Modulation of individual components of gastric motor response to duodenal glucose

AIM: To evaluate individual components of the antro-pyloro-duodenal (APD) motor response to graded small intestinal glucose infusions in healthy humans. METHODS: APD manometry was performed in 15 healthy subjects (12 male; 40 ± 5 years, body mass index 26.5 ± 1.6 kg/m2) during four 20-min intraduodenal infusions of glucose at 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 kcal/min, in a randomised double-blinded fashion. Glucose solutions were infused at a rate of 1 mL/min and separated by 40-min “wash-out” period. Data are mean ± SE. Inferential analyses are repeated measure analysis of variance with Bonferroni post-hoc testing. RESULTS: At 0 kcal/min frequency of pressure waves were: antrum (7.5 ± 1.8 waves/20 min) and isolated pyloric pressure waves (IPPWs) (8.0 ± 2.3 waves/20 min) with pyloric tone (0.0 ± 0.9 mmHg). Intraduodenal glucose infusion acutely increased IPPW frequency (P < 0.001) and pyloric tone (P = 0.015), and decreased antral wave frequency (P = 0.007) in a dose-dependent fashion. A threshold for stimulation was observed at 1.0 kcal/min for pyloric phasic pressure waves (P = 0.002) and 1.5 kcal/min for pyloric tone and antral contractility. CONCLUSION: There is hierarchy for the activation of gastrointestinal motor responses to duodenal glucose infusion. An increase in IPPWs is the first response observed.Adam M Deane, Laura K Besanko, Carly M Burgstad, Marianne J Chapman, Michael Horowitz, Robert JL Frase

Methods for Screening for Genes and Small Molecules that Activate Mammalian Receptor Proteins

Methods for screening mutations that affect the synthesis of plant small molecules or compounds capable of activating a mammalian nuclear receptor protein and systems for rapidly assigning functionality to genes that regulate plant secondary metabolism are provided

Methods to Identify Plant Metabolites

This invention provides materials and methods to manipulate the plant genome at the level of single plant cells in culture resulting in the ability to assign metabolic functionality to plant genes involved in the production of biologically active molecules and to create a means of product discovery based on the biosynthetic capacity of plants. The materials to create an activation mutagenesis include incorporation of enhancer sequences from a plant viral promoter at random places in the plant genome via Agrobacterium mediated DNA transfer (T-DNA). The usefulness is that genes in the immediate vicinity of the incorporation were activated which allows for immediate screening of the mutagenized plant cells. Additionally, the usefulness includes relevant areas of the genome were flanked by the inserted T-DNA which allows recovery of this area by standard molecular biology techniques. The method includes a procedure for screening large numbers of mutagenized plant cell cultures for activation of a relevant gene on the basis of the desired protein product on the basis of radioligand binding displacement assay

Methods to Identify Plant Metabolites

This invention provides materials and methods to manipulate the plant genome at the level of single plant cells in culture resulting in the ability to assign metabolic functionality to plant genes involved in the production of biologically active molecules and to create a means of product discovery based on the biosynthetic capacity of plants. The materials to create an activation mutagenesis include incorporation of enhancer sequences from a plant viral promoter at random places in the plant genome via Agrobacterium mediated DNA transfer (T-DNA). The usefulness is that genes in the immediate vicinity of the incorporation were activated which allows for immediate screening of the mutagenized plant cells. Additionally, the usefulness includes relevant areas of the genome were flanked by the inserted T-DNA which allows recovery of this area by standard molecular biology techniques. The method includes a procedure for screening large numbers of mutagenized plant cell cultures for activation of a relevant gene on the basis of the desired protein product on the basis of radioligand binding displacement assay

Speech and language therapy versus placebo or no intervention for speech problems in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease patients commonly suffer from speech and vocal problems including dysarthric speech, reduced loudness and loss of articulation. These symptoms increase in frequency and intensity with progression of the disease). Speech and language therapy (SLT) aims to improve the intelligibility of speech with behavioural treatment techniques or instrumental aids

Nutrition support practices in critically ill head-injured patients: a global perspective

