Black Canadians’ coping response to racial discrimination

On the basis of a cultural coping framework, the present study examined coping responses to racial discrimination among 190 Black Canadians. The study assessed the respondents\u27 coping with both general (i.e., problem- and emotion-focused coping) and Africultural coping strategies (i.e., spiritual-centered, collective, and ritual-centered coping) across three different racial discrimination vignettes (i.e., interpersonal, institutional, and cultural discrimination). Furthermore, three individual and cultural difference variables, African self-consciousness, social desirability, and past race-related stress, were controlled in the analyses. As predicted, the results of the profile analysis and multivariate analyses showed that both general and Africultural coping were used by the participants in responding to all three types of discrimination. Additionally, differential coping patterns were found depending on the context of racial discrimination. Overall, the study suggests that Black Canadians are exposed to multiple race-related stressors that require them to adopt a flexible repertoire of general and culture-specific coping strategies

Arthritis Is Developed in Borrelia-Primed And -Infected Mice Deficient of Interleukin-17

Interleukin-17 (IL-17) has been shown to participate in the development of Lyme arthritis in experimental mice. For example, neutralization of IL-17 with antibodies inhibits induction of arthritis in Borrelia-primed and -infected C57BL/6 wild-type mice. We hypothesized that mice lacking IL-17 would fail to develop Borrelia-induced arthritis. IL-17-deficient and wild-type C57BL/6 mice were primed with heat-inactivated Borrelia and then infected with viable spirochetes 3 weeks later. No swelling or major histopathological changes of the hind paws were detected in IL-17-deficient or wild-type mice that were primed with Borrelia or infected with viable spirochetes. By contrast, IL-17-deficient and wild-type mice that were primed and subsequently infected with heterologous Borrelia developed severe swelling and histopathological changes of the hind paws. In addition, Borrelia-primed and -infected IL-17-deficient mice exhibited elevated gamma-interferon (IFN-γ) levels in sera and increased frequencies of IFN-γ-expressing lymphocytes in popliteal lymph nodes compared to Borrelia-primed and -infected wild-type mice. These results demonstrate that IL-17 is not required for development of severe pathology in response to infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, but may contribute to disease through an interaction with IFN-γ

Depression and its psychosocial correlates among older Asian immigrants in North America: A critical review of two decades’ research

This article critically reviews two decades of empirically based depression studies on older Asian immigrants (OAIs) in North America published in English. The Psychosocial Model of Late-Life Depression is proposed as the conceptual roadmap to help interpret the findings across studies. Methods: Using multiple bibliographic databases, this review systematically summarized and evaluated findings in 24 studies in terms of: (a) the prevalence and severity of depression; (b) demographic, psychosocial, cultural, and health risk factors of depression; and (c) methodological approaches and designs. Results: The results showed that depression is prevalent among OAIs and is linked to gender, recency of immigration, English proficiency, acculturation, service barriers, health status, relationship with children and family, and social support. However, considerable variability in the results, the sample sizes, and the use of measurements were also found across studies. Discussion: Recommendations for future research and the provision of clinical and community services are discussed within the psychosocial model

Exploring First-time Online Undergraduate and Graduate Students’ Growth Mindsets and Flexible Thinking and Their Relations to Online Learning Engagement

The present study was an attempt to help us reveal the characteristics and complexity of today’s first-time online students in a higher education setting. Data were collected from undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in fully online courses for the first time during spring semester in the 2016-2017 academic year at a Southern university in the United States. Primarily, path analysis was conducted to investigate the impacts of flexible thinking, mindsets, and self-efficacy on the 254 first-time online students’ online learning engagement. The results of the path analysis supported six out of the eight hypotheses and all standardized path coefficients have values between 0.14 to 0.31. In conclusion, growth mindset and learning self-efficacy appear to be important variables for first-time online students and have a positive relation to online engagement. The practical implications and future research are discussed

The Cause and Effects of Word of Mouth from Consumer Intention and Behavior Perspectives: A SEM Model Approach

Abstract. As word-of-mouth (WOM)has been a major issue in the Consumer research, a lot of independent variables as WOM’s causes and effects have been accumulated. However, they have not been considered systematically in one identical model, in order to compare across their relative effects. This paper adopted a structural equation modeling method to incorporate significant variables with an integrative framework of consumer intention and behavior. Theoretical and practical insights were offered via the results of analyses.Keywords: Word-of-Mouth, Structural equation modeling, Cause-effects, Consumer intention and behavior.JEL. M10, L33, L52

SiGe HBT X-Band LNAs for Ultra-Low-Noise Cryogenic Receivers

We report results on the cryogenic operation of two different monolithic X-band silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistor low noise amplifiers (LNAs) implemented in a commercially-available 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS platform. These SiGe LNAs exhibit a dramatic reduction in noise temperature with cooling, yielding Teff of less than 21 K (0.3 dB noise figure) across X-band at a 15 K operating temperature. To the authors’ knowledge, these SiGe LNAs exhibit the lowest broadband noise of any Si-based LNA reported to date

The Clinical Utility of a Precision Medicine Blood Test Incorporating Age, Sex, and Gene Expression for Evaluating Women with Stable Symptoms Suggestive of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease: Analysis from the PRESET Registry.

