Endurance Training Attenuates Chemoreflex Sensitivity to Intermittent Hypoxia

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Treatment of breast cancer: Imo State Nigeria versus Indiana, USA women -- comparative analytic study

BACKGROUND: Women with breast cancer undergo multimodal treatment for best outcome. This study seeks to identify the treatment challenges for such women in Imo State, Nigeria vis-à-vis similar women in Indiana USA. We compared the treatment modalities of both groups; noting predictors of compliance for subsequent action. SETTING: Federal Medical Centre, Owerri; Imo State, Imo State University, Orlu, Nigeria and Indiana University Hospital, Indiana, USA. DESIGN: A retrospective study. METHODOLOGY: From 2000-2013, 100 randomly pulled charts of patients treated for pathologically confirmed breast cancer in Imo, Nigeria Federal Medical Centre Owerri, Imo State University Hospital; and Indiana University Hospital U.S. respectively were reviewed. The demographics, clinical and pathological data of the patients with confirmed breast cancer were obtained. The data were formatted and analyzed with SPSS version 16.0. The clinical features, management options, outcomes and specific features were compared for both groups using Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests (age, parity) and chi-square tests for all other variables. A 5% significance level was used for all tests. RESULTS: One hundred patients were included for each group. The mean/minimum ages; Imo, Nigeria 41.7/21 (SD/SE 15.3/1.5) vs. Indiana, U.S.56.4/29 (SD 12.4/SE 1.2) p<0.0001. Histology for Indiana USA women was predominantly ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) P<0.0001 while that of Imo, Nigeria was invasive ductal carcinoma inflammatory cancer P<0.0326. Women in both locations received chemotherapy and surgery. Imo women received less radiotherapy. Toxicity from chemotherapy remained constant features for both groups, P<0.0001. In Indiana USA, the 5year survival exceeded 85%; In Imo Nigeria it was 10%. This study showed that Women on both locations who were likely to be compliant were those receiving mastectomy; Imo, Nigeria 44(56%) <0.013 vs. Indiana, U.S. 74(80%) p<0.0186; women with cosmesis given; Imo, Nigeria 41(42%) vs. Indiana, U.S. 91 (94%) p<0.0001. Sample sizes were inadequate to perform multivariable models. CONCLUSION: The multimodal treatment regimen implied that there was need for an algorithm protocol for breast cancer women. Thus the need to improve the quality of treatment particularly in Nigeria by improved treatment documentation to overcome key barriers involving information exchange

The Impact of a School Board’s One-to-One iPad Initiative on Equity and Inclusion

This paper examines the impact of a school board’s one-to-one iPad initiative on equity and inclusion. Data include: questionnaires from Grade 7–9 students, teachers, and administrators; focus groups with inclusion coaches; and interviews with classroom teachers. The results show that the iPads have supported equity among students in the district; there is now less disparity in terms of access to technology on the basis of families’ socio-economic status. The results show that the iPads have also supported the academic and social inclusion of students with exceptionalities; themes that arose across the data sources include: differentiation of content, access to grade-level curriculum, the appearance of sameness, communication and collaboration among students with and without exceptionalities, and positive student affect. Negative implications included the potential for students who struggle with self-regulation to be negatively affected and the potential for the technology to be used in socially exclusionary ways

Intestinal fibrosis is reduced by early elimination of inflammation in a mouse model of IBD: Impact of a “Top‐Down” approach to intestinal fibrosis in mice

Background: The natural history of Crohn's disease follows a path of progression from an inflammatory to a fibrostenosing disease, with most patients requiring surgical resection of fibrotic strictures. Potent antiinflammatory therapies reduce inflammation but do not appear to alter the natural history of intestinal fibrosis. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between intestinal inflammation and fibrogenesis and the impact of a very early “top‐down” interventional approach on fibrosis in vivo. Methods: In this study we removed the inflammatory stimulus from the Salmonella typhimurium mouse model of intestinal fibrosis by eradicating the S. typhimurium infection with levofloxacin at sequential timepoints during the infection. We evaluated the effect of this elimination of the inflammatory stimulus on the natural history of inflammation and fibrosis as determined by gross pathology, histopathology, mRNA expression, and protein expression. Results: Fibrogenesis is preceded by inflammation. Delayed eradication of the inflammatory stimulus by antibiotic treatment represses inflammation without preventing fibrosis. Early intervention significantly ameliorates but does not completely prevent subsequent fibrosis. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that intestinal fibrosis develops despite removal of an inflammatory stimulus and elimination of inflammation. Early intervention ameliorates but does not abolish subsequent fibrosis, suggesting that fibrosis, once initiated, is self‐propagating, suggesting that a very early top‐down interventional approach may have the most impact on fibrostenosing disease. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2012;)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90367/1/21812_ftp.pd

On the role of in-plane damage mechanisms on the macroscopic behavior of SiC/SiC composites from complementary 2D and 3D in-situ investigations

International audienceThe mechanical behavior of architectured SiC/SiC composites is driven by different damage mechanisms whose understanding is required for building micromechanics-based models able to reproduce and predict its complexity. The kinematics of the surface, precisely analyzed using DIC at the textile pattern scale, exhibit a fiber realignment unexplained by the cracks observed at the surface. The missing mechanism, tracked by tomography in-situ testing (SOLEIL synchrotron), appears to be in-plane microcracking which does not emerge at the free surface of the composite

