Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

Cassidy Announces Nearly $5 Million for LSU Health Shreveport, LSU and A&M College Baton Rouge – Bossier Press-Tribune Online

WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding $4,617,645 to Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Shreveport and LSU and Agricultural and Mechanical (LSU and A&M) College Baton Rouge under the pharmacology, physiology, and biological chemistry research program.

These federal dollars support cutting-edge research in Louisiana to improve the health of all Americans, said Dr. Cassidy. Im proud to announce more than $4.5 million to both LSU Health Shreveport and LSU and A&M College Baton Rouge to advance their research efforts.

Funding for pharmacology, physiology, biological chemistry research was awarded in the following amounts:

$2,150,395 to LSU Health Shreveport for the Center for Applied Immunology and Pathological Processes$2,467,250 to LSU and A&M College Baton Rouge for the Center for Pre-Clinical Cancer ResearchBackground

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) a medical research agency of the National Institute of Health which is a component of HHS supports basic research that increases our understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. NIGMS-funded scientists investigate how living systems work at a range of levels from molecules and cells to tissues and organs, in research organisms, humans, and populations.

Read the original:
Cassidy Announces Nearly $5 Million for LSU Health Shreveport, LSU and A&M College Baton Rouge - Bossier Press-Tribune Online

Physiology

Timing of exercise impacts men with Type 2 diabetes – Harvard Gazette

Numerous studies have demonstrated the role of physical activity in improving heart health for patients with Type 2 diabetes. But whether exercising at a certain time of the day promised an added health bonus for this population was still largely unknown.

New research published inDiabetes Care reports a correlation between the timing of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and cardiovascular fitness and health risks for individuals who have Type 2 diabetes and obesity or overweight.

The research team fromBrigham and Womens Hospitaland Joslin Diabetes Center investigators, along with collaborators found that, in its study of 2,035 people, men who performed physical activity in the morning had the highest risks of developing coronary heart disease (CHD), independent of the amount and intensity of weekly physical activity. Men most active midday had lower cardiorespiratory fitness levels. In women, the investigators did not find an association between specific activity timing and CHD risk or cardiorespiratory fitness.

The general message for our patient population remains that you should exercise whenever you can as regular exercise provides significant benefits for health, said corresponding authorJingyi Qian of theDivision of Sleep and Circadian Disordersat the Brigham and an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. But researchers studying the effects of physical activity should take into account timing as an additional consideration so that we can give better recommendations to the general public about how time of day may affect the relationship between exercise and cardiovascular health.

The researchers analyzed baseline data from the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes)study, a multi-site, randomized clinical investigation that began in 2001 and monitored the health of more than 5,000 individuals with Type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity. Among them, over 2,000 individuals had objectively measured physical activity at baseline.

The study population was very well characterized at baseline, with detailed metabolic and physical activity measurements, which was an advantage of using this dataset for our work, said corresponding author Roeland Middelbeek of the Joslin Diabetes Center, who is a co-investigator of the Look AHEAD study.

For theDiabetes Carearticle, the researchers reviewed data from hip-mounted accelerometers that participants wore for one week at the beginning of the Look AHEAD study. The researchers tracked the clock-time of daily moderate-to-vigorous activity, including labor-intensive work that extends beyond more traditionally defined forms of exercise. To assess the participants risk level of experiencing CHD over the next four years, the researchers used the well-known, sex-specificFramingham risk score algorithm.

Sex-specific physiological differences may help explain the more prominent correlations seen in males, who tend to be at risk of CHD earlier in life. However, the researchers note that other factors could also be at play. It remains unclear why time-specific activity may be associated with different levels of health and fitness.

The researchers also could not account for participants varying circadian rhythms: whereas a jog at 6 p.m. for one participant may be evening exercise, another participant prone to waking later in the day may, biologically, consider it to be afternoon, regardless of how the clock-time of the activity was recorded in the study.

Interest in the interaction between physical activity and the circadian system is still just emerging, Qian said. We formed a methodology for quantifying and characterizing participants based on the clock-time of their physical activity, which allows researchers to carry out other studies on other cohorts.

Beyond further integrating circadian biology with exercise physiology, the researchers are also excited to use longitudinal data to investigate how exercise timing relates to cardiovascular health outcomes, particularly among diabetes patients more vulnerable to cardiovascular events.

Other contributors to the research include Michael P. Walkup, Shyh-Huei Chen, Peter H. Brubaker, Dale S. Bond, Phyllis A. Richey, John M. Jakicic, Kun Hu, Frank A.J.L. Scheer, and the Look AHEAD Research Group.

Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K99HL148500). The Look AHEAD trial was supported by the Department of Health and Human Services through the following cooperative agreements from the National Institutes of Health (DK57136, DK57149, DK56990, DK57177, DK57171, DK57151, DK57182, DK57131, DK57002, DK57078, DK57154, DK57178, DK57219, DK57008, DK57135, and DK56992). The Indian Health Service (I.H.S.) provided personnel, medical oversight, and use of facilities.

See original here:
Timing of exercise impacts men with Type 2 diabetes - Harvard Gazette

Physiology

Building a better green workhorse | The Source | Washington University in St. Louis – Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom

Himadri Pakrasi, the George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor in biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, leads a team awarded $1.7 million from the National Science Foundation to streamline the genome of a cyanobacterium with the goal of developing a green cellular factory for sustainable production of food, feed and fuels.

In this project, we are aiming to redesign the genome of a photosynthetic organism without sacrificing its production capacity. This is a tall task, never attempted before, Pakrasi said.

Researchers will use a genome reduction strategy to develop a photosynthetic production platform out of a fast-growing cyanobacterium, Synechococcus 2973, that can efficiently convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into products of interest. This strain has the fastest doubling time of any known species of cyanobacteria and the highest rate of biomass production observed in cyanobacteria, making it a prime target for bioproduction.

Pakrasi and members of his research group, including postdoctoral research associate Anindita Banerjee and research scientist Deng Liu in biology in Arts & Sciences, have worked with Synechococcus 2973 before, including on projects that required expertise in cyanobacterial physiology, systems and synthetic biology.

Their collaboration includes pioneering geneticist George Church of Harvard Medical School and MIT and computational scientist Costas Maranas at Penn State. The Pakrasi and Maranas research groups have worked together for nearly a decade.

The new project involves state-of-the-art genome editing technology, guided by metabolic modeling and experimental analysis. The project will also train a number of undergraduate students, teaching the design and implementation of molecular tools and cyanobacterial physiology.

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic and can thrive with sunlight and consume carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, Pakrasi said. Bioproduction using such microbial cell factories is expected to be environmentally sustainable, as compared to the current heterotrophic production hosts.

More:
Building a better green workhorse | The Source | Washington University in St. Louis - Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom

Physiology

S.8, E.1: Service and Tennis – Learning for Life @ Gustavus host Greg Kaster interviews Gustavus alum Mason Bultje ’18 about his equity work and…

Mason Bultje 18 talks about majoring in Exercise Physiology and playing tennis at Gustavus, assisting Minneapolis children and youth through nonprofit InnerCity Tennis, and his experience as a young Black man both on and off the Hill.

Season 8, Episode 1: Service and Tennis

Greg Kaster:

Hello and welcome to Learning for Life @ Gustavus, the podcast about people teaching and learning at Gustavus Adolphus College, and the myriad ways that Gustavus liberal arts education provides a lasting foundation for lives of fulfillment and purpose. Im your host Greg Kaster, faculty member in the Department of History.

For a lot of us, I suspect the sport we most associate with inner city youth is basketball. And for those of us living in Minnesota, the year-round indoor-outdoor sport that comes first to mind is most likely hockey. Which is why for people unfamiliar with it as I was, the Minneapolis organization, InnerCity Tennis may come as a surprise.

With origin stating to the 1950s, InnerCity Tennis or ICT has contributed importantly to the development of tens of thousands of children and youth. One person at the center of that work today is ICT junior development coach, Mason Bultje. Mason is a 2018 graduate of Gustavus where he majored in exercise physiology and played tennis, earning all-conference honors and singles and doubles his senior year.

In keeping with the values of Gustavus and reflecting his own experience in the summer Tennis and Life Camps there, Mason has his profile on the ICT website states has A passion for working with underprivileged youth and players of all abilities. Since first learning about mason and his work from a faculty colleague, Ive been looking forward to speaking with him and Im delighted now to welcome to the podcast. Mason, its great to have you.

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. Thanks for having me. Im really excited to be here. Appreciate it.

Greg Kaster:

Thanks. Yeah, youre quite welcome. So I want to mention that faculty colleague is Professor Jill Locke, a friend and a member of the political science department. I gather you helped her maybe as a trainer or something like that and she mentioned you to me because you and I hadnt met before. I was intrigued by what she was saying about your work in InnerCity Tennis. So grateful to her for that connection and also for even suggesting some of the questions that Ill probably be posing, not probably, will be posing today. So how are things going right now? Is InnerCity Tennis up and running even amid the COVID pandemic?

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. Our facility in South Minneapolis where we have people come in and play tennis, we call it our pay-to-play programs, whether its adults or youth, that has been running through most of this year, but when Governor Walz shut things down kind of around Thanksgiving time, that facility closed to the public. But Im heavily involved with tennis and learning program. So its part of our outreach programs where we work with underserved youth and were helping them with their distance learning at this time.

So a lot of the kids that we are working with, I think over 75% of them are on free and reduced lunch. So they dont have the resources to stick to their distance learning at home. So they come into one of our two sites and we have coaches that help them throughout the day make sure they attend their meetings that theyre turning in their work, turning in quality work as well as give them some physical activity where we play tennis as well, and its just been so fulfilling seeing kids being able to safely see their friends and stick to their schoolwork.

There have been times where students dont attend for a couple days and they come back with 15 assignments to do. And then next week, we chip away at it. We get them caught up. So its just very fulfilling work knowing that we are providing these kids with an opportunity to receive their education when they likely wouldnt be able to if they were at home because mom might be working and dad is working multiple jobs as well or limited internet access at home.

So theres certain barriers that our kids face that our program is there to really support them as much as we can. I think for me, the number one thing is getting these kids an education and keeping them safe. And if we can play tennis and have some fun on top of that, thats the icing on the cake. But the number one thing is fulfilling the needs for for these students outside the campus.

Greg Kaster:

Its great to hear this for a lot of reasons, but one of them for me is as you alluded to, we read a lot about how difficult, how the distance learning is difficult. Its difficult even for people who are privileged, but certainly for people who maybe one or both parents have to work and they maybe dont have the internet resources, et cetera. So its nice to hear some stories about organizations like yours that clearly werent werent founded with COVID or any pandemic in mind, obviously, but are doing that kind of good work. I think its important to get those stories recorded and remember them. Well come back to your work there later. So tell us a little bit about where you grew up first of all and how you came to Gustavus.

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. So I was born and raised in Mankato. So not too far away at all. I grew up just very close to Gustavus and Id come to campus for different things like pep band or I was very involved in music in high school so I did some choir concerts there as well as the Swanson Tennis Center going to play different high school matches or tournaments. So I was just around. Im very close with my family in Mankato, and so when I was thinking about going to college, there were a couple things I knew I wanted to stay pretty close to home and then tennis was a big part of who I was and still who I am to this day.

So I kind of was looking at how I could make those things match up and I realized at some point, that I wasnt good enough to play for the Gophers. So the next school on the list was Gustavus and I went and visited the summer before my senior year of high school and just instantly felt at home on campus. Actually Gustavus was the only school I applied to, which I wouldnt recommend, but it was pretty academically rigorous in high school. So I was pretty confident about getting in and then it was just a matter of making things work financially, and just figured it out. And by, I want to say, October my senior year of high school, I knew I was going to be a Gusty and never looked back since.

Greg Kaster:

Thats great. Well, were glad thats the case and I was going to ask you if you had applied to any other schools like Minnesota State or the University of Minnesota. Im not technically, I guess, a first-generation college student. My dad didnt go to college. My mom went to a two-year teachers college, but Im just curious, do you fall into that category of first generation college student or did your parents both attend college? Maybe they even went to Gustavus. I dont know. Sometimes theres a family connection.

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. Im actually kind of the further end of that spectrum there. My mom is really who pushed me, not necessarily even pushed me, but inspired me to pursue an education. She got her doctorate while being a single mother raising four kids, and Im the oldest. I dont want to say, I guess I picked up the slack, but I was very involved in helping out and I just saw the sacrifices that she made to pursue her education. She really taught me that education is something thats really worth investing in. Its something that people cannot take away from you.

Financially Gustavus, the sticker price was pretty scary, but she encouraged me like, Well figure it out. No one will ever take away your education from you. But she actually did work with first generation college students. So I also know the challenges that they face just from talking to her about her work. So its kind of an interesting perspective that I got from her growing up.

Greg Kaster:

Sure. Obviously, youre still drawn on your current work. Whats her field? What is she working or what does she work in?

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. She has her PhD in psychology.

Greg Kaster:

Oh, wow. Thats fantastic.

Mason Bultje:

Yeah.

Greg Kaster:

My dad who as I said didnt go to college grew up in Chicago and then went into World War II, the Army, became a hairdresser. His dad had been a barber. Anyway, my dad just valued education so much and just exactly like your mom was saying all of those things to me and to my brother, one of the sibling. Man, Im so grateful. As I know you are to your mom, because its amazing to me how many people still discount education, generally, but also a college education that its not worth it. Well, I can be an entrepreneur without it.

No, its worth it, and your mom is so right, it can never be taken away from you. It repays in so many ways not just in monetary ways, obviously. And youre an example of that. Well get into that. So thats a neat story. So how about the major? You end up majoring in exercise physiology. I mean, I didnt even hear of that until, I dont know, maybe when I was in graduate school. But what led you into that area?

Mason Bultje:

Yeah, I think this part of my story is pretty similar to a lot of students. I came in thinking I was pre-med. For my first year, I really did load up my schedule quite a bit. I didnt necessarily help myself out there, but taking the bios and chems, and everything my first year. And its kind of found like I like studying the human body and I like the application of knowing more about how muscles work and how the different systems of the body work.

I just remember theres a moment in the library where I was sitting there like, Okay, I probably could get through this. I probably could get to medical school someday, but I dont like this. This isnt very fun. So I literally went on the website and just looked at other majors and classes that I kind of What field am I sort of in, but its different than this. Im sick of talking about plants right now.

So I actually had a lot of a lot of pre-reqs for physical therapy. And actually part of my story thats interesting is that my first year at Gustavus, I had wrist problems. I was playing tennis and right away in February on touring week, my wrist was really hurting and I didnt know what was going on and I had to jump through a bunch of different hoops at one point. They diagnosed me with this rare disease and I thought my wrist was going to shatter.

So through that process, I end up in the doctors office with my mom. Shes like, Yeah, you might have to do physical therapy. I could see you being good at that. Wait a minute. I already have a lot of the classes for it. Its about the human body. Youre really helping people. So I looked into it a little bit more and I really liked the sound of going the pre-PT route and I thought that Its actually the health fitness major at the time. They switched it to exercise physiology, while I was in the program.

The classes stayed essentially the same. They just changed the title of the major, which I approve of. I think exercise physiology sounds a lot better than health fitness. So then I pivoted to that route and actually was able to jump a year ahead in my major. So I finished up pretty much all of my exercise physiology classes by my junior year.

Greg Kaster:

Wow.

Mason Bultje:

My senior year was very lax and allowed me to shadow for PT, which I can get into a little bit more [crosstalk 00:12:25].

Greg Kaster:

Yeah, Id like to hear more about that. Thats awesome. So regular listeners know how much I love these stories because its often the case. Maybe its probably most often the case that students really dont know. Or lets put it this way, they may think they know what theyre going to do, what they want to be. And boy, if I only had a dollar or maybe $10 for every student who wants to be a doctor at least through the end of the first semester until the low grades start coming in. Its so interesting, the way you found that major and also the personal connection. I didnt know about the wrist injuries. I assume you overcame those because you continued to play tennis.

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. Eventually, I actually had two surgeries in three years though. So the first one didnt quite get it. So it taught me some lessons about perseverance through that. But Im all fixed now. Im good to go, but it was a bumpy start to my tennis career, no doubt.

Greg Kaster:

Yeah. And you had mentioned youd come to Gustavus having played in high school, so you already had a love of the game. What are some of the memories you have of Gustavus? I know we want to talk about the Tennis and Life camp there and then we maybe set that aside for just a second, but that aside, what are some of the memories, good, bad and ugly and you were a student of student of color there as well, if you want to talk about that. But what are some of the memories you have of the place? Im asking partly because youre two years out, so its not going to be that hard to recollect.

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. Its still fresh. I still think about what Im missing out as a full grown adult now every day. I think a lot of my memories really are wrapped around the tennis team and the camaraderie that I had with my teammates, whether thats on the court or off the court just thinking about going to practice and then going to the trainers and going to the caf. Everyones sitting around the table together and then 30 minutes later after everyone showers up and meet up in the library again.

Youre closing it down, going back to your dorm and doing it all over again. Just the time management skills that I learned from being an athlete at Gustavus. Id also say, I mean theres a lot of camaraderie obviously between the tennis team, but just athletes in general, theres just a really supportive community being an athlete. All the different sports, I feel like we all connected and support each other very well. So thats thats very central to a lot of the memories that I have.

Just being neighbors with your best friends for four years is a very unique experience. I know that living on campus a lot of people complain about it, and theyre warranted. But I do think that you can also look at it in a positive way, and that youll never have more access to being around your classmates and your friends in the way that you are when youre just down the hall and new.

Greg Kaster:

Yeah. I completely agree. And just to underscore what you said about athletes at Gustavus, Ive said this before both on the podcast and off, but over the years, Ive taught like like other profs taught, many athletes in all different areas women and men, and in general, yes, what you mentioned learning time management and having the self-discipline thats necessary to succeed in your particular sport also translates nicely into your academic work, right? At least in my experience. So I can relate. And I also can relate to what you just said about being on campus.

I mean, I guess as an undergraduate, I went to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where by the way I have a memory of playing tennis not as a team member, but I think maybe as what was then called physical education, PE requirement. I wasnt very good at it. But what I remember is when I lived off campus, it was really kind of on campus. It was a house called the foreign language house and it wasnt far off campus at all. I suppose like most most off-campus housing.

But man, the friendships there, the camaraderie. We still have reunions. Theres one coming up in January as a matter of fact which I hope to attend, finally. Anyway, so I can completely relate to what youre saying and just certainly want to underscore what you said about athletics and the way it connects to self-discipline and success beyond the particular sport one is involved in.

So as a student of color, what was that like? I mean, the place is overwhelmingly white like most college campuses. I mean, thats just a fact. Was that something that you felt you were aware of or not?

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. Very much so. I think for me college was sort of a great awakening if you will for me with my own identity, with my standing in the world socially. I think in high school Mankato was very, very white as well. Although you have a pretty good immigrant population from East Africa. But as far as like who was in my social circle and who was in the classes that I was in, AP classes and everything, its very white. So that was very normal to me.

So on the hill at Gustavus, I felt great. I didnt feel black so to say. Obviously, I am and I knew that, but it didnt feel as much of an anomaly as when I went down the hill. Being completely honest, I had a pretty tough time in St. Peter. I think that for me, it actually was really interesting that I didnt realize how bad it was in the world as a black man until I went to Gustavus, until I experienced the absence of that feeling while I was on the hill.

It just felt normal I guess just to always feel black, just to always feel kind of the eyes on you. Always feel like people are suspicious of you. Once I went to Gustavus, I finally felt that feeling be removed, but then at the same time when Id go to Family Fresh, Id feel it 10 times more than I would-

Greg Kaster:

In the grocery store, yeah.

Mason Bultje:

Yeah.

Greg Kaster:

Thats all fascinating to me. Quite fascinating and important. Boy, youre reminding me long ago, maybe even before you were born, the grocery store, I think it was called Ericksons. Anyway the grocery store in town on Halloween, my wife Kate who then taught in history, and I went down to do our shopping and there was a cashier in blackface. A white woman dressed up as a mammy for her Halloween costume. We were stunned. We shouldnt have been.

The woman clearly took great pride in her costume. My wife, Kate who doesnt hold back in the face of something like that, she spoke to the manager. And long story short, I mean, oh goodness, the woman was so upset. She had to get rid of the costume. Sort of to her, it was nothing at all, but to then African-American students seeing that and some white people as well, it was like, What in the hell? So thats just so interesting to me. It felt different in Mankato because Mankato is just more diverse. Growing up in Mankato, you didnt have those kinds of experiences you had here?

Mason Bultje:

I would not say that. I would say when I grew up in Mankato, it was just normal because I didnt know anything different.

Greg Kaster:

Okay. Got you.

Mason Bultje:

It was happening, but that was just the norm. Then when I went to Gustavus and I felt that stopped for a little bit. Thats when I realized like, Wow, this is what it was always like for me growing up. I dont have to just deal with this. I mean, just the things that just were normally my friends in high school, I wouldnt say that theyre racist or anything. Theyre kind of dumb high school kids, but they would make like Emmett Till jokes and that would just be normal.

I didnt think anything of it because thats just the way it was. And then when I went to Gustavus and people were not making Emmett Till jokes, thats when I realized that, okay, it doesnt have to be this way. And then taking that a step further now living in Minneapolis, I really feel much more free and secure in my identity as a black man.

Greg Kaster:

Again, its all fascinating because Ive spoken to some black alums, Gustavus alums, for whom Well, different in your case, maybe coming from lets say black towns in Mississippi and then coming to Gustavus where its much more of a shock, and they had some you know negative experiences and some negative memories around race at Gustavus. But in your case, you went through sort of what some African-Americans went through lets say during World War II who were abroad and werent experiencing racism for the first time, and then come back to a country having fought against racism, the Nazis, but come back to a country where racism is still flourishing.

So I just think its so interesting how Gustavus in your case became the place where you felt Not that there wasnt racism, but you felt its absence more than before, and that was kind of an awakening. I find that quite interesting. So were you up in Minneapolis when Mr. Floyd was Youre already living here when George Floyd was murdered this past summer?

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. So I was up here and just to add thats walking distance from InnerCity Tennis, from our facility. So that really hit close to home and got me more fired up. I think that for myself, before George Floyd, Id kind of go through phases of being really empowered and vocal and really pushing those around me to learn more about you know social justice issues and become more outspoken. But then it kind of dwindle at times and I think that with George Floyd that fire grew so big and and I realized that I cant ask allies to commit to working towards solving these issues consistently if Im not doing it.

So Ive really tried to commit myself to making that be a part of my identity, a part of who I am, and bringing diversity equity and inclusion initiatives into everything that I do. That was really a turning point for me especially having it. Like I said, it hit so close to home. I was able to organize an event for InnerCity Tennis. Its kind of like a supply drive on getting people together in the community just to kind of talk about these issues and then they were people are encouraged to walk over to the memorial, just walk over a foot bridge over 35W down a couple blocks and then youre right there.

Greg Kaster:

Youre right. I forgot how close to your facility is to the side. Kate and I were able to go. So many others were able to go to the memorial site, which was just quite profound, quite moving and very interesting. I was so struck by the mix of those A sense of celebration in some ways. Lots of life. I mean, barber shop, and cooking, and music, but also deep profound grief and sadness. So I want to come back to your You were telling me before we started recording, your work with the US Tennis Association around diversity, but lets circle back, again, to Gustavus.

I know for you as for so many people, that Tennis and Life Camps there, the summer Tennis and Life Camps that I mentioned in the intro were so I mean, its an overused word, but it still applies transformative, so important. I wasnt at all closely associated with them. I was aware of them of course teaching at Gustavus. We should note that they were founded and started in 1977 by Steve Wilkinson, a renowned collegiate tennis coach. I think the winningest tennis coach in collegiate history, at least thus far, and his wife Barbara. Did you get to know Steve before he passed away or not?

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. So I was actually the last first year class to come in, while Steve was still alive. So he passed away January of my first year. So I have one memory of him coaching me in a match in the fall and thats something that I definitely cherish.

Greg Kaster:

Thats great. Well, tell us a little bit about your experience in there. What you did in those camps, how they impacted you. You also taught there, right? Did you attend them and teach there both?

Mason Bultje:

So I actually never attended. I grew up in Mankato, but the drive was just too much for me. It is an expensive camp, and so for me, its either I could do a whole summer of tennis in Mankato or I could go to TLC for three days. So I chose more tennis. But when I went to Gustavus, I had a pretty good idea that there was a decent chance I would get involved with Tennis and Life Camps in the summer.

Greg Kaster:

Yeah. Tell us a little bit about that, about what you were doing.

Mason Bultje:

Yeah. I have a pretty decent story I guess about the beginning. I mentioned having wrist problems that happened in the spring of my first year, and I had already committed to doing TLC that summer, but then ended up needing to have surgery in May. They put a screw in my wrist. So I was going to be in the cast for most of the summer and I was really worried about my job security at that point, like not only do I not get to play tennis, do I have to be in the cast, but can I even work?

I talked to Neal Hagberg whos the director, and he said, Well make it work. The majority of my first summer, I taught tennis left-handed. Its not like Im ambidextrous or proficient with my left hand by any means, but I figured it out, and I think that really is the start of I dont know. Thats just so integral to what I do now, and with outreach, so many situations are not ideal, but you just figure it out. So I think thats one of the first lessons that I learned going in the TLC.

Go here to see the original:
S.8, E.1: Service and Tennis - Learning for Life @ Gustavus host Greg Kaster interviews Gustavus alum Mason Bultje '18 about his equity work and...

Physiology

Essent Biologics Announces Derek Mathers as Head of Business Development – BioSpace

CENTENNIAL, Colo., Feb. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Essent Biologics, a nonprofit biotechnology company providinglow passaged primary cells, origin tissue, scaffolds and data to advance regenerative medicine research, today announced the appointment of Derek Mathers as Head of Business Development.

Prior to his role with Essent, Derek served as Director, Strategic Accounts for Advanced Solutions Life Sciences (ASLS), driving revenue through global 3D bioprinting partnerships with leading life science companies. Before ASLS, Derek led global sales at Worrell, where he consulted with leading healthcare companies to design, test and manufacture complex medical devices. While at Worrell, Derek also taught night classes as an adjunct professor of 3D Printing at the University of Minnesota (UMN).

"We are thrilled to welcome Derek to our team," said Corey Stone, Executive Director, Essent Biologics. "His knowledge and expertise will help drive Essent's growth, as we continue to set a new standard in the field of regenerative medicine."

Derek earned his Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Management and Digital Marketing from UMN's Carlson School of Management and holds certificates in Tissue Engineering from Rice University, Cardiac Physiology and Anatomy from UMN, and Design for Additive Manufacturing from GE Additive.

"Essent has a unique opportunity to provide human-derived biomaterials for the next generation of regenerative therapies," said Derek Mathers, Head of Business Development. "I am humbled and grateful to join this talented team and look forward to contributing to our mission."

About Essent BiologicsEssent Biologics is setting a new standard in human-derived biomaterials and 3D biology data for research. The nonprofit biotechnology company provides low passaged primary cells, origin tissue and scaffolds, as well as comprehensive donor and product data to advance regenerative medicine research from benchtop to bedside. Essent Biologics supplies products in small or large volumes and serves as a manufacturing partner by creating master cell banks and an inventory of custom products within a tailored specification. To ensure reliable product quality, safety and efficacy, all Essent Biologics products are developed using robust design control processes and produced under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). For more information, please visit essentbiologics.org.

Media ContactCourtney JurbalaEssent Biologics720.873.4709cjurbala@essentbiologics.org

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/essent-biologics-announces-derek-mathers-as-head-of-business-development-301229183.html

SOURCE Essent Biologics

Read the rest here:
Essent Biologics Announces Derek Mathers as Head of Business Development - BioSpace

Physiology

Agile Adaptation – Ohio Wesleyan University

Ohio Wesleyan Students, Professor Pivot When Pandemic Interrupts International Research Plans

By Cole Hatcher

Their plan was to travel to southern France to study how a local lizard is responding to climate change.

Though the pandemic prevented Ohio Wesleyan Universitys Sierra Spears 22, Princeton Vaughn 22, and assistant professor of zoology Eric Gangloff from visiting the Pyrenees mountains this summer, the quick-thinking trio followed the lizards example and adapted.

In the months since their trip was canceled, the OWU scientists have successfully completed multiple related research projects that could be conducted without international travel, presented their findings at the 2021 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting, and begun drafting two papers to submit to scientific journals.

Both Princeton and Sierra have been enormously resilient and flexible this past year, qualities that will undoubtedly serve them well in their future careers, Gangloff, Ph.D., said of his students. They have both demonstrated great curiosity in exploring these ideas and creativity in how we can conduct these experiments.

I have learned a great deal from working with both of them, and I consider both of these projects to be true collaborations, Gangloff said. I am lucky to be working with such talented researchers.

For Sierra Spears, a pre-professional zoology major and chemistry minor from Bowling Green, Ohio, the research pivot meant analyzing data shared by collaborators in France rather than collecting the information first-hand. In addition to Gangloff, Spears also worked with OWU student Ciara Pettit 23 of South Euclid, Ohio, on the project.

Spears presentation for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology is titled Plasticity in Thermoregulatory Behavior and Performance in Response to Hyperoxia in a High-Elevation Specialist Lizard, Iberolacerta bonnali.

The lizards involved are classified as near-threatened, she said, because, unlike lowland species that can move to properly thermoregulate, high-elevation lizards have nowhere to go as climate warms.

Sierra's work is directly related to climate change, Gangloff added. Under climate change scenarios, we dont know if the lizards will have anywhere to go if their habitat becomes unsuitable.

There is a chance they could move down in elevation if they can deal with the warmer temperatures, but her project shows that they do not do well when transported to lower elevation, at least in the short term, Gangloff said. So her work is addressing fundamental questions about how physiology can respond to novel conditions, but also questions about conservation for a species of concern.

Spears said future research in the area will look deeper into possible physiological explanations like red blood cell count, reactive oxygen species, or hemoglobin concentrations.

Spears and Gangloff are in the near-final stages of analyzing data and preparing an article they have been invited to submit to a special issue of the journal Diversity on the evolutionary ecology of lizards.

For Princeton Vaughn, a zoology major from Bowie, Maryland, the pandemic pivot meant traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio, in collaboration with Gangloff and OWU student Wyatt McQueen 22 of Heath, Ohio.

Vaughns presentation for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology is titled Location, Location, Location: Testing the Performance Implications of Morphological Shifts in Introduced Urban Lizards.

The Ohio Wesleyan researchers chose Cincinnati, Vaughn said, because a child smuggled 10 common wall lizards from their home in Italy to Ohio in the 1950s.

Today, their population has exploded into hundreds of thousands, he said. Using both museum specimens and live reptiles, the goal is to see if and how the invasive (lizard) population has evolved over its time in the novel habitat of Cincinnati and if those changes might be related to sprint performance.

Princetons project is important, Gangloff said, because it allows us to understand how organisms may respond to highly altered habitats how living in this new, urban environment may have led to adaptive shifts in their body shape (leg length, body width, etc.), especially in relation to their ability to run under different conditions. So his work is exploring fundamental issues relating form-to-function in vertebrates but also exploring how organisms may cope with highly anthropogenic landscapes, like a city.

Vaughn said he expects future research to explore how both clinging ability and climbing performance interact with morphology.

For now, he is continuing to analyze data and draft (as lead author) an article that he and Gangloff hope to submit this semester to the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. In addition, Vaughn is working with OWU faculty member Laura Tuhela-Reuning, Ph.D., to use the universitys scanning transmission electron microscope to examine lizard claws and their climbing/grasping ability.

Gangloffs own Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology presentation is titled Adaptation and Plasticity in the Multivariate Thermal Phenotype of Common Wall Lizards.

This is a widespread species found across much of southern Europe, generally at low elevations, said Gangloff, who joined the Ohio Wesleyan faculty in 2019. However, in recent years as temperatures have warmed, this species has been observed moving up in elevation to track these preferred thermal environments.

As they move higher, he said, the lizards face issues such as less oxygen, and his collaborative project explores how the reptiles respond to the change in elevation. The goal is to determine what environments, currently not inhabited by the lizards, may be suitable for them during continued climate change.

Gangloff collected his data while working as a post-doctoral researcher with the Station dEcologie Thorique et Exprimentale du CNRS in Moulis, France. He worked in collaboration with Brooke Bodensteiner and Martha Muoz, both of Yale University, and with Fabien Aubret and Laura Kouyoumdjian, both of CNRS.

Gangloff said he is hopeful that he and a group of Ohio Wesleyan students will be able to travel to France this summer to continue researching lizards and their adaptations to climate change.

But if the determined scientists face more travel delays, expect more agile adaptation.

We may complete a project here in Ohio instead, Gangloff said.

In addition to presenting their work at the 2021 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting, Spears and Vaughn also presented earlier versions of their findings at Ohio Wesleyans Summer Science Research Symposium in September.

Learn more about Ohio Wesleyans zoology department at owu.edu/zoology and more about the Universitys annual Summer Science Research Program and Symposium at owu.edu/ssrp.

Read more here:
Agile Adaptation - Ohio Wesleyan University

Physiology

The mysterious existence of a leafless kauri stump, kept alive by its forest neighbours – The Conversation AU

Plants use their leaves to make food from the suns energy and carbon dioxide. With very few exceptions of parasitic plants, no tree is known to grow without green foliage or to be more precise, no tree can start life without leaves or some sort of green tissue containing chlorophyll.

But some may end up as zombie trees long after they lose all leaves and large parts of their trunk, either to disease or the chainsaw.

Such undead tree stumps have been observed for almost 200 years, but the evolutionary and physiological processes leading to their existence remain a mystery. One reason is because they are rare. Another is because whatever happens on their journey from feeding themselves to being fed happens out of sight likely below ground.

American forest ecologist Suzanne Simard has shown that trees send each other signals through a network of fungi buried among their roots. This underground communication includes warning signals about environmental change and the transfer of nutrients to neighbouring trees before they die.

We suggest this supply can continue beyond the apparent death of an individual tree. By measuring water flow in the stem of a living kauri (Agathis australis) stump and its neighbouring trees, we show underground connections are indeed likely responsible for the survival of the stump.

A living tree stump is clearly a biological oddity, and our key question is why such root grafts form.

It is unlikely a tree that has lost its foliage (through windthrow, disease, or when it is felled) subsequently knocks on its neighbours door (or, more accurately, roots) to ask for carbohydrates. Instead, we must assume that these root connections had been in place earlier, while the stump was still a normal tree.

If that is the case, we can assume root grafting to be the rule rather than the exception, at least in species in which living stumps have been observed. But what are the evolutionary advantages? And why are the connections maintained when a leafless stump is no longer actively contributing resources?

The short answer to these questions is we dont know. Root grafting, a phenomenon well known to foresters and gardeners, has barely been studied on a physiological basis. Much remains speculation.

Read more: Climate change: having the right combination of tree personalities could make forests more resilient

A few evolutionary advantages for root grafting have been suggested, including increased resistance to windthrow, kin selection (I will help you out if you are related to me), and increased access to water and nutrients coupled with the ability to shift those resources among trees.

The former two are more easily explained because all graft members benefit. But the latter is more difficult to understand.

If forests feature interconnected root networks where water, carbon and nutrients are exchanged, this would be equivalent to power, water and gas grids supplying a city.

But what mechanisms control who gives and who takes? There is evidence that shaded trees are supported by non-shaded trees and the fact that stumps (pensioners) are still supplied with resources gives rise to the much bigger idea that forests act and survive as a whole much like a single bee or ant has no chance to survive without being part of its colony.

Our discovery of the tight hydraulic coupling through root grafts suggests exactly that: a communal physiology among connected trees. This is a game changer for our general understanding of forest functioning. It shifts our perspective towards forest ecosystems as superorganisms.

Read more: Entire hillsides of trees turned brown this summer. Is it the start of ecosystem collapse?

But with all the advantages this may bring for the superorganism forest, root connections obviously imply a lack of social distancing. As with COVID-19, this makes it easy for pathogens to spread, especially in cases where the pathogen penetrates the vascular tissue, a trees main transport route for water and carbohydrates.

Well into the 21st century, some great mysteries remain about how forests function. Research is particularly timely and relevant, given the rise in climate-induced forest dieback events due to more frequent and severe droughts, increased vulnerability to pathogens and exposure to pests that come with warmer temperatures.

Here is the original post:
The mysterious existence of a leafless kauri stump, kept alive by its forest neighbours - The Conversation AU

Physiology

Evaluation of Stress and Associated Biochemical Changes in Patients wi | DMSO – Dove Medical Press

Kanchan Tyagi,1 Nidhi Bharal Agarwal,2 Prem Kapur,3 Sunil Kohli,3 Rajinder K Jalali4

1Department of Pharmaceutical Medicine, School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062, India; 2Centre for Translational and Clinical Research, School of Chemical & Life Sciences, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062, India; 3Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and, Research, HAH Centenary Hospital, New Delhi, 110062, India; 4Physician and Healthcare Consultant. Formerly, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Limited, Gurgaon, 122015, India

Correspondence: Nidhi Bharal AgarwalCentre for Translational and Clinical Research, School of Chemical & Life Sciences, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062, IndiaTel +91 9818334770Email nidhi.bharal@gmail.com

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a metabolic disorder, remains associated with a physiological impairment affecting large populations worldwide. Onset of T2DM is multifactorial where obesity and abnormal basal metabolic rate are considered most critical. Of people diagnosed with T2DM, about 80% are also obese. It is also reported that obese individuals have an increased odds of developing depression, whereas T2DM is estimated to increase the incidence by two-fold. The preponderance of research data demonstrates that T2DM alters the serum level of cortisol and adiponectin which are known to be associated with neuronal physiology. The study explored, how a metabolic disorder like T2DM is linked with the altered plasma level of cortisol and adiponectin, the risk factors for stress and depression.Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional population study was conducted in T2DM patients using a bimodal approach. First approach used questionnaires, (1) Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and (2) Stress Coping Inventory Questionnaire (SCQ) to assess signs and symptoms of depression and stress, respectively, in T2DM patients. In the second approach, robust biochemical analysis was conducted for serum adiponectin and cortisol levels.Results: An association of T2DM in stress and depression was evaluated in 158 subjects (105 T2DM obese patients and 53 healthy controls). A lower PHQ-9 score and adiponectin levels were seen in T2DM obese patients compared to healthy controls (p< 0.05). Further, results also depicted a lower adiponectin levels in T2DM obese patients with depression compared to T2DM obese patients without depression (p< 0.05). The study did not find a significant difference in cortisol serum levels among the T2DM and control groups. However, a higher level of serum cortisol was reported in T2DM obese patients with depression over those T2DM obese patients who lacked depression (p< 0.05).Conclusion: The findings suggest that T2DM obese patients might have a higher risk of developing stress and depression. Further, biochemical parameters, adiponectin and cortisol, might be the potential biomarkers for T2DM and may help in early diagnosis of these comorbid conditions.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, depression, stress, PHQ-9, SCQ, adiponectin, cortisol

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

Read the original:
Evaluation of Stress and Associated Biochemical Changes in Patients wi | DMSO - Dove Medical Press

Physiology

PhysIQ and U.S. Veteran’s Affairs Advance to Interventional Trial Phase – Business Wire

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--physIQ, Inc. and the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have advanced their collaboration to address heart failure care to an interventional trial phase. In this next phase, Veterans will be actively monitored so care can be administered in near real-time to avoid or lower the chance of re-hospitalization, allowing the VA to improve patient care while driving down costs.

In early 2020, physIQ and the VA shared the results of a breakthrough study aimed at validating the ability to detect the onset of heart failure exacerbation using wearable sensors and machine learning-based personalized physiology analytics. Published in Circulation Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association, the observational phase of the LINK-HF study was designed to assess the ability to predict rehospitalization due to heart failure exacerbation using sophisticated analytics applied to continuous wearable sensor data. This study demonstrated a 7-10-day early warning timeframe, which showed promise to reduce hospitalization and improve quality of life of patients with heart failure.

This new interventional study will provide the real life experience needed to demonstrate how this cutting-edge technology can be leveraged to provide clinicians with more proactive information to manage at risk patients, such as those with heart failure, to keep them out of the hospital. Utilizing this type of innovative solution will enable VA to provide the best possible care to Veterans at the highest value, says Dr. Stephen L. Ondra, former Senior Advisor for Health Affairs to the VA Secretary under President Obama. The LINK-HF study demonstrated the potential to detect clinical changes early enough in the process to intervene before a patient became more seriously ill. This study will put the technology to the test in clinical practice, and in doing so, has the potential to improve care and the quality of life of patients with heart failure and eventually other high risk medical conditions.

Heart failure patients are most vulnerable in the weeks following a recent hospitalization, and often find themselves readmitted. In this multi-site interventional study, patients at discharge will be provided a set of disposable adhesive biosensor patches for the chest, and a smartphone to upload their data to the pinpointIQTM platform. Within the platform, sophisticated FDA-cleared artificial intelligence-powered algorithms learn the dynamic digital signature of each patients individual vital sign behavior and detect changes, even subtly. Such changes in vital signs can be an early warning of a deteriorating physiological condition reflecting exacerbation of the underlying disease.

In the study, patients will be contacted in the event that the analytics suggest a need for early intervention to avoid an exacerbation before it becomes an acute care emergency. PhysIQs innovative solution addresses a critical, unmet need for continuous remote monitoring of patients vital signs which could mitigate the cost and risk of invasive heart failure hemodynamic monitoring devices that have shown effectiveness in the last decade.

PhysIQs technology is allowing doctors and nurses to be proactive, as opposed to reactive, in the management of chronic illnesses, which could result in preventing any further deterioration, said Gary Conkright, CEO of physIQ. As we continue to push the boundaries of this emerging technology, we are thankful for a partner like the VA and are proud for the opportunity to serve those that have served us.

In the U.S., hospitalizations for heart failure (HF) represent 80% of costs attributed to HF care. HF is the most common hospital discharge diagnosis for Veterans. Furthermore, hospitalization for HF is associated with adverse prognosis - the risk of mortality increases more than 4-fold in the first 3 months after discharge. Within the VA system, the importance of decreasing preventable HF hospitalizations has been recognized by The Chronic Heart Failure Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (CHF QUERI), and the 30-day readmission rate is one of the VAs Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning (SAIL) measures.

About physIQ

PhysIQ is the leader in digital medicine, dedicated to generating unprecedented health insight using continuous wearable biosensor data and advanced analytics. Its enterprise-ready cloud platform continuously collects and processes data from any wearable biosensor using a deep portfolio of FDA-cleared analytics. The company has published one of the most rigorous clinical studies to date in digital medicine and are pioneers in developing, validating, and achieving regulatory approval of Artificial Intelligence-based analytics. With applications in both healthcare and clinical trial support, physIQ is transforming continuous physiological data into insight for health systems, payers, and pharmaceutical companies.

For more information, please visit http://www.physIQ.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Read more from the original source:
PhysIQ and U.S. Veteran's Affairs Advance to Interventional Trial Phase - Business Wire