AIN to Ulnar Motor Nerve Transfer Meta Analysis

Background: There are currently few comprehensive studies of end-to-end and “supercharged” reverse end-to-side (SETS) anterior interosseous nerve (AIN) to ulnar nerve transfers for treatment of ulnar neuropathy. The authors performed a literature review existing published literature to evaluate the indications for, and utility of, AIN-ulnar nerve transfer as a treatment method and to inform future treatment decisions. Methods: A literature review was performed based on the following inclusion criteria: inclusion of anterior interosseous nerve or AIN, ulnar nerve or ulnar motor nerve, transfer or nerve transfer, and outcome, motor, clinical, ulnar neuropathies, ulnar nerve paralysis, treatment or function. Exclusion criteria included animal studies or studies not in English. Results were analyzed based on the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire scores, grip and key pinch strength, and interosseous Medical Research Council (MRC) graded strength. Preoperative and postoperative differences were evaluated by independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: Literature search identified 103 unique articles. Following screening, 13 full-text articles were reviewed. 9 articles met the inclusion criteria, of which 5 pertained to the reverse end-to-side (SETS) technique and 4 pertained to the end-to-end technique. 130 patients (mean age, 40.8 +/- 12.8 years) were included overall, and 114 patients had sufficient follow-up to evaluate functional outcomes. The mean time to surgery was 5.4 +/- 2.2 months and the mean follow-up period was 18.2 +/- 27.0 months. Injuries to the ulnar nerve and diagnoses varied, but all patients had preoperative clinical evidence of ulnar weakness, and the majority of patients (70%) had documented preoperative decreased grip or key pinch strength and/or motor MRC grade. Other indices included weak index crossover, interosseous atrophy, and denervation evidenced by electromyography of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle. Motor MRC grade, DASH score, and grip and key pinch strength all improved significantly from their preoperative baseline. Conclusion: Both end-to-end and SETS nerve transfer produced significant improvement in motor function. Nerve transfer is an effective treatment method of both transection and compression injuries, with outcomes comparable to or better than traditional nerve grafts

Sexual Misconduct Against Female Athletes: Knowledge, Training, and Readiness to Act of Future Sport Leaders

The purpose of this study is to understand the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of current education in sport related degree programs and the impact that has on future and current sport leaders to confront and report sexual misconduct in sport. A total of 15 participants were selected to participate in this study. The participants for this study include current graduate students pursuing degree programs in either coaching studies or sport management, and graduates of these two programs (within the last five years) who are currently in the workforce in their respective fields. Most participants were white, female, and currently served a role in athletics. Qualitative methodology and semi-structured interviews were used to examine the educational and in-field experiences of participants surrounding the topic of sexual misconduct in sport. Following data collection, thematic analysis was employed to evaluate the responses of each participant with a critical feminist approach. The findings from this investigation demonstrate a lack of formal, instructor-led education within a classroom setting within the master’s programs considered. Additionally, in-field training and education have an impact on participants’ abilities to recall and apply institutional policy as well as their confidence to identify and report sexual misconduct. Power was a key factor that impacted barriers to reporting. Professional position and staff hierarchies as well as gendered differences found within sport were significant factors that limited participants abilities to address sexual misconduct

Manifesting love: Developing a Bible Camp Week for Gay Young Adults

This project serves to create an inclusive camp community to teach young gay adults about love and give them a sense of belonging in a religious setting. This sense will be manifested as the participants discuss four forms of love and create a personal manifesto. This project is grounded in Biblical scripture, and Lutheran tradition, but is not exclusive to the Lutheran tradition. Scripture, and literature sources were evaluated and considered in creating a structure for future implementation of a spiritually based camp. __________________________________

HIV Resistance Prediction using Feed Forward Neural Networks and Sequence Expansion Methodologies