Phenotypic plasticity in normal breast derived epithelial cells

Background Normal, healthy human breast tissue from a variety of volunteer donors has become available for research thanks to the establishment of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center (KTB). Multiple epithelial (K-HME) and stromal cells (K-HMS) were established from the donated tissue. Explant culture was utilized to isolate the cells from pieces of breast tissue. Selective media and trypsinization were employed to select either epithelial cells or stromal cells. The primary, non-transformed epithelial cells, the focus of this study, were characterized by immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and in vitro cell culture. Results All of the primary, non-transformed epithelial cells tested have the ability to differentiate in vitro into a variety of cell types when plated in or on biologic matrices. Cells identified include stratified squamous epithelial, osteoclasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes, neural progenitors/neurons, immature muscle and melanocytes. The cells also express markers of embryonic stem cells. Conclusions The cell culture conditions employed select an epithelial cell that is pluri/multipotent. The plasticity of the epithelial cells developed mimics that seen in metaplastic carcinoma of the breast (MCB), a subtype of triple negative breast cancer; and may provide clues to the origin of this particularly aggressive type of breast cancer. The KTB is a unique biorepository, and the normal breast epithelial cells isolated from donated tissue have significant potential as new research tools

Characterizing the weight-glycemia phenotypes of type 1 diabetes in youth and young adulthood

Introduction Individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) present with diverse body weight status and degrees of glycemic control, which may warrant different treatment approaches. We sought to identify subgroups sharing phenotypes based on both weight and glycemia and compare characteristics across subgroups. Research design and methods Participants: with T1D in the SEARCH study cohort (n=1817, 6.0-30.4 years) were seen at a follow-up visit >5 years after diagnosis. Hierarchical agglomerative clustering was used to group participants based on five measures summarizing the joint distribution of body mass index z-score (BMIz) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) which were estimated by reinforcement learning tree predictions from 28 covariates. Interpretation of cluster weight status and glycemic control was based on mean BMIz and HbA1c, respectively. Results: The sample was 49.5% female and 55.5% non-Hispanic white (NHW); mean±SD age=17.6±4.5 years, T1D duration=7.8±1.9 years, BMIz=0.61±0.94, and HbA1c=76±21 mmol/mol (9.1±1.9)%. Six weight-glycemia clusters were identified, including four normal weight, one overweight, and one subgroup with obesity. No cluster had a mean HbA1c <58 mmol/mol (7.5%). Cluster 1 (34.0%) was normal weight with the lowest HbA1c and comprised 85% NHW participants with the highest socioeconomic position, insulin pump use, dietary quality, and physical activity. Subgroups with very poor glycemic control (ie, ≥108 mmol/mol (≥12.0%); cluster 4, 4.4%, and cluster 5, 7.5%) and obesity (cluster 6, 15.4%) had a lower proportion of NHW youth, lower socioeconomic position, and reported decreased pump use and poorer health behaviors (overall p<0.01). The overweight subgroup with very poor glycemic control (cluster 5) showed the highest lipids and blood pressure (p<0.01). Conclusions: There are distinct subgroups of youth and young adults with T1D that share weight-glycemia phenotypes. Subgroups may benefit from tailored interventions addressing differences in clinical care, health behaviors, and underlying health inequity. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ

The Kafkaesque Pursuit of ‘World Class’: Audit Culture and the Reputational Arms Race in Academia

Since the 1980s universities have been subjected to a seemingly continuous process of policy reforms designed to make them more economical, efficient and effective, according to yardsticks defined by governments and university managers. The pursuit of ‘excellence’, ‘international standing’ and ‘world class’ status have become key drivers of what Hazelkorn (High Educ Pol 21(2):193–215, 2008) has termed the ‘rankings arms race’ that now dominates the world of academia. These policies are changing the mission and meaning of the public university and, more profoundly, the culture of academia itself. While some authors have sought to capture and analyse these trends in terms of ‘academic capitalism’ and the ‘enterprise university model’, we suggest they might also be usefully understood theoretically as illustrations of the rise of audit culture in higher education and its effects. Drawing on ethnographic examples from the UK, Denmark and New Zealand, we ask: how are higher education institutions being reconfigured by these new disciplinary regimes of audit? How are ranking and performance indicators changing institutional behaviour and transforming academic subjectivities? What possibilities are there for alternative university futures? And what insights can anthropology offer to address these questions

Quality measures for protein alignment benchmarks

Multiple protein sequence alignment methods are central to many applications in molecular biology. These methods are typically assessed on benchmark datasets including BALIBASE, OXBENCH, PREFAB and SABMARK, which are important to biologists in making informed choices between programs. In this article, annotations of domain homology and secondary structure are used to define new measures of alignment quality and are used to make the first systematic, independent evaluation of these benchmarks. These measures indicate sensitivity and specificity while avoiding the ambiguous residue correspondences and arbitrary distance cutoffs inherent to structural superpositions. Alignments by selected methods that indicate high-confidence columns (ALIGN-M, DIALIGN-T, FSA and MUSCLE) are also assessed. Fold space coverage and effective benchmark database sizes are estimated by reference to domain annotations, and significant redundancy is found in all benchmarks except SABMARK. Questionable alignments are found in all benchmarks, especially in BALIBASE where 87% of sequences have unknown structure, 20% of columns contain different folds according to SUPERFAMILY and 30% of ‘core block’ columns have conflicting secondary structure according to DSSP. A careful analysis of current protein multiple alignment benchmarks calls into question their ability to determine reliable algorithm rankings