A Study of Consumer Perceptions of the Possible Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals on Prepubescent Development

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are commonly found in many types of personal care products and may cause a variety of problems during a child\u27s development. Since parents and/or guardians typically buy personal care products for their children, they ultimately decide what kinds of ingredients their children are exposed to from these types of products. The researcher designed a survey to examine parents’ awareness and perceptions of these chemicals and explore the factors parents consider when purchasing consumer products for their children. The results show that parents value purchasing consumer products with good ingredients for their children, but the participants had a limited understanding of EDCs and their effects

Bromelain: A Natural Approach to Whitening Teeth Effectively

Teeth whitening using peroxide is a popular cosmetic dental procedure. While peroxide whitening is time efficient and a relatively low-cost procedure, the goal of a whiter smile may come at a greater cost. Peroxide whitening may be contraindicated for some patients due to the varying side effects. Side effects can include hypersensitivity due to effected tooth structure. Bromelain, an enzyme found in the stems of pineapples, has emerged as a new whitening alternative with greater patient acceptance. The enzyme has been shown to have positive attributes which aid in systemic health and protection of the oral cavity. Extended whitening applications with hydrogen peroxide have shown to affect the enamel matrix, the microhardness of enamel, and the cell viability of the tooth. Bromelain, with similar whitening applications, has shown to produce similar results as peroxide whitening gel without affecting the tooth structure. Peroxide whiteners may lead to dentinal hypersensitivity during the degradation of the enamel by hydrogen peroxide while tooth bleaching, damaging the fibroblasts. Due to the altered tooth structure, hydrogen peroxide moves through the exposed dentinal tubules to the pulp chamber causing a sensitive nerve impulse to the patient’s oral cavity. When used for bleaching, Bromelain has shown to degrade the tooth stain on the enamel surface allowing light to reflect off of the enamel surface giving the appearance of a whiter smile visible to the naked eye. During this process the structure of the tooth is not altered itself leaving the fibroblasts untouched

International response of Occupational Therapy to the COVID-19 pandemic: A report from the Global Occupational Therapy Think Tank (GOTTT)

https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/gottt/1000/thumbnail.jp

A second planet transiting LTT 1445A and a determination of the masses of both worlds

K.H. acknowledges support from STFC grant ST/R000824/1.LTT 1445 is a hierarchical triple M-dwarf star system located at a distance of 6.86 pc. The primary star LTT 1445A (0.257 M⊙) is known to host the transiting planet LTT 1445Ab with an orbital period of 5.36 days, making it the second-closest known transiting exoplanet system, and the closest one for which the host is an M dwarf. Using Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite data, we present the discovery of a second planet in the LTT 1445 system, with an orbital period of 3.12 days. We combine radial-velocity measurements obtained from the five spectrographs, Echelle Spectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations, High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer, MAROON-X, and Planet Finder Spectrograph to establish that the new world also orbits LTT 1445A. We determine the mass and radius of LTT 1445Ab to be 2.87 ± 0.25 M⊕ and 1.304-0.060+0.067 R⊕, consistent with an Earth-like composition. For the newly discovered LTT 1445Ac, we measure a mass of 1.54-0.19+0.20 M⊕ and a minimum radius of 1.15 R⊕, but we cannot determine the radius directly as the signal-to-noise ratio of our light curve permits both grazing and nongrazing configurations. Using MEarth photometry and ground-based spectroscopy, we establish that star C (0.161 M⊙) is likely the source of the 1.4 day rotation period, and star B (0.215 M⊙) has a likely rotation period of 6.7 days. We estimate a probable rotation period of 85 days for LTT 1445A. Thus, this triple M-dwarf system appears to be in a special evolutionary stage where the most massive M dwarf has spun down, the intermediate mass M dwarf is in the process of spinning down, while the least massive stellar component has not yet begun to spin down.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Identification of novel pathways involved in the pathogenesis of human adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma

Activating mutations in the gene encoding β-catenin have been identified in the paediatric form of human craniopharyngioma (adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma, ACP), a histologically benign but aggressive pituitary tumour accounting for up to 10% of paediatric intracranial tumours. Recently, we generated an ACP mouse model and revealed that, as in human ACP, nucleocytoplasmic accumulation of β-catenin (β-catnc) and over-activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway occurs only in a very small proportion of cells, which form clusters. Here, combining mouse genetics, fluorescence labelling and flow-sorting techniques, we have isolated these cells from tumorigenic mouse pituitaries and shown that the β-catnc cells are enriched for colony-forming cells when cultured in stem cell-promoting media, and have longer telomeres, indicating shared properties with normal pituitary progenitors/stem cells (PSCs). Global gene profiling analysis has revealed that these β-catnc cells express high levels of secreted mitogenic signals, such as members of the SHH, BMP and FGF family, in addition to several chemokines and their receptors, suggesting an important autocrine/paracrine role of these cells in the pathogenesis of ACP and a reciprocal communication with their environment. Finally, we highlight the clinical relevance of these findings by showing that these pathways are also up-regulated in the β-catnc cell clusters identified in human ACP. As well as providing further support to the concept that pituitary stem cells may play an important role in the oncogenesis of human ACP, our data reveal novel disease biomarkers and potential pharmacological targets for the treatment of these devastating childhood tumours.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00401-012-0957-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Latin America in the 19th Century

This exhibit is a culmination of UT students’ collaborative effort to select, curate, and digitize original documents held in the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection that reveal the region’s tumultuous and transformative 19th-century journeys towards modernity.Department of History & LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and CollectionsLatin American Studie