Open Research Oklahoma (Oklahoma State Univ.)
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Fecal short chain fatty acids predict eating behavior of postmenopausal women after completion of a dietary pulses intervention
No full textObjectives:Dietary fiber has health benefits mediated in part by gut-derived short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and interventions focused on supplemental sources (e.g., pulses) may have sustained health effects. The objective of this study was to determine if fecal SCFAs after 9 months (9 m) of pulse supplementation predict eating behavior of postmenopausal women.Methods:Postmenopausal (≥1 year without menstruation) women (n=23), aged 45-70 years, not on hormone replacement therapy or medications that affect gut health, not smoking or using excessive alcohol, participated. All were asked to consume 100 g of pulses (~½ cup, alternating between chickpeas, kidney beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, & lentils) daily for 9 m, and to maintain their normal diet and lifestyle. Six months after stopping supplementation, all completed 3-day food records and the 3-factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ) to assess cognitive restraint (CR), uncontrolled eating (UE), and emotional eating (EE). Linear regression was used to examine predictors of TFEQ measures, and Spearman correlations to examine relationships between TFEQ measures and SCFAs.Results: Six months after supplementation, women had a mean intake of 20.2 g dietary fiber/day (+/- 8.6). For each standard deviation (SD) increase in acetic acid during supplementation, CR decreased by -0.31 SD while UE increased 0.33 SD. When adding baseline levels to the model, β for CR increased to -0.26 and decreased to 0.04 for UE. Further, baseline levels predicted UE (P=0.04), suggesting persistent baseline effects. Spearman correlations indicate acetic acid (ρ=-0.57, P=0.01) and n-butyric acid (ρ=-0.46, P=0.04) were negatively correlated with CR, while baseline levels of propionic acid were negatively correlated with CR (ρ=-0.43, P=0.02) and baseline acetic acid was negatively correlated with EE (ρ=-0.51, P=0.01). The correlation between baseline acetic acid and UE was moderate (ρ=-0.36, P=0.07).Conclusion: Pulse consumption by postmenopausal women contributes to dietary fiber intake above the national average. Certain eating behaviors (e.g., UE) may warrant longer intervention periods or additional behavioral assistance to sustain positive impacts
Density, space use, and human-bear interactions in a recolonizing American black bear population in southeastern Oklahoma
No full textAs they recolonize portions of their lost range in southeastern Oklahoma, American black bear populations are now expanding into areas that are anthropogenically altered. Although human population density is low in this region, human disturbance is still high due to timber harvest, agriculture, and roadways. We sought to further our understanding of how black bears respond to human impacts in this region through spatially explicit capture recapture (SCR) modeling to understand the connection between demography and space use, as well as seasonal resource selection functions to identify space use. SCR modeling estimated an average of 0.11 bears/100km², which is comparable to nearby study areas. Density was strongly associated with longitude, forest cover, and weakly positively associated with human impact index. Abundance estimates (1,552 ± 545 bears) were within expectations considering the 6% population growth estimated by previous studies. Resource selection functions for post-denning, summer, and hyperphagia seasons identified seasonally variable use of roads at the landscape and home-range scales, however, there was little variation between diurnal and nocturnal resource use. Areas of human disturbance (i.e., roads, human impact index) and forest cover, especially deciduous forest cover, greatly influence bear space use. Levels of human tolerance appeared to influence bear space use, with selection varying over seasons and diel periods. We also examined the influence of humans on black bear space use specifically during their hyperphagia period, examining resource selection before, during, and after a black bear hunting season. Bears shifted to avoidance strategies at the start of a hunting season by avoiding all roadways, despite roads acting as travel corridors for bears prior to the start of the hunting season. Bears also increased their avoidance of other human disturbed areas including timber plantations and shifted to using more rugged terrains during the day, suggesting bears are using rugged terrains for cover from hunters, but using less rugged terrains during evenings for movement or foraging opportunities. Fine-scale activity patterns also revealed that activity patterns shifted across seasons and increased in nocturnality during and after the hunting season, likely due to target and non-target hunters
Evolution of the absorptivity and hygroscopicity of carbonaceous aerosol particles: From brown carbon to nanoplastics
