Infant behavioral reactivity predicts change in amygdala volume 12 years later

The current study examined the link between temperamental reactivity in infancy and amygdala development in middle childhood. A sample (n = 291) of four-month-old infants was assessed for infant temperament, and two groups were identified: those exhibiting negative reactivity (n = 116) and those exhibiting positive reactivity (n = 106). At 10 and 12 years of age structural imaging was completed on a subset of these participants (n = 75). Results indicate that, between 10 and 12 years of age, left amygdala volume increased more slowly in those with negative compared to positive reactive temperament. These results provide novel evidence linking early temperament to distinct patterns of brain development over middle childhood

Evaluating psychosocial and physical activity outcomes following an intervention among Filipino Americans

Background: Physical activity (PA) is a strong contributor to enhancing a healthy lifestyle and preventing numerous chronic diseases. As ethnic minorities engage in low levels of PA, psychosocial and activity-based interventions for sustaining PA are crucial. Methods: The 6-month intervention incorporated culturally tailored educational workshops and weekly PA classes at a community center. Educational workshops were led by six trained community health workers (CHWs). Participants (n=37) completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires regarding PA related self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social support, enjoyment, self-regulation, goal setting, and overall PA. Results: Following the intervention, study participants exhibited increases in weekly PA levels. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test revealed higher median scores for Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (ESES), Identified Regulation, and Intrinsic Motivation. Positive changes were observed for Physical Outcome Expectations, Social Outcome Expectations, Self-Evaluative Outcome Expectations, Physical Activity Enjoyment, Social Support for Exercise Scale – Family, Social Support for Exercise – Friends, and Exercise Goal-Setting. Conclusion: Community-based PA interventions may provide potential benefits to Filipino Americans, an ethnic Asian minority group, in identifying exercise benefits, developing proper exercise goals, increasing motivation, promoting PA behavior, and facilitating long-term PA adherence

Upward spirals of positive emotion and coping: Replication, extension, and initial exploration of neurochemical substrates

The broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) predicts that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention and cognition, thereby facilitating the building of personal resources and initiating upward spirals toward increasing emotional well-being. This study attempts to replicate and extend previous empirical support for this model. Using a sample of 185 undergraduates, we assessed whether positive affect and broad-minded coping, interpersonal trust, and social support reciprocally and prospectively predict one another over a two-month period, and whether this upward spiral might be partially based in changes in dopaminergic functioning. As hypothesized, PA and positive coping did mutually build on one another, as did PA and interpersonal trust. Contrary to expectation, PA did not demonstrate an upward spiral relation with social support. Results suggest further study of the relationship between PA and changes in dopamine metabolite levels over time is warranted

A 3-year cohort study to assess the impact of an integrated food- and livelihood-based model on undernutrition in rural western Kenya.

Reducing extreme poverty and hunger is the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG). With undernutrition contributing to one third of all child deaths, improving nutrition is a precondition for accelerating progress towards other MDG targets. While the role of technical interventions such as micronutrient fortification and supplementation in reducing morbidity and mortality has been well documented, evidence to support more comprehensive multi-sectoral approaches remains inconclusive. This chapter aims to evaluate the impact of an integrated food- and livelihood-based model on nutrition-related outcomes in rural western Kenya

The Global Diet Quality Score Is Inversely Associated with Nutrient Inadequacy, Low Midupper Arm Circumference, and Anemia in Rural Adults in Ten Sub-Saharan African Countries

Background: Key nutrient deficits remain widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) whereas noncommunica­ ble diseases (NCDs) now cause one-third of deaths. Easy-to-use metrics are needed to track contributions of diet quality = 8 3 :J to this double burden. Objectives: We evaluated comparative performance of a novel food-based Global Diet Quality Score (GDOS) against Dani:' other diet metrics in capturing nutrient adequacy and undernutrition in rural SSA adults. � � Methods: We scored the GDOS, Minimum Dietary Diversity-Women (MDD-W). and Alternative Healthy Eating lndexen C: 2010 (AHEl-2010) using FFO data from rural men and nonpregnant, nonlactating women of reproductive age (15-49 y) "'Cl "'Cl ro in 10 SSA countries. We evaluated Spearman correlations between metrics and energy-adjusted nutrient intakes, and 3 age-adjusted associations with BMI, midupper arm circumference (MUAC), and hemoglobin in regression models. (:1J) I� Results: Correlations between the GDOS and an energy-adjusted aggregate measure of dietary protein, fiber, calcium, ...... iron, zinc, vitamin A, folate, and vitamin B-12 adequacy were 0.34 (95% Cl: 0.30, 0.38) in men and 0.37 (95% Cl: 0.32, (0 (/) 0.41) in women. The GDOS was associated (P . 0 with 01 OR in men: 0.44, 95% Cl: 0.22, 0.85; women: 0.57, 95% Cl: 0.31, 1.03] and anemia (05/01 OR in men: 0.56, (0 01 95% Cl: 0.32, 0.98; women: 0.60, 95% Cl: 0.35, 1.01 ). The MDD-W correlated better with some nutrient intakes, though w.j>. CT associated marginally with low MUAC in men (P= 0.07). The AHEl-2010 correlated better with fatty acid intakes, though '< tC C: associated marginally with low MUAC (P = 0.06) and anemia (P = 0.14) in women. Overweight/obesity prevalence was (1) !e. low, and neither the GDOS, MDD-W, nor AHEl-2010 were predictive. Conclusions: The GDOS performed comparably with the MDD-W in capturing nutrient adequacy-related outcomes i

