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Introduction: Racial/ethnic minority communities are underrepresented in research. Medical mistrust and mistreatment, discrimination, and a lack of diverse research workforce may influence recruitment and engagement. Engaging Latinx immigrants for research presents unique recruitment challenges, especially for biobehavioral research which is not well explored. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of targeted strategies for recruiting young adult, Latinx immigrants. Methods: Recruitment occurred from 2018 to 2019 in an ongoing, longitudinal, community-engaged research study examining risk and resilience factors for health outcomes in Latinx immigrants. Strategies included active recruitment (e.g., community-based events and public events) and passive recruitment (e.g., word-of-mouth and radio and flyer advertisements). Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of type of recruitment on participant enrollment. Results: The study enrolled 391 participants of 701 interested individuals (55%). Greater odds of enrollment were among participants recruited through radio and flyer advertisements (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.90, 95% CI [1.59, 5.27], p =.001), word-of-mouth (AOR=2.50, 95% CI [1.55, 4.03], p <.000), or community-based organization events (AOR=1.68, 95% CI [1.19, 2.38], p =.003). Conclusions: Passive recruitment strategies through trusted sources increased the odds of enrollment of Latinx immigrants in biobehavioral research. Future recruitment efforts should leverage trusted sources to disseminate recruitment materials addressing barriers to recruiting Latinx participants for research.

Appetitive traits are important behavioural characteristics affecting eating and body composition. Ghrelin and leptin are two key hormones regulating appetite and metabolism. Recent studies have reported the presence of autoantibodies (autoAbs) directed to ghrelin and leptin in healthy individuals as well as affinity alterations in eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and hyperphagic obesity. Nevertheless, the relationship of these autoAbs with appetitive traits is unknown. The goals of this exploratory study were to analyze circulating IgG autoAbs reacting to ghrelin and leptin and evaluate their relationship with body composition parameters and appetitive traits. This cross-sectional study included 180 young subjects (20 ± 2 years) that underwent body composition evaluation. Seven appetitive traits were assessed with AEBQ-Esp and were classified as low-score or high-score. A validated in-house ELISA test was performed to measure IgG ghrelin and leptin-reactive autoAbs in its free, total, and immune complexes fractions. Free IgG ghrelin-reactive were significantly higher in women than in men. Immune complexes of IgG-ghrelin were positively correlated with waist-hip ratio in the total cohort. In women, free IgG leptin-reactive were positively correlated with body fat percentage and waist-hip ratio, whereas in men, immune complexes of IgG-leptin were positively correlated with body fat percentage. Women with a low-score for 'enjoyment of food', exhibited higher levels of IgG ghrelin-reactive autoAbs on its free form than the high-score group. Men with a high-score for 'emotional undereating' had higher levels of free IgG leptin-reactive autoAbs than the low-score group. The correlation of these autoAbs with anthropometric parameters and appetitive traits in young subjects support its role as carriers and modulators of the biologic functions of ghrelin and leptin and suggest a novel role in eating behaviour through appetitive traits., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Predominantly Spanish-speaking Latinx individuals are underrepresented in research, and one primary barrier is the lack of infrastructure to effectively engage, among them, adequate cultural and linguistic adaptation of research measures. Capitalizing on existing recommendations for appropriate and ethical engagement of Latinx individuals in research, we present a comprehensive approach to cultural and linguistic adaptation, and describe the application of this approach in the context of an ongoing longitudinal, observational, community-engaged study that follows a cohort of young adult Latinx immigrants (ages 18-44) in the Southeastern region of the United States who were predominantly Spanish-speakers (N = 391). We describe barriers that researchers may face in their pursuit of cultural and linguistic adaptation and offset these challenges with tangible solutions. We discuss lessons learned through our application to a research study. This approach holds promise for reducing barriers to participation in research and health disparities in predominantly Spanish-speaking Latinx individuals, who represent a population that is growing in size in the United States yet is still underrepresented as research participants and in the research workforce., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Anesthesia for oral and maxillofacial procedures during volunteer surgical missions requires careful planning of personnel, equipment, supplies, and coordination with the host medical institution. Cleft lip and palate repair are the most common oral and maxillofacial surgeries performed, and can be performed safely in low-resource environments when proper care and planning is taken., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Advances in virtual reality (VR) technology offer new opportunities to design supports for the core behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that promote progress toward optimal outcomes. Floreo has developed a novel mobile VR platform that pairs a user receiving instruction on target skills with an adult monitor., Objective: The primary objective of this pilot study was to explore the feasibility of using Floreo's Joint Attention Module in school-aged children with autism in a special education setting. A secondary objective was to explore a novel joint attention measure designed for use with school-aged children and to observe whether there was a suggestion of change in joint attention skills from preintervention to postintervention., Methods: A total of 12 participants (age range: 9 to 16 years) received training with the Joint Attention Module for 14 sessions over 5 weeks., Results: No serious side effects were reported, and no participants dropped out of the study because of undesirable side effects. On the basis of monitor data, 95.4% (126/132) of the time participants tolerated the headset, 95.4% (126/132) of the time participants seemed to enjoy using Floreo's platform, and 95.5% (128/134) of the time the VR experience was reported as valuable. In addition, scoring of the joint attention measure suggested a positive change in participant skills related to the total number of interactions, use of eye contact, and initiation of interactions., Conclusions: The study results suggest that Floreo's Joint Attention Module is safe and well tolerated by students with ASD, and preliminary data also suggest that its use is related to improvements in fundamental joint attention skills., (©Vijay Ravindran, Monica Osgood, Vibha Sazawal, Rita Solorzano, Sinan Turnacioglu. Originally published in JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting (http://pediatrics.jmir.org), 30.09.2019.)

Microvascular anastomosis is a common part of many reconstructive and transplant surgical procedures. While venous anastomosis can be achieved using microvascular anastomotic coupling devices, surgical suturing is the main method for arterial anastomosis. Suture-based microanastomosis is time-consuming and challenging. Here, dissolvable sugar-based stents are fabricated as an assistive tool for facilitating surgical anastomosis. The nonbrittle sugar-based stent holds the vessels together during the procedure and are dissolved upon the restoration of the blood flow. The incorporation of sodium citrate minimizes the chance of thrombosis. The dissolution rate and the mechanical properties of the sugar-based stent can be tailored between 4 and 8 min. To enable the fabrication of stents with desirable geometries and dimensions, 3D printing is utilized to fabricate the stents. The effectiveness of the printed sugar-based stent is assessed ex vivo. The fabrication procedure is fast and can be performed in the operating room., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Background: Neurological injuries or disease can impair the function of motor circuitry controlling forearm supination, and recovery is often limited. Preclinical animal models are essential tools for developing therapeutic interventions to improve motor function after neurological damage. Here we describe the supination assessment task, an automated measure of quantifying forelimb supination in the rat., New Method: Animals were trained to reach out of a slot in a cage, grasp a spherical manipulandum, and supinate the forelimb. The angle of the manipulandum was measured using a rotary encoder. If the animal exceeded the predetermined turn angle, a reward pellet was delivered. This automated task provides a large, high-resolution dataset of turn angle over time. Multiple parameters can be measured including success rate, peak turn angle, turn velocity, area under the curve, and number of rotations per trial. The task provides a high degree of flexibility to the user, with both software and hardware parameters capable of being adjusted., Results: We demonstrate the supination assessment task can effectively measure significant deficits in multiple parameters of rotational motor function for multiple weeks in two models of ischemic stroke., Comparison With Existing Methods: Preexisting motor assays designed to measure forelimb supination in the rat require high-speed video analysis techniques. This operant task provides a high-resolution, quantitative end-point dataset of turn angle, which obviates the necessity of video analysis., Conclusions: The supination assessment task represents a novel, efficient method of evaluating forelimb rotation and may help decrease the cost and time of running experiments., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Conducting intervention research with culturally diverse, underserved, and often hard to reach populations in naturalistic or field settings presents investigators with a number of practical challenges. This article describes four special challenges and strategies for dealing with them that clients, service providers, and researchers experienced in conducting a prevention intervention to reduce substance use and sexual risky behaviors with low-income Latina young women. The challenges are (a) building community partnerships; (b) developing interventions that are acceptable and relevant; (c) promoting successful recruitment, participation, and retention of participants; and (d) developing a diverse, cohesive, and committed research team and effective managerial information support systems.

Statistics show that use of harmful substances (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine) among women of childbearing age is widespread and serious. Numerous theoretical models and empirical studies have attempted to explain the complex factors that lead individuals to use drugs. The Social Stress Model of Substance Abuse [1] is one model developed to explain parameters that influence drug use. According to the model, the likelihood of an individual engaging in drug use is seen as a function of the stress level and the extent to which it is offset by stress modifiers such as social networks, social competencies, and resources. The variables of the denominator are viewed as interacting with each other to buffer the impact of stress [1]. This article focuses on one of the constructs in this model: that of competence. It presents a summary of theoretical and conceptual formulations for the construct of competence, a review of empirical evidence for the association of competence with drug use, and describes the preliminary development of a multi-scale instrument designed to assess drug protective competence among low-income Hispanic childbearing women. Based upon theoretical and empirical studies, eight domains of drug protective competence were identified and conceptually defined. Using subscales from existing instruments with psychometric evidence for their validity and reliability, a multi-scale instrument was developed to assess drug protective competence. Hypothesis testing was used to assess construct validity. Four drug protective competence domains (social influence, sociability, self-worth, and control/responsibility) were found to be statistically associated with drug use behaviors. Although not statistically significant, expected trends were observed between drug use and the other four domains of drug protective competence (intimacy, nurturance, goal directedness, and spiritual directedness). Study limitations and suggestions for further psychometric testing of the instrument are described.

Background: Endothelins are a family of peptides with a potent constriction action that can play a role in the etiology of vascular diabetic complications., Patients and Methods: We studied 26 prepubertal patients diagnosed with type I diabetes mellitus and treated by both insulin and dietetic regime. They were analyzed according to their age. A morning blood sample was obtained after 12 hours of overnight fasting for endothelin determination (RIA from Nichols Institute) and HbA1c (Biorad). Patients were classified into two groups: 1) good control, with HbA1c values < 8% and 2) poor control with HbA1c levels > 8%. The control groups was comprised of endocrinologically normal children that consulted the pediatrician for suspected constitutional delay of growth. Statistical analysis was made by means of nonparametric methods and with the Spearman coefficient., Results: In the control group, the plasma concentration of endothelin were 4.01 +/- 1.1 pg/ml (x +/- SD). In diabetics with good control, values were 3.15 +/- 0.62 pg/ml and 3.91 +/- 1.25 in diabetics with poor control. No statistical differences were noted among these groups., Conclusions: We deduce that plasmatic levels of endothelin does not seem to be affected by the metabolic control in patients with type I diabetes mellitus without complications.

Parvovirus infection was confirmed by fluorescent antibody staining or viral culturing in 137 (22%) of 615 necropsy accessions from dogs at the Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory from Jan 1, 1987 through Sept 30, 1988. Septicemic colibacillosis was diagnosed in 88 (90%) of the 98 canine parvovirus-positive accessions in which liver or lung was cultured bacteriologically. Pulmonary edema or alveolitis similar to that seen in the human adult respiratory distress syndrome was observed in 63 (69%) of the 91 canine parvovirus-positive accessions in which the lungs were examined histologically.

Chlamydia psittaci is a major cause of ovine abortion in the fourth to fifth months of gestation. During the lambing seasons of 1986, 1987, and 1988, fetuses from 52 cases of ovine abortion, stillbirth, or perinatal death were submitted to the laboratory for necropsy examination. Placenta or fetal tissues from 34 cases were cultured on mouse L cells for C. psittaci. Chlamydia psittaci was identified by immunofluorescence on cultures in 20 of these cases. The major gross lesion consistently associated with chlamydial abortion was placentitis with multifocal cotyledonary necrosis and accumulation of red-brown exudate in the intercotyledonary placenta. Chlamydiae appeared as spherical organisms, less than 1 micron in diameter, in the cytoplasm of trophoblasts in impression smears of cotyledons. Histologically, placentitis was sometimes accompanied by pneumonia or encephalitis in the fetus. Chlamydia psittaci was considered the cause for fetal death when chlamydial isolation was associated with placentitis or inflammation of other fetal tissues and when other abortifacient agents were not detected.

Eighteen Missouri swine herds were serologically monitored to determine the efficiency of two methods for the control of pseudorabies. A serum neutralization test-and-removal procedure was effective in ten of ten herds using this method. Vaccination procedures were less reliable. Virus still circulated in five of eight vaccinated herds and a thorough epidemiological evaluation of herd status was impossible. Titers caused by vaccination could not be distinguished from those by natural infection. Vaccination also was carried out in three seronegative herds. Antipseudorabies virus titers in these herds ranged from negative to 1:16 two to three months postvaccination. A majority of the sows in these herds responded with low 1:2 or 1:4 titers following vaccination. A direct comparison of "test and removal" farms and farms that used vaccination was not possible because of the differences between the two groups of farms.

Neonatal colostrum-deprived pigs were inoculated with cell-culture preparations of three rotaviruses and three enteroviruses, singly or in combination. The three enteroviruses established intestinal and systemic infection but did not induce diarrhea or intestinal lesions. The three rotaviruses produced severe enteric disease characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, dehydration and death. Villi were severely stunted. All three isolates were equally virulent. Inoculation with three different rotavirus-enterovirus combinations resulted in disease less severe than that produced by the rotaviruses alone. Intestinal lesions were less extensive and fewer pigs became moribund or died.

Clinical, immunofluorescence and histopathological observations were found to be an efficient approach for the confirmation of the diagnosis of transmissible gastroenteritis in feeder swine. Two cases are reported to exemplify how feeder swine exposed to points of concentration such as holding areas, sales barns and auctions can play an important role in the epizootiology of transmissible gastroenteritis. A third field case is reported as an example of an outbreak of transmissible gastroenteritis beginning in feeder swine and then spreading to baby pigs on the farm. All baby pigs died that were born during the acute phase of the outbreak in the feeder swine. Baby pigs born shortly after the clinical signs had abated in the herd, and from sows that had been exposed orally to virulent transmissible gastroenteritis virus and vaccinated with a commercial transmissible gastroenteritis vaccine ten days before farrowing, survived. This was explained by a combination of a decrease in the amount of virus shed in the environment and the immunity induced in the sows. These observations of field outbreaks of transmissible gastroenteritis combined with recently reported experimental studies lend strong support to the hypothesis of a reservoir for transmissible gastroenteritis virus in feeder pigs. This reservoir would be based principally on the transmission of the virus on a continuous basis from the feces of recently infected pigs to susceptible pigs. Clinical signs of transmissible gastroenteritis in such pigs are difficult to recognize or absent and this contributes to the importance of the reservoir in the field.

Over a four year period, 74 of 250 field outbreaks of enteric disease (30%) and 110 of 440 swine (25%) were positive for transmissible gastroenteritis by immunofluorescence procedures. Of 141 swine from herds positive for transmissible gastroenteritis 110 (78%) were positive by fluorescent antibody techniques. The fastest, easiest to perform and most effective procedure was the examination of frozen sections of the jejunum from acutely ill animals by the fluorescent antibody tissue section technique. Only two herds were found to be positive by the fluorescent antibody tissue culture technique which were negative by fluorescent antibody tissue section technique. A considerable number of outbreaks, 21 of 74 (28%), of transmissible gastroenteritis were detected by immunofluorescence in swine over two weeks of age. The majority of outbreaks of transmissible gastroenteritis, 50 of 74 (68%), occurred in Missouri during the months of January through April and 63 of 74 (85%) during the months of December through May. The recurrence of the disease in a number of counties over a four-year period suggest the possibility of endemic foci.

Thirteen 3-week-old pigs that had been allowed to nurse for the first 16 to 18 hours after birth were orally inoculated with 1 x 10(6.5) TCID50 of porcine rotavirus. All developed diarrhea, anorexia, and vomiting by postinoculation (PI) hour 30. These signs had abated by PI day 6. Villus blunting in the small intestine was most severe in the jejunum and ileum of pigs euthanatized between PI days 3 and 5. Villi had returned to nearly normal length by PI day 6, although fused villi were seen in a few locations in the distal portion of the jejunum and in the ileum. Virus was detected in the feces of inoculated pigs by isolation in cell cultures and by electron microscopy during the 7-day course of the experiment. There was 1 extraintestinal virus isolation from the lung of 1 pig at PI day 2. Infection and disease developed in the presence of serum-neutralizing antibody obtained by nursing seropositive sows. There was no significant change in neutralizing antibody titers in the 3-week-old pigs over the course of the experiment. In this experimental work, a model to study rotavirus infection in 3-week-old pigs has been developed.

Abnormal cells and macrophages found in white and yellow turkey semen were studied by electron microscopy. Yellow semen contained many abnormal cells, most of which were large and round or smaller and ellipsoidal. It was concluded that they were aberrant spermatids, with differentiation being more complete in the smaller cells. Only a few cells of the smaller type were detected in normal white semen. Macrophages were occasionally seen in white semen but were numerous in yellow semen. Phagocytic vacuoles of these cells contained structural elements of spermatozoa and abnormal spermatids. Virus particles were not detected in any of the seminal cells observed. Ultrastructure studies of cultured testicular cells obtained from several of the turkeys examined showed the presence of intranuclear Herpesvirus particles in germinal cells. Macrophages from the testicular cultures seldom were seen with intranuclear Herpesvirus, although these cells commonly were found with Herpesvirus particles and cellular debris contained within phagocytic vacuoles.