Volunteerism, Alcohol Beliefs, and First-Year College Students' Drinking Behaviors: Implications for Prevention.

First-year students of traditional college age often drink irresponsibly, especially if they believe that alcohol use is integral to the college experience. Individuals who subscribe to this view embrace their transitional status, recognize that they have relatively few role obligations, and thus regard the college years as the timeframe for drinking. Volunteerism, which places additional constraints on students' behaviors by facilitating their integration into mature adult society and increasing social responsibility, may be an avenue for reducing levels of alcohol consumption among this subgroup. Numerous studies have found an inverse relationship between involvement in service and levels of alcohol consumption among college undergraduates. Data from a prospective survey administered to a cohort of first-year students of traditional college age at the beginning, and again at the end of the fall semester, was used to assess the relationship between volunteerism, alcohol beliefs, and drinking behavior (n = 423). Zero inflated negative binomial regressions indicated that alcohol beliefs moderated the effects of participation in volunteer/service activities on the frequency of alcohol use and heavy drinking. In particular, there was a strong negative relationship between volunteerism and heavy drinking among first-year students who believed that the use of alcohol was integral to the college experience. This suggests that engaging first-year students with permissive alcohol beliefs in service activities is a way to curb their drinking early, by the end of the first college semester, before it becomes a more long-term pattern.

The effects of public self-consciousness and embarrassability on college student drinking: evidence in support of a protective self-presentational model.

In this article we examine the effects of public self-consciousness (PSC) and a cross-situational reactivity to embarrassing encounters (EMB) on college students' levels of alcohol consumption by levels of perceived peer drinking. The analysis of self-report data from two undergraduate samples (n = 118 and n = 195) yielded virtually identical results and suggests that PSC and EMB affect alcohol use primarily among students with friends who drink heavily. Among these individuals, our findings are consistent with a protective self-presentational model. While PSC increased levels of alcohol consumption among students who believed drinking to be prevalent within their social circle if they were low in EMB, a susceptibility to embarrassment in response to the transgressions of self and others counteracted this tendency.

Single-cell massively-parallel multiplexed microbial sequencing (M3-seq) identifies rare bacterial populations and profiles phage infection.

Bacterial populations are highly adaptive. They can respond to stress and survive in shifting environments. How the behaviours of individual bacteria vary during stress, however, is poorly understood. To identify and characterize rare bacterial subpopulations, technologies for single-cell transcriptional profiling have been developed. Existing approaches show some degree of limitation, for example, in terms of number of cells or transcripts that can be profiled. Due in part to these limitations, few conditions have been studied with these tools. Here we develop massively-parallel, multiplexed, microbial sequencing (M3-seq)-a single-cell RNA-sequencing platform for bacteria that pairs combinatorial cell indexing with post hoc rRNA depletion. We show that M3-seq can profile bacterial cells from different species under a range of conditions in single experiments. We then apply M3-seq to hundreds of thousands of cells, revealing rare populations and insights into bet-hedging associated with stress responses and characterizing phage infection.

Effects of metalloproteinase inhibition in a murine model of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a leading cause of acute tubular necrosis (ATN) and delayed graft function in transplanted organs. Up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) propagates the microinflammatory response that drives IRI. This study sought to determine the specific effects of Marimastat (Vernalis, BB-2516), a broad spectrum MMP and TNF-alpha-converting enzyme inhibitor, on IRI-induced ATN. Mice were pretreated with Marimastat or methylcellulose vehicle for 4 d before surgery. Renal pedicles were bilaterally occluded for 30 min and allowed to reperfuse for 24 h. Baseline creatinine levels were consistent between experimental groups; however, post-IRI creatinine levels were 4-fold higher in control mice (p < 0.0001). The mean difference between the post-IRI histology grades of Marimastat-treated and control kidneys was 1.57 (p = 0.003), demonstrating more severe damage to control kidneys. Post-IRI mean (+/-SEM) MMP-2 activity rose from baseline levels in control mice (3.62 +/- 0.99); however, pretreated mice presented only a slight increase in mean MMP-2 activity (1.57 +/- 0.72) (p < 0.001). In conclusion, these data demonstrate that MMP inhibition is associated with a reduction of IRI in a murine model.

Inhibition of intra-abdominal adhesion formation with the angiogenesis inhibitor sunitinib.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of sunitinib, a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) antagonist, on intra-abdominal adhesions. BACKGROUND: In the United States, complications from adhesions cost $1 billion and account for 846,000 inpatient days annually. Endothelial mitogens, such as VEGF, are up-regulated during adhesion formation. Sunitinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with antiangiogenic and antitumor properties, may prevent or reduce postoperative abdominal adhesions by VEGFR-2 inhibition. METHODS: The cecum of 37 mice were abraded to promote adhesion formation and a silicone patch was sutured to the abdominal wall. The mice were randomized into two groups: Group 1 was treated with sunitinib in methylcellulose by oral gavage daily and Group 2 (control) received methylcellulose alone. After 10 d the mice were sacrificed and intra-abdominal adhesions were scored. The experiment was then repeated and mice were sacrificed on postoperative day 30 to assess the long-term effects of sunitinib. RESULTS: All 19 control mice developed intra-abdominal adhesions. Six of the 18 (33.3%) mice in the treatment group were adhesion-free. Collectively, the sunitinib-treated mice had a lower adhesion score [2.0 (IQR 0.0-5.0; range 0-8.0)] than the control group [5.0 (IQR 3.0-8.0; range 2.0-10.0) (P = 0.002)]. Long-term results were consistent with this finding [sunitinib 0.0 (IQR 0.0-3.0; range 0-7) and control 6.0 (IQR 3.0-7.0; range 0-12) (P = 0.049)]. CONCLUSION: Adhesion formation is angiogenesis-dependent and is in part mediated through VEGFR-2. Sunitinib, a VEGFR-2 antagonist, significantly reduces adhesion formation in a murine model. Antiangiogenic therapy may be an efficacious strategy to prevent or treat adhesions after intra-abdominal procedures.

The cost of cancer: a retrospective analysis of the financial impact of cancer on young adults.

Young adult cancer survivors (YAs) are confronted with immense financial challenges in the wake of their treatment. Medical bills and loss of savings may cause YAs to forgo recommended medications or follow-up appointments. Young survivors with financial concerns also report depression, stress and anxiety. The Samfund is a national nonprofit organization that provides financial support to YAs post-treatment. To quantify the financial burden of cancer in YAs, a retrospective analysis was performed of data collected from Samfund grant applications of 334 YA cancer survivors. Grants were awarded between 2007 and 2013 and grant recipients were consented electronically in 2014 for retrospective data analysis. Recipients ranged from 19 to 39 years of age at the time of their grant applications. Descriptive statistics were calculated and compared to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and U.S. census data on age-matched peers. Financial indicators of YA cancer survivors are worse in many domains than those of age-matched controls. Furthermore, YA survivors in their 30s report more perilous prefunding financial situations than younger grant recipients. Cancer has a devastating and age-specific impact on the finances of YAs. Philanthropic grants from the cancer support community, in conjunction with healthcare policy reforms, have the potential to break the cycle of financial need and help YAs move forward with their lives after cancer treatment.

Reactivity to conspicuousness and alcohol use among college students: the moderating effect of alcohol expectancies.

The analysis of self-report data from 147 college undergraduates suggested that alcohol expectancies moderate the effect of a dispositional susceptibility to embarrassment elicited by undesired conspicuousness [center-of-attention-induced embarrassability (CAE)] on drinking behavior. Individuals unlikely to experience embarrassment when they engage in behaviors that make them stand out in a crowd, a common occurrence when one drinks to excess, drank heavily if they expected alcohol to make them more assertive socially. Students with similar beliefs about the effects of alcohol on social interaction who were high in CAE consumed substantially less alcohol than the latter individuals. Their overall levels of drinking were more comparable to those of the low-expectancy participants, suggesting that the disdain for conspicuousness characteristic of people with a susceptibility to CAE may counteract the desire for social disinhibition that often motivates alcohol consumption.

Spontaneous reversion of the angiogenic phenotype to a nonangiogenic and dormant state in human tumors.

UNLABELLED: The angiogenic switch, a rate-limiting step in tumor progression, has already occurred by the time most human tumors are detectable. However, despite significant study of the mechanisms controlling this switch, the kinetics and reversibility of the process have not been explored. The stability of the angiogenic phenotype was examined using an established human liposarcoma xenograft model. Nonangiogenic cells inoculated into immunocompromised mice formed microscopic tumors that remained dormant for approximately 125 days (vs. <40 days for angiogenic cells) whereupon the vast majority (>95%) initiated angiogenic growth with second-order kinetics. These original, clonally derived angiogenic tumor cells were passaged through four in vivo cycles. At each cycle, a new set of single-cell clones was established from the most angiogenic clone and characterized for in vivo for tumorigenic activity. A total of 132 single-cell clones were tested in the second, third, and fourth in vivo passage. Strikingly, at each passage, a portion of the single-cell clones formed microscopic, dormant tumors. Following dormancy, like the original cell line, these revertant tumors spontaneously switched to the angiogenic phenotype. Finally, revertant clones were transcriptionally profiled and their angiogenic output determined. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the angiogenic phenotype in tumors is malleable and can spontaneously revert to the nonangiogenic phenotype in a population of human tumor cells. IMPLICATIONS: Leveraging the rate of reversion to the nonangiogenic phenotype and tumor dormancy may be a novel anticancer strategy.

