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Effects of carnosine on the embryonic development and TiO2 nanoparticles-induced oxidative stress on Zebrafish
No full textOxidative stress is due to an unbalance between pro-oxidants, such as reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen (RNS) species, and antioxidants/antioxidant system. Under physiological conditions these species are involved in different cellular processes such as cellular homeostasis and immune response, while an excessive production of ROS/RNS has been linked to the development of various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. In this context, the naturally occurring dipeptide carnosine has shown the ability to scavenge ROS, counteract lipid peroxidation, and inhibit proteins oxidation. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) have been widely used to produce cosmetics, in wastewater treatment, in food industry, and in healthcare product. As consequence, these NPs are often released into aquatic environments. The Danio rerio (commonly called zebrafish) embryos exposure to TiO2-NPs did not affect the hatching rate, but induced oxidative stress. According to this scenario, in the present study, we first investigated the effects of carnosine exposure and of a sub-toxic administration of TiO2-NPs on the development and survival of zebrafish embryos/larvae measured through the acute embryo toxicity test (FET-Test). Zebrafish larvae represent a useful model to study oxidative stress-linked disorders and to test antioxidant molecules, while carnosine was selected based on its well-known multimodal mechanism of action that includes a strong antioxidant activity. Once the basal effects of carnosine were assessed, we then evaluated its effects on TiO2-NPs-induced oxidative stress in zebrafish larvae, measured in terms of total ROS production (measured with 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate probe) and protein expression by immunohistochemistry of two cellular stress markers, 70 kDa-heat shock protein (Hsp70) and metallothioneins (MTs). We demonstrated that carnosine did not alter the phenotypes of both embryos and larvae of zebrafish at different hours post fertilization. Carnosine was instead able to significantly decrease the enhancement of ROS levels in zebrafish larvae exposed to TiO2-NPs and its antioxidant effect was paralleled by the rescue of the protein expression levels of Hsp70 and MTs. Our results suggest a therapeutic potential of carnosine as a new pharmacological tool in the context of pathologies characterized by oxidative stress such as neurodegenerative disorders
Rethinking the time spent at school: Could flexibility improve engagement and performance for students and teachers?
No full textIs it possible to reduce the time students spend in classrooms and schools? Would such a reduction be better for learning and retaining teachers? How should learning be more flexibly enacted in the post-pandemic era? This article discusses the possibilities of rethinking school participation and calls for schools to reconsider the necessity and costs/benefits of forcing students and teachers to be physically present in schools for the traditional 5 days a week
Systematic Review Workshop
No full textThis 2.5-hour session was held in Watson Library in the Clark Instruction Center on March 31, 2023. Scott McEathron, Amalia Monroe-Gulick, Carmen Orth-Alfie, and Michael Peper presented on behalf of the Libraries systematic review service.In this workshop we will provide an introduction to systematic review with an emphasis on using Covidence, a systematic review management software platform licensed by KU Libraries. Covidence helps researchers to manage all phases of evidence synthesis research projects (e.g. systematic reviews, meta-analysis). Users can collaborate on importing citations, screening, quality assessment, data extraction, and exporting results. This workshop will focus on phases of the review research process
Measuring the Satellite Population around Luminous Red Galaxies in the Legacy Surveys
No full textLuminous Red Galaxies, or LRGs, are representative of the most massive galaxies and were originally selected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as good tracers of large scale struc- ture. They are dominated by by uniformly old stellar populations, have low star formation rates, early type morphologies, and little cold gas. Despite having old stellar populations and little in situ star formation, studies have shown that they have grown their stellar mass since z=1, implying that they grow predominantly via the accretion of satellites. Tests of this picture have been limited because of the lack of deep imaging data sets that both covers a large enough area of the sky to contain substantial numbers of LRGs and that also is deep enough to detect faint satellites. I use the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys to characterize the satellite galaxy population of LRGs out to z=0.65. The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys are comprised of grz imaging to 2-2.5 mag deeper than SDSS and with better image quality. I use a new statistical background technique to identify excess populations of putative satel- lite galaxies around over 90,000 LRGs at 0.2 < z < 0.65. In three redshift and luminosity bins I measure the numbers of satellite galaxies and their r − z color distribution down to rest-frame g-band luminosity limits at least 3.6 times fainter than L∗. In addition, I develop a forward modeling technique and apply it to constrain the mean number of satellites in each of our redshift and luminosity bins. Finally, I use these estimates to determine the amount of stellar mass growth in LRGs down to the local Universe
