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Pediatric Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy: A Case-Based Review of Diagnosis and Outcomes
Get PDFPediatric acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANEC) is a rare condition characterized by precipitation of a viral illness, bilateral thalamic lesions on CT and MRI, and normal cell counts with increased protein in cerebrospinal fluid [1]. ANEC typically presents with a 6-18 month child that experiences fever, seizures, rapid alteration in level of consciousness, in addition to specific findings in brain imaging such as bilateral thalamic lesions with supra and infra-tentorial lesions of variable dimensions [2]. Although the pathogenesis is not fully understood, the absence of inflammatory cells on post-mortem analysis and the lack of consistent viral detection in CSF suggest that dysregulation of the host immune response, rather than direct viral invasion, plays a central role in disease progression [3]
Analysis of the Tennessee Covenant Marriage
Get PDFMost recent data from the World Population Review suggests that Tennessee’s divorce rate (3.3% per 1,000 people) is among the highest divorce rates in the country (2024). Although the country and state average rate has decreased in the past five years, many Tennesseans are concerned at the number of failed marriages. House Bill 0315, introduced by Republican Representative Gino Bulso, is a result of this growing concern. House Bill 0315, better known as the “Tennessee Covenant Marriage Act,” aims to strengthen Tennessee marriages by limiting divorce options for couples and requiring a premarital counseling course (Jenkins, 2025). Proponents of this act claim it’s the ultimate solution to Tennessee’s high divorce rates. However, they fail to see how this bill is harmful for multiple marginalized populations. The bill is based on the historically Christian assumption that the only “true” or “real” marriage is between one man and one woman. In order to have a covenant marriage, there must be a pairing of one man and one woman in a couple. By its own definition, this bill excludes queer marriage. Not only this, but it also makes it harder for a couple to divorce, making harmful or abusive relationships all the harder to leave. This paper discusses the negative impacts this bill would have if passed, and urges the reader to take action to vote against its passing
Coping Mechanisms and Perceived Stress for College Students
No full textThe current study aims to evaluate the relationship between perceived stress and coping mechanisms in college students. Stress is particularly common in periods of transition, such as from high school into college. Perceived stress can be increased or decreased by the method of coping skills utilized. Previous research indicates that adaptive coping skills are often problem-focused and can decrease perceived stress, while maladaptive coping like avoidance can increase perceived stress and lead to further negative consequences for the student. However, traditionally maladaptive coping mechanisms can be useful for certain situations, such as navigating a novel experience. Therefore, we tested three hypotheses, that utilization of multiple coping mechanisms will correlate to lower perceived stress, that participants who spend more time practicing coping mechanisms will have lower perceived stress and that participants who spend more time using avoidance coping mechanisms will have higher perceived stress in comparison to using approach or problem-focused coping mechanisms. Forty (N= 40) college students\u27 responses were analyzed from survey questions regarding both perceived stress and coping mechanisms. The scales used were the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the COPE inventory. Results from all correlation analyses were not statistically significant, so no particular correlational relationship was found. This is likely due to the small sample size of our study. However, education surrounding all coping mechanisms could still decrease some of the perceived stress college students experience
Tale of Two Toxins: Assessing Cardiotoxicity of Nicotine & Ethanol in Embryonic Zebrafish
No full textIntroduction: Nicotine and alcohol are two widely consumed substances known to have harmful effects on the cardiovascular system. While nicotine disrupts vascular function, alcohol similarly impairs cardiac function, making both targets for developmental toxicology research. This study aims to investigate morphological cardiotoxicity in zebrafish embryos to understand the structural and functional impairments caused by substance exposure during early development.
Methods: Wild-type (WT) and cryaba knockout (cryaba KO) zebrafish (Danio rerio) eggs were gathered following overnight breeding and allowed to develop for 24 hours post-fertilization. After removing impurities, embryos were exposed to varying concentrations of nicotine (50-300 µM) or alcohol for either short-term (1 hour) or long-term (24 hours) durations. Phenotypic assessments were performed using stereomicroscopy, with tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222) used to stabilize the embryos, and then imaged to detect any heart edema and gross morphological abnormalities. Quantitative data were collected by measuring heart rates, and Fiji software was used to assess cardiac edema.
Results: Initial exposures to 50 µM and 100 µM nicotine resulted in minimal changes in heart rate, although cardiac edema was observed in both WT and cryaba KO embryos. Consequently, higher concentrations of 200 µM and 300 µM nicotine were tested. Short-term exposure caused a rapid decrease in heart rate, while long-term exposure led to severe developmental deformities and complete embryonic lethality. In contrast, short-term alcohol exposure (1%-2.5%) caused a modest reduction in heart rate but was notably associated with increased spontaneous twitching movements in embryos.
