The Relationship of Help-Seeking Inclinations to Traditional Predictors of Academic Success and First-Semester College GPA

Inclination to seek help was measured among a cohort of first-time, full-time freshman at a private university prior to the start of their first semester. The item involved a 10-point scale defined with contrasting terms at each end (i.e. verbal anchors at the extremes). Approximately 78% of the respondents rated themselves 5 and below, indicating a general reluctance to seek help. Males were less likely to seek help than females. Help-seeking inclinations were positively correlated with academic performance in high school, as reflected in class rank, but negatively related to SAT scores. An interaction was observed, indicating that students with high SAT and low high school rank were especially reluctant to look for help. The relationship of help seeking predisposition to first semester college GPA was curvilinear, with the GPA rising with increasing proclivity to seek help until the highest level of help seeking, at which point it dropped

Perceived Benefits of a Designated Smoking Area Policy on a College Campus: Views of Smokers and Non-smokers

Designated smoking areas are meant to: (1) limit secondhand smoke exposure to non-smokers, and (2) reduce cigarettes consumption by smokers. One year after the implementation of a designated smoking area protocol on a college campus, students were intercepted and asked to complete a short Likert survey designed to assess its perceived benefits. Analysis of the data showed that both smokers and non-smokers consider a reduction in the number of cigarettes consumed by smokers to be an unlikely outcome, which is consistent with research conducted in a variety of setting showing that designated smoking areas typically do not lead to less smoking by smokers. However, whereas the non-smokers agreed that the policy resulted in lowering exposure to second-hand smoke, smokers were unwilling to endorse a statement indicating that this occurred. This suggests that it may be unrealistic to assume that appeals to empathy (i.e. pointing out the negative impact of second hand smoke) when promoting the benefits of a designated smoking area will result in an automatic buy-in

Perceived Benefits of a Designated Smoking Area Policy on a College Campus: Views of Smokers and Non-smokers

Designated smoking areas are meant to: (1) limit secondhand smoke exposure to non-smokers, and (2) reduce cigarettes consumption by smokers.  One year after the implementation of a designated smoking area protocol on a college campus, students were intercepted and asked to complete a short Likert survey designed to assess its perceived benefits.  Analysis of the data showed that both smokers and non-smokers consider a reduction in the number of cigarettes consumed by smokers to be an unlikely outcome, which is consistent with research conducted in a variety of setting showing that designated smoking areas typically do not lead to less smoking by smokers.  However, whereas the non-smokers agreed that the policy resulted in lowering exposure to second-hand smoke, smokers were unwilling to endorse a statement indicating that this occurred. This suggests that it may be unrealistic to assume that appeals to empathy (i.e. pointing out the negative impact of second hand smoke) when promoting the benefits of a designated smoking area  will  result in an automatic buy-in

T cell avidity and tumor recognition: implications and therapeutic strategies

In the last two decades, great advances have been made studying the immune response to human tumors. The identification of protein antigens from cancer cells and better techniques for eliciting antigen specific T cell responses in vitro and in vivo have led to improved understanding of tumor recognition by T cells. Yet, much remains to be learned about the intricate details of T cell – tumor cell interactions. Though the strength of interaction between T cell and target is thought to be a key factor influencing the T cell response, investigations of T cell avidity, T cell receptor (TCR) affinity for peptide-MHC complex, and the recognition of peptide on antigen presenting targets or tumor cells reveal complex relationships. Coincident with these investigations, therapeutic strategies have been developed to enhance tumor recognition using antigens with altered peptide structures and T cells modified by the introduction of new antigen binding receptor molecules. The profound effects of these strategies on T cell – tumor interactions and the clinical implications of these effects are of interest to both scientists and clinicians. In recent years, the focus of much of our work has been the avidity and effector characteristics of tumor reactive T cells. Here we review concepts and current results in the field, and the implications of therapeutic strategies using altered antigens and altered effector T cells

Is Eighty Percent of Success Just Showing Up? Student Compliance and Refusal to Complete an Advisement Form as an Indicator of First-Term GPA

Motivation and, inferentially, commitment are critical, non-cognitive factors in college success. One needs to detect and measure these attributes prior to a student's acutal enrollment in classes since early detection of at-risk students can lead to the most productive intervention initiatives. Freshmen entering into La Salle University were required to complete a form used as a basis for advising. Students complying (n=427) and not complying (n=291) with the request were compared on high school grade point average (GPA), SAT scores, and first-term college GPA. The noncompliant students had lower credentials on the admissions criteria (high school GPA, SAT) as well as on the outcome measure (first-term college GPA), although the effect sizes were small. The findings support the contention that compliance with requirements is a proxy for academic motivation and can serve as a cue to how well a student will perform

Mentee’s Interest in becoming a Peer Mentor as a Function of Perceived Quality of the Mentorship Experience

One factor in a former mentee’s decision to become a mentor is thought to be satisfaction with the mentorship that the mentee experienced when being mentored, but the issue has been addressed in only a few studies. We studied the relationship between interest in becoming a mentor and indirect indicators of satisfaction, namely the quality of the mentee’s perceived experiences, among 509 peer mentored first-year college students who completed an evaluation at the end of the year. The results affirm that relationship, but the effect size is very small

Effects of Early Life Stress on Bone Homeostasis in Mice and Humans

Bone pathology is frequent in stressed individuals. A comprehensive examination of mechanisms linking life stress, depression and disturbed bone homeostasis is missing. In this translational study, mice exposed to early life stress (MSUS) were examined for bone microarchitecture (μCT), metabolism (qPCR/ELISA), and neuronal stress mediator expression (qPCR) and compared with a sample of depressive patients with or without early life stress by analyzing bone mineral density (BMD) (DXA) and metabolic changes in serum (osteocalcin, PINP, CTX-I). MSUS mice showed a significant decrease in NGF, NPYR1, VIPR1 and TACR1 expression, higher innervation density in bone, and increased serum levels of CTX-I, suggesting a milieu in favor of catabolic bone turnover. MSUS mice had a significantly lower body weight compared to control mice, and this caused minor effects on bone microarchitecture. Depressive patients with experiences of childhood neglect also showed a catabolic pattern. A significant reduction in BMD was observed in depressive patients with childhood abuse and stressful life events during childhood. Therefore, future studies on prevention and treatment strategies for both mental and bone disease should consider early life stress as a risk factor for bone pathologies

Transduction of Human T Cells with a Novel T-Cell Receptor Confers Anti-HCV Reactivity

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a major public health concern, with no effective vaccines currently available and 3% of the world's population being infected. Despite the existence of both B- and T-cell immunity in HCV-infected patients, chronic viral infection and HCV-related malignancies progress. Here we report the identification of a novel HCV TCR from an HLA-A2-restricted, HCV NS3:1073–1081-reactive CTL clone isolated from a patient with chronic HCV infection. We characterized this HCV TCR by expressing it in human T cells and analyzed the function of the resulting HCV TCR-transduced cells. Our results indicate that both the HCV TCR-transduced CD4+ and CD8+ T cells recognized the HCV NS3:1073–1081 peptide-loaded targets and HCV+ hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCC) in a polyfunctional manner with cytokine (IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α) production as well as cytotoxicity. Tumor cell recognition by HCV TCR transduced CD8− Jurkat cells and CD4+ PBL-derived T cells indicated this TCR was CD8-independent, a property consistent with other high affinity TCRs. HCV TCR-transduced T cells may be promising for the treatment of patients with chronic HCV infections

Human Antigen-Specific Regulatory T Cells Generated by T Cell Receptor Gene Transfer

Therapies directed at augmenting regulatory T cell (Treg) activities in vivo as a systemic treatment for autoimmune disorders and transplantation may be associated with significant off-target effects, including a generalized immunosuppression that may compromise beneficial immune responses to infections and cancer cells. Adoptive cellular therapies using purified expanded Tregs represents an attractive alternative to systemic treatments, with results from animal studies noting increased therapeutic potency of antigen-specific Tregs over polyclonal populations. However, current methodologies are limited in terms of the capacity to isolate and expand a sufficient quantity of endogenous antigen-specific Tregs for therapeutic intervention. Moreover, FOXP3+ Tregs fall largely within the CD4+ T cell subset and are thus routinely MHC class II-specific, whereas class I-specific Tregs may function optimally in vivo by facilitating direct tissue recognition.To overcome these limitations, we have developed a novel means for generating large numbers of antigen-specific Tregs involving lentiviral T cell receptor (TCR) gene transfer into in vitro expanded polyclonal natural Treg populations. Tregs redirected with a high-avidity class I-specific TCR were capable of recognizing the melanoma antigen tyrosinase in the context of HLA-A*0201 and could be further enriched during the expansion process by antigen-specific reactivation with peptide loaded artificial antigen presenting cells. These in vitro expanded Tregs continued to express FOXP3 and functional TCRs, and maintained the capacity to suppress conventional T cell responses directed against tyrosinase, as well as bystander T cell responses. Using this methodology in a model tumor system, murine Tregs designed to express the tyrosinase TCR effectively blocked antigen-specific effector T cell (Teff) activity as determined by tumor cell growth and luciferase reporter-based imaging.These results support the feasibility of class I-restricted TCR transfer as a promising strategy to redirect the functional properties of Tregs and provide for a more efficacious adoptive cell therapy