articles+ search results

diabetes, leptin, nanofibers, taurine, Pharmacy and materia medica, and RS1-441

Diabetes poses a high risk for debilitating complications in neural tissues, regulating glucose uptake through insulin-dependent and predominantly insulin-independent pathways. Supramolecular nanostructures provide a flexible strategy for combinatorial regulation of glycemia. Here, we compare the effects of free insulin to insulin bound to positively charged nanofibers comprised of self-assembling amino acid compounds (AACs) with an antioxidant-modified side chain moiety (AAC2) in both in vitro and in vivo models of type 1 diabetes. Free AAC2, free human insulin (hINS) and AAC2-bound-human insulin (AAC2-hINS) were tested in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced mouse model of type 1 diabetes. AAC2-hINS acted as a complex and exhibited different properties compared to free AAC2 or hINS. Mice treated with the AAC2-hINS complex were devoid of hypoglycemic episodes, had improved levels of insulin in circulation and in the brain, and increased expression of neurotransmitter taurine transporter, Slc6a6. Consequently, treatment with AAC2-hINS markedly advanced both physical and cognitive performance in mice with STZ-induced and genetic type 1 diabetes compared to treatments with free AAC2 or hINS. This study demonstrates that the flexible nanofiber AAC2 can serve as a therapeutic platform for the combinatorial treatment of diabetes and its complications.

Foreign bodies, Respiratory tract, Bronchoscopy, Tracheostomy, Case report, Otorhinolaryngology, and RF1-547

Aspiration of foreign body into the airway is a common emergency in pediatric population and has high risk of morbidity and mortality. Clinical presentation of foreign body aspiration varies between children. Some children may present to emergency department with acute life-threatening presentations that require immediate intervention, while others might have long term coarse of symptoms that were misdiagnosed and mistreated for long time. Variation of clinical presentations based on location of dislodged foreign body in the airway tree and size of the aspirated foreign body. Large impacted foreign body creates extra challenge and possible complications during attempt of retrieval via endoscopy alone. We report a case of large aspirated foreign body that had multiple failed attempts of endoscopic removal, and eventually retrieved using combined endoscopic and open approach without tracheostomy. This technique is safe and efficient in cases that failed conventional endoscopy due to large foreign body size.

INDIGENOUS ethnic identity, CREATIVE ability, POSTHUMANISM, and ARTIFICIAL intelligence

With the emergence of Western posthuman understandings, new materialism, artificial intelligence (AI), and the growing acknowledgment of Indigenous epistemologies, an ongoing rethinking of existing assumptions and meanings about creativity is needed. The intersection of new technologies and philosophical stances that upend human-centered views of reality suggests that creativity is not an exclusively "human" activity. This opens new possibilities and assemblages for conceiving of creativity, but not without tensions. In this article, we connect multiple threads, to reimagine creativity in light of posthuman understandings and the possibilities for creative emergence beyond the Anthropocene. Creativity is implicated as emerging beyond non-human spaces, such as through digitality and AI or sources in the natural world. This unseats many understandings of creativity as positioned in Euro-Western literature. We offer four areas of concern for interrogating tensions in this area, aiming to open new possibilities for practice, research, and (re)conceptualization beyond Western understandings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GRIZZLY bear, CITIZEN science, BEST practices, and FINANCIAL stress

Simple Summary: Citizen science offers an excellent opportunity to engage the public in scientific data collection, educational opportunities, and applied management. However, the practicalities of developing a citizen science program, from generating ideas to developing tools, implementing programming, and evaluating outcomes, are complex and challenging. To address challenges and provide a foundation for practitioners, scientists, and the public, the Government of Alberta developed a set of citizen science principles. Here, we use these principles as an evaluative framework to assess the outcomes of the GrizzTracker program, which was developed to help inform provincial species-at-risk recovery efforts. While the program experienced some successes, we identified challenges, including skepticism from the scientific community about the utility of citizen science and a lack of program leadership, staff capacity, and funding needs for long-term implementation. Reflecting on the principles, we provide policy recommendations that future citizen science programs can consider. Citizen science offers an excellent opportunity to engage the public in scientific data collection, educational opportunities, and applied management. However, the practicalities of developing and implementing citizen science programming are often more complex than considered. Some challenges to effective citizen science include scientists' skepticism about the ability of public participants to rigorously collect quality data; a lack of clarity on or confidence in the utility of data; scientists' hesitancy in engaging the public in projects; limited financial commitments; and challenges associated with the temporal and geographic scales of projects. To address these challenges, and provide a foundation upon which practitioners, scientists, and the public can credibly engage in citizen science, the Government of Alberta developed a set of citizen science principles. These principles offer a framework for planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating citizen science projects that extend beyond Alberta. Here, we present a case study using these principles to evaluate GrizzTracker, a citizen science program developed to help inform provincial species-at-risk recovery efforts. While we found that GrizzTracker applied each of the six principles in some way, including successful public engagement, strengthened relationships, and raising public awareness about northwest Alberta's grizzly bears, we also identified a number of challenges. These included ongoing skepticism from the traditional scientific community about the utility of citizen science and governance challenges related to program leadership, staff capacity, and funding. By using the principles as a guideline, we provide policy recommendations for future citizen science efforts, including considerations for program design, implementation, and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MYOFIBROBLASTS, FIBROBLASTS, EXTRACELLULAR matrix proteins, HEPATIC fibrosis, PULMONARY fibrosis, METABOLIC regulation, and GLUTAMINE synthetase

Fibrosis is an energy-intensive process requiring the activation of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts, resulting in the increased synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins. Little is known about the transcriptional control of energy metabolism in cardiac fibroblast activation, but glutaminolysis has been implicated in liver and lung fibrosis. Here we explored how pro-fibrotic TGFβ and its effector scleraxis, which drive cardiac fibroblast activation, regulate genes involved in glutaminolysis, particularly the rate-limiting enzyme glutaminase (GLS1). The GLS1 inhibitor CB-839 attenuated TGFβ-induced fibroblast activation. Cardiac fibroblast activation to myofibroblasts by scleraxis overexpression increased glutaminolysis gene expression, including GLS1, while cardiac fibroblasts from scleraxis-null mice showed reduced expression. TGFβ induced GLS1 expression and increased intracellular glutamine and glutamate levels, indicative of increased glutaminolysis, but in scleraxis knockout cells, these measures were attenuated, and the response to TGFβ was lost. The knockdown of scleraxis in activated cardiac fibroblasts reduced GLS1 expression by 75%. Scleraxis transactivated the human GLS1 promoter in luciferase reporter assays, and this effect was dependent on a key scleraxis-binding E-box motif. These results implicate scleraxis-mediated GLS1 expression as a key regulator of glutaminolysis in cardiac fibroblast activation, and blocking scleraxis in this process may provide a means of starving fibroblasts of the energy required for fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government, Perception, Middle East, Arab countries, COVID-19, Level of satisfaction, Public aspects of medicine, and RA1-1270

Abstract Background Public acceptance of governmental measures are key to controlling the spread of infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a significant burden on healthcare systems for high-income countries as well as low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The ability of LMICs to respond to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic has been limited and may have affected the impact of governmental strategies to control the spread of COVID-19. This study aimed to evaluate and compare public opinion on the governmental COVID-19 response of high and LMICs in the Middle East and benchmark it to international countries. Methods An online, self-administered questionnaire was distributed among different Middle Eastern Arab countries. Participants’ demographics and level of satisfaction with governmental responses to COVID-19 were analyzed and reported. Scores were benchmarked against 19 international values. Results A total of 7395 responses were included. Bahrain scored highest for satisfaction with the governmental response with 38.29 ± 2.93 on a scale of 40, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (37.13 ± 3.27), United Arab Emirates (36.56 ± 3.44), Kuwait (35.74 ± 4.85), Jordan (23.08 ± 6.41), and Lebanon (15.39 ± 5.28). Participants’ country of residence was a significant predictor of the satisfaction score (P

ISLAM, MULTIPLE regression analysis, MENTAL health, SOCIAL stigma, CONCEPTUAL structures, HEALTH literacy, HEALTH attitudes, PSYCHOLOGY of women, QUESTIONNAIRES, DESCRIPTIVE statistics, and MENTAL health services

Background: The underutilization of mental health services is a recognized problem for the growing number of Muslims living in the West. Despite their unique mental health risk factors and the pivotal role they play in determining mental health discourse in their families and in society, Muslim women in particular have not received sufficient study. Aim: To help remedy this research gap, we examined factors that may impact the rejection attitudes of Muslim women toward professional mental health care using the first psychometrically validated scale of its kind; the M-PAMH (Muslims' Perceptions and Attitudes to Mental Health). Methods: A total of 1,222 Muslim women responded to questions about their cultural and religious beliefs about mental health, stigma associated with mental health, and familiarity with formal mental health services in an anonymous online survey. Results: Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that higher religious and cultural beliefs, higher societal stigma, and lower familiarity with professional mental health services were associated with greater rejection attitudes toward professional mental healthcare. The final model was statistically significant, F (5, 1,216) = 73.778; p <.001, and explained 23% of the variance in rejection attitudes with stigma accounting for the most (12.3%) variance, followed by cultural and religious mental health beliefs (6%), and familiarity with mental health services (2.7%). Conclusions: Findings suggest that although the examined factors contributed significantly to the model, they may not be sufficient in the explanation of Muslim women's rejection attitudes toward mental health services. Future research may explore additional variables, as well as predictive profiles for Muslim women's perceptions and attitudes of mental health based on a combination of these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]