The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of corpus luteum (CL) color Doppler (CD) ultrasonography and pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAG) for early pregnancy diagnosis and examine ...their ability to predict late embryonic/early fetal mortality (LEM) in Bos taurus beef replacement heifers. Beef heifers (n = 178) were exposed to a 7-d CO-Synch + CIDR protocol followed by fixed-time artificial insemination (day 0). On days 20 and 22, B-mode and CD ultrasonography were performed to evaluate CL morphometries and blood perfusion, respectively. Heifers were considered nonpregnant when CL area was <2 cm2 or estimated luteal blood perfusion was ≤30% of the total luteal area. Blood samples were collected on days 25 and 29 to estimate circulating concentrations of PAG. Conventional ultrasonography on days 29 and 94 was utilized to determine pregnancy status and considered the gold standard method for pregnancy diagnosis. Pregnant heifers had greater (P < 0.01) CL diameter, area, volume, and blood perfusion when compared with nonpregnant heifers on days 20 and 22. Accuracy of CD on days 20 and 22, and PAG on days 25 and 29 were 91%, 94%, 96%, and 98%, respectively. No false-negative results were observed for CD on both days 20 and 22 (negative predicted value = 100%) and false-positive results represented 8% and 6% of the diagnoses. Heifers that experienced LEM between days 29 and 94 of gestation had decreased luteal (P = 0.02) volume on day 20 and tended (P = 0.07) to have decreased concentrations of PAG on day 29 compared with heifers that maintained pregnancy. However, both CD and PAG failed to predict embryonic mortality. In conclusion, CD successfully detected most nonpregnant replacement heifers as early as day 20 of gestation, while resulting in no false negative diagnoses. Both CD and PAG failed to predict LEM in the present study.
Objective: Colleges should aim to cultivate healthy behaviors among students by addressing alterations in wellness students view as important. The purpose of this study was to determine the ...self-perceived wellness-related concerns and behaviors of college students. Participants: Thirty-seven undergraduate students participated in this study between January and March 2017. Methods: Focus groups served as a data collection method. Groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Directed and conventional approaches to data analyses were employed. Results: Participants expressed concern regarding four campus wellness topics: nutrition, economics, mental health, and campus safety. Participants offered solutions for improving campus wellness, representing a fifth theme. Conclusions: Health concerns for college students and realistic solutions to address concerns were identified across focus groups. Overall, students cared about their own health, as well as the well-being of other students. Future directions include conducting a Web-based survey among students to assess prevalence and impact of select health and wellness topics.
Extensive use of social media is well-documented as being associated with poor mental health in college students. Evidence of its association with perceived stress in this population is inconclusive.
...To examine the association between daily time spent on social media and perceived stress among U.S. college students.
Participants were 412 students (274 females, 138 males) from the Get your Fruits and Vegetables (GetFRUVED) project in a northeastern U.S. college. Students completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) questionnaire and reported daily minutes spent on social media. Linear regression was used to examine the association between social media use and self-reported stress.
Female college students who used social media for >2 h per day reported higher stress levels than students who used social media for only 0-20 min daily.
Our findings demonstrate an association between prolonged use of social media and higher stress levels among female college students. The impact of excessive social media on the stress response and psychological wellbeing should be further investigated in this population.
Campus efforts toward educating college students on the positive correlation between social media use and stress are warranted, with priority given to female students.
Covering up to: 1999-2016This highlight covers a family of enzymes of growing importance, the sedoheptulose 7-phosphate cyclases, initially of interest due to their involvement in the biosynthesis of ...pharmaceutically relevant secondary metabolites. More recently, these enzymes have been found throughout Prokarya and Eukarya, suggesting their broad potential biological roles in nature.
Chorea Associated with Lamotrigine Use Rael, Sofia; Badihian, Negin; Smith, Kelsey M ...
Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements,
2023, Letnik:
13, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Movement disorders, including chorea, have been cited as a side effect of lamotrigine use. However, the association is controversial and clinical characteristics in such cases are unclear. We sought ...to explore whether chorea may be associated with lamotrigine use.
We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients diagnosed with chorea who had concurrent use of lamotrigine between 2000-2022. Demographic information and clinical characteristics were analyzed, including medical comorbidities and concurrent medication use. A literature search and review were conducted, with additional cases of lamotrigine-associated chorea analyzed.
Eight patients met the inclusion criteria for the retrospective review. In 7 patients, other causes of chorea were considered more likely. However, a 58-year-old woman with bipolar disorder on lamotrigine for mood stabilization had a clear association of chorea induced by lamotrigine. The patient was on multiple centrally active medications. Three additional cases of lamotrigine-associated chorea were identified through a literature review. In 2 of these cases, other centrally acting agents were used, and chorea was resolved with weaning lamotrigine.
Chorea is infrequently seen in the setting of lamotrigine use. In these rare cases, the presence of other centrally acting medications with lamotrigine may contribute to chorea.
Lamotrigine use is associated with movement disorders, including chorea, but the characteristics are not clearly defined. From our retrospective review, one adult had clear temporal and dose-related association between chorea and lamotrigine. We analyzed this case in conjunction with a literature review of cases of chorea associated with lamotrigine.
Abstract
Animal models suggest that cochlear afferent nerve endings may be more vulnerable than sensory hair cells to damage from acoustic overexposure and aging. Because neural degeneration without ...hair-cell loss cannot be detected in standard clinical audiometry, whether such damage occurs in humans is hotly debated. Here, we address this debate through co-ordinated experiments in at-risk humans and a wild-type chinchilla model. Cochlear neuropathy leads to large and sustained reductions of the wideband middle-ear muscle reflex in chinchillas. Analogously, human wideband reflex measures revealed distinct damage patterns in middle age, and in young individuals with histories of high acoustic exposure. Analysis of an independent large public dataset and additional measurements using clinical equipment corroborated the patterns revealed by our targeted cross-species experiments. Taken together, our results suggest that cochlear neural damage is widespread even in populations with clinically normal hearing.
Ferredoxin: NADP+ reductase (FNR) is an FAD‐containing enzyme best known for catalysing the transfer of electrons from ferredoxin (Fd) to NADP+ to make NADPH during photosynthesis. It is also the ...prototype for a broad enzyme superfamily, including the NADPH oxidases (NOXs) that all catalyse similar FAD‐enabled electron transfers between NAD(P)H and one‐electron carriers. Here, we define further mechanistic details of the NAD(P)H ⇌ FAD hydride‐transfer step of the reaction based on spectroscopic studies and high‐resolution (~ 1.5 Å) crystallographic views of the nicotinamide–flavin interaction in crystals of corn root FNR Tyr316Ser and Tyr316Ala variants soaked with either nicotinamide, NADP+, or NADPH. The spectra obtained from FNR crystal complexes match those seen in solution and the complexes reveal active site packing interactions and patterns of covalent distortion of the FAD that imply significant active site compression that would favour catalysis. Furthermore, anisotropic B‐factors show that the mobility of the C4 atom of the nicotinamide in the FNR:NADP+ complex has a directionality matching that expected for boat‐like excursions of the nicotinamide ring thought to enhance hydride transfer. Arguments are made for the relevance of this binding mode to catalysis, and specific consideration is given to how the results extrapolate to provide insight to structure‐function relations for the membrane‐bound NOX enzymes for which little structural information has been available.
Databases
Structural data are available in the PDB database under the accession numbers 3LO8 (wild‐type), 5VW4 Y316S:nicotinamide (P3221), 5VW9 Y316S:nicotinamide (P3121), 5VW3 Y316S:NADP+ (P3221), 5VW8 Y316S:NADP+ (P3121), 5VW2 Y316S:NADPH (P3221), 5VW5 Y316A:nicotinamide (P3221), 5VW6 Y316A:NADP+ (P3221), 5VW7 Y316A:NADPH (P3221), 5VWA Y316F (P3221), and 5VWB Y316F:NADP+ (P3121). Enzyme Commission number: ferredoxin:NADP+ reductase – E C1.18.1.2.
Ferredoxin‐NADP+ reductases (FNRs) catalyse hydride transfers between NADP(H) and ferredoxin. Combined spectroscopic studies and high‐resolution crystal structures of corn root FNR with a C‐terminal aromatic placeholder residue mutated implicate active site compression – as evidenced by mobility changes, flavin distortion and short interaction distances – as a key factor promoting hydride transfer in FNRs and the broader FNR superfamily.
