Does participation in a pain course based on the international association for the study of pain's curricula guidelines change student knowledge about pain?

The People in Pain course was set up as a joint initiative of the Departments of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland. It was instigated in response to the publication of Pain Curricula for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) in 1994 (1). The first year it was offered, the "People in Pain" course comprised 14 h of lecture content. It was then expanded to encompass 28 h of lectures and seminar involvement. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of participation in a university pain course that meets the IASP pain curricula guidelines to increase health professional students' knowledge about pain. METHODS: Students who participated in the People in Pain course over the first three years were invited to complete the Revised Pain Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire (R-PKAQ) pre- and postcourse. Data obtained from 22 students in the short course formed a pilot project, and data from 22 students in the longer version of the course were used in the present study. RESULTS: Examination of the correlation matrix indicated substantial correlations between all R-PKAQ subscales except physiological basis of pain and pharmacological management of pain. In both the pilot project during the first year of the course and the expanded course in the following two years, significant improvement was found in the students' knowledge on five of the six subscales of the R-PKAQ: physiological basis of pain, psychological factors of pain perception, assessment and measurement of pain, cognitive-behavioural methods of pain relief, and pharmacological management of pain. Improvements in the developmental aspects of pain perception subscale failed to reach significance. CONCLUSIONS: An integrated pain course developed according to the pain curriculum guidelines developed by the IASP resulted in increased student knowledge regardless of the length of the program attended

Theoretical study of lepton events in the atmospheric neutrino experiments at SuperK

Super-Kamiokande has reported the results for the lepton events in the atmospheric neutrino experiment. These results have been presented for a 22.5kT water fiducial mass on an exposure of 1489 days, and the events are divided into sub-GeV, multi-GeV and PC events. We present a study of nuclear medium effects in the sub-GeV energy region of atmospheric neutrino events for the quasielastic scattering, incoherent and coherent pion production processes, as they give the most dominant contribution to the lepton events in this energy region. We have used the atmospheric neutrino flux given by Honda et al. These calculations have been done in the local density approximation. We take into account the effect of Pauli blocking, Fermi motion, Coulomb effect, renormalization of weak transition strengths in the nuclear medium in the case of the quasielastic reactions. The inelastic reactions leading to production of leptons along with pions is calculated in a $\Delta$- dominance model by taking into account the renormalization of $\Delta$ properties in the nuclear medium and the final state interaction effects of the outgoing pions with the residual nucleus. We present the results for the lepton events obtained in our model with and without nuclear medium effects, and compare them with the Monte Carlo predictions used in the simulation and the experimentally observed events reported by the Super-Kamiokande collaboration.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figure

Hidden Symmetries for Ellipsoid-Solitonic Deformations of Kerr-Sen Black Holes and Quantum Anomalies

We prove the existence of hidden symmetries in the general relativity theory defined by exact solutions with generic off-diagonal metrics, nonholonomic (non-integrable) constraints, and deformations of the frame and linear connection structure. A special role in characterization of such spacetimes is played by the corresponding nonholonomic generalizations of Stackel-Killing and Killing-Yano tensors. There are constructed new classes of black hole solutions and studied hidden symmetries for ellipsoidal and/or solitonic deformations of "prime" Kerr-Sen black holes into "target" off-diagonal metrics. In general, the classical conserved quantities (integrable and not-integrable) do not transfer to the quantized systems and produce quantum gravitational anomalies. We prove that such anomalies can be eliminated via corresponding nonholonomic deformations of fundamental geometric objects (connections and corresponding Riemannian and Ricci tensors) and by frame transforms.Comment: latex2e, 11pt, 34 pages, the variant accepted by EPJC, with additional explanations, modifications and new references requested by refere

Are there differences in acute phase inflammation markers regarding the type of heart failure?

This study aimed to determine if there are differences in inflammatory markers in the acute phase between systolic heart failure and heart failure with preserved systolic function. One hundred and thirty-one patients with acute heart failure were recruited consecutively. At admission, plasma fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, sialic acid, von Willebrand factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin-6 and NTproBNP were all evaluated. If the ejection fraction was 45% or over patients were included in the HF-PSF group; the remaining patients were included in the SHF group. The HF-PSF patients were older (72±10 vs 63±12 years, P<0.001), presented a higher rate of atrial fibrillation (56.1 vs 21.3%, P<0.001), and had a lower rate of hemoglobin (12.2±2 vs 13.3±2.1 g/dL, P<0.01). No significant differences were observed in the inflammation markers analyzed among SHF and HF-PSF groups. In the acute phase of heart failure there is a marked elevation of inflammatory markers but there are no differences in the inflammatory markers analyzed between the two different types of heart failure

Macroalgal meadow habitats support fish and fisheries in diverse tropical seascapes

