Retinol Assessment Among Women and Children in Sahelian Mobile Pastoralists

Micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in developing countries, particularly in remote communities such as mobile pastoralists. The nutritional and vitamin A status of this population is not well-documented in Chad. This study assessed serum retinol levels among women and children under five-year-old in nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralist and rural-settled communities, who are similarly exposed to risk factors such as gastrointestinal parasitic infection, anaemia and emaciation. The novel method of portable fluorometry was used for the first time to measure β-carotene and retinol levels in a pastoral nomadic area. Moderate level blood retinol deficiency (<0.7μmol/L) was observed in 5% (CI 1-11) of nomadic, 29% (CI 13-45) of semi-nomadic and 22% (CI 8-35) of sedentary women. In children, 1% (CI 0.1-4), 17% (CI 9-25) and 28% (CI 18-39), respectively, had moderate level blood retinol deficiency. In nomadic communities, women and children had blood retinol levels close to normal. Deficiency of retinol was strongly linked with lifestyle (nomadic, semi-nomadic and settled) among women and lifestyle and age among children. The results support an ecological linkage between human retinol levels and livestock milk retinol. This study shows the feasibility of portable retinol and β-carotene measurement in human blood as well as human and animal milk under remote field conditions, but the approach requires further validatio

A preclinical investigation of the saturation and dosimetry of 153Sm-DOTMP as a bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical

Simón J, Frank RK, Crump DK, Erwin WD, Ueno NT, Wendt RE. A preclinical investigation of the saturation and dosimetry of 153Sm-DOTMP as a bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical. Nuclear Medicine and Biology. 2012/08/01/ 2012;39(6):770-776. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2011.12.015https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mdacc_imgphys_pubs/1006/thumbnail.jp

p-wave superconductivity in iron-based superconductors

The possibility of p-wave pairing in superconductors has been proposed more than five decades ago, but has not yet been convincingly demonstrated. One difficulty is that some p-wave states are thermodynamically indistinguishable from s-wave, while others are very similar to d-wave states. Here we studied the self-field critical current of NdFeAs(O,F) thin films in order to extract absolute values of the London penetration depth, the superconducting energy gap, and the relative jump in specific heat at the superconducting transition temperature, and find that all the deduced physical parameters strongly indicate that NdFeAs(O,F) is a bulk p-wave superconductor. Further investigation revealed that single atomic layer FeSe also shows p-wave pairing. In an attempt to generalize these findings, we re-examined the whole inventory of superfluid density measurements in iron-based superconductors and show quite generally that single-band weak-coupling p-wave superconductivity is exhibited in iron-based superconductors. © 2019, The Author(s).Japan Science and Technology Corporation, JST: JPMJCR18J4Government Council on Grants, Russian FederationJapan Society for the Promotion of Science, JSPS: 16H04646АААА-А18-118020190104-3The authors thank Prof. Jeffery L. Tallon (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) and Prof. Christian Bernhard (University of Fribourg, Switzerland) for helpful discussions, and also for reading and commenting on the manuscript. EFT is grateful for financial support provided by the state assignment of Minobrnauki of Russia (theme “Pressure” No. АААА-А18-118020190104-3) and by Act 211 of the Government of the Russian Federation, contract No. 02.A03.21.0006. KI and HI acknowledge support by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) Grant Number 16H04646, as well as JST CREST Grant Number JPMJCR18J4. The Article Processing Charge for this publication was provided by Ural Federal University, Russia

Laser diode structures with a saturable absorber for high-energy picosecond optical pulse generation by combined gain-and Q-switching

The performance of gain-switched Fabry-Perot asymmetric-waveguide semiconductor lasers with a large equivalent spot size and an intracavity saturable absorber was investigated experimentally and theoretically. The laser with a short (∼20 μm) absorber emitted high-energy afterpulse-free optical pulses in a broad range of injection current pulse amplitudes; optical pulses with a peak power of about 35 W and a duration of about 80 ps at half maximum were achieved with a current pulse with an amplitude of just 8 A and a duration of 1.5 ns. Good quality pulsations were observed in a broad range of elevated temperatures. The introduction of a substantially longer absorber section leads to strong spectral broadening of the output without a significant improvement to pulse energy and peak power

Impact of socioeconomic deprivation on rate and cause of death in severe mental illness

Background: Socioeconomic status has important associations with disease-specific mortality in the general population. Although individuals with Severe Mental Illnesses (SMI) experience significant premature mortality, the relationship between socioeconomic status and mortality in this group remains under investigated.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Aims: To assess the impact of socioeconomic status on rate and cause of death in individuals with SMI (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) relative to the local (Glasgow) and wider (Scottish) populations.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Methods: Cause and age of death during 2006-2010 inclusive for individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder registered on the Glasgow Psychosis Clinical Information System (PsyCIS) were obtained by linkage to the Scottish General Register Office (GRO). Rate and cause of death by socioeconomic status, measured by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), were compared to the Glasgow and Scottish populations.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Results: Death rates were higher in people with SMI across all socioeconomic quintiles compared to the Glasgow and Scottish populations, and persisted when suicide was excluded. Differences were largest in the most deprived quintile (794.6 per 10,000 population vs. 274.7 and 252.4 for Glasgow and Scotland respectively). Cause of death varied by socioeconomic status. For those living in the most deprived quintile, higher drug-related deaths occurred in those with SMI compared to local Glasgow and wider Scottish population rates (12.3% vs. 5.9%, p = &#60;0.001 and 5.1% p = 0.002 respectively). A lower proportion of deaths due to cancer in those with SMI living in the most deprived quintile were also observed, relative to the local Glasgow and wider Scottish populations (12.3% vs. 25.1% p = 0.013 and 26.3% p = &#60;0.001). The proportion of suicides was significantly higher in those with SMI living in the more affluent quintiles relative to Glasgow and Scotland (54.6% vs. 5.8%, p = &#60;0.001 and 5.5%, p = &#60;0.001). Discussion and conclusions: Excess mortality in those with SMI occurred across all socioeconomic quintiles compared to the Glasgow and Scottish populations but was most marked in the most deprived quintiles when suicide was excluded as a cause of death. Further work assessing the impact of socioeconomic status on specific causes of premature mortality in SMI is needed

