Reduced Vagal Tone in Women With The Premutation Is Associated With MRNA but Not Depression or Anxiety

BACKGROUND: Autonomic dysfunction is implicated in a range of psychological conditions, including depression and anxiety. The () premutation is a common genetic mutation that affects ~1:150 women and is associated with psychological vulnerability. This study examined cardiac indicators of autonomic function among women with the premutation and control women as potential biomarkers for psychological risk that may be linked to . METHODS: Baseline inter-beat interval and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (a measure of parasympathetic vagal tone) were measured in 35 women with the premutation and 28 controls. The women completed anxiety and depression questionnaires. genetic indices (i.e., CGG repeat, quantitative FMRP, mRNA, activation ratio) were obtained for the premutation group. RESULTS: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia was reduced in the premutation group relative to controls. While depression symptoms were associated with reduced respiratory sinus arrhythmia among control women, these variables were unrelated in the premutation. Elevated mRNA was associated with higher respiratory sinus arrhythmia. CONCLUSIONS: Women with the premutation demonstrated autonomic dysregulation characterized by reduced vagal tone. Unlike patterns observed in the general population and in study controls, vagal activity and depression symptoms were decoupled in women with the premutation, suggesting independence between autonomic regulation and psychopathological symptoms that is atypical and potentially specific to the premutation. The association between vagal tone and mRNA suggests that molecular variation associated with plays a role in autonomic regulation

Chronic Wasting Disease Prions in Elk Antler Velvet

Residue 226 of cervid prion proteins may be a determinant of CWD pathogenesis

Susceptibilities of Nonhuman Primates to Chronic Wasting Disease

A species barrier may protect humans from this disease

Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease Identifies a Prion Strain Causing Cachexia and Heart Infection in Hamsters

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging prion disease of free-ranging and captive cervids in North America. In this study we established a rodent model for CWD in Syrian golden hamsters that resemble key features of the disease in cervids including cachexia and infection of cardiac muscle. Following one to three serial passages of CWD from white-tailed deer into transgenic mice expressing the hamster prion protein gene, CWD was subsequently passaged into Syrian golden hamsters. In one passage line there were preclinical changes in locomotor activity and a loss of body mass prior to onset of subtle neurological symptoms around 340 days. The clinical symptoms included a prominent wasting disease, similar to cachexia, with a prolonged duration. Other features of CWD in hamsters that were similar to cervid CWD included the brain distribution of the disease-specific isoform of the prion protein, PrPSc, prion infection of the central and peripheral neuroendocrine system, and PrPSc deposition in cardiac muscle. There was also prominent PrPSc deposition in the nasal mucosa on the edge of the olfactory sensory epithelium with the lumen of the nasal airway that could have implications for CWD shedding into nasal secretions and disease transmission. Since the mechanism of wasting disease in prion diseases is unknown this hamster CWD model could provide a means to investigate the physiological basis of cachexia, which we propose is due to a prion-induced endocrinopathy. This prion disease phenotype has not been described in hamsters and we designate it as the ‘wasting’ or WST strain of hamster CWD

ERAU MICROJET TEAM

In the late 1960’s the aerospace industry would be changed forever. General Aviation aircraft were being built and sold by the thousands, and for the first time ever pilots with limited mechanical skills could build their own aircraft from “kits.” It wasn\u27t long until one individual, Jim Bede, revolutionized the kit aircraft market with his quick-build aircraft. The famed Bede BD-5 was affordable to the average individual, easy to assemble, and had impressive performance. Aircraft performance data from Bede was scarce and questionable. Leading home-builders to question the safety of their aircraft, this is what the ERAU MicroJET Team set out to fix. We are conducting a full air-frame and performance analysis of the Bede BD-5, all while Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students from all majors aid in the engineering, building, and testing improvements on our very own Bede BD-5. Through this, our research will benefit the 5000+ BD-5 owners worldwide

Is all Environmental Humanities Feminist Environmental Humanities?

This short think piece discusses the environmental humanities (EH) and their relationship to renewed demands from the Black Lives Matter movement on anti-racist committments, and the pre-existing feminist research on intersectionality within EH and on environmental justice. QC 20200630Fornas Dnr 2017-01979The Posthumanities Hu

Personal and environmental predictors of posttraumatic stress in emergency management professionals

This cross-sectional survey research examined levels of trauma exposure frequency, burnout, compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a non-random sample of emergency management professionals. Three models exploring how personality factors (neuroticism, extraversion), ethnic identity strength, trauma exposure frequency, burnout, and compassion satisfaction predict posttraumatic stress symptoms were tested. Professionals were recruited for an online survey from four emergency management associations via an email announcement sent to member list-servs and attendees at one emergency management event. The data from 197 participants were analyzed with hierarchical regression analysis. The results supported the hypothesis that a model containing neuroticism and extraversion, trauma exposure frequency, burnout, and compassion satisfaction would account for the most variance in predicting PTSD symptoms as compared to individual predictors, namely, personality, frequency of trauma exposure, and repeated exposure symptomology. Neuroticism, burnout, and compassion satisfaction were found to be significant, individual positive predictors in the context of the full model. There was no support for the hypothesis that the predictor variables moderate the relationship between trauma exposure frequency and PTSD symptoms. Ethnic identity strength did not significantly contribute to variance in the model or serve as a moderator with trauma exposure. Future areas of research suggested include replication with a random more diverse sample, consideration of alternate trauma exposure measurement methods, and examination of additional pathways in which the study’s variables may influence PTSD symptoms