Mechanisms of life-course socioeconomic inequalities in adult systemic inflammation: Findings from two cohort studies

Disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions in childhood heighten systemic inflammatory levels in adulthood; however, life-course mechanisms underlying this association are largely unknown. In the present observational study, we investigated the roles of adulthood socioeconomic and lifestyle factors in mediating this association. Participants were from two prospective Swiss population-based cohorts (N = 5,152, mean age 60 years). We estimated the total effect of paternal occupational position on adult heightened systemic inflammatory levels (C-reactive protein>3 mg/L), and the indirect effects via adulthood socioeconomic positions (SEPs: education and occupational position), financial hardship, and lifestyle factors (body mass index, smoking status, physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption). We estimated odds ratio (OR) and proportion mediated using counterfactual-based mediation models. Individuals whose father had a low occupational position had an OR of 1.51 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25, 1.84] for heightened inflammation compared to their more advantaged counterparts. This was jointly mediated (33 [95% CI: 14, 69]%) by adulthood SEPs, whereby the pathway through education followed by occupational position mediated 30 [95% CI: 11, 64]%, while the pathway via occupational position only mediated 3 [95% CI: 4, 13]%. Individuals with the lowest life-course SEPs had an OR of 2.27 [95% CI: 1.71, 2.98] for heightened inflammation compared to having the highest life-course SEPs. This was jointly mediated (63 [95% CI: 44, 97]%) by financial hardship and lifestyle factors. Our study supports a cumulative effect of life-course SEPs on adult heightened systemic inflammation along the pathway paternal occupational position -> education -> adult occupational position. Financial hardship and lifestyle factors in adulthood mediate half of that effect

Potassium limitation of forest productivity – Part 2: CASTANEA-MAESPA-K shows a reduction in photosynthesis rather than a stoichiometric limitation of tissue formation

Potassium (K) availability constrains forest productivity. Brazilian eucalypt plantations are a good example of the K limitation of wood production. Here, we built upon a previously described model (CASTANEA-MAESPA-K) and used it to understand whether the simulated decline in C source under K deficiency was sufficient to explain the K limitation of wood productivity in Brazilian eucalypt plantations. We developed allocation schemes for both C and K and included these in CASTANEA-MAESPA-K. Neither direct limitations of the C-sink activity nor direct modifications of the C allocation by K availability were included in the model. Simulation results show that the model was successful in replicating the observed patterns of wood productivity limitation by K deficiency. Simulations also show that the response of net primary productivity (NPP) is not linear with increasing K fertilisation. Simulated stem carbon use and water use efficiencies decreased with decreasing levels of K availability. Simulating a direct stoichiometric limitation of NPP or wood growth was not necessary to reproduce the observed decline of productivity under K limitation, suggesting that K stoichiometric plasticity could be different to that of N and P. Confirming previous results from the literature, the model simulated an intense recirculation of K in the trees, suggesting that retranslocation processes were essential for tree functioning. Optimal K fertilisation levels calculated by the model were similar to nutritional recommendations currently applied in Brazilian eucalypt plantations, paving the way for validation of the model at a larger scale and of this approach for developing decision-making tools to improve fertilisation practices.</p

XPAD: pixel detector for material sciences

Currently available 2D detectors do not make full use of the high flux and high brilliance of third generation synchrotron sources. The XPAD prototype, using active pixels, has been developed to fulfil the needs of materials science scattering experiments. At the time, its prototype is build of eight modules of eight chips. The threshold calibration of /spl ap/4 10/sup 4/ pixels is discussed. Applications to powder diffraction or SAXS experiments prove that it allows to record high quality data

Anisotropic expansion of hepatocyte lumina enforced by apical bulkheads

Lumen morphogenesis results from the interplay between molecular pathways and mechanical forces. In several organs, epithelial cells share their apical surfaces to form a tubular lumen. In the liver, however, hepatocytes share the apical surface only between adjacent cells and form narrow lumina that grow anisotropically, generating a 3D network of bile canaliculi (BC). Here, by studying lumenogenesis in differentiating mouse hepatoblasts in vitro, we discovered that adjacent hepatocytes assemble a pattern of specific extensions of the apical membrane traversing the lumen and ensuring its anisotropic expansion. These previously unrecognized structures form a pattern, reminiscent of the bulkheads of boats, also present in the developing and adult liver. Silencing of Rab35 resulted in loss of apical bulkheads and lumen anisotropy, leading to cyst formation. Strikingly, we could reengineer hepatocyte polarity in embryonic liver tissue, converting BC into epithelial tubes. Our results suggest that apical bulkheads are cell-intrinsic anisotropic mechanical elements that determine the elongation of BC during liver tissue morphogenesis

Potassium limitation of forest productivity – Part 1: A mechanistic model simulating the effects of potassium availability on canopy carbon and water fluxes in tropical eucalypt stands

The extent of the potassium (K) limitation of forest productivity is probably more widespread than previously thought, and K limitation could influence the response of forests to future global changes. To understand the effects of K limitation on forest primary production, we have developed the first ecophysiological model simulating the K cycle and its interactions with the carbon (C) and water cycles. We focused on the limitation of the gross primary productivity (GPP) by K availability in tropical eucalypt plantations in Brazil. We used results from stand-scale fertilisation experiments as well as C flux measurements in two tropical eucalypt plantations to parameterise the model. The model was parameterised for fertilised conditions and then used to test for the effects of contrasting additions of K fertiliser. Simulations showed that K deficiency limits GPP by more than 50 % during a 6-year rotation, a value in agreement with estimations in K-limited eucalypt stands. Simulations showed a decrease of modelled canopy transpiration of around 50 % and a decrease in modelled water-use efficiency WUEGPP of 10 %. Through a sensitivity analysis, we used the model to identify the most critical processes to consider when studying K limitation of GPP. The inputs of K to the stands, such as the atmospheric deposition and weathering fluxes, and the regulation of the cycle of K within the ecosystem were critical for the response of the system to K deficiency. Litter leaching processes were of lower importance, since residence time of K in litter was low. The new forest K-cycle model developed in the present study includes multiple K processes interacting with the carbon and water cycles, and strong feedbacks on GPP were outlined. This is a first step in identifying the source or sink limitation of forest growth by K.</p

SRH and HrQOL: does social position impact differently on their link with health status?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Self-rated Health (SRH) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are used to evaluate health disparities. Like all subjective measures of health, they are dependent on health expectations that are associated with socioeconomic characteristics. It is thus needed to analyse the influence played by socioeconomic position (SEP) on the relationship between these two indicators and health conditions if we aim to use them to study health disparities. Our objective is to assess the influence of SEP on the relationship between physical health status and subjective health status, measured by SRH and HRQoL using the SF-36 scale.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used data from the French National Health Survey. SEP was assessed by years of education and household annual income. Physical health status was measured by functional limitations and chronic low back pain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Regardless of their health status, people with lower SEP were more likely than their more socially advantaged counterparts to report poor SRH and poorer HRQoL, using any of the indicators of SEP. The negative impact of chronic low back pain on SRH was relatively greater in people with a high SEP than in those with a low SEP. In contrast, chronic low back pain and functional limitations had less impact on physical and mental component scores of quality of life for socially advantaged men and women.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Both SRH and HRQoL were lower among those reporting functional limitations or chronic low back pain. However, the change varied according SEP and the measure. In relative term, the negative impact of a given health condition seems to be greater on SRH and lower on HRQoL for people with higher SEP in comparison with people with low SEP. Using SRH could thus decrease socioeconomic differences. In contrast using HRQoL could increase these differences, suggesting being cautious when using these indicators for analyzing health disparities.</p

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson