Fitness a Stronger Exercise Motivator among United States Female Collegiate Exercise Physiology Students compared to Czech Republic

Motivation is significant in influencing behavior change and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Physical appearance, weight control, and fitness enhancement are primary motivators for exercise participation and adherence. Exercise knowledge and cultural influences are less established. The purpose of this study was to compare exercise motivators among collegiate female exercise physiology students from the United States (US) and the Czech Republic (CR). US (N=28; age=21.1±2.2) and CR (N=25; age=20.2±1.5) freshman exercise physiology students from Valdosta State University (Valdosta, GA) and Palacký University (Olomouc, CR) volunteered for the study. A secondary analysis was conducted on female participants using body mass index (BMI) and responses from the Motives for Physical Activities Measure-Revised (MPAM-R). MPAM-R results indicated fitness was a stronger motivator than appearance for US. Significant differences were found between fitness and appearance for US (t=-2.195; p=.037). Fitness was greater in US than CR (t=-2.872; p=.008). Appearance differences were not significant. BMI was significant for both fitness (t=15.486; p=.000) and appearance (t=15.867; p=.000) among US and BMI was significant for both fitness (t=29.461; p=.000) and appearance (t=31.578; p=.000) among CR. US female exercise physiology students report fitness as a stronger exercise motivator than appearance, and fitness as a stronger motivator among US compared to CR. Further research is needed to evaluate exercise knowledge and culture as motivating factors for exercise participation and adherence

The Universal Periodic Review: Determining an International Organization’s Impact on Women’s Rights in a State

How does official criticism from the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) affect the level of government respect for women’s rights in a state? International governmental organizations (IGOs), such as the Universal Periodic Review, play an important role in the overall global community. Although there is some evidence that IGOs can improve respect for human rights in a state, scholars do not yet know the impact on women’s rights specifically, especially when it comes to naming and shaming. I investigate this relationship, theorizing that the UPR will positively impact women’s rights, but this effect will be contingent on the level of terrorist activity in a state. I focus specifically on women’s rights through discrimination against women, women’s access to education, and violence against women. I argue that the strong presence of terrorist groups will wash out the impact of the UPR’s naming and shaming. I substantiate my argument with a case study in the Middle East, Iraq, with a high level of terrorist activity. My findings indicate that terrorist attacks do not seem to undermine the state responses to women’s rights, rejecting my hypothesis

Esketamine: new hope for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression? A narrative review

This narrative review aims to provide an overview of the current literature on thepharmacology, safety, efficacy and tolerability of intranasal esketamine, the S-enantiomerof ketamine, for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression (TRD). A literature searchusing Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and Cochrane Central was conducted (January 2000 toJuly 2019). Product information and www.clinicaltrials.gov were also reviewed. The literaturesearch was limited to human studies published in English. PhaseI, II, and III studies ofintranasal esketamine for TRD were reviewed. About a third of patients with major depressivedisorder fail to achieve remission despite treatment with multiple antidepressants. Thisarticle examines the trials that led to the approval of esketamine in the United States, aswell as other recent studies of esketamine for TRD. The findings from limited phaseIII trialsillustrate that intranasal esketamine is effective and safe in reducing depressive symptomsand achieving clinical response in patients with TRD. The optimum duration and frequency ofuse are not fully understood. Although the nasal spray is a convenient dosage form, its use inpractice may be limited by cost and administrative regulation. While it may prove beneficialto many patients who suffer from TRD, further long-term data are required, along withcomparative trials with the R-isomer (arketamine). In the interim, care and monitoring shouldbe exercised in its use in clinical practice

Plasmodium knowlesi: a superb in vivo nonhuman primate model of antigenic variation in malaria.

Antigenic variation in malaria was discovered in Plasmodium knowlesi studies involving longitudinal infections of rhesus macaques (M. mulatta). The variant proteins, known as the P. knowlesi Schizont Infected Cell Agglutination (SICA) antigens and the P. falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1 (PfEMP1) antigens, expressed by the SICAvar and var multigene families, respectively, have been studied for over 30 years. Expression of the SICA antigens in P. knowlesi requires a splenic component, and specific antibodies are necessary for variant antigen switch events in vivo. Outstanding questions revolve around the role of the spleen and the mechanisms by which the expression of these variant antigen families are regulated. Importantly, the longitudinal dynamics and molecular mechanisms that govern variant antigen expression can be studied with P. knowlesi infection of its mammalian and vector hosts. Synchronous infections can be initiated with established clones and studied at multi-omic levels, with the benefit of computational tools from systems biology that permit the integration of datasets and the design of explanatory, predictive mathematical models. Here we provide an historical account of this topic, while highlighting the potential for maximizing the use of P. knowlesi - macaque model systems and summarizing exciting new progress in this area of research

Objective, computerized video-based rating of blepharospasm severity

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical rating scales of blepharospasm severity with involuntary eye closures measured automatically from patient videos with contemporary facial expression software. METHODS: We evaluated video recordings of a standardized clinical examination from 50 patients with blepharospasm in the Dystonia Coalition's Natural History and Biorepository study. Eye closures were measured on a frame-by-frame basis with software known as the Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox (CERT). The proportion of eye closure time was compared with 3 commonly used clinical rating scales: the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale, Global Dystonia Rating Scale, and Jankovic Rating Scale. RESULTS: CERT was reliably able to find the face, and its eye closure measure was correlated with all of the clinical severity ratings (Spearman ρ = 0.56, 0.52, and 0.56 for the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale, Global Dystonia Rating Scale, and Jankovic Rating Scale, respectively, all p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that CERT has convergent validity with conventional clinical rating scales and can be used with video recordings to measure blepharospasm symptom severity automatically and objectively. Unlike EMG and kinematics, CERT requires only conventional video recordings and can therefore be more easily adopted for use in the clinic

