Evaluation of over the counter medication knowledge and literacy in middle school and high school students

Over the counter (OTC) medications are commonly utilized by the public, including adolescents, to self-treat many conditions. Unfortunately, these products can be dangerous if not used safely and appropriately. Adolescents between 13 and 19 years old composed 7.32 percent of the human exposure cases reported to U.S. poison control centers in 2014. Among these cases, there were 53 fatalities involving pharmaceuticals. This is an age range where medication use becomes more independent and the education they receive throughout the school curriculum is unknown. This study was designed to evaluate OTC medication knowledge and literacy among middle and high school students

Functional consequences of Setd1a haploinsufficiency: from gestation to behaviour

Advances in psychiatric genetics are providing opportunities to investigate underlying pathogenic mechanisms. Rare loss of function (LoF) variants that have large effects on risk are of particular interest because they unequivocally implicate LoF of a single gene and are expected to have prominent phenotypic effects. The first LoF variants to be identified for schizophrenia were in the SETD1A gene. SETD1A catalyses methylation of lysine residue 4 on histone 3 (H3K4) and its pathogenic role is consistent with convergent evidence implicating disrupted H3K4 methylation in schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders. However, understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying the association between SETD1A LoF and psychopathology is lacking. This thesis investigated the functional consequences of Setd1a haploinsufficiency using a mouse model. Setd1a haploinsufficiency resulted in modest transcriptomic changes in the developing mouse brain that were enriched for mitochondrial annotations (Chapter 3). However, there was no enrichment for schizophrenia common variant association. Additionally, placental weight was reduced in Setd1a+/- mice and sexually dimorphic changes in placental gene expression and postnatal growth were observed in Setd1a+/- males but not females (Chapter 4). Behavioural phenotyping revealed that constitutive Setd1a haploinsufficiency caused heightened emotional reactivity and aberrant sensorimotor gating (Chapter 5). The effects on sensorimotor gating were robust and could not be rescued by established antipsychotics (haloperidol and risperidone) (Chapter 6). However, male (but not female) Setd1a+/- mice showed an insensitivity to the startle-inhibiting effects of risperidone, potentially indicating 5-HT2A receptor dysfunction. Finally, behavioural phenotyping of a conditional knockout with Setd1a haploinsufficiency constrained to the nervous system revealed evidence for a degree of convergence with the constitutive model (Chapter 7). In conclusion, this thesis provides novel insights into the diverse effects of Setd1a haploinsufficiency. These findings warrant further investigation to establish the pathophysiological relevance of effects on the developing brain, placenta, and adult brain function

Notional System Models

The objective of this report is to set forth a group of time-domain models for the early-design stage study of shipboard power systems. These models are highly simplified abstractions of shipboard power system components. The motivation for the simplification is two-fold. First, at an early design stage it is doubtful if the parameters needed for a more detailed system representation would be available. A highly detailed simulation would be based on many assumptions leading to results which are no more indicative of actual performance than a highly simplified simulation. The second reason for the creation of highly simplified model is for the sake of computational speed, so that system simulations based on the component models will run at speeds compatible with the needs imposed by exploring the system behavior under a large variety of conditions.United States Office of Naval ResearchCenter for Electromechanic

Notional System Report

The objective of this report is to set forth a group of time-domain models for the early-stage design study of shipboard power systems, and to demonstrate their use on various system architectures. The effort stemmed out of an earlier effort in which waveform-level models of three notional architectures – a Medium Voltage AC System, a High-Frequency AC System, and a Medium Voltage DC System were partially developed. Unfortunately, these codes were extremely computationally intense, limiting their usefulness for early design studies in which large numbers of runs, and a degree of user interactiveness, is required.Center for Electromechanic

Evaluation of a Virus-like Replicon Particle Vaccine Expressing Proteins of Swine Influenza Virus in Pigs With and Without Maternally Derived Antibodies

A major hurdle to swine influenza vaccination of young piglets is maternal antibody interference. This interference is transient as it disappears when pigs reach about 3 months of age. We vaccinated piglets without and with interfering maternal antibody using a recombinant vector vaccine. In the absence of interfering maternal antibody, the vaccine was effective in inducing a strong immune response and greatly reduced the amount of virus. However, this same recombinant vaccine was not effective when interfering maternal antibodies were present. We are currently trying a higher dose of vaccine and different genes from SIV in hopes we can overcome this maternal antibody. Preliminary data from these new studies are promising

Effects of eating rate on satiety:A role for episodic memory?

