Cardiovascular Tissue Remodeling of Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy that leads to a multitude of problems for the mother and fetus during and after pregnancy. While the effects on the mother\u27s body after pregnancy are often overlooked, preeclamptic mothers are prone to cardiovascular diseases from the great deal of stress experienced through the duration of a preeclamptic pregnancy. The associated high blood pressure causes cardiac muscle to work a great deal harder in an attempt to successfully perfuse tissues adequately. This increase in prolonged stress leads to remodeling of the cardiovascular tissues-significantly increasing the risk of heart issues in life beyond the term of the preeclamptic pregnancy. Efforts to improve cardiac oxidative stress via Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 (VEGFR2) treatment are analyzed in this study

Does Aerobic and Resistance Exercise Reduce Fatigue in Men with Prostate Cancer?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not aerobic and resistance exercise reduces fatigue in men with prostate cancer. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review of three randomized controlled trials (RCT’s) published in peer reviewed journals between 2013-2017. DATA SOURCES: Data sources obtained for this review were found in using PubMed and Cochrane Library and chosen based on their relevance to the clinical question and if they included patient oriented evidence that matters (POEMS). OUTCOMES MEASURED: All three studies measured the effect aerobic and resistance exercise has on fatigue in men with prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation therapy and/or radiation therapy using self-reporting questionnaires. RESULTS: All three studies contained continuous data that could not be converted to dichotomous date. P values were reported for each of the studies. The p values for every trial reported a p value of \u3c.05 thus concluding the data to be statistically significant. Each of the studies selected found with statistical significance that aerobic and resistance exercise reduced the level of fatigue reported by the participants of the trial. CONCLUSIONS: After analysis of the three trials, exercise can lead to a reduction in fatigue in men diagnosed with prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and/or radiation therapy (RT). Exercise is a cost-effective option for patients and can have beneficial effects over other medical conditions. The populations studied in this review focused on men receiving ADT and/or RT. Future studies can focus on other treatment modalities such as chemotherapy. Further research can also include larger sample sizes and longer trials to effectively evaluate the long-term effects of exercise and fatigue

Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens

Successfully navigating early adolescence depends, in large part, on the availability of safe and engaging activities and supportive relationships with adults, yet many preteens have limited access to positive supports and opportunities -- such as high-quality after-school programs -- that could put them on a path to success. Funders, policymakers and practitioners share the common goal of supporting strategies that will have the most long-lasting positive effects on young people.Recognizing this, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health commissioned P/PV to identify the characteristics of quality after-school programs that are linked to positive outcomes for preteens. Based on the latest research and experience in the field, P/PV developed the publication, Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens, along with a companion Resource Guide (http://www.lpfch.org/afterschool/resourceguide.html) that includes links to research and tools to strengthen programs.Putting It All Together focuses on six after-school program components associated with positive outcomes for preteens:Focused and Intentional Strategy: Programs have a clear set of goals, target specific skills, and deliberately plan all aspects of the program with a youth development framework in mind.Exposure: Programs are designed to: a) provide preteens with a sufficient number of hours per week over an extended period of time, that matches program outcome goals; and b) allow preteens to attend a variety of activities.Supportive Relationships: Programs emphasize positive adult-youth relationships regardless of the curriculum.Family Engagement: Programs strive to include families through various strategies, such as clear communication and a welcoming environment.Cultural Competence: Programs have diverse staff whose backgrounds are reflective of participants and who create practices and policies that: a) make services available to and inclusive of a variety of populations; and b) help participants understand and value a broad range of cultures.Continuous Program Improvement: Programs strengthen quality through an ongoing and integrated process of targeted staff training, coaching and monitoring, and data collection and analysis.While a host of factors, including organizational capacity, the needs of the youth served and the resources available, all play a role in determining a program's ability to achieve its goals, research suggests that these guiding principles are essential for program quality. That quality, in turn, is the foundation for positive results for youth.NOTE: This version of Putting It All Together contains a full list of endnotes and references, which we chose to omit from hard copies of the report, in the interest of brevity

