Utilization and Impact of Career Services Among Collegiate Athletes

Career readiness is a concern within the American educational system, particularly among student-athletes that must manage intense time commitments both on and off the field. Student services have emerged in higher education to support career preparation, but the utilization and impact of these services for collegiate athletes is largely unknown. The systems-theory framework (STF) of career development identifies a multitude of internal and external factors that influence individual career development. Guided by STF, the purpose of this study was to predict the factors that influence collegiate athletes\u27 utilization of career services and resulting perceived career skills. An online questionnaire was distributed to collegiate athletes at a Division I university, resulting in 143 collegiate athletes completing the questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated collegiate athletes’ familiarity with career services significantly predicted their utilization of career services. In turn, utilization of only four of nine career services investigated (i.e., Careers Online, Career Fairs, Career Workshops, and Athletic Academic Advisor) significantly predicted perceived career skills positively. Implications for the design and marketing of career services for collegiate athletes are discussed

Timely N-Acetyl-Cysteine and Environmental Enrichment Rescue Oxidative Stress-Induced Parvalbumin Interneuron Impairments via MMP9/RAGE Pathway: A Translational Approach for Early Intervention in Psychosis.

Research in schizophrenia (SZ) emphasizes the need for new therapeutic approaches based on antioxidant/anti-inflammatory compounds and psycho-social therapy. A hallmark of SZ is a dysfunction of parvalbumin-expressing fast-spiking interneurons (PVI), which are essential for neuronal synchrony during sensory/cognitive processing. Oxidative stress and inflammation during early brain development, as observed in SZ, affect PVI maturation. We compared the efficacy of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) and/or environmental enrichment (EE) provided during juvenile and/or adolescent periods in rescuing PVI impairments induced by an additional oxidative insult during childhood in a transgenic mouse model with gluthation deficit (Gclm KO), relevant for SZ. We tested whether this rescue was promoted by the inhibition of MMP9/RAGE mechanism, both in the mouse model and in early psychosis (EP) patients, enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of NAC supplementation for 6 months. We show that a sequential combination of NAC+EE applied after an early-life oxidative insult recovers integrity and function of PVI network in adult Gclm KO, via the inhibition of MMP9/RAGE. Six-month NAC treatment in EP patients reduces plasma sRAGE in association with increased prefrontal GABA, improvement of cognition and clinical symptoms, suggesting similar neuroprotective mechanisms. The sequential combination of NAC+EE reverses long-lasting effects of an early oxidative insult on PVI/perineuronal net (PNN) through the inhibition of MMP9/RAGE mechanism. In analogy, patients vulnerable to early-life insults could benefit from a combined pharmacological and psycho-social therapy

Clinical‐epidemiological aspects of the Monkeypox 2022 epidemic: a multicenter study by the Italian SIDeMaST Group of Sexually Transmitted, Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Dear Editor,In spring 2022, an increase of monkeypox (mpox) cases was reported in Europe. Mpox is a zoonotic virus of the Poxviridae family, is endemic in the Congo Basin and just few cases outside Africa were reported before 2022. Its cutaneous presentation is similar to smallpox, usually preceded by a prodromal phase of fever, lymphadenopathy, headache and asthenia. Infection can occur through various means, including skin-to-skin contact, respiratory droplets or contact with fomites. The new outbreak is unique due to the increased human-to-human transmission, without an animal reservoir, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM). As of February 13, 2023, 85.860 confirmed cases have been reported in 110 countries

Bcl-2-regulated cell death signalling in the prevention of autoimmunity

Cell death mediated through the intrinsic, Bcl-2-regulated mitochondrial apoptosis signalling pathway is critical for lymphocyte development and the establishment of central and maintenance of peripheral tolerance. Defects in Bcl-2-regulated cell death signalling have been reported to cause or correlate with autoimmunity in mice and men. This review focuses on the role of Bcl-2 family proteins implicated in the development of autoimmune disorders and their potential as targets for therapeutic intervention

Design and Biomechanical Analysis of Supernumerary Robotic Limbs

A new type of wearable robot that provides a third and fourth arm for performing manipulative tasks with the wearer's own arms is presented. These Supernumerary Robotic Limbs (SRL) work so closely with the human that he/she can potentially perceive them to be his/her own. The SRL consist of two independently acting robotic limbs that can function as either arms or legs to help the user position objects, lift weights, and maintain balance. These wearable robots are aimed to augment not only the strength and the precision of the human users, but also their range of skills and interactions with the environment. The guiding principles of the robotic design are safety, transparency and user comfort. Series viscoelastic actuators provide suitable joint torques while ensuring compliance and robust torque sensing. A Bowden cable transmission actuates the elbow joint, minimizing the robotic arms' weight. A tuned elastic human-robot coupling ensures wearability and comfort. To quantify the mechanical advantage the SRL offers to the operator during use, joint torques generated in the human while performing static manipulation tasks have been reconstructed experimentally. © 2012 by ASME

Construct, Face, and Content Validation on Voxel-Man® Simulator for Otologic Surgical Training

Objective. To assess the face, content, and construct validity of the Voxel-Man TempoSurg Virtual Reality simulator. Participants and Methods. 74 ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeons participated. They were assigned to one of two groups according to their level of expertise: the expert group (n=16) and the novice group (n=58). The participants performed four temporal bone dissection tasks on the simulator. Performances were assessed by a global score and then compared to assess the construct validity of the simulator. Finally, the expert group assessed the face and content validity by means of a five-point Likert-type scale. Results. experienced surgeons performed better (p<.01) and faster (p<.001) than the novices. However, the groups did not differ in terms of bone volume removed (p=.11) or number of injuries (p=.37). 93.7% of experienced surgeons stated they would recommend this simulator for anatomical learning. Most (87.5%) also thought that it could be integrated into surgical training. Conclusion. The Voxel-Man TempoSurg Virtual Reality simulator constitutes an interesting complementary tool to traditional teaching methods for training in otologic surgery