College bound : factors that influence first generation college student process

This qualitative study explores the biopsychosocial factors that influence first-generation Latino students in their decision to attend college, including individuals\u27 demographic characteristics, and how first generation Latino college students cope with changes in their environment when away from home. The fact that only one in ten Latino adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have a college degree (Brindis, Driscoll, Biggs, and Valderrama, 2002) is a staggering number that highlights part of the need for this study. Twelve first generation Latino College students residing in California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and New York participated in this research study. They answered open-ended interview questions focusing on the following topics: 1) Biopsychosocial factors influencing first generation Latino students to attend college; 2) Challenges that first-generation Latino students encounter; 3) What helps students to cope more effectively during their first year of college enrollment; and 4) what helps Latino first-generation students to succeed in college. The findings showed that the greatest challenges in being a first generation college student were lack of support from immediate family; lack of information about college; and being of low socioeconomic status. All participants in this study described success as achieving their educational goals in life; helping future first generation college bound students; and being able to maintain financial stability for their own families. The findings also showed that many participants found their transition to the college environment difficult in terms of their individual autonomy and identity as a first generation Latino college student. Many affirmed the importance of having role models and mentors in their communities during their early years in high school to help them visualize college as a real option after attaining a high school diploma. These findings suggest the importance of cultural awareness and the need for improved and accessible resources in communities where Latinos reside. Findings also suggest the need for social workers, educators, and other service providers to become knowledgeable of the strengths and challenge that first generation Latino College students may face in the process of attending college for the first time. Participants also identified resources that are necessary for higher education to implement in order to help first generation Latino students succeed in college

Clinical implications of intratumor heterogeneity : challenges and opportunities

In this review, we highlight the role of intratumoral heterogeneity, focusing on the clinical and biological ramifications this phenomenon poses. Intratumoral heterogeneity arises through complex genetic, epigenetic, and protein modifications that drive phenotypic selection in response to environmental pressures. Functionally, heterogeneity provides tumors with significant adaptability. This ranges from mutual beneficial cooperation between cells, which nurture features such as growth and metastasis, to the narrow escape and survival of clonal cell populations that have adapted to thrive under specific conditions such as hypoxia or chemotherapy. These dynamic intercellular interplays are guided by a Darwinian selection landscape between clonal tumor cell populations and the tumor microenvironment. Understanding the involved drivers and functional consequences of such tumor heterogeneity is challenging but also promises to provide novel insight needed to confront the problem of therapeutic resistance in tumors

First insights into the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from HIV-infected Mexican patients and mutations causing multidrug resistance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prevalence of infections with <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>(MTb) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species in HIV-infected patients in Mexico is unknown. The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of MTb and NTM species in HIV-infected patients from Mexico City, to evaluate the genotypic diversity of the <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>complex strains, to determine their drug resistance profiles by colorimetric microplate Alamar Blue assay (MABA), and finally, to detect mutations present in <it>kat</it>G, <it>rpo</it>B and <it>inh</it>A genes, resulting in isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF) resistance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 67 mycobacterial strains isolated, 48 were identified as MTb, 9 as <it>M. bovis</it>, 9 as <it>M. avium </it>and 1 as <it>M. intracellulare</it>. IS<it>6110</it>-RFLP of 48 MTb strains showed 27 profiles. Spoligotyping of the 48 MTb strains yielded 21 patterns, and 9 <it>M. bovis </it>strains produced 7 patterns. Eleven new spoligotypes patterns were found. A total of 40 patterns were produced from the 48 MTb strains when MIRU-VNTR was performed. Nineteen (39.6%) MTb strains were resistant to one or more drugs. One (2.1%) multidrug-resistant (MDR) strain was identified. A novel mutation was identified in a RIF-resistant strain, GAG → TCG (Glu → Ser) at codon 469 of <it>rpo</it>B gene.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first molecular analysis of mycobacteria isolated from HIV-infected patients in Mexico, which describe the prevalence of different mycobacterial species in this population. A high genetic diversity of MTb strains was identified. New spoligotypes and MIRU-VNTR patterns as well as a novel mutation associated to RIF-resistance were found. This information will facilitate the tracking of different mycobacterial species in HIV-infected individuals, and monitoring the spread of these microorganisms, leading to more appropriate measures for tuberculosis control.</p

