The Effects of BMI and Psychosocial Stress on Inflammation in College Students

Objectives: To characterize experiences with stress reported by undergraduate and graduate students and to investigate associations between levels of psychosocial stress, BMI, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels among this population.Methods: For this study, a total of 98 undergraduate, graduate, or professional students participated through convenience sampling at flu-shot clinics held by the university during the fall semesters. Participants provided perceived stress scores (n=75), a free list of five sources of daily stress, and a blood spot for CRP levels. BMI was calculated as weight (kg)/ height (m2) from measures of height and weight. Levels of psychosocial stress and BMI were examined in relation to CRP using linear regression analysis. Sources of stress were coded and examined in relation to sex and levels of perceived stress. Results: There were no differences in mean levels of perceived stress between men and women in our study. Several codes emerged as prevalent sources of stress among the overall sample, including: school, relationships, time management, health and wellness, and the future. Different frequencies of sources of stress emerged when stratified by sex and by PSS-10 categorization. There were statistically significant differences in mean CRP between male and female students in our study. There were no associations found between CRP and PSS or BMI in men; however, the association between CRP and BMI in women was statistically significant. Conclusion: This cross-sectional study utilized mixed-methods analysis in order to examine differential levels and sources of stress among college students. Additionally, this study demonstrated a significant association between BMI and CRP in female students. Future research should consider a longitudinal design over the course of the college experience, and may incorporate more qualitative methods when examining students’ experiences with stress.Bachelor of Art

Low level Atrazine exposure effects on crayfish development

Undergraduate Applie

Could parental rules play a role in the association between short sleep and obesity in young children?

Short sleep duration is associated with obesity in young children. This study develops the hypothesis that parental rules play a role in this association. Participants were 3-year-old children and their parents, recruited at nursery schools in socioeconomically deprived and non-deprived areas of a North-East England town. Parents were interviewed to assess their use of sleep, television-viewing and dietary rules, and given diaries to document their child's sleep for 4 days/5 nights. Children were measured for height, weight, waist circumference and triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses. One-hundred and eight families participated (84 with complete sleep data and 96 with complete body composition data). Parental rules were significantly associated together, were associated with longer night-time sleep and were more prevalent in the non-deprived-area compared with the deprived-area group. Television-viewing and dietary rules were associated with leaner body composition. Parental rules may in part confound the association between night-time sleep duration and obesity in young children, as rules cluster together across behavioural domains and are associated with both sleep duration and body composition. This hypothesis should be tested rigorously in large representative samples

A Cost Benefit Analysis from Instructor, Community Partner, and Student Perspectives: Cabrini College CBR Courses Merge Service, Education, and Research

Two community-based research (CBR) courses—Watershed Citizenship and Watershed Ecology—were piloted at Cabrini College in southeastern Pennsylvania. The courses connected service, education, and research using a local Pennsylvania stream, Crabby Creek, as the focal point, while working with several community partners. Course feedback using a qualitative student focus group regarding attitudes about environmental awareness, interdisciplinary thinking, and community-based, undergraduate research experiences showed that students gained a better understanding of how different disciplines can collaborate to address a problem in an integrative manner. Students also valued the faculty interdisciplinary team-teaching approach of the courses. We offer a model for designing and conducting an interdisciplinary team-taught CBR course employing instructors with different disciplinary backgrounds and areas of expertise. In this paper we present a case study in which we discuss the benefits and costs of these types of courses offered through the eyes of course instructors, community partners, and students and emphasize lessons learned that should prove helpful for others considering developing similar courses

A randomized trial of deferred stenting versus immediate stenting to prevent no- or slow-reflow in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (DEFER-STEMI)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess whether deferred stenting might reduce no-reflow and salvage myocardium in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Background: No-reflow is associated with adverse outcomes in STEMI. Methods: This was a prospective, single-center, randomized, controlled, proof-of-concept trial in reperfused STEMI patients with ≥1 risk factors for no-reflow. Randomization was to deferred stenting with an intention-to-stent 4 to 16 h later or conventional treatment with immediate stenting. The primary outcome was the incidence of no-/slow-reflow (Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction ≤2). Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was performed 2 days and 6 months after myocardial infarction. Myocardial salvage was the final infarct size indexed to the initial area at risk. Results: Of 411 STEMI patients (March 11, 2012 to November 21, 2012), 101 patients (mean age, 60 years; 69% male) were randomized (52 to the deferred stenting group, 49 to the immediate stenting). The median (interquartile range [IQR]) time to the second procedure in the deferred stenting group was 9 h (IQR: 6 to 12 h). Fewer patients in the deferred stenting group had no-/slow-reflow (14 [29%] vs. 3 [6%]; p = 0.006), no reflow (7 [14%] vs. 1 [2%]; p = 0.052) and intraprocedural thrombotic events (16 [33%] vs. 5 [10%]; p = 0.010). Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction coronary flow grades at the end of PCI were higher in the deferred stenting group (p = 0.018). Recurrent STEMI occurred in 2 patients in the deferred stenting group before the second procedure. Myocardial salvage index at 6 months was greater in the deferred stenting group (68 [IQR: 54% to 82%] vs. 56 [IQR: 31% to 72%]; p = 0.031]. Conclusions: In high-risk STEMI patients, deferred stenting in primary PCI reduced no-reflow and increased myocardial salvage