HIV is a chronic and debilitating disease affecting the lives of millions of people globally. While therapies to treat HIV are available, drug resistance is a consistent problem. For this reason, an effective means of determining drug resistance for a given isolate is needed. In this experiment, we use a simple Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model trained on phenotypically labeled sequences from HIVdb for resistance classifications. We also observe an interesting data processing method, and determine train and test set division before such data processing is optimal for network performance

Limited Maternal Gene Flow Amongst Elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Revealed by Mitochondrial DNA

We quantified maternal patterns of population genetic structure to help understand gene flow among elk (Cervus elaphus) populations across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We sequenced 596 base pairs of the mitochondrial (mt)DNA control region of 407 elk from nine populations. Our analysis revealed high mtDNA diversity within populations including 12 haplotypes per population on average, and a mean haplotype diversity (i.e., gene diversity) of 0.84. The FST from mtDNA was high (mean FST = 0.162; P = 0.0001) compared to FST for nuclear microsatellites data (FST = 0.006, P = 0.125), which suggested relatively low female movement among populations, perhaps due to female philopatry. Genetic distance (mtDNA pair-wise FST) was not significantly correlated with geographic (Euclidean) distance between populations (Mantel’s r = 0.274, P = 0.168). The lack of isolation-by-distance and large genetic distance between geographically close populations (< 65 km) suggest that maternal gene flow is reduced by certain landscape features (e.g., large, non-forested valleys with roads), which is important for understanding and modeling landscape connectivity and related processes

Hidden Consequences of Living in a Wormy World: Nematode-Induced Immune Suppression Facilitates Tuberculosis Invasion in African Buffalo

Most hosts are infected with multiple parasites, and responses of the immune system to co occurring parasites may influence disease spread. Helminth infection can bias the host immune response toward a T-helper type 2 Th2) over a type 1 Th1) response, impairing the host\u27s ability to control concurrent intracellular microparasite infections and potentially modifying disease dynamics. In humans, immune-mediated interactions between helminths and microparasites can alter host susceptibility to diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis TB), and malaria. However, the extent to which similar processes operate in natural animal populations and influence disease spread remains unknown. We used cross-sectional, experimental, and genetic studies to show that gastrointestinal nematode infection alters immunity to intracellular microparasites in free-ranging African buffalo Syncerus caffer). Buffalo that were more resistant to nematode infection had weaker Th1 responses, there was significant genotypic variation in nematode resistance, and anthelminthic treatment enhanced Th1 immunity. Using a disease dynamic model parameterized with empirical data, we found that nematode-induced immune suppression can facilitate the invasion of bovine TB in buffalo. In the absence of nematodes, TB failed to invade the system, illustrating the critical role nematodes may play in disease establishment. Our results suggest that helminths, by influencing the likelihood of microparasite invasion, may influence patterns of disease emergence in the wild

Identification of common blood gene signatures for the diagnosis of renal and cardiac acute allograft rejection.

To test, whether 10 genes, diagnostic of renal allograft rejection in blood, are able to diagnose and predict cardiac allograft rejection, we analyzed 250 blood samples from heart transplant recipients with and without acute rejection (AR) and with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection by QPCR. A QPCR-based logistic regression model was built on 5 of these 10 genes (AR threshold composite score >37%  = AR) and tested for AR prediction in an independent set of 109 samples, where it correctly diagnosed AR with 89% accuracy, with no misclassifications for AR ISHLT grade 1b. CMV infection did not confound the AR score. The genes correctly diagnosed AR in a blood sample within 6 months prior to biopsy diagnosis with 80% sensitivity and untreated grade 1b AR episodes had persistently elevated scores until 6 months after biopsy diagnosis. The gene score was also correlated with presence or absence of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) irrespective of rejection grade. In conclusion, there is a common transcriptional axis of immunological trafficking in peripheral blood in both renal and cardiac organ transplant rejection, across a diverse recipient age range. A common gene signature, initially identified in the setting of renal transplant rejection, can be utilized serially after cardiac transplantation, to diagnose and predict biopsy confirmed acute heart transplant rejection