Point-of-Use Water Treatment and Use among Mothers in Malawi

A national household survey was conducted in Malawi to determine awareness and use of a socially marketed water treatment product. In all, 64% of mothers were aware of the product, and 7% were using it. Both poor and rural mothers had lower awareness and use rates. Targeting promotion to rural populations could enhance program effectiveness

Testing main Amazonian rivers as barriers across time and space within widespread taxa

AimPresent Amazonian diversity patterns can result from many different mechanisms and, consequently, the factors contributing to divergence across regions and/or taxa may differ. Nevertheless, the riverâ barrier hypothesis is still widely invoked as a causal process in divergence of Amazonian species. Here we use modelâ based phylogeographic analyses to test the extent to which major Amazonian rivers act similarly as barriers across time and space in two broadly distributed Amazonian taxa.LocalAmazon rain forest.TaxonThe lizard Gonatodes humeralis (Sphaerodactylidae) and the tree frog Dendropsophus leucophyllatus (Hylidae).MethodsWe obtained RADseq data for samples distributed across main river barriers, representing main Areas of Endemism previously proposed for the region. We conduct modelâ based phylogeographic and genetic differentiation analyses across each population pair.ResultsMeasures of genetic differentiation (based on FST calculated from genomic data) show that all rivers are associated with significant genetic differentiation. Parameters estimated under investigated divergence models showed that divergence times for populations separated by each of the 11 bordering rivers were all fairly recent. The degree of differentiation consistently varied between taxa and among rivers, which is not an artifact of any corresponding difference in the genetic diversities of the respective taxa, or to amounts of migration based on analyses of the siteâ frequency spectrum.Main conclusionsTaken together, our results support a dispersal (rather than vicariance) history, without strong evidence of congruence between these species and rivers. However, once a species crossed a river, populations separated by each and every river have remained isolatedâ in this sense, rivers act similarly as barriers to any further gene flow. This result suggests differing degrees of persistence and gives rise to the seeming contradiction that the divergence process indeed varies across time, space and species, even though major Amazonian rivers have acted as secondary barriers to gene flow in the focal taxa.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152608/1/jbi13676_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152608/2/jbi13676.pd

Interactive effects of obesity and physical fitness on risk of ischemic heart disease

Background/Objectives:Obesity and low physical fitness are known risk factors for ischemic heart disease (IHD), but their interactive effects are unclear. Elucidation of interactions between these common, modifiable risk factors may help inform more effective preventive strategies. We examined interactive effects of obesity, aerobic fitness and muscular strength in late adolescence on risk of IHD in adulthood in a large national cohort.Subjects/Methods:We conducted a national cohort study of all 1 547 407 military conscripts in Sweden during 1969-1997 (97-98% of all 18-year-old males each year). Aerobic fitness, muscular strength and body mass index (BMI) measurements were examined in relation to IHD identified from outpatient and inpatient diagnoses through 2012 (maximum age 62 years).Results:There were 38 142 men diagnosed with IHD in 39.7 million person years of follow-up. High BMI or low aerobic fitness (but not muscular strength) was associated with higher risk of IHD, adjusting for family history and socioeconomic factors. The combination of high BMI (overweight/obese vs normal) and low aerobic fitness (lowest vs highest tertile) was associated with highest IHD risk (incidence rate ratio, 3.11; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.91-3.31; P<0.001). These exposures had no additive and a negative multiplicative interaction (that is, their combined effect was less than the product of their separate effects). Low aerobic fitness was a strong risk factor even among those with normal BMI.Conclusions:In this large cohort study, low aerobic fitness or high BMI at age 18 was associated with higher risk of IHD in adulthood, with a negative multiplicative interaction. Low aerobic fitness appeared to account for a similar number of IHD cases among those with normal vs high BMI (that is, no additive interaction). These findings suggest that interventions to prevent IHD should begin early in life and include not only weight control but aerobic fitness, even among persons of normal weight

Prediction of preterm birth with and without preeclampsia using mid-pregnancy immune and growth-related molecular factors and maternal characteristics.

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate if mid-pregnancy immune and growth-related molecular factors predict preterm birth (PTB) with and without (±) preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN:Included were 400 women with singleton deliveries in California in 2009-2010 (200 PTB and 200 term) divided into training and testing samples at a 2:1 ratio. Sixty-three markers were tested in 15-20 serum samples using multiplex technology. Linear discriminate analysis was used to create a discriminate function. Model performance was assessed using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS:Twenty-five serum biomarkers along with maternal age &lt;34 years and poverty status identified &gt;80% of women with PTB ± preeclampsia with best performance in women with preterm preeclampsia (AUC = 0.889, 95% confidence interval (0.822-0.959) training; 0.883 (0.804-0.963) testing). CONCLUSION:Together with maternal age and poverty status, mid-pregnancy immune and growth factors reliably identified most women who went on to have a PTB ± preeclampsia