The BiG Hearts Program: Developing a Physical Activity Program for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Less than one-third of the population of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) meet the World Health Organization\u27s (WHO) weekly recommended physical activity (PA) requirements (Temple et al., 2006). This qualitative case study focused on a PA program for five women with IDDs. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to (a) engage participants in in-person encouragement via completing the tasks with participants and motivational words during activities and (b) assess the level of daily physical activity (via daily step count through an activity tracker). METHODS: Participants completed a month-long study, consisting of wearing a fitness tracker, noting their daily steps, going to a gym, going on walks, or chair exercises twice weekly. The five participants were instructed to wear the activity trackers seven days a week for up to 10 hours. RESULTS: Three of five participants enjoyed the activity trackers, and two did not care for them. One participant chose not to wear the activity tracker throughout the duration of the study but continued to engage in the program. CONCLUSION:The researcher concluded that the factor that increased motivation for PA engagement the most was the motivational words of encouragement. Each participant had a varying interest in PA, but all worked best one-on-one with the researcher

“A Woman ‘in the snow among the Clocks and instruments’”: How Adrienne Rich Reimagined the Lives of Women Astronomers

Through the lens of historiography, this research examines how the experiences of women in astronomy relate more profoundly than differing historical periods might suggest given metaphors in Adrienne Rich’s poem “Planetarium.” Rich’s poem reimagines common obstacles that female astronomers faced throughout their vocation, conjuring from their lives a new narrative for women in science. Rich uses astronomy as a metaphor for her and other women scientists’ experiences as they struggle to tune out competing personal and professional responsibilities and strive to locate the signal representing purpose and discovery. This presentation seeks to contribute a new perspective in science communication by mitigating gender exclusivity in STEM fields and research settings

What is Real?: Gaslighting, Brainwashing, and Ontological Crisis in the Works of Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick lead a life of constant uncertainty, questioning the nature and existence of reality through his many novels. Drawing upon Plato’s Parmenides and “Allegory of the Cave,” Dick provides countless examples of ontological crises faced by himself and his major characters. However, these same situations are exacerbated by additional veils set upon characters by other individuals through intentional manipulation in the form of gaslighting or brainwashing. This paper draws upon situations of gaslighting, brainwashing, and ontological crisis from Dick’s major novels and philosophical writings to 1) better differentiate among these reality shifting concepts, 2) identify common response patterns by characters reacting to these distinct attempts to confuse reality, and 3) apply these findings to contemporary instances of psychological control using digital AI platforms. By applying his characters\u27 methods of assessing reality to our own struggles with information overload from AI algorithms intended to increase our consumption of select pieces of information, we found that Dick’s lifelong search for truth through his novels may actually offer some insight into the cyber-dystopias and political machinations of the twenty-first century

Bird Hazard Mitigation Training for Part 141 General Aviation Pilots: An Experimental Study

From 1990 through 2018 ==\u3e 209,950 wildlife strikes in the U.S., Approximately 95% of those incidents involved birds; Seventy aircraft destroyed as a result of wildlife strikes! 13 bird strikes 32 ==\u3e fatalities; 244 wildlife strikes ==\u3e 319 people injured! 224 bird strikes ==\u3e299 people injured! General aviation community; 97% of the strikes occurred below 3,500 feet AGL; There were 22,775 wildlife strikes ==\u3e 26% caused damage to the aircraft

Computational modeling of the EGFR network elucidates control mechanisms regulating signal dynamics.

BACKGROUND: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway plays a key role in regulation of cellular growth and development. While highly studied, it is still not fully understood how the signal is orchestrated. One of the reasons for the complexity of this pathway is the extensive network of inter-connected components involved in the signaling. In the aim of identifying critical mechanisms controlling signal transduction we have performed extensive analysis of an executable model of the EGFR pathway using the stochastic pi-calculus as a modeling language. RESULTS: Our analysis, done through simulation of various perturbations, suggests that the EGFR pathway contains regions of functional redundancy in the upstream parts; in the event of low EGF stimulus or partial system failure, this redundancy helps to maintain functional robustness. Downstream parts, like the parts controlling Ras and ERK, have fewer redundancies, and more than 50% inhibition of specific reactions in those parts greatly attenuates signal response. In addition, we suggest an abstract model that captures the main control mechanisms in the pathway. Simulation of this abstract model suggests that without redundancies in the upstream modules, signal transduction through the entire pathway could be attenuated. In terms of specific control mechanisms, we have identified positive feedback loops whose role is to prolong the active state of key components (e.g., MEK-PP, Ras-GTP), and negative feedback loops that help promote signal adaptation and stabilization. CONCLUSIONS: The insights gained from simulating this executable model facilitate the formulation of specific hypotheses regarding the control mechanisms of the EGFR signaling, and further substantiate the benefit to construct abstract executable models of large complex biological networks.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

A Review of the Genomic Landscape of early cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp23/1048/thumbnail.jp

Healthcare Utilization among Migrant Latino Farmworkers: The Case of Skin Disease

