Nutrition and Physical Activity Recall to Assess the Health Status of Commuters and Residents on a College Campus

Introduction: Behavioral patterns acquired in college may contribute to overweight and obesity later in life. Food found in college dormitories and dining halls are those of convenience. Physical activity and a healthy diet are important components to maintaining a healthy weight. Research Questions: The purpose of this study is to investigate if residency during college and access to kitchen appliances impacts students’ dietary composition and physical activity levels and other health behaviors. Methodology: 38 students (27 residents and 11 commuters) from Merrimack College participated in the study. These participants were recruited through convenience sampling on campus. All participants completed a nutrition and physical activity questionnaire as well as a 3-day dietary food log. Results: There was statistical difference among students with different living situations and the amount of times they cook meals as home, as well as the amount of times that they ate at the school cafeteria per week. Residents spent more money and ordered takeout more frequently than commuters. The dietary food logs showed significant difference between the means of the consumption of total carbohydrates and total sugars between residents and commuters. Conclusion: The most important finding of the current study is that residency and access to kitchen appliances in college does contribute to the overall health of college students

Regulation of Granuloma Formation in Mouse Models of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a major cause of mortality worldwide. Elucidation of the host resistance against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and the pathogenesis of tuberculosis is a priority. The host response to M. tuberculosis in the lungs includes the formation of granulomas, focal accumulations of mononuclear cells coming together to fight infection. The signals required for the migration of cells into the lungs and those required for the formation of granulomas have not been well defined. In this thesis, we will describe the advances we have made in understanding chemokine expression and cell migration to the lungs in response to M. tuberculosis. We have determined that Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) partially controls cell migration by modulating chemokine expression by macrophages in vitro and CD11b+ cells in vivo. In addition, we have taken the subset of chemokines that are affected by TNF and addressed their functions in vivo through knockout and neutralization models. Specifically, we have used an aerosol model of tuberculosis in the mouse to address the roles of CXCL9 (MIG), CXCL10 (IP-10), chemokine receptor-5 (CCR5) and chemokine receptor-2 (CCR2). In our studies, there was no apparent, strong phenotype in mice without functional CXCL9 or CXCL10. CCR5-/- mice had altered pathology and increased inflammation in response to M. tuberculosis infection, but they were able to control the infection. The CCR5 -/- mice may be hyper-responsive due to higher antigen load in the lymph nodes in conjunction with increased dendritic cell migration and more primed lymphocytes. CCR2-/- mice had a clear defect in macrophage migration and a delay in T cell migration, and the course of the disease was governed by the initial dose. Specifically, when a low dose aerosol infection route was used, CCR2-/- mice were able to control infection with the reduced number of cells migrating into the lungs; however with a higher dose, the mice succumbed to infection. Our findings are relevant to understanding the immune response and granuloma formation during aerosol M. tuberculosis infection, and will contribute to an appreciation of the potential effects of anti-inflammatory or anti-chemokine therapies on infections

Anxiolytic effects of propranolol and diphenoxylate on mice and automated stretch-attend posture analysis

The prevention of social anxiety, performance anxiety, and social phobia via the combination of two generic drugs, diphenoxylate HC1 (opioid) plus atropine sulfate (anticholinergic) and propranolol HCl (beta blocker) was evaluated in mice through behavioral studies. A patent published on a September 8, 2011 by Benjamin D. Holly, US 2011/0218215 Al, prompted the research. The drug combination of diphenoxylate and atropine plus propranolol could be an immediate treatment for patients suffering from acute phobic and social anxiety disorders. Demonstrating the anxiolytic effects of the treatment on mice would validate a mouse model for neuroscientist to be used to detect the mechanism of action behind the drug combination. To detect more sensitive anxiety measures in mice, a MATLAB-based software called MATSAP was developed as a quick, consistent, and open source program that provides objective automated analysis of stretch-attend posture in rodent behavioral experiments. Stretch-attend posture occurs during risk assessment and is prevalent in common rodent behavioral tests. Stretch-attend posture is a more sensitive measure of the effects of anxiolytics than traditional spatiotemporal indices. However, quantifying stretch-attend posture using human observers is time consuming, somewhat subjective, and prone to errors. Unlike human observers, MATSAP is not susceptible to fatigue or subjectivity. MATSAP performance was assessed with videos of male Swiss mice moving in an open field box and in an elevated plus maze. MATSAP reliably detected stretch-attend posture on par with human observers. This freely-available program can be broadly used by biologists and psychologists to accelerate neurological, pharmacological, and behavioral studies. To further expand on methods to automate the detection of SAP, EthoStock was developed. This not only can detect SAP, but has the potential to detect other ethological behaviors such as grooming and rearing