Background: Critical illness following head injury is associated with a hypermetabolic state but there are insufficient epidemiological data describing acute nutrition delivery to this group of patients. Furthermore, there is little information describing relationships between nutrition and clinical outcomes in this population. Methods: We undertook an analysis of observational data, collected prospectively as part of International Nutrition Surveys 2007-2013, and extracted data obtained from critically ill patients with head trauma. Our objective was to describe global nutrition support practices in the first 12 days of hospital admission after head trauma, and to explore relationships between energy and protein intake and clinical outcomes. Data are presented as mean (SD), median (IQR), or percentages. Results: Data for 1045 patients from 341 ICUs were analyzed. The age of patients was 44.5 (19.7) years, 78 % were male, and median ICU length of stay was 13.1 (IQR 7.9-21.6) days. Most patients (94 %) were enterally fed but received only 58 % of estimated energy and 53 % of estimated protein requirements. Patients from an ICU with a feeding protocol had greater energy and protein intakes (p <0.001, 0.002 respectively) and were more likely to survive (OR 0.65; 95 % CI 0.42-0.99; p = 0.043) than those without. Energy or protein intakes were not associated with mortality. However, a greater energy and protein deficit was associated with longer times until discharge alive from both ICU and hospital (all p <0.001). Conclusion: Nutritional deficits are commonplace in critically ill head-injured patients and these deficits are associated with a delay to discharge alive.Lee-anne S. Chapple, Marianne J. Chapman, Kylie Lange, Adam M. Deane and Daren K. Heylan

Carer burden and stigma in schizophrenia and affective disorders: experiences from Sri Lanka

Objectives: Stigma compounds the burden experienced by family members of those with a mental illness. This study aimed to examine burden experienced by carers of people with schizophrenia or affective disorders and to explore the relationship between carer burden and stigma. Method: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted with patient-carer dyads involving 67 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 51 diagnosed with affective disorder. Carers completed the Zarit Burden Interview (short version) and stigma was measured using the Stigma Scale and the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness Scale. Results: Carer burden was significantly higher for schizophrenia than affective disorders. Female carers experienced significantly higher burden than male carers. Diagnosis, gender of carer and stigma predicted 22% of the variance in carer burden, with gender identified as a significant predictor. Conclusions: Reducing stigma related to disclosure of mental illness in carers has the potential to reduce carer burden

Stress hyperglycaemia in critically ill patients and the subsequent risk of diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Hyperglycaemia occurs frequently in critically ill patients without diabetes. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate whether this 'stress hyperglycaemia' identifies survivors of critical illness at increased risk of subsequently developing diabetes.We searched the MEDLINE and Embase databases from their inception to February 2016. We included observational studies evaluating adults admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) who developed stress hyperglycaemia if the researchers reported incident diabetes or prediabetes diagnosed ≥3 months after hospital discharge. Two reviewers independently screened the titles and abstracts of identified studies and evaluated the full text of relevant studies. Data were extracted using pre-defined data fields, and risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Pooled ORs with 95 % CIs for the occurrence of diabetes were calculated using a random-effects model.Four cohort studies provided 2923 participants, including 698 with stress hyperglycaemia and 131 cases of newly diagnosed diabetes. Stress hyperglycaemia was associated with increased risk of incident diabetes (OR 3.48; 95 % CI 2.02-5.98; I (2)  = 36.5 %). Studies differed with regard to definitions of stress hyperglycaemia, follow-up and cohorts studied.Stress hyperglycaemia during ICU admission is associated with increased risk of incident diabetes. The strength of this association remains uncertain because of statistical and clinical heterogeneity among the included studies.Yasmine Ali Abdelhamid, Palash Kar, Mark E. Finnis, Liza K. Phillips, Mark P. Plummer, Jonathan E. Shaw, Michael Horowitz and Adam M. Dean

Growth and Empowerment for Indigenous Australians in Substance Abuse Treatment

This paper describes psychosocial outcomes of an Indigenous residential substance abuse rehabilitation centre in Australia, examines the sensitivity to change of the new Growth and Empowerment Measure (GEM), and explores the degree to which service users value cultural components of the treatment program. Participants were 57 Indigenous and 46 non-Indigenous male clients from Oolong House. Intake, 8-weeks, and 16-weeks (program completion) measures of Kessler 10 Psychological Distress Scale (K10), Drug Taking Confidence Questionnaire (DTCQ-8), and GEM were completed. The Treatment Component Evaluation (TCE) was completed at 16-weeks. There were significant improvements for participants, with a decrease in psychological distress and increases in refusal self-efficacy and empowerment. Effect sizes for GEM were medium to large across the time-points (r00.61 to 0.70 for all four subscales from baseline to 8-weeks; r00.44 to 0.70 for three subscales from 8-weeks to 16-weeks), indicating sensitivity to change. Indigenous participants rated cultural components of treatment significantly more helpful than did non-Indigenous participants. Implications for future research and substance abuse interventions for Indigenous Australians are discussed