Reducing the health risks of severe winter weather among older people in the United Kingdom: an evidence-based intervention

Excess winter morbidity and mortality among older people remain significant public health issues in those European countries which experience relatively mild winter temperatures, particularly the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Portugal and Spain. In the UK, episodes of severe winter weather, when ambient temperatures fall below 5x C, are associated with peaks in general practitioner consultations,hospital admissions, and cardiovascular deaths among those aged over 65. While research indicates that such health risks could be substantially reduced by the adoption of appropriate behavioural strategies, accessible and credible advice on how older people can reduce risk during ‘cold snaps’ is lacking. This paper describes a programme of research that aimed: (a) to translate the relevant scientific literature into practical advice for older people in order to reduce health risk during episodes of severe winter weather ; and (b) to integrate this advice with a severe winter weather ‘Early Warning System’ developed by the UK Met Office. An advice booklet was generated through a sequential process of systematic review, consensus development, and focus group discussions with older people. In a subsequent field trial, a combination of the Met Office ‘Early Warning System’ and the advice booklet produced behavioural change among older people consistent with risk reduction. The results also show that long-held convictions about ‘healthy environments ’ and anxieties about fuel costs are barriers to risk reduction

Obesity, diabetes and zinc: A workshop promoting knowledge and collaboration between the UK and Israel, November 28–30, 2016 – Israel

Sponsored by the Friends of Israel Educational Foundation (FIEF) and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and supported by the EU COST action Zinc-Net (COST TD1304), a three-day collaborative UK-Israel workshop was organized by Drs Assaf Rudich, Imre Lengyel and Arie Moran. Participants from the UK and Israel met at the Desert Iris Hotel, Yeruham, Israel between the 28-30th of November 2016 for in-depth discussions, rather than a lecture series, to set the stage for future collaborative grants and projects on diabetes and zinc. Two days of formal scientific sessions with dynamic and wide-ranging discussions was followed by a day of touring and informal networking in the Negev area. This format was previously recognized by our sponsors as both effective and enjoyable and all participants agreed at the end of the meeting that the 3-days provided an excellent basis for future scientific collaboration. The discussions were centered on diabetes and obesity, already at pandemic levels, and zinc homeostasis which is related to the clinical issues and themes of the meeting. The free-flowing discussions were based on short presentations setting the scene for the six main topics: ‘Diabetes and zinc transporters’, ‘Nutrition related factors’, ‘Biomarkers’, ‘Clinical epidemiology’, ‘the Microbiome and diabetes’, and ‘Related diseases’. The abstract style summary of the sessions is followed by the major discussion points raised by the Authors and other participants (UK: Patrik Rorsman, Oxford University; Alan Stewart, University of St Andrews and Israel: Assaf Rudich, Idit Liberty, Rahel Gol, Guy Las and Amos Katz, Ben-Gurion University; Sarah Zangen, Haddassa University). We hope that readers will find this discourse stimulating and some of the ideas might make their way into their research efforts

Possible Origin of Fermion Chirality and Gut Structure From Extra Dimensions

The fundamental chiral nature of the observed quarks and leptons and the emergence of the gauge group itself are most puzzling aspects of the standard model. Starting from general considerations of topological properties of gauge field configurations in higher space-time dimensions, it is shown that the existence of non-trivial structures in ten dimensions would determine a class of models corresponding to a grand unified GUT structure with complex fermion representations with respect to $SU(3)_C \otimes SU(2)_L \otimes U(1)_Y$. The discussion is carried out within the framework of string theories with characteristic energy scales below the Planck mass. Avoidance of topological obstructions upon continuous deformation of field configurations leads to global chiral symmetry breaking of the underlying fundamental theory, imposes rigorous restrictions on the structure of the vacuum and space-time itself and determines uniquely the gauge structure and matter content.Comment: final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Clinical disorders affecting mesopic vision

Vision in the mesopic range is affected by a number of inherited and acquired clinical disorders. We review these conditions and summarize the historical background, describing the clinical characteristics alongside the genetic basis and molecular biological mechanisms giving rise to rod and cone dysfunction relevant to twilight vision. The current diagnostic gold standards for each disease are discussed and curative and symptomatic treatment strategies are summarized

A Systematic Literature Review of Emotion Regulation Measurement in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

DOI: 10.1002/aur.1426Emotion regulation (ER) difficulties are a potential common factor underlying the presentation of multiple emotional and behavioral problems in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). To provide an overview of how ER has been studied in individuals with ASD, we conducted a systematic review of the past 20 years of ER research in the ASD population, using established keywords from the most comprehensive ER literature review of the typically developing population to date. Out of an initial sampling of 305 studies, 32 were eligible for review. We examined the types of methods (self-report, informant report, naturalistic observation/ behavior coding, physiological, and open-ended) and the ER constructs based on Gross and Thompson’s modal model (situation selection, situation modification, attention deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation). Studies most often assessed ER using one type of method and from a unidimensional perspective. Across the 32 studies, we documented the types of measures used and found that 38% of studies used self-report, 44% included an informant report measure, 31% included at least one naturalistic observation/behavior coding measure, 13% included at least one physiological measure, and 13% included at least one open-ended measure. Only 25% of studies used more than one method of measurement. The findings of the current review provide the field with an in-depth analysis of various ER measures and how each measure taps into an ER framework. Future research can use this model to examine ER in a multicomponent way and through multiple methods.Spectrum of Hope Autism Foundation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, NeuroDevNet, Sinneave Family Foundation, CASDA, Autism Speaks Canada, Health Canad

Nuclear Shadowing in Electro-Weak Interactions

Shadowing is a quantum phenomenon leading to a non-additivity of electroweak cross sections on nucleons bound in a nucleus. It occurs due to destructive interference of amplitudes on different nucleons. Although the current experimental evidence for shadowing is dominated by charged-lepton nucleus scattering, studies of neutrino nucleus scattering have recently begun and revealed unexpected results.Comment: 77 pages, 57 figures. To be published in "Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics" 201

Effects of FVB/NJ and C57Bl/6J strain backgrounds on mammary tumor phenotype in inducible nitric oxide synthase deficient mice

The ability to genetically manipulate mice has led to rapid progress in our understanding of the roles of different gene products in human disease. Transgenic mice have often been created in the FVB/NJ (FVB) strain due to its high fecundity, while gene-targeted mice have been developed in the 129/SvJ-C57Bl/6J strains due to the capacity of 129/SvJ embryonic stem cells to facilitate germline transmission. Gene-targeted mice are commonly backcrossed into the C57Bl/6J (B6) background for comparison with existing data. Genetic modifiers have been shown to modulate mammary tumor latency in mouse models of breast cancer and it is commonly known that the FVB strain is susceptible to mammary tumors while the B6 strain is more resistant. Since gene-targeted mice in the B6 background are frequently bred into the polyomavirus middle T (PyMT) mouse model of breast cancer in the FVB strain, we have sought to understand the impact of the different genetic backgrounds on the resulting phenotype. We bred mice deficient in the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) until they were congenic in the PyMT model in the FVB and B6 strains. Our results reveal that the large difference in mean tumor latencies in the two backgrounds of 53 and 92 days respectively affect the ability to discern smaller differences in latency due to the Nos2 genetic mutation. Furthermore, the longer latency in the B6 strain enables a more detailed analysis of tumor formation indicating that individual tumor development is not stoichastic, but is initiated in the #1 glands and proceeds in early and late phases. NO production affects tumors that develop early suggesting an association of iNOS-induced NO with a more aggressive tumor phenotype, consistent with human clinical data positively correlating iNOS expression with breast cancer progression. An examination of lung metastases, which are significantly reduced in PyMT/iNOS(−/−) mice compared with PyMT/iNOS(+/+) mice only in the B6 background, is concordant with these findings. Our data suggest that PyMT in the B6 background provides a useful model for the study of inflammation-induced breast cancer

Earliest evidence of pollution by heavy metals in archaeological sites

Homo species were exposed to a new biogeochemical environment when they began to occupy caves. Here we report the first evidence of palaeopollution through geochemical analyses of heavy metals in four renowned archaeological caves of the Iberian Peninsula spanning the last million years of human evolution. Heavy metal contents reached high values due to natural (guano deposition) and anthropogenic factors (e.g. combustion) in restricted cave environments. The earliest anthropogenic pollution evidence is related to Neanderthal hearths from Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar), being one of the first milestones in the so-called “Anthropocene”. According to its heavy metal concentration, these sediments meet the present-day standards of “contaminated soil”. Together with the former, the Gibraltar Vanguard Cave, shows Zn and Cu pollution ubiquitous across highly anthropic levels pointing to these elements as potential proxies for human activities. Pb concentrations in Magdalenian and Bronze age levels at El Pirulejo site can be similarly interpreted. Despite these high pollution levels, the contaminated soils might not have posed a major threat to Homo populations. Altogether, the data presented here indicate a long-term exposure of Homo to these elements, via fires, fumes and their ashes, which could have played certain role in environmental-pollution tolerance, a hitherto neglected influence.Francisco J. Jiménez Palacios and to the Analytical Chemistry Department (Sevilla University) are gratefully acknowledged for their help in the use of Carbolite electric oven. A.G.-A. was supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship of the 7th Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (European Commission). R.B. is a Beatriu de Pinós-A post-doctoral fellowship recipient (Generalitat de Catalunya and COFUND Marie Curie Actions, EU-FP7). This work also was partially financed by projects 19434/PI/14 Fundación Séneca, HARP2013-44269P, CGL-BOS-2012-34717, CGL2012-38434-C03-03 and CGL2012-38358 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, 2014 SGR 900 and 2014/100573 Generalitat de Catalunya-AGAUR, RNM 432 Research Group 179 (Junta de Andalucia) and MEXT-Japan