Brevard College

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of a 12-week self-determination theory-centered online lifestyle intervention for Hispanic adolescents with obesity, including considerations for the intervention’s feasibility. Method Nineteen adolescents (intervention = 11; control = 8) participated in this quasi-experimental study. The intervention consisted of two 60-minute moderate-to-vigorous exercise sessions and one 30-minute nutrition lesson delivered via Zoom each week for 12 weeks to examine changes in body mass index (BMI), health-related fitness indicators, physical activity levels, and motivational regulations. Program fidelity was assessed through session heart rate, perceived exertion, and perceived need-support measures. Moreover, interviews with adolescents and parents were thematically analyzed to inform intervention feasibility. Result The study showed statistically significant intervention efficacy in BMI (F[1, 16] = 8.14, p = .012), abdominal muscular endurance and strength (F[1, 16] = 14.13, p = .002), and physical activity level (F[1, 16] = 9.345, p = .008). Fidelity measures confirmed exercise adherence, showing that participants maintained moderate-to-vigorous intensity and consistently reported high levels of perceived need-support. Qualitative findings further supported these results and emphasized practical strategies for recruitment and dissemination efforts. Conclusion The findings emphasize this online lifestyle intervention’s potential to promote cardio-metabolic health in adolescents and offer direction for future implementation and dissemination.

BackgroundCOVID-19 is a pandemic respiratory and vascular disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. There is a growing number of sensory deficits associated with COVID-19 and molecular mechanisms underlying these deficits are incompletely understood.MethodsWe report a series of ten COVID-19 patients with audiovestibular symptoms such as hearing loss, vestibular dysfunction and tinnitus. To investigate the causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 and audiovestibular dysfunction, we examine human inner ear tissue, human inner ear in vitro cellular models, and mouse inner ear tissue.ResultsWe demonstrate that adult human inner ear tissue co-expresses the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor for SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) and FURIN cofactors required for virus entry. Furthermore, hair cells and Schwann cells in explanted human vestibular tissue can be infected by SARS-CoV-2, as demonstrated by confocal microscopy. We establish three human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived in vitro models of the inner ear for infection: two-dimensional otic prosensory cells (OPCs) and Schwann cell precursors (SCPs), and three-dimensional inner ear organoids. Both OPCs and SCPs express ACE2, TMPRSS2, and FURIN, with lower ACE2 and FURIN expression in SCPs. OPCs are permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection; lower infection rates exist in isogenic SCPs. The inner ear organoids show that hair cells express ACE2 and are targets for SARS-CoV-2.ConclusionsOur results provide mechanistic explanations of audiovestibular dysfunction in COVID-19 patients and introduce hiPSC-derived systems for studying infectious human otologic disease.

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Abstract The relationship between zoo animals, particularly nonhuman primates, and visitors is complex and varies by species. Adding complexity to this relationship is the trend for zoos to host events outside of normal operating hours. Here, we explored whether a late-night haunted-house style event influenced the behavior of spider monkeys. We conducted behavioral observations both on event nights and nights without the event. The spider monkeys were active and outside more frequently on event nights compared to the control nights indicating that their typical nighttime behavior was altered. However, it is difficult to definitively conclude whether the behavioral changes were a result of the event being aversive or enriching. Our findings suggest that zoos should conduct behavioral observations of and collect physiological data from their animals, especially if they are sensitive to environmental changes, when implementing new events, including those occurring outside of normal operating hours to ensure high levels of animal welfare.

Abstract Pictorial painting in fresco is a defining characteristic of Aegean culture, yet the art form presents numerous challenges to modern study. Prehistoric frescoes are durable but fragile, and as little as five to ten percent of any given composition may survive to the present day. Attempts to restore the original appearance of such fragmentary paintings often result in errors or overly imaginative reconstructions. Dating frescoes to specific phases of prehistory is also difficult. Fresco fragments are often found in secondary contexts, and mixed stratigraphy and/or scant documentation of excavations often obscure the dating of surviving frescoes. In the absence of written history, however, the pictorial imagery preserved on frescoes provides crucial information about the social practices and beliefs of the prehistoric Minoan, Cycladic, and Mycenaean civilizations of the Aegean. This article on Aegean wall painting focuses on recent scholarship.

In an ideal world, research ecologists would provide ideas, guidance, and rigorous data that benefit practitioners, and practitioners would put this science into practice, exchange insights with the scientists, and make their project sites and management plans available for them to develop and test their theories. Developing and strengthening this kind of positive, mutually beneficial relationship between the scientific and resource management communities has been a central goal of organizations such as the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) ever since its inaugural meeting in 1988.KeywordsRestoration EcologyGrand Unify TheoryBoot CampGood RestorationInaugural MeetingThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) induces tumor proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis. Reactive oxygen species, hypoxia, and growth factor stimulation induce HIF-1alpha, and the augmented HIF-1alpha activity confers upon cancer cells the ability to adapt to microenvironments. Oltipraz is a cancer chemopreventive agent and has an inhibitory effect on angiogenesis and tumor growth. Nonetheless, the molecular mechanism of tumor inhibition is as yet unclear. This study investigated whether oltipraz and its congeners inhibit HIF-1alpha activity and, if so, the molecular basis of inhibition. Oltipraz and other 1,2-dithiole-3-thiones have the ability to prevent insulin- or hypoxia-induced HIF-1alpha expression through an increase in ubiquitination, thereby accelerating HIF-1alpha degradation and inhibiting HIF-1alpha-dependent gene transcription. Transfection of cells with a constitutively active mutant of p70 ribosomal S6 kinase-1 (CA-S6K1) increased the basal and insulin-inducible HIF-1alpha activity. CA-S6K1 overexpression reversed HIF-1alpha inhibition by rapamycin (a mammalian target of rapamycin/S6K1 inhibitor). However, the inhibitory effect of oltipraz on HIF-1alpha was not reversed by CA-S6K1 despite its S6K1 inhibition. The failure of dominant negative mutant AMP-activated protein kinase-alpha to restore the ability of insulin to increase HIF-1alpha against oltipraz excluded the possible role of AMP-activated protein kinase activation in the action of oltipraz. Oltipraz treatment abrogated insulin-induced H(2)O(2) production, thereby preventing H(2)O(2)-enhanced HIF-1alpha expression and promoting its ubiquitination and degradation. In an animal model, tumor regression by oltipraz was accompanied by decreases in microvessel density and vascular endothelial growth factor induction. Oltipraz inhibits HIF-1alpha activity and HIF-1alpha-dependent tumor growth, which may result from a decrease in HIF-1alpha stability through S6K1 inhibition in combination with an H(2)O(2)-scavenging effect.