Effects of bowel preparation on intestinal bacterial associated urine and faecal metabolites and the associated faecal microbiome

Background Urinary and faecal metabolic profiling have been extensively studied in gastrointestinal diseases as potential diagnostic markers, and to enhance our understanding of the intestinal microbiome in the pathogenesis these conditions. The impact of bowel cleansing on the microbiome has been investigated in several studies, but limited to just one study on the faecal metabolome. Aim To compare the effects of bowel cleansing on the composition of the faecal microbiome, and the urine and faecal metabolome. Methods Urine and faecal samples were obtained from eleven patients undergoing colonoscopy at baseline, and then at day 3 and week 6 after colonoscopy. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to analyse changes in the microbiome, and metabonomic analysis was performed using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy. Results Microbiomic analysis demonstrated a reduction in alpha diversity (Shannon index) between samples taken at baseline and three days following bowel cleansing (p = 0.002), and there was no significant difference between samples at baseline and six weeks post colonoscopy. Targeted and non-targeted analysis of urinary and faecal bacterial associated metabolites showed no significant impact following bowel cleansing. Conclusions Bowel cleansing causes a temporary disturbance in bacterial alpha diversity measured in faeces, but no significant changes in the faecal and urine metabolic profiles, suggesting that overall the faecal microbiome and its associated metabolome is resistant to the effects of an induced osmotic diarrhoea

Proof of a conjecture of Polya on the zeros of successive derivatives of real entire functions

We prove Polya's conjecture of 1943: For a real entire function of order greater than 2, with finitely many non-real zeros, the number of non-real zeros of the n-th derivative tends to infinity with n. We use the saddle point method and potential theory, combined with the theory of analytic functions with positive imaginary part in the upper half-plane.Comment: 26 page

Effects of ecstasy/polydrug use on memory for associative information

Rationale Associative learning underpins behaviours that are fundamental to the everyday functioning of the individual. Evidence pointing to learning deficits in recreational drug users merits further examination. Objectives A word pair learning task was administered to examine associative learning processes in ecstasy/polydrug users. Methods After assignment to either single or divided attention conditions, 44 ecstasy/polydrug users and 48 non-users were presented with 80 word pairs at encoding. Following this, four types of stimuli were presented at the recognition phase: the words as originally paired (old pairs), previously presented words in different pairings (conjunction pairs), old words paired with new words, and pairs of new words (not presented previously). The task was to identify which of the stimuli were intact old pairs. Results Ecstasy/ploydrug users produced significantly more false-positive responses overall compared to non-users. Increased long-term frequency of ecstasy use was positively associated with the propensity to produce false-positive responses. It was also associated with a more liberal signal detection theory decision criterion value. Measures of long term and recent cannabis use were also associated with these same word pair learning outcome measures. Conjunction word pairs, irrespective of drug use, generated the highest level of false-positive responses and significantly more false-positive responses were made in the divided attention condition compared to the single attention condition. Conclusions Overall, the results suggest that long-term ecstasy exposure may induce a deficit in associative learning and this may be in part a consequence of users adopting a more liberal decision criterion value

Basal Cell Carcinoma on the Pubic Area: Report of a Case and Review of 19 Korean Cases of BCC from Non-sun-exposed Areas

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignant skin tumors and develops characteristically on sun-exposed areas, such as the head and neck. Ultraviolet light exposure is an important etiologic factor in BCCs, and BCCs arising from non-sun- exposed areas are, therefore, very rare. In particular, the axilla, nipple, the genital and perianal areas are not likely to be exposed to ultraviolet light; thus, if BCC develops in these areas, other predisposing factors should be considered. Herein, we report a case of BCC arising on the pubic area in a 70-year-old man. We also performed a survey of the literature and discussed the 19 cases of BCC from non-sun-exposed areas reported to date in Korea

Cellular shape reinforces niche to stem cell signaling in the small intestine

Peer reviewe

Misrecognition in the making of a state: Ghana’s international relations under Kwame Nkrumah

