Food patterns associated with blood lipids are predictive of coronary heart disease : the Whitehall II study

Analysis of the epidemiological effects of overall dietary patterns offers an alternative approach to the investigation of the role of diet in CHD. We analysed the role of blood lipid-related dietary patterns using a two-step method to confirm the prospective association of dietary pattern with incident CHD. Analysis is based on 7314 participants of the Whitehall II study. Dietary intake was measured using a 127-item FFQ. Reduced rank regression (RRR) was used to derive dietary pattern scores using baseline serum total and HDL-cholesterol, and TAG levels as dependent variables. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to confirm the association between dietary patterns and incident CHD (n 243) over 15 years of follow-up. Increased CHD risk (hazard ratio (HR) for top quartile: 2&middot;01 (95 % CI 1&middot;41, 2&middot;85) adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity and energy misreporting) was observed with a diet characterised by high consumption of white bread, fried potatoes, sugar in tea and coffee, burgers and sausages, soft drinks, and low consumption of French dressing and vegetables. The diet-CHD relationship was attenuated after adjustment for employment grade and health behaviours (HR for top quartile: 1&middot;81; 95 % CI 1&middot;26, 2&middot;62), and further adjustment for blood pressure and BMI (HR for top quartile: 1&middot;57; 95 % CI 1&middot;08, 2&middot;27). Dietary patterns are associated with serum lipids and predict CHD risk after adjustment for confounders. RRR identifies dietary patterns using prior knowledge and focuses on the pathways through which diet may influence disease. The present study adds to the evidence that diet is an important risk factor for CHD. <br /

Association of type of birth attendant and place of delivery on infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa

Objective: To examine the association between type of birth attendant and place of delivery, and infant mortality (IM).Methods: This cross-sectional study used self-reported data from the Demographic Health Surveys for women in Ghana, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. Logistic regression estimated odds ratios (ORs) and95% confidence intervals.Results: In Ghana and Sierra Leone, odds of IM were higher for women who delivered at a health facility versus women who delivered at a household residence (OR=3.18, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.29-7.83, p=0.01 and OR=1.62, 95% CI: 1.15-2.28, p=0.01, respectively). Compared to the use of health professionals, the use of birth attendants for assistance with delivery was not significantly associated with IM for women in Ghana or Sierra Leone (OR=2.17, 95% CI: 0.83-5.69, p=0.12 and OR=1.25, 95% CI: 0.92-1.70, p=0.15, respectively). In Kenya, odds of IM, though nonsignificant, were lower for women who used birth attendants than those who used health professionals to assist with delivery (OR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.51-1.41, p=0.46), and higher with delivery at a health facility versus a household residence (OR=1.29, 95% CI: 0.81-2.03, p=0.28).Conclusions: Women in Ghana and Sierra Leone who delivered at a health facility had statistically significant increased odds of IM. Birth attendant type-IM associations were not statistically significant.Future research should consider culturally-sensitive interventions to improve maternal health and help reduce IM.Keywords: birth attendant, infant mortality, sub-Saharan Afric

Exploring the Relationship Between Fidelity of Implementation and Academic Achievement in a Third-Grade Gifted Curriculum: A Mixed-Methods Study

This study used sequential mixed-methods analyses to investigate the effectiveness of a research-based language arts curriculum for gifted third graders. Using analytic induction, researchers found that teachers’ beliefs and expectations (time, sense of autonomy, expectations for students, professional expertise) influenced the degree to which they implemented the research intervention with fidelity to its design. Next, maximum variation sampling and quantitative analysis of student outcomes determined that postassessment achievement test scores are higher for students in classrooms with teachers who show high fidelity or adherence to the intervention

Claudin-1 induced sealing of blood-brain barrier tight junctions ameliorates chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for multiple sclerosis (MS), loss of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) tight junction (TJ) protein claudin-3 correlates with immune cell infiltration into the CNS and BBB leakiness. Here we show that sealing BBB TJs by ectopic tetracycline-regulated expression of the TJ protein claudin-1 in Tie-2 tTA//TRE-claudin-1 double transgenic C57BL/6 mice had no influence on immune cell trafficking across the BBB during EAE and furthermore did not influence the onset and severity of the first clinical disease episode. However, expression of claudin-1 did significantly reduce BBB leakiness for both blood borne tracers and endogenous plasma proteins specifically around vessels expressing claudin-1. In addition, mice expressing claudin-1 exhibited a reduced disease burden during the chronic phase of EAE as compared to control littermates. Our study identifies BBB TJs as the critical structure regulating BBB permeability but not immune cell trafficking into CNS during EAE, and indicates BBB dysfunction is a potential key event contributing to disease burden in the chronic phase of EAE. Our observations suggest that stabilizing BBB barrier function by therapeutic targeting of TJs may be beneficial in treating MS, especially when anti-inflammatory treatments have faile

The American English version of the Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR)

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient-reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the American English language. The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in 10 JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographic, clinical data and the JAMAR in 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents. The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the 3 Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach\u2019s alpha, interscale correlations, test\u2013retest reliability, and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity). A total of 315 JIA patients (5.1% systemic, 31.1% oligoarticular, 34% RF negative polyarthritis, 29.8% other categories) and 98 healthy children, were enrolled in three centres. The JAMAR components discriminated well healthy subjects from JIA patients. All JAMAR components revealed good psychometric performances. In conclusion, the American English version of the JAMAR is a valid tool for the assessment of children with JIA and is suitable for use both in routine clinical practice and clinical research

Two-photon fluorescence imaging with 30 fs laser system tunable around 1 micron

We developed a low-cost, low-noise, tunable, high-peak-power, ultrafast laser system based on a SESAM-modelocked, solid-state Yb tungstate laser plus spectral broadening via a microstructured fiber followed by pulse compression. The spectral selection, tuning, and pulse compression are performed with a simple prism compressor. The output pulses are tunable from 800 to 1250 nm, with the pulse duration down to 25 fs, and average output power up to 150 mW, at 80 MHz pulse repetition rate. We introduce the figure of merit (FOM) for the two-photon and multi-photon imaging (or other nonlinear processes), which is a useful guideline in discussions and for designing the lasers for an improved microscopy signal. Using a 40 MHz pulse repetition rate laser system, with twice lower FOM, we obtained high signal-to-noise ratio two-photon fluorescence images with or without averaging, of mouse intestine section and zebra fish embryo. The obtained images demonstrate that the developed system is capable of nonlinear (TPE, SHG) imaging in a multimodal operation. The system could be potentially used in a variety of other techniques including, THG, CARS and applications such as nanosurgery