Insulin trafficking in a glucose responsive engineered human liver cell line is regulated by the interaction of ATP-sensitive potassium channels and voltage- gated calcium channels

Type I diabetes is caused by the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta (â) cells [1]. Current treatment requires multiple daily injections of insulin to control blood glucose levels. Tight glucose control lowers, but does not eliminate, the onset of diabetic complications, which greatly reduce the quality and longevity of life for patients. Transplantation of pancreatic tissue as a treatment is restricted by the scarcity of donors and the requirement for lifelong immunosuppression to preserve the graft, which carries adverse side-effects. This is of particular concern as Type 1 diabetes predominantly affects children. Lack of glucose control could be overcome by genetically engineering "an artificial â-cell" that is capable of synthesising, storing and secreting insulin in response to metabolic signals. The donor cell type must be readily accessible and capable of being engineered to synthesise, process, store and secrete insulin under physiological conditions

On preventive blood pressure self-monitoring at home

Self-monitoring activities are increasingly becoming part of people’s everyday lives. Some of these measurements are taken voluntarily rather than being referred by a physician and conducted because of either a preventive health interest or to better understand the body and its functions (the so-called Quantified Self). In this article, we explore socio-technical complexities that may occur when introducing preventive health-measurement technologies into older adults’ daily routines and everyday lives. In particular, the original study investigated blood pressure (BP) measurement in non-clinical settings, to understand existing challenges, and uncover opportunities for self-monitoring technologies to support preventive healthcare activities among older adults. From our study, several important aspects emerged to consider when designing preventive self-monitoring technology, such as the complexity of guidelines for self-measuring, the importance of interpretation, understanding and health awareness, sharing self-monitoring information for prevention, various motivational factors, the role of the doctor in prevention, and the home as a distributed information space. An awareness of these aspects can help designers to develop better tools to support people’s preventive self-monitoring needs, compared to existing solutions. Supporting the active and informed individual can help improve people’s self-care, awareness, and implementation of preventive care. Based on our study, we also reflect on the findings to illustrate how these aspects can both inform people engaged in Quantified Self activities and designers alike, and the tools and approaches that have sprung from the so-called Quantified Self movement

Distribution, Population Biology, and Trophic Ecology of the Deepwater Demersal Fish Halosauropsis macrochir (Pisces: Halosauridae) on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Halosauropsis macrochir ranked amongst the most abundant and widespread demersal fishes on the mid-Atlantic Ridge of the North Atlantic (Iceland-Azores) with greatest abundance at 1700–3500 m. All sizes, ranging from 10–76 cm total length, occurred in the area without any apparent spatial pattern or depth trend. Using otolith sections displaying growth increments assumed to represent annuli, the age range recorded was 2–36 years, but most individuals were <20 years. Length and weight at age data were used to fit growth models. No differences between sexes in length and weight at age were observed. The majority of samples had a surplus of males. Diet analysis showed that H. macrochir feeds on Crustacea, Teleostei, Polychaeta, and Cephalopoda, but few prey could be identified to lower taxonomical levels. The mid-Atlantic Ridge constitutes a major portion of the North Atlantic living space of the abyssal halosaur where it completes its full life cycle, primarily as an actively foraging euryophagous micronekton/epibenthos and infauna feeder, becoming a partial piscivore with increasing size

Evaluation of a student-run smoking cessation clinic for a medically underserved population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Smoking is common among medically underserved populations. Accessible resources to encourage and support smoking cessation among these patients are limited. Volunteer medical student-run free smoking cessation clinics may provide an effective option to help these individuals achieve smoking abstinence. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of a student-run clinic, we analyzed a case series of patients receiving care in a medical student-run Smoking Cessation Clinic (SCC) at the Rochester, Minnesota Salvation Army Good Samaritan Health Clinic (GSHC).</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Between January 2005 and March 2009, 282 cigarette smokers seeking care at the SCC were analyzed. Student providers at the SCC conducted 1652 weekly individual counseling sessions averaging 18 minutes per encounter. Patients were offered a choice of pharmacotherapies including nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), bupropion, and varenicline for up to 12 weeks. Smoking abstinence was confirmed with exhaled carbon monoxide (CO). Thirty-two patients completed the entire 12-week program (11.3%). At last contact, 94 patients (33.3%) abstained from smoking for ≥ 7 days and 39 patients (13.8%) were continuously abstinent for ≥ 4 weeks. The 7-day point prevalence abstinence rates at last contact were 58.6% for varenicline, 41.2% for bupropion, 33.9% for NRT, and 23.5% for bupropion and NRT. Analyzing missing patients as smoking, the 7-day point prevalence abstinence rates were 7.1%, 8.9%, and 8.2%, at 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months after program enrollment, respectively. No serious adverse drug reactions were recorded.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our medical student-run smoking cessation clinic provided an effective and safe experience for medically underserved patients who might not otherwise have access to conventional smoking cessation programs because of high cost, lack of insurance, or other disparities. Similar medical student initiatives focusing on healthy lifestyles may be feasible and beneficial for individuals with limited access to healthcare resources.</p

Electroosmotically generated disinfectant from urine as a by-product of electricity in microbial fuel cell for the inactivation of pathogenic species

