Paediatric Tuberculosis in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India: DOTS, Diagnosis, and Determinants

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s largest public health challenges, and it has a disproportionate impact on India. In children, TB is a serious but understudied illness due to the complexity of case-notification and relative lack of public health importance. This study took place over the course of one month in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. In a mixed method study consisting of 53 quantitative patient interviews and qualitative interviews with healthcare providers, social determinants of TB in this setting were investigated as well as challenges faced at all stages of healthcare delivery. Malnutrition and housing were the most severe determinants of paediatric TB, though socioeconomic status, age, and household contacts also played a role. Diagnosis continues to be a challenge for healthcare providers. Overall, DOTS and the RNTCP is an effective public health program to address paediatric TB, but to reduce incidence interventions on determinants need to be prioritized

Prevalence and Impact of Workplace Bullying among Pharmacy Practice Faculty in the United States

Objective: To identify the prevalence and impact of workplace bullying among pharmacy practice faculty in the United States. Methods: Members of the Pharmacy Practice section of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy were invited to complete an online survey about the frequency with which they experienced negative workplace behaviors in the communication, humiliation, manipulation, discrimination, and violence domains as well as workplace bullying in the previous 12 months. Independent t-tests and chi-squared tests were used to investigate associations between workplace bullying and pharmacy practice faculty demographic and employment characteristics. Results: Participants (n=256) reported a median of 6 negative behaviors in the workplace, most often in the communication and humiliation domains. A total of 50 (19.5%) reported experiencing workplace bullying. The most common impacts of workplace bullying included increasing their stress level (n=44/49, 89.8%), negative effects on their emotional health (n=42/49, 85.7%), and job dissatisfaction (n=40/49, 81.6%). Female participants more frequently reported workplace bullying (n=43/196, 21.9%) compared to male participants (n=4/56, 7.1%; p=0.012). Individuals who identified as white were less likely to report workplace bullying (n=40/233, 17.2%) compared to individuals of all other races (n=8/19, 42.1%; p=0.008). Conclusion: Most pharmacy practice faculty reported experiencing some degree of negative workplace behaviors during the past 12 months. Additional strategies are needed to create inclusive work environments with transparent, actionable policies when workplace bullying occurs.   Treatment of human subjects: IRB exemption grante

47. Are Introverts Smarter Than Extroverts?

Introversion and extroversion are common personality traits that can vastly influence the way an individual’s cognitive abilities are utilized. Individuals will fall on this continuum based on how internally-focused or externally-focused they tend to be. As this is a central trait, it may seem logical that the level of introversion/extroversion could impact multiple, less central personality traits and cognitive abilities affecting many aspects of the individual’s life. The current study was designed to explore the possibility of differences in short-term memory, IQ scores, and errors made between extroverts and introverts. As extroverts tend to be more outward-focused, it may be logical to expect extroverts to have better short-term memory retrieval than introverts. It also may be logical to expect internally-driven introverts to perform better on the intelligent quotient assessment. Participants took a personality inventory to measure their levels of introversion and extroversion, along with an evaluation of their IQ and memory performance with errors. Results were analyzed in SPSS using three separate t-tests. Introverts performed significantly better than extroverts did on the intelligent quotient assessment, suggesting a higher level of attention to detail. Surprisingly, perhaps due to their impulsive and efficient nature, extroverts performed significantly better on the short-term memory task then did the introverts. They were also less likely to make as many errors when performing the short-term memory task. These findings suggest that there is a link between personality and cognitive abilities. Further implications suggest using personality research in education and utilizing different personalities in therapy treatments

A consensus genetic map of sorghum that integrates multiple component maps and high-throughput Diversity Array Technology (DArT) markers

Background: Sorghum genome mapping based on DNA markers began in the early 1990s and numerous genetic linkage maps of sorghum have been published in the last decade, based initially on RFLP markers with more recent maps including AFLPs and SSRs and very recently, Diversity Array Technology (DArT) markers. It is essential to integrate the rapidly growing body of genetic linkage data produced through DArT with the multiple genetic linkage maps for sorghum generated through other marker technologies. Here, we report on the colinearity of six independent sorghum component maps and on the integration of these component maps into a single reference resource that contains commonly utilized SSRs, AFLPs, and high-throughput DArT markers

Vascular effects of linagliptin in non-obese diabetic mice are glucose-independent and involve positive modulation of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)/caveolin-1 (CAV-1) pathway