Antenatal lifestyle advice for women who are overweight or obese: LIMIT randomised trial

for the LIMIT Randomised Trial GroupOBJECTIVE To determine the effect of antenatal dietary and lifestyle interventions on health outcomes in overweight and obese pregnant women. DESIGN Multicentre randomised trial. We utilised a central telephone randomisation server, with computer generated schedule, balanced variable blocks, and stratification for parity, body mass index (BMI) category, and hospital. SETTING Three public maternity hospitals across South Australia. PARTICIPANTS 2212 women with a singleton pregnancy, between 10+0 and 20+0 weeks’ gestation, and BMI ≥25. INTERVENTIONS 1108 women were randomised to a comprehensive dietary and lifestyle intervention delivered by research staff; 1104 were randomised to standard care and received pregnancy care according to local guidelines, which did not include such information. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Incidence of infants born large for gestational age (birth weight ≥90th centile for gestation and sex). Prespecified secondary outcomes included birth weight >4000 g, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and gestational diabetes. Analyses used intention to treat principles. RESULTS 2152 women and 2142 liveborn infants were included in the analyses. The risk of the infant being large for gestational age was not significantly different in the two groups (lifestyle advice 203/1075 (19%) v standard care 224/1067 (21%); adjusted relative risk 0.90, 95% confidence interval 0.77 to 1.07; P=0.24). Infants born to women after lifestyle advice were significantly less likely to have birth weight above 4000 g (lifestyle advice 164/1075 (15%) v standard care 201/1067 (19%); 0.82, 0.68 to 0.99; number needed to treat (NNT) 28, 15 to 263; P=0.04). There were no differences in maternal pregnancy and birth outcomes between the two treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS For women who were overweight or obese, the antenatal lifestyle advice used in this study did not reduce the risk delivering a baby weighing above the 90th centile for gestational age and sex or improve maternal pregnancy and birth outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12607000161426).Jodie M Dodd, Deborah Turnbull, Andrew J McPhee, Andrea R Deussen, Rosalie M Grivell, Lisa N Yelland, Caroline A Crowther, Gary Wittert, Julie A Owens, and Jeffrey S Robinso

The Crabby Creek Initiative: Building and Sustaining An Interdisciplinary Community Partnership

In this article, we identify the steps and strategies that emerged through an interdisciplinary, community-based participatory research (CBPR) project—the Crabby Creek Initiative. The Initiative was undertaken jointly by Cabrini College faculty in biology and psychology, the Valley Creek Restoration Partnership (VCRP), the Stroud Water Research Center, (SWRC) and local residents of this eastern Pennsylvania region. The paper examines the phases the partners have gone through and the strategies used as the building blocks of partnerships in the process of collaboration: trust, mutual design, shared implementation, joint ownership, and dissemination of knowledge, the building blocks of sustainable partnerships. Ultimately, the lessons learned have the potential to galvanize practitioners to engage not only in citizen science, but also more broadly in the practice of applied and engaged democracy

Favipiravir induces HuNoV viral mutagenesis and infectivity loss with clinical improvement in immunocompromised patients

Chronic human norovirus (HuNoV) infections in immunocompromised patients result in severe disease, yet approved antivirals are lacking. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) inhibitors inducing viral mutagenesis display broad-spectrum in vitro antiviral activity, but clinical efficacy in HuNoV infections is anecdotal and the potential emergence of drug-resistant variants is concerning. Upon favipiravir (and nitazoxanide) treatment of four immunocompromised patients with life-threatening HuNoV infections, viral whole-genome sequencing showed accumulation of favipiravir-induced mutations which coincided with clinical improvement although treatment failed to clear HuNoV. Infection of zebrafish larvae demonstrated drug-associated loss of viral infectivity and favipiravir treatment showed efficacy despite occurrence of RdRp variants potentially causing favipiravir resistance. This indicates that within-host resistance evolution did not reverse loss of viral fitness caused by genome-wide accumulation of sequence changes. This off-label approach supports the use of mutagenic antivirals for treating prolonged RNA viral infections and further informs the debate surrounding their impact on virus evolution