Systematic review of communication technologies to promote access and engagement of young people with diabetes into healthcare

Background: Research has investigated whether communication technologies (e.g. mobile telephony, forums, email) can be used to transfer digital information between healthcare professionals and young people who live with diabetes. The systematic review evaluates the effectiveness and impact of these technologies on communication. Methods: Nine electronic databases were searched. Technologies were described and a narrative synthesis of all studies was undertaken. Results: Of 20,925 publications identified, 19 met the inclusion criteria, with 18 technologies assessed. Five categories of communication technologies were identified: video-and tele-conferencing (n = 2); mobile telephony (n = 3); telephone support (n = 3); novel electronic communication devices for transferring clinical information (n = 10); and web-based discussion boards (n = 1). Ten studies showed a positive improvement in HbA1c following the intervention with four studies reporting detrimental increases in HbA1c levels. In fifteen studies communication technologies increased the frequency of contact between patient and healthcare professional. Findings were inconsistent of an association between improvements in HbA1c and increased contact. Limited evidence was available concerning behavioural and care coordination outcomes, although improvement in quality of life, patientcaregiver interaction, self-care and metabolic transmission were reported for some communication technologies. Conclusions: The breadth of study design and types of technologies reported make the magnitude of benefit and their effects on health difficult to determine. While communication technologies may increase the frequency of contact between patient and health care professional, it remains unclear whether this results in improved outcomes and is often the basis of the intervention itself. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of increasing the use of communication technologies between young people and healthcare professionals

Searching for Tissue-Specific Expression Pattern-Linked Nucleotides of UGT1A Isoforms

UDP-glucuronosyltransferases 1A isoforms belong to a superfamily of microsomal enzymes responsible for glucuronidation of numerous endogenous and exogenous compounds. The nine functional UGT1A isoforms are encoded by a single UGT1A gene locus with multiple first exons. The expression of the UGT1A transcripts was measured by quantitative RT-PCR in 23 normal human tissues. The tissue-specific expression patterns were observed in 13 tissues. To understand the regulation mechanism that is responsible for the tissue-specific expression patterns, we scanned the DNA sequence alignments of the putative promoter regions, exon 1 sequences and intron 1 sequences for those expression-pattern-linked nucleotides. Using one of the expression-pattern-linked nucleotides for livers as an example, we showed that a database comprised of these expression-pattern-linked nucleotides could be used to generate focused hypotheses on the problem of tissue-specific expression, which is critical for tissue-specific pharmacodynamics of anticancer drugs

UK adults' implicit and explicit attitudes towards obesity: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Anti-fat attitudes may lead to stigmatisation of and lowered self-esteem in obese people. Examining anti-fat attitudes is warranted given that there is an association with anti-fat behaviours. Previous studies, mainly outside the UK, have demonstrated that anti-fat attitudes are increasing over time. Methods: The study was cross-sectional with a sample of 2380 participants (74.2 % female; aged 18–65 years). In an online survey participants reported demographic characteristics and completed a range of implicit and explicit measures of obesity related attitudes. Results: Perceptions of obesity were more negative than reported in previously. Main effects indicated more negative perceptions in males, younger respondents and more frequent exercisers. Attitudes about obesity differed in relation to weight category, and in general were more positive in obese than non-obese respondents. Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate anti-fat attitudes across different sections of the UK population. As such, this study provides the first indication of the prevalence of anti-fat attitudes in UK adults. Interventions to modify these attitudes could target specific groups of individuals with more negative perceptions as identified here. Future work would be useful that increases understanding of both implicit and explicit attitudes towards obesity

Tipping the Balance: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Secreted Oxalic Acid Suppresses Host Defenses by Manipulating the Host Redox Environment

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a necrotrophic ascomycete fungus with an extremely broad host range. This pathogen produces the non-specific phytotoxin and key pathogenicity factor, oxalic acid (OA). Our recent work indicated that this fungus and more specifically OA, can induce apoptotic-like programmed cell death (PCD) in plant hosts, this induction of PCD and disease requires generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the host, a process triggered by fungal secreted OA. Conversely, during the initial stages of infection, OA also dampens the plant oxidative burst, an early host response generally associated with plant defense. This scenario presents a challenge regarding the mechanistic details of OA function; as OA both suppresses and induces host ROS during the compatible interaction. In the present study we generated transgenic plants expressing a redox-regulated GFP reporter. Results show that initially, Sclerotinia (via OA) generates a reducing environment in host cells that suppress host defense responses including the oxidative burst and callose deposition, akin to compatible biotrophic pathogens. Once infection is established however, this necrotroph induces the generation of plant ROS leading to PCD of host tissue, the result of which is of direct benefit to the pathogen. In contrast, a non-pathogenic OA-deficient mutant failed to alter host redox status. The mutant produced hypersensitive response-like features following host inoculation, including ROS induction, callose formation, restricted growth and cell death. These results indicate active recognition of the mutant and further point to suppression of defenses by the wild type necrotrophic fungus. Chemical reduction of host cells with dithiothreitol (DTT) or potassium oxalate (KOA) restored the ability of this mutant to cause disease. Thus, Sclerotinia uses a novel strategy involving regulation of host redox status to establish infection. These results address a long-standing issue involving the ability of OA to both inhibit and promote ROS to achieve pathogenic success

Evidence for biological roots in the transgenerational transmission of intimate partner violence

Intimate partner violence is a ubiquitous and devastating phenomenon for which effective interventions and a clear etiological understanding are still lacking. A major risk factor for violence perpetration is childhood exposure to violence, prompting the proposal that social learning is a major contributor to the transgenerational transmission of violence. Using an animal model devoid of human cultural factors, we showed that male rats became highly aggressive against their female partners as adults after exposure to non-social stressful experiences in their youth. Their offspring also showed increased aggression toward females in the absence of postnatal father–offspring interaction or any other exposure to violence. Both the females that cohabited with the stressed males and those that cohabited with their male offspring showed behavioral (including anxiety- and depression-like behaviors), physiological (decreased body weight and basal corticosterone levels) and neurobiological symptoms (increased activity in dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons in response to an unfamiliar male) resembling the alterations described in abused and depressed women. With the caution required when translating animal work to humans, our findings extend current psychosocial explanations of the transgenerational transmission of intimate partner violence by strongly suggesting an important role for biological factors