Beliefs about weight and breast cancer: An interview study with high risk women following a 12 month weight loss intervention

This is an Version of Record of an article published by BioMed Central in Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice on 9 January 2015, available online: http://www.hccpjournal.com/content/13/1/1 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Lifestyle factors including excess weight contribute to risk of developing the disease. Whilst the exact links between weight and breast cancer are still emerging, it is imperative to explore how women understand these links and if these beliefs impact on successful behaviour change. Overweight/obese premenopausal women (aged 35–45) with a family history of breast cancer (lifetime risk 17–40%) were invited to a semi-structured interview following their participation in a 12 month weight loss intervention aimed at reducing their risk of breast cancer. Interviews were carried out with 9 women who successfully achieved ≥5% weight loss and 11 who were unsuccessful. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Three themes were developed from the analysis. The first theme how women construct and understand links between weight and breast cancer risk is composed of two subthemes, the construction of weight and breast cancer risk and making sense of weight and breast cancer risk. The second theme - motivation and adherence to weight loss interventions - explains that breast cancer risk can be a motivating factor for adherence to a weight loss intervention. The final theme, acceptance of personal responsibility for health is composed of two subthemes responsibility for one’s own health and responsibility for family health through making sensible lifestyle choices.Beliefs about weight and breast cancer risk were informed by social networks, media reports and personal experiences of significant others diagnosed with breast cancer. Our study has highlighted common doubts, anxieties and questions and the importance of providing a credible rationale for weight control and weight loss which addresses individual concerns

Formar bem as mães para criar e educar boas crianças: as revistas portuguesas de educação familiar e a difusão da maternidade científica (1945-1958)

Este artigo tem como principal objetivo contribuir para a compreensão do processo de construção da maternidade científica em Portugal. Neste sentido, foi analisado um conjunto de artigos (n=628), publicados em revistas de educação familiar, entre 1945 e 1958. A análise realizada permitiu compreender que as revistas analisadas contribuem para a difusão da maternidade científica, ou seja, da ideia de que a aquisição de conhecimento científico sobre a criação e educação das crianças é elemento indispensável ao adequado exercício da função maternal. Observou-se, ainda, a existência de diferentes estratégias de educação para a maternidade, às quais está subjacente um elemento de classe, assim como diferentes níveis de adesão, por parte das mulheres, à concepção de maternidade científica

Organization and molecular evolution of a disease-resistance gene cluster in coffee trees

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most disease-resistance (R) genes in plants encode NBS-LRR proteins and belong to one of the largest and most variable gene families among plant genomes. However, the specific evolutionary routes of NBS-LRR encoding genes remain elusive. Recently in coffee tree (<it>Coffea arabica</it>), a region spanning the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3 </it>locus that confers resistance to coffee leaf rust, one of the most serious coffee diseases, was identified and characterized. Using comparative sequence analysis, the purpose of the present study was to gain insight into the genomic organization and evolution of the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3 </it>locus.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sequence analysis of the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3 </it>region in three coffee genomes, E^aand C^asubgenomes from the allotetraploid <it>C. arabica </it>and C^cgenome from the diploid <it>C. canephora</it>, revealed the presence of 5, 3 and 4 R genes in E^a, C^a, and C^cgenomes, respectively. All these R-gene sequences appeared to be members of a CC-NBS-LRR (CNL) gene family that was only found at the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3 </it>locus in <it>C. arabica</it>. Furthermore, while homologs were found in several dicot species, comparative genomic analysis failed to find any CNL R-gene in the orthologous regions of other eudicot species. The orthology relationship among the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3</it>-CNL copies in the three analyzed genomes was determined and the duplication/deletion events that shaped the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3 </it>locus were traced back. Gene conversion events were detected between paralogs in all three genomes and also between the two sub-genomes of <it>C. arabica</it>. Significant positive selection was detected in the solvent-exposed residues of the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3</it>-CNL copies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ancestral <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3</it>-CNL copy was inserted in the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3 </it>locus after the divergence between Solanales and Rubiales lineages. Moreover, the origin of most of the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3</it>-CNL copies predates the divergence between <it>Coffea </it>species. The <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3</it>-CNL family appeared to evolve following the birth-and-death model, since duplications and deletions were inferred in the evolution of the <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3 </it>locus. Gene conversion between paralog members, inter-subgenome sequence exchanges and positive selection appear to be the major forces acting on the evolution of <it>S</it>_<it>H</it><it>3</it>-CNL in coffee trees.</p

Transcriptome Analysis of H2O2-Treated Wheat Seedlings Reveals a H2O2-Responsive Fatty Acid Desaturase Gene Participating in Powdery Mildew Resistance

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) plays important roles in plant biotic and abiotic stress responses. However, the effect of H2O2 stress on the bread wheat transcriptome is still lacking. To investigate the cellular and metabolic responses triggered by H2O2, we performed an mRNA tag analysis of wheat seedlings under 10 mM H2O2 treatment for 6 hour in one powdery mildew (PM) resistant (PmA) and two susceptible (Cha and Han) lines. In total, 6,156, 6,875 and 3,276 transcripts were found to be differentially expressed in PmA, Han and Cha respectively. Among them, 260 genes exhibited consistent expression patterns in all three wheat lines and may represent a subset of basal H2O2 responsive genes that were associated with cell defense, signal transduction, photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, redox homeostasis, and transport. Among genes specific to PmA, ‘transport’ activity was significantly enriched in Gene Ontology analysis. MapMan classification showed that, while both up- and down- regulations were observed for auxin, abscisic acid, and brassinolides signaling genes, the jasmonic acid and ethylene signaling pathway genes were all up-regulated, suggesting H2O2-enhanced JA/Et functions in PmA. To further study whether any of these genes were involved in wheat PM response, 19 H2O2-responsive putative defense related genes were assayed in wheat seedlings infected with Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt). Eight of these genes were found to be co-regulated by H2O2 and Bgt, among which a fatty acid desaturase gene TaFAD was then confirmed by virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) to be required for the PM resistance. Together, our data presents the first global picture of the wheat transcriptome under H2O2 stress and uncovers potential links between H2O2 and Bgt responses, hence providing important candidate genes for the PM resistance in wheat

