Flow-Mediated Dilation Decreases in Women, but not Men, Following Mild Acute Intermittent Hypoxia.

Acute, intermittent exposure to mild hypoxia increases sympathetic nervous system activity, decreases arterial shear rate, and increases blood pressure (BP) in young men. Given the BP raising effects of intermittent hypoxia (IH) are less evident in young women, we sought to examine the influence of sex on macro- and microvascular function following IH. BP, macrovascular function (brachial artery flow-mediated dilation [FMD]), microvascular function (reactive hyperemia area under the curve [RHAUC]), and brachial artery shear rate (shear rate area under the curve [SRAUC]) were measured before and following 30 minutes of IH in 18 young adults (8 women, 23±5y).

Heart rate variability between hormone phases of the menstrual and oral contraceptive pill cycles of young women.

Introduction: The interplay between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system contribute to adequate hemodynamic responses to stressors, reflected by the variation in intervals between heart beats, known as heart rate variability. The sex hormones estrogen and progesterone have been shown to affect autonomic function. The extent to which autonomic function may vary between different hormone phases of the natural menstrual cycle and how this relationship may differ in women taking oral contraceptives has yet to be fully elucidated.

HILPDA promotes NASH-driven HCC development by restraining intracellular fatty acid flux in hypoxia.

Background & Aims: The prevalence of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-driven hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is rising rapidly, yet its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, we aim to determine the role of hypoxia-inducible lipid droplet associated protein (HILPDA)/hypoxia-inducible gene 2 (HIG2), a selective inhibitor of intracellular lipolysis, in NASH-driven HCC.

Methods: The clinical significance of HILPDA was assessed in human NASH-driven HCC specimens by immunohistochemistry and transcriptomics analyses.

Morphological and transcriptional effects of crude oil and dispersant exposure on the marine sponge Cinachyrella alloclada.

Marine sponges play important roles in benthic ecosystems. More than providing shelter and food to other species, they help maintain water quality by regulating nitrogen and ammonium levels in the water, and bioaccumulate heavy metals. This system, however, is particularly sensitive to sudden environmental changes including catastrophic pollution event such as oil spills.

Beverage Characteristics Perceived as Healthy among Hispanic and African-American Parents of Young Children.

Background: It is recommended that children younger than 6 years of age avoid sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs); yet, 25% of toddlers and 45% of preschool-aged children consume SSBs on a given day, with the highest intakes reported among Hispanic and African-American children.

Objective: To investigate characteristics that predominantly low-income Hispanic and African-American parents perceive to reflect a healthy beverage, and to examine the influence of these characteristics on parents' perceptions of the beverages they provide to their young children.

Design: This study consisted of two activities: a qualitative activity where parents (n = 102) were asked to report what characteristics they perceive to reflect a healthy beverage and a quantitative activity where parents (n = 96) indicated the extent to which each of the reported characteristics influence parents' perceptions of the beverages they provide to their young children.

Understanding Physical Activity Patterns Across the School Day in Urban Pre-Kindergarten and Elementary Schoolchildren.

Purpose: Despite recommendations that children accrue ≥60 min/day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), numerous barriers may exist. We examined school-day MVPA patterns in lower-income children (pre-K to 5th grade) to determine whether they were meeting the minimum school-day guidelines of at least 30-min/day of MVPA and to identify opportunities for intervention.

Methods: Students (N = 629, pre-K-5th grade) from 4 urban schools wore Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers over 2 school days.

Feasibility and acceptability of a randomized controlled trial to investigate withdrawal symptoms in response to caffeinated sugary drink cessation among children.

Background: Sugary drinks (SDs) are key contributors to excess added sugar intake and the predominant source of caffeine among children. Chronic caffeine intake causes dependence, and evidence for sugar dependence is emerging. Development of withdrawal symptoms may pose an obstacle to SD cessation among children.

SODA MAPS: A Framework for Understanding Caffeinated Sugary Drink Consumption Among Children.

Excess sugary drink (SD) consumption is associated with childhood obesity and development of cardiometabolic disease. In addition to having high added sugar content, many SDs also contain caffeine, which may further encourage excess SD consumption among children. The objective of this study was to develop a conceptual framework of children's caffeinated SD consumption using group concept mapping, an applied social research multimethodology that collectively harnesses qualitative and quantitative data from participants to generate a visual representation of their ideas and input.

SWEET MAPS: A Conceptualization of Low-Calorie Sweetener Consumption Among Young Adults.

Background: The extent to which low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) are helpful or harmful for weight management and metabolic health is unclear, because LCS effects may depend on the context in which they are consumed.

Objective: To develop a conceptual framework for LCS consumption.

Methods: Young adults ages 18-35 y, who reported LCS consumption, were recruited from a private, urban, university in the mid-Atlantic United States.

MicroRNA and mRNA Transcriptome Profiling in Primary Human Astrocytes Infected with Borrelia burgdorferi.

Lyme disease is caused by infection with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), which is transmitted to humans by deer ticks. The infection manifests usually as a rash and minor systemic symptoms; however, the bacteria can spread to other tissues, causing joint pain, carditis, and neurological symptoms. Lyme neuroborreliosis presents itself in several ways, such as Bell's palsy, meningitis, and encephalitis.

The Relationship between Depression Severity and Cognitive Errors.

Cognitive errors (CEs) are evidenced to be related to depressive thinking in major depressive disorder (Beck Et Al., 1979; Dozois & Beck, 2008). Studies using self-report questionnaires demonstrate that CEs are more prevalent in individuals with depression than in non-depressed individuals (Gupta & Kar, 2008) and that CEs are related to depression severity (Miranda & Mennin, 2007).

Changes in Cognitive Errors Over the Course of Cognitive Therapy for Depression.

Cognitive therapy (CT) aims to treat major depression symptomatology by restructuring the patients' cognitive distortions to more adaptive thinking patterns. This study examined changes in cognitive errors (CEs) as patients undergo CT for depression. Forty-five participants were assessed at early and late therapy for CEs using the Cognitive Errors Rating System (Drapeau, Perry, & Dunkley, 2008) and for depression using the Beck Depression Inventory (A.

Glycoengineering of Chinese hamster ovary cells for enhanced erythropoietin N-glycan branching and sialylation.

Sialic acid, a terminal residue on complex N-glycans, and branching or antennarity can play key roles in both the biological activity and circulatory lifetime of recombinant glycoproteins of therapeutic interest. In order to examine the impact of glycosyltransferase expression on the N-glycosylation of recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO), a human α2,6-sialyltransferase (ST6Gal1) was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells. Sialylation increased on both EPO and CHO cellular proteins as observed by SNA lectin analysis, and HPLC profiling revealed that the sialic acid content of total glycans on EPO increased by 26%.

Two distinct microbial communities revealed in the sponge Cinachyrella.

Marine sponges are vital components of benthic and coral reef ecosystems, providing shelter and nutrition for many organisms. In addition, sponges act as an essential carbon and nutrient link between the pelagic and benthic environment by filtering large quantities of seawater. Many sponge species harbor a diverse microbial community (including Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryotes), which can constitute up to 50% of the sponge biomass.

Women who sexually offend display three main offense styles: a reexamination of the descriptive model of female sexual offending.

This study examined a theory constructed to describe the offense process of women who sexually offend-the Descriptive Model of Female Sexual Offending (DMFSO). In particular, this report sets out to establish whether the original three pathways (or offending styles) identified within United Kingdom convicted female sexual offenders and described within the DMFSO (i.e.

Tolerance to cannabinoid-induced behaviors in mice treated chronically with ethanol.

Rationale: Chronic ethanol (EtOH) treatment decreases the motor-impairing effects of cannabinoids and downregulates the cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor. However, these studies have been limited to measures of ataxia and analysis of CB1 expression from whole-brain or hippocampal preparations.

Objective: To more fully assess the interactions between ethanol and cannabinoids, a tetrad of four well-characterized cannabinoid-induced behaviors (hypolocomotion, antinociception, hypothermia, and catalepsy) was measured in mice following EtOH treatment.

Defensive flexibility and its relation to symptom severity, depression, and anxiety.

Numerous studies have examined which individual defense mechanisms are related with mental health, and which are linked with psychopathology. However, the idea that a flexible use of defensive mechanisms is related to psychological wellbeing remained a clinical assumption, which this study sought to test empirically. A total of 62 (N = 62) outpatients participated in the study and were assessed with the Symptom Checklist-90R and the Social Adjustment Self-rated Scale.

The implicit theories of rape-prone men: an information-processing investigation.

It has been hypothesised that sexual offenders hold offence-supportive implicit theories (ITs) or schemata. This study aims to determine whether rape-prone men hold the same offence-supportive ITs as those that have been identified in rapists. This study adopts both an explicit and an implicit measure of ITs (a lexical decision task).

Single and multidose pharmacokinetic study of a vaginal micronized progesterone insert (Endometrin) compared with vaginal gel in healthy reproductive-aged female subjects.

Objective: To determine pharmacokinetic profiles of two times a day and three times a day dosage regimens of Endometrin, a micronized progesterone vaginal insert for luteal support in assisted reproductive technology, compared with a gel.

Design: A single-center, randomized, open-label, single-day, and multiple-day (5 days) parallel design pharmacokinetic study.

Setting: University clinical research unit.

Client relationship incidents in early therapy: doorways to collaborative engagement.

The purpose of this study was to elaborate how clients understand the development of the alliance and to highlight aspects of the process particular to depressed clients working with experienced therapists. Fifteen participants described critical incidents in early therapy that influenced how they understood their working relationships with therapists. All incidents involved clients appraising what their therapists were doing.

Therapist technique and patient defensive functioning in ultra-brief psychodynamic psychotherapy: a Lag sequential analysis.

This study examined the association between therapist interventions, including interpretations, and patient defensive functioning. The first session of 32 (n = 32) Brief Psychodynamic Interventions were rated for therapist interventions and patient defensive functioning. Lag sequential analysis was used to determine if (a) there are organized sequences of therapist interventions; (b) there are predictable sequences in the patients' level of defensive functioning; (c) there are sequences of therapist interventions leading to change in the patients' defensive functioning; and (d) there are levels of patient defensive functioning leading to organized therapist response.