Assessment of the Intake and Knowledge of Folate/Folic Acid Among UNH Students

There are 3,000 U.S. pregnancies affected by spina bifida and anencephaly annually. If women consume adequate amounts of folic acid (400 mcg/day) one month before pregnancy and through the first trimester, then the risk of their infant developing a neural tube defect (NTD) is reduced by 50-70%. However, approximately 50% of pregnancies are unplanned, with some of the highest rates among 18-24 year olds. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge source, knowledge level, and intake of folic acid among college-aged students. Qualtrics surveys from 96 subjects (87.5% female, aged 18-24) were used for analysis. In the female sample, 16% were taking a multivitamin containing folic acid and 7% a folic acid supplement. Three questions assessed the sample’s level of folic acid knowledge. Seventy-six percent knew adequate amounts are needed to prevent NTDs, 71% knew it is most important to start consuming it before pregnancy, and 54% answered at least half of the correct food sources. There were 19 females who took an introductory nutrition course, and 63.2% correctly answered NTDs, before pregnancy, and at least half the food sources. Subjects who got folic acid knowledge from a college course were significantly more likely to answer the three questions correctly compared to those who never received information on the vitamin. Findings suggested that among college students, the best source of information about folic acid is college courses. Future research may study the correlation between folic acid knowledge and knowledge source among a larger, more diverse college population

Examining revoicing practices of two Johannesburg teachers.

This study aims to address the need to support the improvement of teaching practices of South African mathematics teachers. Both international and South African literature suggest that orchestrating whole class discussion by using the practice of revoicing, can support learner appropriation of mathematical discourse, and that it is particularly suited to multilingual environments. Given the staying power of traditional style teaching, this study explores revoicing as a feedback practice within this style of Initiate, Respond, Evaluate/ Feedback (IRE/F) format. Two grade 6 mathematics teachers in Johannesburg were interviewed and their lessons were observed, filmed and analysed using a detailed coding instrument. The teachers were found to be giving as much revoicing as non-revoicing feedback to their learners and that revoicing was used in limited ways, mostly different to those suggested in the literature and not always productively. Key categories of revoicing seen in this study were repeating to affirm learners as well as rephrasing into mathematical language and funnelling learners towards correct answers. The contribution of this research to the field has been to expose the different ways in which two South African teachers are already using the practice of revoicing, in order to see the potential for further research and improved practice

ISRAEL AND ITS DISCONTENTS

The goal of the present research was to evaluate the history of the Israel and Palestine conflict and consider the impact of using psychoanalytic theory as a method of inquiry. The analysis of the conflict focused on providing a summary of competing historical narratives that prevent positive interactions between warring nations. Spatial and temporal formations examined through visual art and film advance the unacknowledged significance of a shared culture that brings Israel and Palestine together. By situating desire and its function as an unconscious determinant in the structure of anxiety, we see that the conflict depends upon disavowing the other by resisting loving thy neighbour that serves as a protective strategy against fear. Perpetuating trauma without realizing its basis prevents Israelis and Palestinians from surrendering to the uncanny space of anxiet

Lamictal

This is a poster presented at the Natural Sciences Poster Session at Parkland College, which provides the chemical makeup, dosage, and the body\u27s response to Lamictal, a medication used as therapy for seizure disorders and bipolar disorders in adults

FORMULATION OF ENTERIC GRANULES CONTAINING GREEN TEA (CAMELLIA SINENSIS) EXTRACT USING EUDRAGIT L100-55 AS A DELAYED RELEASE MATRIX

Objective: Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) inhibits glucose absorption into the blood by inhibiting small intestinal α-glucosidase but is unstable ingastric fluid. Hence, we formulated EGCG into enteric preparations that prevent release in gastric fluid.Methods: Granules were prepared using a wet granulation method and were formulated into polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-Eudragit L100-55 (5:1; F1),PVP-Eudragit L100-55 (1:1; F2), and Eudragit L100-55 (F3) preparations using 30% w/w Eudragit L100-55 as a matrix. EGCG contents of granuleswere evaluated and dissolution tests were performed at pH 1.2 and 6.8.Results: F1–3 formulas had good flow properties and contained EGCG at 24.05%±0.15%–24.96%±0.28%. Dissolution tests showed that F1 and F2formulas released EGCG at 50.53%±0.04% and 17.80%±0.55%, respectively, after 2 h in HCl medium at pH 1.2. Cumulative drug release from F1 andF2 formulations after 2 h under these conditions (pH 1.2) and 1 h in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) was 94.40%±1.58% and 93.70%±1.08%, respectively.Conclusion: As the optimal formula, F3 granules limited drug release to 7.03%±0.22% in HCl at pH 1.2 over 2 h and cumulative drug release in HClmedium (pH 1.2) followed by phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) of 86.13%±0.20%

