Cardiovascular Disease Risk Profile of NCAA Division III Intercollegiate Football Athletes: A Pilot Study

Concerns about the long-term cardiovascular health implications of American football participation have been investigated at the professional and Division I levels, but limited research is available at the less resourced Division III level. Therefore, the objective of this pilot study was to assess the cardiovascular disease risk profile of NCAA Division III intercollegiate football athletes

Fate of diluted bitumen spilled in the coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada.

Abstract There is public concern about the behaviour of spilled diluted bitumen (dilbit) in marine and estuarine waters. We provide a preliminary assessment of the results of laboratory experiments and models, in the context of environmental conditions in the coastal waters of British Columbia. Most dilbit spilled within this region would likely float at the surface and be transported to shore by winds and currents. Fresh dilbit is too light to sink in coastal waters. Highly weathered dilbit could sink where salinity is less than 14, typically only near river mouths and in the top 1–3 m of fjords after heavy rainfall. Subsurface plumes of weathered dilbit could re-emerge at the surface. Sinking oil-particle aggregates are unlikely to form in coastal waters. However, dilbit could be entrained below the surface by wave mixing during storms and to depths of 150 m by coherent mixing in the Haro Strait tidal convergence zone

Children, young people and families: managing the holiday season during the cost-of-living crisis

As the holiday season approaches, it can bring feelings of joy, excitement, and happiness, but also stress, worry and often sadness against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis. The BPS’s Division of Educational and Child Psychology (DECP) has offered its advice for parents on how to manage the holiday season and their children’s expectations

Experiences, quality time and managing expectations: psychologists offer advice on navigating holiday season with children during the cost of living crisis

The BPS's Division of Educational and Child Psychology offers its expert advice to manage children’s expectations this festive season, and how to focus on the smaller things that can mean a lot

The Dystonia Coalition: A multicenter network for clinical and translational studies

Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions causing abnormal postures, repetitive movements, or both. Research in dystonia has been challenged by several factors. First, dystonia is uncommon. Dystonia is not a single disorder but a family of heterogenous disorders with varied clinical manifestations and different causes. The different subtypes may be seen by providers in different clinical specialties including neurology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and others. These issues have made it difficult for any single center to recruit large numbers of subjects with specific types of dystonia for research studies in a timely manner. The Dystonia Coalition is a consortium of investigators that was established to address these challenges. Since 2009, the Dystonia Coalition has encouraged collaboration by engaging 56 sites across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Its emphasis on collaboration has facilitated establishment of international consensus for the definition and classification of all dystonias, diagnostic criteria for specific subtypes of dystonia, standardized evaluation strategies, development of clinimetrically sound measurement tools, and large multicenter studies that document the phenotypic heterogeneity and evolution of specific types of dystonia

The role of amelogenin during enamel-crystallite growth and organization in vivo: Amelogenin and enamel-crystallite formation

Amelogenin is critical for enamel formation and human AMELX gene mutations cause hypoplastic and/or hypomaturation enamel phenotypes. The Amelx null (AKO) mouse has a severe hypoplastic phenotype. This study evaluated the effect of amelogenin loss on enamel formation and crystallite morphology. Enamel from AKO and wild type (WT) mice was used. AKO mice were mated with transgenic mice expressing the most abundant known amelogenin isoform TgM180-87 to rescue (KOM180-87) the enamel crystallite phenotype. Molar enamel was embedded, sectioned with a diamond microtome and photographed using transmission electron microscopy. Crystallite sizes from multiple sections were measured using Image J. Crystallite mean thicknesses were (WT = 26 nm, AKO = 16 nm, KOm180-87 = 25 nm) and the mean widths were (WT = 96 nm, AKO = 59 nm, KOm180-87 = 85 nm). Despite a complete loss of amelogenin in AKO mice, a mineralized enamel layer with well-defined and organized crystallites forms. Enamel crystallites forming in the absence of amelogenin were reduced in thickness and width. For the first time we show that introduction of the m180 amelogenin isoform into the AKO mouse through crossbreeding rescues the crystallite phenotype. We conclude that amelogenin is essential for the development of normal crystallite size

