Community involvement in dengue vector control: cluster randomised trial

Objective To assess the effectiveness of an integrated community based environmental management strategy to control Aedes aegypti, the vector of dengue, compared with a routine strategy

Effect of maternal obesity and preconceptional weight loss on male and female offspring metabolism and olfactory performance in mice

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. According to the “developmental origins of health and disease” (DOHaD) concept, maternal obesity predisposes the offspring to non-communicable diseases in adulthood. While a preconceptional weight loss (WL) is recommended for obese women, its benefits on the offspring have been poorly addressed. We evaluated whether preconceptional WL was able to reverse the adverse effects of maternal obesity in a mouse model, exhibiting a modification of foetal growth and of the expression of genes encoding epigenetic modifiers in liver and placenta. We tracked metabolic and olfactory behavioural trajectories of offspring born to control, obese or WL mothers. After weaning, the offspring were either put on a control diet (CD) or a high-fat (HFD). After only few weeks of HFD, the offspring developed obesity, metabolic alterations and olfactory impairments, independently of maternal context. However, male offspring born to obese mother gained even more weight under HFD than their counterparts born to lean mothers. Preconceptional WL normalized the offspring metabolic phenotypes but had unexpected effects on olfactory performance: a reduction in olfactory sensitivity, along with a lack of fasting-induced, olfactory-based motivation. Our results confirm the benefits of maternal preconceptional WL for male offspring metabolic health but highlight some possible adverse outcomes on olfactory-based behaviours

Long-Lasting Metabolic Imbalance Related to Obesity Alters Olfactory Tissue Homeostasis and Impairs Olfactory-Driven Behaviors.

Obesity is associated with chronic food intake disorders and binge eating. Food intake relies on the interaction between homeostatic regulation and hedonic signals among which, olfaction is a major sensory determinant. However, its potential modulation at the peripheral level by a chronic energy imbalance associated to obese status remains a matter of debate. We further investigated the olfactory function in a rodent model relevant to the situation encountered in obese humans, where genetic susceptibility is juxtaposed on chronic eating disorders. Using several olfactory-driven tests, we compared the behaviors of obesity-prone Sprague-Dawley rats (OP) fed with a high-fat/high-sugar diet with those of obese-resistant ones fed with normal chow. In OP rats, we reported 1) decreased odor threshold, but 2) poor olfactory performances, associated with learning/memory deficits, 3) decreased influence of fasting, and 4) impaired insulin control on food seeking behavior. Associated with these behavioral modifications, we found a modulation of metabolism-related factors implicated in 1) electrical olfactory signal regulation (insulin receptor), 2) cellular dynamics (glucorticoids receptors, pro- and antiapoptotic factors), and 3) homeostasis of the olfactory mucosa and bulb (monocarboxylate and glucose transporters). Such impairments might participate to the perturbed daily food intake pattern that we observed in obese animals

The Bridgwater Infant Welfare Centre, 1922-1939: from an authoritarian concern with 'welfare mothers' to a more inclusive community health project?

The infant welfare movement in Britain has received considerable scholarly attention but continues to generate controversy and debate. Many of the services began with nineteenth-century voluntary initiative but were later developed by local authorities. Critics have drawn attention to the limitations of such provision; arguing that it was predicated on unattractive assumptions about class and gender roles. Under this interpretation working-class mothers were viewed with suspicion and targeted for advice aimed at inculcating middle-class standards of childcare and housekeeping. This paper accepts that there was an authoritarian character to much of the early welfare work but suggests that over time this gave way to more inclusive approaches that sought to provide clients with the services that met their real rather than assumed needs. This paper reviews the recent historiography, develops an overview of national trends, and then takes a detailed look at the Bridgwater Infant Welfare Centre. The case study benefi ts from unusually comprehensive records and, by drawing on evidence from a small Somerset town, adds to our understanding of infant welfare work that has previously been developed from research on major urban centres.Wellcome Trust Fellowshi

Modified Laminar Bone in Ampelosaurus atacis and Other Titanosaurs (Sauropoda): Implications for Life History and Physiology

BACKGROUND: Long bone histology of the most derived Sauropoda, the Titanosauria suggests that titanosaurian long bone histology differs from the uniform bone histology of basal Sauropoda. Here we describe the long bone histology of the titanosaur Ampelosaurus atacis and compare it to that of basal neosauropods and other titanosaurs to clarify if a special titanosaur bone histology exists. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Ampelosaurus retains the laminar vascular organization of basal Sauropoda, but throughout most of cortical growth, the scaffolding of the fibrolamellar bone, which usually is laid down as matrix of woven bone, is laid down as parallel-fibered or lamellar bone matrix instead. The remodeling process by secondary osteons is very extensive and overruns the periosteal bone deposition before skeletal maturity is reached. Thus, no EFS is identifiable. Compared to the atypical bone histology of Ampelosaurus, the large titanosaur Alamosaurus shows typical laminar fibrolamellar bone. The titanosaurs Phuwiangosaurus, Lirainosaurus, and Magyarosaurus, although differing in certain features, all show this same low amount or absence of woven bone from the scaffolding of the fibrolamellar bone, indicating a clear reduction in growth rate resulting in a higher bone tissue organization. To describe the peculiar primary cortical bone tissue of Phuwiangosaurus, Ampelosaurus, Lirainosaurus, and Magyarosaurus, we here introduce a new term, "modified laminar bone" (MLB). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Importantly, MLB is as yet not known from extant animals. At least in Lirainosaurus and Magyarosaurus the reduction of growth rate indicated by MLB is coupled with a drastic body size reduction and maybe also a reduction in metabolic rate, interpreted as a result of dwarfing on the European islands during the Late Cretaceous. Phuwiangosaurus and Ampelosaurus both show a similar reduction in growth rate but not in body size, possibly indicating also a reduced metabolic rate. The large titanosaur Alamosaurus, on the other hand, retained the plesiomorphic bone histology of basal neosauropods

Early programming of the oocyte epigenome temporally controls late prophase I transcription and chromatin remodelling

Oocytes are arrested for long periods of time in the prophase of the first meiotic division (prophase I). As chromosome condensation poses significant constraints to gene expression, the mechanisms regulating transcriptional activity in the prophase I-arrested oocyte are still not entirely understood. We hypothesized that gene expression during the prophase I arrest is primarily epigenetically regulated. Here we comprehensively define the Drosophila female germ line epigenome throughout oogenesis and show that the oocyte has a unique, dynamic and remarkably diversified epigenome characterized by the presence of both euchromatic and heterochromatic marks. We observed that the perturbation of the oocyte's epigenome in early oogenesis, through depletion of the dKDM5 histone demethylase, results in the temporal deregulation of meiotic transcription and affects female fertility. Taken together, our results indicate that the early programming of the oocyte epigenome primes meiotic chromatin for subsequent functions in late prophase I