MiR-133a Mimic Alleviates T1DM-Induced Systolic Dysfunction in Akita: An MRI-Based Study

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a leading cause of heart failure. Developing a novel therapeutic strategy for diabetic cardiomyopathy and characterizing animal models used for diabetes mellitus (DM) are important. Insulin 2 mutant (Ins2+/-) Akita is a spontaneous, genetic, mouse model for T1DM, which is relevant to humans. There are contrasting reports on systolic dysfunction and pathological remodeling (hypertrophy and fibrosis) in Akita heart. Here, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach, a gold standard reference for evaluating cardiac function, to measure ejection fraction (indicator of systolic dysfunction) in Akita. Moreover, we performed Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) and hematoxylin and Eosin stainings to determine cardiac hypertrophy, and Masson\u27s Trichrome and picrosirius red stainings to determine cardiac fibrosis in Akita. MiR-133a, an anti-hypertrophy and anti-fibrosis miRNA, is downregulated in Akita heart. We determined if miR-133a mimic treatment could mitigate systolic dysfunction and remodeling in Akita heart. Our MRI results revealed decreased ejection fraction in Akita as compared to WT and increased ejection fraction in miR-133a mimic-treated Akita. We also found that miR-133a mimic treatment mitigates T1DM-induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in Akita. We conclude that Akita shows cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis and systolic dysfunction and miR-133a mimic treatment to Akita could ameliorate them

Abnormal phenomena in a one-dimensional periodic structure containing left-handed materials

The explicit dispersion equation for a one-dimensional periodic structure with alternative layers of left-handed material (LHM) and right-handed material (RHM) is given and analyzed. Some abnormal phenomena such as spurious modes with complex frequencies, discrete modes and photon tunnelling modes are observed in the band structure. The existence of spurious modes with complex frequencies is a common problem in the calculation of the band structure for such a photonic crystal. Physical explanation and significance are given for the discrete modes (with real values of wave number) and photon tunnelling propagation modes (with imaginary wave numbers in a limited region).Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Soliton Squeezing in a Mach-Zehnder Fiber Interferometer

A new scheme for generating amplitude squeezed light by means of soliton self-phase modulation is experimentally demonstrated. By injecting 180-fs pulses into an equivalent Mach-Zehnder fiber interferometer, a maximum noise reduction of $4.4 \pm 0.3$ dB is obtained ($6.3 \pm 0.6$ dB when corrected for losses). The dependence of noise reduction on the interferometer splitting ratio and fiber length is studied in detail.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Does Diet Self Efficacy and Stress Affect Body Composition in College Students?

Body composition is influenced by many variables, including stress and nutrition, which in turn is affected by the person’s belief in his or her ability to manage a diet even in the face of obstacles (Nastaskin, 2015). PURPOSE: This study examined the influence of college students’ dietary self-efficacy and responses to stress on body weight and body fat percentage from their freshman to senior year. METHODS: Fourteen participants (11W/3M, 18.1 ± 0.4 yrs, 165.3 ± 7.7 cm, 64.9 ± 14.2 kg at Year 1) underwent whole-body dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA, Hologic W). They also completed 2 questionnaires: 1) Diet Self-Efficacy (Knäuper, 2013), which assesses three factors that could negatively impact diet: high caloric food temptation (HCF), social/internal factors (SIF), and negative emotional events (NEE) (0-100 range for each score) and 2) the Vanderbilt Responses to Stress - Peer Stress College, which is a 57-question survey measuring coping and involuntary stress responses to specific situations (0-50 range). All assessments were completed annually from the students’ freshman to senior year. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation. RESULTS: Overall, participants gained 5.1 ± 5.7 kg (6.6 ± 8.1%) of body weight and 0.5 ± 4.0% of body fat over the 4 years. At Year 1, diet self-efficacy scores were moderate (HCF 47.8 ± 22.1, SIF 56.7 ± 21.7, NEE 64.9 ± 22.0). Over four years, there was a strong negative correlation between NEE and body weight in 3 participants(r = -0.98, r = -0.96, r = -0.86), indicating that when these participants were better able to resist eating temptation when faced with a negative emotional event, they had a lower body weight. Also, SIF was trending towards a significant inverse relationship with body fat percentage (p = 0.07). Stress scores were inversely related with body fat percentage in the majority of the participants with the strongest correlation at (r = -0.96). CONCLUSION: Nutritional self-efficacy could influence weight changes in college students. However, any influence is highly individualized. Based on the limited number of participants in our study, it is too early to make generalized statements

Mapping factors that affect the uptake of digital therapeutics within health systems: scoping review

BACKGROUND: Digital therapeutics are patient-facing digital health interventions that can significantly alter the health care landscape. Despite digital therapeutics being used to successfully treat a range of conditions, their uptake in health systems remains limited. Understanding the full spectrum of uptake factors is essential to identify ways in which policy makers and providers can facilitate the adoption of effective digital therapeutics within a health system, as well as the steps developers can take to assist in the deployment of products. OBJECTIVE: In this review, we aimed to map the most frequently discussed factors that determine the integration of digital therapeutics into health systems and practical use of digital therapeutics by patients and professionals. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted in MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar. Relevant data were extracted and synthesized using a thematic analysis. RESULTS: We identified 35,541 academic and 221 gray literature reports, with 244 (0.69%) included in the review, covering 35 countries. Overall, 85 factors that can impact the uptake of digital therapeutics were extracted and pooled into 5 categories: policy and system, patient characteristics, properties of digital therapeutics, characteristics of health professionals, and outcomes. The need for a regulatory framework for digital therapeutics was the most stated factor at the policy level. Demographic characteristics formed the most iterated patient-related factor, whereas digital literacy was considered the most important factor for health professionals. Among the properties of digital therapeutics, their interoperability across the broader health system was most emphasized. Finally, the ability to expand access to health care was the most frequently stated outcome measure. CONCLUSIONS: The map of factors developed in this review offers a multistakeholder approach to recognizing the uptake factors of digital therapeutics in the health care pathway and provides an analytical tool for policy makers to assess their health system's readiness for digital therapeutics

Fitness Correlates to Firefighter Job Tasks

Firefighters have their focus on rescuing and responding in any emergency and fire situations (Antolini, 2015). The demand for firefighting includes a need for both aerobic and anaerobic fitness, along with muscular strength, endurance, explosive power, and reaction time (Xu, 2020). PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between fitness assessments and job task simulations in firefighter cadets. METHODS: 21 firefighter academy students performed fitness assessments and job task simulations on different days. Fitness assessments included vertical jump, lateral medicine ball throw, push up, horizontal row, and 300-yard shuttle run. Job task simulations were conducted in a sequential format, i.e., physical agility course and consisted of equipment carry, stair climb, ladder carry and raise, bear crawl, kneeling hose drag, over shoulder hose drag, tire strike, hose deploy, victim drag, and charged line. Pearson r correlation analyses were conducted to determine relationships between all variables in fitness assessments versus time to complete job task simulations. RESULTS: Positive correlations were found between the 300-yard shuttle run time and stair climb (r = .495, p = .023), ladder carry and raise (r = .433, p = .050), bear crawl (r = .516, p = .017), over shoulder hose drag (r = .486, p = .030), tire strike (r = .656, p = .002), hose deploy (r = .486, p = .030), and victim drag (r = .686, p \u3c .001). Negative correlations existed between the vertical jump and stair climb (r = .511, p = .018), ladder carry and raise (r = .439, p = .047), kneeling hose drag (r = .560, p = .008), hose deploy (r = .458, p = .042), and charged line (r = .645, p = .002). Negative correlations were found between the lateral medicine ball throw right and equipment carry (r = .529, p = .014), stair climb (r = .481, p = .027), ladder carry and raise (r = .489, p = .025), kneeling hose drag (r = .498, p = .021), and charged line (r = .486, p = .030). With the left side of the lateral medicine ball throw, negative correlations existed with stair climb (r = .465, p = .034), ladder carry and raise (r = .445, p = .043), kneeling hose drag (r = .508, p = .019), and charged line (r = .471, p = .036). Negative correlations were found between push up and stair climb (r = .616, p = .003), ladder carry and raise (r = .608, p = .003), bear crawl (r = .571, p = .007), kneeling hose drag (r = .594, p = .005), over shoulder hose drag (r = .629, p = .003), hose deploy (r = .539, p = .014), victim drag (r = .587, p = .006), and charged line (r = .511, p = .021). Finally, a negative correlation was evident between the horizontal row and over shoulder hose drag (r = .487, p = .029). CONCLUSION: Job task simulation scores are highly associated with a number of fitness assessments. Firefighters and academy instructors should focus on improving fitness, especially power, agility, and muscular endurance to improve specific job tasks