The Effect of an Instructional Video on Scoring Agreement of the ASQ-3 Between Parents and SPTs

Introduction 1 in 5 children have developmental delays, yet half are not identified until kindergarten Parent-completed tools, like the Ages and Stages Questionnaire version 3 (ASQ-3), provide valuable insight on children’s performance of milestones Previous findings demonstrated low agreement between parental and student physical therapist (SPT) scoring of the ASQ-3 Parents receive no training on administration of formal screening tools Objective Investigate the effect of an informational training video (ITV) for parents on the level of agreement in ASQ-3 scoring between parents and SPTs as a proxy for healthcare providers Participants 10 parents with preschool-aged children in the Hand in Hand Child Care Center, St. Paul, MN 4 SPTs at Concordia University, St. Paul, MN Methods ASQ-3, a standardized developmental screening tool, used across a variety of settings, cultures, and age ranges, served as the outcome tool Designed to be completed by parents, childhood educators, and healthcare professionals Monitors development across 5 domains: Communication (CM), Gross Motor (GM), Fine Motor (FM), Problem Solving (PM), Personal Social (PS) Developmental screening was conducted across two testing sessions for each child (Figure 1) Results PM had the highest percentage of agreement at 85%, followed by PS (81%), GM (78%), CM (70%), and FM (63%) Parent scores were the most variable in the CM and FM domains (Chart 1 & 2) Least variability between parent scores occurred in the PM and PS domains (Chart 1 & 2) Conclusion Limitations include a small, homogenous group and inconsistent representation of domains in ITV The use of an ITV did not result in ASQ-3 scoring agreement between parents and SPTs Clinical Relevance Further research is needed to fully assess the relationship between the use of an ITV and the level of agreement when administering the ASQ-3 More resources may be required to bridge the gap between parents and healthcare provider

Freezing and chemical preservatives alter the stable isotope values of carbon and nitrogen of the Asiatic clam (Corbicula fluminea)

We tested the impacts of most common sample preservation methods used for aquatic sample materials on the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in clams, a typical baseline indicator organism for many aquatic food web studies utilising stable isotope analysis (SIA). In addition to common chemical preservatives ethanol and formalin, we also assessed the potential impacts of freezing on δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values and compared the preserved samples against freshly dried and analysed samples. All preservation methods, including freezing, had significant impacts on δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values and the effects in general were greater on the carbon isotope values (1.3-2.2% difference) than on the nitrogen isotope values (0.9-1.0% difference). However, the impacts produced by the preservation were rather consistent within each method during the whole 1 year experiment allowing these to be accounted for, if clams are intended for use in retrospective stable isotope studies

Spatial heterogeneity of habitat suitability for Rift Valley fever occurrence in Tanzania: an ecological niche modelling approach

Despite the long history of Rift Valley fever (RVF) in Tanzania, extent of its suitable habitat in the country remains unclear. In this study we investigated potential effects of temperature, precipitation, elevation, soil type, livestock density, rainfall pattern, proximity to wild animals, protected areas and forest on the habitat suitability for RVF occurrence in Tanzania. Presence-only records of 193 RVF outbreak locations from 1930 to 2007 together with potential predictor variables were used to model and map the suitable habitats for RVF occurrence using ecological niche modelling. Ground-truthing of the model outputs was conducted by comparing the levels of RVF virus specific antibodies in cattle, sheep and goats sampled from locations in Tanzania that presented different predicted habitat suitability values. Habitat suitability values for RVF occurrence were higher in the northern and central-eastern regions of Tanzania than the rest of the regions in the country. Soil type and precipitation of the wettest quarter contributed equally to habitat suitability (32.4% each), followed by livestock density (25.9%) and rainfall pattern (9.3%). Ground-truthing of model outputs revealed that the odds of an animal being seropositive for RVFV when sampled from areas predicted to be most suitable for RVF occurrence were twice the odds of an animal sampled from areas least suitable for RVF occurrence (95% CI: 1.43, 2.76, p < 0.001). The regions in the northern and central-eastern Tanzania were more suitable for RVF occurrence than the rest of the regions in the country. The modelled suitable habitat is characterised by impermeable soils, moderate precipitation in the wettest quarter, high livestock density and a bimodal rainfall pattern. The findings of this study should provide guidance for the design of appropriate RVF surveillance, prevention and control strategies which target areas with these characteristics

Ecologic Niche Modeling of Blastomyces dermatitidis in Wisconsin

Background: Blastomycosis is a potentially fatal mycosis that is acquired by inhaling infectious spores of Blastomyces dermatitidis present in the environment. The ecology of this pathogen is poorly understood, in part because it has been extremely difficult to identify the niche(s) it occupies based on culture isolation of the organism from environmental samples. Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated the ecology of blastomycosis by performing maximum entropy modeling of exposure sites from 156 cases of human and canine blastomycosis to provide a regional-scale perspective of the geographic and ecologic distribution of B. dermatitidis in Wisconsin. Based on analysis with climatic, topographic, surface reflectance and other environmental variables, we predicted that ecologic conditions favorable for maintaining the fungus in nature occur predominantly within northern counties and counties along the western shoreline of Lake Michigan. Areas of highest predicted occurrence were often in proximity to waterways, especially in northcentral Wisconsin, where incidence of infection is highest. Ecologic conditions suitable for B. dermatitidis are present in urban and rural environments, and may differ at the extremes of distribution of the species in the state. Conclusions/Significance: Our results provide a framework for a more informed search for specific environmental factors modulating B. dermatitidis occurrence and transmission and will be useful for improving public health awareness of relativ