Efficacy of Electrical Stimulation Intervention in Treating Adults with Dysphagia: A Systematic Review

Purpose: Dysphagia is a term used for a swallowing disorder resulting from problems with the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, or gastroesophageal junction. Dysphagia can have significant impacts on an individual’s quality of life and statistics suggest that nearly 15 million adults in the United States present with swallowing disorders. Common medical complications associated with dysphagia are malnutrition, dehydration, aspiration pneumonia, and even death. Traditional dysphagia treatment (TDT) for adults currently consists of diet modification, compensatory strategies involving postural adjustments, and swallowing exercises to strengthen musculature. The objective of this systematic review is to determine whether electrical stimulation (ES) improves swallowing function in adults with dysphagia. Methodology: Four indexed databases were searched to obtain studies pertaining to the use of ES in dysphagia treatment and its success. Application of inclusionary and exclusionary criteria narrowed the results and relevant studies were selected for this systematic review. Studies were also hand-selected and appraised for validity to ensure minimal bias. Results: Results of the selected studies revealed varying statistically significant effects of ES as a treatment for adults with dysphagia. However, many studies suggest ES is most effective in producing positive outcomes when coupled with TDT. Conclusion: The results of the systematic review suggest efficacy of ES is highest when it is used in conjunction with TDT. Studies with statistically significant results reported on only a minor improvement with ES. None of the studies reported negative outcomes related to ES. Additional research is needed to determine overall efficacy of ES as an evidence-based intervention for adults with dysphagia resulting from various etiologies.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/csdms/1005/thumbnail.jp

Open market operations during 1997

In 1997 the Trading Desk at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York managed reserve conditions with the objective of maintaining the federal funds rate around the level desired by the Federal Open Market Committee. In 1997 the portfolio of domestic securities in the System Open Market Account expanded by a record $41 billion (excluding all temporary operations), ending the year at$448 billion. Outright purchases of Treasury securities totaled $44 billion, offset to a small degree by redemptions of some Treasury and federal agency issues. The growth in the portfolio during 1997 was significantly higher than the$15 billion increase recorded in the preceding year. The Desk closely observed the behavior of the federal funds rate for any indication that the decline in operating balances associated with the spread of retail sweep programs or any other development was impeding its ability to control the funds rate or contributing to volatility in the rate. Volatility in the federal funds rate did not increase from the previous year, but it remained above the levels that had characterized earlier years.Open market operations ; Monetary policy ; Federal funds market (United States) ; Federal Open Market Committee

Examining Factors Influencing Behavioral Intentions to Use Asynchronous Web-Based Language Learning

Over the past few years, the prevalence of web-based applications in school and at home makes learning and teaching through the Internet become an inevitable way in education. With great potentials for enriching all kinds of educational applications, web-based instruction is becoming an impressive apparatus for learning resource delivering. In this study, an asynchronous web-based language learning (AWBLL) system is employed in a vocational-technical college in Taiwan to support undergraduate English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. Drawing on the concepts from theory of reasoned action, technology acceptance model and social cognitive theory, this study proposed a comprehensive model and developed an instrument for measuring students’ intentions to use AWBLL Systems. The research findings indicate that students in EFL show great readiness to and positive intentions towards the system for EFL courses and exposed a possible benefit from its use in the long run. However, they also convey some negative opinions of the AWBLL system, suggesting additional improvement of the relative underlying factors of AWBLL technology. The results can proffer useful suggestions for web-based language learning, as well as serve as instrumental guidelines for web-based system to be effectively implemented with care to avoid attenuating students’ interests and activations

Material-driven fibronectin assembly for high-efficiency presentation of growth factors

Growth factors (GFs) are powerful signaling molecules with the potential to drive regenerative strategies, including bone repair and vascularization. However, GFs are typically delivered in soluble format at supraphysiological doses because of rapid clearance and limited therapeutic impact. These high doses have serious side effects and are expensive. Although it is well established that GF interactions with extracellular matrix proteins such as fibronectin control GF presentation and activity, a translation-ready approach to unlocking GF potential has not been realized. We demonstrate a simple, robust, and controlled material-based approach to enhance the activity of GFs during tissue healing. The underlying mechanism is based on spontaneous fibrillar organization of fibronectin driven by adsorption onto the polymer poly(ethyl acrylate). Fibrillar fibronectin on this polymer, but not a globular conformation obtained on control polymers, promotes synergistic presentation of integrin-binding sites and bound bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), which enhances mesenchymal stem cell osteogenesis in vitro and drives full regeneration of a nonhealing bone defect in vivo at low GF concentrations. This simple and translatable technology could unlock the full regenerative potential of GF therapies while improving safety and cost-effectiveness

N-Acetylcysteine in Combination with IGF-1 Enhances Neuroprotection against Proteasome Dysfunction-Induced Neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y Cells

Ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) dysfunction has been implicated in the development of many neuronal disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Previous studies focused on individual neuroprotective agents and their respective abilities to prevent neurotoxicity following a variety of toxic insults. However, the effects of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on proteasome impairment-induced apoptosis have not been well characterized in human neuronal cells. The aim of this study was to determine whether cotreatment of NAC and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) efficiently protected against proteasome inhibitor-induced cytotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. Our results demonstrate that the proteasome inhibitor, MG132, initiates poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, caspase 3 activation, and nuclear condensation and fragmentation. In addition, MG132 treatment leads to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy-mediated cell death. All of these events can be attenuated without obvious reduction of MG132 induced protein ubiquitination by first treating the cells with NAC and IGF-1 separately or simultaneously prior to exposure to MG132. Moreover, our data demonstrated that the combination of the two proved to be significantly more effective for neuronal protection. Therefore, we conclude that the simultaneous use of growth/neurotrophic factors and a free radical scavenger may increase overall protection against UPS dysfunction-mediated cytotoxicity and neurodegeneration

Subcutaneous administration of TC007 reduces disease severity in an animal model of SMA

Background Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is the leading genetic cause of infantile death. It is caused by the loss of functional Survival Motor Neuron 1 (SMN1). There is a nearly identical copy gene, SMN2, but it is unable to rescue from disease due to an alternative splicing event that excises a necessary exon (exon 7) from the majority of SMN2-derived transcripts. While SMNΔ7 protein has severely reduced functionality, the exon 7 sequences may not be specifically required for all activities. Therefore, aminoglycoside antibiotics previously shown to suppress stop codon recognition and promote translation read-through have been examined to increase the length of the SMNΔ7 C-terminus. Results Here we demonstrate that subcutaneous-administration of a read-through inducing compound (TC007) to an intermediate SMA model (Smn-/-; SMN2+/+; SMNΔ7) had beneficial effects on muscle fiber size and gross motor function. Conclusion Delivery of the read-through inducing compound TC007 reduces the disease-associated phenotype in SMA mice, however, does not significantly extend survival

Variation in foraging activity influences area-restricted search behaviour by bottlenose dolphins

Open Access via the Royal Society Agreement Beatrice Offshore Wind Ltd COWRIE Department of Energy & Climate Change, Scottish Government Fundación la Caixa (becas Posgrado, 2015) Marine Mammal Monitoring Programme (MMMP) Marine Scotland Science Moray Offshore Wind Farm (East) Ltd NatureScot Funding This project was made possible through the integration of O.F.B.'s PhD into a broader NatureScot and joint industry funded Marine Mammal Monitoring Programme (MMMP) that supports statutory monitoring of the Moray Firth SAC and offshore windfarm construction. We thank NatureScot, Marine Scotland Science, Beatrice Offshore Wind Ltd, Moray Offshore Wind Farm (East) Ltd, Department of Energy & Climate Change, Scottish Government, Oil & Gas UK and COWRIE for contributing funds or equipment to the MMMP. O.F.B. was funded through a studentship from the Fundación ‘la Caixa’ (Becas Posgrado, 2015). I.M.G., B.J.C. and P.M.T. were core funded by the University of Aberdeen but with salary support for the period of this study though contract to MMMP. V.I.M. and S.M.P. were funded through the MMMP. R.X.C. was core funded by Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW). Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Maxwell High Performance Computing Cluster, funded by the University of Aberdeen, during the development of DOLPHIN-SPOT. We would also like to thank Claudia Aparicio Estaella for her help during the validation of the automatic detector. We acknowledge Bill Ruck, Moray First Marine and colleagues from the University of Aberdeen for assistance with the data collection and anonymous reviewers for comments that helped improve the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Chromatin signature of widespread monoallelic expression

In mammals, numerous autosomal genes are subject to mitotically stable monoallelic expression (MAE), including genes that play critical roles in a variety of human diseases. Due to challenges posed by the clonal nature of MAE, very little is known about its regulation; in particular, no molecular features have been specifically linked to MAE. In this study, we report an approach that distinguishes MAE genes in human cells with great accuracy: a chromatin signature consisting of chromatin marks associated with active transcription (H3K36me3) and silencing (H3K27me3) simultaneously occurring in the gene body. The MAE signature is present in ∼20% of ubiquitously expressed genes and over 30% of tissue-specific genes across cell types. Notably, it is enriched among key developmental genes that have bivalent chromatin structure in pluripotent cells. Our results open a new approach to the study of MAE that is independent of polymorphisms, and suggest that MAE is linked to cell differentiation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01256.00

Improved Forced Choice Assessment of Negative Leadership

Leadership research has historically tended to focus on the positive qualities of leaders. This perspective has changed in recent years as research has focused on more negative leadership behaviors. A variety of new constructs have now been introduced on negative leadership, however, the methods most commonly used to measure these constructs (e.g., Likert-type scales in which respondents directly rate the negative behaviors of their leader) are vulnerable to socially desirable responding and cognitive processing biases. The present research seeks to address this problem by developing an alternative and more robust means for assessing negative leadership behaviors. Specifically, we integrate Schmidt’s (2008) five-factor measure of negative leadership with recent work in forced-choice assessment methodologies and ideal-point IRT (item response theory) models. The result is a newly developed forced-choice measure of negative leadership. The construct validity of our new measure is presented in this poster. Results indicate that our measure produces more conceptually distinct dimensions of negative leadership while maintaining high convergent validity with Schmidt’s (2008) original measure.U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-18-2-004