Sunlight and mental wellbeing: evidence of links from social housing in Glasgow, Scotland [Conference abstract]

Paper accepted for presentation at VELUX Daylight Symposium 2015 (London

Reaching for the Accounting Education Change Commission's recommendations through cooperative learning

The Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) is a consortium of concerned accounting professionals and accounting educators that advocates the redesigning of accounting curriculums in higher education. Traditionally accounting programs have focused on the technical aspects of the profession. Although technical competence is necessary for the profession, the AECC urges accounting curricula to provide students with experiences that will foster decision-making skills, communication skills and interpersonal skills. This study was an attempt to respond to the recommendations of the Accounting Education Change Commission through cooperative learning pedagogy. Related research suggests that employing particular elements of cooperative learning can improve intellectual skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, learning to learn, active learning, achievement, attitudes and student evaluations of teachers. The data from this study indicate that while imposing the AECC's recommendations through the use of cooperative learning pedagogy most students attained high levels of achievement on unstructured problems requiring high levels of cognitive applications. However, student achievement was not as high as expected on structured problems requiring lower levels of cognitive applications. In addition, students' reactions to cooperative learning and implementation of the AECC's recommendations were mixed. Team work was not perceived by many students to be important in introductory accounting. However, learning to learn and active participation in the learning process were deemed important to students in introductory accounting. Furthermore, students evaluated the professor's teaching effectiveness significantly lower than did previous students taking introductory accounting from the same professor using traditional lecture-recitation methods. Imposing the AECC recommendations through cooperative learning techniques in introductory accounting in higher education clearly calls for further research and longer-term exposure to the changes in classroom pedagogy

U.S. Public Dairy Cattle Welfare Perceptions and Attitudes: Survey Summary

The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to assure and verify dairy cattle welfare related practices in response to societal concerns. This research aims to determine U.S. public’s attitudes and perceptions about dairy cattle welfare

Safety and Efficacy of Glucomannan for Weight Loss in Overweight and Moderately Obese Adults

Background. Few safe and effective dietary supplements are available to promote weight loss. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of glucomannan, a water-soluble fiber supplement, for achieving weight loss in overweight and moderately obese individuals consuming self-selected diets. Methods. Participants were randomly assigned to take 1.33 grams of glucomannan or identically looking placebo capsules with 236.6 mL (8 ounces) of water one hour before breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 8 weeks. The primary efficacy outcome was change in body weight after 8 weeks. Other efficacy outcomes were changes in body composition, hunger/fullness, and lipid and glucose concentrations. Safety outcomes included gastrointestinal symptoms/tolerance and serum liver enzymes and creatinine levels. Results. A total of 53 participants (18–65 years of age; BMI 25–35 kg/m2) were enrolled and randomized. The two groups did not differ with respect to baseline characteristics and compliance with the study supplement. At 8 weeks, there was no significant difference between the glucomannan and placebo groups in amount of weight loss (−.40±.06 and −.43±.07, resp.) or other efficacy outcomes or in any of the safety outcomes. Conclusions. Glucomannan supplements administered over 8 weeks were well tolerated but did not promote weight loss or significantly alter body composition, hunger/fullness, or lipid and glucose parameters. This trial is registered with NCT00613600

Food intakes of 2,189 women in five north central states

Nearly 2,200 women, ranging in age from 30 to more than 90 years, living in five North Central states, provided the 24-hour dietaries from which data summarized in this bulletin were obtained. The women interviewed in Iowa and South Dakota were selected by area-probability sampling methods, so that they represented all women over 29 years of age in each of these two states. Four other samples were drawn from three urban centers: one from Urbana, Illinois; two (one white, one Negro) from Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan; and one from St. Paul, Minnesota. The mean nutritive values of 24-hour dietaries reported by the white women in the five samples were similar: Food energy values ranged from 1,665 to 1,780 Cal.; protein values from 53 to 64 gm.; calcium, from 0.44 to 0.64 gm.; iron, from 9.9 to 11.9 mg.; ascorbic acid, from 53 to 75 mg.; thiamine, from 0.9 to 1.1 mg.; riboflavin, from 1.1 to 1.4 mg.; niacin, from 9.2 to 11.0 mg.; vitamin A value, from 4,425 to 6,730 I.U. Individual intakes within each sample varied considerably. Days\u27 diets of Negro women in the Lansing-East Lansing sample supplied mean amounts of food energy and of all nutrients except vitamin A that were lower than those of dietaries of any group of white women studied

