Dissociating Allopregnanolone Mnemonic Effects from Sedation

Allopregnanolone (Allop) is a neurosteroid metabolite of progesterone. Allop modulates cognition, specifically learning and memory, but these effects are frequently confounded by its anxiolytic and sedative properties. We attempted to dissociate the anxiolytic effects of Allop from its mnemonic effects by employing a pharmacological challenge with d- amphetamine. Because previous research suggests that the effects of Allop may vary with the cognitive domain being tested, we assessed both spatial and non-spatial memory. Spatial memory was tested in a Morris Water Maze, and non-spatial object memory was tested on a novel discrimination task. Allop, alone or in combination with d-amphetamine did not have any significant effects on spatial memory. Neither Allop nor amphetamine alone affected memory of a novel object relative to controls, but the combination of the two produced a dissociation and enhanced performance. The results suggest that, depending on the type of memory being tested, the sedative effects of Allop can be dissociated from mnemonic effects by co-administering a sub-threshold dose of d-amphetamine

Changes in childhood malnutrition and mortality after institution of a Community Health Worker program in four rural Guatemalan villages

While community health workers (CHWs) are being implemented in several developing countries, there has been little work done to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing childhood malnutrition among participating communities. Our study evaluates the effectiveness of CHWs in three Guatemalan villages by comparing anthropomorphic measures and mortality rates of children under five before and after the implementation of a CHW program. While one community showed no significant change in malnutrition rates in terms of height-for-age calculations, two other communities showed improved malnutrition rates in terms of height-for-age. Weight-for-age comparisons were not statistically significant, and while childhood mortality remained unchanged in one community, there was a 5% improvement in childhood mortality for the other communities combined

Effects of COVID-19 on Kentucky Air Pollutant Levels

The COVID-19 pandemic is the first of the 21st century. Nearly 100 years ago, the Spanish Flu killed nearly 50 million people worldwide, including an estimated 675,000 people in the US.12 COVID-19 has proved a deadly disease as well, with nearly 28.1 million cases and 496,000 deaths in the US alone as of February 20th, 2021.4 Only a few studies have been conducted regarding air quality response before and after the start of the pandemic. The study found that the NO2 levels decreased and the PM levels also decreased from before to after the beginning of the pandemic. They adopted a weather benchmark modeling system to predict what the expected air pollution levels for the 2020 lockdown should have been while also building separate linear regression models for each country and pollutant type. (Venter, 2020) On a smaller level, another study looked at the effects of air quality in the cities of Barcelona and Madrid (Spain). This study primarily focused on the time period after the pandemic occurred and assessed the NO2 data for each hour. The study observed a decrease in air pollutant levels, but the results were not significant between the years they studied. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a difference in the emission rates of the 6 criteria pollutants in Kentucky along with overall air quality in the 5-month period of January 1st - June 1st of 2016-2020. This will be used to evaluate the environmental impact of COVID-19 and contrast before and after the start of the pandemic

Testing three hypotheses about effects of sensitive-insensitive parenting on telomeres.

Telomeres are the protective DNA-protein sequences appearing at the ends of chromosomes; they shorten with each cell division and are considered a biomarker of aging. Shorter telomere length and greater erosion have been associated with compromised physical and mental health and are hypothesized to be affected by early life stress. In the latter case, most work has relied on retrospective measures of early life stressors. The Dutch research (n = 193) presented herein tested 3 hypotheses prospectively regarding effects of sensitive-insensitive parenting during the first 2.5 years on telomere length at age 6, when first measured, and change over the following 4 years. It was predicted that (1) less sensitive parenting would predict shorter telomeres and greater erosion and that such effects would be most pronounced in children (2) exposed to prenatal stress and/or (3) who were highly negatively emotional as infants. Results revealed, only, that prenatal stress amplified parenting effects on telomere change-in a differential-susceptibility-related manner: Prenatally stressed children displayed more erosion when they experienced insensitive parenting and less erosion when they experienced sensitive parenting. Mechanisms that might initiate greater postnatal plasticity as a result of prenatal stress are highlighted and future work outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)