Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

The Ramayana As The Expression of Human Physiology – http://www.newsgram.com/

Dr. Tony Nader received his MD degree from the American University of Beirut, where he also studied internal medicine and psychiatry. He in his second book talks about how human physiology is associated with the Ramayana.

The book takes one of the most purely subjective and spiritual records of knowledge in our mythological references, the Ramayana, and compares it to one of the most objectively-studied and scientifically-described aspects of life, that is human physiology.

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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was an Indian guru born in 1918, who was also a disciple of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati and the Shankaracharya in the Himalayas. He was the person who introduced Transcendental Meditation in the west.

Ramayana is for full enlightenment; Ramayana is for perfection in every profession; Ramayana is for mastery over Natural Law; Ramayana is for the fulfillment of any desire, one may have. Ramayana is to create a perfect man, a perfect society, and a perfect world.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Here, in this book, the Ramayana is not considered to be any kind of mythological text belonging to any particular religion, race, or belief. It is considered as a Natural Law having events and characters present in it revealing a story of every individuals physiology. The Ramayana is a part of veda, term Veda in Sanskrit refer to knowledge. Vedic literature is considered to be an understanding of life and creating passed on to people from ancient vedic families in India.

The Ramayana revolves around Lord Rama who was an incarnation of lord Vishnu to kill the evil Ravana. Rama belonged to Ikshvaku race of slar dynasty and his parents were Dasharath and Kaushalya. Throughtout the story of Ramayana, Rama performed great deed of destroying negativity and following ethics. Maharishi explains that the story isa description of total Natural Lawits characters and their actions and interactions unfold the story of Natural Law as it expresses itself into all aspects of creation.

Ram Avatar corresponds to the somato-sensory and supplementary sensory-motor cortex in the brain. Unsplash

Ramas arrows always returned to his quiver, which which interprets the mechanism to inform the central nervous system about specific activities that take place around us. There are special sensory spindle fibres that enable information to be sent back to the brain describing how far the muscle has been stretched. On a cellular level, the return of Ramas arrows demonstrates that the nerve cell is capable of renewing itself so that impulses can go out again and again.

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In the ventral view of the brain we see the clear correspondence between Ganesh and the pons, medulla, and cerebellum. The face of Ganesha corresponds to the pons, eyes correspond to the roots of the trigeminal nerves, ears correspond to the cerebellum, trunk corresponds to the medulla, tusks correspond to the nerves at the base of the pons.

ALSO READ:Rudraksh- Setting Up World-Class Convention Centre in Varanasi

The 4 arms of Saraswat correspond to the 4 lobes of the brain. The 4 hands of Lakshm correspond to the4 chambers of the heart. The 8 arms of Durga correspond to the 8 nerves that emanate from the sacral bone.

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The Ramayana As The Expression of Human Physiology - http://www.newsgram.com/

Physiology

Flavours added to vaping devices can damage the heart: Study – The Statesman

Researchers have revealed the appealing array of fruit and candy flavours that entice millions of young people to take up vaping are cardiotoxic and disrupt the hearts normal electrical activity.

Mounting studies indicate that the nicotine and other chemicals delivered by vaping, while generally less toxic than conventional cigarettes, can damage the lungs and heart.

But so far there has been no clear understanding about what happens when the vaporized flavouring molecules in flavoured vaping products, after being inhaled, enter the bloodstream and reach the heart, said study author Sami Noujaim from the University of South Florida in the US.

In the study, published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, the research team reported on a series of experiments assessing the toxicity of vape flavourings in cardiac cells and in young mice.

The flavoured electronic nicotine delivery systems widely popular among teens and young adults are not harm-free.

Altogether, our findings in the cells and mice indicate that vaping does interfere with the normal functioning of the heart and can potentially lead to cardiac rhythm disturbances, Noujaim said.

In mouse cardiac muscle cells (HL-1 cells), the researchers tested the toxicity of three different popular flavours of e-liquid: fruit flavour, cinnamon, and vanilla custard.

All three were toxic to HL-1 cells exposed to e-vapour bubbled into the laboratory dish where the cells were cultured.

Cardiac cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells were exposed to three distinct e-vapours.

The first e-vapour containing the only solvent interfered with the electrical activity and beating rate of cardiac cells in the dish. A second e-vapour with nicotine added to the solvent increased the toxic effects on these cells.

The third e-vapour comprised of nicotine, solvent, and vanilla custard flavouring (the flavour previously identified as most toxic) augmented damage to the spontaneously beating cells even more.