Canopy-forming macroalgae can construct extensive meadow habitats in tropical seascapes occupied by fishes that span a diversity of taxa, life-history stages and ecological roles. Our synthesis assessed whether these tropical macroalgal habitats have unique fish assemblages, provide fish nurseries and support local fisheries. We also applied a meta-analysis of independent surveys across 23 tropical reef locations in 11 countries to examine how macroalgal canopy condition is related to the abundance of macroalgal-associated fishes. Over 627 fish species were documented in tropical macroalgal meadows, with 218 of these taxa exhibiting higher local abundance within this habitat (cf. nearby coral reef) during at least one life-history stage. Major overlap (40%–43%) in local fish species richness among macroalgal and seagrass or coral reef habitats suggest macroalgal meadows may provide an important habitat refuge. Moreover, the prominence of juvenile fishes suggests macroalgal meadows facilitate the triphasic life cycle of many fishes occupying diverse tropical seascapes. Correlations between macroalgal canopy structure and juvenile abundance suggests macroalgal habitat condition can influence levels of replenishment in tropical fish populations, including the majority of macroalgal-associated fishes that are targeted by commercial, subsistence or recreational fisheries. While many macroalgal-associated fishery species are of minor commercial value, their local importance for food and livelihood security can be substantial (e.g. up to 60% of landings in Kenyan reef fisheries). Given that macroalgal canopy condition can vary substantially with sea temperature, there is a high likelihood that climate change will impact macroalgal-associated fish and fisheries

Exome sequencing identifies genetic variants in anophthalmia and microphthalmia

Anophthalmia and microphthalmia (A/M) are rare birth defects affecting up to 2 per 10,000 live births. These conditions are manifested by the absence of an eye or reduced eye volumes within the orbit leading to vision loss. Although clinical case series suggest a strong genetic component in A/M, few systematic investigations have been conducted on potential genetic contributions owing to low population prevalence. To overcome this challenge, we utilized DNA samples and data collected as part of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS). The NBDPS employed multi-center ascertainment of infants affected by A/M. We performed exome sequencing on 67 family trios and identified numerous genes affected by rare deleterious nonsense and missense variants in this cohort, including de novo variants. We identified 9 nonsense changes and 86 missense variants that are absent from the reference human population (Genome Aggregation Database), and we suggest that these are high priority candidate genes for A/M. We also performed literature curation, single cell transcriptome comparisons, and molecular pathway analysis on the candidate genes and performed protein structure modeling to determine the potential pathogenic variant consequences on PAX6 in this disease

Trans-ancestry genome-wide association study identifies 12 genetic loci influencing blood pressure and implicates a role for DNA methylation

We carried out a trans-ancestry genome-wide association and replication study of blood pressure phenotypes among up to 320,251 individuals of East Asian, European and South Asian ancestry. We find genetic variants at 12 new loci to be associated with blood pressure (P = 3.9 &times; 10-11 to 5.0 &times; 10-21). The sentinel blood pressure SNPs are enriched for association with DNA methylation at multiple nearby CpG sites, suggesting that, at some of the loci identified, DNA methylation may lie on the regulatory pathway linking sequence variation to blood pressure. The sentinel SNPs at the 12 new loci point to genes involved in vascular smooth muscle (IGFBP3, KCNK3, PDE3A and PRDM6) and renal (ARHGAP24, OSR1, SLC22A7 and TBX2) function. The new and known genetic variants predict increased left ventricular mass, circulating levels of NT-proBNP, and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality (P = 0.04 to 8.6 &times; 10-6). Our results provide new evidence for the role of DNA methylation in blood pressure regulation

Exome sequencing of family trios from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study: Tapping into a rich resource of genetic and environmental data

Background: The National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) is a multisite, population-based, case–control study of genetic and nongenetic risk factors for major structural birth defects. Eligible women had a pregnancy affected by a birth defect or a liveborn child without a birth defect between 1997 and 2011. They were invited to complete a telephone interview to collect pregnancy exposure data and were mailed buccal cell collection kits to collect specimens from themselves, their child (if living), and their child's father. Over 23,000 families representing more than 30 major structural birth defects provided DNA specimens. Methods: To evaluate their utility for exome sequencing (ES), specimens from 20 children with colonic atresia were studied. Evaluations were conducted on specimens collected using cytobrushes stored and transported in open versus closed packaging, on native genomic DNA (gDNA) versus whole genome amplified (WGA) products and on a library preparation protocol adapted to low amounts of DNA. Results: The DNA extracted from brushes in open packaging yielded higher quality sequence data than DNA from brushes in closed packaging. Quality metrics of sequenced gDNA were consistently higher than metrics from corresponding WGA products and were consistently high when using a low input protocol. Conclusions: This proof-of-principle study established conditions under which ES can be applied to NBDPS specimens. Successful sequencing of exomes from well-characterized NBDPS families indicated that this unique collection can be used to investigate the roles of genetic variation and gene–environment interaction effects in birth defect etiologies, providing a valuable resource for birth defect researchers

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe