The Societal Impacts of COVID-19 on Asian Americans: Mitigating Mental Health Disparities Stemming from Labels Like the “China Virus”

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affects socially vulnerable populations, including Asian Americans whereupon a host of disparities have worsened their mental health amid the crisis. In this, disparities arise given that Asian Americans disproportionately hold high-contact essential jobs that place them at greater health risk, Asian-owned businesses are overrepresented in sectors that have been hardest hit by COVID-19, and anti-Asian xenophobia and racism have been exacerbated. This paper seeks to investigate the theory of interactionism as it relates to the nature of the disparities faced by Asian Americans. The COVID-19 pandemic has signified the othering of sub-sections of the population, where many heard “China-virus” or “Asia-virus” commonly used by politicians or popular media to discuss the pandemic. According to interactionism, the role of the institutionalized authority, whether elected political leaders or the mass media, in sharing or excusing prejudice or discriminatory language towards people of Asian descent would position Asian Americans as the perceived cause, potentially increasing racial prejudice. Individuals’ beliefs, as often determined by what they read or hear from popular media, may influence their beliefs about the particular group, especially if they do not know anyone from that group. In relating this theory to mental health, the othering or prejudice of racial groups, especially in terms of interactionism among Asian Americans has led to a strain in psychological well-being and brought upon a rise in mental health challenges. Through the analysis, several disparities are identified for which recommendations are provided to mitigate the mental health challenges arising from associating COVID-19 to people of Asian descent. The disparities among Asian Americans span social conditions, cultural differences, personal factors, material conditions, and relationships, whereupon differences in race/ethnicity/language, transportation and housing, socioeconomic state, or household composition may weaken their ability to physically and mentally respond to and recover from a crisis. Based on the disparities between the public and Asian Americans and within different subsections of Asian Americans, we present two recommendations to help mitigate the impact and discrimination arising from the pandemic towards improving mental health. The recommendations are (1) implement stigma reduction education and training programs and (2) use research as a foundation to enact policy and governmental changes to address how Asian stigmas affect mental health. This research aims to build the groundwork for investigating race, particularly among Asian Americans and the differential effects of the crisis on mental health, to improve mental health response and service offerings during response and recovery

Two decades of research in discovery of anticancer drugs targeting STAT3, how close are we?

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) controls many biological processes including differentiation, survival, proliferation, and angiogenesis. In normal healthy cells, STAT3 is tightly regulated to maintain a momentary active state. However, aberrant or constitutively activated STAT3 has been observed in many different cancers and constitutively activated STAT3 has been shown to associate with poor prognosis and tumor progression. For this reason, STAT3 has been studied as a possible target in the treatment of many different types of cancers. However, despite decades of research, a FDA-approved STAT3 inhibitor has yet to emerge. In this review, we will analyze past studies targeting STAT3 for drug discovery, understand possible causes of failure in these studies, and provide potential insights for future efforts to overcome these roadblocks

Rejuvenation Effect of Aged SBS-Modified Asphalt Utilizing Molecule Analysis

The Performance of Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene Modified Asphalt (SBSMA) is Significantly Impacted by its Aging and Regeneration. in This Research, the Molecular Dynamics Simulation Was Utilized to Investigate the Rejuvenation Effect of Active Reagents on Aged SBS Modified Asphalt through the Following Tasks: 1) Verifying the Accuracy of the Asphalt Model by Density and Solubility Parameters; 2) Assessing the Changes in the Rejuvenated Asphalt Model\u27s Energetic Parameters and Volume Parameters, 3) Studying the Interaction Energy between SBS Molecules and Asphalt Molecule Models, and 4) Evaluating the Relative Concentration, Interfacial Interaction Energy, and Diffusion Effect of the Asphalt-Asphalt Models. the Results Indicated that the Restored Broken SBS Molecule Substantially Impacted the Functionality of the Rejuvenated Asphalt Binder. for Methylene-Bis(4-Cyclohexylisocyanate) (HMDI) and 1,6-Hexanediol Diglycidyl Ether (HDE) Rejuvenated Asphalts, the Non-Bond Energy Decreased Gradually with the Repair of Broken SBS Molecular Structures. the Free Volume Fraction of Rejuvenated Binders Was Lower Than that of SBSMA, indicating that the Compactness and Packing Degree of the Rejuvenated Asphalt Were Increased. the Interaction Energy between SBS and Asphalt Molecules in Rejuvenated Asphalt Increased Because of the Enhanced Van Der Waals Interaction between the Reconstructed SBS Molecule and Rejuvenated Binders. the Free HDE Molecular Chain Reduced the Interaction Energy between SBS and Asphalt Molecules. for the Asphalt-Asphalt Models, the Diffusion Coefficient of the SBSMA-Rejuvenated Asphalt Model Was Lower Than that of the SBSMA-SBSMA Model. the HDE Rejuvenated Asphalt Showed Better Diffusion Behavior Than SBSMA, and SBS Molecules Repaired by HDE Had Excellent Fluidity. the Interfacial Interaction Energy of the SBSMA-Rejuvenated Asphalt Model Was Higher Than that of the SBSMA-SBSMA Model. with the Repair of the Broken SBS Molecular Chain, the Interfacial Interaction Energy between HMDI Rejuvenated Asphalt and SBSMA Increased Gradually. in Contrast, the Interfacial Interaction Energy between HDE Rejuvenated Asphalt and SBSMA Decreased Gradually. the Fully Restored SBS Molecular Structure Had Stable Thermodynamic Properties and Could Accelerate the Diffusion Effect of Rejuvenated Asphalt

