A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Genus Fragaria (Strawberry) Using Intron-Containing Sequence from the ADH-1 Gene

The genus Fragaria encompasses species at ploidy levels ranging from diploid to decaploid. The cultivated strawberry, Fragaria×ananassa, and its two immediate progenitors, F. chiloensis and F. virginiana, are octoploids. To elucidate the ancestries of these octoploid species, we performed a phylogenetic analysis using intron-containing sequences of the nuclear ADH-1 gene from 39 germplasm accessions representing nineteen Fragaria species and one outgroup species, Dasiphora fruticosa. All trees from Maximum Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood analyses showed two major clades, Clade A and Clade B. Each of the sampled octoploids contributed alleles to both major clades. All octoploid-derived alleles in Clade A clustered with alleles of diploid F. vesca, with the exception of one octoploid allele that clustered with the alleles of diploid F. mandshurica. All octoploid-derived alleles in clade B clustered with the alleles of only one diploid species, F. iinumae. When gaps encoded as binary characters were included in the Maximum Parsimony analysis, tree resolution was improved with the addition of six nodes, and the bootstrap support was generally higher, rising above the 50% threshold for an additional nine branches. These results, coupled with the congruence of the sequence data and the coded gap data, validate and encourage the employment of sequence sets containing gaps for phylogenetic analysis. Our phylogenetic conclusions, based upon sequence data from the ADH-1 gene located on F. vesca linkage group II, complement and generally agree with those obtained from analyses of protein-encoding genes GBSSI-2 and DHAR located on F. vesca linkage groups V and VII, respectively, but differ from a previous study that utilized rDNA sequences and did not detect the ancestral role of F. iinumae

The influence of body mass index and age on C-peptide at the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in children who participated in the diabetes prevention trial-type 1

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The extent of influence of BMI and age on C-peptide at the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is unknown. We thus studied the impact of body mass index Z-scores (BMIZ) and age on C-peptide measures at and soon after the diagnosis of T1D. METHODS: Data from Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1 (DPT-1) participants <18.0 years at diagnosis was analyzed. Analyses examined associations of C-peptide measures with BMIZ and age in 2 cohorts: oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) at diagnosis (n = 99) and mixed meal tolerance tests (MMTTs) <6 months after diagnosis (n = 80). Multivariable linear regression was utilized. RESULTS: Fasting and area under the curve (AUC) C-peptide from OGTTs (n = 99) at diagnosis and MMTTs (n = 80) after diagnosis were positively associated with BMIZ and age (P < .001 for all). Associations persisted when BMIZ and age were included as independent variables in regression models (P < .001 for all). BMIZ and age explained 31%-47% of the variance of C-peptide measures. In an example, 2 individuals with identical AUC C-peptide values had an approximate 5-fold difference in values after adjustments for BMIZ and age. The association between fasting glucose and C-peptide decreased markedly when fasting C-peptide values were adjusted (r = 0.30, P < .01 to r = 0.07, n.s.). CONCLUSIONS: C-peptide measures are strongly and independently related to BMIZ and age at and soon after the diagnosis of T1D. Adjustments for BMIZ and age cause substantial changes in C-peptide values, and impact the association between glycemia and C-peptide. Such adjustments can improve assessments of β-cell impairment at diagnosis

Diabetes-related quality of life and the demands and burdens of diabetes care among emerging adults with type 1 diabetes in the year after high school graduation

The roles of glycemic control, diabetes management, diabetes care responsibility, living independently of parents, and time since high school graduation in predicting diabetes-related quality of life (DQOL) were examined in 184 emerging adults with type 1 diabetes. Data were collected at graduation and 1 year later. Analyses controlling for selected covariates were completed using generalized linear mixed models. Better diabetes management was associated with more positive responses on all four dimensions of DQOL. Impact and worry of DQOL were greater in the presence of depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction was lower. DQOL life satisfaction was lower in those living independently of parents. Young women reported poorer diabetes-related health status than did young men. Time since graduation was not linked to DQOL. Further research is needed on ways to improve DQOL in conjunction with diabetes management and on ways that families can support DQOL when youth live independently

Nitrate Radical Facilitates Indirect Benzyl Alcohol Oxidation on Bismuth(III) Vanadate Photoelectrodes

Bismuth(III) vanadate (BiVO4) films show activity for direct benzyl alcohol (PhCH2OH) oxidation to benzaldehyde (PhCHO) in acetonitrile solvent. Introducing tetrabutylammonium nitrate (Bu4NNO3) drastically reduces the overpotential required to generate the PhCHO product while maintaining a high faradaic efficiency (FE) >90 %. BiVO4 corrosion accompanies PhCH2OH oxidation. However, the presence of nitrate ions (NO3−) results in significantly less bismuth‐ and vanadium‐ion leaching (determined by ICP‐MS analysis), as well as reduced surface roughening (determined by SEM imaging). In this reaction, it is proposed that rate‐determining NO3− oxidation generates a highly reactive nitrate radical (NO3⋅) that reacts with PhCH2OH by hydrogen‐atom abstraction (HAT). NO3− is stoichiometrically consumed by the irreversible formation of electrochemically inert HNO3, characterized by an ECi mechanism, rather than a catalytic EC′ mechanism. In the presence of PhCH2OH, NO3− oxidation on BiVO4 becomes more facile; every order of magnitude increase in PhCH2OH concentration shifts the NO3−/ NO3⋅ equilibrium potential negatively by 200 mV. The shift results from the introduction of a consumption pathway for the nitrate radical intermediate via a coupled chemical step with benzyl alcohol. This report is the first example of photoelectrochemical NO3⋅ generation to initiate indirect PhCH2OH oxidation.Initiate to generate: Bismuth(III) vanadate (BiVO4) films show activity for direct benzyl alcohol (PhCH2OH) oxidation to benzaldehyde (PhCHO) in acetonitrile solvent. Introducing tetrabutylammonium nitrate (Bu4NNO3) drastically reduces the overpotential required to generate the PhCHO product while maintaining a high faradaic efficiency. BiVO4 corrosion accompanies PhCH2OH oxidation. Moreover, the presence of nitrate ions (NO3−) results in significantly less bismuth‐ and vanadium‐ion leaching as well as reduced surface roughening.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162788/3/celc202000911.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162788/2/celc202000911-sup-0001-misc_information.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162788/1/celc202000911_am.pd

