Proposed mechanisms of tau: relationships to traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, and epilepsy

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and epilepsy share proposed mechanisms of injury, including neuronal excitotoxicity, cascade signaling, and activation of protein biomarkers such as tau. Although tau is typically present intracellularly, in tauopathies, phosphorylated (p-) and hyper-phosphorylated (hp-) tau are released extracellularly, the latter leading to decreased neuronal stability and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Tau cleavage at particular sites increases susceptibility to hyper-phosphorylation, NFT formation, and eventual cell death. The relationship between tau and inflammation, however, is unknown. In this review, we present evidence for an imbalanced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response and inflammatory signaling pathways resulting in atypical p-tau, hp-tau and NFT formation. Further, we propose tau as a biomarker for neuronal injury severity in TBI, AD, and epilepsy. We present a hypothesis of tau phosphorylation as an initial acute neuroprotective response to seizures/TBI. However, if the underlying seizure pathology or TBI recurrence is not effectively treated, and the pathway becomes chronically activated, we propose a “tipping point” hypothesis that identifies a transition of tau phosphorylation from neuroprotective to injurious. We outline the role of amyloid beta (Aβ) as a “last ditch effort” to revert the cell to programmed death signaling, that, when fails, transitions the mechanism from injurious to neurodegenerative. Lastly, we discuss targets along these pathways for therapeutic intervention in AD, TBI, and epilepsy

7. Habitat Use and Home Range of Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) in North Georgia Piedmont

The Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a terrestrial species native to the eastern United States. Eastern Box Turtles are experiencing range-wide population decline and are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Despite this, little research has been conducted regarding home range and habitat use in the Southeastern US. Therefore, since May 2013, we have conducted a radiotelemetry study to investigate factors that influence Box Turtle movement, habitat use, and survival in the Northeastern Piedmont region of Georgia. The study site is composed of mixed hardwood-pine uplands primarily comprised of oaks and maples, mesic and upland areas dominated by Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), beaver-created wetland, and maintained utility line areas. Our research includes 21 radio-transmitted turtles that are tracked on foot by homing 1-2 times a week. From spring 2013 to winter 2017, an average of 74 radiolocations (range: 6 to 166) per turtle were collected. Home ranges (100% minimum convex polygon) varied from less than 1 to over 6 ha. Radiotracked turtles primarily used mixed-upland areas and areas dominated by Chinese privet. The assessment of habitat use and home ranges will continue throughout 2017 with tracking and further data analysis. Keywords: Terrapene carolina carolina, radiotelemetry, home range, habitat use, Ligustrum sinens

The Design of a Digital Behaviour Change Intervention for Third-Level Student Illicit Substance Use: A Persona Building Approach

Illicit substance use among third-level students is an issue of increasing concern. Digital behavioural change interventions have been developed to target this population, but reports of their effectiveness are mixed. The importance of end-user involvement in digital intervention development has been well established, but it appears that many interventions in this area did not engage end-users during development. This absence may have affected engagement, undermining their potential effectiveness. This paper describes the process and contributions of a persona-building approach in the development of a digital behaviour change intervention tailored to the needs of third-level students. Nine exploratory persona-building workshops were carried out with 31 students, and 7 project team members to develop personas for heavy, occasional and non-substance using third-level students. Early analysis has identified five archetypes which will contribute to the design of an acceptable and user-friendly intervention, and to the identification of targeted behavioural change techniques

A new clinical algorithm embedded in a contextual behavior change intervention for higher education student drug use

Illicit drug use among higher education populations is a recognized public health issue. Brief personalized digital behavior change interventions with targeted harm-reduction can facilitate immediate support for this population. To make the intervention tailored to students’ needs, we built a clinical algorithm, informed by relevant behavior change theories and with system design features. Given the lack of previously relevant harm-reduction at student population level, functioning with the use of an algorithm, the aim of this work is twofold. We firstly explain how we developed the clinical algorithm using an empirical data synthesis approach. Secondly, we illustrate how the algorithm is implemented within the first prototype of an intervention named MyUSE, by providing an example on how the clinical algorithm is used to allocate users into different personalized intervention components. The prototype is currently in its final development phase and subsequent work will focus on examining its usability, feasibility, and effectiveness

Gender Differences in Incremental Force Production Accuracy Following a 3-, 6-, or 12-Week Strength Training Course

