Differential Response of Female Deer Mice to Short Photoperiod

Author Institution: Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State UniversityIndividual male deer mice (Perotnyscus maniculatus} respond to inhibitory (short) photoperiod with gonadal responses that range from azoospermia to normal spermatogenesis. We undertook the present study to determine if female deer mice exhibit similar variation in reproductive response to inhibitory daylength. Following 8 wk exposure to short days, reproductive tract weights of 25% of all individual females did not differ from those displayed by mice housed on stimulatory (long) photoperiod; reproductive tracts of all remaining short day mice weighed significantly less. Short photoperiod also significantly reduced body weight, albeit only in those mice with regressed reproductive tracts. These results demonstrate that female deer mice respond differentially to the inhibitory effects of short photoperiod. Taken together with previous results, the present findings indicate that populations of deer mice are composed of subsets of males and females that differ in reproductive response to short daylength

Effect of treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus on pregnancy outcomes

Copyright © 2005 Massachusetts Medical Society.Background: We conducted a randomized clinical trial to determine whether treatment of women with gestational diabetes mellitus reduced the risk of perinatal complications. Methods: We randomly assigned women between 24 and 34 weeks’ gestation who had gestational diabetes to receive dietary advice, blood glucose monitoring, and insulin therapy as needed (the intervention group) or routine care. Primary outcomes included serious perinatal complications (defined as death, shoulder dystocia, bone fracture, and nerve palsy), admission to the neonatal nursery, jaundice requiring phototherapy, induction of labor, cesarean birth, and maternal anxiety, depression, and health status. Results: The rate of serious perinatal complications was significantly lower among the infants of the 490 women in the intervention group than among the infants of the 510 women in the routine-care group (1 percent vs. 4 percent; relative risk adjusted for maternal age, race or ethnic group, and parity, 0.33; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.14 to 0.75; P=0.01). However, more infants of women in the intervention group were admitted to the neonatal nursery (71 percent vs. 61 percent; adjusted relative risk, 1.13; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.03 to 1.23; P=0.01). Women in the intervention group had a higher rate of induction of labor than the women in the routine-care group (39 percent vs. 29 percent; adjusted relative risk, 1.36; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.15 to 1.62; P<0.001), although the rates of cesarean delivery were similar (31 percent and 32 percent, respectively; adjusted relative risk, 0.97; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.16; P=0.73). At three months post partum, data on the women’s mood and quality of life, available for 573 women, revealed lower rates of depression and higher scores, consistent with improved health status, in the intervention group. Conclusions: Treatment of gestational diabetes reduces serious perinatal morbidity and may also improve the woman’s health-related quality of life.Caroline A. Crowther, Janet E. Hiller, John R. Moss, Andrew J. McPhee, William S. Jeffries and Jeffrey S. Robinso

Assay precision and risk of misclassification at rule-out cut-offs for high-sensitivity cardiac troponin

Clinical trials and guidelines support the use of very low high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) results to rule-out a myocardial infarction (MI) ( 1) ). The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Committee on Clinical Applications of Cardiac Biomarkers committee, through a modeling approach, suggests assays need to have a lower limit near 3 ng/L and an analytical variation of 10% below 7 ng/L if these low values are to perform consistently in practice ( 2) ). Our objectives for the present study were to assess: i) if any type of instrument or individual instrument could achieve a coefficient of variation (CV) of ≤10% at very low hs-cTn cut-offs (i.e., targets) recommended in clinical pathways; ii) the frequency of results at the hs-cTn target, above the target and below the target, with the latter group representing potential misclassification to the low risk group where the target level would in the intermediate risk range.<br/

The Ups and Downs in Women's Employment: Shifting Composition or Behavior from 1970 to 2010?

This paper tracks factors contributing to the ups and downs in women’s employment from 1970 to 2010 using regression decompositions focusing on whether changes are due to shifts in the means (composition of women) or due to shifts in coefficients (inclinations of women to work for pay). Compositional shifts in education exerted a positive effect on women’s employment across all decades, while shifts in the composition of other family income, particularly at the highest deciles, depressed married women’s employment over the 1990s contributing to the slowdown in this decade. A positive coefficient effect of education was found in all decades, except the 1990s, when the effect was negative, depressing women’s employment. Further, positive coefficient results for other family income at the highest deciles bolstered married women’s employment over the 1990s. Models are run separately for married and single women demonstrating the varying results of other family income by marital status. This research was supported in part by an Upjohn Institute Early Career Research Award

Bone Mass and Strength in Older Men With Type 2 Diabetes: The Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study

The effects of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on bone volumetric density, bone geometry, and estimates of bone strength are not well established. We used peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) to compare tibial and radial bone volumetric density (vBMD, mg/cm3), total (ToA, mm2) and cortical (CoA, mm2) bone area and estimates of bone compressive and bending strength in a subset (n = 1171) of men (≥65 years of age) who participated in the multisite Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study. Analysis of covariance–adjusted bone data for clinic site, age, and limb length (model 1) and further adjusted for body weight (model 2) were used to compare data between participants with (n = 190) and without (n = 981) T2DM. At both the distal tibia and radius, patients with T2DM had greater bone vBMD (+2% to +4%, model 1, p < .05) and a smaller bone area (ToA −1% to −4%, model 2, p < .05). The higher vBMD compensated for lower bone area, resulting in no differences in estimated compressive bone strength at the distal trabecular bone regions. At the mostly cortical bone midshaft sites of the radius and tibia, men with T2DM had lower ToA (−1% to −3%, p < .05), resulting in lower bone bending strength at both sites after adjusting for body weight (−2% to −5%, p < .05) despite the lack of difference in cortical vBMD at these sites. These data demonstrate that older men with T2DM have bone strength that is low relative to body weight at the cortical-rich midshaft of the radius despite no difference in cortical vBMD. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Researc

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

A qualitative study of professional and client perspectives on information flows and decision aid use

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This paper explores the meanings given by a diverse range of stakeholders to a decision aid aimed at helping carers of people in early to moderate stages of dementia (PWD) to select community based respite services. Decision aids aim to empower clients to share decision making with health professionals. However, the match between health professionals' perspectives on decision support needs and their clients' perspective is an important and often unstudied aspect of decision aid use.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A secondary analysis was undertaken of qualitative data collected as part of a larger study. The data included twelve interviews with carers of people with dementia, three interviews with expert advisors, and three focus groups with health professionals. A theoretical analysis was conducted, drawing on theories of 'positioning' and professional identity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Health professionals are seen to hold varying attitudes and beliefs about carers' decision support needs, and these appeared to be grounded in the professional identity of each group. These attitudes and beliefs shaped their attitudes towards decision aids, the information they believed should be offered to dementia carers, and the timing of its offering. Some groups understood carers as needing to be protected from realistic information and consequently saw a need to filter information to carer clients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Health professionals' beliefs may cause them to restrict information flows, which can limit carers' ability to make decisions, and limit health services' ability to improve partnering and shared decision making. In an era where information is freely available to those with the resources to access it, we question whether health professionals should filter information.</p

Filarial Parasites Develop Faster and Reproduce Earlier in Response to Host Immune Effectors That Determine Filarial Life Expectancy

During larval development, filarial nematodes adjust their lifelong reproductive strategy to the presence of anti-parasitic immune cells that determine host resistance and experimental vaccine efficacy