Charming penguins in B => K* pi, K (rho,omega,phi) decays

We evaluate the decays B => K* pi, K (rho,omega,phi) adding the long distance charming penguin contributions to the short distance: Tree+Penguin amplitudes. We estimate the imaginary part of the charming penguin by an effective field theory inspired by the Heavy Quark Effective Theory and parameterize its real part. The final results for branching ratios depend on only two real parameters and show a significant role of the charming penguins. The overall agreement with the available experimental data is satisfactory.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Project: Center for Diabetes and Metabolism [Centro de Diabetes y Metabolismo: CeDiMet], a collaborative dream comes true

Reynosa urban area has 690,000 inhabitants (384,000 adults \u3e20 years old), 35% moved from other states. The use of cell phones is in 81%, personal computer or laptop with 29%. The prevalence of overweight is 39%, obesity 36%, and T2D 13%. The expected adult population with T2D is 49,900 individuals. The are 5 clinics prepared to attend T2D, and few with specialized personnel. The CeDiMet is a collaborative clinic involving health personnel and researchers from the Universidad Mexico Americana del Norte, Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, Hospital General de Mexico “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga”, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the Texas Diabetes Institute in San Antonio. The funding source comes from private companies in Reynosa. The clinical structure includes physicians, nurses, nutritionists, psychologists, and a section for telemedicine for consulting specialists from USA and Mexico City. Besides clinical attendance, the CeDiMet will conduct educational activities in offices, factories, churches, and schools for prevention of obesity complications (T2D and hypertension), early detection of diabetic foot, fatty liver, and endothelial damage. “Tree of Health in the Family” is a program to encourage youth to know and understand the metabolic problems in their families to focus on prevention. Recently, we obtained a grant from COTACyT to explore the effect of COVID-19 in a cohort of 200 students and their families. The analysis of post-traumatic stress due to confinement and antibodies concentration to detect contacts and its association with metabolic problems is an example of the research we can perform

A gallotannin-rich fraction from Caesalpinia spinosa (Molina) Kuntze displays cytotoxic activity and raises sensitivity to doxorubicin in a leukemia cell line

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Enhancement of tumor cell sensitivity may help facilitate a reduction in drug dosage using conventional chemotherapies. Consequently, it is worthwhile to search for adjuvants with the potential of increasing chemotherapeutic drug effectiveness and improving patient quality of life. Natural products are a very good source of such adjuvants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The biological activity of a fraction enriched in hydrolysable polyphenols (P2Et) obtained from <it>Caesalpinia spinosa </it>was evaluated using the hematopoietic cell line K562. This fraction was tested alone or in combination with the conventional chemotherapeutic drugs doxorubicin, vincristine, etoposide, camptothecin and taxol. The parameters evaluated were mitochondrial depolarization, caspase 3 activation, chromatin condensation and clonogenic activity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that the P2Et fraction induced mitochondrial depolarization, activated caspase 3, induced chromatin condensation and decreased the clonogenic capacity of the K562 cell line. When the P2Et fraction was used in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs at sub-lethal concentrations, a fourfold reduction in doxorubicin inhibitory concentration 50 (IC₅₀) was seen in the K562 cell line. This finding suggested that P2Et fraction activity is specific for the molecular target of doxorubicin.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that a natural fraction extracted from <it>Caesalpinia spinosa </it>in combination with conventional chemotherapy in combination with natural products on leukemia cells may increase therapeutic effectiveness in relation to leukemia.</p

Stratification of candidate genes for Parkinson’s disease using weighted protein interaction network analysis

Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have helped identify large numbers of genetic loci that significantly associate with increased risk of developing diseases. However, translating genetic knowledge into understanding of the molecular mechanisms underpinning disease (i.e. disease-specific impacted biological processes) has to date proved to be a major challenge. This is primarily due to difficulties in confidently defining candidate genes at GWAS-risk loci. The goal of this study was to better characterize candidate genes within GWAS loci using a protein interactome based approach and with Parkinson's disease (PD) data as a test case.We applied a recently developed Weighted Protein-Protein Interaction Network Analysis (WPPINA) pipeline as a means to define impacted biological processes, risk pathways and therein key functional players. We used previously established Mendelian forms of PD to identify seed proteins, and to construct a protein network for genetic Parkinson's and carried out functional enrichment analyses. We isolated PD-specific processes indicating 'mitochondria stressors mediated cell death', 'immune response and signaling', and 'waste disposal' mediated through 'autophagy'. Merging the resulting protein network with data from Parkinson's GWAS we confirmed 10 candidate genes previously selected by pure proximity and were able to nominate 17 novel candidate genes for sporadic PD.With this study, we were able to better characterize the underlying genetic and functional architecture of idiopathic PD, thus validating WPPINA as a robust pipeline for the in silico genetic and functional dissection of complex disorders