This experiment told us that the flavouring chemicals added to vaping devices can increase harm beyond what the nicotine alone can do, Noujaim said.

The findings showed that mice exposed to vaping were more prone to an abnormal and dangerous heart rhythm disturbance known as ventricular tachycardia compared to control mice.

Our research matters because regulation of the vaping industry is a work in progress, Noujaim noted.

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Flavours added to vaping devices can damage the heart: Study - The Statesman

Physiology

Uncovering the Mind-Body Connection of Touch – Signals AZ

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Humans are born with the language of touch, and physical connection is essential to our development, growth, and survival throughout life.

An infant requires the protective embrace of a parent or caretaker to fully develop, learn trust, and make connections. University of Arizona researcher Dr.Katalin Gothard, born and trained as a medical doctor in Romania, interacted with infants who lacked that physical connection while training at an orphanage during her pediatric clerkship. Due to dictatorial policies in Romania, many orphanages were bursting with unwanted babies while suffering from lack of funds and staff. Because of scarce resources and the goal to keep the children alive, workers prioritized medical needs like preventing malnutrition and infection.

Though she and the staff did their best to keep the children physically healthy, Gothard didnt fully understand the impact that the lack of touch would have on the orphans until she began to study the mind-body connection as a scientist in the United States.

All those antibiotics and all that nutrition did not make them happier adults, said Gothard, a UArizona professor of physiology and member of the universitysBIO5 Institute. Picking them up, holding them and tickling them would have been much more important.

Though initially educated as a medical doctor, Gothard was also trained as a neuroscientist. Observing the toll of mental and emotional hardships caused in part by the oppressive regime in Romania inspired her to change career paths from medicine to science.

I strongly believe that theres no human suffering that compares to the suffering that our own mind can inflict on us, she said. Theres no physical disease that compares to the pain and misery

Dr. Katalin Gothard

and hopelessness of a mental disease.

Gothard now dedicates herself to understanding how physical sensations and experiences affect our emotions. For more than 20 years, the physician-turned-scientist has focused on the amygdala, the almond-shaped mass within the brain, as the critical center of this mind-body dialogue.

In 2019, she and colleaguesdiscovered cells in the amygdalathat responded not just to sights and sounds, but also touch something that had never before been shown.

In the moment of the discovery, Gothard felt a strong pull from her earlier days at the orphanage to investigate those touch-responsive brain cells.

One day we found cells that respond to touch, and it was irresistible. I thought, Does that mean that I could work on something that takes me back to those years at the orphanage when I was ignorant, and I didnt know what these babies really needed?' she said. It was one of those things in life that you cannot say no to. It walks into your life and you know that from that day on your life will change.

Physical Versus Emotional Responses to Touch

Though we know that a handshake forms a connection, a hug brings comfort and a touch from a stranger feels uncomfortable, scientists and physicians have yet to determine the neural mechanisms behind these mind-body processes. With a $2.1 million grant from National Institutes of Health, a team of trainees led by Gothard and her co-investigatorAndrew Fuglevand, a professor of neuroscience and physiology, is seeking to understand how the brain interprets the social, emotional, and physical determinants of touch.

Gothards lab examines the differences in brain activity between gentle grooming on the cheek and a pesky puff of air on the forehead. The researchers observed that the response to the physical aspects of touch when and where occurs much faster than the response to the emotional and social components, like whether the touch was pleasant or from a familiar person.

They also compared the influences of the various touch parameters on emotional state and found that although the objective parameters of touch are processed first, the social aspects were more important in influencing amygdala activity and resulting emotional states.

If you receive a gentle caress from a person that is not welcome even though the pressure on your skin, the sweep speed, the temperature of the hand might be exactly the same as a welcomed touch your amygdala will say, I dont like this,' Gothard said.

With these findings, Gothard realized the emotional and social consequences of touch, combined with our expectations, outrank the physical.

She and her team found that recipient heart rate at the time of touch correlated with emotional response: When the touch was a positive experience, both the heart rate and amygdala activity slowed, but when the touch was negative, heart rate and amygdala activity both increased. She now aims to find the link between touch and changes to markers in the body, including heart rate, as this causal factor might also be the direct link between touch and changes to amygdala circuitry.

The more we understand about the brain, the more humble we become about how little insight we have on whats happening inside that dark cranial box, she said.

COVID-19 Causing Touch Deprivation

Gothard hopes her work will one day inform not only the ways humans normally process touch, but also how these circuits can go awry in people with mental illnesses such as social anxiety or schizophrenia, in which the response to touch is more complex. The research may also help to explain how a lack of touch during infancy such as that experienced by orphans leads to attachment disorders later in life.

