The Impact of Community Size, Community Climate, and Victimization on the Physical and Mental Health of SGM Youth

Paceley MS, Fish JN, Thomas MMC, Goffnett J. The Impact of Community Size, Community Climate, and Victimization on the Physical and Mental Health of SGM Youth. Youth & Society. 2020;52(3):427-448. Copyright © 2020, © SAGE Publications. doi:10.1177/0044118X19856141Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth experience high rates of victimization leading to health disparities. Community size and community climate are associated with health outcomes among SGM youth; however, we lack studies that include them as covariates alongside victimization to understand their collective impact on health. This study utilized minority stress theory to understand how community context shapes experiences of victimization and health among SGM youth. SGM youth in one Midwestern U.S. state completed an online survey (n = 201) with measures of physical health, mental health, community context, and victimization. Data were analyzed via multiple regression using a path analysis framework. Results indicate that perceived climate was associated with mental, but not physical, health; Community size was unrelated to health outcomes. Victimization mediated the association between community climate and mental health. Findings are discussed in light of current literature and implications for research and practice are shared

Successful transduction with AAV vectors after selective depletion of anti-AAV antibodies by immunoadsorption

Gene therapy with adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based vectors shows great promise for the gene therapeutic treatment of a broad array of diseases. In fact, the treatment of genetic diseases with AAV vectors is currently the only in vivo gene therapy approach that is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unfortunately, pre-existing antibodies against AAV severely limit the patient population that can potentially benefit from AAV gene therapy, especially if the vector is delivered by intravenous injection. Here, we demonstrate that we can selectively deplete antiAAV antibodies by hemapheresis combined with AAV9 particles coupled to Sepharose beads. In rats that underwent hemapheresis and immunoadsorption, luciferase expression was dramatically increased in the hearts and fully restored in the livers of these rats. Importantly, our method can be readily adapted for the use in clinical AAV gene therapy.Fil: Orlowski, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares "Dr. Horacio Eugenio Cingolani". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Centro de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares "Dr. Horacio Eugenio Cingolani"; Argentina. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Cardiovascular Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Katz, Michael G.. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Cardiovascular Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Gubara, Sarah M.. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Cardiovascular Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Fargnoli, Anthony S.. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Cardiovascular Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Fish, Kenneth M.. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Cardiovascular Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Weber, Thomas. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Cardiovascular Institute; Estados Unido

Big Brother Declares War on Consumption

Doctors routinely advise patients to avoid a wide range of unhealthy behavior, such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, a poor diet, and lack of exercise. Beyond these salutary suggestions, however, there is also a growing paternalistic trend to prohibit activities like smoking—and through targeted taxation, governments are taking aim at food deemed unhealthy for having too much fat, preservatives, salt, or sugar. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg\u27s ban on large, sugary drinks was just ruled unconstitutional in a unanimous decision by the state Supreme Court\u27s Appellate Division—but this ruling isn\u27t likely to discourage hardened advocates.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/huntsman_news/1141/thumbnail.jp

Iatrogenic Spinal Cord Injury Resulting From Cervical Spine Surgery.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of prospectively collected data. OBJECTIVE: To examine the incidence of iatrogenic spinal cord injury following elective cervical spine surgery. METHODS: A retrospective multicenter case series study involving 21 high-volume surgical centers from the AOSpine North America Clinical Research Network was conducted. Medical records for 17 625 patients who received cervical spine surgery (levels from C2 to C7) between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2011, were reviewed to identify occurrence of iatrogenic spinal cord injury. RESULTS: In total, 3 cases of iatrogenic spinal cord injury following cervical spine surgery were identified. Institutional incidence rates ranged from 0.0% to 0.24%. Of the 3 patients with quadriplegia, one underwent anterior-only surgery with 2-level cervical corpectomy, one underwent anterior surgery with corpectomy in addition to posterior surgery, and one underwent posterior decompression and fusion surgery alone. One patient had complete neurologic recovery, one partially recovered, and one did not recover motor function. CONCLUSION: Iatrogenic spinal cord injury following cervical spine surgery is a rare and devastating adverse event. No standard protocol exists that can guarantee prevention of this complication, and there is a lack of consensus regarding evaluation and treatment when it does occur. Emergent imaging with magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography myelography to evaluate for compressive etiology or malpositioned instrumentation and avoidance of hypotension should be performed in cases of intraoperative and postoperative spinal cord injury

Resolving the inner jet structure of 1924-292 with the EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE

We present the first 1.3 mm (230 GHz) very long baseline interferometry model image of an AGN jet using closure phase techniques with a four-element array. The model image of the quasar 1924-292 was obtained with four telescopes at three observatories: the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the Arizona Radio Observatory's Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) in Arizona, and two telescopes of the Combined Array for Research in Millimeterwave Astronomy (CARMA) in California in April 2009. With the greatly improved resolution compared with previous observations and robust closure phase measurement, the inner jet structure of 1924-292 was spatially resolved. The inner jet extends to the northwest along a position angle of $-53^\circ$ at a distance of 0.38\,mas from the tentatively identified core, in agreement with the inner jet structure inferred from lower frequencies, and making a position angle difference of $\sim 80^{\circ}$ with respect to the cm-jet. The size of the compact core is 0.15\,pc with a brightness temperature of $1.2\times10^{11}$\,K. Compared with those measured at lower frequencies, the low brightness temperature may argue in favor of the decelerating jet model or particle-cascade models. The successful measurement of closure phase paves the way for imaging and time resolving Sgr A* and nearby AGN with the Event Horizon Telescope.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Rare Complications of Cervical Spine Surgery: Pseudomeningocoele.