Creating a Model for Faculty Success: Faculty Advancement Initiative for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and People of Color at the University at Albany

The Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and People of Color (BILPOC) Faculty Advancement Initiative at UAlbany focuses on mentoring, retention, and promotion of BILPOC Faculty. Our faculty-led association is providing a safe and supportive space for faculty who are Black, Indigenous, Latinx and people of color. This association serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas that is also helping UAlbany BILPOC faculty with professional growth and career advancement. We also see our group as a retention mechanism. Since inception, BILPOC has made a significant contribution to the University and Faculty as evidenced through its growth, programming, community engagement, and research proposal efforts. What began with a group of seven faculty members has blossomed to over 50 within one year. BILPOC faculty are interested in collaboration across disciplines on meaningful topics for their communities. They are also interested in mentorship, writing groups, social meetups, and outreach efforts, all of which this faculty advancement initiative provides. We believe that our newly established BILPOC community provides opportunities that support our diverse workforce, while also creating a positive and sustainable scholarly environment, which might serve as a model for other institutions

X-ray Properties of Intermediate-mass Black Holes in Active Galaxies

We present a pilot study of the X-ray properties of intermediate-mass (~10^5-10^6 M_sun) black holes in active galaxies using the Chandra X-ray telescope. Eight of the 10 active galaxies are detected with a significance of at least 3 sigma, with X-ray luminosities in the range L_(0.5-2 keV) ~ 10^41-10^43 ergs/s. The optical-to-X-ray flux ratios are consistent with expectations, given the known correlations between alpha_ox and ultraviolet luminosity, while a couple of objects appear to be anomalously X-ray weak. The range of 0.5--2 keV photon indices we measure, 1 < Gamma_s < 2.7, is entirely consistent with values found in samples of more luminous sources with more massive black holes. Black hole mass evidently is not a primary driver of soft X-ray spectral index. On the other hand, we do find evidence for a correlation between X-ray power-law slope and both X-ray luminosity and Eddington ratio, which may suggest that X-ray emission mechanisms weaken at high Eddington ratio. Such a weakening may explain the X-ray weakness of one of our most optically luminous objects.Comment: Submitted to ApJ on 7 April 2006, but still awaiting referee's report; 8 pages, 4 figures, uses emulateapj5.st

A Mystery in Chamaeleon: Serendipitous Discovery of a Galactic Symbiotic Nova

Abstract We present the serendipitous discovery of a low optical-luminosity nova occurring in a D-type symbiotic binary star system in the Milky Way. We lay out the extensive archival data alongside new follow-up observations related to the stellar object CN Cha in the constellation of Chamaeleon. The object had long period (250 days), high amplitude (3 mag) optical variability in its recent past, preceding an increase in optical brightness by 8 magnitudes and a persistence at this brightness for about 3 yr, followed by a period of 1.4 mag yr−1 dimming. The object’s current optical luminosity seems to be dominated by Hα emission, which also exhibits blueshifted absorption (a P-Cygni-like profile). After consideration of a number of theories to explain these myriad observations, we determine that CN Cha is most likely a symbiotic (an evolved-star–white-dwarf binary) system that has undergone a long-duration, low optical brightness, nova, placing it squarely in the class of so-called “slow novae,” of which there are only a few known examples. The duration of the optical plateau in CN Cha would make it the shortest timescale plateau of any known slow symbiotic novae.</jats:p

X-ray Properties of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Active Galaxies. II. X-ray-Bright Accretion and Possible Evidence for Slim Disks

We present X-ray properties of optically-selected intermediate-mass (~10^5--10^6 M_Sun) black holes (BHs) in active galaxies (AGNs), using data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Our observations are a continuation of a pilot study by Greene & Ho (2007). Of the 8 objects observed, 5 are detected with X-ray luminosities in the range L_0.5-2 keV = 10^41--10^43 erg s^-1, consistent with the previously observed sample. Objects with enough counts to extract a spectrum are well fit by an absorbed power law. We continue to find a range of soft photon indices 1 < \Gamma_s < 2.7, where N(E) \propto E^-\Gamma_s, consistent with previous AGN studies, but generally flatter than other narrow-line Seyfert 1 active nuclei (NLS1s). The soft photon index correlates strongly with X-ray luminosity and Eddington ratio, but does not depend on BH mass. There is no justification for the inclusion of any additional components, such as a soft excess, although this may be a function of the relative inefficiency of detecting counts above 2 keV in these relatively shallow observations. As a whole, the X-ray-to-optical spectral slope \alpha_ox is flatter than in more massive systems, even other NLS1s. Only X-ray-selected NLS1s with very high Eddington ratios share a similar \alpha_ox. This is suggestive of a physical change in the accretion structure at low masses and at very high accretion rates, possibly due to the onset of slim disks. Although the detailed physical explanation for the X-ray loudness of these intermediate-mass BHs is not certain, it is very striking that targets selected on the basis of optical properties should be so distinctly offset in their broader spectral energy distributions.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to ApJ, emulateap

The HIF Signaling Pathway in Osteoblasts Directly Modulates Erythropoiesis through the Production of EPO

SummaryOsteoblasts are an important component of the hematopoietic microenvironment in bone. However, the mechanisms by which osteoblasts control hematopoiesis remain unknown. We show that augmented HIF signaling in osteoprogenitors results in HSC niche expansion associated with selective expansion of the erythroid lineage. Increased red blood cell production occurred in an EPO-dependent manner with increased EPO expression in bone and suppressed EPO expression in the kidney. In contrast, inactivation of HIF in osteoprogenitors reduced EPO expression in bone. Importantly, augmented HIF activity in osteoprogenitors protected mice from stress-induced anemia. Pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of prolyl hydroxylases1/2/3 in osteoprogenitors elevated EPO expression in bone and increased hematocrit. These data reveal an unexpected role for osteoblasts in the production of EPO and modulation of erythropoiesis. Furthermore, these studies demonstrate a molecular role for osteoblastic PHD/VHL/HIF signaling that can be targeted to elevate both HSCs and erythroid progenitors in the local hematopoietic microenvironment.PaperCli

Rates, costs and determinants of lumbar spine imaging in population-based women born in 1973-1978: Data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health

ObjectiveThere are concerns that lumbar spine imaging represents low value care. Our aim was to examine the use of lumbar spine imaging [radiography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] over 20 years, and costs and person-level characteristics of imaging in a large cohort of Australian women.MethodsThe Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) is a longitudinal population-based survey of women randomly selected from national health insurance scheme (Medicare) database. This study examined 13458 women born in 1973-1978 who consented to link their ALSWH and Medical Benefits Scheme records. Self-reported data on demographics, body mass index, depression, physical and mental health, and back pain were collected in each survey performed in 1996, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2015. Data on lumbar spine imaging from 1996 to 2015 were obtained from the Medical Benefits Scheme database.Results38.9% of women underwent some form of lumbar spine imaging over 20 years. While radiography increased from 1996 to 2011 and decreased thereafter, CT and MRI continued to increase from 1996 to 2015. In women with self-reported back pain, depression and poorer physical health were associated with imaging, with no significant differences in types of imaging. Based on imaging rates in ALSWH, the estimated costs for Australian women aged 30-39 years were AU$51,735,649 over 2011-2015.ConclusionsLumbar spine imaging was common in population-based Australian women, with rates increasing over 20 years. Depression and poor physical health were associated with lumbar spine imaging. Raising awareness of this in clinicians is likely to result in significant cost savings if clinical guidelines are followed, with the potential of freeing resources for high value care and health outcomes