Molecular Ordering in Functional Blends of Organic Semiconductors

Organic semiconductors offer a convenient reason to study how blending materials affects molecular packing. For example, organic solar cells rely on phase separation between dissimilar compounds to produce the "bulk heterojunction" morphology requisite for efficient devices. X-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy reveal that functionalized pentacene acceptors, which are highly ordered in neat films, lose long-range correlation when blended with a donor. These same acceptors can form substitutionally disordered single crystals (molecular alloys) when blended with other functionalized pentacenes, which share a high degree of structural similarity. Single crystal diffraction, UV/vis spectroscopy and thin film x-ray scattering show that substitutional disorder does not lead to loss of long-range order, even with the presence of multiple polymorphs. Finally we show that blends of organic materials can also lead to stable molecular glasses. We show that these stable molecular glasses can be formed from solution casting rather than from the more commonly used vapor deposition

The Effect of Training Status on Critical Power and Work Prime

Critical Power (CP) represents a threshold of sustainable endurance exercise; work prime (W’) represents the amount of metabolic disturbance one is capable of enduring above CP before exhaustion. CP increases with endurance training, but it is unclear how much of this can be explained by differences in muscle mass and body mass. PURPOSE: Characterize relationship between training status and CP and W when normalized for body and muscle mass. METHODS: We recruited 23 individuals (10 untrained individuals; 7 female, 3 male age= ~23.8yrs and 13 trained individuals; 7 female, 6 male, age= ~25.8yrs). A graded VO2max test was conducted on a cycle ergometer; max work rate (WRmax) was defined as the maximum power output reached during VO2max. The subjects performed a series of intense time-to-task failure tests on the cycle ergometer on two separate visits at different percentages of the WRmax. The relationship between time and work for the various time-to-task failure tests determined CP and W’ through linear regression (work-time method). After CP had been determined, the subjects preformed a final time-to-task-failure test set at ~95% of the determined CP. RESULTS: Absolute CP was notably higher in trained individuals (189.71 ± 39.88 watts) than untrained (146.62 ± 46.85 watts) (pCONCLUSION: Training status appears to affect absolute CP, CP normalized by total body mass and leg lean mass. Furthermore, these trained individuals were able to sustain a power output near CP for a greater period of time

Investigating How Calcium Diffusion Affects Metabolic Oscillations and Synchronization of Pancreatic Beta Cells

Diabetes is a disease characterized by improper concentrations of blood glucose due to irregular insulin production or sensitivity. Coupled in islets of Langerhans within the pancreas, β-cells are responsible for the production and regulation of insulin based on changes in glucose levels. Using the Dual Oscillator Model (DOM), we will examine how calcium handling between individual pancreatic β-cells affects the synchronization of metabolic oscillations within electrically coupled islets. Calcium permeability was implemented into the DOM, and numerical solutions of the system were obtained via MATLAB using a modified ordinary differential equation solver for stiff systems and the Automatic Differentiation for MATLAB software. We developed a synchronization index to quantitatively describe the synchronization of variables between nearest neighboring cells and throughout the islet as a whole. We considered how calcium permeability between heterogeneous cells affects the behavior of metabolic oscillations and their synchronization. In particular, we examined fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate. In our study metabolic oscillations were always maintained. We also showed that, for low to moderate levels of electrical coupling, calcium permeability increased the synchronization index, but increasing calcium permeability had little effect on synchronization when cells were already strongly synchronized with strong electrical coupling. Heterogeneity due to glucose influx or initial state of the cells had similar synchronization results

Hepatocellular carcinoma

Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally and has an incidence of approximately 850,000 new cases per year. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents approximately 90% of all cases of primary liver cancer. The main risk factors for developing HCC are well known and include hepatitis B and C virus infection, alcohol intake and ingestion of the fungal metabolite aflatoxin B1. Additional risk factors such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis are also emerging. Advances in the understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of HCC have led to identification of critical driver mutations; however, the most prevalent of these are not yet druggable targets. The molecular classification of HCC is not established, and the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging classification is the main clinical algorithm for the stratification of patients according to prognosis and treatment allocation. Surveillance programmes enable the detection of early-stage tumours that are amenable to curative therapies - resection, liver transplantation or local ablation. At more developed stages, only chemoembolization (for intermediate HCC) and sorafenib (for advanced HCC) have shown survival benefits. There are major unmet needs in HCC management that might be addressed through the discovery of new therapies and their combinations for use in the adjuvant setting and for intermediate- and advanced-stage disease. Moreover, biomarkers for therapy stratification, patient-tailored strategies targeting driver mutations and/or activating signalling cascades, and validated measurements of quality of life are needed. Recent failures in the testing of systemic drugs for intermediate and advanced stages have indicated a need to refine trial designs and to define novel approaches