Conclusion: Both substances demonstrate dose- and time-dependent cardiotoxicity in zebrafish hearts. These results highlight the detrimental impact of toxic substances on early cardiac development, initiating further research into teratogenic mechanisms
Characterization of Colorectal Cancer Cell Responses Using a Wound-Healing Scratch Assay Model on Wild-type (p53 +/+) and Knockout (p53 -/-)
No full textColorectal cancer progression is driven in part by dysregulated signaling pathways that alter cell growth and migration. One key pathway is the Wnt signaling pathway, a key regulator in colorectal tumorigenesis, which promotes MYC overexpression, leading to uncontrolled proliferation. Interestingly, in the absence of p53, MYC has been found to induce expression of the tumor suppressor gene EGR1, shifting the cellular response toward apoptosis rather than growth. This study investigates the MYC–EGR1 pathway in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells with either wild-type (p53+/+) or knockout of the TP53 gene (p53−/−). Early findings indicate that p53+/+ cells exhibit faster initial growth compared to p53−/− cells; however, p53−/− cells gradually increase their growth rate over successive passages. To assess whether the cells were migrating or proliferating, we performed wound-healing assays using HCT116 colorectal cancer cells with both wild-type (p53+/+) and knockout (p53−/−) and captured images at 0-, 24-, and 48-hours post-wound. Both p53+/+ and p53−/− cells exhibited progressive closure of the scratch, indicating the occurrence of migration regardless of the p53 status. To further examine the functional contributions of MYC and EGR1, we used Lentiviral shRNA to knock down MYC and EGR1. We examined the effects of these genes on cell proliferation and migration through wound-healing assays and imaging. These observations suggest that HCT116 cells migrate in the presence and absence of p53. Further analysis of the MYC-EGR1 pathway in these cellular contexts is still ongoing
Adverse Childhood Experiences and its Impact on Various Factors of Aging
No full textAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are defined as potentially traumatic events occurring before the age of 18 that can have long-lasting effects on physical and mental health, and overall well-being. ACEs are commonly categorized into three domains: abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. Exposure to these early-life adversities has been linked to accelerated cognitive aging, affecting domains such as memory, attention, and executive functioning later in life. Furthermore, sex differences have been observed in both the type and timing of ACE exposure, as well as in the trajectory of cognitive decline associated with primary and secondary aging processes. Using the open-source CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) dataset, the present study examines the relationship between ACEs and aging outcomes across the lifespan in a sample of 3,666 individuals. Results from a binary logistic regression indicated that the overall model was statistically significant, thus demonstrating that total ACE scores were a strong predictor of fair/poor self-reported general health. Findings from this study underscore the profound and lasting impact of childhood adversity on health and aging
Investigating Cell Death Pathways in San Fillipo Syndrome
No full textSanfilippo syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder that affects genes in the heparin sulfate catabolic pathway. This leads to a pathological accumulation of heparin sulfate in the lysosome, leading to lysosomal dysfunction. One core lysosomal function ins mitophagy, which is the clearing of dead mitochondrial fragments. Impaired mitophagy can lead to apoptosis and has been seen to be a main contributor to cell death in other lysosomal storage disorders. However, mitophagy has yet to be investigated in Sanfillipo Syndrome. As such, we induced the disorder in COS-7 cells using PugNac and utilized immunofluorescent and live cell microscopy to observe changes to mitochondrial flux. Our findings demonstrate that impaired mitophagy may be a common mechanism of injury in lysosomal storage disorders
Physics-Informed Fourier Neural Operators for Nanophotonic Scattering in Nonlinear Media
No full textThe Fourier Neural Operator (FNO) has shown remarkable success in approximating solutions to partial differential equations in fluid dynamics, yet its potential for nanophotonic systems remains largely unexplored. We present a physics-informed FNO architecture for solving Maxwell\u27s equations for scattering problems containing nonlinear materials. Trained on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, we develop a model that learns the family of solutions mapping electromagnetic field configurations forward in time. Additionally, we construct a model that can predict the optical spectra given initial conditions. We benchmark both approaches against conventional FDTD and finite-element solvers to assess computational efficiency and accuracy. Critically, we explore how well the trained models generalize beyond their training domains, predicting fields and spectra for untested resolutions, geometric configurations, and source parameters. These results suggest FNOs could dramatically accelerate the inverse design and optimization workflows for nonlinear photonic metasurfaces, where conventional solvers remain prohibitively expensive for exploring large parameter spaces