Beliefs about alcohol and the college experience, locus of self, and college undergraduates' drinking patterns.

The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which locus of self (institutional versus impulse), measured using the Twenty Statements Test (TST), moderates the relationship between beliefs about alcohol and the college experience (BACE) and alcohol use among college undergraduates. Although the majority of our respondents listed more idiosyncratic personal characteristics and preferences than consensual social roles in response to the TST, the number of students classified as institutionals was notably higher than what has been reported within the literature. In opposition to our hypothesis that BACE would affect levels of alcohol consumption primarily among these individuals, our results indicated that the perception that alcohol use is integral to the college experience had a relatively minimal effect on drinking among respondents who defined themselves in terms of institutional roles. Moreover, multiple social roles themselves appeared to reduce the effects of BACE on levels of alcohol consumption. More impulse-oriented personal characteristics and preferences did not exhibit this moderating influence. Thus, our findings suggest that role occupation may be more important than locus of self in shaping students' susceptibility to beliefs about drinking and college life.

A critical role for matrix metalloproteinases in liver regeneration.

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are mediators of liver regeneration. To determine whether MMPs are required for normal hepatic regeneration, we performed 67% hepatectomies on mice treated with a broad-spectrum MMP-inhibitor, and assessed the effect on liver regeneration and urinary MMP activity. METHODS: Mice were subjected to sham operations, 67% hepatectomy, or 67% hepatectomy plus treatment with the broad-spectrum MMP inhibitor Marimastat. Urine collected preoperatively and for 8 d postoperatively was tested for MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity using zymography. Serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and hepatocyte growth factor levels were measured. Liver sections were analyzed by CD31 immunohistochemistry and microvessel density. Mitotic index and proliferating cell nuclear antigen labeling index were determined. RESULTS: The mean regenerating liver weight on postoperative day 8 was 0.72 +/- 0.01 grams for the hepatectomy Marimastat group, and 0.83 +/- 0.02 grams for the hepatectomy control group (P < 0.001). Urinary MMP-9 activity was elevated during hepatic regeneration, and decreased on postoperative day 8 when the liver returned to its preoperative mass. In contrast, urine from hepatectomy Marimastat mice, in which liver regeneration was successfully inhibited, showed consistently low levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity. The hepatectomy Marimastat group also exhibited elevated serum IL-6 levels on post-operative day 8, while serum TNF-alpha soluble receptor II levels were unchanged. Hepatocyte growth factor levels were not significantly different between the control hepatectomy and hepatectomy Marimastat groups at days 2, 4, and 8. Liver microvessel density was reduced in the hepatectomy Marimastat group at day 4. Mitotic index and proliferating cell nuclear antigen index were significantly decreased in the Marimastat hepatectomy group at post-operative day 2. CONCLUSIONS: The broad-spectrum MMP-inhibitor Marimastat inhibits liver regeneration. Microvessel density is reduced at day 4. Furthermore, urinary MMP-9 is elevated during liver regeneration, and this effect is not observed when regeneration is inhibited by the broad-spectrum MMP-inhibitor Marimastat.

Alcohol abuse as a rite of passage: the effect of beliefs about alcohol and the college experience on undergraduates' drinking behaviors.

Qualitative studies of alcohol's ritual influences indicate that college undergraduates who drink heavily tend to view alcohol use as integral to the student role and feel entitled to drink irresponsibly. Our analyses, based on a standardized measure of these beliefs administered to approximately 300 students, confirmed these findings. Among our sample, beliefs about alcohol and the college experience had an effect on levels of alcohol consumption similar in magnitude to that of other variables commonly associated with a risk for heavy drinking. Moreover, the alcohol beliefs index moderated the effects of three risk factors--gender, high school drinking, and friends' use of alcohol--on respondents' drinking behaviors. These findings are discussed within the context of the anthropological literature on liminality and rites of passage and with regard to strategies for intervention that address the structural roots of the widespread abuse of alcohol on college campuses.