Implications for Gothards work further extend to the deprivation of touch during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Gothard stands by the recommendations of social distancing to mitigate the spread of disease, she believes that social isolation during the pandemic will have major, lasting mental health ramifications.

We are in the middle of uncertainty. What you want in the middle of uncertainty is a hug, but you cant do that right now, she said.

Since physical touch is currently scarce, especially for the elderly and for those who live alone, its important to find ways to pacify the brains craving for touch, Gothard said.

She recommends massaging the scalp during hair washing or stimulating the body through physical movement and exercise with the sunshine and breeze. Mind-body scans, such as those often used in yoga and other mindfulness practices, can also help substitute physical touch.

Although these substitutes help to meet the need for physical connection, Gothard said, they cannot fully replace the language of touch we were born to give and receive.

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Uncovering the Mind-Body Connection of Touch - Signals AZ

Physiology

PSC: Focus should be on health, safety – Malaya

RATHER than banning athletes aged 17 and below in combat sports, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirezsaid the countrys sports leaders should instead focus on the strict enforcement of health and safety guidelines in all competitions, particularly in age group play.

In basketball, if a child falls you could suffer a head injury, in baseball you could get hit by a ball in the head. Gymnastics, you could also get hurt playing, Ramirez noted in a wide-ranging virtual press conference last Friday.

This is why my position as a member of the Philippine Sports Commission is that our interest is not in winning buton the safety of our children athletes from injuries, said the PSC chief, who conveyed his stand during the hearing on House Bill 1526 last Wednesday.

TheAct Banning Minors from Full-Contact Competitive Sports is authored by Ako party-list Representatives Alfredo Garbin Jr. and Elizaldy Co. The bill has been opposed by13 National Sports Associations, claiming it could be detrimental to their grassroots programs.

This is why I recommended to the authors of the bill that they amend it to focus on the protocols of play, whether it be combat sports or team sports, Ramirez said. What I am after is the safety conditions of theequipment andvenue and the technical knowledge of those running the event.

When we were the athletic director of a school in the south we all had that, said Ramirez, who was the former athletic director of Ateneo de Davao.

He also shared his thoughts on the qualifications of sports coaches and safety guidelines of sports events.

He pointed out that being a former national athlete is not an assurancethat you will be a good coach. That is why I believe that a coach should have a bachelors degree in physical education so he will have a better understanding of human physiology, the muscle development of a child athlete.

Ramirez stressed that technical knowledge is essential as a coach because if you have achild who should only have 10 hours of training weekly and you have him doing 20 hours this will lead to burnout and he might get injured.

Kung wala kang alam sa human physiology and technical knowledge, you might destroy the child. So the qualifications of coaches are important.

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PSC: Focus should be on health, safety - Malaya

Physiology

Unique wearable helps researchers study dementia patients and familial caregivers – Healthcare IT News

Couples with higher relationship satisfactions showed greater linkage in their physiological responses (for example, heart rate and skin conductance) during face-to-face interactions, which suggests a greater biological connection between the couples.

This is according to a variety of studies, including a recently published paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Dr. Robert Levenson and Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen at the University of California, Berkeley.

In addition, there has been emerging evidence further suggesting that being physically linked with a partners physiological response may even have important implications to individuals mental and physical health.

HIMSS20 Digital

For example, findings from Levenson and Chens group suggested that a couples physiological linkage can predict their mental and physical health in both healthy married couples and couples in which one person is the spousal caregiver of the other who is diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease.

Dr. Robert Levenson, University of California, Berkeley

Building upon this, researchers wanted to better understand whether synchronicity of objective physiology indicators between dementia patients and their caregivers also correlates to the influences between each other outside the laboratory, in real life.

In one recent study, Levenson and Chen had 22 patients, and their spousal caregivers wear a wrist-mounted actigraphy-monitor in their homes for seven days. They found that the more linked (particularly more synchronized) the patients and the caregivers activity was, the less anxiety the caregiver reported.

THE PROBLEM

In all of the above studies, the linkage and relationship/health data were collected around the same time, and therefore the researchers could not know whether greater linkage produced better relationship/health outcome, or vice versa, or both at the same time.

In addition, research participants in these previous studies were mostly living in the San Francisco/Northern California areas.Therefore the researchers could not know whether the effects that they found could be generalized to couples living in other, more rural areas in the United States.

PROPOSAL

To address these issues, Levenson and Chen launched a research project that recruited 300 patients and their familial caregivers (with the total number of participants at600) to study their activity linkage in their homes for six months.

Over the study period, both the patients and caregivers wear the Tracmo CareActive Watch continuously for thosesix months, and caregivers are monitored periodically for mental and physical health changes.

Researchers are eager to conduct studies in the field for example, in peoples homes and collect real-world behavioral data in complement to laboratory studies, said Levenson, director and principal investigator at the University of California, Berkeley.

In the past, our tools were limited to consumer wearable watches, which are typically expensive, need to be charged frequently, have restricted rules of data access, and do not provide accurate location data that are necessary for us to give a meaningful interpretation of the observed behaviors.

Compared with consumer wearable watches, the Tracmo CareActive solution is more affordable and overcomes the battery-life limitation, he added. It provides accurate room-to-room location information for research participants, and allows the team to access high-quality actigraphy data sampled with high temporal resolution (that is, in seconds), he explained.

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

The Berkeley research team provided two CareActive watches and three stations to each household, which included one participant with dementia or mild cognitive impairment and one familial caregiver. Participants install these devices at home through a CareActive App.

The CareActive watch can be worn for more than three months without battery replacement, said Chen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Our study is extremely benefited by CareActive watchs long battery life, because any single battery charging could interrupt our data collection.

Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen, University of California, Berkeley

More important,remembering to charge the watch routinely and put the watch back on after charging could be stressful and burdensome for research participants, particularly for those who are older and/or with age-related neurological conditions, he added.

Besides, unlike typical consumer watches that use GPS to localize the users, [and] therefore can only provide approximate user locations on a map, the CareActive system uses Bluetooth signal strength that allows precise room-to-room mapping of our research participants when they are in their homes, he said.

The room-to-room locations are important for us to better understand and interpret our participants daily behaviors, including behaviors occurring at both the individual level.For example, a person may stay in the bedroom when he feels sick, or the dyadic level, ... couples who feel happier with their relationships may spend more time being in the same room.

RESULTS

In the ongoing research project that started in mid-March 2020, the Berkeley team has successfully collected CareActive data from more than 90 homes, distributed across 33 states in the U.S. All participants self-installed the systems with minimal assistance from the research team.

ADVICE FOR OTHERS

All technology designed to be used in healthcare needs to consider the users backgrounds and needs, Levenson advised. When we study people with dementia and their familial caregivers, we put essential effort to simplify the steps for device installation, minimize the amount of work for maintenance, and maximize research participants motivation and benefit from using the device.

Social-contextual factors and individual differences need to be considered when interpreting any information collected from the users, he added.

For example, a fall-like behavior occurring in the bedroom may have different meanings than [one] occurring in the bathroom, he said. In addition, all homes have different sizes and layouts, [so] therefore we should be careful when generalizing patterns learned from one home to another.

The Berkeley team would recommend, if possible, collecting additional information from other sources to cross-validate and improve interpretation/prediction accuracyfor example, integrating motion sensor data with Bluetooth proximityhe concluded.

Twitter:@SiwickiHealthITEmail the writer:bsiwicki@himss.orgHealthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

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Unique wearable helps researchers study dementia patients and familial caregivers - Healthcare IT News

Physiology

What dolphins can teach us about surviving COVID-19 – University of California

When Terrie Williams began hearing about the wide range of symptoms experienced by patients with COVID-19, she saw a connection between the various ways the disease is affecting people and the many physiological adaptations that have enabled marine mammals to tolerate low oxygen levels during dives.

Williams, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, has spent decades studying the physiology of marine mammals and their extraordinary ability to perform strenuous activities while holding their breath for long periods under water.

Diving marine mammals experience a lifetime of rapid physiological transitions between normal oxygenation and hypoxia [low oxygen levels], Williams said. Theyve got ways to protect themselves and allow their organs to keep functioning while holding their breath for hours at a time, but theres a whole suite of biological adaptations that had to happen for them to be able to do that.

Lacking those adaptations, humans are vulnerable to rapid damage in a wide range of tissues when oxygen levels drop due to the effects on the lungs and cardiovascular system of infection with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In a review articlepublished December 3 inComparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Williams explores how the diving physiology of marine mammals can help us understand the effects of COVID-19.

It really highlights why it is so important for people to protect themselves from infection with this virus, she said. Damage to oxygen-deprived tissues happens fast and can be irreversible, which may account for the long-term effects we are beginning to see in people after coronavirus infections.