No full textAerosol particles influence climate directly, through aerosol-radiation interactions, and indirectly, through aerosol-cloud interactions. The magnitude and direction of the radiative forcing resulting from these combined interactions is uncertain, in large part due to the complex evolution of carbonaceous aerosol, including biomass burning aerosol and, an emerging contaminant, nanoplastics. Here, the evolution in the absorptivity and hygroscopicity – properties governing the direct and indirect effects, respectively – of biomass burning aerosol and nanoplastics was investigated. First, the evolution of representative biomass burning aerosol was determined. Secondary light absorbing organic aerosol, or brown carbon, was generated from the aqueous OH oxidation of phenolic compounds, including phenol, catechol, and pyrogallol – abundant emissions of biomass burning through the thermal decomposition of lignin – and its light absorption and water uptake were monitored during aging using UV-vis spectroscopy and hygroscopic tandem differential mobility analysis. No systematic trend in hygroscopicity with functionalization of the precursor was observed. Furthermore, hygroscopicity was steady with further aging, while absorptivity ultimately decreased, suggesting broadly that the radiative forcing of brown carbon may change more through the direct effect than the indirect effect. Next, the evolution of representative nanoplastics was determined. Initially 100, 200, and 250 nm nanoplastic aerosol was generated from suspensions of polystyrene size standards and coated with secondary organic aerosol from the ozonolysis of α-pinene in a smog chamber. At low relative humidity, when the organic aerosol was viscous, non-spherical, partially-engulfed morphology was observed, and these coated particles were hygroscopic. Finally, nanoplastics were generated by passing filaments of different colors and materials through the heated nozzle of a 3D printer, collected on fiber filters, and exposed to simulated sunlight as well as ozone. The absorptivity of all samples decreased during 5 d of aging through irradiation or oxidation, but the extent of this whitening varied significantly. After 5 d, the absorptivity of each representative nanoplastic may be taken to decrease by at least 50% through these combined processes. The variability in this whitening of nanoplastics further highlights the complexity of representing carbonaceous aerosol in chemical transport models and motivates future work to quantify the evolution of this emerging contaminant
Influence of publications on the management of appendicitis
No full textIntroduction: This article examines the influence of scientific knowledge dissemination on medical practices, specifically the shift in appendicitis management from surgical to non-operative approaches. By analyzing CPT codes and publication data from PubMed, we establish a positive relationship between surgery ratio and average citations per publication, indicating higher adoption of non-operative management with increased citations. This study contributes to understanding how knowledge dissemination impacts patient care and drives changes in medical practices. Understanding the influence of scientific knowledge dissemination on medical practices can pave the way for evidence-based advancements in healthcare, potentially leading to improved patient care and outcomes. Recently, there has been a significant shift in the management of appendicitis from surgical treatment to non-operative approaches using antibiotics. Our hypothesis posits that this shift is driven by scientific discoveries documented in published literature. This paper seeks to uncover the influence of scientific literature on clinical decisions and its impact on patient care, contributing to evidence-based healthcare advancements.Methods: Patient data was extracted from Cerner Real-World Data, a comprehensive database of over 100 million patients. We analyzed trends in Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code frequency from 2000-2022, focusing on patients aged 18-45 with an ICD9 or ICD10 code for appendicitis. We calculated the ratio of patients undergoing surgery within 7 days of diagnosis to those managed with antibiotics. Publication data related to appendicitis and antibiotics were obtained from PubMed. A custom Python script interfaced with PubMed's API was developed to retrieve the number of publications related to appendicitis and antibiotics from 2000-2022. Additionally, the script obtained citation counts for each publication to calculate the average citations per publication.Results: From 2000-2022, there were 152,827 unique encounters for appendicitis in our Cerner Real-World Data analysis and 2,416 publications from our analysis of PubMed. A correlation analysis found a significant positive correlation (Pearson’s r=0.387, p<0.001) between surgery ratio and average citations. This suggests that as average citations per published paper increased, the surgery ratio for appendicitis tended to decrease, indicating a higher adoption of non-operative management. An OLS regression analysis showed that the publication citation ratio explained around 15% (R =0.150) of the variation in the surgery ratio. Granger causality test was performed at different lag orders. At lag order 2, the test statistic (F test) was 3.04 with a significant p-value of <0.05.Conclusions: Our study establishes a relationship between the paradigm shift in appendicitis management and scientific publications in the form of research papers. However, including more parameters in future investigations on scientific publications will provide a more comprehensive understanding into how these parameters influence medical practices and drive transformative changes in patient care