More Time For Teens: Understanding Teen Participation -- Frequency, Intensity and Duration -- In Boys & Girls Clubs

Written midway through a three-year longitudinal evaluation of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, this report explores a topic of continuing interest to program operators and funders: What does it take to involve teens in positive out-of-school-time activities? Drawing on survey data from a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 400 seventh and eighth graders, Clubs attendance data tracked over a period of 17 months, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders, More Time for Teens identifies a set of factors that appear to contribute to three specific aspects of Club participation: frequency, duration and retention. The report highlights links found between accessible, safe places that provide a variety of informal and formal activities of interest to teens and higher levels of participation. It also distills lessons for programs interested in boosting teen participation. These include establishing relationships when children are younger (these relationships often endure through the teen years), taking into account the importance teens place on friendships and working with teens to establish flexibility in attendance policies as they enter their high school years

Immuno-inhibitory PD-L1 can be induced by a peptidoglycan/NOD2 mediated pathway in primary monocytic cells and is deficient in Crohn's patients with homozygous NOD2 mutations.

Peptidoglycan (PGN) is a ubiquitous bacterial membrane product that, despite its well known pro-inflammatory properties, has also been invoked in immuno-tolerance of the gastrointestinal tract. PGN-induced mucosal IL-10 secretion and downregulation of Toll like receptors are potential mechanisms of action in the gut but there are few data on tolerogenic adaptive immune responses and PGN. Here, using blood-derived mononuclear cells, we showed that PGN induced marked cell surface expression of PD-L1 but not PD-L2 or CD80/CD86, and specifically in the CD14(+) monocytic fraction. This was reproduced at the gene level with rapid induction (<4 h) and, unlike for LPS stimulation, was still sustained at 24 h. Using transfected and native muramyl dipeptide (MDP), which is a cleavage product of PGN and a specific NOD2 agonist, in assays with wild type cells or those from patients with Crohn's disease carrying the Leu1007 frameshift mutation of NOD2, we showed that (i) both NOD2 dependent and independent signalling (appearing TLR2 mediated) occurred for PGN upregulation of PD-L1 (ii) upregulation is lost in response to MDP in patients with the homozygous mutation and (iii) PD-L1 upregulation was unaffected in patients with heterozygous mutations as previously reported for cytokine responses to MDP. The uptake of PGN and its cleavage products by the intestinal mucosa is well recognised and further work should consider PD-L1 upregulation as one potential mechanism of the commensal flora-driven intestinal immuno-tolerance. Indeed, recent work has shown that loss of PD-L1 signalling in the gut breaks CD8(+) T cell tolerance to self antigen and leads to severe autoimmune enteritis.The authors wish to thank the Sir Halley Stewart Trust and the Dairy Council for their generous support of the research described within and the MRC for their continual suppor

Apparatus and method for centrifugation and robotic manipulation of samples

A device for centrifugation and robotic manipulation of specimen samples, including incubating eggs, and uses thereof are provided. The device may advantageously be used for the incubation of avian, reptilian or any type of vertebrate eggs. The apparatus comprises a mechanism for holding samples individually, rotating them individually, rotating them on a centrifuge collectively, injecting them individually with a fixative or other chemical reagent, and maintaining them at controlled temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric composition. The device is applicable to experiments involving entities other than eggs, such as invertebrate specimens, plants, microorganisms and molecular systems

University students and staff able to maintain low daily contact numbers during various COVID-19 guideline periods

