Parting ways: Sex-based differences in premedical attrition.

Despite women's greater propensity to enter college aspiring to careers in medicine, they are less likely than men to persist in these ambitions. Past research suggests that students' experiences in coursework strongly influence their decision to continue along or depart from the premedical track, yet it remains unclear whether women and men have differential experiences in coursework that contribute to sex-based disparities in premedical attrition. To gain insight into whether and how premeds' experiences in coursework contribute to gendered patterns of attrition, this study employs a mixed methods design that combines longitudinal survey data collected from premedical students at a large state university with in-depth interview data collected from a subset of respondents.

Underutilization of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention Among 3-Year-Old Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Funding for early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for children with autism spectrum disorder is rapidly expanding. Yet we know little about children's utilization, and research on inequities in utilization is lacking. We examined the relationship between utilization during the first year of EIBI and (a) child race-ethnicity and (b) neighborhood characteristics.

An Owner-Independent Investigation of Diabetes Alert Dog Performance.

To quantify Diabetes Alert Dog (DAD) performance by using owner-independent measures. Eight owners of accredited DADs used a FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System (FGMS). Concurrent Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage was collected for between 5 and 14 days in each owner's home or workplace.

Temporary inactivation of the medial prefrontal cortex impairs the formation, but not the retrieval of social odor recognition memory in rats.

The hippocampus, medial dorsal thalamus and the perirhinal and entorhinal cortices are essential for visual recognition memory whereas the neural substrates underlying olfactory recognition memories are less well characterized. In the present study we combined chemogenetic inactivation with a social odor recognition memory (SORM) task to test the hypothesis that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is involved in recognition memory. We demonstrate that temporary chemogenetic inactivation of the mPFC prior to an encoding session impairs social odor recognition memory, whereas silencing the mPFC just prior to the recognition session was without effect.

Does Cellular Metabolism from Primary Fibroblasts and Oxidative Stress in Blood Differ between Mammals and Birds? The (Lack-thereof) Scaling of Oxidative Stress.

As part of mitonuclear communication, retrograde and anterograde signaling helps maintain homeostasis under basal conditions. Basal conditions, however, vary across phylogeny. At the cell-level, some mitonuclear retrograde responses can be quantified by measuring the constitutive components of oxidative stress, the balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants.

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Self-distancing in Young Children.

Self-distancing (i.e., creating mental distance between the self and a stimulus by adopting a less egocentric perspective) has been studied as a way to improve adolescents' and adults' emotion regulation.

Deterministic Quantum Emitter Formation in Hexagonal Boron Nitride via Controlled Edge Creation.

Quantum emitters (QEs) in 2D hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are extremely bright and are stable at high temperature and under harsh chemical conditions. Because they reside within an atomically thin 2D material, these QEs have a unique potential to couple strongly to hybrid optoelectromechanical and quantum devices. However, this potential for coupling has been underexplored because of challenges in nanofabrication and patterning of hBN QEs.

Health behavior changes in African American family members facing lung cancer: Tensions and compromises.

Purpose: Behavioral interventions targeting cancer survivors often fail to address the clustering of unhealthy behaviors among family members and friends, and the impact of close relationships on behavior change. The study's aim was to identify factors associated with receptivity and preferences for lifestyle behavior change among family members of African-American survivors of lung cancer.

Methods: Principles of social cognitive theory guided the design.

Scaling of Host Competence.

Body size influences many traits including those that affect host competence, the propensity to cause new infections. Here, we employ a new framework to reveal that, for at least two infections, West Nile virus and Lyme disease, large hosts should be more competent than small ones, but their lower abundance could mitigate their impacts on local risk. By contrast, for rabies, small hosts will be disproportionately more competent than large ones, an effect amplified by the higher densities of small species.

Treatment Utilization Trajectories among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Differences by Race-Ethnicity and Neighborhood.

Health coverage of early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for children with autism spectrum disorder is expanding. Yet there is no longitudinal research on patterns of or inequities in utilization of EIBI. We integrated state administrative records with Medicaid and Census data for children enrolled in an EIBI Medicaid waiver (N = 730) to identify and describe the type and prevalence of treatment utilization trajectories, and to examine the association between trajectory types and (a) child race-ethnicity and (b) neighborhood racial composition, poverty, affluence, and urbanicity.

Genome-Scale Sequence Disruption Following Biolistic Transformation in Rice and Maize.

Biolistic transformation delivers nucleic acids into plant cells by bombarding the cells with microprojectiles, which are micron-scale, typically gold particles. Despite the wide use of this technique, little is known about its effect on the cell's genome. We biolistically transformed linear 48-kb phage lambda and two different circular plasmids into rice () and maize () and analyzed the results by whole genome sequencing and optical mapping.

Behavioral Health Service Use by Military Children During Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.

Medical claims were analyzed from 2810 military children who visited a civilian emergency department (ED) or hospital from 2000 to 2014 with behavioral health as the primary diagnosis and TRICARE as the primary/secondary payer. Visit prevalence was estimated annually and categorized: 2000-2002 (pre-deployment), 2003-2008 (first post-deployment), 2009-2014 (second post-deployment). Age was categorized: preschoolers (0-4 years), school-aged (5-11 years), adolescents (12-17 years).

The diagnostic role of triple endoscopy in pediatric patients with chronic cough.

Objective/hypothesis: Multi-disciplinary aero-digestive centers provide high quality health care through improved outcomes and treatment costs over separate sub specialty clinics. These outcomes are often the result of a common investigative tool known as triple endoscopy: a rigid bronchoscopy performed by an otolaryngologist, flexible bronchoscopy and lavage obtained by a pulmonologist, and an endoscopy with guided biopsies performed by a gastroenterologist. Combining such procedures into one 'triple endoscopy' allows for diagnoses which otherwise might have been missed with just one procedure.

A phylogenomic resolution of the sea urchin tree of life.

Background: Echinoidea is a clade of marine animals including sea urchins, heart urchins, sand dollars and sea biscuits. Found in benthic habitats across all latitudes, echinoids are key components of marine communities such as coral reefs and kelp forests. A little over 1000 species inhabit the oceans today, a diversity that traces its roots back at least to the Permian.

Depressive symptoms, burnout, and declining medical career interest among undergraduate pre-medical students.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between mental health issues and medical career interest among undergraduate premedical students, and to explore whether this association varies by gender.

Methods: A longitudinal survey of freshman and sophomore premedical students at Indiana University was conducted during the 2015-16 academic year. Survey data were collected from 390 respondents via an online questionnaire (response rate=14%) in September 2015, and 292 of these respondents participated in the follow-up survey in April 2016 (retention rate=75%).

The anti-cancer effect of retinoic acid signaling in CRC occurs via decreased growth of ALDH+ colon cancer stem cells and increased differentiation of stem cells.

Background: Tumorigenesis is driven by stem cell (SC) overpopulation. Because ALDH is both a marker for SCs in many tissues and a key enzyme in retinoid acid (RA) signaling, we studied RA signaling in normal and malignant colonic SCs.

Hypothesis: RA signaling regulates growth and differentiation of ALDH+ colonic SCs; dysregulation of RA signaling contributes to SC overpopulation and colorectal cancer (CRC) development.

Voluntary exercise or systemic propranolol ameliorates stress-related maladaptive behaviors in female rats.

Many people will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, with up to 20% developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or PTSD-like symptoms. In addition, the likelihood that females will develop PTSD after trauma is more than twice that of males. Despite its prevalence, current treatment strategies for trauma victims are limited and substantial portions of affected individuals remain resistant to treatment, suggesting that additional interventions are necessary.

A cluster randomized controlled trial to test the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a family dementia caregiver intervention in Vietnam: The REACH VN study protocol.

Background: Resources for Enhancing All Caregivers Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs (REACH VA) is an evidence-based intervention supporting family dementia caregivers that has been shown to improve caregiver outcomes for culturally diverse populations in the United States. However, this model has not been tested in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) including Vietnam, where community-based psychosocial interventions are urgently needed. The objectives of this study are to assess the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a culturally adapted version of the Resources for Enhancing All Caregivers Health in Vietnam (REACH VN).

Why Are Community Stakeholders Pressing for a Call to Action to Curtail the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the South?

As the South is disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS compared to other U.S. regions, Southerners are more likely to contract HIV and, given barriers to care, are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality.

Links between blood parasites, blood chemistry, and the survival of nestling American crows.

Many studies have used the avian hemosporidians (, , and ) to test hypotheses of host-parasite co-evolution, yet documented health and survival consequences of these blood parasites vary among studies and generalizations about their pathogenicity are debatable. In general, the negative effects of the hemosporidians are likely to be greatest during acute infections of young birds, yet most previous studies in wild passerines have examined chronic effects in adults. Here, we evaluated responses of nestling American crows () to acute infection (prevalence and burden), as well as its short- and long-term survival consequences.

Apparent inbreeding preference despite inbreeding depression in the American crow.

Although matings between relatives can have negative effects on offspring fitness, apparent inbreeding preference has been reported in a growing number of systems, including those with documented inbreeding depression. Here, we examined evidence for inbreeding depression and inbreeding preference in two populations (Clinton, New York, and Davis, California, USA) of the cooperatively breeding American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). We then compared observed inbreeding strategies with theoretical expectations for optimal, adaptive levels of inbreeding, given the inclusive fitness benefits and population-specific magnitude of inbreeding depression.

Clinical Experience with Cerebrospinal Fluid Aβ42, Total and Phosphorylated Tau in the Evaluation of 1,016 Individuals for Suspected Dementia.

Background: Elevated total tau (tTau), 181-phosphorylated phosphorylated tau (pTau), and low amyloid-β42 (Aβ42) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) represent a diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objective: The goal was to determine the overall accuracy of CSF Aβ42, tTau, pTau, and the Aβ42/total tau index (ATI) in a non-research, clinical setting for the diagnosis of AD.

Methods: From medical records in 1,016 patients that had CSF studies for dementia over a 12-year period (2005 to 2017), we calculated the sensitivity and specificity of CSF Aβ42, tTau, and pTau and the ATI in relation to the final clinical diagnosis.

Gene expression across tissues, sex, and life stages in the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla [Toxopneustidae, Odontophora, Camarodonta].

The pan-tropical sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla is an ecologically and economically important shallow water algal grazer. The aquaculture of T. gratilla has spurred growing interest in the population biology of the species, and by extension the generation of more molecular resources.

IUCN Conservation Status Does Not Predict Glucocorticoid Concentrations in Reptiles and Birds.

Circulating glucocorticoids (GCs) are the most commonly used biomarkers of stress in wildlife. However, their utility as a tool for identifying and/or managing at-risk species has varied. Here, we took a very broad approach to conservation physiology, asking whether International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listing status (concern versus no obvious concern) and/or location within a geographic range (edge versus non-edge) predicted baseline and post-restraint concentrations of corticosterone (CORT) among many species of birds and reptiles.