MIR-744 modulation by disturbed flow and its role in endothelial inflammation and atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in developed nations as it is the underlying cause of many cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and peripheral arterial disease. Atherosclerotic plaques preferentially develop in areas with curved or branched geometries due to the effects of low magnitude, oscillating, disturbed blood flow (d-flow) on the endothelium. The mechanisms by which d-flow induces pro-atherogenic responses predominantly involves changes in the endothelial gene expression, in part due to differential microRNA (miRNA) expression. Here, we report the identification of a novel, flow-sensitive miR-744 in endothelial cells that stimulates endothelial inflammation in vitro. Furthermore, we found LIMS2 is a novel, mechanosensitive, conserved target of miR-744. Finally, inhibition of LIMS2 significantly reduced the development of plaque in an acute d-flow-induced murine model of atherosclerosis. The work presented here has resulted in the discovery of a novel, shear-sensitive miRNA, a novel, shear-sensitive gene, and underscores the importance of the specificity of the miRNA-gene interaction. This work also provides a foundation for future studies to develop more targeted therapeutic strategies for CVD.Ph.D

Principal Behaviors in Special Education: Secondary School Climate.

This study examines the relationship of the high school principal and school climate with regard to special education. Perceptions of principals and general and special education teachers regarding school climate were measured by the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire-Rutgers Secondary (OCDQ-RS) (Hoy, Tarter and Kottkamp, 1991). Perceptions of principal behaviors with regard to special education were measured by the Special Education Principal Behavior Profile (SEPBP), developed as a portion of this study. Findings suggested that principals and special education teachers have significantly different perceptions of school climate. Principal behaviors related to special education which were moderately correlated with the openness factor of school climate on the OCDQ-RS include making programmatic changes to meet the needs of disabled students, providing special education students with an opportunity to schedule general education classes, interacting with disabled students, and enforcing the laws and regulations and supervising the IEP process. Other principal behaviors include assisting disabled students and special education classes. Issues related to hiring practices were also identified. The perceptions of special education teachers and principals differed significantly in six areas. These include supervising the IEP process, reviewing IEP records and advising staff of special education laws and regulations. Principals and special education teachers also differed in their perceptions regarding equal access to school resources, reviewing and revising school goals, and that students with disabilities were included in goals for the school. Case studies were conducted on two high schools that received paired dichotomous scores on the OCDQ-RS and the SEPBP. Those findings indicated that both principals were minimally involved in special education programs. Responsibilities involving special education were delegated to a department head and/or an assistant principal. Supportive principal behaviors, consistency in staff, and student integration in the school and the community were primary contributors to the success or lack of success experienced by students and teachers

Increasing fluid intake and reducing dehydration risk in older people living in long-term care: a systematic review

Objective: To assess the efficacy of interventions and environmental factors on increasing fluid intake or reducing dehydration risk in older people living in long-term care facilities. Design: Systematic review of intervention and observational studies. Data Sources: Thirteen electronic databases were searched from inception until September 2013 in all languages. References of included papers and reviews were checked. Eligibility criteria: Intervention and observational studies investigating modifiable factors to increase fluid intake and/or reduce dehydration risk in older people (≥65 years) living in long-term care facilities who could drink orally. Review methods: Two reviewers independently screened, selected, abstracted data and assessed risk of bias from included studies, narrative synthesis was performed. Results: 4328 titles and abstracts were identified, 325 full-text papers obtained and 23 included in the review. Nineteen intervention and 4 observational studies from 7 countries investigated factors at resident, institutional or policy level. Overall the studies were at high risk of bias due to selection and attrition bias and lack of valid outcome measures of fluid intake and dehydration assessment. Reported findings from six of the nine intervention studies investigating the effect of multi-component strategies on fluid intake or dehydration described a positive effect. Components included greater choice and availability of beverages, increased staff awareness, increased staff assistance with drinking and toileting. Implementation of the US Resident Assessment Instrument reduced dehydration prevalence from 3% to 1%, p=0.01. Two smaller studies reported positive effects, one on fluid intake in 9 men with Alzheimer's Disease using high-contrast red cups, the other involved supplementing 13 mildly dehydrated residents with oral hydration solution over 5 days to reduce dehydration. Modifications to the dining environment, advice to residents, presentation of beverages and mode of delivery (straw vs beaker; pre-thickened drinks vs those thickened at the bedside) were inconclusive. Two large observational studies with good internal validity investigated effects of ownership; in Canada, for-profit ownership was associated with increased hospital admissions for dehydration; no difference was seen in dehydration prevalence between US for-profit and not-for-profit homes, although chain facilities were associated with lower odds of dehydration. This US study did not suggest any effect of staffing levels on dehydration prevalence. Conclusions: A wide range of interventions and exposures were identified, but the efficacy of many strategies remains unproven due to the high risk of bias present in many studies. Reducing dehydration prevalence in long-term care facilities is likely to require multiple strategies involving policymakers, management and care staff, but these require further investigation using more robust study methodologies. Systematic review registration: The review protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.asp? ID=CRD42012003100)

