Fruit and vegetable consumption and mental health across adolescence: evidence from a diverse urban British cohort study

Background Evidence on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption (FV) and mental health in adolescence is sparse and inconsistent. Social determinants of FV include ethnicity, family environments and economic disadvantage. We investigated the relationship between FV and mental health in the British multi-ethnic Determinants of Adolescents (now young Adult) Social well-being and Health (DASH) longitudinal study. Methods A longitudinal study of 4683 adolescents living in London at age 11–13 years and followed up at 14–16 years. FV was measured using validated questions on the number of portions consumed daily. Mental health was measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire as mean Total Difficulties Score (TDS) and by classification as a ‘probable clinical case’ (TDS > 17). Social measures included ethnicity, parenting and socioeconomic circumstances. Multilevel modelling was used to investigate the association between FV and mental health throughout adolescence. Results Low FV was common among adolescents, with approximately 60–70% of adolescents reporting  17 (Odds Ratio: 1.43, 1.11–1.85, P = 0.007). Gender- or ethnic-specific effects were not observed. Low parental care partly attenuated the association between FV and mental health. Conclusions Low FV is a longitudinal correlate of poor mental health across adolescence. A focus on FV in parenting interventions could yield interrelated benefits across developmental outcomes given its importance to both physical and socioemotional health

No evidence for association between polymorphisms in GRM3 and schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Three studies have previously reported data that were interpreted by the authors as supportive of association between schizophrenia and polymorphisms in the gene encoding the metabotropic glutamate receptor GRM3. METHODS: In a bid to examine this hypothesis, we examined seven SNPs spanning GRM3 in a UK case-control sample (schizophrenic cases n = 674, controls n = 716). These included all SNPs previously reported to be associated, alone or in haplotypes, with schizophrenia in European or European American samples. RESULTS: Our data showed no evidence for association with single markers, or 2, 3, 4 and 5 marker haplotypes, nor did any specific haplotypes show evidence for association according to previously observed patterns. CONCLUSION: Examination of our own data and those of other groups leads us to conclude that at present, GRM3 should not be viewed as a gene for which there is replicated evidence for association with schizophrenia

Patterns of polymorphism and linkage disequilibrium in cultivated barley

We carried out a genome-wide analysis of polymorphism (4,596 SNP loci across 190 elite cultivated accessions) chosen to represent the available genetic variation in current elite North West European and North American barley germplasm. Population sub-structure, patterns of diversity and linkage disequilibrium varied considerably across the seven barley chromosomes. Gene-rich and rarely recombining haplotype blocks that may represent up to 60% of the physical length of barley chromosomes extended across the ‘genetic centromeres’. By positioning 2,132 bi-parentally mapped SNP markers with minimum allele frequencies higher than 0.10 by association mapping, 87.3% were located to within 5 cM of their original genetic map position. We show that at this current marker density genetically diverse populations of relatively small size are sufficient to fine map simple traits, providing they are not strongly stratified within the sample, fall outside the genetic centromeres and population sub-structure is effectively controlled in the analysis. Our results have important implications for association mapping, positional cloning, physical mapping and practical plant breeding in barley and other major world cereals including wheat and rye that exhibit comparable genome and genetic features

Negative Correlation between Brain Glutathione Level and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: A 3T 1H-MRS Study

BACKGROUND: Glutathione (GSH), a major intracellular antioxidant, plays a role in NMDA receptor-mediated neurotransmission, which is involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether GSH levels are altered in the posterior medial frontal cortex of schizophrenic patients. Furthermore, we examined correlations between GSH levels and clinical variables in patients. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Twenty schizophrenia patients and 16 age- and gender-matched normal controls were enrolled to examine the levels of GSH in the posterior medial frontal cortex by using 3T SIGNA EXCITE (1)H-MRS with the spectral editing technique, MEGA-PRESS. Clinical variables of patients were assessed by the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Drug-Induced Extra-Pyramidal Symptoms Scale (DIEPSS), and five cognitive performance tests (Word Fluency Test, Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Digit Span Distractibility Test). Levels of GSH in the posterior medial frontal cortex of schizophrenic patients were not different from those of normal controls. However, we found a significant negative correlation between GSH levels and the severity of negative symptoms (SANS total score and negative symptom subscore on BPRS) in patients. There were no correlations between brain GSH levels and scores on any cognitive performance test except Trail Making Test part A. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that GSH levels in the posterior medial frontal cortex may be related to negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients. Therefore, agents that increase GSH levels in the brain could be potential therapeutic drugs for negative symptoms in schizophrenia