Intracranial Stenosis: Impact of Randomized Trials on Treatment Preferences of US Neurologists and Neurointerventionists

Medical and endovascular treatment options for stroke prevention in patients with symptomatic intracranial stenosis have evolved over the past several decades, but the impact of 2 major multi-center randomized stroke prevention trials on physician practices has not been studied. We sought to determine changes in US physician treatment choices for patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS) following 2 NIH-funded clinical trials that studied medical therapies (antithrombotic agents and risk factor control) and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS)

Integrated mapping of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in a patient-derived xenograft model of glioblastoma

Therapeutic options for the treatment of glioblastoma remain inadequate despite concerted research efforts in drug development. Therapeutic failure can result from poor permeability of the blood-brain barrier, heterogeneous drug distribution, and development of resistance. Elucidation of relationships among such parameters could enable the development of predictive models of drug response in patients and inform drug development. Complementary analyses were applied to a glioblastoma patient-derived xenograft model in order to quantitatively map distribution and resulting cellular response to the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib. Mass spectrometry images of erlotinib were registered to histology and magnetic resonance images in order to correlate drug distribution with tumor characteristics. Phosphoproteomics and immunohistochemistry were used to assess protein signaling in response to drug, and integrated with transcriptional response using mRNA sequencing. This comprehensive dataset provides simultaneous insight into pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and indicates that erlotinib delivery to intracranial tumors is insufficient to inhibit EGFR tyrosine kinase signaling.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (U54 CA210180)MIT/Mayo Physical Sciences Center for Drug Distribution and Drug Efficacy in Brain TumorsDana-Farber Cancer Institute (PLGA Fund)Lundbeck FoundationNovo Nordisk Foundatio

Acompanhamento de pacientes submetidos à cirurgia bariátrica : aspectos laboratoriais nos períodos pré e pós-operatório

