Objective: This study sought to examine if hypervigilance is one mechanism through which aspects of less supportive campus climates are associated with mental health symptoms for college students. ...Participants: Data from 386 undergraduate college students attending a small college in the northeastern United States were collected. Methods: Participants completed online surveys which employed established measures of study variables. Results: Hypervigilance mediated the association between subjective social status and symptoms of anxiety and depression; lower subjective social status was associated with greater hypervigilance and greater hypervigilance was associated with more symptoms of anxiety and depression. Less sense of community was also directly associated with more anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms. Conclusions: Hypervigilance may be an adaptive strategy to protect against psychosocial harm for low status members of the campus community, but may damage longer-term mental health. Implications for higher education administrators are discussed.
The dynamics of coastal lagoons and estuarine areas is characterized by a delicate balance between biological and physical processes and the comprehension and monitoring of such processes require ...observations over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Remote sensing techniques in this context are very advantageous and potentially allow overcoming the spatial limitations of traditional in situ point observations, providing new opportunities for a better understanding of the relevant bio-geomorphological processes and for the calibration and validation of spatially-distributed hydrodynamic and transport models. Remote sensing of suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration in shallow waters must, however, overcome the difficulties associated with i) the influence of bottom reflection, which may interfere with an accurate retrieval; ii) the necessity of accurately knowing the optical properties of the suspended matter, and iii) the importance of providing an assessment of the uncertainty associated with the estimates produced. This work presents a method to estimate SPM concentration in lagoon/estuarine waters by use of a simplified radiative transfer model. We use a calibration/validation method based on cross-validation and bootstrap techniques to provide a statistically sound determination of model parameters and an evaluation of the uncertainty induced by their inaccurate determination as well as by the uncertain knowledge of the bottom sediment reflectance. The method is applied to the Venice lagoon, using observations from a network of turbidity sensors and from several multispectral satellite sensors (LANDSAT, ASTER and ALOS AVNIR). The bootstrap and cross-validation procedures employed show that consistent estimates of SPM concentration can indeed be retrieved from satellite remote sensing, provided that sufficient in situ ancillary information for appropriate calibration is available. The quantification of the estimation uncertainty shows that retrievals obtained from remote sensing are accurate, robust and repeatable. The SPM concentration maps produced show a general coherence with known features in the Venice lagoon and, together with suitable biological information, point to the role played by benthic vegetation in the stabilization of the bottom sediment.
•Foam injection molding of poly(lactic) acid was conducted by using a physical, environmentally friendly blowing agent.•An increase of mold temperature induces a higher reduction in density of foamed ...samples.•At higher injection flow rate foaming is more homogeneous.•Adding a small percentage of talc to PLA allows to obtain foamed parts with a much better morphology.
Biodegradable polymers present a very narrow processing window, with the suitable processing temperatures close to the degradation conditions. The aim of this work was to analyze the foamability of a biodegradable polymer, namely the poly(lactic acid), PLA. Foam injection molding was conducted by using a blowing agent under high pressure and temperature to produce parts having a cellular core and a compact solid skin (the so-called “structural foam”). The effect of a physical blowing agent (PBA) on density and morphology of foamed parts was characterized. A masterbatch of PLA and talc was prepared and adopted to obtain a compound containing 3% of talc. On adding this percentage of talc to PLA it was possible to obtain foamed parts with a much better morphology.
•Compounding of Poly(lactic) Acid with thermoplastic starch (TPS) to reduce high cost.•Plasticization of starch by replacing glycerol with sunflower seed fried oil.•Improvement in thermal and ...mechanical properties of the TPS.•The use of sunflower fried oil does not change the properties of the PLA/TPS blends.•Plasticization of starch with fried oil is the most environmentally sound solution.
The high cost of the Poly(lactic) Acid when compared to its durable competitors is a significant drawback that inhibits its diffusion for many industrial applications. A common solution is the compounding with other polymers that preserve biodegradability, and thermoplastic starch (TPS) is a conventional choice. The innovation proposed in this work is to replace into the starch plasticization process part of the glycerol with a sunflower seed oil resulting from the frying process in a fast food. The so plasticized TPS was compared to the TPS plasticized with only glycerol and then mixed to the PLA. The replacement of a certain percentage of glycerol with fried edible sunflower oil as plasticizer for starch results in an improvement in material properties of the TPS and does not change the properties of the PLA/TPS blends. Plasticization of starch with fried oil has been proven to be the most environmentally sound solution also from a Life Cycle Assessment.
State- and Provider-Level Racism and Health Care in the U.S Volpe, Vanessa V.; Schorpp, Kristen M.; Cacace, Sam C. ...
American journal of preventive medicine,
September 2021, 2021-09-00, 20210901, Letnik:
61, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This study examines the associations between state-level and provider sources of racism and healthcare access and quality for non-Hispanic Black and White individuals.
Data from 2 sources were ...integrated: (1) data from the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Consumer Survey of Health Care Access (2014–2019), which included measures of self-reported healthcare access, healthcare quality, and provider racial discrimination and (2) administrative data compiled to index state-level racism. State-level racism composite scores were calculated from federal sources (U.S. Census, Department of Labor, Department of Justice). The data set comprised 21,030 adults (n=2,110 Black, n=18,920 White) who needed care within the past year. Participants were recruited from a national panel, and the survey employed age–insurance quotas. Logistic and linear regressions were conducted in 2020, adjusting for demographic, geographic, and health-related covariates.
Among White individuals, more state-level racism was associated with 5% higher odds of being able to get care and 6% higher odds of sufficient time with provider. Among Black individuals, more state-level racism was associated with 8% lower odds of being able to get care. Provider racial discrimination was also associated with 80% lower odds of provider explaining care, 77% lower odds of provider answering questions, and 68% lower odds of sufficient time with provider.
State-level racism may engender benefits to healthcare access and quality for White individuals and may decrease access for Black individuals. Disparities may be driven by both White advantage and Black disadvantage. State-level policies may be the actionable levers of healthcare inequities with implications for preventive medicine.
Black young adults use social media frequently and they are especially active on Twitter. Black young adults are exposed to both racially-affirming positive content and also racially-discriminatory ...negative content on Twitter. Correlational investigations have suggested that exposure to such content has psychological consequences, yet our understanding of acute responses to race-related Twitter messages remains hampered by the lack of a social media stimuli set that can be employed in an experimental setting. Therefore, we developed and tested an initial stimuli set of Tweets with different valences (i.e., positive, negative) and content (i.e., race-related, non-race-related) that can be used for testing experimental hypotheses about physiological, emotional, and behavioral changes associated with exposure to Twitter content in subsequent research. In two studies with Black college-attending young adult Twitter users (N = 43; M
age
= 19.26) and a national sample of Black young adult Twitter users (N = 290, M
age
= 25.85), we developed and tested the internal consistency, construct, convergent, ecological, and criterion-related validity of the stimuli set. The final Tweet Stimuli Set for Content about Black People (TSS-CBP) includes 16 stimuli grouped into four conditions (positive non-race-related, positive race-related, negative non-race-related, and negative race-related).
Epithelial-mesenchymal interactions play a crucial role in branching morphogenesis, but very little is known about how endothelial cells contribute to this process. Here, we examined how ...anti-angiogenic miR-221 and pro-angiogenic miR-130a affect airway and vascular development in the fetal lungs. Lung-specific effects of miR-130a and miR-221 were studied in mouse E14 whole lungs cultured for 48 hours with anti-miRs or mimics to miR-130a and miR-221. Anti-miR 221 treated lungs had more distal branch generations with increased Hoxb5 and VEGFR2 around airways. Conversely, mimic 221 treated lungs had reduced airway branching, dilated airway tips and decreased Hoxb5 and VEGFR2 in mesenchyme. Anti-miR 130a treatment led to reduced airway branching with increased Hoxa5 and decreased VEGFR2 in the mesenchyme. Conversely, mimic 130a treated lungs had numerous finely arborized branches extending into central lung regions with diffusely localized Hoxa5 and increased VEGFR2 in the mesenchyme. Vascular morphology was analyzed by GSL-B4 (endothelial cell-specific lectin) immunofluorescence. Observed changes in airway morphology following miR-221 inhibition and miR-130a enhancement were mirrored by changes in vascular plexus formation around the terminal airways. Mouse fetal lung endothelial cells (MFLM-91U) were used to study microvascular cell behavior. Mimic 221 treatment resulted in reduced tube formation and cell migration, where as the reverse was observed with mimic 130a treatment. From these data, we conclude that miR-221 and miR-130a have opposing effects on airway and vascular morphogenesis of the developing lung.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Functional divergence of paralogs following gene duplication is one of the mechanisms leading to evolution of novel pathways and traits. Here we show that divergence of Lys11 and Nfr5 LysM receptor ...kinase paralogs of Lotus japonicus has affected their specificity for lipochitooligosaccharides (LCOs) decorations, while the innate capacity to recognize and induce a downstream signalling after perception of rhizobial LCOs (Nod factors) was maintained. Regardless of this conserved ability, Lys11 was found neither expressed, nor essential during nitrogen-fixing symbiosis, providing an explanation for the determinant role of Nfr5 gene during Lotus-rhizobia interaction. Lys11 was expressed in root cortex cells associated with intraradical colonizing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Detailed analyses of lys11 single and nfr1nfr5lys11 triple mutants revealed a functional arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, indicating that Lys11 alone, or its possible shared function with the Nod factor receptors is not essential for the presymbiotic phases of AM symbiosis. Hence, both subfunctionalization and specialization appear to have shaped the function of these paralogs where Lys11 acts as an AM-inducible gene, possibly to fine-tune later stages of this interaction.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) are common and significant morbidities of prematurely born infants. These diseases have in common altered and pathologic vascular ...formation in the face of incomplete organ development. Therefore, it is reasonable to question whether factors affecting angiogenesis could have a joint pathogenic role for both diseases. Inhibition or induced expression of a single angiogenic factor is unlikely to be 100% causative or protective of either of BPD or ROP. It is more likely that interactions of multiple factors leading to disordered angiogenesis are present, increasing the likelihood of common pathways in both diseases. This review explores this possibility by assessing the evidence showing involvement of specific angiogenic factors in the vascular development and maldevelopment in each disease. Theoretical interactions of specific factors mutually contributing to BPD and ROP are proposed and, where possible, a timeline of the proposed relationships between BPD and ROP is developed. It is hoped that future research will be inspired by the theories put forth in this review to enhance the understanding of the pathogenesis in both diseases.
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