporting. Faster reporting leads to faster public health response to prevent outbreaks, and to reduce the burden of infectious disease in communities. Nevada State law requires that diseases be reported within certain time frames. Timeliness of laboratory reporting at the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) from 1999-2012 was assessed by analyzing cases of four common diseases in this retrospective secondary analysis of extant data. The difference in timeliness regarding public health response (for public health investigation response time) and the difference in timeliness for legal state reporting requirements between ELR and traditional reporting were evaluated using independent samples t-tests. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine whether each disease had interactions with report type or influence on timeliness. The data contained 1,082 traditional reports and 1,343 ELR results. The diseases in this study were campylobacteriosis, giardiasis, salmonellosis, and shigellosis. Both t-tests, for public health response timeliness, and legal compliance timeliness were statistically different. However, it was determined that public health response time difference was not significant in later tests with a smaller confidence interval. There was no significant interaction between disease type and report type regarding public health response time. The result was significant regarding legal compliance time. This study showed that with both ELR and traditional reporting, it is impossible to prevent secondary infections when basing public health response on laboratory confirmation. The legal requirements time was inconclusive because the data were provide in days, rather than minutes. In addition, the ANOVA for ELR and legal time suggested batched results when using ELR. This study showed that response timeliness is too long in Southern Nevada, with ELR and traditional reporting. More studies of timeliness should be conducted in Southern Nevad

Activity-dependent BDNF release and TRPC signaling is impaired in hippocampal neurons of Mecp2 mutant mice

Dysfunction of the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in Rett syndrome (RTT), but the state of its releasable pool and downstream signaling in mice lacking methyl-CpG-binding protein-2 (Mecp2) is unknown. Here, we show that membrane currents and dendritic Ca2+ signals evoked by recombinant BDNF or an activator of diacylglycerol (DAG)-sensitive transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels are impaired in CA3 pyramidal neurons of symptomatic Mecp2 mutant mice. TRPC3 and TRPC6 mRNA and protein levels are lower in Mecp2 mutant hippocampus, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) identified Trpc3 as a target of MeCP2 transcriptional regulation. BDNF mRNA and protein levels are also lower in Mecp2 mutant hippocampus and dentate gyrus granule cells, which is reflected in impaired activity-dependent release of endogenous BDNF estimated from TRPC currents and dendritic Ca2+ signals in CA3 pyramidal neurons. These results identify the gene encoding TRPC3 channels as a MeCP2 target and suggest a potential therapeutic strategy to boost impaired BDNF signaling in RTT.Fil: Li, Wei. University of Alabama at Birmingahm; Estados UnidosFil: Calfa, Gaston Diego. University of Alabama at Birmingahm; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Larimore, Jennifer. Agnes Scott College. Biology Department and Neuroscience Program; Estados UnidosFil: Pozzo-Miller, Lucas. Agnes Scott College. Biology Department and Neuroscience Program; Estados Unido