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At CENS, our diversity initiatives continue to grow. We have developed several programs and partnerships that are designed to increase the number of underrepresented students pursuing advanced degrees in CENS related fields. To that end, we have developed a number of key projects to help establish a pipeline to graduate school and CENS research. Our Women@CENS program is designed to promote gender equity by focusing on our summer internship program as well as conducting a study on promising practices of undergraduate research programs nationally. With the completion of our study we look forward to sharing the findings on promising diversity practices. CENS has also continued to develop and maintain relationships and collaborations with partnering institutions and local colleges and organizations that focus on serving underrepresented students.

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the impact of two different ventilation techniques, jet ventilation and apneic anesthesia with intermittent ventilation (AAIV), on patient hemodynamics and operative time during endoscopic laryngotracheal stenosis surgery., Methods: Retrospective chart review of patients who underwent airway dilation for laryngotracheal stenosis by a single surgeon at a single institution from October 1, 2000 through January 2, 2020. Logistic regression, Mann-Whitney U tests and chi square analysis were used to determine statistical significance., Results: A total of 157 patients, 43 (27.4%) male and 114 (72.6%) female, and 605 total encounters were included for analysis. There were no significant differences in hemodynamic outcomes when comparing the AAIV and jet ventilation groups. Specifically, there was no significant difference in either peak end-tidal CO 2 or nadir O 2 saturation between the AAIV and jet ventilation groups (p = 0.4016) and (p = 0.1357), respectively. The patients in the AAIV group had a significantly higher median BMI 32.93 (27.40-39.40) compared with 28.80 (24.1-32.65) (p = 0.0001). Although not necessarily clinically significant, patients with higher BMI had lower median O 2 nadirs (97.8%) than non-obese patients (99.2%) (p < 0.0001). The median total procedure time was equivalent when comparing the two ventilation techniques., Conclusion: AAIV is a safe method of ventilation for patients undergoing endoscopic laryngotracheal stenosis surgery with no significant differences in patient hemodynamics or procedure time when compared with jet ventilation. AAIV was the preferred method of ventilation for obese patients undergoing endoscopic laryngotracheal stenosis surgery., Level of Evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 134:1343-1348, 2024., (© 2023 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is thought to progress from normal cognition through preclinical disease and ultimately to symptomatic AD with cognitive impairment. Recent work suggests that the gut microbiome of symptomatic patients with AD has an altered taxonomic composition compared with that of healthy, cognitively normal control individuals. However, knowledge about changes in the gut microbiome before the onset of symptomatic AD is limited. In this cross-sectional study that accounted for clinical covariates and dietary intake, we compared the taxonomic composition and gut microbial function in a cohort of 164 cognitively normal individuals, 49 of whom showed biomarker evidence of early preclinical AD. Gut microbial taxonomic profiles of individuals with preclinical AD were distinct from those of individuals without evidence of preclinical AD. The change in gut microbiome composition correlated with β-amyloid (Aβ) and tau pathological biomarkers but not with biomarkers of neurodegeneration, suggesting that the gut microbiome may change early in the disease process. We identified specific gut bacterial taxa associated with preclinical AD. Inclusion of these microbiome features improved the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of machine learning classifiers for predicting preclinical AD status when tested on a subset of the cohort (65 of the 164 participants). Gut microbiome correlates of preclinical AD neuropathology may improve our understanding of AD etiology and may help to identify gut-derived markers of AD risk.

Eurasian brine shrimp (genus Artemia) have closely related sexual and asexual lineages of parthenogenetic females, which produce rare males at low frequencies. Although they are known to have ZW chromosomes, these are not well characterized, and it is unclear whether they are shared across the clade. Furthermore, the underlying genetic architecture of the transmission of asexuality, which can occur when rare males mate with closely related sexual females, is not well understood. We produced a chromosome-level assembly for the sexual Eurasian species Artemia sinica and characterized in detail the pair of sex chromosomes of this species. We combined this new assembly with short-read genomic data for the sexual species Artemia sp. Kazakhstan and several asexual lineages of Artemia parthenogenetica, allowing us to perform an in-depth characterization of sex-chromosome evolution across the genus. We identified a small differentiated region of the ZW pair that is shared by all sexual and asexual lineages, supporting the shared ancestry of the sex chromosomes. We also inferred that recombination suppression has spread to larger sections of the chromosome independently in the American and Eurasian lineages. Finally, we took advantage of a rare male, which we backcrossed to sexual females, to explore the genetic basis of asexuality. Our results suggest that parthenogenesis is likely partly controlled by a locus on the Z chromosome, highlighting the interplay between sex determination and asexuality., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Genetics Society of America.)