The effect of an integrated multisector model for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and improving child survival in rural sub-Saharan Africa: a non-randomised controlled assessment

Background Simultaneously addressing multiple Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has the potential to complement essential health interventions to accelerate gains in child survival. The Millennium Villages project is an integrated multisector approach to rural development operating across diverse sub-Saharan African sites. Our aim was to assess the effects of the project on MDG-related outcomes including child mortality 3 years after implementation and compare these changes to local and national reference data

Coordinated hydrological regimes in the Indo-Pacific region during the past two millennia

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography 25 (2010): PA1102, doi:10.1029/2009PA001871.Instrumental data suggest that major shifts in tropical Pacific atmospheric dynamics and hydrology have occurred within the past century, potentially in response to anthropogenic warming. To better understand these trends, we use the hydrogen isotopic ratios of terrestrial higher plant leaf waxes (δDwax) in marine sediments from southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia, to compile a detailed reconstruction of central Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) hydrologic variability spanning most of the last two millennia. Our paleodata are highly correlated with a monsoon reconstruction from Southeast Asia, indicating that intervals of strong East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) activity are associated with a weaker Indonesian monsoon (IM). Furthermore, the centennial-scale oscillations in our data follow known changes in Northern Hemisphere climate (e.g., the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period) implying a dynamic link between Northern Hemisphere temperatures and IPWP hydrology. The inverse relationship between the EASM and IM suggests that migrations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and associated changes in monsoon strength caused synoptic hydrologic shifts in the IPWP throughout most of the past two millennia.This research was supported by the U.S. NSF, the Ocean and Climate Change Institute at WHOI, and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship to J. Tierney

Decomposition of Gene Expression State Space Trajectories

Representing and analyzing complex networks remains a roadblock to creating dynamic network models of biological processes and pathways. The study of cell fate transitions can reveal much about the transcriptional regulatory programs that underlie these phenotypic changes and give rise to the coordinated patterns in expression changes that we observe. The application of gene expression state space trajectories to capture cell fate transitions at the genome-wide level is one approach currently used in the literature. In this paper, we analyze the gene expression dataset of Huang et al. (2005) which follows the differentiation of promyelocytes into neutrophil-like cells in the presence of inducers dimethyl sulfoxide and all-trans retinoic acid. Huang et al. (2005) build on the work of Kauffman (2004) who raised the attractor hypothesis, stating that cells exist in an expression landscape and their expression trajectories converge towards attractive sites in this landscape. We propose an alternative interpretation that explains this convergent behavior by recognizing that there are two types of processes participating in these cell fate transitions—core processes that include the specific differentiation pathways of promyelocytes to neutrophils, and transient processes that capture those pathways and responses specific to the inducer. Using functional enrichment analyses, specific biological examples and an analysis of the trajectories and their core and transient components we provide a validation of our hypothesis using the Huang et al. (2005) dataset

Brentuximab Vedotin with Chemotherapy for Stage III or IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Brentuximab vedotin is an anti-CD30 antibody-drug conjugate that has been approved for relapsed and refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma

Accumulation of α-synuclein mediates podocyte injury in Fabry nephropathy

Current therapies for Fabry disease are based on reversing intracellular accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) by enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) or chaperone-mediated stabilization of the defective enzyme, thereby alleviating lysosomal dysfunction. However, their effect in the reversal of end-organ damage, like kidney injury and chronic kidney disease, remains unclear. In this study, ultrastructural analysis of serial human kidney biopsies showed that long-term use of ERT reduced Gb3 accumulation in podocytes but did not reverse podocyte injury. Then, a CRISPR/Cas9–mediated α-galactosidase knockout podocyte cell line confirmed ERT-mediated reversal of Gb3 accumulation without resolution of lysosomal dysfunction. Transcriptome-based connectivity mapping and SILAC-based quantitative proteomics identified α-synuclein (SNCA) accumulation as a key event mediating podocyte injury. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of SNCA improved lysosomal structure and function in Fabry podocytes, exceeding the benefits of ERT. Together, this work reconceptualizes Fabry-associated cell injury beyond Gb3 accumulation, and introduces SNCA modulation as a potential intervention, especially for patients with Fabry nephropathy.publishedVersio