This work presents a small scale and low cost ceramic based microbial fuel cell, utilising human urine into electricity, while producing clean catholyte into an initially empty cathode chamber through the process of electro-osmostic drag. It is the first time that the catholyte obtained as a by-product of electricity generation from urine was transparent in colour and reached pH>13 with high ionic conductivity values. The catholyte was collected and used ex situ as a killing agent for the inactivation of a pathogenic species such as Salmonella typhimurium, using a luminometer assay. Results showed that the catholyte solutions were efficacious in the inactivation of the pathogen organism even when diluted up to 1:10, resulting in more than 5 log-fold reduction in 4 min. Long-term impact of the catholyte on the pathogen killing was evaluated by plating Salmonella typhimurium on agar plates and showed that the catholyte possesses a long-term killing efficacy and continued to inhibit pathogen growth for 10 days

First observations of separated atmospheric nu_mu and bar{nu-mu} events in the MINOS detector

The complete 5.4 kton MINOS far detector has been taking data since the beginning of August 2003 at a depth of 2070 meters water-equivalent in the Soudan mine, Minnesota. This paper presents the first MINOS observations of nuµ and [overline nu ]µ charged-current atmospheric neutrino interactions based on an exposure of 418 days. The ratio of upward- to downward-going events in the data is compared to the Monte Carlo expectation in the absence of neutrino oscillations, giving Rup/downdata/Rup/downMC=0.62-0.14+0.19(stat.)±0.02(sys.). An extended maximum likelihood analysis of the observed L/E distributions excludes the null hypothesis of no neutrino oscillations at the 98% confidence level. Using the curvature of the observed muons in the 1.3 T MINOS magnetic field nuµ and [overline nu ]µ interactions are separated. The ratio of [overline nu ]µ to nuµ events in the data is compared to the Monte Carlo expectation assuming neutrinos and antineutrinos oscillate in the same manner, giving R[overline nu ][sub mu]/nu[sub mu]data/R[overline nu ][sub mu]/nu[sub mu]MC=0.96-0.27+0.38(stat.)±0.15(sys.), where the errors are the statistical and systematic uncertainties. Although the statistics are limited, this is the first direct observation of atmospheric neutrino interactions separately for nuµ and [overline nu ]µ

The impacts of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and E-commerce on bilateral trade flows

This study examines the impact of Internet and e-commerce adoption on bilateral trade flows using a panel of 21 developing- and least-developed countries and 30 OECD countries. Given the commitment of East African Community (EAC) to become the frontrunner in export-led economy across the African continent, special attention is dedicated to analyse the role of ICT and e-commerce on EAC’s export performance. The empirical results indicate that better access to the modern ICT and adoption of e-commerce applications stimulate bilateral trade flows at various levels. The study notes that the efficient use of ICT equipped with high speed internet and secured servers is a crucial milestone for unlocking the e-trade potentials for developing- and least-developed counties

Age and sex influence marmot antipredator behavior during periods of heightened risk

Animals adjust their antipredator behavior according to environmental variation in risk, and to account for their ability to respond to threats. Intrinsic factors that influence an animal’s ability to respond to predators (e.g., age, body condition) should explain variation in antipredator behavior. For example, a juvenile might allocate more time to vigilance than an adult because mortality as a result of predation is often high for this age class; however, the relationship between age/vulnerability and antipredator behavior is not always clear or as predicted. We explored the influence of intrinsic factors on yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) antipredator behavior using data pooled from 4 years of experiments. We hypothesized that inherently vulnerable animals (e.g., young, males, and individuals in poor condition) would exhibit more antipredator behavior prior to and immediately following conspecific alarm calls. As expected, males and yearlings suppressed foraging more than females and adults following alarm call playbacks. In contrast to predictions, animals in better condition respond more than animals in below average condition. Interestingly, these intrinsic properties did not influence baseline time budgets; animals of all ages, sexes, and condition levels devoted comparable amounts of time to foraging prior to alarm calls. Our results support the hypothesis that inherent differences in vulnerability influence antipredator behavior; furthermore, it appears that a crucial, but poorly acknowledged, interaction exists between risk and state-dependence. Elevated risk may be required to reveal the workings of state-dependent behavior, and studies of antipredator behavior in a single context may draw incomplete conclusions about age- or sex-specific strategies

Early Initiation of Colorectal Cancer Screening in Individuals with Affected First-degree Relatives

BACKGROUND: Several guidelines recommend initiating colorectal cancer screening at age 40 for individuals with affected first-degree relatives, yet little evidence exists describing how often these individuals receive screening procedures. OBJECTIVES: To determine the proportion of individuals in whom early initiation of colorectal cancer screening might be indicated and whether screening disparities exist. DESIGN: Population-based Supplemental Cancer Control Module to the 2000 National Health Interview Survey. PARTICIPANTS: Respondents, 5,564, aged 40 to 49 years were included within the analysis. MEASUREMENTS: Patient self-report of sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or fecal occult blood test. RESULTS: Overall, 279 respondents (5.4%: 95% C.I., 4.7, 6.2) reported having a first-degree relative affected with colorectal cancer. For individuals with a positive family history, 67 whites (27.9%: 95% C.I., 21.1, 34.5) and 3 African American (9.3%: 95% C.I., 1.7, 37.9) had undergone an endoscopic procedure within the previous 10 years (P-value = .03). After adjusting for age, family history, gender, educational level, insurance status, and usual source of care, whites were more likely to be current with early initiation endoscopic screening recommendations than African Americans (OR = 1.38: 95% C.I., 1.01, 1.87). Having an affected first-degree relative with colorectal cancer appeared to have a stronger impact on endoscopic screening for whites (OR = 3.21: 95% C.I., 2.31, 4.46) than for African Americans (OR = 1.05: 95% C.I., 0.15, 7.21). CONCLUSIONS: White participants with a family history are more likely to have endoscopic procedures beginning before age 50 than African Americans