Persistent effects of early infant diet and associated microbiota on the juvenile immune system.

Early infant diet has significant impacts on the gut microbiota and developing immune system. We previously showed that breast-fed and formula-fed rhesus macaques develop significantly different gut microbial communities, which in turn are associated with different immune systems in infancy. Breast-fed animals manifested greater T cell activation and proliferation and harbored robust pools of T helper 17 (TH17) cells. These differences were sustained throughout the first year of life. Here we examine groups of juvenile macaques (approximately 3 to 5 y old), which were breast-fed or formula-fed in infancy. We demonstrate that juveniles breast-fed in infancy maintain immunologic differences into the fifth year of life, principally in CD8(+) memory T cell activation. Additionally, long-term correlation networks show that breast-fed animals maintain persistent relationships between immune subsets that are not seen in formula-fed animals. These findings demonstrate that infant feeding practices have continued influence on immunity for up to 3 to 5 y after birth and also reveal mechanisms for microbial modulation of the immune system

A quantitative study of neurochemically-defined populations of inhibitory interneurons in the superficial dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord

Around a quarter of neurons in laminae I-II of the dorsal horn are inhibitory interneurons. These play an important role in modulating somatosensory information, including that perceived as pain or itch. Previous studies in rat identified four largely non-overlapping neurochemical populations among these cells, defined by expression of galanin, neuropeptide Y (NPY), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) or parvalbumin. The galanin cells were subsequently shown to coexpress dynorphin. Several recent studies have used genetically-modified mice to investigate the function of different interneuron populations, and it is therefore important to determine whether the same pattern applies in mouse, and to estimate the relative sizes of these populations. We show that the neurochemical organisation of inhibitory interneurons in mouse superficial dorsal horn is similar to that in the rat, although a larger proportion of these neurons (33%) express NPY. Between them, these four populations account for ∼75% of inhibitory cells in laminae I-II. Since ∼25% of inhibitory interneurons in this region belong to a novel calretinin-expressing type, our results suggest that virtually all inhibitory interneurons in superficial dorsal horn can be assigned to one of these five neurochemical populations. Although our main focus was inhibitory neurons, we also identified a population of excitatory dynorphin-expressing cells in laminae I-II that are largely restricted to the medial part of the mid-lumbar dorsal horn, corresponding to glabrous skin territory. These findings are important for interpretation of studies using molecular-genetic techniques to manipulate the functions of interneuron populations to investigate their roles in somatosensory processing

Electronic cigarette use and tobacco cessation in a state-based quitline

Introduction. Evidence is mixed on e-cigarette's effectiveness as a tobacco cessation aid. Research suggests that e-cigarette users face greater barriers to quitting tobacco. Aim. To examine the association between e-cigarette use and tobacco cessation outcomes among quitline callers. Methods. We examined 2,204 callers who enrolled and completed 7-month follow-up surveys between April 2014 and January 2017. We examined the association between any e-cigarette use and tobacco cessation. We also evaluated these relationships by e-cigarette use patterns between enrollment and 7-month follow-up: sustained, adopted, discontinued, and non-use. We used multivariable logistic regression to control for caller characteristics, tobacco history, and program utilization. Results. Overall, 18% of callers reported using e-cigarettes at enrollment, follow-up, or both. Compared to non-users, e-cigarette users were more likely to be younger, non-Hispanic, and report a mental health condition. The adjusted odds of tobacco cessation were not statistically different for callers who used e-cigarettes compared to those who did not (adjusted odds ratios = 1.02, 95% confidence interval 0.79-1.32). Results were similar when examining cessation by patterns of e-cigarette use. Conclusions. E-cigarette use was not associated with tobacco cessation. This suggests that e-cigarette use may neither facilitate nor deter tobacco cessation among quitline callers. Future research should continue exploring how e-cigarette use affects quitting.6 month embargo; published online: 20 March 2019This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Reconstruction of the diapsid ancestral genome permits chromosome evolution tracing in avian and non-avian dinosaurs

