Lower Sodium Intake and Risk of Headaches: Results From the Trial of Nonpharmacologic Interventions in the Elderly.

ObjectivesTo determine the effect of sodium (Na) reduction on occurrence of headaches.MethodsIn the Trial of Nonpharmacologic Interventions in the Elderly, 975 men and woman (aged 60-80 years) with hypertension were randomized to a Na-reduction intervention or control group and were followed for up to 36 months. The study was conducted between 1992 and 1995 at 4 clinical centers (Johns Hopkins University, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the University of Tennessee).ResultsMean difference in Na excretion between the Na-reduction intervention and control group was significant at each follow-up visit (P < .001) with an average difference of 38.8 millimoles per 24 hours. The occurrence of headaches was significantly lower in the Na-reduction intervention group (10.5%) compared with control (14.3%) with a hazard ratio of 0.59 (95% confidence interval = 0.40, 0.88; P = .009). The risk of headaches was significantly associated with average level of Na excretion during follow-up, independent of most recent blood pressure. The relationship appeared to be nonlinear with a spline relationship and a knot at 150 millimoles per 24 hours.ConclusionsReduced sodium intake, currently recommended for blood pressure control, may also reduce the occurrence of headaches in older persons with hypertension

A Gap Analysis of Biodiversity Research in Rocky Mountain National Park: A Pilot Study on Spiders

Research on biodiversity and the relationship between organisms is imperative to establish management practices for the conservation of protected areas. The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation (EOWBF) formed our team of four Duke University students as the first of many ATBI/BioBlitz SWAT teams to travel to protected areas and develop approaches to conduct biodiversity research that can inform their conservation. Our project consisted of two elements. First, our team assessed the current status of biodiversity research at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) to determine major gaps in the understanding of biodiversity. We used available species lists from research conducted in the Park to ensure that the National Park species database, NPSpecies, contained the most up-to-date information. Our team then added 645 species of plants and fungi to the database through this process. One of the identified gaps was a lack of research on spiders in the park. The second element of our study was a pilot analysis of spider biodiversity, to identify as many species in the park as possible and to relate their occurrences to environmental variables. Over 300 spider specimens were collected, 157 of which were identified, representing 51 species. Specimens were collected from three non-wilderness sites in RMNP at three different times of day (morning, afternoon, and night), over a span of ten days (July 16 - 25, 2014). The three sites represent a range of elevations (2,398 - 2,923 meters) and habitats. Cost-effective methods were utilized and evaluated for future spider research. We propose a more thorough spider survey in RMNP that can better inform management of the Park by providing information about spider diversity, abundance, function, and how spiders can be used as ecological indicators

Evaluation of Finnish Diabetes Risk Score in screening undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes among U.S. adults by gender and race: NHANES 1999-2010.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the performance of Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) in detecting undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes among U.S. adults by gender and race.MethodsThis cross-sectional analysis included participants (aged ≥20 years) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2010. Sensitivity, specificity, area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the optimal cutoff points for identifying undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes were calculated for FINDRISC by gender and race/ethnicity.ResultsAmong the 20,633 adults (≥20 years), 49.8% were women and 53.0% were non-Hispanic White. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes was 4.1% and 35.6%, respectively. FINDRISC was positively associated with the prevalence of diabetes (OR = 1.48 for 1 unit increase, p<0.001) and prediabetes (OR = 1.15 for 1 unit increase, p<0.001). The area under ROC for detecting undiagnosed diabetes was 0.75 for total population, 0.74 for men and 0.78 for women (p = 0.04); 0.76 for White, 0.76 for Black and 0.72 for Hispanics (p = 0.03 for White vs. Hispanics). The area under ROC for detecting prediabetes was 0.67 for total population, 0.66 for men and 0.70 for women (p<0.001); 0.68 for White, 0.67 for Black and 0.65 for Hispanics (p<0.001 for White vs. Hispanics). The optimal cutoff point was 10 (sensitivity = 0.75) for men and 12 (sensitivity = 0.72) for women for detecting undiagnosed diabetes; 9 (sensitivity = 0.61) for men and 10 (sensitivity = 0.69) for women for detecting prediabetes.ConclusionsFINDRISC is a simple and non-invasive screening tool to identify individuals at high risk for diabetes in the U.S. adults

Blocking interaction between SHP2 and PD‐1 denotes a novel opportunity for developing PD‐1 inhibitors

Small molecular PD‐1 inhibitors are lacking in current immuno‐oncology clinic. PD‐1/PD‐L1 antibody inhibitors currently approved for clinical usage block interaction between PD‐L1 and PD‐1 to enhance cytotoxicity of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL). Whether other steps along the PD‐1 signaling pathway can be targeted remains to be determined. Here, we report that methylene blue (MB), an FDA‐approved chemical for treating methemoglobinemia, potently inhibits PD‐1 signaling. MB enhances the cytotoxicity, activation, cell proliferation, and cytokine‐secreting activity of CTL inhibited by PD‐1. Mechanistically, MB blocks interaction between Y248‐phosphorylated immunoreceptor tyrosine‐based switch motif (ITSM) of human PD‐1 and SHP2. MB enables activated CTL to shrink PD‐L1 expressing tumor allografts and autochthonous lung cancers in a transgenic mouse model. MB also effectively counteracts the PD‐1 signaling on human T cells isolated from peripheral blood of healthy donors. Thus, we identify an FDA‐approved chemical capable of potently inhibiting the function of PD‐1. Equally important, our work sheds light on a novel strategy to develop inhibitors targeting PD‐1 signaling axis

Acaricidal activity of plant-derived essential oil components against Psoroptes ovis in vitro and in vivo

A

A Study on Cultural Translatability from the Perspective of Lefevere’s Constraints on Literary Translation—Take the Nickname Translation in Shuihuzhuan as Examples

Cultural translatability has long been a hot but mysterious topic in translation academia. Lefevere, as one of the major figures of “cultural turn” in translation studies, investigated translation from socio-cultural perspective and stressed the extra-textual constraints on cultural translation. However, most studies have focused on the major four manipulations and neglected the other specific elements that hinder cultural translation. Nickname in Shuihuzhuan, originated from historical figures, anecdotes, legends, weapons, dialects, and other cultural elements, has revealed its research value in literary translation and cultural transmission. Therefore, this paper intends to take nickname translation in Shuihuzhuan as examples, analyzes those specific cultural elements, and carries out some translation strategies and cultural strategies to deal with them. Though the paper is aimed at discussing the cultural translation by using texts in Shuihuzhuan, the conclusion is applicable to all literature works

Model-based analysis in survey: an application in analytic inference and a simulation in Small Area Estimation

This paper addresses model-based procedures in data analysis for national complex data and a simulation study in small area estimation. For National Agriculture Workers Survey data, we do variable selection and want to find one model based on Akaike information criterion (AIC). We use augmented model and weighting approach to deal with the survey weight, equal weight, and smoothed weight. Research result indicates that the survey weight plays an important role in model selection. We also show what variables are significant predictors for the number of years farm workers are employed in their current employer. For small area estimator, we conduct a simulation to compare two direct estimators and one sample mean estimator in the area-level model and one EBLUP in the unit-level model. We are interested in the mean squared error of the area-level and unit-level estimators. The research result shows that the unit-level estimator performs the best. For a larger number of sample size in each area, a regression estimator in an area-level model will be as efficient as the unit-level estimator