Cultural Health Beliefs and Influenza Vaccination Among Caribbean-Born Students

This purpose of this quantitative study was to examine health beliefs among Caribbean-born university students regarding acceptance or rejection of influenza vaccination among populations at institutions of higher education. In addition, acculturation was addressed as a factor affecting cultural health beliefs. A survey was completed by 98 students enrolled at Florida International University during the spring 2018 semester. Linear regression was used to analyze whether cultural health beliefs and acculturation were predictive of beliefs about influenza vaccination and beliefs about perceived barriers to influenza vaccination. The study findings showed cultural health beliefs of the students were statistically significant predictors of their beliefs about influenza vaccination and perceived barriers to influenza vaccination. Also, the levels of acculturation were a statistically significant predictor of students\u27 cultural health beliefs and beliefs about perceived barriers to influenza vaccination. After 5+ years of acculturation in the United States, the students surveyed still held cultural beliefs and perceived barriers to influenza vaccination that contributed to their lack of acceptance of the vaccination. The information gained from this study gives credence to the need for designing health interventions and health messages on influenza vaccination that are culture specific for a college-age population if influenza vaccination acceptance is to be promoted

“Not walled facts, their essence”: Derek Walcott’s Tiepolo’s Hound and Camille Pissarro

Life-writing — a genre which goes beyond traditional biography, includes both fact and fiction, and is concerned with either entire lives or days-in-the-lives of individuals, communities, objects, or institutions — has always played an important role in Derek Walcott’s work, from Another Life (1973),Walcott’s autobiography in verse, to his last play O Starry Starry Night (2014), where he re-imagines Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh’s (often tempestuous) cohabitation in the so-called “Yellow House” in 1888 Arles. In Tiepolo’s Hound (2000), Walcott’s life rhymes with that of the Impressionist painter Jacob Camille Pissarro, who was born in the Caribbean island of St Thomas in 1830. In this work, biographical and autobiographical impulses, fact and fiction, are productively combined, as “creation” (what “might have happened”) shapes Walcott’s life-writing as much as “recreation” (what “actually” happened). Walcott’s Pissarro is an individual immersed in a set of historical networks but also a figure at the centre of a web of imagined relations which illuminate the predicament of present and past artists in the Caribbean region and the ways in which they articulate their vision vis-à-vis the metropolitan centre, their relationship with their social and natural environment, and their individual and collective identity. Tiepolo’s Hound is enriched by the inclusion of twenty-six of Walcott’s own paintings which engage in conversation with the poet’s words and add complexity to his meditation on the nature and purpose of (re)writing and (re)creating lives. Extending the catholicity of life-writing to animals, in this case dogs and, in particular, mongrels, Tiepolo’s Hound also entails a careful, if counterintuitive, evaluation of anonymity

Radiation Treatment for WHO Grade II and III Meningiomas

The treatment of meningiomas is tailored to their histological grade. While World Health Organization (WHO) grade I lesions can be treated with either surgery or external beam radiation, WHO Grade II and III lesions often require a combination of the two modalities. For these high-grade lesions, conventional external beam radiation is delivered to either the residual tumor or the surgical resection margin. The optimal timing of radiation, either immediately following surgical resection or at the time of recurrence, is yet to be determined. Additionally, another method of radiation delivery, brachytherapy, can be administered locally at the time of surgery for recurrent lesions. Altogether, the complex nature of WHO grade II and III meningiomas requires careful treatment planning and delivery by a multidisciplinary team

Early SME Market Prediction using USDNN

We present the application of an unsupervised snap drift neural network (USDNN) in the context of market prediction for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The method is applied to small firm data collected from twenty seven participating SMEs across greater London. The motivation of this research is aimed at the significance of artificial neural networks in addressing the perceived failure associated to smaller firms irrespective of area of operation and business type. Hence, the work presented here provides crucial information for creating requirements for a small firm specific model that can be used to support growth or survival in predefined markets

Determination of zeolite-group mineral compositions by electron probe microanalysis

A new protocol for the quantitative determination of zeolite-group mineral compositions by electron probe microanalysis (wavelength-dispersive spectrometry) under ambient conditions, is presented. The method overcomes the most serious challenges for this mineral group, including new confidence in the fundamentally important Si-Al ratio. Development tests were undertaken on a set of natural zeolite candidate reference samples, representing the compositional extremes of Na, K, Cs, Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba zeolites, to demonstrate and assess the extent of beam interaction effects on each oxide component for each mineral. These tests highlight the variability and impact of component mobility due to beam interaction, and show that it can be minimized with recommended operating conditions of 15 kV, 2 nA, a defocused, 20 μm spot size, and element prioritizing with the spectrometer configuration. The protocol represents a pragmatic solution that works, but provides scope for additional optimization where required. Vital to the determination of high-quality results is the attention to careful preparations and the employment of strict criteria for data reduction and quality control, including the monitoring and removal of non-zeolitic contaminants from the data (mainly Fe and clay phases). Essential quality criteria include the zeolite-specific parameters of R value (Si/(Si + Al + Fe3+), the ‘E%’ charge-balance calculation, and the weight percent of non-hydrous total oxides. When these criteria are applied in conjunction with the recommended analytical operating conditions, excellent inter-batch reproducibility is demonstrated. Application of the method to zeolites with complex solid-solution compositions is effective, enabling more precise geochemical discrimination for occurrence-composition studies. Phase validation for the reference set was conducted satisfactorily with the use of X-ray diffraction and laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectroscopy

Altered Trafficking of Mutant Connexin32

We examined the cellular localization of nine different connexin32 (Cx32) mutants associated with X-linked Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMTX) in communication-incompetent mammalian cells. Cx32 mRNA was made, but little or no protein was detected in one class of mutants. In another class of mutants, Cx32 protein was detectable in the cytoplasm and at the cell surface, where it appeared as plaques and punctate staining. Cx32 immunoreactivity in a third class of mutants was restricted to the cytoplasm, where it often colocalized with the Golgi apparatus. Our studies suggest that CMTX mutations have a predominant effect on the trafficking of Cx32 protein, resulting in a potentially toxic cytoplasmic accumulation of Cx32 in these cells. These results and evidence of cytoplasmic accumulation of other mutated myelin proteins suggest that diseases affecting myelinating cells may share a common pathophysiology

Pain self-management in HIV-infected individuals with chronic pain: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: Chronic pain in individuals with HIV is a common, impairing condition. Behavioral interventions for chronic pain specifically tailored to this population have yet to be developed. We assert that understanding self-management strategies already used by persons living with these conditions is an essential first step, and is the objective of this investigation. DESIGN: We conducted a thematic analysis of qualitative data from 25 in-depth interviews with individuals with HIV and chronic pain. RESULTS: The primary pain self-management strategies articulated by participants were: physical activity; cognitive and spiritual strategies; spending time with family and friends and social support; avoidance of physical/social activity; medication-centric pain management; and substance use. CONCLUSIONS: Some of these strategies may be viewed as beneficial and overlap with known HIV self-management strategies (cognitive strategies), whereas others may have negative health consequences (substance use). Interventions that incorporate healthy self-management strategies may be particularly effective in improving both HIV and pain outcomes

The Varus Knee Reveals Differential Expression Patterns of miRNAs in Spared vs. Non-spared Compartments

Introduction MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function by repressing cellular protein levels to provide a sophisticated level of gene regulation that coordinates a broad spectrum of biological processes. MiRNA inhibition of mRNA translation has emerged as an important regulator of chondrogenic and osteogenic development, osteoblast, osteoclast and chondrocyte cell growth and differentiation, and tissue homeostasis in the adult skeleton. MiRNAs control many layers of regulation in adult tissues connected to both normal biological and pathologic cellular activities. The study of miRNAs in skeletal disorders is in its infancy. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease that progresses from degeneration of the articular cartilage to remodeling of the underlying subchondral bone over many years. While miRNAs have been identified with the inflammatory pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), only a few studies have been performed on OA tissue (1,2) . Here we performed a systematic analysis of the articular cartilage from varus OA knee replacements, comparing multiple tissue samples from the lateral (spared) and medial (diseased) compartments. Before proceeding to a miRNA profiling, each sample was analyzed for expression of a small set of miRNAs that have been reported in association with RA, OA and cartilage formation. These preliminary findings have identified a spectrum of changes in surface cartilage between control and diseased tissue. Methods Human tissues: 6 individual articular cartilage samples were harvested from a total of 5 osteoarthritic varus human knees. Cartilage samples were exempt from IRB review as they are discarded materials. Samples were removed with a biopsy punch and were approximately 6 x 2mm (diameter x thickness). Cartilage specimens were harvested from the more normal-appearing lateral (‘spared’) compartments and from the more OA-affected, medial compartments of the knees. This sampling technique allows direct comparison of more significantly OA-affected cartilage samples with those of lower OA grade from the same set of individuals. Knee ages ranged from 53-74 years old and averaged 65 years old. RNA and miRNA Isolation: Each osteochondral specimen was placed in RNA Later (Sigma) immediately following surgical removal, in order to preserve the integrity of the total RNA. Specimens were transported to the lab where individual samples were removed carefully with RNase-treated tools and were transferred intofresh RNA Later solution and incubated overnight at 4C to allow penetration and maximal inhibition of RNase activity. Samples were then removed from RNA Later, blotted briefly and frozen in liquid N2, and then pulverized using a Bessman tissue pulverizer (Fisher). The pulverized samples were immediately placed into Trizol (InVitrogen) and homogenized using a polytron device. Total RNA was isolated to include small RNAs of \u3e17 nucleotides, according to the manufacturer’s protocol (InVitrogen). Purified RNA was obtained using precipitated total RNAs filtered through glass columns according to the manufacturer’s protocol (Zymo Research). RNAs were reverse-transcribed into DNA using 900ng of each purified RNA sample using the TaqMan microRNA Reverse Transcription Kit (Applied Biosystems). TaqMan qPCR analysis for small RNAs was performed using the following human primer-probe sets from Applied Biosystems: hsa-miRs-: 9, 22, 27a, 29a and 34a. Human U6 was used to normalize all qPCR data and data was plotted as normalized relative values. Normalized relative values were averaged for each of the complement of medial vs. lateral samples. Results MiRs were found to be either up- or down-regulated in a manner that suggests a mechanism of de-repression of pro-inflammatory cytokine signaling and repression of pro-inflammatory events in medial vs. lateral varus knee OA cartilage samples, respectively. MiRs 9, 27a, and 29a were found to up-regulated in lateral varus knee cartilage samples vs. medial varus knee cartilage samples (Fig.1. A,C,E,F). Conversely, miRs 22 and 34a were found to upregulated in medial vs. lateral cartilage samples (Fig1, B, D). Discussion The functional characterization of global gene expression patterns through miRNAs in OA is lacking. Particularly, the roles of miRs in OA disease development, as biomarkers, and in disease outcomes are at question. A few large-scale microarray approaches have previously identified expression signatures of potential OA-involved miRNAs (2). By comparing cartilage samples that derive from more advanced (medial) vs. less advanced (lateral) OA stages in varus human knees, we seek to combine miRNA expression analysis with clinicopathologic features. MiRs -9, -22 and -34a are known to be involved in regulating pro-inflammatory events in OA. Higher levels of miRs, -9, -27a & -140 in less-affected lateral compartment cartilage are consistent with previous reports of reduced TNFa, MMP-13 & ADAMTS-5 expression events, respectively (Fig.1, F, E & A) (3,4,5). MiRs -22 and -34a have been shown to be associated with promoting tissue catabolism by their presence and are here shown to be increased in more affected medial compartment cartilage (Fig.1, B, D) (4). In addition, miR-34a deficiency has been previously shown to inhibit chondrocyte apoptosis, consistent with the lower expression level found in lateral cartilage (Fig.1, D) (6). MiR-29a was found in a previous microarray analysis to be the highest-fold down-regulated miRNA in OA vs. normal cartilage, consistent with our finding of under-expression in medial cartilage samples (Fig.1, C) (1). The goal of these studies is to begin to understand how miRNAs can both contribute to and protect against OA. Here we show that the comparison of cartilage-derived miRNAs in medial and lateral compartment pairs from the same knee may facilitate validation of candidate OA miRNAs. Significance The aims of this project are to provide an internally-controlled platform of study for the miRNAs of OA using the natural disease differences inherent in spared vs. non-spared cartilage compartments from a varus OA knee. Such efforts may provide an alternative methodology when compared to the significant barrier of obtaining age-matched, non-OA control knee cartilage. References 1.) Iliopoulus D. PLoS One. 2008;3(11):e3740. Epub 2008 Nov 17. 2.) Goldring MB. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2011 Jul 22. [Epub]. 3.) Yu C. J Int Med Res. 2011;39(1):1-9. 4.) Alcaraz MJ. Biochem Pharmacol. 2010 Jul 1;80(1):13-21. 5.) Miyaki S. Genes Dev. 2010 Jun 1;24(11):1173-85. 6.) Abouheif MM. Rheumatology. 2010 Nov;49(11):2054-60

Glioblastoma Mimicking an Arteriovenous Malformation

Abnormal cerebral vasculature can be a manifestation of a vascular malformation or a neoplastic process. We report the case of a patient with angiography-negative subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who re-presented 3 years later with a large intraparenchymal hemorrhage. Although imaging following the intraparenchymal hemorrhage was suggestive of arteriovenous malformation, the patient was ultimately found to have an extensive glioblastoma associated with abnormal tumor vasculature. The case emphasizes the need for magnetic resonance imaging to investigate angiography-negative SAH in suspicious cases to rule out occult etiologies, such as neoplasm. We also discuss diagnostic pitfalls when brain tumors are associated with hemorrhage and abnormal vasculature