Effects of chlorinated benzenes on diatom fatty acid composition and quantitative morphology. III. 1,2,3-Trichlorobenzene

Cells of the diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana were exposed in a closed system to 0.245 ppm 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene. Response of the diatom was measured by quantitative ultrastructure and fatty acid percent composition over a 5-day period. During that time, 35 significant morphological and 12 fatty acid percent composition changes occurred. The most pronounced morphological change that occurred was a significant increase in lipid volume. In addition, changes were observed in vacuolar relative volume, suggesting that the tonoplast became more permeable. Fewer significant changes were observed in fatty acid percent composition upon exposure to this isomer. However, there was a consistent increase in oleic acid (C18∶1). The observed changes in morphological and fatty acid percent composition were uniformly distributed with time after the first hour of exposure. Results support the hypothesis that increased lipid stores may alter the timing of response to lipophilic toxicants.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48071/1/244_2005_Article_BF01225003.pd

Verifying Different-modality Properties for Concepts Produces Switching Costs

According to perceptual symbol systems (Barsalou, 1999), sensory-motor simulations underlie the representation of concepts. It follows that sensory-motor phenomena should arise in conceptual processing. Previous studies have shown that switching from one modality to another during perceptual processing incurs a processing cost. If perceptual simulation underlies conceptual processing, then verifying the properties of concepts should exhibit a switching cost as well. For example, verifying a property in the auditory modality (e.g., BLENDER-loud) should be slower after verifying a property in a different modality (e.g., CRANBERRIES-tart) than in the same modality (e.g., LEAVES-rustling). Only words were presented to subjects, and there were no instructions to use imagery. Nevertheless switching modalities incurred a cost, analogous to switching modalities in perception. A second experiment showed that this effect was not due to associative priming between properties in the same modality. These results support the hypothesis that perceptual simulation underlies conceptual processing

Prospectus, December 9, 2004

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2004/1030/thumbnail.jp

Water-loss dehydration and aging

This review defines water-loss and salt-loss dehydration. For older people serum osmolality appears the most appropriate gold standard for diagnosis of water-loss dehydration, but clear signs of early dehydration have not been developed. In older adults, lower muscle mass, reduced kidney function, physical and cognitive disabilities, blunted thirst, and polypharmacy all increase dehydration risk. Cross-sectional studies suggest a water-loss dehydration prevalence of 20-30% in this population. Water-loss dehydration is associated with higher mortality, morbidity and disability in older people, but evidence is still needed that this relationship is causal. There are a variety of ways we may be able to help older people reduce their risk of dehydration by recognising that they are not drinking enough, and being helped to drink more. Strategies to increase fluid intake in residential care homes include identifying and overcoming individual and institutional barriers to drinking, such as being worried about not reaching the toilet in time, physical inability to make or to reach drinks, and reduced social drinking and drinking pleasure. Research needs are discussed, some of which will be addressed by the FP7-funded NU-AGE (New dietary strategies addressing the specific needs of elderly population for a healthy ageing in Europe) trial

Prospectus, December 4, 1985

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1985/1029/thumbnail.jp

Tracing chemical evolution over the extent of the Milky Way's Disk with APOGEE Red Clump Stars

We employ the first two years of data from the near-infrared, high-resolution SDSS-III/APOGEE spectroscopic survey to investigate the distribution of metallicity and alpha-element abundances of stars over a large part of the Milky Way disk. Using a sample of ~10,000 kinematically-unbiased red-clump stars with ~5% distance accuracy as tracers, the [alpha/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] distribution of this sample exhibits a bimodality in [alpha/Fe] at intermediate metallicities, -0.9<[Fe/H]<-0.2, but at higher metallicities ([Fe/H]=+0.2) the two sequences smoothly merge. We investigate the effects of the APOGEE selection function and volume filling fraction and find that these have little qualitative impact on the alpha-element abundance patterns. The described abundance pattern is found throughout the range 5<R<11 kpc and 0<|Z|<2 kpc across the Galaxy. The [alpha/Fe] trend of the high-alpha sequence is surprisingly constant throughout the Galaxy, with little variation from region to region (~10%). Using simple galactic chemical evolution models we derive an average star formation efficiency (SFE) in the high-alpha sequence of ~4.5E-10 1/yr, which is quite close to the nearly-constant value found in molecular-gas-dominated regions of nearby spirals. This result suggests that the early evolution of the Milky Way disk was characterized by stars that shared a similar star formation history and were formed in a well-mixed, turbulent, and molecular-dominated ISM with a gas consumption timescale (1/SFE) of ~2 Gyr. Finally, while the two alpha-element sequences in the inner Galaxy can be explained by a single chemical evolutionary track this cannot hold in the outer Galaxy, requiring instead a mix of two or more populations with distinct enrichment histories.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap