This study aims to assess the impact of consanguinity in the Middle East and North Africa. The region, also referred to as the MENA region, spans from Morocco to Iran. These identified Arab countries have an increased risk of genetic disorders that can result in sickle cell anemia and thalassemia (“Middle East & North Africa” 2024). Specifically, this study investigates the increased prevalence of these disorders in the MENA region, as well as the contributing factors behind the practice, such as education level and age at the time of marriage. An in-depth comparative analysis of previous research on this topic was undertaken to draw the correlation between the levels of consanguineous marriages in the MENA region and the levels of genetic variation disorders. The analysis shows that there is a correlation between the two variables while highlighting the practices to counteract such variations in the Middle East. These findings suggest a greater need for adaptive medical practices in the United States to adequately assist the growing number of Arab Americans nationwide.
Rhinovirus (RV) is the major cause of exacerbations, or worsening of symptoms, in asthmatic children and adults. This often reduces the efficacy of therapeutic interventions such as bronchodilators — a type of medication used to promote airflow and alleviate asthma symptoms. The exact mechanisms through which RV exposure decreases responsiveness to bronchodilators remain unclear. Previous data demonstrates that airway cells release a specific signature of inflammatory mediators following RV exposure. Other research has shown that Trefoil Factor 3 (TFF-3), one of the mediators identified by our screen, regulates cell motility in other cell types. We show that RV exposure attenuates relaxation in both the airway and human airway smooth muscle (HASM). Given our data, we aim to examine whether or not TFF-3 attenuates the relaxation of HASM and airways. Primary non-diseased human airway smooth muscle (HASM) was used to examine the consequences of TFF-3 in modulating HASM and airway relaxation. Following RV-C15 exposure, it was found that the airway and HASM relaxation was attenuated. TFF-3 exposure also attenuated both airway and HASM relaxation. Additionally, TFF-3 exposure partially weakened iso-induced reversal of carbachol-induced phosphorylation of the myosin light chain. Within the cADDis Live Cell Assays, which provide real-time kinetic measurements of cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate (cAMP) production, TFF-3 attenuated formoterol-induced cAMP production. Researching how bronchodilation pathways change following RV infection can lead to the development of effective treatments and pharmaceutical solutions to alleviate worsening asthma symptoms during a viral exacerbation of the disease.
Surgical residents must pass the fundamentals of laparoscopy surgery test to proceed with their training. While simulation gives them an environment to practice outside the operating room, it lacks supervision. To fill this gap, we recently proposed an AI system that evaluates pass-fail in the fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery. In this quality improvement study, we sought to evaluate the model’s accuracy when detecting a failure. To do this, we performed software testing on a cohort of high school students. The students were asked to conduct the essential peg transfer FLS task under the supervision of our AI system, which evaluates them in real-time as they perform the task. Out of 18 students, the system correctly predicted the student error in 13 cases. The model must catch up on student errors due to underlying model mispredictions in the remaining five. The model was not trained to handle such edge cases where it failed. These results show the potential of AI to make grading more fair, objective, and efficient.
By extending its vision in 2014 of building a sustainable state through the framework of a “Garden City”, Singapore has set itself up to become the world’s first “Smart Nation”. With a focus on energy and resource solutions, the city-state has heavily relied on state-driven technocratic interventions to create what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long calls “meaningful and fulfilled lives” for all. This technocratic, human-centered development draws a parallel to “Solarpunk”, a model of environmental utopia. The Solarpunk genre gathers speculative fiction works which imagines post-transitional climatic utopias. This model draws ties to the concepts of circular economies, degrowth economies, and decolonization of energy. Inspired by energy and environmental humanities scholar Rhys Williams, it can be understood that the Solarpunk environmental model offers the elements necessary for ongoing global energy transition. It is important to note that Singapore’s current energy transition solutions, embedded in its Smart Nation vision, inform some Solarpunk imaginaries. Specifically, it utilizes an interdisciplinary method by conducting a close reading of both designer and governmental reports on two smart projects in Singapore: Gardens by the Bay and Jewel Changi Airport. It compares the aesthetic, design, purpose, and meaning of these structures to existing conceptions of Solarpunk. These projects embody Solarpunk in their aesthetic and ethos, but they are appropriated for uses and meanings that undermine this embodiment. While Singapore’s ecologically reflective solutions offer some climatic hope, they reaffirm the need to rethink the energy transition in the name of climatic justice, freedom, and environmental harmony.
Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat. One consequence is that patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are prone to developing antibiotic resistant lung infections caused by multiple strains of bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Due to the limited number of treatment options for patients with chronic antibiotic resistant infections, there is a need for finding new antibiotics that allow for effective eradication of bacterial infections, such as those in the CF lung. Many antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been annotated in databases and are considered as potential alternatives for current antibiotics. However, in many instances, the suitability of AMPs as drug molecules has not been extensively explored. Here, we propose that certain molecular properties of AMPs favor high antibiotic efficacy. Using information from AMP databases, we combined statistical analyses and machine learning techniques to identify relationships between various biophysical properties of AMPs and their drug efficacies. Analyses from classification and regression trees (CART) and random forests suggest that net charge and maximum average hydrophobic moment are the most important properties in determining if a peptide is useful against P. aeruginosa infections in CF patients. Maximum average hydrophobic residue, average alpha helix propensity score, hydrophobic proportion, and peptide length still contribute to this determination but to lesser degrees. Cation-pi interactions, on the other hand, do not appear to factor into this decision at all. Based on these properties, our current work is focused on designing and experimentally testing new peptides that may have activity against P. aeruginosa infections.
The bed nucleus stria terminalis (BNST) and parabrachial nucleus (PBN) are two brain regions in correspondence with the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) that are responsible for regulating feeding behavior in mice. It is acknowledged that increasing the activity of GABAergic BNST inputs (which release the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA) to the LHA inhibits LHA glutamate neurons and increases feeding, whereas increasing activity of glutamatergic PBN inputs (which release the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate) to the LHA excites local glutamate neurons and decreases feeding. Obesity is a prevalent problem in our society, and therefore it is important to understand the reasons behind excessive food intake habits of humans. To address this issue, we tested for effects of activating the BNST-LHA and PBN-LHA pathways in relation to the satiety state of the mice. We stimulated the BNST and PBN inputs to LHA in fasted and fed mice. We tested the effects of Satiety State (fed vs. fasted) and stimulation Frequency (5-40 Hz) on sucrose seeking behavior of two Groups of mice (ChR2 vs YFP controls). The BNST-LHA pathway tended to show a general increase in feeding behaviors, while the PBN-LHA pathway did not show a significant effect of activation. From these results, further studies can be conducted to explore more about these neural pathways and the mechanisms underlying feeding behaviors. On a broader scale, these findings can inform future therapeutics that could help prevent unhealthy eating habits and obesity.
This paper explored the use of machine learning techniques to differentiate between two different musical eras of the same rock band, including the technique of Logistic Regression. Logistic regression (LR) is a widely used statistical modeling method for binary classification in supervised machine learning. It is often used to predict whether a given event belongs to one of two categories. The process helps data scientists understand which variables are good predictors of class membership. Applications of logistic regression include loan classification in the financial industry and predicting susceptibility to disease in the medical field. In this particular project, a dataset was constructed using data from Spotify and Genius consisting of songs and lyrics written by the band Fall Out Boy. A logistic regression model was developed from scratch to classify the songs and lyrics into one of two eras of the band: before their 2009 hiatus and afterward. The study aimed to determine if a computer could differentiate between the two eras. The model was also tested against other binary classification algorithms, including Random Forest and Support Vector Machines.
This paper investigates whether recent advancements in DNA analysis technology have impacted the rate with which Native American remains are repatriated, or returned, to linear descendants or culturally affiliated tribes. The purpose of this study is to determine whether DNA analysis technology has effected repatriation rates specifically in Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) cases. This paper compiles information for all NAGPRA notices published in the National Register to conduct a statistical analysis of the rate of repatriations between 2011 and 2021. The resulting figures demonstrate that DNA analysis technology had an extremely slight effect on the rate of repatriation. The paper then concludes that this may be due to the difficulties in implementing DNA analysis as a culturally acceptable Archaeological methodology.