Insuring Rural China's Health? An Empirical Analysis of China's New Cooperative Medical System

Although health is an important factor in economic development, millions of China's rural residents have no medical coverage. Nearly 10 percent of those that were sick in rural China consciously did not seek medical care, mostly because of financial constraints. More than 25% of rural residents are dissatisfied with their village's health system. In response to this deteriorating situation, a new cooperative medical system (NCMS) was initialized in rural China in 2003 by the government. However, after two years of trials, there has been no household-based, economic analysis of the program. This paper provides one of the first. Although where introduced, most rural residents voluntarily participate, there are many problems with the program. First, at least in its initial years, targeting has been poor; the program has been adopted in richer villages, even though there is a case that there are higher medical needs in poorer villages. Also, while the government subsidy pays part of the premium, more than 40% criticize the design of the program, including complaints about coverage, reimbursement rates and procedures. Based on our survey, the major concern is the extremely low reimbursement rates. Instead of up to 30% as promised, only 3% of total medical expenses of program participants were paid (6% for inpatient expenses). The expected payout of a participating farmer is actually negative; the farmer receives back less than what he/she puts in. There also is a gap in understanding of farmers and clinicians between the actual implementation of reimbursements and policy.Rural Health, Insurance, Targeting, Design Problems, China, Health Economics and Policy, I11, O15, O53,

Reinforcing Europe’s failed fiscal regulatory state

Fiscal governance in the EU is an exemplary case of the regulatory state; the EU governs member states’ fiscal and public policies through rules rather than expenditure. The weaknesses of the EU fiscal regulatory state were apparent to observers from before the introduction of the Euro, and were exposed in the financial crisis. EU leaders have nonetheless redoubled their commitment, expanding the range of policies subject to the fiscal regulatory stage, its intrusiveness into member state policies, and the penalties for noncompliance. We review and analyze them and conclude that there is a high risk that the EU fiscal governance will further increase the intrusiveness and unpopularity of the EU without disciplining member states or markets.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134505/1/Scott Greer and Holly Jarman_Revised_2.pdfDescription of Scott Greer and Holly Jarman_Revised_2.pdf : Main articl

Fear of missing out and sleep: cognitive behavioural factors in adolescents' nighttime social media use

Introduction: Social media use has been linked to poor adolescent sleep outcomes, but the mechanisms behind this association are not yet well understood. This study examines links between adolescents' social media habits, fear of missing out and sleep outcomes, using path analysis to evaluate a model of proposed underlying mechanisms. Methods: Adolescents aged 12–18 years (N = 101) completed questionnaire measures. Results: Nighttime social media use was associated with later bedtimes, increased pre-sleep cognitive arousal, longer sleep onset latency and shorter sleep duration. Path analysis supported a model whereby fear of missing out predicted shorter sleep duration via two distinct mechanisms: (1) at a behavioural level, by driving late night social media use, which delays bedtimes; (2) at a cognitive level, by increasing pre-sleep cognitive arousal, thus further delaying sleep onset. Conclusions: Efforts to develop and evaluate intervention strategies should therefore consider not only social media behaviours but also underlying cognitive factors, such as fear of missing out

Understanding links between social media use, sleep and mental health: recent progress and current challenges

Purpose of Review: Sleep and mental health researchers are increasingly recognising the need to update our approaches to understanding the unique social, emotional and cognitive aspects of social media use, rather than simply considering it as just another hour of total daily “screen time”. In this review, we highlight some recent developments in this area, discuss ongoing challenges facing this field and offer recommendations for future steps. Recent Findings: The sleep and mental health research literatures have made recent advances towards a more nuanced understanding of social media use: moving beyond a focus on simply duration of use, towards new insights into the role of content, context and experience of these online interactions. Summary: As this research area moves forward, a focus on high-quality measurement—combined with collaborative multidisciplinary approaches that triangulate insight from different methodologies and perspectives—can inform a more holistic understanding of sleep and mental health in today’s connected world