The heart and brain are especially sensitive to oxygen deprivation, and marine mammals have multiple mechanisms to protect these and other critical organs. In the first place, marine mammals have much higher oxygen carrying capacity than humans due to their greater blood volume and hemoglobin concentrations. In addition, some marine mammals contract their spleen during dives to release a store of oxygen-rich blood cells into the circulation. To avoid blood clots resulting from such high concentrations of red blood cells, many species lack a key clotting factor found in other mammals.

Other adaptations include greatly increased concentrations of oxygen-carrying proteins such as myoglobin in heart and skeletal muscles and neuroglobin and cytoglobin in the brain. In addition, numerous safety factors and biochemical buffers enable even the most oxygen-dependent tissues in marine mammals to withstand not only low oxygen but also the subsequent reperfusion of tissues with oxygenated blood. In humans, reperfusion after a heart attack or stroke often leads to additional tissue damage.

According to Williams, the solutions that marine mammals have evolved for tolerating hypoxia provide a natural template for understanding the potential for damage to oxygen-deprived tissues in humans.

Studying marine mammals allowed me to understand what it takes to protect the body when the availability of oxygen is low, she said. There are so many ramifications of shutting down the oxygen pathway, and I think thats what were seeing in these COVID patients.

Williams is particularly concerned about the so-called long-haulers who continue to have symptoms long after they were infected with the coronavirus.

You hear people say its just like the flu, but COVID scares the heck out of me because of the potential for long-term damage to the heart and brain, she said. When you think about oxygen deprivation and the tissue repair process, it makes sense that many people are having a hard time getting back to normal life, even after a mild infection.

Williams urges people to do all they can to avoid becoming infected. Our heart and brain cells are meant to last a lifetime, and we cannot replace them once they are damaged, she said. Dolphins and whales have natural protections that humans lack, so we are highly vulnerable to hypoxia.

Randall Davis, a marine biologist at Texas A&M University, coauthored the paper with Williams. This work was funded by the Office of Naval Research.

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What dolphins can teach us about surviving COVID-19 - University of California

Physiology

Flavors added to vaping devices can damage the heart – Science Codex

TAMPA, Fla (Dec. 11, 2020) -- The appealing array of fruit and candy flavors that entice millions of young people take up vaping can harm their hearts, a preclinical study by University of South Florida Health (USF Health) researchers found.

Mounting studies indicate that the nicotine and other chemicals delivered by vaping, while generally less toxic than conventional cigarettes, can damage the lungs and heart. "But so far there has been no clear understanding about what happens when the vaporized flavoring molecules in flavored vaping products, after being inhaled, enter the bloodstream and reach the heart," said the study's principal investigator Sami Noujaim, PhD, an associate professor of molecular pharmacology and physiology at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

In their study published Nov. 20 in the American Journal of Physiology- Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Dr. Noujaim and colleagues report on a series of experiments assessing the toxicity of vape flavorings in cardiac cells and in young mice.

"The flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems widely popular among teens and young adults are not harm-free," Dr. Noujaim said. "Altogether, our findings in the cells and mice indicate that vaping does interfere with the normal functioning of the heart and can potentially lead to cardiac rhythm disturbances."

Dr. Noujaim's laboratory is among the first beginning to investigate the potential cardiotoxic effects of the many flavoring chemicals added to the e-liquids in electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS. He recently received a five-year, $2.2-million grant from the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to carry out this laboratory research. Commonly called e-cigarettes, ENDS include different products such as vape pens, mods, and pods.

Vaping involves inhaling an aerosol created by heating an e-liquid containing nicotine, solvents such as propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, and flavorings. The vaping device's battery-powered heat converts this e-liquid into a smoke-like aerosolized mixture (e-vapor). Manufacturers tout e-cigarettes as a tool to help quit smoking, but evidence of their effectiveness for smoking cessation is limited, and they are not FDA approved for this use. E-cigarettes contain the same highly addictive nicotine found in tobacco products, yet many teens and young adults assume they are safe.

Among the USF Health study key findings:

-In mouse cardiac muscle cells (HL-1 cells), the researchers tested the toxicity of three different, popular flavors of e-liquid: fruit flavor, cinnamon, and vanilla custard. All three were toxic to HL-1 cells exposed to e-vapor bubbled into the laboratory dish where the cells were cultured.

-Cardiac cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells were exposed to three distinct e-vapors. The first e-vapor containing only solvent interfered with the electrical activity and beating rate of cardiac cells in the dish. A second e-vapor with nicotine added to the solvent increased the toxic effects on these cells. The third e-vapor comprised of nicotine, solvent, and vanilla custard flavoring (the flavor previously identified as most toxic) augmented damage to the spontaneously beating cells even more. "This experiment told us that the flavoring chemicals added to vaping devices can increase harm beyond what the nicotine alone can do," Dr. Noujaim said.

