Application of High-Field Localized In-Vivo H-1 Mrs to Study Biochemical-Changes in the Thiamin Deficient Rat-Brain Under Glucose-Load

In vivo, volume-selected H-1 NMR spectroscopy employing the SPACE technique was used to monitor biochemical changes in the thiamin deficient rat brain in response to glucose loading. The concentrations of brain N-acetylaspartate, glutamate/glutamine/gamma-aminobutyric acid, lactate and glucose differed significantly from those of control animals. The results are consistent with a metabolic block at the reaction catalyzed by the thiamin dependent enzyme alpha-keto glutarate dehydrogenase soon after the onset of neurological symptoms of thiamin deficiency, and a further block at pyruvate dehydrogenase arising late in the course of thiamin deficiency

Engaging teenagers in improving their health behaviours and increasing their interest in science (Evaluation of LifeLab Southampton): study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

BackgroundLifestyle and health behaviours are strongly linked to non-communicable disease risk, but modifying them is challenging. There is an increasing recognition that adolescence is an important time when lifestyle and health behaviours become embedded. Improving these in adolescents is important not only for their own health but also for that of their future children. LifeLab Southampton has been developed as a purpose-built classroom and laboratory in University Hospital Southampton. Secondary school students visit LifeLab to learn how childhood, adolescent and parental nutrition influences health, understand the impact of their lifestyle on their cardiovascular and metabolic health, and to inspire them with the excitement of research and future career possibilities in science. The LifeLab visit is part of a programme of work linked to the English National Curriculum. Pilot work has indicated that attitudes towards health can be changed by such LifeLab sessions. MethodsA cluster randomised controlled trial is being conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the LifeLab intervention, the primary outcome being a measurement of the change in nutrition, health and lifestyle literacy from before to after the LifeLab intervention. The LifeLab intervention comprises: professional development for the teachers involved, preparatory-lessons for the school students, delivered in school, a hands-on practical day at LifeLab including a ‘Meet the Scientist’ session, post-visit lessons delivered in school and the opportunity to participate in the annual LifeLab Schools’ Conference. This study aims to recruit approximately 2,500 secondary school students aged 13-14 years from 32 schools (the clusters) from Southampton and neighbouring areas. Participating schools will be randomised to control or intervention groups. The intervention will be run over two academic school years, with baseline questionnaire data collected from students at participating schools at the start of the academic year and follow- up questionnaire data collected approximately 12 months later.Evaluation of LifeLab is a cluster randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN71951436, registered 25th March 2015), funded by the British Heart Foundation (PG/14/33/30827)

Demonizing in Children’s Television Cartoons and Disney Animated Films

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of demonizing in the two major media that young children use (television and movies). Two content analyses were conducted using the animated feature films (n = 34) of the Walt Disney Company and after-school cartoons (n = 41). Each was coded for the modeling of the use of "evil" words when referring to a person, e.g., monster, devil, demon, wicked. Seventy-four percent of the Disney films contained "evil" references, with an average of 5.6 references per film. Forty-four percent of the after-school cartoons contained "evil" references, with an average of one per cartoon. The results are discussed within the context of children's repeated exposure to popular animated movies and cartoons and their learning to demonize people who engage in perceived "bad" behaviors. © Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Hope springs eternal in the starfish gonad: preserved potential for sexual reproduction in a single-clone population of a fissiparous starfish

Among echinoderms, asexual reproduction by fission occurs in few species. This strategy is considered a temporary response to stressful conditions and usually alternates with sexual reproduction events; thus, monoclonal populations are extremely rare. The occurrence of a single-clone population of the starfish Coscinasterias tenuispina at Llançà (NW Mediterranean) allowed us to study intra-clonal variation of the reproductive cycle during a two-year study. The few developed gonads (all male) were found in winter months, coinciding with the minimum photoperiod (ρ = −0.82; P < 0.001) and lowest temperatures (ρ = −0.75; P < 0.001), only in best-fed individuals, indicating that food availability influences individual ability for gonad development. Fissiparity happened throughout all the sampled period, but its rate increased with warm temperatures (ρ = 0.68; P < 0.0001). In contrast to what has been reported in other species, no correlation between fission rates and population density was found. The population was maintained over time by asexual reproduction and remained monoclonal. Although sexual reproduction has probably not occurred in this all-male population for a long time, the ability to yearly produce mature gonads is retained by some individuals, indicating that potential to reproduce sexually may be preserved, even in the case of strictly asexual populations