UK universities re-opened in September 2020, amidst the coronavirus epidemic. During the first term, various national social distancing measures were introduced, including banning groups of >6 people and the second lockdown in November; however, outbreaks among university students occurred. We aimed to measure the University of Bristol staff and student contact patterns via an online, longitudinal survey capturing self-reported contacts on the previous day. We investigated the change in contacts associated with COVID-19 guidance periods: post-first lockdown (23/06/2020–03/07/2020), relaxed guidance period (04/07/2020–13/09/2020), ‘rule-of-six’ period (14/09/2020–04/11/2020) and the second lockdown (05/11/2020–25/11/2020). In total, 722 staff (4199 responses) and 738 students (1906 responses) were included in the study. For staff, daily contacts were higher in the relaxed guidance and ‘rule-of-six’ periods than the post-first lockdown and second lockdown. Mean student contacts dropped between the ‘rule-of-six’ and second lockdown periods. For both staff and students, the proportion meeting with groups larger than six dropped between the ‘rule-of-six’ period and the second lockdown period, although was higher for students than for staff. Our results suggest university staff and students responded to national guidance by altering their social contacts. Most contacts during the second lockdown were household contacts. The response in staff and students was similar, suggesting that students can adhere to social distancing guidance while at university. The number of contacts recorded for both staff and students were much lower than those recorded by previous surveys in the UK conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic

Contacts and behaviours of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of the 2020/2021 academic year

University students have unique living, learning and social arrangements which may have implications for infectious disease transmission. To address this data gap, we created CONQUEST (COroNavirus QUESTionnaire), a longitudinal online survey of contacts, behaviour, and COVID-19 symptoms for University of Bristol (UoB) staff/students. Here, we analyse results from 740 students providing 1261 unique records from the start of the 2020/2021 academic year (14/09/2020–01/11/2020), where COVID-19 outbreaks led to the self-isolation of all students in some halls of residences. Although most students reported lower daily contacts than in pre-COVID-19 studies, there was heterogeneity, with some reporting many (median = 2, mean = 6.1, standard deviation = 15.0; 8% had ≥ 20 contacts). Around 40% of students’ contacts were with individuals external to the university, indicating potential for transmission to non-students/staff. Only 61% of those reporting cardinal symptoms in the past week self-isolated, although 99% with a positive COVID-19 test during the 2 weeks before survey completion had self-isolated within the last week. Some students who self-isolated had many contacts (mean = 4.3, standard deviation = 10.6). Our results provide context to the COVID-19 outbreaks seen in universities and are available for modelling future outbreaks and informing policy

The Education Combination Toolkit

Drawing on both research and the lived experiences of students, parents, and educators from across the country, this paper describes how the right combination of resources can make a difference for students' learning experiences.The Education Combination provides state and district leaders, educators, families, and communityadvocates with an overview of each dimension, including:A vision for what it should look likeResearch-backed reasons for why it mattersKey questions to considerExamples of challenges and trends from states, districts, and school

University students and staff able to maintain low daily contact numbers during various COVID-19 guideline periods

UK universities re-opened in September 2020, amidst the coronavirus epidemic. During the first term, various national social distancing measures were introduced, including banning groups of &gt;6 people and the second lockdown in November; however, outbreaks among university students occurred. We aimed to measure the University of Bristol staff and student contact patterns via an online, longitudinal survey capturing self-reported contacts on the previous day. We investigated the change in contacts associated with COVID-19 guidance periods: post-first lockdown (23/06/2020–03/07/2020), relaxed guidance period (04/07/2020–13/09/2020), ‘rule-of-six’ period (14/09/2020–04/11/2020) and the second lockdown (05/11/2020–25/11/2020). In total, 722 staff (4199 responses) and 738 students (1906 responses) were included in the study. For staff, daily contacts were higher in the relaxed guidance and ‘rule-of-six’ periods than the post-first lockdown and second lockdown. Mean student contacts dropped between the ‘rule-of-six’ and second lockdown periods. For both staff and students, the proportion meeting with groups larger than six dropped between the ‘rule-of-six’ period and the second lockdown period, although was higher for students than for staff. Our results suggest university staff and students responded to national guidance by altering their social contacts. Most contacts during the second lockdown were household contacts. The response in staff and students was similar, suggesting that students can adhere to social distancing guidance while at university. The number of contacts recorded for both staff and students were much lower than those recorded by previous surveys in the UK conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic