EGS Education and Outreach Georgia Initiative

No abstract availabl

The Effects of Moderate-Intensity Acute Aerobic Exercise on Self-Disclosure

This study sought to determine whether a relationship exists between acute aerobic exercise, at moderate intensity, and self-disclosure due to a positive change in affect. Participants took a pre-test measure of mood, and the Exercise Group exercised for 25 minutes afterwards. The remaining participants, the Non-exercise Group, sat in the same room while the others exercised. The Non-exercise Group was told that they would exercise next, when really they would not. After the Experimental Group finished exercising, all participants took a post-test measure of mood as well as a measure of self-disclosure. Results showed that overall mood improved for those who exercised with a significant increase in positive mood from pre-test to post-test, but a nonsignificant decrease in negative mood. Self-disclosure was measured by intimacy, abstractness, and valance. Because there was no pre-test measure of self-disclosure, the Non-exercise and Exercise Groups were compared on only a post-test measure of self-disclosure. In comparison to the Non-exercise Group, average self-disclosure scores were significantly higher for the Exercise Group. However, the only component of self-disclosure that was significantly different between groups was intimacy. The Exercise Group showed significantly higher levels of intimacy than the Non-exercise Group. Furthermore, increase in positive mood and levels of intimacy were positively correlated, revealing that exercise increased self-disclosure as a function of an increase in positive affect

The International Community\u27s Response to the Hypothetical Emergence of Superheroes

In a golden era for comic based media, this paper uses the hypothetical emergence of superheroes to analyze the assumptions and predictions of three international relations theories: realism, liberalism, and constructivism. Comics consistently reflect the real world, paralleling events and concepts discussed in foreign affairs dialogues. The thought experiment, and the comic genre itself, provides a vehicle for thinking broadly about the political and social ramifications of successful or failed problem solving, state interaction, and scientific advances

Modified brinley plots: advantages and disadvantages

Accepted manuscrip

Logistics Warehouse Facility Utilization Study: Vehicle Processing Support Area (VPSA)

K6-1547 Logistics Warehouse Facility Utilization Study- Vehicle Processing Support Area (VPSA

Evaluating the unique effects of the primary components of mindfulness in a clinically anxious sample

Despite the popularity of mindfulness-based treatments for anxiety and related-disorders, there is inconsistency in how mindfulness is defined and applied. This has led to challenges in researching the basic components of mindfulness in therapeutic contexts. This study evaluates the two most consistent components of mindfulness, present-focused and nonjudgmental awareness, to work toward a basic understanding of mindfulness that transcends protocol-specific conceptualizations. These mindfulness components were isolated into two independent 4-week interventions. Utilizing single case experimental design, this study evaluated the effects of these mindfulness components in isolation (during first intervention phase) and in combination on mindfulness outcomes (primary aim) and symptom outcomes (exploratory aim). It was predicted that the combination of interventions would result in greater improvement on global measures of mindfulness than either intervention in isolation. It was also hypothesized that each component of mindfulness would increase the mindfulness subscale specific to that component (i.e., increase on measures of nonjudgment following nonjudgment intervention) and that this change would be greater than change on measures of the other component not targeted in that intervention. Participants were recruited from an adult treatment-seeking waitlist for anxiety disorders (N = 8; all female, majority White, mean age 26.5, range 20-41). Participants reported significant increases in global mindfulness after the first intervention phase. As predicted, participants also reported significantly greater global mindfulness scores after receiving both interventions compared to one in isolation. After both interventions, participants who received the nonjudgment intervention first had significantly greater nonjudgment scores, but there were no significant differences between conditions for global mindfulness or present-moment awareness. In isolation, the present-focused intervention did not significantly increase measures of present-moment awareness for most participants. However, when examining nonjudgment in isolation, most participants demonstrated significant improvement on measures of present-moment awareness and nonjudgment. There was no significant impact on symptoms or proposed mechanisms. In sum, both interventions increased mindfulness, with the greatest increases after the combination of interventions, and introducing nonjudgment prior to present-focused awareness may optimize continued gains in nonjudgment. These findings may inform future improvements to the content and sequence of mindfulness components in mindfulness-based treatments for anxiety

Macrophage Inflammation, Erythrophagocytosis, and Accelerated Atherosclerosis in Jak2(V617F) Mice

Rationale: The mechanisms driving atherothrombotic risk in individuals with JAK2(V617F) (Jak2(VF)) positive clonal hematopoiesis or myeloproliferative neoplasms are poorly understood. Objective: The goal of this study was to assess atherosclerosis and underlying mechanisms in hypercholesterolemic mice with hematopoietic Jak2(VF) expression. Methods and Results: Irradiated low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout (Ldlr(-/-)) mice were transplanted with bone marrow from wild-type or Jak2(VF) mice and fed a high-fat high-cholesterol Western diet. Hematopoietic functions and atherosclerosis were characterized. After 7 weeks of Western diet, Jak2(VF) mice showed increased atherosclerosis. Early atherosclerotic lesions showed increased neutrophil adhesion and content, correlating with lesion size. After 12 weeks of Western diet, Jak2(VF) lesions showed increased complexity, with larger necrotic cores, defective efferocytosis, prominent iron deposition, and costaining of erythrocytes and macrophages, suggesting erythrophagocytosis. Jak2(VF) erythrocytes were more susceptible to phagocytosis by wild-type macrophages and showed decreased surface expression of CD47, a "don't-eat-me" signal. Human JAK2VF erythrocytes were also more susceptible to erythrophagocytosis. Jak2(VF) macrophages displayed increased expression and production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, prominent inflammasome activation, increased p38 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling, and reduced levels of MerTK (c-Mer tyrosine kinase), a key molecule mediating efferocytosis. Increased erythrophagocytosis also suppressed efferocytosis. Conclusions: Hematopoietic Jak2(VF) expression promotes early lesion formation and increased complexity in advanced atherosclerosis. In addition to increasing hematopoiesis and neutrophil infiltration in early lesions, Jak2(VF) caused cellular defects in erythrocytes and macrophages, leading to increased erythrophagocytosis but defective efferocytosis. These changes promote accumulation of iron in plaques and increased necrotic core formation which, together with exacerbated proinflammatory responses, likely contribute to plaque instability

Total Daily Pill Burden in HIV-Infected Patients in the Southern United States

The need for antiretroviral therapy coupled with treatment of chronic co-morbidities places HIV-infected patients at risk for polypharmacy. However, few studies have described overall pill burden among HIV-infected patients. HIV-infected outpatients of the UNC Infectious Diseases Clinic were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Subjects were contacted prior to a scheduled appointment and asked to bring all their medications to the visit. Daily total pill burden and medication type were recorded. 151 subjects were recruited: 76% male, 58% African American, 97% receiving antiretrovirals (ARVs). Median age was 48 (IRQ: 42–54) years. The median number of medications per subject was 8 (IQR: 6–11), and the median individual daily pill burden was 8 pills (IQR: 5–15): 3 pills (range: 2–5) for ARVs and 6 (range: 3–12.5) pills for non-ARVs. Duration of ART (per 2 years increase) and more than 3 co-morbidities was significantly associated with high pill burden (over 10 pills per day) with adjusted OR of 2.09 (95% CI, 1.14–3.84) and 8.04 (95% CI, 2.30–28.15), respectively. As patients with HIV age, strategies to reduce pill burden and number of medications will become increasingly critical to maintaining adherence, preventing medication errors, and serious drug–drug interactions

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery