Calcium Imaging of Non-adherent Cells.

Live-cell imaging can reveal dynamic and multimodal cell signaling by monitoring calcium flux. Spatiotemporal changes in Ca concentrations instigate specific downstream processes and by categorizing these events, we can examine the language cells use to communicate both to themselves and with each other. Thus, calcium imaging is an understandably popular and versatile technique that relies on high-resolution optical data as measured by fluorescence intensity.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: Key targets for attenuating neurodegenerative diseases.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are master regulators of immune functions via the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway and are expressed in microglia, the brain's resident immune cells. There is an extensive dialogue between the neurons and the glial cells around them from which microglia are tasked with monitoring, nurturing, and defending their microenvironment. Dysregulation of any of these processes can have devastating and long-lasting consequences involving microglia-mediated neuroinflammation associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease, amongst others.

Using Visual Thinking Strategies to Support Development of Pharmacy Student Competency in Person-Centered Care.

To evaluate the introduction of 10 Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) sessions into year 2 of a Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) program with the aim of assisting students in developing the skills and attitudes required for inclusive practice. The evaluation used a cross-sectional study design. All members of the first two successive student cohorts to complete multiple VTS sessions completed a 38-item online reflective questionnaire exploring student perceptions of competency development, transference, and session acceptability.

A method for high-content functional imaging of intracellular calcium responses in gelatin-immobilized non-adherent cells.

Functional imaging of the intracellular calcium concentration [Ca] using fluorescent indicators is a powerful and frequently applied method for assessing various biological questions in vitro, including ion channel function and intracellular signaling in homeostasis and disease. In functional [Ca] imaging experiments, the fluorescence intensity of single cells is typically recorded during application of a chemical stimulus, i.e.

Promoting Health Equity And Population Health: How Americans' Views Differ.

To increase understanding of what Americans think about personal and public health, a national survey of US adults was conducted in 2015-16 to develop a typology of values and beliefs. The survey was commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for its Culture of Health initiative. Six specific population groupings, or segments, were identified.

Funding for change: New Zealand pharmacists' views on, and experiences of, the community pharmacy services agreement.

Objective: To explore pharmacist's views on the shift in ethos, funding and service delivery model introduced through the New Zealand's Community Pharmacy Services Agreement (CPSA).

Methods: A purposive sampling approach drew pharmacists from a matrix who were then contacted via telephone and invited to be interviewed. Semistructured interviews were conducted face-to-face with community pharmacists (n = 17) across urban and rural New Zealand.

A qualitative evaluation of general practitioners' perceptions regarding access to medicines in New Zealand.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate general practitioners' (GPs) perceptions regarding access to medicines in New Zealand.

Design: Qualitative.

Setting: Primary care.

Using a Toolbox of tailored educational lessons to improve fruit, vegetable, and physical activity behaviors among African American women in California.

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of the Fruit, Vegetable, and Physical Activity Toolbox for Community Educators (Toolbox), an intervention originally designed for Spanish- and English-speaking audiences, in changing knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among low-income African American women.

Design: Quasi-experimental design with treatment and control groups.

Setting: Four community-based organizations and direct health service provider sites.

Ocular loiasis in London 2008-2009: a case series.

Purpose: To report three cases of Loa loa infestation presenting over the course of 12 months to ophthalmology departments in the South West Thames region around London.

Methods: Case series (three case histories are described) and literature review.

Results: All three patients had a history of travel to West Africa.

Genotype analysis of polymorphisms in autoimmune susceptibility genes, CTLA-4 and PTPN22, in an acute anterior uveitis cohort.

Purpose: Acute anterior uveitis (AAU) is the most common form of uveitis and is thought to be autoimmune in nature. Recent studies have described genes that act as master controllers of autoimmunity. Protein tyrosine phosphatase type 22 (PTPN22) and Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) are two of these genes, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes encoding these molecules have been associated with several autoimmune diseases.

CTLA-4 polymorphisms are not associated with ocular inflammatory disease.

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is regarded with other molecules such as HLA, PTPN22 and CARD15 as genetic master switches of autoimmunity. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes encoding these molecules have been associated with autoimmune conditions. We analysed the SNPs -318C/T and 49A/G in CTLA-4 in patients with Behcet's disease (BD), patients with intermediate uveitis and appropriate controls.

Identifying compliance issues with prescription medicines among older people: a pilot study.

Background: Older people are at greater risk from polypharmacy and adverse effects due to interactions and altered pharmacokinetics. They may also have greater difficulty managing their medicines and complying with dosage regimens for various reasons.

Objective: To identify the types of medicine compliance issues that occur among older people.

Cigar and smokeless tobacco use in the lesbian, gay, and bisexual population.

Large population-based studies of alternative tobacco use in the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population are needed to more fully measure tobacco use outcomes. This descriptive study used standard measures of alternative tobacco use from two separate, statewide household-based studies to compare basic prevalence rates in the LGB population and the general population in California. A total of 1,950 adult lesbians, bisexual women, heterosexual women who have sex with women, gay men, bisexual men, and heterosexual men who have sex with men, all living in California, completed surveys between 2003 and 2004.

Disparities in smoking between the lesbian, gay, and bisexual population and the general population in California.

Objectives: We conducted a large, population-based study to assess tobacco use in California's lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population.

Methods: Standard measures of tobacco use from 2 separate, statewide household-based studies were used to compare basic prevalence rates in the LGB population and the general population in California. Data were derived from a 2003-2004 survey of LGB individuals living in California as well as from the 2002 version of the California Tobacco Survey, which gathered data on the state's general population.

Patient-centered Communication survey of nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.

A surge of research has recently been published on the importance ofpatient-centered communication (P-CC). However, patients with communication disorders are rarely considered in these discussions. Health care workers in long-term care facilities (L-TCFs) and rehabilitation centers were surveyed in order to: (1) assess the level of P-CC used with people with communication disorders versus those without communication disorders; (2) identify the tools and strategies currently used by health care providers in long-term care facilities and rehabilitation centers to enhance P-CC with people with communication disorders; (3) assess the perceived level of efectiveness of these tools and strategies; and (4) identify the tools desired by health care providers in these settings.

A preliminary investigation of barriers to achieving patient-centered communication with patients who have stroke-related communication disorders.

This article reports on research investigating barriers to achieving patient-centered communication (PCC) with patients who have stroke-related communication disorders. A focus group, including people who had strokes and their family members, identified PCC issues they encounter when communicating with health care providers. The two key themes that emerged from this research were the desire to be treated with respect and the importance of allowing adequate time for a person with a speech disorder to communicate.

State level classification of serious mental illness: a case for a more uniform standard.

This study reports a national survey of U.S. states that was conducted from July of 1999 through March of 2001.

Insulin signaling inhibits the 5-HT2C receptor in choroid plexus via MAP kinase.

Background: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) interact with heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) to modulate acute changes in intracellular messenger levels and ion channel activity. In contrast, long-term changes in cellular growth, proliferation and differentiation are often mediated by tyrosine kinase receptors and certain GPCRs by activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases. Complex interactions occur between these signaling pathways, but the specific mechanisms of such regulatory events are not well-understood.

Design and implementation of a vegetarian food system for a closed chamber test.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is conducting a series of closed chamber environmental tests, called the Lunar Mars Life Support Test Project (LMLSTP), which is designed to provide data for the development of surface habitats for the Moon and Mars. These surface habitats will be closed loop environmental systems that will recycle air and water and will grow crops to provide food for crew members. In conjunction with these tests, the Food Systems Engineering Facility at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) tested a 10-day vegetarian menu based on items that can be made from the projected crop list for these habitats.

The continuing HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men.

Objectives: This study characterized the AIDS epidemic among urban men who have sex with men (MSM).

Methods: A probability sample of MSM was obtained in 1997 (n = 2881; 18 years and older) from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco, and HIV status was determined through self-report and biological measures.

Results: HIV prevalence was 17% (95% confidence interval = 15%, 19%) overall, with extremely high levels in African Americans (29%), MSM who used injection drugs (40%), "ultraheavy" noninjection drug users (32%), and less educated men (< high school, 37%).

The human mu opioid receptor: modulation of functional desensitization by calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase and protein kinase C.

Opioids are some of the most efficacious analgesics used in humans. Prolonged administration of opioids, however, often causes the development of drug tolerance, thus limiting their effectiveness. To explore the molecular basis of those mechanisms that may contribute to opioid tolerance, we have isolated a cDNA for the human mu opioid receptor, the target of such opioid narcotics as morphine, codeine, methadone, and fentanyl.

Characterization of the cloned human mu opioid receptor.

Opioid drugs exert a wide spectrum of physiological and behavioral effects, including effects on pain perception, mood, motor control and autonomic functions. The effects of opioids are mediated via a family of membrane-bound receptors, of which the most extensively characterized are the mu, delta and kappa receptors. We have now cloned the human homolog of the mu opioid receptor and, in the present study, we have examined its pharmacological profile.

Analysis of the promoter sequence and the transcription initiation site of the mouse 5-HT1C serotonin receptor gene.

The serotonin 1c (5-HT1C) receptor is found in many brain regions, but is particularly enriched on the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus. A major challenge in neurobiology is to delineate the molecular processes that regulate the specific pattern of neuronal gene expression in the brain. As an initial step towards identifying cis-acting DNA sequences that control the expression of the 5-HT1C receptor, we have isolated the promoter sequence of its gene.

Changes in condom use among homosexual men in San Francisco.

Employed data from two longitudinal surveys of gay men in San Francisco (a) to examine for cohort (Study 1) and attrition (Studies 1 and 2) bias effects on reported changes in condom use by gay men and (b) to investigate predictors of condom use (Study 2). Substantial increases in condom use were observed, and these changes were unrelated to attrition and cohort bias. In terms of predictors of condom use, men who always used condoms had higher levels of social support from informal sources of help, had more positive expectations that condoms would have positive interpersonal and personal consequences, and were more likely to be HIV positive than men who used condoms occasionally or never.