A Response to White

If someone were to have asked me in the spring of 2008 if I thought that I was providing an honest and reliable interpretation of my communication analysis model, I would have said yes. Several months removed from the speech community, my answer remains the same. This letter is my response to Dr. Leah White‘s criticisms of my interpretation of I Lose, Therefore I Think: A Search for Contemplation Amid Wars of Push-Button Glare by Shuen-shing Lee—the article that served as my communication analysis model (Conner, 2008). I hope that this letter provides a more in-depth justification of my interpretation. However, I recognize that I may have incorrectly, albeit innocently, interpreted the article. If the community ultimately decides that such a misinterpretation occurred, I contend that the misinterpretation can be attributed to flaws within the event and the speech community

Prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer with turmeric and its main active constituent, curcumin

PROBLEM: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a top three leading cause of death among western countries. Epidemiological evidence shows a positive correlation between western diet, which consists of high-fat, meat and processed foods. Positive correlations indicate that diets high in fruits and vegetables could greatly decrease risk of CRC. Specifically the ubiquitous spice, turmeric, and its main active constituent have been broadly researched to determine its efficacy in the treatment and prevention of CRC. RESULTS: Curcumin proves to be effective in the treatment and prevention of CRC. It acts as a chemosensitizer for chemotherapeutics which increases their effectiveness especially against chemoresistant CRC cell lines. In many in vitro studies curcumin has inhibited critical pathways involved in CRC progression such as Wnt/β-catenin and sonic hedgehog pathway. Curcumin can also act as a ligand for VDR, which is significant because high vitamin D intake is associated with a decreased risk of CRC. In vivo, curcumin has minimized tumor growth in animal models. In clinical trials curcumin proves to be a naturally derived, non-toxic agent. CONCLUSION: Curcumin and turmeric should be further studied for its use against CRC, specifically its use in nanotechnology and NDDS as either a stand-alone nutraceutical or a chemosensitizer. Additionally, it would likely be advantageous to prescribe turmeric in the diet in combination with black pepper, heat, and oil (which increases its bioavailability) in patients at high risk of developing CRC

Development and evaluation of a COVID tracking system to support provision of social service in Wyandotte County, Kansas

BackgroundIn addition to the state-mandated case investigation and contact tracing, the Unified Government Public Health Department of Wyandotte County, Kansas implemented social support services for COVID-19 cases and contacts; however, did not have the systems in place to document the provision of these services. Our team worked with the health department to develop and implement the COVID Tracking System (CTS), an eHealth system that linked multiple involved teams. Here, we describe the development and evaluation of the CTS. The objective of this manuscript is to describe and evaluate the development and implementation process of the Covid Tracking System.MethodsDrawing from concepts of user-centered design, we took a 4-phase approach to development: understanding context, specifying needs, designing solutions, and evaluating. A mixed-methods evaluation of the development and implementation process using RE-AIM was conducted. Quantitative CTS data captured between February 1, 2021, and September 30, 2021 were exported. Descriptive statistics were calculated for categorical variables and means (SD, range) or median (IQR) for continuous variables. Qualitative discussions with key users supplemented the quantitative data.ResultsThere were 1,152 cases entered into the CTS, of whom 307 (26.6%) requested a letter be sent to their workplace to excuse them during their quarantine period, 817 (70.9%) requested and had food and cleaning supplies delivered, 21 (1.8%) requested guidance on applying for federal assistance, and 496 (43.1%) requested to be contacted by a community health worker. While a few technical glitches slowed down early implementation, these were quickly resolved and key users felt that the CTS streamlined client referral and simplified their workflow, allowing them to spend more time on patient care and follow up, rather than documentation. After study implementation ended, the Unified Government Public Health Department of Wyandotte County continued using the CTS for client tracing and follow up.DiscussionThis project provides a roadmap of how user centered design can be applied to the development and evaluation of eHealth software to support program intervention implementation, even in situations where urgent action is needed