In-depth assessment of mass shootings directed at religious targets
No full textMass shooting incidents are rare events that have a great impact on society. While research on mass shootings is plentiful, there is a lack of research devoted specifically to mass shootings directed at religious targets. These targets are typically included in the public mass shooting category, resulting in potentially valuable information regarding these offenders to fall through the cracks. Data surrounding the characteristics of 220 mass shooting incidents was gathered and separated into three categories based on target: religious, school, and public place. Utilizing a One Way ANOVA and Chi-Squared tests of independence, several significant relationships were found to exist between target types and characteristics of offender and incident. Data was then narrowed down to just the 30 religious target cases, where offender typologies were determined. These typologies were revenge, domestic violence, lone actor terrorism, and in commission of another crime. Determination of typologies was done by measuring inter-rater reliability among five current and former Tulsa Police Department Homicide detectives. Using the agreed upon typologies, descriptive statistics and frequencies were calculated among each of the typology groups. Finally, a One Way ANOVA and Chi-Squared tests of independence were conducted for typology category and characteristics of the offender and incident. Significant relationships were found for each typology other than in commission of another crime. The results suggested that an offender’s motive does in fact play a role into the target selection, warning signs, their personal connection to that target, the average fatality count, and the likelihood of them dying by suicide or being killed on scene. The suggestions of each finding are discussed along with limitations of this research. Contributions of this project and suggestions for future research are also discussed
Potential Medicare and Medicaid savings for hair and skin drugs by adopting the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company model
No full textIntroduction: The United States grapples with a persistent challenge of escalating national healthcare expenditure, projected to rise by five percent in 2024 and nearly six percent for 2025-2031. Amidst concerns about the growing healthcare costs, especially prescription drugs, this study explores the potential cost-saving impact of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company (MCCPDC), an innovative online pharmacy. Focusing on dermatological drugs, crucial for conditions affecting millions, the study aims to assess MCCPDC's pricing model against established programs like Medicare and Medicaid.Methods: The study adopts a cross-sectional analysis, adhering to Consolidation Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS). The comparison involves 29 hair and skin drugs available on the MCCPDC website with 2021 Medicare Part D and Medicaid spending data. The analysis considers potential savings by adopting MCCPDC prices and employs unit prices, dispensing fees, and shipping costs for comparison.Results: The study reveals substantial potential savings, estimating 49.7 million for Medicaid if MCCPDC prices were adopted. Individual drug analysis highlights significant reductions, with Fluticasone Propionate demonstrating the highest potential savings.Discussion: MCCPDC's pricing strategy could revolutionize dermatology, offering substantial cost reductions and improved accessibility. The study emphasizes its potential impact on patient adherence, particularly for conditions like atopic dermatitis, and extends the benefits to preventative medicine, lowering long-term healthcare costs. While challenging traditional pharmaceutical profit margins, MCCPDC incentivizes cost-efficient drug development, promoting sustainability and efficiency in the industry
Effect of supplemental protein degradability and frequency of supplementation on nitrogen metabolism of beef cattle consuming low-quality forage
No full textSupplemental rumen degradable protein (RDP) is required for cattle consuming low-quality forage to ensure adequate fiber digestion. However, in situations where cattle are not supplemented daily, supplementing RDP could overwhelm the nitrogen recycling mechanisms, leading to increased nitrogen excretion. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of rumen degradability and frequency of supplemental protein on nitrogen metabolism of beef cattle consuming low-quality forage. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial with RDP content [68.5% or 32.8%, RDP % of crude protein (CP)] and supplementation frequency (daily or twice weekly) as the two factors. Eight ruminally cannulated Angus steers (BW = 328 ± 12.2 kg) were utilized in a 4 × 8 Latin rectangle. The low RDP treatment was composed of 50% soybean hulls and 50% corn gluten meal (40.3% CP; 32.8% RDP), and the high RDP treatment consisted of 45.4% soybean hulls, 41.4% soybean meal, 4.1% urea, and 9.1% molasses (40% CP; 76.3% RDP). The twice-weekly steers were supplemented on days 0, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, and 21 of each period. Steers had ad libitum access to low-quality (6.1% CP) native grass hay. Blood, urine, fecal and ruminal fluid samples were collected for laboratory analyses. Supplementing twice weekly with high RDP resulted in fluctuations in metabolites not observed in the other treatments, and increased nitrogen excretion. High RDP supplemented steers had greater nitrogen excretion (96.2 g/d) than low RDP supplemented steers (80.0 g/d; P = 0.003) regardless of frequency. Plasma urea nitrogen (PUN) increased in twice weekly high RDP supplemented steers 1 d after supplementation (P < 0.001) and decreased from d15 to d17. Ruminal fluid lactate and ammonia concentrations increased in the twice weekly, high RDP-supplemented steers in response to each supplementation (P < 0.001). The low RDP treatments remained steady across all sampling timepoints, where daily and twice weekly supplemented steers decreased slightly in the time points following supplementation and then gradually increased. These results indicate using a high RDP supplement could cause long-term metabolic effects and the protein degradability should be matched with the frequency of supplementation to reduce nitrogen excretion
Treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macrophages with Rifabutin loaded β-glucan microparticles induces macroautophagy mediated bacillary killing
No full textThis study aims to assess the therapeutic efficacy of Rifabutin-loaded β-glucan particles (DYDGP) in targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb.) within host macrophage cells. Drug-loaded β-glucan microparticles were prepared using rifabutin for evaluating their therapeutic potential against in-vitro M.tb. infection in host macrophage cells. Our results demonstrate that DYDGP significantly enhances intracellular ROS generation at 30 minutes and 24 hours post-treatment compared to blank (YDGP) particles in the presence of NOX-2 inhibitors. Additionally, DYDGP promotes phago-lysosomal maturation and exhibits better cytoprotective function within M.tb. infected macrophages up to 24 hours post-treatment. Furthermore, our study indicates that DYDGP has the potential to induce autophagy within M.tb. infected macrophages, as evidenced by dansylcadvarine and immunofluorescence studies, along with LC-3 and NOX-2 protein expression analyses. Enhanced immunotherapeutic efficacy is crucial for combating M.tb, including multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains, within host macrophage cells. Colony forming unit studies confirm that DYDGP particles exhibit better immunotherapeutic potential compared to blank and pure drugs, suggesting they could serve as a promising alternative for host-directed adjunct therapies against M.tb. infections. These findings highlight the potential of DYDGP in improving therapeutic outcomes and combating drug-resistant M.tb. strains within host cells, contributing to the development of effective immunotherapeutic strategies against tuberculosis.Physiological Science
Variation in external ear and head morphology of preserved North American deer mice (genus Peromyscus) and implications for auditory function
No full textAn animal’s external head morphology is the starting point of auditory communication by receiving sounds from the environment and plays an especially
important role in how an animal perceives and localizes sounds. Particularly, the presence
of the external ear structure, or pinna, is essential to front/back and vertical
discrimination of acoustic signals. The process of accurately perceiving the location of
acoustic signals is not only reliant on morphology but also on deeper processing at the
brainstem level. For the brain to assess the approximate location of a sound, it relies on
the computation of two cues: interaural time differences (ITDs), which can be defined as
the shift in arrival time of a particular sound at each of the pinnae, and interaural level
differences (ILDs), or the shift in sound level of a particular sound at each of the pinnae
(i.e., sounds coming from the left side of an individual are going to be perceived slightly
quicker and as slightly louder at the left ear versus the right ear). Therefore, it is assumed
that significant variability in head and pinna size and shape will also cause significant
variability in the detection of acoustic signals. In this study, we focus on identifying
differences in external head and pinna morphology in six species of North American deer
mice (genus Peromyscus) to determine if there are differences in head morphology based
on species distribution differences. We measured the dimensions of the head and pinna of
over 1,200 preserved specimens of P. boylii, P. californicus, P. gossypinus, P. leucopus,
P. maniculatus, and P. truei, followed by a series of head-related transfer functions
(HRTFs) on several individuals to study the relationship between morphology and
auditory function. Our results show the greatest variability in inter-pinna distance and
pinna width across the six species with similar ITDs and ILDs, suggesting that
differences in morphology may be more related to discriminating elevation of sounds, not
differences in horizontal sound discrimination. Not only will this study contribute to
existing research on external morphology and auditory function, but it will also provide
invaluable insight into the use of preserved specimens in auditory research, an area that is
currently understudied
Bed bugs: Reduce risk while thrift shopping
No full textThe Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311