Higher Education Professors Adapting to Online Teaching

Adaptation factors such as experience, personality and social support may be predictive in professors’ self-perceived adaptability scores to online teaching. Data from forty-four Elizabethtown College professors and forty-six Lebanon Valley College professors, collected using an online forum, was analyzed in a correlational analysis, regression analysis and t-tests. When combining the results from Elizabethtown College professors and Lebanon Valley College professors, significant relationships were detected between self-perceived adaptability scores and three personality types (proactive, extroversion, agreeableness) and workplace support. The regression analyses showed workplace and school to be predictive of self-perceived adaptability scores to online teaching. These findings represent the importance of inspiring and promoting certain personalities and workplace support to decrease the negative impact that uncertain situations can elicit

MicroRNAs and Cellular Phenotypy

This Essay explores the notion that specialized cells have unique vulnerabilities to environmental contingencies that microRNAs help to counteract. Given the ease with which new microRNAs evolve, they may serve as ideal facilitators for the emergence of new cell types

CHRONIC ANKLE INSTABILITY AND AGING

Lateral ankle sprains are the most common musculoskeletal injury among the general population and U.S. military personnel. Despite the common perception of being a minor injury, at least 1 out of 3 individuals with a previous ankle sprain will develop chronic ankle instability (CAI). This clinical phenomenon creates a significant barrier for patients to return to their prior level of physical function. Specifically, CAI is associated with reductions in physical activity level, leading to decreases in lower health-related quality of life and increase risk of developing of post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis. Current evidence has largely focused on characterizing the mechanical and sensorimotor insufficiencies associated with CAI in adolescent and young-adult populations, with little attention on middle- and older-aged adults. This restricts our understanding of how these insufficiencies associated with CAI that develop in early adulthood progress over time and contribute to other chronic diseases such as post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to compare self-reported and physical function between three age groups: 1) young, 2) middle-aged, and 3) older-aged adults with and without CAI. We hypothesized participants with CAI would have age-related changes in self-reported and physical function compared to non-injured individuals across the lifespan. The objective of this dissertation was to compare regional and global health- related quality of life (HRQoL), static and dynamic balance, spinal reflex excitability of the soleus muscle, open- and closed-kinetic chain dorsiflexion range of motion and spatiotemporal gait parameters between those with and without CAI across the lifespan. Her callIt was hypothesized that all self-reported and physical characteristics would be decrease with age, but significantly more in those with CAI compare to non-injured individuals. Results from the first study demonstrated participants with CAI had worse regional HRQoL compared to healthy-controls as evidenced by the lower Foot and Ankle Disability Index scores. Likewise, participants with CAI reported having worse overall physical function and pain interference during activity compared to healthy-controls. There was no significant interaction for Injury (CAI and healthy-control) and Age group (young, middle, and old) for any dependent variable. In the second, it was determined that static and dynamic balance, spinal reflex excitability, ankle (dorsiflexion and plantarflexion) and hip extension torque were all lower in the older-aged participants compared to the younger-aged adults. In addition, it was determined that participants with CAI had decreased dorsiflexion range of motion, ankle (dorsiflexion and plantar flexion) and hip extension peak isometric torque compared to the healthy-control group. However, no significant interaction was found for Injury (CAI & healthy-control) and Age (young, middle, old) for any dependent variable. In the third study, there were no differences in spatiotemporal gait parameters between groups (CAI vs. healthy-controls) or age categories. It can be concluded from this dissertation that regardless of the age, individuals with CAI have worse region-specific HRQoL, lower overall physical function, greater pain interference, limited dorsiflexion range of motion, and decreased ankle and hip peak isometric torque compared to healthy-controls. Several age-related observations were found including decreased static and dynamic balance, ankle and hip strength, and spinal reflex excitability. Though no relationship was found between CAI and age, several interactions were found to be trending towards significance. Therefore, future work is needed to better understand the consequences of CAI on middle- and older-aged adults

A Comparison and Contrast of the Idealized Role of the Secondary School Principal as Perceived by Superintendents, Principals, and Teachers

The differences and similarities concerning the role of the secondary school principal as perceived by superintendents, principals, and teachers was studied. All superintendents and principals and twenty-five randomly selected teachers at the five traditional high schools in the Tri-Cities provided the input from which the data was drawn and conclusions were reached. A survey questionnaire containing forty statements frequently suggested for the secondary school principal was the tool utilized for this procedure. The results showed that there were similarities of role perceptions for the secondary school principal and there were also dissimilarities of role perceptions as seen by those same groups. Recommendations for future studies of this kind were discussed at the conclusion of the thesis

MicroRNAs: regulators of oncogenesis and stemness

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are essential post-transcriptional regulators that determine cell identity and fate. Aberrant expression of miRNAs can lead to diseases, including cancer. Expression of many miRNAs in the de-differentiated brain tumor cancer stem cells resembles that of neural stem cells. In this issue of BMC Medicine, Silber et al provide evidence of the expression of such miRNAs and their potential to mediate differentiation in both stem cell populations. In this commentary, we discuss the known functions of miRNAs in cancer and stem cells, their therapeutic potential and how the findings of Silber et al provide insight into the role of miR-124/miR-137 dysregulation in glioblastomas

COVID-19 in older people with cognitive impairment in Latin America

The current COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to investigate the hypothesis that viral infections can precipitate neurodegeneration. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 (SARSCoV-1), a pathogenic homolog of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), invades the brain through ACE2,1 and SARSCoV-2 might be neurotropic too. SARSCoV-2 also enters cells via the ACE2 receptor,1 which is widely expressed in the CNS, including in the striatum,2 where the virus might precipitate or accelerate neurodegeneration.Fil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; Colombia. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Kosik, Kenneth. University of California; Estados Unido

Neurodegeneration: new clues on inclusions

AbstractThe rare neurological disorders frontotemporal dementia and British dementia have been linked to two mutant genes whose products constitute the fibrils that define the two disease pathologies. Two recent studies add to the mounting circumstantial case that protein fibrillization, inside (neurofibrillary tangles) or outside (amyloid plaques) of the neuron, may be pathogenic and suggest that either or both of these mechanisms could initiate Alzheimer’s disease

A gyűjtőcsatorna meghatározó szerepe a vese lokális renin-angiotenzin rendszerében

A renin-angiotenzin rendszer szervezetünk egyik legjelentősebb hormonális rendszere, amelynek juxtaglomerularis apparátusban történő szabályozása és szerepe jól ismert. Jelen összefoglaló a vese embrionális fejlődésével párhuzamot állítva a gyűjtőcsatorna renintermelését írja le, valamint ennek lokális szerepét és terápiás célpontként szolgáló lehetőségeit igyekszik feltárni. Nemrégiben került leírásra, hogy krónikus angiotenzin- II-kezelés során, két vese-, egy klip modellben, illetve diabetes mellitusban a gyűjtőcsatorna jelenti az intrarenalis (pro)renintermelés legfőbb helyét. Ebben a lokalizációban a (pro)renin előtt út nyílhat az interstitialis renin-angoitenzin rendszer komponensek, a szisztémás keringés és a nemrégiben leírásra került (pro)reninreceptor felé. A (pro)renin saját receptorán keresztül intracelluláris profibroticus utakat képes aktiválni, így egyúttal potenciálisan új célpontja lehet a hypertoniához kapcsolódó vagy diabeteses nephropathia kezelésének, illetve eszköze a krónikus vesekárosodást előidéző folyamatok korai diagnosztizálásának. Orv. Hetil., 2013, 154, 643–649