School-Entry Vaccine Policies: States' Responses To Federal Recommendations Varied From Swift To Substantially Delayed.

School-entry immunization requirements are a valuable strategy to reduce the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases. This research examined the temporal relationship between recommendations issued by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and corresponding school-entry requirements adopted by states for adolescent meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) and tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccines. A legal epidemiological review of statutes, regulations, and state agency guidance identified school-entry policies across fifty states and Washington, D.

Stress and Depression in Ohio Social Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Buffering Role of Social Connectedness.

Although social workers have an elevated risk of infection with COVID-19, no previous studies have investigated the virus's impact on practitioners. Using survey data (N = 441), this study identified associations between stress, depression, and COVID-related factors and explored the role of social connectedness as a moderator for mental health among Ohio social workers. The results of the study showed that among social workers with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, 70 percent experienced moderate/high levels of stress, and 37 percent met the criteria for clinical depressive symptoms.

Substance use disorders among adults who are deaf or hard of hearing in the United States.

Background: There has been limited research on substance use disorders (SUDs) among individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). This study explored associations among activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, major depressive episode, risk perceptions for substance use, religiosity, and past-year SUDs within the DHH population.

Methods: Data was drawn from the 2015-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 214,505) to compare rates of past-year SUDs between DHH (weighted % = 5.

Exploring the formation of treatment program director perceptions on entry-level social workers' substance use treatment capacities in New York.

This article examines how program directors of substance use treatment providers in New York state form their perceptions on the overall substance use treatment service delivery capacities of newly graduated, entry-level social workers. The study discussed consisted of a cross-sectional, quantitative survey of treatment program directors in New York state ( = 245). Program directors were asked to rate entry-level social workers' treatment skills, knowledge of treatment concepts, and overall preparedness to deliver treatment services in the field upon first entering the professional workforce.

The state of substance use education in Master of Social Work programs: A content analysis of course listings and faculty profiles.

Substance use is currently a pervasive problem among a large proportion of populations served by the social work profession. Several studies have indicated that social workers routinely provide services to clients with direct and indirect substance use needs, making knowledge of substance use interventions and public policies a necessity for social workers to operate effectively in the field. However, despite the regularity of interaction with substance using clients, previous research has suggested that a significant deficit of substance use education currently exists in Master of Social Work (MSW) programs.

Cellulose Solubility in Ionic Liquid Mixtures: Temperature, Cosolvent, and Antisolvent Effects.

Select ionic liquids (ILs) dissolve significant quantities of cellulose through disruption and solvation of inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds. In this study, thermodynamic solid-liquid equilibrium was measured with microcrystalline cellulose in a model IL, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethyl phosphate ([EMIm][DEP]) and mixtures with protic antisolvents and aprotic cosolvents between 40 and 120 °C. The solubility of cellulose in pure [EMIm][DEP] exhibits an asymptotic maximum of approximately 20 mass % above 100 °C.

Reversible and non-reactive cellulose separations from ionic liquid mixtures with compressed carbon dioxide.

A novel physical (non-reactive) separation of cellulose from an ionic liquid (IL)/cosolvent mixture by compressed carbon dioxide is presented. The precipitation is completely reversible and rapid within small changes of pressure i.e.

Single port access transumbilical laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass using the SILS Port: first reported case.

The emergence of natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) has brought significantly more attention to the single-incision transumbilical laparoscopic approach (SILS) for minimally invasive surgery. SILS combines the cosmetic advantage of NOTES with the technical familiarity of the conventional multiport laparoscopic approach. Additionally, SILS does not involve penetration of an organ, nor does it involve the steep learning curve and costly instruments associated with NOTES.

Development and validation of a comprehensive new hepatobiliary software. Part II: Segmental liver function.

Objective: This study was undertaken to develop comprehensive new hepatobiliary software to quantify segmental and lobar liver function and to obtain FDA approval.

Methods: Hepatobiliary software written on JAVA platform and loaded on to a PC accepts 99mTc-HIDA dicom image data transferred from a gamma camera. Liver boundary was determined by threshold-based auto edge detection and liver height at right midclavicular (RMCL) line.

Reduced serum dipeptidyl peptidase-IV after metformin and pioglitazone treatments.

Dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) regulates metabolism by degrading incretins involved in nutritional regulation. Metformin and pioglitazone improve insulin sensitivity whereas glyburide promotes insulin secretion. Zucker diabetic rats were treated with these antidiabetic agents for 2 weeks and DPP-IV activity and expression were determined.

The orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR40 is activated by medium and long chain fatty acids.

GPR40 is a member of a subfamily of homologous G protein-coupled receptors that include GPR41 and GPR43 and that have no current function or ligand ascribed. Ligand fishing experiments in HEK293 cells expressing human GPR40 revealed that a range of saturated and unsaturated carboxylic acids with carbon chain lengths greater than six were able to induce an elevation of [Ca(2+)](i), measured using a fluorometric imaging plate reader. 5,8,11-Eicosatriynoic acid was the most potent fatty acid tested, with a pEC(50) of 5.

Discrimination against purine-pyrimidine mispairs in the polymerase active site of DNA polymerase I: a structural explanation.

We previously identified five derivatives of Klenow fragment DNA polymerase that have lower fidelity because of amino acid substitutions in the polymerase active site. One of these has alanine substituted for the invariant Glu-710, whose side chain interacts with the deoxyribose of the incoming dNTP. Here we show that the E710A enzyme has reduced fidelity for five of the 12 possible mismatches.

Development of a high throughput in vitro toxicity screen predictive of high acute in vivo toxic potential.

At an early stage of drug discovery high throughput screens are an invaluable tool to de-select compounds with undesirable properties. A high throughout in vitro toxicity screen has been developed and validated to identify compounds that have a high potential to be acutely toxic in vivo. This screen is based on treating Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with test compounds for 24 h and then determining the degree of cytotoxicity by the reduction of Resazurin.

Side chains that influence fidelity at the polymerase active site of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment).

To investigate the interactions that determine DNA polymerase accuracy, we have measured the fidelity of 26 mutants with amino acid substitutions in the polymerase domain of a 3'-5'-exonuclease-deficient Klenow fragment. Most of these mutant polymerases synthesized DNA with an apparent fidelity similar to that of the wild-type control, suggesting that fidelity at the polymerase active site depends on highly specific enzyme-substrate interactions and is not easily perturbed. In addition to the previously studied Y766A mutator, four novel base substitution mutators were identified; they are R668A, R682A, E710A, and N845A.

A thumb subdomain mutant of the large fragment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I with reduced DNA binding affinity, processivity, and frameshift fidelity.

In Klenow fragment DNA polymerase, a flexible 50-amino acid subdomain at the tip of the thumb which includes two alpha helices has been suggested to interact with the duplex template-primer (Beese, L.S., Derbyshire, V.

Role of the "helix clamp" in HIV-1 reverse transcriptase catalytic cycling as revealed by alanine-scanning mutagenesis.

Residues 259-284 of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase exhibit sequence homology with other nucleic acid polymerases and have been termed the "helix clamp" (Hermann, T., Meier, T., Gotte, M.

DNA synthesis errors, mutators and cancer.

To quote Drake et al (1983), "The list of mutagenic mechanisms is long, and it is far more difficult to write the encyclopedia of all possible errors than the few chapters of correct procedures". We are just beginning to appreciate the "correct procedures" for replication and repair, and these require more than a "few chapters" to describe (for two excellent recent texts, see Friedberg et al, 1995 and DePamphilis, in press). Here we have considered several of the key steps and principles for high fidelity DNA synthesis and how these may be perturbed to destabilize the genome.

The fidelity of the human leading and lagging strand DNA replication apparatus with 8-oxodeoxyguanosine triphosphate.

A product of oxidative metabolism, 8-oxodeoxyguanosine triphosphate (8-O-dGTP), readily pairs with adenine during DNA replication, ultimately causing A.T-->C.G transversions.

DNA replication fidelity with 8-oxodeoxyguanosine triphosphate.

Oxidative metabolism is known to generate mutagenic compounds within cells, among which is 8-oxodeoxyguanosine. Here the mutagenic potential of the triphosphate form of this base analog (8-O-dGTP) is investigated during replication in vitro of the lacZ alpha-complementation sequence in M13mp2 DNA. Adding 8-O-dGTP at equimolar concentration with the normal dNTPs to polymerization reactions decreases the fidelity of DNA synthesis by exonuclease-deficient Klenow, T4, and Thermus thermophilus DNA polymerases.

Sequencing of double-stranded polymerase chain reaction products for mutation analysis.

This report describes a reproducible, straightforward approach to sequencing double-stranded DNA products from the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for analysis of mutations. The sequencing protocol is a modification of that published by Kretz (Kretz et al., 1989) and has been successful in the hands of a number of investigators working on diverse projects.

Specificity of bischloroethylnitrosourea-induced mutation in a Chinese hamster ovary cell line transformed to express human O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase.

The human O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase complementary DNA was transfected into the alkyltransferase-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cell line, D422, in an effort to dissect the underlying mechanisms of bischloroethylnitrosourea (BCNU)-induced mutations. The alkyltransferase-transformed cell line exhibited 100-fold protection against BCNU-induced toxicity and an overall decrease in mutation frequency to 25% of that observed in the parental cell line at the hemizygous adenine phosphoribosyl transferase gene target. The frequency of the predominant mutation in the parental cell line, the G:C-->T:A transversion, was reduced from 16 x 10(-6) to 0.

Mutational specificity of 1,3-bis-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea in a Chinese hamster ovary cell line.

The mutational specificity of the alkylating agent 1-3-bis-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) was analyzed at the endogenous hemizygous adenine phosphoribosyl transferase gene of the Chinese hamster ovary cell line D422. A 1-h treatment of the Chinese hamster ovary cells with 50 microM BCNU resulted in a toxicity level of 62% and induced mutation at this target with a frequency of 32.1 mutants/10(6) survivors (6-fold above background).

Cancer Program Administrators' survey results.

In summary, cancer programs across the country have been developing since 1975. A more formal organizational structure has been adopted to program activities since 1980. The full-time Cancer Program Administrator position exists in about one-third of the programs reporting.