Aim: To test the effect of linagliptin in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice, a murine model of type 1 diabetes, to unveil a possible direct cardiovascular action of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors beyond glycaemia control. Methods: NOD mice were grouped according to glycosuria levels as NODI: none; NODII: high; NODIII: severe. Linagliptin treatment was initiated once they reached NODII levels. Vascular reactivity was assessed ex vivo on aorta harvested from mice upon reaching NODIII level. In a separate set of experiments, the effect of linagliptin was tested directly in vitro on vessels harvested from untreated NODIII, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor knockout and soluble guanylyl cyclase-α1 knockout mice. Molecular and cellular studies were performed on endothelial and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-transfected cells. Results: In this ex vivo vascular study, endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation was ameliorated and eNOS/nitric oxide (NO)/soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) signalling was enhanced. In the in vitro vascular study, linagliptin exerted a direct vasodilating activity on vessels harvested from both normo- or hyperglycaemic mice. The effect was independent from GLP-1/GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) interaction and required eNOS/NO/sGC pathway activation. Molecular studies performed on endothelial cells show that linagliptin rescues eNOS from caveolin-1 (CAV-1)-binding in a calcium-independent manner. Conclusion: Linagliptin, by interfering with the protein-protein interaction CAV-1/eNOS, led to an increased eNOS availability, thus enhancing NO production. This mechanism accounts for the vascular effect of linagliptin that is independent from glucose control and GLP-1/GLP-1R interaction

Denying humanness to victims: How gang members justify violent behavior

The high prevalence of violent offending amongst gang-involved youth has been established in the literature. Yet the underlying psychological mechanisms that enable youth to engage in such acts of violence remain unclear. 189 young people were recruited from areas in London, UK, known for their gang activity. We found that gang members, in comparison to non-gang youth, described the groups they belong to as having recognized leaders, specific rules and codes, initiation rituals, and special clothing. Gang members were also more likely than non-gang youth to engage in violent behavior and endorse moral disengagement strategies (i.e., moral justification, euphemistic language, advantageous comparison, displacement of responsibility, attribution of blame, and dehumanization). Finally, we found that dehumanizing victims partially mediated the relationship between gang membership and violent behavior. These findings highlight the effects of groups at the individual level and an underlying psychological mechanism that explains, in part, how gang members engage in violence

Biophysical properties of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and their relationship with HOG pathway activation

Parameterized models of biophysical and mechanical cell properties are important for predictive mathematical modeling of cellular processes. The concepts of turgor, cell wall elasticity, osmotically active volume, and intracellular osmolarity have been investigated for decades, but a consistent rigorous parameterization of these concepts is lacking. Here, we subjected several data sets of minimum volume measurements in yeast obtained after hyper-osmotic shock to a thermodynamic modeling framework. We estimated parameters for several relevant biophysical cell properties and tested alternative hypotheses about these concepts using a model discrimination approach. In accordance with previous reports, we estimated an average initial turgor of 0.6 ± 0.2 MPa and found that turgor becomes negligible at a relative volume of 93.3 ± 6.3% corresponding to an osmotic shock of 0.4 ± 0.2 Osm/l. At high stress levels (4 Osm/l), plasmolysis may occur. We found that the volumetric elastic modulus, a measure of cell wall elasticity, is 14.3 ± 10.4 MPa. Our model discrimination analysis suggests that other thermodynamic quantities affecting the intracellular water potential, for example the matrix potential, can be neglected under physiological conditions. The parameterized turgor models showed that activation of the osmosensing high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) signaling pathway correlates with turgor loss in a 1:1 relationship. This finding suggests that mechanical properties of the membrane trigger HOG pathway activation, which can be represented and quantitatively modeled by turgor

Factors that Influence Enrollment in Syringe Services Programs in Rural Areas: A Qualitative Study among Program Clients in Appalachian Kentucky

BACKGROUND: Enrolling sufficient number of people who inject drugs (PWID) into syringe services programs (SSP) is important to curtail outbreaks of drug-related harms. Still, little is known about barriers and facilitators to SSP enrollment in rural areas with no history of such programs. This study\u27s purpose was to develop a grounded theory of the role of the risk environment and individual characteristics of PWID in shaping SSP enrollment in rural Kentucky. METHODS: We conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 41 clients of 5 SSPs that were established in rural counties in Appalachian Kentucky in 2017-2018. Interviews covered PWID needs, the process of becoming aware of SSPs, and barriers and facilitators to SSP enrollment. Applying constructivist grounded theory methods and guided by the Intersectional Risk Environment Framework (IREF), we applied open, axial and selective coding to develop the grounded theory. RESULTS: Stigma, a feature of IREF\u27s meso-level social domain, is the main factor hampering SSP enrollment. PWID hesitated to visit SSPs because of internalized stigma and because of anticipated stigma from police, friends, family and healthcare providers. Fear of stigma was often mitigated or amplified by a constellation of meso-level environmental factors related to healthcare (e.g., SSPs) and social (PWID networks) domains and by PWID\u27s individual characteristics. SSPs mitigated stigma as a barrier to enrollment by providing low threshold services in a friendly atmosphere, and by offering their clients program IDs to protect them from paraphernalia charges. SSP clients spread positive information about the program within PWID networks and helped their hesitant peers to enroll by accompanying them to SSPs. Individual characteristics, including child custody, employment or high social status, made certain PWID more susceptible to drug-related stigma and hence more likely to delay SSP enrollment. CONCLUSIONS: Features of the social and healthcare environments operating at the meso-level, as well as PWID\u27s individual characteristics, appear to enhance or mitigate the effect of stigma as a barrier to SSP enrollment. SSPs opening in locations with high stigma against PWID need to ensure low threshold and friendly services, protect their clients from police and mobilize PWID networks to promote enrollment