Data characterizing the chloroplast genomes of extinct and endangered Hawaiian endemic mints (Lamiaceae) and their close relatives.

These data are presented in support of a plastid phylogenomic analysis of the recent radiation of the Hawaiian endemic mints (Lamiaceae), and their close relatives in the genus Stachys, "The quest to resolve recent radiations: Plastid phylogenomics of extinct and endangered Hawaiian endemic mints (Lamiaceae)" [1]. Here we describe the chloroplast genome sequences for 12 mint taxa. Data presented include summaries of gene content and length for these taxa, structural comparison of the mint chloroplast genomes with published sequences from other species in the order Lamiales, and comparisons of variability among three Hawaiian taxa vs.

Impact of Violence and Relationship Abuse on Grades of American Indian/Alaska Native Undergraduate College Students.

Violence and relationship abuse are pervasive public health problems that have a range of negative effects, with exceptionally high prevalence among ethno-racial minority youth. This study assesses the prevalence of these types of violence among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students and examines the impact of victimization on academic performance of AI/AN and non-AI/AN student populations using self-reported college health survey data. Results show that students who identified fully or partially as AI/AN reported markedly higher rates of all types of violence/abuse than did other students, and students who had experienced violence/abuse had lower grade point averages (GPAs) compared with those who had not.

Questionnaires that screen for multiple sleep disorders.

The goal of this review was to identify, describe, and evaluate the existing multiple sleep disorders screening questionnaires for their comprehensiveness, brevity, and psychometric quality. A systematic review was conducted using Medline/PubMed, cumulative index to nursing & allied health literature, health and psychosocial instruments and the "grey literature". Search terms were "sleep disorders, screening, questionnaires, and psychometrics".

Detrimental Effects of "Stretch" Goals in Specialty Substance Use Disorder Treatment Organizations.

Background: "Stretch" goals, a rarely examined concept that represents seemingly impossible, highly ambitious organizational goals ostensibly established to fill performance gaps and motivate employees, are examined within a sample of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment centers in the United States in terms of their prevalence and effects on organizational behavior. Stretch goals are defined as "seemingly impossible" goals intended to motivate employees to achieve high performance. In light of the high level of environmental change and unpredictability faced by SUD treatment centers in recent decades, we theorize that stretch goals would be both common and often detrimental (in terms of capacity utilization rate and efficiency) in these settings.

The quest to resolve recent radiations: Plastid phylogenomics of extinct and endangered Hawaiian endemic mints (Lamiaceae).

The Hawaiian mints (Lamiaceae), one of the largest endemic plant lineages in the archipelago, provide an excellent system to study rapid diversification of a lineage with a remote, likely paleohybrid origin. Since their divergence from New World mints 4-5 million years ago the members of this lineage have diversified greatly and represent a remarkable array of vegetative and reproductive phenotypes. Today many members of this group are endangered or already extinct, and molecular phylogenetic work relies largely on herbarium samples collected during the last century.

Advanced Glycation End Products Induce Obesity and Hepatosteatosis in CD-1 Wild-Type Mice.

AGEs are a heterogeneous group of molecules formed from the nonenzymatic reaction of reducing sugars with free amino groups of proteins, lipids, and/or nucleic acids. AGEs have been shown to play a role in various conditions including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In this study, we hypothesized that AGEs play a role in the "multiple hit hypothesis" of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and contribute to the pathogenesis of hepatosteatosis.

Genetic diversity of historical Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from Bjørnøya and Håøya (Tusenøyane), Svalbard, Norway.

Background: The population size of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) is depleted relative to historical abundance levels. In Svalbard, centuries of over-exploitation brought the walrus herds to the verge of extinction, and such bottlenecks may have caused loss of genetic variation. To address this for Svalbard walruses, mitochondrial haplotypes of historical walruses from two major haul-out sites, Bjørnøya and Håøya, within the Archipelago were explored using bone samples from animals killed during the peak period of harvesting.

Inhibition of the FACT Complex Reduces Transcription from the Human Cytomegalovirus Major Immediate Early Promoter in Models of Lytic and Latent Replication.

The successful colonization of the majority of the population by human cytomegalovirus is a direct result of the virus's ability to establish and, more specifically, reactivate from latency. The underlying cellular factors involved in viral reactivation remain unknown. Here, we show that the host complexfacilitateschromatintranscription (FACT) binds to the major immediate early promoter (MIEP) and that inhibition of this complex reduces MIEP transactivation, thus inhibiting viral reactivation.

Functional Independence in Late-Life: Maintaining Physical Functioning in Older Adulthood Predicts Daily Life Function after Age 80.

Background: We examined physical functioning (PF) trajectories (maintaining, slowly declining, and rapidly declining) spanning 15 years in older women aged 65-80 and protective factors that predicted better current levels and less decline in functional independence outcomes after age 80.

Methods: Women's Health Initiative extension participants who met criteria (enrolled in either the clinical trial or observational study cohort, >80 years at the data release cutoff, PF survey data from initial enrollment to age 80, and functional independence survey data after age 80) were included in these analyses (mean [SD] age = 84.0 [1.

The Relationship of Cardiovascular Disease to Physical Functioning in Women Surviving to Age 80 and Above in the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is highly prevalent at ages 80 and above. The association of physical functioning (PF), a key to an optimal aging trajectory, with CVD and specific CVD diagnosis in women who survive to age 80 and above has not been described previously and has important public health significance given our aging population.

Methods: Women's Health Initiative participants aged 80 years or older at the time of self-reporting PF (RAND SF-36) were studied in relationship to CVD diagnosis, whether present at study baseline (1993-1998) or diagnosed during follow-up through 2012.

INFLUENCE OF DIABETES ON AMBULATION AND INFLAMMATION IN MEN AND WOMEN WITH SYMPTOMATIC PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE.

Objective: To determine whether diabetes and sex were factors associated with ambulatory function, endothelial cell inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis, and with circulating biomarkers of inflammation and antioxidant capacity in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and claudication.

Materials/methods: Ambulatory function of 180 symptomatic men and women with PAD was assessed during a graded maximal treadmill test, 6-minute walk test, and 4-meter walk test. Patients were further characterized on endothelial effects of circulating factors present in the sera using a cell culture-based bioassay on primary human arterial endothelial cells, and on circulating inflammatory and vascular biomarkers.

Plasmon-enhanced two-photon-induced isomerization for highly-localized light-based actuation of inorganic/organic interfaces.

Two-photon initiated photo-isomerization of an azobenzene moiety adsorbed on silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) is demonstrated. The azobenzene is linked to a materials-binding peptide that brings it into intimate contact with the Ag NP surface, producing a dramatic enhancement of its two-photon absorbance. An integrated modeling approach, combining advanced conformational sampling with Quantum Mechanics/Capacitance Molecular Mechanics and response theory, shows that charge transfer and image charges in the Ag NP generate local fields that enhance two-photon absorption of the cis isomer, but not the trans isomer, of adsorbed molecules.

A semi-automated measuring system of brain diffusion and perfusion magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities in patients with multiple sclerosis based on the integration of coregistration and tissue segmentation procedures.

Background: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) abnormalities in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are currently measured by a complex combination of separate procedures. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide a reliable method for reducing analysis complexity and obtaining reproducible results.

Methods: We implemented a semi-automated measuring system in which different well-known software components for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis are integrated to obtain reliable measurements of DWI and PWI disturbances in MS.

Pregnancy eating attributes study (PEAS): a cohort study examining behavioral and environmental influences on diet and weight change in pregnancy and postpartum.

Background: The rising prevalence of maternal overweight/obesity and excessive gestational weight gain poses a serious public health concern due to the contribution of these factors to increased risk of negative health outcomes for both mother and child. Scant intervention research has indicated moderate short-term improvement in maternal diet and gestational weight gain, with little evidence of long-term behavior change, in parallel with findings from interventions outside of pregnancy. Recent laboratory-based findings from neuroscience implicate aberrant reward processing of food at the brain level ("food reward sensitivity," the between-individual variation in the response to food stimuli) as a contributor to eating beyond energy needs.

A 10-month prospective study of organophosphorus pesticide exposure and neurobehavioral performance among adolescents in Egypt.

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphorus (OP) pesticide widely used around the world for agricultural operations. Although studies have examined exposure in children, there is limited information on adolescents who are occupationally exposed. Furthermore, there is limited research addressing the change in exposure patterns and outcomes across the application season.

Optical Actuation of Inorganic/Organic Interfaces: Comparing Peptide-Azobenzene Ligand Reconfiguration on Gold and Silver Nanoparticles.

Photoresponsive molecules that incorporate peptides capable of material-specific recognition provide a basis for biomolecule-mediated control of the nucleation, growth, organization, and activation of hybrid inorganic/organic nanostructures. These hybrid molecules interact with the inorganic surface through multiple noncovalent interactions which allow reconfiguration in response to optical stimuli. Here, we quantify the binding of azobenzene-peptide conjugates that exhibit optically triggered cis-trans isomerization on Ag surfaces and compare to their behavior on Au.

Size-controlled large-diameter and few-walled carbon nanotube catalysts for oxygen reduction.

We demonstrate a new strategy for tuning the size of large-diameter and few-walled nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) from 50 to 150 nm by varying the transition metal (TM = Fe, Co, Ni or Mn) used to catalyze graphitization of dicyandiamide. Fe yielded the largest tubes, followed by Co and Ni, while Mn produced a clot-like carbon morphology. We show that morphology is correlated with electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

A Novel, Real-Time, In Vivo Mouse Retinal Imaging System.

Purpose: To develop an efficient, low-cost instrument for robust real-time imaging of the mouse retina in vivo, and assess system capabilities by evaluating various animal models.

Methods: Following multiple disappointing attempts to visualize the mouse retina during a subretinal injection using commercially available systems, we identified the key limitation to be inadequate illumination due to off axis illumination and poor optical train optimization. Therefore, we designed a paraxial illumination system for Greenough-type stereo dissecting microscope incorporating an optimized optical launch and an efficiently coupled fiber optic delivery system.

Synthesis of Zn-In-S Quantum Dots with Tunable Composition and Optical Properties.

II-III-VI semiconductors are of interest due to their chemical stability and composition-tunable optical properties. Here, we report a methodology for the synthesis of monodisperse zinc-indium-sulfide (ZIS) alloy quantum dots (QDs, mean diameter from ∼2 to 3.5 nm) with an In content substantially below that of the stoichiometric ZnIn2 S4 compound.

Calibrating physical activity intensity for hip-worn accelerometry in women age 60 to 91 years: The Women's Health Initiative OPACH Calibration Study.

Objective: We conducted a laboratory-based calibration study to determine relevant cutpoints for a hip-worn accelerometer among women ≥60 years, considering both type and filtering of counts.

Methods: Two hundred women wore an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer on their hip while performing eight laboratory-based activities. Oxygen uptake was measured using an Oxycon portable calorimeter.

Core-satellite ZnS-Ag nanoassemblies: Synthesis, structure, and optical properties.

We synthesized hollow core-satellite nanoassemblies comprised of hollow zinc sulfide (ZnS) shells decorated with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). This was achieved by solution-phase attachment of Ag NPs to hollow ZnS nanospheres (NSs) prepared by spray pyrolysis. This produces an aqueous dispersion of ZnS-Ag hybrid structures, 50-500nm in overall diameter.

Time From Symptoms to Carotid Endarterectomy or Stenting and Perioperative Risk.

Background And Purpose: Prior meta-analysis showed that carotid endarterectomy benefits decline with increasing surgical delay following symptoms. For symptomatic patients in the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy Versus Stenting Trial (CREST), we assessed if differences in time between symptoms and carotid endarterectomy or carotid artery stenting are associated with differences in risk of periprocedural stroke or death.

Methods: We analyzed the 1180 symptomatic patients in CREST who received their assigned procedure and had clearly defined timing of symptoms.

New insights into evolutionary relationships within the subfamily Lamioideae (Lamiaceae) based on pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) nuclear DNA sequences.

Premise Of The Study: Lamioideae, one of the most species-rich subfamilies within Lamiaceae, exhibits a remarkable diversity in morphology and habit and is found in many temperate to subtropical regions across the globe. Previous studies based on chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequence data produced a tribal classification of Lamioideae, but so far this has not been confirmed with nuclear DNA loci.

Methods: We investigated sequence variation in a low-copy nuclear pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) region and compared the phylogenetic results with previously published sequence data from a concatenated data set comprising four cpDNA loci.

Audiograms, gap detection thresholds, and frequency difference limens in cannabinoid receptor 1 knockout mice.

The cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) is found at several stages in the auditory pathway, but its role in hearing is unknown. Hearing abilities were measured in CB1R knockout mice and compared to those of wild-type mice. Operant conditioning and the psychophysical Method of Constant Stimuli were used to measure audiograms, gap detection thresholds, and frequency difference limens in trained mice using the same methods and stimuli as in previous experiments.