Low back and pelvic girdle pain are prevalent during pregnancy, impacting about 50% of pregnant women. Previous studies conducted on the general population have suggested that physical activity has been associated with reductions in pain levels. Purpose: To determine if women with higher levels of physical activity experience less low back and pelvic girdle pain and lower disability scores than women who are less physically active. Methods: Pregnant women (n=24, 32.2 ± 4.1 years) were recruited between 28- and 32-weeks gestation. Participants reported their weekly physical activity, responded to subjective pain surveys, and underwent a battery of objective pain testing. Spearman’s-rho was used to assess correlations between physical activity scores and each subjective pain measure. Results: Tests for correlation between pregnancy physical activity scores and pain domain measures were not significant (ps>0.05), so no relationship could be determined between physical activity levels and low back/pelvic girdle pain based on this study. Conclusion: This study was not able to identify a significant correlation between physical activity levels and low back/pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy.
This literature review examines the current literature and research surrounding the foundations and applications of experiential and multimedia learning in virtual reality environments. Eleven insightful research papers are discussed, detailing the efforts and results of multimedia learning and experiential learning in virtual reality independently, not combined. The literature, and consequently the literature review, heavily pulls from Kolb’s Experiential Learning model and Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. We find a general trend suggesting the efficacy of creating experiential learning-based lessons and the efficacy of multimedia learning formats. However, based on the literature, combining these two theories and techniques may result in higher student engagement and content retention. This literature review also explores the thresholds for sensory stimuli fidelities necessary to create meaningful, effective, immersive virtual reality content. However, further research will be required to measure attention, retention, and information recall in different virtual reality and multimedia lesson formats, as well as engagement and positive emotions associated with learning.
The Electoral College is the method used in every four years to elect the President of the United States. Given that the Electoral College gives the power to elect the president to state-casted votes, the system has in recent years become a source of growing controversy given how two presidents, George Bush in 2000 and Donald Trump in 2016, without winning the national popular vote. These elections and the public discourse around them have brought new life to the purpose and impacts of the Electoral College. This paper uses key presidential elections, including those of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Harrison, Woodrow Wilson, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, give insight on how the Electoral College should now be understood. In particular, this paper examines the implications of the Electoral College on one fundamental question: Does election to the presidency via the Electoral College route fundamentally affect the ability of a president to govern effectively? Examining these elections, the context around and impact after these elections, and modern United States political history shows that when the Electoral College is not an extraordinary or exceptionally notable part of an election cycle, the Electoral College does not fundamentally affect the president’s ability to command public and political support required to effectively govern. However, when the Electoral College does become a point of focus during a presidential election and in the beginning of a president’s term, it has wide-ranging impacts. In particular, the College can shape the political and public mandate the president has to lead, shaping their overall agenda for their time in office; cause biases to arise towards certain states and conservative politics; and undermine their ability to serve as a unifying figure. With each modern election having an increased focus on the Electoral College, the system is likely to cause increased polarization and tension with each passing election if serious reforms are not undertaken.
The devastating attacks of 9/11 left life-changing impacts on how the world viewed national security. The United States, at its epicenter, formally overhauled its government strategies and approaches in assured attempts to prevent such occurrences ever again. Thus, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security and the implementation of policies reflected new behaviors towards individuals from certain religious or geographic background. While successfully eliminating the recurrence of terrorist attacks of such scale, these extreme approaches vociferosly affected the United States’ Muslim population —many whom have immigrated in pursuit of the ‘American Dream’— from integrating into society. This paper seeks to establish that post-9/11 policies have perpetuated anti-Muslim bias in the minds of the American people, thus impacting the Muslim population’s ability to integrate into society: measured by sections of Milton Gordon’s assimilation theory. Muslim-Americans are vulnerable to unjust constraints or responsibility for the extremist few, all by a governing body established to serve the interests of all its citizens. Studying the extent these tactics have affected Muslim-Americans highlight limitations of the justice system and reveal calls to action where adequate support should be given. Publicly isolating people ties a negative connotation to their existence, which can cause wider society to disassociate themselves from isolated individuals.