-Healthy young mice implanted with tiny electrocardiogram devices were exposed to 60 puffs of vanilla-flavored e-vapor five days a week, for 10 weeks. Heart rate variability (HRV) - that is, fluctuations in the time interval between successive heartbeats - decreased in these test mice compared to the control mice that inhaled only puffs of air under the same regimen. A sophisticated analysis by the USF Health researchers showed that vaping interfered with normal HRV in the mice by disrupting the autonomic nervous system's control of heart rate (the acceleration and slowing down of heartbeats), Dr. Noujaim said.

-Finally, mice exposed to vaping were more prone to an abnormal and dangerous heart rhythm disturbance known as ventricular tachycardia compared to control mice.

Whether the mouse findings will translate to people is unknown. Dr. Noujaim emphasizes that more preclinical and human studies are needed to further determine the safety profile of flavored ENDS and their long-term health effects.

A partial government ban on flavored e-cigarettes aimed at stopping young people from vaping focused on enforcement against flavored e-cigarettes with pre-filled cartridges, like those produced by industry leader JUUL. However, teens quickly switched to newer disposable e-cigarettes still sold in a staggering assortment of youth-appealing fruity and dessert-like flavors.

"Our research matters because regulation of the vaping industry is a work in progress," Dr. Noujaim said. "The FDA needs input from the scientific community about all the possible risks of vaping in order to effectively regulate electronic nicotine delivery systems and protect the public's health. At USF Health, in particular, we will continue to examine how vaping may adversely affect cardiac health."

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Flavors added to vaping devices can damage the heart - Science Codex

Physiology

Study finds Post Baccalaureate Program successful in diversifying physician workforce and helping underserved regions and populations – The South End

Medical schools willing to invest in qualified students from disadvantaged backgrounds can impact the nationsphysician workforce by increasing the number of doctors serving in regions designated as health professional shortage areas and medically underserved populations, according to a Wayne State University School of Medicine study published in Academic Medicine, the Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Impact of a 50-Year Premedical Postbaccalaureate Program in Graduating Physicians for Practice in PrimaryCare and Underserved Areas, (https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Abstract/9000/Impact_of_a_50_Year_Premedical_Postbaccalaureate.96936.aspx) a review of the impact of the School of Medicines Post Baccalaureate Program over its 50-year life, found that the program has been successful in graduating a large proportion of physicians from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds. Many of these physicians went on to practice in regions with a shortage of doctors and in areas with underserved populations, accomplishing the goals of addressing the broad primary health care needs of all Americans, said lead author Herbert Smitherman Jr., M.D., M.P.H., professor of Internal Medicine and vice dean of Diversity and Community Affairs.

The study set out to evaluate the effectiveness of the School of Medicines premedical Post Baccalaureate Program in achieving its goals, measured by medical school, medical school graduation, primary care specialization and current practice.

The programs foundational goals are to provide academically-qualified students from lower socioeconomic, disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds the opportunity to become physicians; to identify and select students likely to return to their underserved communities to practice; to increase access to health care in underserved communities and therefore improve health outcomes; to increase the number of primary care physicians both locally and nationally; and to increase diversity in the physician workforce in an effort to address health inequities, disparities and social determinants of health.

To ensure that qualified minorities continued to have the opportunity to enter medical school, in 1969 the WSU School of Medicine established the Post Baccalaureate Program, the first of its kind in the nation. Initially launched to address the dearth of African American students entering medical schools, the free program immerses students into a year-long education in biochemistry, embryology, gross anatomy, histology and physiology. Many who graduated from the program were accepted into the WSU School of Medicine, but the program also served as a major pipeline for Black students into medical schools across the nation.

Five African-American students were admitted into the initial program, which was so successful that in 1972 it expanded to accept 10 students. The first Post Baccalaureate Program student graduated from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1974. The program expanded its efforts to increase underrepresented minorities in medicine. Following the U.S. Supreme Courts 1978 Bakke decision, the program cast a wider net yet again, accepting socio-economically disadvantaged students regardless of race or ethnicity.

In the 1970s and early 1980s the program served as a major pipeline for the admission of African-American students to medical schools across the country. During the 1980s and 1990s, the WSU School of Medicine earned the distinction of graduating more African-American physicians than any other medical school in the nation, with the exception of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Meharry Medical College in Nashville. Representatives of U.S. medical schools flocked to Detroit to learn how WSU accomplished the achievement.