Background: Evaluating women with symptoms suggestive of coronary artery disease (CAD) remains challenging. A blood-based precision medicine test yielding an age/sex/gene expression score (ASGES) has shown clinical validity in the diagnosis of obstructive CAD. We assessed the effect of the ASGES on the management of women with suspected obstructive CAD in a community-based registry. Materials and Methods: The prospective PRESET (A Registry to Evaluate Patterns of Care Associated with the Use of Corus® CAD in Real World Clinical Care Settings) Registry (NCT01677156) enrolled 566 patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of stable obstructive CAD from 21 United States primary care practices from 2012 to 2014. Demographics, clinical characteristics, and referrals to cardiology or further functional and/or anatomical cardiac studies after ASGES testing were collected for this subgroup analysis of women from the PRESET Registry. Patients were followed for 1-year post-ASGES testing. Results: This study cohort included 288 women with a median age 57 years. The median body mass index was 29.2, with hyperlipidemia and hypertension present in 48% and 43% of patients, respectively. Median ASGES was 8.5 (range 1-40), with 218 (76%) patients having low (≤15) ASGES. Clinicians referred 9% (20/218) low ASGES versus 44% (31/70) elevated ASGES women for further cardiac evaluation (odds ratio 0.14, p < 0.0001, adjusted for patient demographics and clinical covariates). Across the score range, higher ASGES were associated with a higher likelihood of posttest cardiac referral. At 1-year follow-up, low ASGES women experienced fewer major adverse cardiac events than elevated ASGES women (1.3% vs. 4.2% respectively, p = 0.16). Conclusions: Incorporation of ASGES into the diagnostic workup demonstrated clinical utility by helping clinicians identify women less likely to benefit from further cardiac evaluation

Beverage preferences and associated drinking patterns, consequences and other substance use behaviours

Background: Studies about beverage preferences in a country in which wine drinking is relatively widespread (like Switzerland) are scarce. Therefore, the main aims of the present study were to examine the associations between beverage preferences and drinking patterns, alcohol-related consequences and the use of other substances among Swiss young men. Methods: The analytical sample consisted of 5399 Swiss men who participated in the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF) and had been drinking alcohol over the preceding 12 months. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to study the associations between preference for a particular beverage and (i) drinking patterns, (ii) negative alcohol-related consequences and (iii) the (at-risk) use of cigarettes, cannabis and other illicit drugs. Results: Preference for beer was associated with risky drinking patterns and, comparable with a preference for strong alcohol, with the use of illicit substances (cannabis and other illicit drugs). In contrast, a preference for wine was associated with low-risk alcohol consumption and a reduced likelihood of experiencing at least four negative alcohol-related consequences or of daily cigarette smoking. Furthermore, the likelihood of negative outcomes (alcohol-related consequences; use of other substances) increased among people with risky drinking behaviours, independent of beverage preference. Conclusions: In our survey, beer preference was associated with risky drinking patterns and illicit drug use. Alcohol polices to prevent large quantities of alcohol consumption, especially of cheaper spirits like beer, should be considered to reduce total alcohol consumption and the negative consequences associated with these beverage type

Phylogenomic analyses of non-Dikarya fungi supports horizontal gene transfer driving diversification of secondary metabolism in the amphibian gastrointestinal symbiont, Basidiobolus

Research into secondary metabolism (SM) production by fungi has resulted in the discovery of diverse, biologically active compounds with significant medicinal applications. However, the fungi rich in SM production are taxonomically restricted to Dikarya, two phyla of Kingdom Fungi, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Here, we explore the potential for SM production in Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota, two phyla of nonflagellated fungi that are not members of Dikarya, by predicting and identifying core genes and gene clusters involved in SM. The majority of non-Dikarya have few genes and gene clusters involved in SM production except for the amphibian gut symbionts in the genus Basidiobolus . Basidiobolus genomes exhibit an enrichment of SM genes involved in siderophore, surfactin-like, and terpene cyclase production, all these with evidence of constitutive gene expression. Gene expression and chemical assays confirm that Basidiobolus has significant siderophore activity. The expansion of SMs in Basidiobolus are partially due to horizontal gene transfer from bacteria, likely as a consequence of its ecology as an amphibian gut endosymbiont

Characterization of a Temperature-Sensitive Vertebrate Clathrin Heavy Chain Mutant as a Tool to Study Clathrin-Dependent Events In Vivo

Clathrin and clathrin-dependent events are evolutionary conserved although it is believed that there are differences in the requirement for clathrin in yeast and higher vertebrates. Clathrin is a long-lived protein and thus, with clathrin knockdowns only long-term consequences of clathrin depletion can be studied. Here, we characterize the first vertebrate temperature-sensitive clathrin heavy chain mutant as a tool to investigate responses to rapid clathrin inactivation in higher eukaryotes. Although we created this mutant using a clathrin cryo-electron microscopy model and a yeast temperature-sensitive mutant as a guide, the resulting temperature-sensitive clathrin showed an altered phenotype compared to the corresponding yeast temperature-sensitive clathrin. First, it seemed to form stable triskelions at the non-permissive temperature although endocytosis was impaired under these conditions. Secondly, as a likely consequence of the stable triskelions at the non-permissive temperature, clathrin also localized correctly to its target membranes. Thirdly, we did not observe missorting of the lysosomal enzyme beta-glucuronidase which could indicate that the temperature-sensitive clathrin is still operating at the non-permissive temperature at the Golgi or, that, like in yeast, more than one TGN trafficking pathway exists. Fourthly, in contrast to yeast, actin does not appear to actively compensate in general endocytosis. Thus, there seem to be differences between vertebrates and yeast which can be studied in further detail with this newly created tool