Abstract: Context: Skin diseases are common occupational illnesses for migrant farmworkers. Farmworkers face many barriers in accessing health care resources. Purpose: Framed by the Health Behavior Model, the purpose of this study was to assess health care utilization for skin disease by migrant Latino farmworkers. Methods: Three hundred and four migrant and seasonal Latino farmworkers in North Carolina were enrolled in a longitudinal study of skin disease and health care utilization over a single agricultural season. Self-reported and dermatologist-diagnosed skin condition data were collected at baseline and at up to 4 follow-up assessments. Medical visit rates were compared to national norms. Findings: Self-reported skin problems and diagnosed skin disease were common among farmworkers. However, only 34 health care visits were reported across the entire agricultural season, and none of the visits were for skin diseases. Nevertheless, self-treatment for skin conditions was common, including use of nonprescription preparations (63%), prescription products (9%), and home remedies (6%). General medical office visits were reported in 3.2% of the assessments, corresponding to 1.6 office visits per person year. Conclusions: The migrant farmworker population consists largely of young men who make little use of clinic services. Skin conditions are very common among these workers, but use of medical services for these conditions is not common. Instead, farmworkers rely primarily on self-treatment. Clinic-based studies of farmworker skin conditions will not account for most injury or disease in this population and have the potential for biased estimates. Article: Skin disease is a common form of occupational illness, and agricultural workers have the highest incidence of skin disorders of all industrial sectors with an annual incidence 4 to 6 times higher than the annual incidence for all private industry. 1 Migrant and seasonal farmworkers especially are exposed to numerous occupational and environmental risk factors (weather, mechanical devices, chemicals, plants, organic and inorganic dust, and fungi) that can result in skin disease or injury. 2 They also often live in crowded, substandard conditions that increase the risk for the spread of skin problems. 3-5 Farmworkers in North Carolina experience significant inflammatory and infectious skin diseases, including acne, irritant and allergic contact dermatitis, tinea pedis, and onychomycosis. 8 Similar to other immigrant Latino communities, farmworkers face many barriers to health care, including linguistic and cultural differences from the majority population, low educational attainment, mobility, inadequate transportation, financial strains, lack of health insurance, lack of documentation, fear of the US medical system, and a limited number of health care facilities. 9-12 However, very little research has examined health care utilization among farmworkers

Blood cholesterol and lipid-lowering effects of carrageenan on human volunteers

Algal polysaccharides such as carrageenan are good sources of dietary fibre. Previous studies have shown that carrageenan has hypoglycemic effects, but its cholesterol and lipid-lowering effects have yet to be demonstrated. In this study, carrageenan was incorporated into 4 food items, then fed to 20 human volunteers to determine its effects on blood cholesterol and lipid levels. The study followed a randomized crossover design. Each phase of the study -control and experimental -lasted for 8 weeks separated by a 2-week washout. At control, the subjects consumed their usual food intake; at experimental, they were given test foods with carrageenan partly substituting similar items in their usual diet. Fasting venous blood samples were collected immediately before and after each phase to assay serum cholesterol and triglyceride. The mean serum cholesterol was significantly lower (P < 0.0014) after the experimental phase at 3.64 mmol/L compared with the mean level after the control phase, 5.44 mmol/L. The mean triglyceride level after the experimental phase, 0.87 mmol/L, was significantly lower (P < 0.0006) in comparison to the level after the control phase, 1.28 mmol/L. The mean HDL cholesterol level significantly increased (P < 0.0071) after the experimental phase at 1.65 mmol/L compared to the mean value after the control phase, 1.25 mmol/L. No significant differences were observed between the LDL cholesterol levels after the experimental and the control phases. This study indicates that regular inclusion of carrageenan in the diet may result in reduced blood cholesterol and lipid levels in human subjects

Vimentin is a novel AKT1 target mediating motility and invasion.

The PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is aberrant in a wide variety of cancers. Downstream effectors of AKT are involved in survival, growth and metabolic-related pathways. In contrast, contradictory data relating to AKT effects on cell motility and invasion, crucial prometastatic processes, have been reported pointing to a potential cell type and isoform type-specific AKT-driven function. By implication, study of AKT signaling should optimally be conducted in an appropriate intracellular environment. Prognosis in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS), the aggressive malignancies of mesenchymal origin, is poor, reflecting our modest ability to control metastasis, an effort hampered by lack of insight into molecular mechanisms driving STS progression and dissemination. We examined the impact of the cancer progression-relevant AKT pathway on the mesenchymal tumor cell internal milieu. We demonstrate that AKT1 activation induces STS cell motility and invasiveness at least partially through a novel interaction with the intermediate filament vimentin (Vim). The binding of AKT (tail region) to Vim (head region) results in Vim Ser39 phosphorylation enhancing the ability of Vim to induce motility and invasion while protecting Vim from caspase-induced proteolysis. Moreover, vimentin phosphorylation was shown to enhance tumor and metastasis growth in vivo. Insights into this mesenchymal-related molecular mechanism may facilitate the development of critically lacking therapeutic options for these devastating malignancies