Today, as many as 200 Michigan undergraduates apply for the program each year. A maximum of 16 students are accepted annually.

The study found that of 539 students who graduated from the program between 1979 and 2017:

Today there are 250 similar programs in the United States, but a study by the AAMC found only 63 focused on underrepresented in medicine students and only 18 of those had explicit diversity-based missions. Because the WSU program cost structure is flexible, the study team reported, universities with existing medical education resources can readily adapt the program to meet their needs.

Other members of the study team include Anil Aranha, Ph.D., associate director of Diversity and Inclusion; DeAndrea Matthews, D.R.E., director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion; Andrew Dignan, chief information officer and chief administrative officer for Health Centers Detroit Foundation Inc.; Mitchell Morrison, M.P.H., former intern in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and now a clinical research associate for IQVIA/Roche & Genentech; Eric Ayers, M.D., associate professor of Medicine and Pediatrics; Leah Robinson, Ph.D., director of Academic Support for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion; Lynn Smitherman, M.D., associate professor of Pediatrics; Kevin Sprague, M.D., associate dean of Admissions; and Richard Baker, M.D., vice dean of Medical Education.

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Study finds Post Baccalaureate Program successful in diversifying physician workforce and helping underserved regions and populations - The South End

Physiology

With the Support of His Village, fall 2020 graduate Dr. Ray Jones Achieves Goal, is Ready to Help Others – Southern Miss Now

Fri, 12/11/2020 - 10:14am | By: David Tisdale

Even if he helps just one person in his career - through either his teaching or research - Dr. Ray Jones says all of his hard work in pursuit of his doctorate at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) will have been worth it.

A newly minted Ph.D. in kinesiology from The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Kinesiology and Nutrition, Dr. Jones is one of more than 1,000 USM students who earned degrees from the University this fall.

My time here at USM has molded me into an academician and researcher, said the Patterson, La. native. I was provided so many opportunities to grow as an independent thinker, researcher, and a person.

Under normal circumstances, a doctoral program is challenging. But as the COVID-19 pandemic continued throughout 2020, Dr. Jones had to adapt to new ways of living, working, and studying, along with fellow students.

Any Ph.D. program is going to be difficult, and this one was no different - juggling everything, including classes, research, teaching, and other activities. More recently, the most difficult thing I had to do was work on my dissertation - writing, data collection, defending - during the pandemic. That was hard.

What helped me overcome it all was a solid support system I call my village. This group of people faculty, staff, fellow students, family and friends - were there to keep pushing me and motivating me to be the best version of myself, to keep me moving forward on this journey, and for that I am so thankful.

Among those members of his village was his academic adviser, USM Assistant Professor Dr. Stephanie McCoy, who said Dr. Jones met and exceeded expectations as a student.

In his three years here, Ray showed a pointed interested in being more involved in scholarship and service to his field through publications, presentations, and involvement in our exercise physiology governing body, The American College of Sports Medicine, as well as the Southern Miss community, Dr. McCoy said.

Other than his many accomplishments as a student, Ray is also a joy to be around. He has an infectious laugh that brings a smile to everyones face. He will be truly missed by all of us, especially me.

Dr. Jones says he was drawn to kinesiology because the name looked cool and science-y. I went into my undergrad program knowing I wanted to go to physical therapy school, and kinesiology seemed like the most logical way to get there by combining my love for anatomy/physiology and exercise, Jones said. So I decided to stay in kinesiology, and it has been the most amazing experience.

However, I never thought I would be in research. I didnt get a taste of it until the end of my masters program. It was great because I learned new skills, but it was also extremely challenging, which I believe is what attracted me to it. Afterwards, I applied for jobs and Ph.D. programs, and the rest is history.

Dr. Joness research focuses on sedentary behavior and the cardiovascular contribution to brain health. Using noninvasive techniques such as Doppler ultrasound, he examines blood flow response during prolonged, uninterrupted sitting in minority populations, particularly African-Americans.

His work, recognized at the university, regional and national levels, includes accolades from the USM Susan A. Siltanen Graduate Research Symposium, the Southeast Region American College of Sports Medicine, and the American College of Sports Medicine. He is a recipient of the Robert Smith, MD Graduate Scholar designation through the Jackson Heart Study Graduate Training and Education Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center [UMMC-GTEC] (2019-present), a highly competitive program enhancing the research skills in cardiovascular health epidemiology and health disparities of doctoral and health professions students. A 2020 inductee into the USM Graduate School Hall of Fame, he was a category winner and overall runner-up in the schools Three-Minute Thesis competition.

USM Graduate School Dean Dr. Karen Coats said she first became acquainted with Dr. Jones when he participated in the schools professional development program Professionals in Preparation during the 2018-19 academic year.

Ray was a leader in that group because he was so engaged and interactive, and contributed so much to all our discussions and activities, Dr. Coats said. He recognized the value in taking advantage of opportunities beyond the basic requirements for his degree program, and he excelled in all.

He is just a delightful, talented, and eager young scientist, and Im so glad I was able to interact with him during his studies at Southern Miss. He represents the best of USM, and I know he has a bright future ahead of him.

Dr. Jones now moves on to the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicines Center for Exercise Medicine, where he has accepted an NIH-T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship.

I thoroughly enjoy the scientific process, and am motivated by the fact that there are so many questions in the field that are unanswered, he said. If I can just answer one question, thatll be one more thing that could, potentially, help someone else. On the other side of academia teaching - Im able to share my passions in exercise physiology and research with students, with the hope of shining some light on their own passion, and helping them achieve their goals.

That helping spirit was instilled in him early on, Dr. Jones said, because of the generosity that has been shown to me throughout my life.

The one thing that inspires me to continue is the prospect of helping others - even if its just one person.

The USM School of Kinesiology and Nutrition is housed in the Universitys College of Education and Human Sciences. Learn more about the School at https://www.usm.edu/kinesiology-nutrition/index.php.

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With the Support of His Village, fall 2020 graduate Dr. Ray Jones Achieves Goal, is Ready to Help Others - Southern Miss Now

Physiology

Meet the Canadian writers and researchers who deserve to win the Nobel Prize – The Conversation CA

This year, Nobel Prizes continued to celebrate womens achievements: the Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded jointly to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for developing a tool for genomic editing called CRISPR-Cas9.

This builds on the 2018 chemistry prize which went to Frances Arnold for her application of genetic engineering to create new proteins to benefit humanity. And in physics, Andrea Ghez received the award for the discovery of a black hole in the centre of the Milky Way. Canadas own Donna Strickland received the Nobel in 2018.

With the Nobel in literature going to Canadas Alice Munro in 2013 and this years award to American Louise Gluck, Canadians eagerly await even further recognition for Margaret Atwood, a double winner of the Booker prize.

Several women in Canada have made Nobel-worthy discoveries in the area of life sciences. None may be more deserving than McGill Universitys Brenda Milner for her discoveries on long-term memory.

It is not only women in Canada whose contributions should be recognized with more Nobel Prizes, there is a strong case for men as well.

Read more: A memory pill? Cognitive neuroscience's contributions to the study of memory

This years Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine went to the University of Albertas Michael Houghton for his discovery of hepatitis C. In 2015, the Nobel Prize in physics went to Arthur McDonald at Queens University, for his discovery that neutrinos have mass.

Read more: How an Alberta researchers discovery of hepatitis C led to the Nobel Prize and saved lives

Canada aspires to even further recognition for the discovery of bacterial adaptive immunity by Sylvain Moineau at Laval University that was the foundation for this years Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Together with Rodolphe Barrangou at North Carolina State University and Philippe Horvath at Dupont Nutrition and Health in France, they demonstrated that CRISPR-Cas9 is the adaptive immune system of bacteria.

Adaptive immunity has been long understood in vertebrates as the acquisition of memory of past infections from a pathogen. Any subsequent infection leads to destruction of the pathogen.

Read more: Why can't Canada win another Nobel Prize in medicine?

Barrangou, Horvath and Moineaus interest was in yogurt, and specifically why bacteria used to make yogurt died from viral infections. Moineau is an expert on bacterial viruses known as bacteriophages. Barrangou and Horvath are food scientists. Together, they discovered that bacteria could resist viral infections by an adaptive immune system that had a memory of past bacteriophage infections and a mechanism to destroy any subsequent infections. These discoveries extended the concept of adaptive immunity from vertebrates to bacteria.

They discovered the memory of past viral infections in bacteria is CRISPR. They also discovered that any subsequent infection would be destroyed by the bacterial enzyme Cas9. It is these discoveries that enabled Charpentier and Douda to create the tool kit of CRISPR-Cas9 to edit genes in any organism.

By 2010, more than 10 Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine had been given for discoveries of immune systems with three more in 2011. Recognizing Barrangou, Horvath and Moineau with a Nobel Prize for their demonstration of adaptive immunity in bacteria is more than a hope.

John Bergeron gratefully acknowledges Kathleen Dickson as co-author.

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Meet the Canadian writers and researchers who deserve to win the Nobel Prize - The Conversation CA