AbstractEating slowly is associated with a lower body mass index. However, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Here, our objective was to determine whether eating a meal at a slow rate improves episodic memory for the meal and promotes satiety. Participants (N=40) consumed a 400ml portion of tomato soup at either a fast (1.97ml/s) or a slow (0.50ml/s) rate. Appetite ratings were elicited at baseline and at the end of the meal (satiation). Satiety was assessed using; i) an ad libitum biscuit ‘taste test’ (3h after the meal) and ii) appetite ratings (collected 2h after the meal and after the ad libitum snack). Finally, to evaluate episodic memory for the meal, participants self-served the volume of soup that they believed they had consumed earlier (portion size memory) and completed a rating of memory ‘vividness’. Participants who consumed the soup slowly reported a greater increase in fullness, both at the end of the meal and during the inter-meal interval. However, we found little effect of eating rate on subsequent ad libitum snack intake. Importantly, after 3h, participants who ate the soup slowly remembered eating a larger portion. These findings show that eating slowly promotes self-reported satiation and satiety. For the first time, they also suggest that eating rate influences portion size memory. However, eating slowly did not affect ratings of memory vividness and we found little evidence for a relationship between episodic memory and satiety. Therefore, we are unable to conclude that episodic memory mediates effects of eating rate on satiety

Effect of New Zealand Blackcurrant Extract on Force Steadiness of the Quadriceps Femoris Muscle during Sustained Submaximal Isometric Contraction

Intake of anthocyanin-rich New Zealand blackcurrant (NZBC) can alter physiological responses that enhance exercise performance. In two studies, we examined the effects of NZBC extract on force steadiness during a sustained submaximal isometric contraction of the quadriceps femoris muscle. With repeated measures designs, male participants in study one (n = 13) and study two (n = 19) performed a 120 s submaximal (30%) isometric contraction of the quadriceps femoris muscle following a 7-day intake of NZBC extract and placebo (study one) and following 0 (control), 1-, 4- and 7-day intake of NZBC extract (study two). Participants for both studies were different. In study one, NZBC extract enhanced isometric force steadiness during the 120 s contraction (placebo: 6.58 ± 2.24%, NZBC extract: 6.05 ± 2.24%, p = 0.003), with differences in the third (60–89 s) and fourth quartile (90–120 s) of the contraction. In study two, isometric force steadiness was not changed following 1 and 4 days but was enhanced following 7-day intake of NZBC extract in comparison to control. In study two, the enhanced isometric force steadiness following 7-day intake did occur in the second (30–59 s), third (60–89 s) and fourth (90–120 s) quartiles. Daily supplementation of anthocyanin-rich NZBC extract can enhance force steadiness of the quadriceps femoris muscle during a sustained submaximal isometric contraction. Our observations may have implications for human tasks that require postural stability

Risk of new-onset Long Covid following reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: community-based cohort study

Background: Little is known about the risk of Long Covid following reinfection with SARS-CoV-2. We estimated the likelihood of new-onset, self-reported Long Covid after a second SARS-CoV-2 infection, and compared to a first infection. // Methods: We included UK COVID-19 Infection Survey participants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between 1 November 2021 and 8 October 2022. The primary outcome was self-reported Long Covid 12 to 20 weeks after each infection. Separate analyses were performed for those <16 years and ≥16 years. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for new-onset Long Covid using logistic regression, comparing second to first infections, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and calendar date of infection, plus vaccination status in those ≥16 years. // Results: Overall, Long Covid was reported by those ≥16 years after 4.0% and 2.4% of first and second infections, respectively; the corresponding estimates among those <16 years were 1.0% and 0.6%. The aOR for Long Covid after second compared to first infections was 0.72 (95% confidence interval: 0.63–0.81) for those ≥16 years and 0.93 (0.57–1.53) for those <16 years. // Conclusions: The risk of new-onset Long Covid after a second SARS-CoV-2 infection is lower than that after a first infection for those ≥16 years, though there is no evidence of a difference in risk for those <16 years. However, there remains some risk of new-onset Long Covid after a second infection, with around 1 in 40 of those ≥16 years and 1 in 165 of those <16 years reporting Long Covid after a second infection