The file attached is the Published/publisher’s pdf version of the article.Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.NHM Repositor

Humor development in children

Studying children's humor development can be a window into children's social and cognitive development. According to McGhee (1974, 1976), both children and adults find jokes maximally funny when they are cognitively demanding and present an "incongruency" - that is, a violation of your expectations about how the world works. In order for an incongruency to be perceived as funny, you must have a sophisticated enough grasp of the concepts that the joke is about so that you perceive the incongruency, but at the same time, the joke must be "cognitively demanding" - that is, it can't be too obvious. This "Cognitive Congruency Principle" (McGhee, 1974, 1976; Zigler et al., 1966) has been demonstrated by showing that children in elementary school find jokes most funny when they are about concepts that children have recently mastered. Humor also contains a social component, requiring the ability to read and produce social cues to indicate that you are joking (McGhee, 1974, Hoicka & Akhtar, 2012). Hoicka and Akhtar (2012) suggested that humor was a socio-cognitive phenomenon and were curious to know if toddlers could produce novel humor, or if it all consists of copied humor patterns from their parents. They found that even children under 12 months of age "produce" humor through hide-and-seek and peekaboo games, and that many children begin to produce novel verbal and conceptual jokes around 2 years of age. Questions remain regarding the development of humor, more specifically the types of jokes/humor young children/babies use and how they differ across developmental stages. By evaluating children’s use of humor in the context of the "jokes" they engage in, we can more deeply understand why and how they use humor to communicate at their given age. (Author abstract)Hardiman, N., O'Connor, M., Carlson, J., & Magee, N. (2021). Humor development in children. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.ed

Decolonizing Data Visualization: A History and Future of Indigenous Data Visualization

On the whole, the field of data visualization is white. Contemporary views of historical data visualization tend to trace back to a few iconic visuals tied to European wars and conquests. The modern explosion of the field has been centered around the ideas of white men, as if they invented data visualization. Yet, Indigenous populations world-wide have been incorporating data visualization into their record keeping for centuries before anyone had heard of Edward Tufte. In this article, three Indigenous evaluators (Mohican/Munsee, Cherokee, and Tlingit) along with a non-Indigenous co-conspirator, will discuss their journeys creating space to weave together Western notions of data visualization best practices and Indigenous ways of knowing and storytelling. The authors focus their evaluative work on the support of Indigenous communities and will reflect on what has worked in communicating data, what hasn't, and how far data visualization has to go in all four directions

Quantity and quality of airway clearance in children and young people with cystic fibrosis

Children and young people with CF (CYPwCF) get advice about using positive expiratory pressure (PEP) or oscillating PEP (OPEP) devices to clear sticky mucus from their lungs. However, little is known about the quantity (number of treatments, breaths, or sets) or quality (breath pressures and lengths) of these daily airway clearance techniques (ACTs) undertaken at home. This study used electronic pressure sensors to record real time breath-by-breath data from 145 CYPwCF (6-16y) during routine ACTs over 2 months. ACT quantity and quality were benchmarked against individual prescriptions and accepted recommendations for device use. In total 742,084 breaths from 9,081 treatments were recorded. Individual CYPwCF maintained consistent patterns of ACT quantity and quality over time. Overall, 60% of CYPwCF did at least half their prescribed treatments, while 27% did fewer than a quarter. About 77% of pre-teens did the right number of daily treatments compared with only 56% of teenagers. CYPwCF usually did the right number of breaths. ACT quality (recommended breath length and pressure) varied between participants and depended on device. Breath pressures, lengths and pressure-length relationships were significantly different between ACT devices. PEP devices encouraged longer breaths with lower pressures, while OPEP devices encouraged shorter breaths with higher pressures. More breaths per treatment were within advised ranges for both pressure and length using PEP (30-31%) than OPEP devices (1-3%). Objective measures of quantity and quality may help to optimise ACT device selection and support CYPwCF to do regular effective ACTs

Exploring synergistic interactions and catalysts in complex interventions: longitudinal, mixed methods case studies of an optimised multi-level suicide prevention intervention in four european countries (Ospi-Europe)

Background: The Medical Research Council (MRC) Framework for complex interventions highlights the need to explore interactions between components of complex interventions, but this has not yet been fully explored within complex, non-pharmacological interventions. This paper draws on the process evaluation data of a suicide prevention programme implemented in four European countries to illustrate the synergistic interactions between intervention levels in a complex programme, and to present our method for exploring these. Methods: A realist evaluation approach informed the process evaluation, which drew on mixed methods, longitudinal case studies. Data collection consisted of 47 semi-structured interviews, 12 focus groups, one workshop, fieldnoted observations of six programme meetings and 20 questionnaires (delivered at six month intervals to each of the four intervention sites). Analysis drew on the framework approach, facilitated by the use of QSR NVivo (v10). Our qualitative approach to exploring synergistic interactions (QuaSIC) also developed a matrix of hypothesised synergies that were explored within one workshop and two waves of data collection. Results: All four implementation countries provided examples of synergistic interactions that added value beyond the sum of individual intervention levels or components in isolation. For instance, the launch ceremony of the public health campaign (a level 3 intervention) in Ireland had an impact on the community-based professional training, increasing uptake and visibility of training for journalists in particular. In turn, this led to increased media reporting of OSPI activities (monitored as part of the public health campaign) and also led to wider dissemination of editorial guidelines for responsible reporting of suicidal acts. Analysis of the total process evaluation dataset also revealed the new phenomenon of the OSPI programme acting as a catalyst for externally generated (and funded) activity that shared the goals of suicide prevention. Conclusions: The QuaSIC approach enabled us to develop and refine our definition of synergistic interactions and add the innovative concept of catalytic effects. This represents a novel approach to the evaluation of complex interventions. By exploring synergies and catalytic interactions related to a complex intervention or programme, we reveal the added value to planned activities and how they might be maximised

A feasibility study of pre-sleep audio and visual alpha brain entrainment for people with chronic pain and sleep disturbance

Introduction: Chronic pain and sleep disturbance are bi-directionally related. Cortical electrical activity in the alpha frequency band can be enhanced with sensory stimulation via the phenomenon of entrainment, and may reduce pain perception. A smartphone based programme which delivers 10Hz stimulation through flickering light or binaural beats was developed for use at night, pre-sleep, with the aim of improving night time pain and sleep and thereby subsequent pain and related daytime symptoms. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and give an indication of effect of this programme for individuals with chronic pain and sleep disturbance. Materials and methods: In a non-controlled feasibility study participants used audio or visual alpha entrainment for 30 minutes pre-sleep each night for 4 weeks, following a 1 week baseline period. The study was pre-registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with the ID NCT04176861. Results: 28 participants (79% female, mean age 45 years) completed the study with high levels of data completeness (86%) and intervention adherence (92%). Daily sleep diaries showed an increase compared to baseline in total sleep time of 29 minutes (p=0.0033), reduction in sleep onset latency of 13 minutes (p=0.0043), and increase in sleep efficiency of 4.7% (p=0.0009). Daily 0-10 numerical rating scale of average pain at night improved by 0.5 points compared to baseline (p=0.027). Standardised questionnaires showed significant within-participant improvements in sleep quality (change in median Global PSQI from 16 to 12.5), pain interference (change in median BPI Pain Interference from 7.5 to 6.8), fatigue (change in median MFI total score from 82.5 to 77), and depression and anxiety (change in median HADS depression score from 12 to 10.5 and anxiety from 13.5 to 11). Discussion: Pre-sleep use of a smartphone programme for alpha entrainment by audio or visual stimulation was feasible for individuals with chronic pain and sleep disturbance. The effect on symptoms requires further exploration in controlled studies