Veteran spinal cord injury: An investigation of the mediating role of pain interference on the relationship between pain and emotional distress.

Veteran Spinal Cord Injury: An Investigation of the Mediating Role of Pain Interference on the Relationship between Pain and Emotional Distress Carly Blaine, Dept. of Psychology, Jack Watson, and Richard Henry, Dept. of Psychology Graduate Student, with Dr. Scott McDonald, VCU School of Medicine Background: Pain commonly co-occurs with spinal cord injury (SCI) and has been linked to poorer psychological function. SCI patients who experience chronic pain report great levels of interference with daily life.Pain interference with daily life may lead to emotional distress and depression.Objective: Using the PROCESS macro (model 4; Hayes, 2017), this study examines whether pain interference with daily life mediates a positive relationship between pain severity and mental health. Design: This study used a cross-sectional design. Setting and Participants: 221 veterans with SCI were interviewed by a psychologist during their annual evaluation at a Veteran Affairs medical center outpatient clinic. Outcome Measures: Single-item, self-report, Likert scale measures of pain severity and pain interference (M-HIP) were used along with the Patient Health Questionaire-4 (PHQ-4), a measure of mental health symptom severity. Results: Pain severity had a direct effect on mental health as well as an indirect effect through pain interference, using 5,000 bootstrap samples. The overall model was significant (F[1, 219] = 17.763, R2= .075, p \u3c .001). The direct paths from pain severity to pain interference (b= .857, p\u3c .001) and from pain interference to mental health (b= .929, p\u3c .001) were both statistically significant. Further, the indirect effect of pain on mental health through pain interference was statistically significant (b= .796, 95% CI [.493, 1.140]), indicating a full mediation because the direct path from pain severity to mental health was no longer statistically significant in the model (b= .094, p= .683). Discussion: Findings suggest SCI-related emotional distress can result from the inability to participate in daily activities such as going to work, spending time with others, or engaging in hobbies due to pain. Such interference with regular life was found to significantly mediated the positive relationship between SCI-related pain and emotional distress. Future research may take a more qualitative account of how pain inhibits daily life emotionally and physically and focus on interventions designed to decrease pain’s interference with daily living.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1293/thumbnail.jp

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Bioavailability of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Formulations and Their Effect on the Intestinal Microbiota

Due to their proposed anti-cancer effects, omega-3 fatty acids (O3FA) may have a role to play in both chemoprevention and the adjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Novel O3FA drink formulations may provide a more effective method of delivering O3FA supplementation, although O3FA bioavailability in these preparations compared to traditional capsules has not been ascertained. There is also a lack of research exploring the effects of O3FAs on the colonic microbiota and whether this may have any protective effect on CRC carcinogenesis. This thesis reports the findings of a randomised cross-over trial in healthy volunteers comparing the bioavailability of equivalent doses of O3FA supplementation (2g EPA and 2g DHA daily for 8 weeks) in capsule and drink carton formulations. The trial also explores the effects of O3FA on faecal microbiome profiles. In addition I report the analysis of red blood cell membrane (RBC) EPA levels from the previously reported EMT trial, a Phase II randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRCLM) received EPA (2g daily) prior to surgery. O3FA supplementation provided in a drinks carton supplementation was non-inferior to an equivalent dose of EPA and DHA provided in capsule form. Faecal microbiome profile analysis revealed subtle changes to the colonic microbiota including reversible increases to Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Analysis of RBC samples from the EMT study revealed a positive correlation between RBC membrane and CRCLM tissue EPA levels. Participants with EPA RBC membrane levels of >1.22 also exhibited improved overall survival. This work provides evidence that an O3FA containing drink formulation is of equivalent bioavailability to traditional capsules. Due to their additional nutritional contents they may be of benefit in CRC patients. The effects of O3FAs on faecal microbiome profiles is of significant interest particularly their impact on bacteria associated with anti-CRC effects. Further work is required to elucidate whether O3FAs have a role in CRC chemoprevention or adjuvant treatment via their effects on the colonic microbiota.