Fire Station Gardens and Food Donation: Building and scaling community resilience
Get PDFThis brief paper presents the unique idea of firefighters growing gardens at local fire stations and then distributing much of the produce to local food banks to help address food insecurity in local communities. The central idea is to build and scale resilience across local communities. Gardening is a health benefit to firefighters, and food and proper nutrition is a resource helpful in resilient outcomes
An African-Specific Variant of TP53 Reveals PADI4 as a Regulator of p53-Mediated Tumor Suppression
Get PDFTP53 is the most frequently mutated gene in cancer, yet key target genes for p53-mediated tumor suppression remain unidentified. Here, we characterize a rare, African-specific germline variant of TP53 in the DNA-binding domain Tyr107His (Y107H). Nuclear magnetic resonance and crystal structures reveal that Y107H is structurally similar to wild-type p53. Consistent with this, we find that Y107H can suppress tumor colony formation and is impaired for the transactivation of only a small subset of p53 target genes; this includes the epigenetic modifier PADI4, which deiminates arginine to the nonnatural amino acid citrulline. Surprisingly, we show that Y107H mice develop spontaneous cancers and metastases and that Y107H shows impaired tumor suppression in two other models. We show that PADI4 is itself tumor suppressive and that it requires an intact immune system for tumor suppression. We identify a p53–PADI4 gene signature that is predictive of survival and the efficacy of immune-checkpoint inhibitors.
Significance:
We analyze the African-centric Y107H hypomorphic variant and show that it confers increased cancer risk; we use Y107H in order to identify PADI4 as a key tumor-suppressive p53 target gene that contributes to an immune modulation signature and that is predictive of cancer survival and the success of immunotherapy
Repeat sprint fatigue and altered neuromuscular performance in recreationally trained basketball players
Get PDFThe primary aim of the present study was to investigate how the fatigue induced through a repeat sprint protocol acutely affected different measures of neuromuscular performance. Recreationally trained basketball players (n = 25) volunteered to participate in the study, and performed three countermovement jumps (CMJ), as well as three drop jumps (DJ) prior to a fatiguing repeat sprint protocol. These procedures were repeated two minutes, and 15 minutes, following the protocol. Various force-time metrics were extracted from the jump tasks, and linear mixed models with subject ID as the random factor, and time as the fixed factor were used to investigate changes across the three time points. To account for the performance during the repeat sprint protocol, a second, two factor model was performed with time and repeat sprint ability (RSA) as the fixed factors. Study results indicated that the sample as a whole merely experienced fatigue-induced decreases in jump height from pre-repeat sprint ability protocol (pre-RSA) within the CMJ compared to two minutes post-repeat sprint ability protocol (post-RSA1) and 15 minutes post-repeat sprint ability protocol (post-RSA2), while jump height within the DJ was only significantly different from pre-RSA at post-RSA1. Further, despite the implementation of the fatiguing RSA protocol, over the course of the three time-points, participants seemed to perform the two jump tasks more efficiently, seen through significantly lower contraction times, greater eccentric (ECC) peak power, and greater ECC mean deceleration force within the CMJ following the RSA task. The two-factor model revealed that several significant time*RSA interactions were found for metrics such as ECC peak velocity and peak power in the CMJ, as well as reactive strength index in the DJ. This suggests that the level of RSA influenced changes across CMJ and DJ characteristics and should be accounted for when interpreting fatigue-induced changes in neuromuscular performance
CMS PYTHIA 8 colour reconnection tunes based on underlying-event data
Get PDFNew sets of parameter tunes for two of the colour reconnection models, quantum chromodynamics-inspired and gluon-move, implemented in the PYTHIA 8 event generator, are obtained based on the default CMS PYTHIA 8 underlying-event tune, CP5. Measurements sensitive to the underlying event performed by the CMS experiment at centre-of-mass energies √=7 and 13TeV, and by the CDF experiment at 1.96TeV are used to constrain the parameters of colour reconnection models and multiple-parton interactions simultaneously. The new colour reconnection tunes are compared with various measurements at 1.96, 7, 8, and 13TeV including measurements of the underlying-event, strange-particle multiplicities, jet substructure observables, jet shapes, and colour flow in top quark pair (tt¯) events. The new tunes are also used to estimate the uncertainty related to colour reconnection modelling in the top quark mass measurement using the decay products of tt¯ events in the semileptonic channel at 13TeV
Improving Energy Efficiency in Collection Storage in Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, PF-271970-20.
