Maternal methadone use in pregnancy : factors associated with the development of neonatal abstinence syndrome and implications for healthcare resources

The objectives of this study were to investigate factors associated with the development of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and to assess the implications for healthcare resources of infants born to drug-misusing women. Design. Retrospective cohort study from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2006. Setting. Inner-city maternity hospital providing dedicated multidisciplinary care to drug-misusing women. Four hundred and fifty singleton pregnancies of drugmisusing women prescribed substitute methadone in pregnancy. Development of NAS and duration of infant hospital stay. 45.5% of infants developed NAS requiring pharmacological treatment. The odds ratio of the infant developing NAS was independently related to prescribed maternal methadone dose rather than associated polydrug misuse. Breastfeeding was associated with reduced odds of requiring treatment for NAS (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.34-0.88). Preterm birth did not influence the odds of the infant receiving treatment for NAS. 48.4% infants were admitted to the neonatal unit (NNU) 40% of these primarily for treatment of NAS. The median total hospital stay for all infants was 10 days (interquartile range 7-17 days). Infants born to methadone-prescribed drug-misusing mothers represented 2.9% of hospital births, but used 18.2% of NNU cot days. Higher maternal methadone dose is associated with a higher incidence of NAS. Pregnant drug-misusing women should be encouraged and supported to breastfeed. Their infants are extremely vulnerable and draw heavily on healthcare resources

Analysis of the subunit assembly of the type IC restriction-modification enzyme EcoR124I

Type I restriction-modification (R-M) enzymes are composed of three different subunits, of which HsdS determines DNA specificity, HsdM is responsible for DNA methylation and HsdR is required for restriction. The HsdM and HsdS subunits can also form an independent DNA methyltransferase with a subunit stoichiometry of M2S1. We found that the purified Eco R124I R-M enzyme was a mixture of two species as detected by the presence of two differently migrating specific DNA-protein complexes in a gel retardation assay. An analysis of protein subunits isolated from the complexes indicated that the larger species had a stoichiometry of R2M2S1and the smaller species had a stoichiometry of R1M2S1. In vitro analysis of subunit assembly revealed that while binding of the first HsdR subunit to the M2S1complex was very tight, the second HsdR subunit was bound weakly and it dissociated from the R1M2S1complex with an apparent K d of approximately 2.4 x 10(-7) M. Functional assays have shown that only the R2M2S1complex is capable of DNA cleavage, however, the R1M2S1complex retains ATPase activity. The relevance of this situation is discussed in terms of the regulation of restriction activity in vivo upon conjugative transfer of a plasmid-born R-M system into an unmodified host cell

A retrospective analysis of longitudinal changes in bone mineral content in cystic fibrosis

Background: We aimed to describe the longitudinal changes in bone mineral content and influencing factors, in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Methods: One hundred children (50 females) had dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) performed. Of these, 48 and 24 children had two to three scans, respectively over 10 years of follow-up. DXA data were expressed as lumbar spine bone mineral content standard deviation score (LSBMCSDS) adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity and bone area. Markers of disease, anthropometry and bone biochemistry were collected retrospectively. Results: Baseline LSBMCSDS was >0.5 SDS in 13% children, between −0.5; 0.5 SDS, in 50% and ≤−0.5 in the remainder. Seventy-eight percent of the children who had baseline LSBMCSDS >−0.5, and 35% of the children with poor baseline (LSBMCSDS<−0.5), showed decreasing values in subsequent assessments. However, mean LS BMC SDS did not show a significant decline in subsequent assessments (−0.51; −0.64; −0.56; p=0.178). Lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s percent (FEV1%) low body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI SDS) and vitamin D were associated with reduction in BMC. Conclusions: Bone mineral content as assessed by DXA is sub-optimal and decreases with time in most children with CF and this study has highlighted parameters that can be addressed to improve bone health

Alleviation of restriction by DNA condensation and non-specific DNA binding ligands

During conditions of cell stress, the type I restriction and modification enzymes of bacteria show reduced, but not zero, levels of restriction of unmethylated foreign DNA. In such conditions, chemically identical unmethylated recognition sequences also occur on the chromosome of the host but restriction alleviation prevents the enzymes from destroying the host DNA. How is this distinction between chemically identical DNA molecules achieved? For some, but not all, type I restriction enzymes, alleviation is partially due to proteolytic degradation of a subunit of the enzyme. We identify that the additional alleviation factor is attributable to the structural difference between foreign DNA entering the cell as a random coil and host DNA, which exists in a condensed nucleoid structure coated with many non-specific ligands. The type I restriction enzyme is able to destroy the ‘naked’ DNA using a complex reaction linked to DNA translocation, but this essential translocation process is inhibited by DNA condensation and the presence of non-specific ligands bound along the DNA

Cyclostationary Processes on Shape Spaces for Gait-Based Recognition

Abstract. We present a geometric and statistical approach to gaitbased human recognition. The novelty here is to consider observations of gait, considered as planar silhouettes, to be cyclostationary processes on a shape space of simple closed curves. Consequently, gait analysis reduces to quantifying differences between underlying stochastic processes using their observations. Individual shapes can be compared using geodesic lengths, but the comparison of gait cycles requires tools for extraction, interpolation, registration, and averaging of individual gait cycles before comparisons. The main steps in our approach are: (i) off-line extraction of human silhouettes from IR video data, (ii) use of piecewise-geodesic paths, connecting the observed shapes, to smoothly interpolate between them, (iii) computation of an average gait cycle within class (i.e. associated with a person) using Karcher means, (iv) registration of average cycles using linear and nonlinear time scaling, (iv) comparisons of average cycles using geodesic lengths between the corresponding shapes. We illustrate this approach on gait sequence obtained from infrared video clips. Experimental results are presented for a data set of 26 subjects.