A sceptics view: Kleiber\u27s Law or the 3/4 Rule is neither a law nor a rule but rather an empirical approximation

Early studies showed the metabolic rate (MR) of different-sized animals was not directly related to body mass. The initial explanation of this difference, the surface law , was replaced by the suggestion that MR be expressed relative to massn, where the scaling exponent n be empirically determined. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) conditions were developed and BMR became important clinically, especially concerning thyroid diseases. Allometry, the technique previously used to empirically analyse relative growth, showed BMR of endotherms varied with 0.73-0.74 power of body mass. Kleiber suggested that mass3/4 be used, partly because of its easy calculation with a slide rule. Later studies have produced a range of BMR scaling exponents, depending on species measured. Measurement of maximal metabolism produced scaling exponents ranging from 0.80 to 0.97, while scaling of mammalian MR during growth display multi-phasic allometric relationships with scaling exponents \u3e3/4 initially, followed by scaling exponents \u3c3/4. There is no universal metabolic scaling exponent. The fact that allometry is an empirical technique to analyse relative change and not a biological law is discussed. Relative tissue size is an important determinant of MR. There is also a need to avoid simplistic assumptions regarding the allometry of surface area

Membranes and the setting of energy demand

In his classic 1961 book, The Fire of Life, Max Kleiber presented a critique of the theories advanced to explain the BMR-body size relationship. One of the theories he dismissed was that the chemical composition of animals varies with body size. Since this time, however, much has been learned about the make-up of BMR in different animals as well as the chemical composition of different-sized animals. Specifically, in recent years it has become obvious that mammal species and bird species do vary in chemical composition in a systematic manner associated with the body size of the species. Small mammal and bird species have cellular membranes that are predominantly polyunsaturated, and as mammal and bird species increase in size, their cellular membranes become progressively less polyunsaturated. Since Kleiber\u27s time, it has also become obvious that a substantial amount of the energy turnover of BMR is associated with the activity of membrane processes, specifically the maintenance of trans-membrane gradients, such as the Na+ gradient across the plasmalemmal membrane and the H+ gradient across the mitochondrial inner membrane. The variation in both membrane composition and membrane processes associated with body size variation in metabolic rate has been combined in the `membrane pacemaker\u27 theory of metabolism. This theory proposes that: (1) membrane-associated activities are significant and dominant components of BMR; (2) when BMR varies among species, all the activities that constitute BMR vary in unison; (3) species with high mass-specific BMR have highly polyunsaturated membranes while those with low BMR have less polyunsaturation of their membranes; (4) highly polyunsaturated membranes have distinctive physical properties that cause the proteins in the membranes to have a high molecular activity, and this results in higher rates of metabolism of cells, tissues and, consequently, the whole animal. Evidence supporting this theory is both correlative and experimental. Manipulation of membrane composition changes the molecular activity of membrane proteins. These differences in membrane composition may also represent a link between metabolism and aging. They probably explain the lifespan-body size relationship in mammals and birds and also the mammal-bird difference in lifespan

Nutritional ecology of essential fatty acids: an evolutionary perspective

There are four types of fatty acids but only two types are essential nutritional requirements for many animals. These are the omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFA) and the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) and because they cannot be converted to one another they are separate essential dietary requirements. They are only required in small amounts in the diet and their biological importance stems largely from their role as constituents of membrane lipids. They are synthesised by plants and, as a generalisation, green leaves are the source of n-3 PUFA while seeds are the source of n-6 PUFA in the food chain. While the fatty acid composition of storage fats (triglycerides) is strongly influenced by dietary fatty acid composition, this is not the case for membrane fats. The fatty acid composition of membrane lipids is relatively unresponsive to dietary fatty acid composition, although n-3 PUFA and n-6 PUFA can substitute for each in membrane lipids to some extent. Membrane fatty acid composition appears to be regulated and specific for different species. The role of essential fats in the diet of animals on (1) basal metabolic rate, (2) thermoregulation, (3) maximum longevity, and (4) exercise performance is discussed

The possible role of membrane lipids in the exceptionally long life of the short-beaked echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus

The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is an exceptionally long-living mammal having a maximal lifespan of -50 years. This is about four times that predicted from its body mass and, consequently, its longevity quotient is ∼4.This longevity quotient is similar to two other exceptionally long-living mammalian species; the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) and Homo sapiens. In recent times, the types of fats that make up cellular membrane have been implicated in the determination of a species\u27 maximum lifespan. This modification of the oxidative stress theory of aging, which has been called the membrane pacemaker theory of aging, derives from the fact that polyunsaturated fats are very susceptible to lipid peroxidation whereas monounsaturated fats are resistant to peroxidation. As a test of the theory we measured the fatty acid composition of membrane lipids isolated from tissues of echidnas.We found that, as In the other long-living mammals, echidna membranes are more monounsaturated and less polyunsaturated than would be predicted from their body size and that the peroxidation Index of their membrane lipids is what their maximum longevity would predict