Comprehensive User Engagement Sites (CUES) in Philadelphia: A Constructive Proposal

This paper is a study about Philadelphia’s comprehensive user engagement sites (CUESs) as the authors address and examine issues related to the upcoming implementation of a CUES while seeking solutions for its disputed questions and plans. Beginning with the federal drug schedules, the authors visit some of the medical and public health issues vis-à-vis safe injection facilities (SIFs). Insite, a successful Canadian SIF, has been thoroughly researched as it represents a paradigm for which a Philadelphia CUES can expand upon. Also, the existing criticisms against SIFs are revisited while critically unpackaged and responded to in favor of the establishment. In the main section, the authors propose the layout and services of the upcoming CUES, much of which would be in congruent to Vancouver’s Insite. On the other hand, the CUES would be distinct from Insite, as the authors emphasize, in that it will offer an information center run by individuals in recovery and place additional emphasis on early education for young healthcare professionals by providing them a platform to work at the site. The paper will also briefly investigate the implementation of a CUES site under an ethical scope of the Harm Reduction Theory. Lastly, the authors recommend some strategic plans that the Philadelphia City government may consider employing at this crucial stage

The Relationship of Worry About Hypoglycemia With Diabetes-specific and Typical Youth Behavior Among Emerging Adults With Type 1 Diabetes

PURPOSE: Little is known about the relationship of worry about hypoglycemia with diabetes-specific and typical youth behaviors among emerging adults with type 1 diabetes. This study's purpose was to examine the relationship among worry about hypoglycemia, diabetes management, and glycemic control within the context of alcohol use, hypoglycemia-related weight control behaviors, depressive symptoms, and impulse control among emerging adults with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The sample was 181 emerging adults with type 1 diabetes who were part of a larger study. Path analysis was used to test associations among worry about hypoglycemia, diabetes management, hypoglycemia-related weight control behaviors (WCB), alcohol use, impulse control, depressive symptoms, and glycemic control. RESULTS: Path model fit and modification indices suggested that a feedback loop between worry about hypoglycemia and diabetes management should be incorporated into the original model. Youth with fewer depressive symptoms reported fewer hypoglycemia-related WCB and less worry about hypoglycemia; those with higher impulse control had less alcohol use and better diabetes management; those with lower alcohol use had more worry about hypoglycemia; and better glycemic control was associated with better diabetes management. CONCLUSIONS: Health care professionals need to understand how multiple factors related to worry about hypoglycemia and diabetes management interact in emerging adults. In the context of depressive symptoms, impulse control, alcohol use, and hypoglycemia-related WCB, the path model results suggest several potential avenues for intervening to improve glycemic control in emerging adults

Perinatal factors associate with vertebral size and shape but not lumbar lordosis in 10-year-old children

Acknowledgements Ethical approval for this study was granted by the North of Scotland Research Ethics Committees (13/NS/0162). We would like to thank the authors and radiographers and participants involved in the original study from which MR images and data were used. We thank Dr Onyedikachi Eseonu for his contribution to data generation and marking up spinal images. AVP was supported by a PhD studentship kindly donated by Roemex Ltd. to the Aberdeen Centre of the Oliver Bird Rheumatism Programme at the Nuffield Foundation. The funders played no part in the design, execution or publication of this study and the authors have no interests to declarePeer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Sleep in children with type 1 diabetes and their parents in the T1D Exchange

Objectives Sleep has physiological and behavioral impacts on diabetes outcomes, yet little is known about the impact of sleep disturbances in children with type 1 diabetes. The current study sought to characterize sleep in children with type 1 diabetes and in their parents and to examine the associations between child sleep, glycemic control and adherence, parent sleep and well-being, parental fear of hypoglycemia, and nocturnal caregiving behavior. Methods Surveys were emailed to parents of 2- to 12-year-old participants in the Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Exchange clinic registry. Clinical data were obtained from the registry for the 515 respondents. Results In our sample, 67% of children met criteria for poor sleep quality. Child sleep quality was related to glycemic control (HbA1c of 7.9% [63 mmol/mol] in children with poor sleep quality vs 7.6% [60 mmol/mol] in children with non-poor sleep quality; P < 0.001) but not mean frequency of blood glucose monitoring (BGM) (7.6 times/day vs 7.4 in poor/non-poor quality; P = 0.56). Associations were similar for sleep duration. Children with poor sleep quality were more likely to experience severe hypoglycemia (4% in children with poor sleep quality vs 1% in children with non-poor sleep quality; P = 0.05) and more likely to experience DKA (7% vs 4%, respectively; P < 0.001). Poorer child sleep quality was associated with poorer parental sleep quality, parental well-being, and fear of hypoglycemia (P < 0.001 for all). Child sleep was not related to the use of diabetes-related technology (CGM, insulin pump). Conclusions Sleep may be a modifiable factor to improve glycemic control and reduce parental distress