In the era of media prosperity, Fox News, as the most significant political news provider in the United States (According to Pew Research Center’s research, 16 percent of participants consider Fox News their primary source of political news, which is higher than any other media), influences the political orientation of voters to manipulate election results through various means, such as overemphasizing, reporters’ interpreting, and disregarding news, etc. In order to make their reporting seem more objective and reliable, politically biased media may gain credibility for themselves by covering more news with different political perspectives during non-significant times, which is called political balancing. In order to verify whether political balancing exists in the mainstream media, sixty Fox News reports during the period of 2016 election were randomly selected and analyzed. According to the result, Fox News put statistically significant more positive coverage of Democrats after the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, won the 2016 election. The findings of this research are substantial since awareness of the media’s political balancing will benefit voters in making rational choices for consequential elections. Meanwhile, political balancing could be necessary for researchers conducting studies of journalism.
Homeostasis of the epithelium is depend-ent on the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, which regulates the proliferation of intestinal stem cells. The gain of function mutations in the beta-catenin gene leads to rapid cell proliferation and malignant growth in the epithelium. In addition, the maintenance of these stem cells appears to be linked to mesenchymal-derived factors. Although the communication between epithelial and mesenchyme cell populations remains uncharacterized, understanding this mechanism will help us further understand the various pathways involved in tumor initiation processes. Our results show that the communi-cation between the mesenchyme and epithelium during transformation is influenced by varying levels of protein-expressing genes including Wnt2b, Grem1, and Bmp6.
The prominence of social media as a mechanism for global communication has raised questions regarding its integrity and security of personal information identifiers such as name, address, and location history. The rise of government surveillance programs, such as those Edward Snowden exposed in 2013, are a case study in mass collection of identifying personal information without the consent of the American public. This paper looks to determine if there is a causal relationship between social media usage and negative opinions regarding mass personal identifying information government collection programs within the United States. Using data compiled by the Pew Research Center, I found that there was no statistically significant relationship at all. This has powerful policy implications such as the normalization of the surveillance state. Further research is needed to address concerns regarding the broad variables used as part of this paper.
Corals are marine invertebrates that are facing life-threatening environmental stressors due to climate change. Polyploidy can, in such cases, be an important source of variation and adaptation in corals and other species. Polyploidy is the genomic condition wherein the cells of a normally diploid organism have more than one pair of chromosomes. Pocillopora acuta, also known as the cauliflower coral, is a brooding coral that can also reproduce asexually. It is a stress-sensitive coral, which means it shows clear physiological changes in response to environmental stressors like temperature, salinity, and pH. In this study, about 60% of the stony coral Pocillopora acuta samples collected from Kāneʻohe Bay, Oahu, HI, were triploid. The aim of this study was to identify the differences in gene expression patterns between triploid cluster 1 (T1), triploid cluster 2 (T2), and diploid samples (D) of P. acuta. Pairwise comparisons were carried out between all categories: T1 vs. D, T2 vs. D, and T1 vs. T2. While there were a large number of genes exhibiting similar expression patterns in both triploid clusters, many genes were differentially regulated in T1 when compared to T2. This result provides evidence suggesting that the two triploid lineages originated from separate triploidization events in Kāneʻohe Bay. The differentially expressed genes shared between these two triploid lineages, when compared to the diploid coral lineage, suggests changes in cellular physiology as a result of polyploidization. Functional analysis of the P. acuta genes can provide deeper insight into the specific, differentially regulated molecular functions and biological processes in triploids when compared to diploid P. acuta. Future studies involving comparative functional enrichment analysis with more triploid and diploid samples of P. acuta will provide more insight into events that caused triploidization and the coral’s response to environmental stressors.