Rescue of the murine amelogenin null phenotype with two amelogenin transgenes

The amelogenin proteins are required for normal enamel development; the most abundant amelogenins expressed from alternatively spliced mRNAs are M180 and leucine rich amelogenin protein (LRAP). The Amelx null (KO) mouse has an enamel defect similar to human X-linked amelogenesis imperfecta. The disorganized enamel layer in KO mice is 10–20% the thickness of wild-type (WT) enamel and lacks prismatic structures. When the KO mice were mated with mice that express TgM180-87, partial rescue of the phenotype was observed such that enamel thickness, volume and density increased. A second transgene was introduced by mating the TgM180KO mice with TgLRAP mice, and male offspring were characterized for genotype and tooth phenotype was evaluated by SEM. TgM180LRAPKO molar enamel thickness further increased, and the structure was improved, with a more defined decussation pattern compared to singly rescued mice. We conclude that TgM180 provides significant rescue of the KO phenotype. Although the effectiveness of TgLRAP to rescue by itself is less obvious, the addition of TgLRAP to TgM180 in KO enamel leads to added improvement in both amount and structure and thus these transgenes function in a complementary manner. Together the two most abundant amelogenins lead to formation of obvious enamel decussation patterns

Mouse Genetic Background Influences the Dental Phenotype

Dental enamel covers the crown of the vertebrate tooth and is considered to be the hardest tissue in the body. Enamel develops during secretion of an extracellular matrix by ameloblast cells in the tooth germ, prior to eruption of the tooth into the oral cavity. Secreted enamel proteins direct mineralization patterns during the maturation stage of amelogenesis as the tooth prepares to erupt. The amelogenins are the most abundant enamel proteins, and are required for normal enamel development. Phenotypic differences were observed between incisors from individual Amelx (Amelogenin) null mice that had a mixed 129xC57BL/6J genetic background, and between inbred wld-type (WT) mice with different genetic backgrounds (C57BL/6J, C3H/HEJ, FVB/NJ). We hypothesized this could be due to modifier genes, as human patients with a mutation in an enamel protein gene causing the enamel defect amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) also can have varied appearance of dentitions within a kindred. Enamel density measurements varied for all WT inbred strains midway during incisor development. Enamel thickness varied between some WT strains and, unexpectedly, dentin density varied extensively between incisors and molars of all WT and Amelx null strains studied. WT FVB/NJ incisors were more similar to Amelx null than to the other WT strains in incisor height/weight ratio and pattern of enamel mineralization. Strain-specific differences led to the conclusion that modifier genes may be implicated in determining both normal development and severity of enamel appearance in AI mouse models and may in future studies be related to phenotypic heterogeneity within human AI kindreds reported in the literature

Development of a rapid, reliable and quantitative method – “SPOTi” for testing antifungal efficacy

A reference method for the antimicrobial susceptibility testing of common fungal pathogens such as dermatophytes, is currently lacking. In this study, we report the successful adaptation of solid agar-based spot culture growth inhibition assay (SPOTi) for dermatophytes, currently being used as a gold-standard in the anti-tubercular drug discovery field. The fungal-SPOTi assay correlated with the disc-diffusion method, and is validated using mycelial plugs. We propose the fungal-SPOTi as a high-throughput alternative to the disc-diffusion and broth micro-dilution anti-fungal assays to screen novel anti-fungals

ACC/AHA 2007 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non–ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Revise the 2002 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non–ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) Developed in Collaboration with the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Endorsed by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

"The ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines was formed to make recommendations regarding the diagnosis and treatment of patients with known or suspected cardiovascular disease (CVD). Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Unstable angina (UA) and the closely related condition of non–ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) are very common manifestations of this disease. The committee members reviewed and compiled published reports through a series of computerized literature searches of the English-language literature since 2002 and a final manual search of selected articles. Details of the specific searches conducted for particular sections are provided when appropriate. Detailed evidence tables were developed whenever necessary with the specific criteria outlined in the individual sections. The recommendations made were based primarily on these published data. The weight of the evidence was ranked highest (A) to lowest (C). The final recommendations for indications for a diagnostic procedure, a particular therapy, or an intervention in patients with UA/NSTEMI summarize both clinical evidence and expert opinion.