Abstract
This experiment compared incidence of frothy bloat, as well as ruminal, physiological, and performance responses of beef heifers receiving a bloat-provoking diet and supplemented with Yucca ...schidigera extract. Sixteen ruminally cannulated Angus-influenced heifers were ranked by body weight (BW) and assigned to 4 groups of 4 heifers each. Groups were enrolled in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design containing 4 periods of 28 d, and a 21-d washout interval between periods. Groups were assigned to receive no Y. schidigera extract (CON), or Y. schidigera extract at (as-fed basis) 1 g/heifer daily (YS1), 2 g/heifer daily (YS2), or 4 g/heifer daily (YS4). During each period, heifers (n = 16/treatment) were housed in individual pens, and fed a sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)-based bloat-provocative diet at 2% of their BW. Diet and treatments were individually fed to heifers, twice daily in equal proportions (0700 and 1600 hours). Heifers were assessed for bloat score (0 to 5 scale, increasing according to bloat severity) 3 hr after the morning feeding. Blood samples were collected on days 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 prior to (0 hr) and at 3, 6, and 9 hr relative to the morning feeding. Rumen fluid samples were collected at the same time points on days 0 and 28. Orthogonal contrasts were tested to determine whether inclusion of Y. schidigera extract (0, 1, 2, or 4 g/heifer daily) yielded linear or quadratic effects, and explore an overall effect of Y. schidigera extract supplementation (CON vs. YS1 + YS2 + YS4). Rumen fluid viscosity was impacted quadratically by Y. schidigera extract inclusion (P = 0.02), being greatest in YS1, followed by YS2, and equivalent between CON and YS4 heifers. Heifers receiving Y. schidigera extract had greater (P ≤ 0.05) rumen propionate, iso-valerate, and valerate concentrations, as well as less (P < 0.01) acetate : propionate ratio compared with CON heifers. Inclusion of Y. schidigera extract linearly increased (P ≤ 0.04) average daily gain and feed efficiency. No other treatment effects were noted (P ≥ 0.19) including bloat score (1.07 ± 0.03 across treatments), ruminal protozoa count, plasma concentrations of cortisol, haptoglobin, urea N, total protein, and rumen concentration of total volatile fatty acids. Supplementing Y. schidigera extract up to 4 g/d favored rumen propionate concentrations and linearly increased growth and feed efficiency but failed to mitigate incidence of frothy bloat in beef heifers consuming a grain-based bloat-provocative diet.
Adolescence is a period of development in neural circuits that are critical for adult functioning. There is a relationship between alcohol exposure and risky decision-making, though the enduring ...effects of adolescent ethanol exposure on risky decision-making in adulthood have not been fully explored. Studies using positive reinforcement have shown that adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure results in higher levels of risky decision-making in adulthood, but the effects of AIE on punishment-mediated decision-making have not been explored. Adolescent rats were exposed to AIE or saline vehicle across a 16-day period, and then allowed to mature into adulthood. They were then trained to lever press for food reward and were assessed for risky decision-making by pairing increased levels of food reward with the probability of footshock punishment. AIE did not alter punishment-mediated risky decision-making. However, it did result in a significant increase in the delay to lever pressing. This finding is consistent with previous reports, using other behavioral tasks, which show decreased behavioral efficiency in adulthood after AIE. These findings indicate that AIE increases behavioral inefficiency, but not punishment-mediated risk-taking, in adulthood. Thus they contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the long-term effects of AIE on adult behavior.
•Mother-infant dyads differed from one another in patterns of co-regulation following a distressing immunization procedure.•Typologies of dyadic regulation reflected specific soothing behaviors and ...the effectiveness with which the dyad worked together.•Different typologies of dyadic regulation were associated with specific maternal personality and infant temperament characteristics.•Mother and infant each actively contribute to the dynamic dyadic regulatory process.
Mother-infant dyadic emotion regulation – the joint modulation of affective rhythms as interactive partners dynamically respond to each other across time – has been shown to promote social-emotional wellbeing both during and beyond infancy. Although contributions of dyadic regulation to self-regulatory development may particularly apparent during infant distress, studies have traditionally examined dyadic regulation in low-stress contexts. The present study addresses this gap by identifying distinct patterns of mother-infant dyadic emotion regulation following a highly distressing immunization procedure and then examining how these groups differed in mother and infant personality and temperament characteristics. Mother-infant dyads (N = 131) were videotaped during a routine immunization procedure, and infant crying and maternal soothing behaviors were subsequently coded. Cluster analysis was applied to trajectories of latent states representing each dyad’s post-immunization behaviors. Results indicated five typologies of dyadic regulation following infant immunization. These typologies reflected the effectiveness with which the dyad worked together to soothe infant distress, as well as the specific maternal soothing behaviors employed. Differences in maternal personality and infant temperament among clusters indicated that both mothers and infants contributed to the dynamic regulatory process.
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