Azadirachta indica (Neem) is an evergreen tree that belongs to the Meliaceae family. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and grows worldwide. It is also known as the "village pharmacy" in India for its wide range of therapeutic and pharmacological properties. An in vitro study indicated that A. indica showed anti-HIV properties. However, the exact mechanism for the supposed anti-HIV properties remains unknown. This study aimed to construct an in-silico database of the compounds present in A. in-dica and propose a computational analysis of these compounds against HIV integrase. We performed a thorough literature search to gather relevant information on the plant compounds, including chemical structure, location within the plant, extraction method, and percent yield of each compound found in the plant. We took a comprehensive ap-proach to closely study the binding pockets of HIV integrase and performed molecular docking on A. indica compounds using Molecular Operating Envi-ronment. A deductive analysis of the docking energies of these compounds revealed thirty potential binders against HIV integrase proteins. We further validated these binders by comparing the ligand in-teractions to known inhibitors using Ligplot+, which identified the presence of numerous hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions at the protein binding pocket. In conclusion, we propose an un-derlying binding potential for several A. indica compounds with HIV integrase, yielding a potential mechanism for the anti-HIV activity of A. indica.
Racial bias in the healthcare system, originating from the eminent founders of science and medicine, has numerous adverse effects on black populations and continues to have harmful consequences today (Byrd and Clayton, 2001). From poor clinical decision-making to preventing people of color from entering prominent fields in medicine, racism is ubiquitous in medicine and healthcare (Byrd and Clayton, 2001). The impact of racial bias on patient care is of great interest with many studies illustrating the detrimental impacts of bias on minority groups, specifically in black communities. However, there is additional research that concludes racial bias does not play a role in patient care or in medicine (Dehon et al., 2017). The lack of acknowledgment within academia concerning racial disparities in healthcare and science further oppresses black voices. With my research, I investigate the extent to which various biased social frameworks in healthcare, medicine, and science negatively impact black individuals. I also address major historical events during the creation of the modern-day healthcare system and how these events perpetuate racism today. Focusing on the twenty-first century, I demonstrate that systemic historical and social events during this period eternalize racism in the modern-day American healthcare system.
Obesity rates continue to rise in children and adults alike in the United States and represent a significant threat to public health and economic well-being. Many factors have contributed to the obesity equation, including the widespread availability and appeal of ultra-processed food and drink. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) represent one such drink, as a critical examination of the available evidence reveals a clear link between their consumption and increased risks of obesity and related conditions such as type 2 diabetes. Taxing SSB purchases therefore presents a potentially valuable means of making a dent in the contribution of one key risk factor to the obesity equation, though the beverage industry has fought against the enactment of these taxes and has instead promoted a generally unclear public health stance on SSBs. This paper explores existing SSB excise taxes that have been implemented in recent years, focusing especially on Philadelphia’s tax as a case study for examining the behavioral changes associated with SSB taxes and the management of SSB tax revenue. It then suggests that SSB tax revenue be directly funneled into the subsidization of fruits and vegetables to maximize the obesity-fighting potential of these relatively novel excise taxes.
Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has led to global climate change and ocean acidification (OA) via the absorption of atmospheric CO2 by the ocean. Coastal shelves are also affected by various processes that influence the acidity of seawater, causing acidity to vary over time and space. These variations in ocean acidity can negatively impact marine species, especially calcifying organisms such as surfclams and sea scallops. In the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB), a subsection of the U.S. Northeast Shelf (NES), this variation in acidity generates ecological and economic concerns as the MAB is home to some of the nation’s most productive and profitable estuaries and fisheries. In this study, Rutgers University (southern MAB) and Stony Brook University (northern MAB, Hudson Canyon) deployed two gliders equipped with sensors measur-ing depth, temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll to monitor winter 2021 carbonate chemistry conditions on the shelf as well as in slope waters of the MAB. For both deployments, measured pH and calculated aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) showed opposing patterns, with high pH and low Ωarag in shelf/nearshore and low pH and high Ωarag in slope waters. These trends were attributed to different driving factors whereas pH was more influenced by biological processes (i.e. photo-synthesis) and Ωarag was influenced mostly by thermodynamics and chemical factors (i.e. temperature, total alkalinity). The results of this study underscore the importance of monitoring coastal acidity to understand potential impacts on important species.