Endometrial stromal sarcoma: a population-based analysis

To determine independent prognostic factors for the survival of patients with endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS), data were abstracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of the National Cancer Institute from 1988 to 2003. Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were used for analyses. Of 831 women diagnosed with ESS, the median age was 52 years (range: 17–96 years). In total, 59.9% had stage I, 5.1% stage II, 14.9% stage III, and 20.1% had stage IV disease. Overall, 13.0, 36.1, and 34.7% presented with grades 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Patients with stage I–II vs III–IV disease had 5 years DSS of 89.3% vs 50.3% (P<0.001) and those with grades 1, 2, and 3 cancers had survivals of 91.4, 95.4, and 42.1% (P<0.001). In multivariate analysis, older patients, black race, advanced stage, higher grade, lack of primary surgery, and nodal metastasis were independent prognostic factors for poorer survival. In younger women (<50 years) with stage I–II disease, ovarian-sparing procedures did not adversely impact survival (91.9 vs 96.2%; P=0.1). Age, race, primary surgery, stage, and grade are important prognostic factors for ESS. Excellent survival in patients with grade 1 and 2 disease of all stages supports the concept that these tumors are significantly different from grade 3 tumors. Ovarian-sparing surgeries may be considered in younger patients with early-stage disease

Global genome expression analysis of rice in response to drought and high-salinity stresses in shoot, flag leaf, and panicle

To elucidate genome-level responses to drought and high-salinity stress in rice, a 70mer oligomer microarray covering 36,926 unique genes or gene models was used to profile genome expression changes in rice shoot, flag leaf and panicle under drought or high-salinity conditions. While patterns of gene expression in response to drought or high-salinity stress within a particular organ type showed significant overlap, comparison of expression profiles among different organs showed largely organ-specific patterns of regulation. Moreover, both stresses appear to alter the expression patterns of a significant number of genes involved in transcription and cell signaling in a largely organ-specific manner. The promoter regions of genes induced by both stresses or induced by one stress in more than one organ types possess relative enrichment of two cis-elements (ABRE core and DRE core) known to be associated with water stress. An initial computational analysis indicated that novel promoter motifs are present in the promoters of genes involved in rehydration after drought. This analysis suggested that rice might possess a mechanism that actively detects rehydration and facilitates rapid recovery. Overall, our data supports a notion that organ-specific gene regulation in response to the two abiotic stresses may primarily be mediated by organ-specific transcription responses. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11103-006-9111-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Remote monitoring and follow-up of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices in the Netherlands: An expert consensus report of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology

Remote monitoring of cardiac implanted electronic devices (CIED: pacemaker, cardiac resynchronisation therapy device and implantable cardioverter defibrillator) has been developed for technical control and follow-up using transtelephonic data transmission. In addition, automatic or patient-triggered alerts are sent to the cardiologist or allied professional who can respond if necessary with various interventions. The advantage of remote monitoring appears obvious in impending CIED failures and suspected symptoms but is less likely in routine follow-up of CIED. For this follow-up the indications, quality of care, cost-effectiveneness and patient satisfaction have to be determined before remote CIED monitoring can be applied in daily practice. Nevertheless remote CIED monitoring is expanding rapidly in the Netherlands without professional agreements about methodology, responsibilities of all the parties involved and that of the device patient, and reimbursement. The purpose of this consensus document on remote CIED monitoring and follow-up is to lay the base for a nationwide, uniform implementation in the Netherlands. This report describes the technical communication, current indications, benefits and limitations of remote CIED monitoring and follow-up, the role of the patient and device manufacturer, and costs and reimbursement. The view of cardiology experts and of other disciplines in conjunction with literature was incorporated in a preliminary series of recommendations. In addition, an overview of the questions related to remote CIED monitoring that need to be answered is given. This consensus document can be used for future guidelines for the Dutch profession

Search for Charged Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons is performed with the L3 detector at LEP using data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 188.6 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 176.4 pb^-1. Higgs decays into a charm and a strange quark or into a tau lepton and its associated neutrino are considered. The observed events are consistent with the expectations from Standard Model background processes. A lower limit of 65.5 GeV on the charged Higgs mass is derived at 95 % confidence level, independent of the decay branching ratio Br(H^{+/-} -> tau nu)

Immunoelectron Microscopic Evidence for Tetherin/BST2 as the Physical Bridge between HIV-1 Virions and the Plasma Membrane

Tetherin/BST2 was identified in 2008 as the cellular factor responsible for restricting HIV-1 replication at a very late stage in the lifecycle. Tetherin acts to retain virion particles on the plasma membrane after budding has been completed. Infected cells that express large amounts of tetherin display large strings of HIV virions that remain attached to the plasma membrane. Vpu is an HIV-1 accessory protein that specifically counteracts the restriction to virus release contributed by tetherin. Tetherin is an unusual Type II transmembrane protein that contains a GPI anchor at its C-terminus and is found in lipid rafts. The leading model for the mechanism of action of tetherin is that it functions as a direct physical tether bridging virions and the plasma membrane. However, evidence that tetherin functions as a physical tether has thus far been indirect. Here we demonstrate by biochemical and immunoelectron microscopic methods that endogenous tetherin is present on the viral particle and forms a bridge between virion particles and the plasma membrane. Endogenous tetherin was found on HIV particles that were released by partial proteolytic digestion. Immunoelectron microscopy performed on HIV-infected T cells demonstrated that tetherin forms an apparent physical link between virions and connects patches of virions to the plasma membrane. Linear filamentous strands that were highly enriched in tetherin bridged the space between some virions. We conclude that tetherin is the physical tether linking HIV-1 virions and the plasma membrane. The presence of filaments with which multiple molecules of tetherin interact in connecting virion particles is strongly suggested by the morphologic evidence