Production of HIV Particles Is Regulated by Altering Sub-Cellular Localization and Dynamics of Rev Induced by Double-Strand RNA Binding Protein

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 encoded Rev is essential for export from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, of unspliced and singly spliced transcripts coding for structural and nonstructural viral proteins. This process is spatially and temporally coordinated resulting from the interactions between cellular and viral proteins. Here we examined the effects of the sub-cellular localization and dynamics of Rev on the efficiency of nucleocytoplasmic transport of HIV-1 Gag transcripts and virus particle production. Using confocal microscopy and fluorescence recovery after bleaching (FRAP), we report that NF90ctv, a cellular protein involved in Rev function, alters both the sub-cellular localization and dynamics of Rev in vivo, which drastically affects the accumulation of the viral protein p24. The CRM1–dependent nuclear export of Gag mRNA linked to the Rev Response Element (RRE) is dependent on specific domains of the NF90ctv protein. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the appropriate intracellular localization and dynamics of Rev could regulate Gag assembly and HIV-1 replication

MED27 Variants Cause Developmental Delay, Dystonia, and Cerebellar Hypoplasia

The Mediator multiprotein complex functions as a regulator of RNA polymerase II-catalyzed gene transcription. In this study, exome sequencing detected biallelic putative disease-causing variants in MED27, encoding Mediator complex subunit 27, in 16 patients from 11 families with a novel neurodevelopmental syndrome. Patient phenotypes are highly homogeneous, including global developmental delay, intellectual disability, axial hypotonia with distal spasticity, dystonic movements, and cerebellar hypoplasia. Seizures and cataracts were noted in severely affected individuals. Identification of multiple patients with biallelic MED27 variants supports the critical role of MED27 in normal human neural development, particularly for the cerebellum. ANN NEUROL 2021Peer reviewe

Anterograde trafficking of KCa3.1 in polarized epithelia is Rab1- And Rab8-Dependent and recycling endosome-independent

The intermediate conductance, Ca2+-activated K+ channel (KCa3.1) targets to the basolateral (BL) membrane in polarized epithelia where it plays a key role in transepithelial ion transport. However, there are no studies defining the anterograde and retrograde trafficking of KCa3.1 in polarized epithelia. Herein, we utilize Biotin Ligase Acceptor Peptide (BLAP)-tagged KCa3.1 to address these trafficking steps in polarized epithelia, using MDCK, Caco-2 and FRT cells. We demonstrate that KCa3.1 is exclusively targeted to the BL membrane in these cells when grown on filter supports. Following endocytosis, KCa3.1 degradation is prevented by inhibition of lysosomal/proteosomal pathways. Further, the ubiquitylation of KCa3.1 is increased following endocytosis from the BL membrane and PR-619, a deubiquitylase inhibitor, prevents degradation, indicating KCa3.1 is targeted for degradation by ubiquitylation. We demonstrate that KCa3.1 is targeted to the BL membrane in polarized LLC-PK1 cells which lack the m1B subunit of the AP-1 complex, indicating BL targeting of KCa3.1 is independent of μ1B. As Rabs 1, 2, 6 and 8 play roles in ER/Golgi exit and trafficking of proteins to the BL membrane, we evaluated the role of these Rabs in the trafficking of KCa3.1. In the presence of dominant negative Rab1 or Rab8, KCa3.1 cell surface expression was significantly reduced, whereas Rabs 2 and 6 had no effect. We also co-immunoprecipitated KCa3.1 with both Rab1 and Rab8. These results suggest these Rabs are necessary for the anterograde trafficking of KCa3.1. Finally, we determined whether KCa3.1 traffics directly to the BL membrane or through recycling endosomes in MDCK cells. For these studies, we used either recycling endosome ablation or dominant negative RME-1 constructs and determined that KCa3.1 is trafficked directly to the BL membrane rather than via recycling endosomes. These results are the first to describe the anterograde and retrograde trafficking of KCa3.1 in polarized epithelia cells. © 2014 Bertuccio et al