Subjective muscular force production is a commonly used psychophysiological method in resistance training and physical rehabilitation. However, limited research is available regarding whether differences exist in match-force production accuracy between male and female adults. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the gender differences in perceived force production accuracy following participation in a strength training course. METHODS: Participants (20 males, 26 females) were sampled from an undergraduate strength training course. Using a hand-grip dynamometer, maximal and incremental force production measurements were collected with the participants in a seated position with their dominant forearm resting on a table. Participants were asked to produce a maximal force on the hand-grip dynamometer followed by two sets of incremental force measures at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of maximal effort with adequate rest in between bouts. Incremental hand-grip measurements were repeated following a 3-, 6-, or 12-week strength training course. A linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between gender and hand-grip force error for the increments of force. RESULTS: Results indicated that the most variance in error was at the submaximal muscular force production of 25%, whereas the most accurate increment was at 100%, regardless of duration (3-, 6-, or 12-weeks) of participation in the strength training course (r2 = 0.046, p \u3c 0.001). For increments of lower exertion (i.e., 25% and 50%), there was no significant differences between male and female participants. However, for higher incremental force exertion (i.e., 75% and 100%), approximately 23% of variance (r2 = 0.230, p \u3c 0.001) and 32% of variance (r2 = 0.322, p \u3c 0.001) in force production accuracy, respectively, can be accounted for by gender. CONCLUSION: Following exposure to strength training instruction, physically active female adults are more accurate in force production at incremental exertion levels (i.e., 25%, 50%, 75% of maximal force), whereas males have greater match-force accuracy at 100% of maximal force production

Electronic health records to facilitate clinical research

Electronic health records (EHRs) provide opportunities to enhance patient care, embed performance measures in clinical practice, and facilitate clinical research. Concerns have been raised about the increasing recruitment challenges in trials, burdensome and obtrusive data collection, and uncertain generalizability of the results. Leveraging electronic health records to counterbalance these trends is an area of intense interest. The initial applications of electronic health records, as the primary data source is envisioned for observational studies, embedded pragmatic or post-marketing registry-based randomized studies, or comparative effectiveness studies. Advancing this approach to randomized clinical trials, electronic health records may potentially be used to assess study feasibility, to facilitate patient recruitment, and streamline data collection at baseline and follow-up. Ensuring data security and privacy, overcoming the challenges associated with linking diverse systems and maintaining infrastructure for repeat use of high quality data, are some of the challenges associated with using electronic health records in clinical research. Collaboration between academia, industry, regulatory bodies, policy makers, patients, and electronic health record vendors is critical for the greater use of electronic health records in clinical research. This manuscript identifies the key steps required to advance the role of electronic health records in cardiovascular clinical research

A systematic review of the effectiveness of digital interventions for illicit substance misuse harm reduction in third-level students

Background: Illicit substance misuse is a growing public health problem, with misuse peaking among 18–25 year-olds, and attendance at third-level education identified as a risk factor. Illicit substance misuse has the potential to harm mental and physical health, social relationships, and impact on academic achievements and future career prospects. Digital interventions have been identified as a vehicle for reaching large student populations and circumventing the limited capacity of student health services for delivering face-to-face interventions. Digital interventions have been developed in the area of alcohol and tobacco harm reduction, reporting some effectiveness, but the evidence for the effectiveness of digital interventions targeting illicit substance misuse is lacking. This review aims to systematically identify and critically appraise studies examining the effectiveness of digital interventions for illicit substance misuse harm reduction in third-level students. Methods: We systematically searched ten databases in April 2018 using keywords and database specific terms under the pillars of “mHealth,” “substance misuse,” and “student.” To be eligible for inclusion, papers had to present a measure of illicit substance misuse harm reduction. Included articles were critically appraised and included in the qualitative synthesis regardless of quality. Results: A total of eight studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Studies reported harm reduction in terms of substance misuse or initiation, as consequences or problems associated with substance misuse, or as correction of perceived social norms. Overall, five out of the eight studies reported at least one positive outcome for harm reduction. The critical appraisal indicated that the study quality was generally weak, predominantly due to a lack of blinding of study participants, and the use of self-reported substance misuse measures. However, results suggest that digital interventions may produce a modest reduction in harm from illicit substance misuse. Conclusions: The results of this review are positive, and support the need for further high-quality research in this area, particularly given the success of digital interventions for alcohol and tobacco harm reduction. However, very few studies focused solely on illicit substances, and those that did targeted only marijuana. This suggests the need for further research on the effectiveness of this type of intervention for other illicit substances. Trial registration: This review is registered on PROSPERO, ID number: CRD42018097203

Biting the bullet: a call for action on lead-contaminated meat in food-banks

Each year in the United States, food banks receive more than one million kilograms of donated hunted game meat. The National Rifle Association’s (NRA’s) Hunters for the Hungry initiative has established programs in more than 40 states for hunters to take their harvested game animal to a meat processing facility and indicate intent to donate the resulting processed and packaged meat to a local food bank. Most donated game meat is ground deer meat (venison); other donated game includes wild hog and goose. Even though the presence of ammunition-derived metallic lead fragments in donated firearms-hunted meat has been recognized for more than a decade, most of the donated hunted meat is not inspected to discard meat containing lead fragments. An underlying lack of food safety standards for adulterated donated food increases risks to low-income recipients, who are already disproportionately affected by elevated blood lead levels (BLLs).2 Primary prevention is needed for this overlooked source of lead exposure.publishedVersio