Get PDFThe National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries a Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Implementation Grant to complete the second phase of a multi-phased approach to update the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC) in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, which houses the University’s archival and special collections. The current award allowed KU Libraries to implement some of the energy-saving recommendations proposed by the Image Permanence Institute, previously hired by KU Libraries with funds from a NEH Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Planning Grant.
The focus of the current Implementation Grant was to replace pneumatically controlled reheats in collection areas of the building (approximately two-thirds of the building’s area) with modern electric reheats, variable air volume (VAV) dampers, and new direct digital controls (DDC) as a first step in eventually replacing the entire air handling system that dates to 1968. While the AHU in Spencer Library provides cooled, filtered, and some degree of humidity-controlled air to the building, all heating and dehumidification comes from the electric reheats installed in ducts throughout the building.
Testing and balancing of the system was completed before installation in order to garner a more complete picture of airflow throughout the building, as well as detailed information about the functionality of each heater. Collected data informed the installation of thirty-five heaters in collection storage areas, which took place after some delays due to the pandemic. After installation, a second testing and balancing operation was conducted to test the efficacy of the new heaters. Environmental monitoring for temperature and relative humidity was conducted throughout the granting period and continues. The ultimate goal of the long-term project was to better preserve our collections while also finding ways to save energy.National Endowment for the Humanitie
Patient Selection and Impacts of Plan Choice on Specialty, Urgent Care Center and Emergency Department Visits and Total Expenditures when Families Choose between a Direct Primary Care Option and a Traditional Option for Employee Medical Benefits
Get PDFIntroduction Two of the most difficult and seemingly intractable problems in US health care are high expenditures and the state of primary care. Direct primary care (DPC) is a newer approach to primary care delivery in which patients or employers pay directly for unlimited access to a broad, defined set of primary care services; insurance is not used for primary care. DPC may improve the delivery of primary care in ways that reduce overall utilization and spending and benefit patients and physicians.Purpose This dissertation aimed to determine factors associated with plan selection and quantify effects of plan selection on health care utilization and expenditures when an employer adds a DPC option to its medical benefit offering.Data and Methods Data was from a large employer group in which a DPC option was added to a typical PPO option (the “Standard” plan). The two plans differed only in elements related to primary care delivery and enrollees who chose DPC were required to switch to a DPC physician for primary care.The selection aim used logistic regression at the family level to examine the plan selected when DPC was first offered. The utilization and expenditures aims used two period multiple linear regression difference in differences at the member level, examined 18 months before and 39 months after DPC was first offered. Expenditures excluded pharmaceutical costs and included DPC fees.Results Plan choice was statistically significantly associated with enrollee age, enrollee race/ethnicity, presence of chronic conditions in the family (CCs) and presence of a usual source of care in the family (USC). DPC enrollees were more likely to be younger, white or other race/ethnicity, without CCs and without a USC.DPC statistically significantly increased specialist visits. Some results indicated that DPC may have lowered urgent care center (UCC) and emergency department (ED) visits but were inconclusive in the main analyses. DPC increased expenditures and this result was statistically significant when members with the top 1% of expenditures were excluded but not when they were included.CCs and USC were consistently the most statistically significant control variables and had the largest effect size compared to the size of the difference in differences result. Member age was also statistically significant for utilization and expenditure aims.Conclusions In contrast to studies of DPC and similar primary care models, this study did not show DPC reduced ED visits or expenditures. Selection results align with prior studies. The relevance of age, CCs and USC for plan choice, utilization and expenditures aligns with prior research. Future DPC research should examine plan selection, utilization and expenditures over time by year to allow employees more time to consider the new DPC option and to allow changes to doctor-patient relationship and health over time to emerge. Future research of specialist visits should consider that new patients likely experience different referral patterns than existing patients, which would impact specialist visits for DPC but not Standard enrollees. The level of DPC fees should be examined for its effect on expenditures. More research is needed to determine whether and when DPC can reduce utilization and spending