Trajectories of Heart Activity Across Infancy to Early Childhood Differentially Predict Autism and Anxiety Symptoms in Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a monogenic disorder characterized by high rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety. A longstanding hyperarousal hypothesis in FXS has argued that ANS dysfunction underpins many symptoms of FXS. However, the developmental onset and trajectory of ANS dysfunction, as well as the consequences of ANS dysfunction on later psychiatric symptoms, remain poorly understood in FXS. Insight into the emergence, trajectory, and consequences of ANS dysfunction across early development in FXS has critical implications for prevention, intervention, and optimal outcomes in both typical and atypical development. This longitudinal study investigated whether and when males with FXS evidence atypical ANS function from infancy through early childhood, and how trajectories of ANS function across infancy and early childhood predict ASD and anxiety symptom severity later in development. Participants included 73 males with FXS and 79 age-matched typically developing (TD) males. Baseline heart activity was recorded at multiple assessments between 3 and 83 months of age, resulting in 372 observations. General arousal and parasympathetic activity were indexed via interbeat interval (IBI) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), respectively. ASD and anxiety symptoms were assessed at 36 months of age or later in a subgroup of participants (FXS = 28; TD = 25). Males with FXS exhibited atypical patterns of developmental change in ANS function across infancy and early childhood. As a result, ANS dysfunction became progressively more discrepant across time, with the FXS group exhibiting significantly shorter IBI and lower RSA by 29 and 24 months of age, respectively. Shorter IBI at 24 months and a flatter IBI slope across development predicted elevated anxiety symptoms, but not ASD symptoms, later in childhood in both FXS and TD males. Reduced RSA at 24 months predicted elevated ASD symptoms, but not anxiety symptoms, in both groups. Developmental change in RSA across early development did not predict later anxiety or ASD symptoms. This is the first longitudinal study to examine the hyperarousal hypothesis in infants and young children with FXS. Findings suggest that hyperarousal (i.e., shorter IBI, lower RSA) is evident in males with FXS by 24-29 months of age. Interestingly, unique aspects of early ANS function differentially relate to later ASD and anxiety symptoms. General arousal, indexed by shorter IBI that becomes progressively more discrepant from TD controls, predicts later anxiety symptoms. In contrast, parasympathetic-related factors, indexed by lower levels of RSA, predict ASD symptoms. These findings support the hyperarousal hypothesis in FXS, in that ANS dysfunction evident early in development predicts later-emerging symptoms of ASD and anxiety. This study also have important implications for the development of targeted treatments and interventions that could potentially mitigate the long-term effects of hyperarousal in FXS

Hemophagocytosis causes a consumptive anemia of inflammation

IFN-γ stimulates blood-eating macrophages (hemophagocytes) by acting directly on macrophages to promote phagocytosis and uptake of blood cells

Proteome changes driven by phosphorus deficiency and recovery in the brown tide-forming alga Aureococcus anophagefferens

© The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS One 6 (2011): e28949, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028949.Shotgun mass spectrometry was used to detect proteins in the harmful alga, Aureococcus anophagefferens, and monitor their relative abundance across nutrient replete (control), phosphate-deficient (−P) and −P refed with phosphate (P-refed) conditions. Spectral counting techniques identified differentially abundant proteins and demonstrated that under phosphate deficiency, A. anophagefferens increases proteins involved in both inorganic and organic phosphorus (P) scavenging, including a phosphate transporter, 5′-nucleotidase, and alkaline phosphatase. Additionally, an increase in abundance of a sulfolipid biosynthesis protein was detected in −P and P-refed conditions. Analysis of the polar membrane lipids showed that cellular concentrations of the sulfolipid sulphoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) were nearly two-fold greater in the −P condition versus the control condition, while cellular phospholipids were approximately 8-fold less. Transcript and protein abundances were more tightly coupled for gene products involved in P metabolism compared to those involved in a range of other metabolic functions. Comparison of protein abundances between the −P and P-refed conditions identified differences in the timing of protein degradation and turnover. This suggests that culture studies examining nutrient starvation responses will be valuable in interpreting protein abundance patterns for cellular nutritional status and history in metaproteomic datasets.Research for this work was supported by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ECOHAB grant (#NA09NOS4780206) and National Science Foundation grant (#OCE-0723667) and a STAR Research Assistance Agreement No. R-83041501-0 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Further support came from the Woods Hole Coastal Ocean Institute. LLW was supported by a Environmental Protection Agency STAR Fellowship (#FP916901). EMB was supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (#2007037200) and an Environmental Protection Agency STAR Fellowship (#F6E20324)

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA

CITATION: Watson, R., et al. 2016. Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 11:13, doi:10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9.The original publication is available at https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.comENGLISH SUMMARY : Meeting abstracts.https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9Publisher's versio

Effects of Macrophage Depletion on Sleep in Mice.

The reciprocal interaction between the immune system and sleep regulation has been widely acknowledged but the cellular mechanisms that underpin this interaction are not completely understood. In the present study, we investigated the role of macrophages in sleep loss- and cold exposure-induced sleep and body temperature responses. Macrophage apoptosis was induced in mice by systemic injection of clodronate-containing liposomes (CCL). We report that CCL treatment induced an immediate and transient increase in non-rapid-eye movement sleep (NREMS) and fever accompanied by decrease in rapid-eye movement sleep, motor activity and NREMS delta power. Chronically macrophage-depleted mice had attenuated NREMS rebound after sleep deprivation compared to normal mice. Cold-induced increase in wakefulness and decrease in NREMS, rapid-eye movement sleep and body temperature were significantly enhanced in macrophage-depleted mice indicating increased cold sensitivity. These findings provide further evidence for the reciprocal interaction among the immune system, sleep and metabolism, and identify macrophages as one of the key cellular elements in this interplay

Institutional Demand for Locally-Grown Food in Vermont: Marketing Implications for Producers and Distributors

Institutional food service operations have shown increasing interest in locally grown foods, and are providing a business opportunity for farmers and distributors. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the results and implications of a survey assessing institutional food service operations in Vermont. We used the 4 P’s (price, product, place, and promotion) Marketing Mix framework to highlight marketing strategies for farmers and distributors wanting to increase their sales of local food to institutions