While the epithelial cell cortex displays profound asymmetries in protein distribution and morphology along the apico-basal axis, the extent to which the cytoplasm is similarly polarized within epithelial cells remains relatively unexplored. We show that cytoplasmic organelles within C. elegans embryonic intestinal cells develop extensive apico-basal polarity at the time they establish cortical asymmetry. Nuclei and conventional endosomes, including early endosomes, late endosomes, and lysosomes, become polarized apically. Lysosome-related gut granules, yolk platelets, and lipid droplets become basally enriched. Removal of par-3 activity does not disrupt organelle positioning, indicating that cytoplasmic apico-basal asymmetry is independent of the PAR polarity pathway. Blocking the apical migration of nuclei leads to the apical positioning of gut granules and yolk platelets, whereas the asymmetric localization of conventional endosomes and lipid droplets is unaltered. This suggests that nuclear positioning organizes some, but not all, cytoplasmic asymmetries in this cell type. We show that gut granules become apically enriched when WHT-2 and WHT-7 function is disrupted, identifying a novel role for ABCG transporters in gut granule positioning during epithelial polarization. Analysis of WHT-2 and WHT-7 ATPase mutants is consistent with a WHT-2/WHT-7 heterodimer acting as a transporter in gut granule positioning. In wht-2(-) mutants, the polarized distribution of other organelles is not altered and gut granules do not take on characteristics of conventional endosomes that could have explained their apical mispositioning. During epithelial polarization wht-2(-) gut granules exhibit a loss of the Rab32/38 family member GLO-1 and ectopic expression of GLO-1 is sufficient to rescue the basal positioning of wht-2(-) and wht-7(-) gut granules. Furthermore, depletion of GLO-1 causes the mislocalization of the endolysosomal RAB-7 to gut granules and RAB-7 drives the apical mispositioning of gut granules when GLO-1, WHT-2, or WHT-7 function is disrupted. We suggest that ABC transporters residing on gut granules can regulate Rab dynamics to control organelle positioning during epithelial polarization., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The authors sought to investigate patient preferences on physician and medical student attire in the outpatient otolaryngology setting., Methods: A prospective sample of 50 (23 males, 27 females) patients presenting to an otolaryngology clinic in a North American teaching hospital, Boston, MA, were included. Patients were seen by a researcher wearing a white coat and either (1) a shirt and tie or (2) surgical scrubs, then completed a Likert-style survey evaluating feelings of trust, comfort, and professionalism. Statistical significance was set at α = 0.05., Results: Most patients (82%, 41/50) believed that attire was important. Men and older patients were significantly more likely to believe attire was important ( P = .01 and .005, respectively). Patients were significantly more comfortable when seen by a provider wearing a shirt and tie compared to scrubs ( U = 109.5, P = .021); however, there was no difference in feelings of trust or professionalism ( P = .5* and .6*, respectively)., Conclusions: Physician attire is important for patients presenting to otolaryngology clinic. Patients favored a white coat with a shirt and tie. Level of Evidence: NA.

Objective: A cross-sectional study design was utilized to evaluate the readability of patient education materials on the newborn hearing screen from Google and major institutions., Methods: The top 55 websites from the Google search "failed newborn hearing screen" and websites from major institutions (the U.S. News & World Report ranked top 10 children's hospitals, the top 5 pediatric otolaryngology fellowships as ranked by Doximity Residency Navigator, the Centers for Disease and Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery) were compiled. Text from each website was edited to remove extraneous text. Readability grade was calculated using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Flesch Reading Ease Score, Gunning-Fog Index (GFI), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Coleman-Liau Index, and Automated Readability Index. Intra- and inter-observer reliability were assessed., Results: 26 websites from Google and 29 websites from major institutions were evaluated. From Google, provider-oriented websites (n = 2) were more difficult to read than patient-oriented websites (n = 24) with statistical significance for FKGL (p < 0.001), GFI (p < 0.013) and SMOG (p < 0.001). From the major institutions, more than half were at a reading level that exceeded the average American adult with an average FKGL 9.71 ± 2.69. Intra- and inter-observer reliability were both excellent with an intra-class correlation coefficient for each readability tool ≥0.950 (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: Online patient education materials about the newborn hearing screen may be too difficult for the average reader. Revisions to these materials and redirection to more readable online resources may be necessary to benefit a more inclusive patient population., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Most literature concerning unintended pregnancy in Brazil highlights a link between 'adolescent pregnancy', poverty, marginality and gender inequality. Young women are seen to suffer disadvantages in the course of their lives due to unplanned pregnancies at an early age. This paper questions this picture, emphasising the ways in which adolescent pregnancy is socially constructed and wrongly portrayed as being the main difficulty facing young women in marginalised communities. Instead, it suggests that anthropological and public health debates should focus on how terms such as adolescence and pregnancy are understood and defined by the populations in question.