STUDY DESIGN: This study was a retrospective, multicenter cohort study. OBJECTIVES: Rare complications of cervical spine surgery are inherently difficult to investigate. Pseudomeningocoele (PMC), an abnormal collection of cerebrospinal fluid that communicates with the subarachnoid space, is one such complication. In order to evaluate and better understand the incidence, presentation, treatment, and outcome of PMC following cervical spine surgery, we conducted a multicenter study to pool our collective experience. METHODS: This study was a retrospective, multicenter cohort study of patients who underwent cervical spine surgery at any level(s) from C2 to C7, inclusive; were over 18 years of age; and experienced a postoperative PMC. RESULTS: Thirteen patients (0.08%) developed a postoperative PMC, 6 (46.2%) of whom were female. They had an average age of 48.2 years and stayed in hospital a mean of 11.2 days. Three patients were current smokers, 3 previous smokers, 5 had never smoked, and 2 had unknown smoking status. The majority, 10 (76.9%), were associated with posterior surgery, whereas 3 (23.1%) occurred after an anterior procedure. Myelopathy was the most common indication for operations that were complicated by PMC (46%). Seven patients (53%) required a surgical procedure to address the PMC, whereas the remaining 6 were treated conservatively. All PMCs ultimately resolved or were successfully treated with no residual effects. CONCLUSIONS: PMC is a rare complication of cervical surgery with an incidence of less than 0.1%. They prolong hospital stay. PMCs occurred more frequently in association with posterior approaches. Approximately half of PMCs required surgery and all ultimately resolved without residual neurologic or other long-term effects

1.3 mm Wavelength VLBI of Sagittarius A*: Detection of Time-Variable Emission on Event Horizon Scales

Sagittarius A*, the ~4 x 10^6 solar mass black hole candidate at the Galactic Center, can be studied on Schwarzschild radius scales with (sub)millimeter wavelength Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). We report on 1.3 mm wavelength observations of Sgr A* using a VLBI array consisting of the JCMT on Mauna Kea, the ARO/SMT on Mt. Graham in Arizona, and two telescopes of the CARMA array at Cedar Flat in California. Both Sgr A* and the quasar calibrator 1924-292 were observed over three consecutive nights, and both sources were clearly detected on all baselines. For the first time, we are able to extract 1.3 mm VLBI interferometer phase information on Sgr A* through measurement of closure phase on the triangle of baselines. On the third night of observing, the correlated flux density of Sgr A* on all VLBI baselines increased relative to the first two nights, providing strong evidence for time-variable change on scales of a few Schwarzschild radii. These results suggest that future VLBI observations with greater sensitivity and additional baselines will play a valuable role in determining the structure of emission near the event horizon of Sgr A*.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to ApJ

Orexin-1 receptor antagonism does not reduce the rewarding potency of cocaine in Swiss–Webster mice

The orexin family of hypothalamic neuropeptides has been implicated in reinforcement mechanisms relevant to both food and drug reward. Previous behavioral studies with antagonists at the orexin A-selective receptor, OX1, have demonstrated its involvement in behavioral sensitization, conditioned place-preference, and self-administration of drugs of abuse. Adult male Swiss-Webster mice were implanted with stimulating electrodes to the lateral hypothalamus and trained to perform intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS). The effects of the OX1-selective antagonist SB 334867 on brain stimulation-reward (BSR) and cocaine potentiation of BSR were measured. SB 334867 (10 – 30 mg/kg, i.p.) alone had no effect on ICSS performance or BSR threshold. Cocaine (1.0 – 30 mg/kg i.p.) dose-dependently potentiated BSR, measured as lowering of BSR threshold. This effect was not blocked by 30 mg/kg SB 334867 at any cocaine dose tested. In agreement with previous reports, SB 334867 resulted in a reduction of body weight 24 hours after acute administration. Based on these data, it is concluded that orexins acting at OX1 do not contribute to BSR; and are not involved in the reward-potentiating actions of cocaine on BSR. The data are discussed in the context of prior findings of SB 334867 effects on drug-seeking and drug-consuming behaviors

A new class of x-ray tails of early-type galaxies and subclusters in galaxy clusters: Slingshot tails versus ram pressure stripped tails

© 2019. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.. We show that there is a new class of gas tails - slingshot tails - that form as a subhalo (i.e., a subcluster or early-type cluster galaxy) moves away from the cluster center toward the apocenter of its orbit. These tails can point perpendicular or even opposite to the subhalo direction of motion, not tracing the recent orbital path. Thus, the observed tail direction can be misleading, and we caution against naive conclusions regarding the subhalo's direction of motion based on the tail direction. A head-tail morphology of a galaxy's or subcluster's gaseous atmosphere is usually attributed to ram pressure stripping, and the widely applied conclusion is that gas stripped tail traces the most recent orbit. However, during the slingshot tail stage, the subhalo is not being ram pressure stripped (RPS) and the tail is shaped by tidal forces more than just the ram pressure. Thus, applying a classic RPS scenario to a slingshot tail leads not only to an incorrect conclusion regarding the direction of motion but also to incorrect conclusions regarding the subhalo velocity, expected locations of shear flows, instabilities, and mixing. We describe the genesis and morphology of slingshot tails using data from binary cluster merger simulations and discuss their observable features and how to distinguish them from classic RPS tails. We identify three examples from the literature that are not RPS tails but slingshot tails and discuss other potential candidates