Splenic anaemia

So long as the aetiology is unknown it is impossible to claim any treatment as a rational cure for the disease, while the uniformly fatal issue up to the present time proves that empiric treatment has no permanent value.All authorities agree that Iron alone is of no use whatever, seldom showing any improvement even temporarily.From the use of Arsenic. alone or combined with Iron, from Bone-marrow and from Oxygen considerable benefit can always be obtained for a time, Koster claims complete recovery from advanced Splenic Anaemia in 3 months, from the administration of Arsenic and Quinine with 4 litres of Oxygen daily in a case previously going down under Arsenic and Quinine alone. Taylor, on the other hand, obtained only a temporary improvement from Arsenic and Iodides with as much as 30 litres of Oxygen daily.While Arsenic is antiseptic, it also, like Iron and Bone-marrow, stimulates the growth of bone (the chief blood-forming tissue) and, according to Bins is a means of indirectly supplying oxygen to the tissues.In severe cases a trial night he made of injection of arsenic or quinine into the spleen.Transfusion of blood has been used with apparent temporary benefit , but , promising as were the early results, it has been, as far as I can gather, finally abandoned as a mode of treatment in primary anaemias.Splenectomy has been tried in one or two cases with transitory benefit. Banti, Wells, Taylor & Gould have given their opinion in favour of this radical treatment of the splenomegaly. The danger of the operation is rapidly becoming less with improved technique, Spanton's mortality-tables showing already no more than 37$f of deaths. In the improvement after splenectomy there-'is perhaps some slight confirmation of the theory of microbic origin, from ' the fact that the main constitutional result of the removal of this organ is an increase of the bactericidal action of the blood and consequently a greater power of recovery from ineffective processes (Blunreich & Jacoby). Besides we must allow that whatever the nature of the cause of the disease of the spleen , so long as no change can be traced outside of that organ. removal of the spleen jna^mean remove 1 of the origo mali.In regard to the treatment of my patient M, P. there are two details worthy of mention,(1) The rise of Bourboule Water 3,3 an introduct¬ ion to the administration of Arsenic. It was taken with ease and benefit when very small doses of Arsenic in other forms were rejected. It is to be remambered that, apart from the Arsenic it contains, Bourboule Water is practically blood-serum.(2) The very, large amount of Bone-marrow taken | without disturbance of digestion. As much as 6 oz, was taken daily for several weeka, twice as much as the largest dose I have read of, (Fraser & Barr) . It is of course true that the marrow usually administered consists of nothing but fat (Stockman.) but even fat is a stimulant to the blood-forming tissues (Passe etc.)The treatment of Splenic Anaemia therefore must be conducted on general principles.1. We can conserve the patient's energies by complete rest , better in. open air and sunshine when possible.2. We can supply a light, nutritious, blood-forming mixed dint.3. We can directly stimulate reformation of the blood "by the use of the drugs already named.4. And in the last resort (or better, perhaps, at an early stage) splenectomy may be tried with a fair prospect of considerable tempor¬ ary improvement and a chance , remote it must be confessed, of permanent cure

Rotation periods of exoplanet host stars

The stellar rotation periods of ten exoplanet host stars have been determined using newly analysed Ca II H & K flux records from Mount Wilson Observatory and Stromgren b, y photometric measurements from Tennessee State University's automatic photometric telescopes (APTs) at Fairborn Observatory. Five of the rotation periods have not previously been reported, with that of HD 130322 very strongly detected at Prot = 26.1 \pm 3.5 d. The rotation periods of five other stars have been updated using new data. We use the rotation periods to derive the line-of-sight inclinations of the stellar rotation axes, which may be used to probe theories of planet formation and evolution when combined with the planetary orbital inclination found from other methods. Finally, we estimate the masses of fourteen exoplanets under the assumption that the stellar rotation axis is aligned with the orbital axis. We calculate the mass of HD 92788 b (28 MJ) to be within the low-mass brown dwarf regime and suggest that this object warrants further investigation to confirm its true nature.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 15 pages, 11 figure

Rigidity of spherical codes

A packing of spherical caps on the surface of a sphere (that is, a spherical code) is called rigid or jammed if it is isolated within the space of packings. In other words, aside from applying a global isometry, the packing cannot be deformed. In this paper, we systematically study the rigidity of spherical codes, particularly kissing configurations. One surprise is that the kissing configuration of the Coxeter-Todd lattice is not jammed, despite being locally jammed (each individual cap is held in place if its neighbors are fixed); in this respect, the Coxeter-Todd lattice is analogous to the face-centered cubic lattice in three dimensions. By contrast, we find that many other packings have jammed kissing configurations, including the Barnes-Wall lattice and all of the best kissing configurations known in four through twelve dimensions. Jamming seems to become much less common for large kissing configurations in higher dimensions, and in particular it fails for the best kissing configurations known in 25 through 31 dimensions. Motivated by this phenomenon, we find new kissing configurations in these dimensions, which improve on the records set in 1982 by the laminated lattices.Comment: 39 pages, 8 figure

Revealing the Young Starburst in Haro 3 with Radio and Infrared Imaging

The Wolf-Rayet galaxy Haro 3 (Mrk 35, NGC 3353) was observed at the near-IR and radio wavelengths as part of ongoing program to study the earliest stages of starbursts. These observations confirm that the current episode of star formation is dominated by a single region (region A). While there are knots of recent (~10 Myr) star formation outside of region A, the sources of ionizing radiation as observed in both radio and Br-gamma observations are almost exclusively associated with region A. The derived ionizing flux implies a star formation rate of ~0.6 solar masses per year localized within a radius of ~0.1 kpc. A comparison with observations from HST indicates that one or more of the star clusters in region A are optically obscured. The star clusters in region A have ages at least as young as ~5 Myr, and possibly as young as ~0.1 Myr. The star cluster that appears to be the youngest also exhibits a near-IR excess in its colors, possibly indicating natal dust in very close proximity to the ionizing stars. The difference between optical- and radio-determined ionizing fluxes as well as the near-IR colors indicate an average extinction value of A_V ~2.5 in region A. The total stellar mass associated with the current starburst in region A is inferred from both the near-IR and radio observations to be ~10^6 solar masses. The other main stellar concentrations observed in the near-IR (Regions B1 and B2) are somewhat older than region A, with ages ~8-10 Myr, and the near-IR observations indicate they have stellar masses of ~8x10^4 and ~2x10^4 solar masses, respectively.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, to appear in AJ August 200

AlGaInN laser diode technology for GHz high-speed visible light communication through plastic optical fiber and water

AlGaInN ridge waveguide laser diodes are fabricated to achieve single-mode operation with optical powers up to 100 mW at ∼420  nm∼420  nm for visible free-space, underwater, and plastic optical fiber communication. We report high-frequency operation of AlGaInN laser diodes with data transmission up to 2.5 GHz for free-space and underwater communication and up to 1.38 GHz through 10 m of plastic optical fiber