Differences in Volatile Organic Compounds Between Concussed and Non-concussed Division I Athletes.

Introduction Diagnosing a concussion is challenging because of complex and variable symptoms. Establishing a viable biomarker of injury may rely on physiologic measurements rather than symptomology. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as breath acetone have been identified as potential physiological markers that can capture changes in the utilization of energy substrates post-concussion.

Improvements in nutrition knowledge among adults with physical disabilities: A program evaluation of the mindfulness, exercise, and nutrition to optimize resilience (MENTOR) program 2020-2021.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funds a quality improvement (QI) health promotion telewellness program for adults with physical disabilities.

Objective: The nutrition component of the parent program, Mindfulness, Exercise, and Nutrition to Optimize Resilience (MENTOR) program, from 2020 to 2021, was evaluated to assess changes in nutrition knowledge of people with physical disabilities.

Methods: This was a quasi-experimental program evaluation by pre-post survey of participating adults with physical disabilities.

Antioxidant Activities of Natural Compounds from Caribbean Plants to Enhance Diabetic Wound Healing.

Diabetic wound healing is a global medical challenge. Several studies showed that delayed healing in diabetic patients is multifactorial. Nevertheless, there is evidence that excessive production of ROS and impaired ROS detoxification in diabetes are the main cause of chronic wounds.

A multi-approach inventory of the blue carbon stocks of Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows: Large scale application in Calvi Bay (Corsica, NW Mediterranean).

In Mediterranean, Posidonia oceanica develops a belowground complex structure ('matte') able to store large amounts of carbon over thousands of years. The inventory of blue carbon stocks requires the coupling of mapping techniques and in situ sediment sampling to assess the size and the variability of these stocks. This study aims to quantify the organic (C) and inorganic (C) carbon stocks in the P.

From mechanical to chemical impact of anchoring in seagrasses: The premises of anthropogenic patch generation in Posidonia oceanica meadows.

Intensive anchoring of leisure boats in seagrass meadows leads to mechanical damages. This anthropogenic impact creates bare mat patches that are not easily recolonized by the plant. Several tools are used to study human impacts on the structure of seagrass meadows but they are not able to assess the indirect and long term implication of mechanical destruction.

Habit tic nail deformity - a rare presentation in an 8 year old boy.

Habit tic nail deformity is a nail dystrophy resulting from habitual, repetitive trauma to the nail. It is usually acquired in adulthood, however, we report a case of habit tic nail deformity in an 8 year old boy. The diagnosis was made clinically with further history revealing that the boy repeatedly rubbed his thumbnails and pushed the cuticles.

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HIV VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE TO ONE'S STEADY SEXUAL PARTNER IN MALI: RESULTS FROM A COMMUNITY-BASED STUDY.

Despite the widespread dissemination of HIV information through public awareness campaigns in Mali, disclosing seropositivity to one's steady sexual partner (SSP) remains difficult for people living with HIV (PLHIV). Disclosure is a public health concern with serious implications and is also strongly linked to the quality of life of PLHIV. This study aimed to analyse factors associated with voluntary HIV disclosure to one's SSP, using a community-based cross-sectional study on 300 adult PLHIV in contact with a Malian community-based organization working in the field of AIDS response.

Towards a framework for assessment and management of cumulative human impacts on marine food webs.

Effective ecosystem-based management requires understanding ecosystem responses to multiple human threats, rather than focusing on single threats. To understand ecosystem responses to anthropogenic threats holistically, it is necessary to know how threats affect different components within ecosystems and ultimately alter ecosystem functioning. We used a case study of a Mediterranean seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) food web and expert knowledge elicitation in an application of the initial steps of a framework for assessment of cumulative human impacts on food webs.

Factors associated with HIV voluntary disclosure of people living with HIV to their steady sexual partner in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: results from a community-based participatory research.

Introduction: HIV disclosure to a steady sexual partner (SSP) is important both in preventing HIV transmission and improving the quality of life of people living with HIV (PLHIV). Its determinants have been poorly investigated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The study objective was to determine factors independently associated with voluntary disclosure to one's SSP in PLHIV receiving services from a Congolese community-based organization (CBO).

Factors associated with HIV status disclosure to one's steady sexual partner in PLHIV in Morocco.

The objective of the present study was to determine the factors independently associated with disclosure of seropositivity to one's steady sexual partner in people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are recipients of services provided by Association de Lutte Contre le Sida, a Moroccan community-based organization (CBO) working on AIDS response. Between May and October 2011, 300 PLHIV were interviewed about their sociodemographic and economic characteristics, their sexual life and disclosure of their serostatus to their friends, family and to their steady sexual partner. A weighted logistic regression was used to study factors associated with serostatus disclosure to one's steady sexual partner.

Automatic computation of electrode trajectories for Deep Brain Stimulation: a hybrid symbolic and numerical approach.

Purpose: The optimal electrode trajectory is needed to assist surgeons in planning Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). A method for image-based trajectory planning was developed and tested.

Methods: Rules governing the DBS surgical procedure were defined with geometric constraints.

Fractionation of the rice bran layer and quantification of vitamin E, oryzanol, protein, and rice bran saccharide.

Value-added processing with respect to rice milling has traditionally treated the rice bran layer as a homogenous material that contains significant concentrations of high-value components of interest for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. Investigators have shown that high-value components in the rice bran layer vary from differences in kernel-thickness, bran fraction, rice variety, and environmental conditions during the growing season. The objectives of this study were to quantify the amount of rice bran removed at pre-selected milling times and to correlate the amount of rice bran removed at each milling time with the concentration of vitamin E, gamma-oryzanol, rice bran saccharide, and protein obtained.

The impact of presumed consent legislation on cadaveric organ donation: a cross-country study.

In the U.S., Great Britain and in many other countries, the gap between the demand and the supply of human organs for transplantation is on the rise, despite the efforts of governments and health agencies to promote donor registration.

Type I interferon and TNFalpha cooperate with type II interferon for TRAIL induction and triggering of apoptosis in SK-N-MC EWING tumor cells.

Ewing's sarcoma is the second most common human bone tumor in childhood. Here, we investigated the sensitivity of the Ewing tumor cell line, SK-N-MC, to the apoptotic effect of type I (IFNalpha) and type II (IFNgamma) interferons and TNFalpha. We demonstrate that although IFNalpha and TNFalpha alone are unable to induce cell death, they act in synergy with IFNgamma to induce SK-N-MC cell apoptosis.

Involvement of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induction in interferon gamma-mediated apoptosis in Ewing tumor cells.

We investigated the effect of IFN gamma or IFN gamma/IFN alpha and IFN gamma/TNF treatment on the apoptosis of Ewing tumor cells (SK-N-MC). The results show that treatment of cells with IFN gamma resulted in 17% of cell death while no effect was observed when cells were treated with IFN alpha or TNF alone. Percentage cell death increased markedly in IFN gamma/IFN alpha- and IFN gamma/TNF-treated cells (42% and 67%, respectively) as compared to IFN gamma-treated cells.

Activation of the interferon-inducible protein kinase PKR by hepatocellular carcinoma derived-hepatitis C virus core protein.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major etiological agent of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We demonstrate herewith that HCV core proteins encoded by sequences isolated from HCC tumor tissues, but not those derived from their non-tumor counterparts in the same liver, co-localise in vitro and in vivo and co-immunoprecipitate with PKR in hepatocytic Huh7 cells. We show that this association in fact augments the autophosphorylation of PKR and the phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2alpha, which are two markers of PKR activity.

Expression of hepatitis C virus NS5A natural mutants in a hepatocytic cell line inhibits the antiviral effect of interferon in a PKR-independent manner.

The impact of hepatitis C virus NS5A protein mutations on interferon alfa (IFN-alpha) signaling pathway, cell proliferation, and viability is an important issue that is still under debate. We have therefore combined transient and stable expression in a human hepatocytic cell line (Huh7) of 3 full-length NS5A sequences, isolated from patients with or without response to IFN-alpha therapy. Expression of all 3 NS5A-reduced IFN-alpha global antiviral activity on both vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) replication.

Interferons and IRF-1 induce expression of the survival motor neuron (SMN) genes.

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a common recessive disorder, characterized by degeneration of motor neurons of the spinal cord. Deletions, conversions, or mutations of the survival motor neuron gene (SMN) are responsible for SMA. A highly homologous centromeric copy of the SMN gene (SMNc) remains intact in SMA patients.

Antagonistic action of IFN-beta and IFN-gamma on high affinity Fc gamma receptor expression in healthy controls and multiple sclerosis patients.

Monocyte-macrophage activation by IFN-gamma is characterized by a pronounced increase of high affinity Fc receptors for IgG (Fc gamma RI), capable of triggering respiratory burst, phagocytosis, Ab-dependent cytotoxicity, and release of proinflammatory cytokines. In view of the antagonism of IFN-beta on IFN-gamma action, of interest in the chronic inflammatory disorder multiple sclerosis, we examined the possible effect of IFN-beta on IFN-gamma induction of Fc gamma RI gene expression. We found that IFN-beta significantly down-regulated IFN-gamma-induced Fc gamma RI surface expression in peripheral blood monocytes from healthy donors, in a dose- and time-dependent manner.

Characterization of a constitutive type III nitric oxide synthase in human U937 monocytic cells: stimulation by soluble CD23.

The soluble cleavage fragment of the low-affinity immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptor/CD23 (sCD23 25000 MW) and antibodies directed against their receptors on monocytes, CD11b and CD11c, stimulate the production of nitric oxide (NO) by these cells and we have suggested that the enzyme involved could be related to the endothelial constitutive type III nitric oxide synthase (ecNOS). In the present work, we have analysed the characteristic properties of this NOS isoform in the model of the human promonocytic cells U937 By reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the presence of an mRNA coding for type III NOS was found in U937 cells and the corresponding protein was detected by immunofluorescence in permeabilized cells with a specific anti-ecNOS monoclonal antibody (mAb). Membrane extracts displayed a NOS activity dependent on the presence of calcium and calmodulin in the reaction medium and that was abrogated in the presence of EGTA.

Beta 2-adrenoceptor agonists regulate the IL-4-induced phenotypical changes and IgE-dependent functions in normal human monocytes.

The beta 2-adrenoceptor agonists salbutamol and fenoterol were tested for their regulatory effects on human monocyte phenotype and functions, either alone or in combination with interleukin-4 (IL-4). These drugs enhanced in a dose-dependent manner the IL-4-induced membrane and mRNA expression of the low-affinity receptor for immunoglobulin E (IgE) (CD23), as well as the release of its soluble form, sCD23. Salbutamol and fenoterol alone elicited expression of the monomorphic beta 2-chain (CD18) of the leukocyte functional antigen (LFA1) family.