Background: Recent reports suggest that endocrine disruptors may leach into the contents of bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET is the main ingredient in most clear plastic containers used for beverages and condiments worldwide and has previously been generally assumed not to be a source of endocrine disruptors., Objective: I begin by considering evidence that bottles made from PET may leach various phthalates that have been putatively identified as endocrine disruptors. I also consider evidence that leaching of antimony from PET containers may lead to endocrine-disrupting effects., Discussion: The contents of the PET bottle, and the temperature at which it is stored, both appear to influence the rate and magnitude of leaching. Endocrine disruptors other than phthalates, specifically antimony, may also contribute to the endocrine-disrupting effect of water from PET containers., Conclusions: More research is needed in order to clarify the mechanisms whereby beverages and condiments in PET containers may be contaminated by endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Many scholars have argued that Nietzsche's dementia was caused by syphilis. A careful review of the evidence suggests that this consensus is probably incorrect. The syphilis hypothesis is not compatible with most of the evidence available. Other hypotheses--such as slowly growing right-sided retro-orbital meningioma--provide a more plausible fit to the evidence.

Anne Fausto-Sterling s suggestion that the prevalence of intersex might be as high as 1.7% has attracted wide attention in both the scholarly press and the popular media. Many reviewers are not aware that this figure includes conditions which most clinicians do not recognize as intersex, such as Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, and late-onset adrenal hyperplasia. If the term intersex is to retain any meaning, the term should be restricted to those conditions in which chromosomal sex is inconsistent with phenotypic sex, or in which the phenotype is not classifiable as either male or female. Applying this more precise definition, the true prevalence of intersex is seen to be about 0.018%, almost 100 times lower than Fausto-Sterling s estimate of 1.7%.

Two questions relevant to the safety of phosphate additives have been raised in the literature: 1) Is the dietary ratio of calcium to phosphorus clinically significant in humans? Specifically, can a high-phosphorus, low-calcium diet cause hypocalcemia and/or secondary hyperparathyroidism in humans? 2) Does the growing use of phosphate-containing food additives increase the risk of low bone density and/or fracture in humans? In 1999, the Institute of Medicine published a monograph which addressed these two questions. This article critically reviews the findings and conclusions of the Institute of Medicine in the light of recent research.

Trends in college student health based on an annual survey of college freshmen administered for 30 consecutive years (1966-1995) at colleges and universities nationwide are described. Trends in the following areas are covered: (1) alcohol and drugs, (2) physical health, (3) psychological health, and (4) sexual attitudes. Gender and institutional differences in health behaviors and attitudes among the 1995 class of college freshmen are also considered. Major trends include declines in beer drinking and in physical and emotional self-confidence and an increase in stress and cigarette smoking. "Unhealthy" behaviors and attitudes are reported most often by freshmen at public 2-year institutions.

Only the function relating the required pulse frequency to the interburst interval discriminates between the priming effect and the rewarding effect: Separating two short bursts of pulses has no effect on their combined rewarding effect, but it enhances their priming effect. There are significant nonscalar differences between animals in the number-current and charge-duration functions for priming and reward, but there are no significant differences in these functions between effects within animals. Substantially more electrical-stimulation is required to produce good priming than to produce a reward that sustains maximum possible levels of performance. These findings suggest that the priming effect is a transient excitement generated by the receipt of one or more very large rewards. The discussion elaborates a model that reconciles this hypothesis with the earlier finding that the rewarding effect may be blocked pharmacologically without blocking priming.

Forty-seven men with a mean age of 42 years were assigned in random, double-blind fashion to treatment with either placebo or high-dose yohimbine (peak dose, 43 mg/day). Thirty-three subjects completed the six-month program. Variables assessed throughout the study included: body weight and body mass index; total cholesterol and HDL; body fat; and fat distribution as measured both by waist-to-hip ratio and by CT scan. Treatment with yohimbine had no effect on any variable in comparison with the control group.

Temporal summation of the rewarding effects of medial forebrain stimulation in the rat was investigated by varying the interval separating the two short bursts of stimulation given as a reward in a runway. One finding--that the reinforcing effect of the two bursts is independent of interburst interval--supports a model in which there is perfect summation of the portion of the reward signal that exceeds some threshold. However, the constant-threshold form of this model is not reconcilable with the results of a second experiment, which shows that charge-duration functions obtained with different levels of performance differ by a multiplicative (scalar) factor, that is, the ratio between the values of the two functions is everywhere the same. (The charge-duration function gives the charge required as a function of the train duration.) None of the models of postsynaptic integration so far suggested is capable of explaining simultaneously the fact that the strength-duration function is a perfect hyperbola that has nearly reached its rheobase at a train duration no greater than 2 s, that there is no statistically detectable effect of interburst interval on summation between bursts separated by intervals up to 2 s and longer, and that the strength-duration functions (or, equivalently, the charge-duration functions) derived by using different performance criteria differ by a multiplicative factor.