The Effect of Storm Events on Diet of Adult Mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus)

More frequent storms due to climate change may impact estuarine species such as the mummichog (Fundulus hetereoclitus), an ecologically important salt marsh fish. This study investigated the effect of storm events and month on consumption of terrestrial insects by mummichogs in Hoffler Creek, Portsmouth, VA, as well as the effect of storms on consumption of major categories of benthic prey. Samples were taken monthly in the summers of 2017 and 2019. Additional paired samples were taken in June and July 2019, with the first collection during dry weather and the second during a subsequent storm. Month had a significant effect on the proportion of terrestrial insect prey in the diet in both years; consumption was highest in August, particularly in 2017 when the sample coincided with a storm event. However, storms increased consumption of terrestrial insects in only one of four paired dry weather-storm samples in 2019, indicating that temporal variation in insect abundance has a larger effect than increased availability that might occur when storms knock insects into the water. Storms had a significant effect on the proportion of different benthic prey in the diet in paired samples from 2019, but these effects were not consistent across months, sites, or in whether storms increased or decreased consumption. These patterns may be driven by mummichogs taking advantage of small-scale temporal or spatial variation in benthic prey. The ability to utilize locally abundant resources, including terrestrial insects, may help minimize the negative impacts of climate change on mummichogs

StpA protein from Escherichia coli condenses supercoiled DNA in preference to linear DNA and protects it from digestion by DNase I and EcoKI

The nucleoid-associated protein, StpA, of Escherichia coli binds non-specifically to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and apparently forms bridges between adjacent segments of the DNA. Such a coating of protein on the DNA would be expected to hinder the action of nucleases. We demonstrate that StpA binding hinders dsDNA cleavage by both the non-specific endonuclease, DNase I, and by the site-specific type I restriction endonuclease, EcoKI. It requires approximately one StpA molecule per 250–300 bp of supercoiled DNA and approximately one StpA molecule per 60–100 bp on linear DNA for strong inhibition of the nucleases. These results support the role of StpA as a nucleoid-structuring protein which binds DNA segments together. The inhibition of EcoKI, which cleaves DNA at a site remote from its initial target sequence after extensive DNA translocation driven by ATP hydrolysis, suggests that these enzymes would be unable to function on chromosomal DNA even during times of DNA damage when potentially lethal, unmodified target sites occur on the chromosome. This supports a role for nucleoid-associated proteins in restriction alleviation during times of cell stress

Crater lake cichlids individually specialize along the benthic-limnetic axis

A common pattern of adaptive diversification in freshwater fishes is the repeated evolution of elongated open water (limnetic) species and high-bodied shore (benthic) species from generalist ancestors. Studies on phenotype-diet correlations have suggested that population-wide individual specialization occurs at an early evolutionary and ecological stage of divergence and niche partitioning. This variable restricted niche use across individuals can provide the raw material for earliest stages of sympatric divergence. We investigated variation in morphology and diet as well as their correlations along the benthic-limnetic axis in an extremely young Midas cichlid species, Amphilophus tolteca, endemic to the Nicaraguan crater lake Asososca Managua. We found that A. tolteca varied continuously in ecologically relevant traits such as body shape and lower pharyngeal jaw morphology. The correlation of these phenotypes with niche suggested that individuals are specialized along the benthic-limnetic axis. No genetic differentiation within the crater lake was detected based on genotypes from 13 microsatellite loci. Overall, we found that individual specialization in this young crater lake species encompasses the limnetic- as well as the benthic macro-habitat. Yet there is no evidence for any diversification within the species, making this a candidate system for studying what might be the early stages preceding sympatric divergence

Proposing a rational resilience credo for use with athletes

© 2016 Association for Applied Sport Psychology. While the reported use of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is growing in sport, little is written about specific tools used by practitioners when applying REBT with athletes. The Athlete Rational Resilience Credo (ARRC) adapts Windy Dryden's (2007) original Rational Resilience Credo for application with athletes. The ARRC promotes rational beliefs in athletes, which are important for resilient responding to adverse events. The ARRC is presented in full, followed by some explanation as to its purposes, critical practitioner reflections, and guidance for its use in sport

Modelling Emerging Pollutants in Wastewater Treatment: A Case Study using the Pharmaceutical 17??ethinylestradiol

Mathematical modelling can play a key role in understanding as well as quantifying uncertainties surrounding the presence and fate of emerging pollutants in wastewater treatment processes (WWTPs). This paper presents for the first time a simplified emerging pollutant pathway in the WWTP that incorporates two potential pathways to sequestration. It develops de-terministic and stochastic ordinary differential equations to gain insight into the fate and behaviour of a case study pharmaceutical, with particular focus on sorption to the solid phase, as well as the nature of the experimentally measured solid parent compound. Statistical estimation and inferential procedures are developed and via a proof-of-concept examination, the study explores the transformation pathways of the bioactive chemicals (BACs) in the bioreactor, which is the heart of the WWTP. With a focus on the case study pharmaceutical 17??ethinlyestradiol (EE2), the simulation results show good agreement with the EE2 data. In addition, the results suggest that the experimentally measured solid EE2-parent concentration is very similar to the model-based sequestered EE2-parent concentration