Effects of street lighting technologies on the success and quality of pollination in a nocturnally pollinated plant

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an increasingly important driver of global change. Lighting directly affects plants, but few studies have investigated indirect effects mediated by interacting organisms. Nocturnal Lepidoptera are globally important pollinators, and pollen transport by moths is disrupted by lighting. Many street lighting systems are being replaced with novel, energy‐efficient lighting, with unknown ecological consequences. Using the wildflower Silene latifolia, we compared pollination success and quality at experimentally lit and unlit plots, testing two major changes to street lighting technology: in lamp type, from high‐pressure sodium lamps to light‐emitting diodes, and in lighting regime, from full‐night (FN) to part‐night (PN) lighting. We predicted that lighting would reduce pollination. S. latifolia was pollinated both diurnally and nocturnally. Contrary to our predictions, flowers under FN lighting had higher pollination success than flowers under either PN lighting or unlit controls, which did not significantly differ from each other. Lamp type, lighting regime, and distance from the light all significantly affected aspects of pollination quality. These results confirm that street lighting could affect plant reproduction through indirect effects mediated by nocturnal insects, and further highlight the possibility for novel lighting technologies to mitigate the effects of ALAN on ecosystems

Categorisation of continuous exposure variables revisited. A response to the Hyperglycaemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study

Background Although the general statistical advice is to keep continuous exposure variables as continuous in statistical analyses, categorisation is still a common approach in medical research. In a recent paper from the Hyperglycaemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study, categorisation of body mass index (BMI) was used when analysing the effect of BMI on adverse pregnancy outcomes. The lowest category, labelled "underweight", was used as the reference category. Methods The present paper gives a summary of reasons for categorisation and methodological drawbacks of this approach. We also discuss the choice of reference category and alternative analyses. We exemplify our arguments by a reanalysis of results from the HAPO paper. Results Categorisation of continuous exposure data results in loss of power and other methodological challenges. An unfortunate choice of reference category can give additional lack of precision and obscure the interpretation of risk estimates. A highlighted odds ratio (OR) in the HAPO study is the OR for birth weight >90th percentile for women in the highest compared to the lowest BMI category ("obese class III" versus "underweight"). This estimate was OR = 4.55 and OR = 3.52, with two different multiple logistic regression models. When using the "normal weight" category as the reference, our corresponding estimates were OR = 2.03 and OR = 1.62, respectively. Moreover, our choice of reference category also gave narrower confidence intervals. Summary Due to several methodological drawbacks, categorisation should be avoided. Modern statistical analyses should be used to analyse continuous exposure data, and to explore non-linear relations. If continuous data are categorised, special attention must be given to the choice of reference category

FORUM: Ecological networks: the missing links in biomonitoring science.

Monitoring anthropogenic impacts is essential for managing and conserving ecosystems, yet current biomonitoring approaches lack the tools required to deal with the effects of stressors on species and their interactions in complex natural systems.Ecological networks (trophic or mutualistic) can offer new insights into ecosystem degradation, adding value to current taxonomically constrained schemes. We highlight some examples to show how new network approaches can be used to interpret ecological responses.Synthesis and applications. Augmenting routine biomonitoring data with interaction data derived from the literature, complemented with ground-truthed data from direct observations where feasible, allows us to begin to characterise large numbers of ecological networks across environmental gradients. This process can be accelerated by adopting emerging technologies and novel analytical approaches, enabling biomonitoring to move beyond simple pass/fail schemes and to address the many ecological responses that can only be understood from a network-based perspective

‘Scrutinised, judged and sabotaged’: A qualitative video diary study of first-time breastfeeding mothers

Objective To explore how support impacted on mothers’ breastfeeding experiences in the first few weeks following birth. Design A qualitative approach explored real-time experiences of breastfeeding captured by five first-time mothers in the South of England on camcorder as video diaries. A multi-dimensional approach involving thematic analysis ensured both the audio and visual elements of the data were analysed. Findings Mothers felt ‘under surveillance’ by the biomedical approach to support from the healthcare team. At best mothers felt reassured that they were ‘on the right track’. When mothers felt their breastfeeding was constantly being examined, criticised and threatened they felt ‘scrutinised, judged and sabotaged’. When they found it difficult to access healthcare support, or they avoided it altogether to circumvent further scrutiny, they felt ‘abandoned and alone’. Key conclusions Collecting audio-visual data in real-time adds fresh insights into how support impacts mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding. The biomedical approach to support for breastfeeding is not effective. Scrutinising, judging and/or sabotaging mothers’ attempts to breastfeed can have long-lasting effects on maternal emotional wellbeing. Implications for practice Breastfeeding support might be improved by adopting a more social model of care. Future research needs to explore how relationship-based support can be provided by the health service

Evaluation of lifestyle interventions to treat elevated cardiometabolic risk in primary care (E-LITE): a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Efficacy research has shown that intensive individual lifestyle intervention lowers the risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and the metabolic syndrome. Translational research is needed to test real-world models of lifestyle interventions in primary care settings.</p> <p>Design</p> <p>E-LITE is a three-arm randomized controlled clinical trial aimed at testing the feasibility and potential effectiveness of two lifestyle interventions: information technology-assisted self-management, either alone or in combination with care management by a dietitian and exercise counselor, in comparison to usual care. Overweight or obese adults with pre-diabetes and/or metabolic syndrome (n = 240) recruited from a community-based primary care clinic are randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions. Treatment will last 15 months and involves a three-month intensive treatment phase followed by a 12-month maintenance phase. Follow-up assessment occurs at three, six, and 15 months. The primary outcome is change in body mass index. The target sample size will provide 80% power for detecting a net difference of half a standard deviation in body mass index at 15 months between either of the self-management or care management interventions and usual care at a two-sided α level of 0.05, assuming up to a 20% rate of loss to 15-month follow-up.</p> <p>Secondary outcomes include glycemic control, additional cardiovascular risk factors, and health-related quality of life. Potential mediators (e.g., treatment adherence, caloric intake, physical activity level) and moderators (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity, baseline mental status) of the intervention's effect on weight change also will be examined.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study will provide objective evidence on the extent of reductions in body mass index and related cardiometabolic risk factors from two lifestyle intervention programs of varying intensity that could be implemented as part of routine health care.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>NCT00842426</p

Hypoxia regulates glutamate receptor trafficking through an HIF‐independent mechanism

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102065/1/embj2011499-reviewer_comments.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102065/2/embj2011499-sup-0001.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102065/3/embj2011499.pd

Design of a randomized controlled trial for multiple cancer risk behaviors among Spanish-speaking Mexican-origin smokers

Background: Smoking, poor diet, and physical inactivity account for as much as 60% of cancer risk. Latinos experience profound disparities in health behaviors, as well as the cancers associated with them. Currently, there is a dearth of controlled trials addressing these health behaviors among Latinos. Further, to the best of our knowledge, no studies address all three behaviors simultaneously, are culturally sensitive, and are guided by formative work with the target population. Latinos represent 14% of the U. S. population and are the fastest growing minority group in the country. Efforts to intervene on these important lifestyle factors among Latinos may accelerate the elimination of cancer-related health disparities

Design, conduct, analysis and reporting of a multi-national placebo-controlled trial of activated protein C for persistent septic shock

The role of drotrecogin alfa (activated) (DAA) in severe sepsis remains controversial and clinicians are unsure whether or not to treat their patients with DAA. In response to a request from the European Medicines Agency, Eli Lilly will sponsor a new placebo-controlled trial and history suggests the results will be subject to great scrutiny. An academic steering committee will oversee the conduct of the study and will write the study manuscripts. The steering committee intends that the study will be conducted with the maximum possible transparency; this includes publication of the study protocol and a memorandum of understanding which delineates the role of the sponsor. The trial has the potential to provide clinicians with valuable data but patients will only benefit if clinicians have confidence in the conduct, analysis and reporting of the trial. This special article describes the process by which the trial was developed, major decisions regarding trial design, and plans for independent analysis, interpretation and reporting of the data

Hypoxia Disruption of Vertebrate CNS Pathfinding through EphrinB2 Is Rescued by Magnesium

The mechanisms of hypoxic injury to the developing human brain are poorly understood, despite being a major cause of chronic neurodevelopmental impairments. Recent work in the invertebrate Caenorhabditis elegans has shown that hypoxia causes discrete axon pathfinding errors in certain interneurons and motorneurons. However, it is unknown whether developmental hypoxia would have similar effects in a vertebrate nervous system. We have found that developmental hypoxic injury disrupts pathfinding of forebrain neurons in zebrafish (Danio rerio), leading to errors in which commissural axons fail to cross the midline. The pathfinding defects result from activation of the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (hif1) pathway and are mimicked by chemical inducers of the hif1 pathway or by expression of constitutively active hif1α. Further, we found that blocking transcriptional activation by hif1α helped prevent the guidance defects. We identified ephrinB2a as a target of hif1 pathway activation, showed that knock-down of ephrinB2a rescued the guidance errors, and showed that the receptor ephA4a is expressed in a pattern complementary to the misrouting axons. By targeting a constitutively active form of ephrinB2a to specific neurons, we found that ephrinB2a mediates the pathfinding errors via a reverse-signaling mechanism. Finally, magnesium sulfate, used to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm births, protects against pathfinding errors by preventing upregulation of ephrinB2a. These results demonstrate that evolutionarily conserved genetic pathways regulate connectivity changes in the CNS in response to hypoxia, and they support a potential neuroprotective role for magnesium