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Farmácia, Florianópolis, 2017A obesidade é uma doença crônica e endócrino-metabólica caracterizada pelo acúmulo excessivo de triacilgliceróis no tecido adiposo, capaz de ser revertida ou amenizada através de intervenção cirúrgica. Epidemiologicamente têm sido descritas associações entre o excesso de peso, resistência à insulina e processo inflamatório crônico. Além disso, nas últimas décadas o sistema complemento foi associado a doenças metabólicas e cardiovasculares e intimamente relacionado com a obesidade e resistência à insulina. Sendo assim, a melhora do estado metabólico e a remissão da inflamação em pacientes obesos submetidos à cirurgia bariátrica foram avaliadas, bem como a associação dos fatores 3 e 4 (C3 e C4) do sistema complemento com a sensibilidade à insulina e a perda de peso após a cirurgia bariátrica. Para isso, a presença de comorbidades e as concentrações séricas de leptina, adiponectina, resistina e grelina foram avaliados em pacientes obesos mórbidos antes, 1, 3 e 6 meses após a cirurgia bariátrica. Também foram medidas as concentrações de IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-a, proteína amiloide sérica A (SAA), proteína quimiotática de monócitos 1 (MCP-1), C3, C4, glicose, insulina, colesterol total, triacilglicerol, LDL- colesterol, HDL-colesterol e foi realizado o cálculo do modelo de avaliação da homeostase da resistência à insulina (HOMA-IR) durante o seguimento da cirurgia, bem como em comparação com um grupo de indivíduos não-obesos. Como resultado, observou-se uma redução significativa de peso acompanhada de melhora do perfil lipídico, da sensibilidade à insulina e das comorbidades. Ainda, houve diminuição de leptina e aumento de adiponectina no período pós-cirúrgico. IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-a, MCP-1 e SAA não mostraram diferença no acompanhamento da cirurgia, porém SAA correlacionou-se com o IMC e apresentou-se muito mais alto no grupo de pacientes obesos. Além disso, C3 e C4 foram significativamente maiores em indivíduos obesos quando comparados aos indivíduos não-obesos e C3 e C4 foram positivamente correlacionados com HOMA-IR e as concentrações de C3 foram significativamente diminuídas após a cirurgia. Com base nesses resultados, a cirurgia bariátrica mostrou melhorar o estado metabólico melhorando as comorbidades associadas à obesidade e os biomarcadores de adiposidade leptina e adiponectina, mas não os demais hormônios e citocinas inflamatórias e C3 e C4 foram fortemente associados à sensibilidade à insulina.Abstract: Obesity is a chronic and endocrine-metabolic disease characterized by triacylglycerol accumulation in the adipose tissue, which can be reversed or improved through surgical intervention. Epidemiologically, associations between overweight, insulin resistance and chronic inflammatory process have been described. Furthermore, in the last decades the complement system was associated with metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and related to obesity and insulin resistance. Thus, metabolic status improvement and inflammation remission in obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery were evaluated, as well as the association of complement system factors 3 and 4 (C3 and C4) with insulin sensitivity and weight loss after bariatric surgery. For this, comorbidities and leptin, adiponectin, resistin and ghrelin serum concentrations were evaluated in morbidly obese patients before, 1, 3 and 6 months after bariatric surgery. IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-a, serum amyloid A protein (SAA), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), C3, C4, glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol concentrations and the calculation of the homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were performed during the surgery follow-up, as well in a group of non-obese individuals. As a result, significant weight loss followed by improvement in lipid profile, insulin sensitivity and comorbidities were observed. Still, there was a decrease in leptin and an increase in adiponectin in the postoperative period. IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-a, MCP-1 and SAA showed no difference after surgery, but SAA correlated with BMI and was much higher in obese patients. In addition, both C3 and C4 were significantly higher in obese individuals when compared to lean individuals and positively correlated with HOMA-IR. C3 concentrations were significantly decreased after surgery. Based on these results, bariatric surgery has been shown to improve metabolic status by improving obesity-associated comorbidities and adiposity biomarkers leptin and adiponectin but not the other hormones and inflammatory cytokines and C3 and C4 were strongly associated with insulin sensitivity

Individual consistency of feather pecking behavior in laying hens: once a feather pecker always a feather pecker?

TThe pecking behavior (severe feather, gentle feather, and aggressive pecks) of individual White Shaver non-cage laying hens (n = 300) was examined at 21, 24, 27, 32, and 37 wk. Hens were housed in 30 groups of 10 hens each and on 3cm litter with access to a feeder, perch, and two nest boxes. The number of severe feather pecks given and received was used to categorize hens as feather peckers (P), victims (V), neutrals (N), or feather pecker-victims (PV) at each age. Hens categorized as PV exhibited pecking behaviors similar to P and received pecks similar to V. Severe feather pecks (SFP) given were correlated with aggressive pecks given, but not with gentle feather pecks given throughout the study. State transition plot maps illustrated that 22.5% of P remained P, while 44% of PV remained PV throughout the duration of the study. Lifetime behavioral categories identified hens as a consistent feather pecker (5%), consistent neutral (3.9%), consistent victim (7.9%), consistent feather pecker-victim (29.4%), or inconsistent (53.8%) in their behavioral patterns throughout their life. Consistent feather peckers performed more SFP than hens of other categories, and consistent neutral hens received fewer gentle feather pecks than consistent feather pecker-victims. No differences in corticosterone or whole blood serotonin levels were observed among the categories. Approximately half of the population was classified as a feather pecker at least once during the study, while the remainder was never categorized as a feather pecker. Therefore, even if the development and cause of feather pecking may be multi-factorial, once the behavior has been developed, some hens may persist in feather pecking. However, as some hens were observed to never receive or perform severe feather pecks, emphasis should be made to select for these hens in future breeding practices