This paper draws on a Kleinian psychoanalytic reading of Hegel’s theory of the struggle for recognition to explore the role of international misrecognition in the creation of state subjectivity. It focuses on Ghana’s early years, when international relations were powerfully conceptualised and used by Kwame Nkrumah in his bid to bring coherence to a fragile infant state. Nkrumah attempted to create separation and independence from the West on the one hand, and intimacy with a unified Africa on the other. By creating juxtapositions between Ghana and these idealised international others, he was able to create a fantasy of a coherent state, built on a fundamental misrecognition of the wider world. As the fantasy bumped up against the realities of Ghana’s failing economy, fractured social structures and complex international relationships, it foundered, causing alienation and despair. I argue that the failure of this early fantasy was the start of Ghana’s quest to begin processes of individuation and subjectivity, and that its undoing was an inevitable part of the early stages of misrecognition, laying the way for more grounded struggles for recognition and the development of a more complex state-subjectivity

Identifying unmet clinical need in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy using national electronic health records

Introduction: To evaluate unmet clinical need in unselected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients to determine the risk of a wide range of subsequent cardiovascular disease endpoints and safety endpoints relevant for trial design. Methods: Population based cohort (CALIBER, linked primary care, hospital and mortality records in England, period 1997–2010), all people diagnosed with HCM were identified and matched by age, sex and general practice with ten randomly selected people without HCM. Random-effects Poisson models were used to assess the associations between HCM and cardiovascular diseases and bleeding. Results: Among 3,290,455 eligible people a diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was found in 4 per 10,000. Forty-one percent of the 1,160 individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were women and the median age was 57 years. The median follow-up was 4.0 years. Compared to general population controls, people with HCM had higher risk of ventricular arrhythmia (incidence rate ratio = 23.53, [95% confidence interval 12.67–43.72]), cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death (6.33 [3.69–10.85]), heart failure (4.31, [3.30–5.62]), and atrial fibrillation (3.80 [3.04–4.75]). HCM was also associated with a higher incidence of myocardial infarction ([MI] 1.90 [1.27–2.84]) and coronary revascularisation (2.32 [1.46–3.69]).The absolute Kaplan-Meier risks at 3 years were 8.8% for the composite endpoint of cardiovascular death or heart failure, 8.4% for the composite of cardiovascular death, stroke or myocardial infarction, and 1.5% for major bleeding. Conclusions: Our study identified major unmet need in HCM and highlighted the importance of implementing improved cardiovascular prevention strategies to increase life-expectancy of the contemporary HCM population. They also show that national electronic health records provide an effective method for identifying outcomes and clinically relevant estimates of composite efficacy and safety endpoints essential for trial design in rare diseases

Neural Mechanism of Inferring Person's Inner Attitude towards Another Person through Observing the Facial Affect in an Emotional Context

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to identify the brain mechanism involved in the attribution of person's attitude toward another person, using facial affective pictures and pictures displaying an affectively-loaded situation. METHODS: Twenty four right-handed healthy subjects volunteered for our study. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine brain activation during attitude attribution task as compared to gender matching tasks. RESULTS: We identified activation in the left inferior frontal cortex, left superior temporal sulcus, and left inferior parietal lobule during the attitude attribution task, compared to the gender matching task. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that mirror neuron system and ventrolateral inferior frontal cortex play a critical role in the attribution of a person's inner attitude towards another person in an emotional situation.ope

Genetic Polymorphism of Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate Synthase (GGSP1) Predicts Bone Density Response to Bisphosphonate Therapy in Korean Women

Purpose: Genetic factor is an important predisposing element influencing the susceptibility to osteoporosis and related complications. The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether genetic polymorphisms of farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FDPS) or geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGPS) genes were associated with the response to bisphosphonate therapy. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 144 Korean women with osteoporosis were included. Among 13 genetic polymorphisms found within the FDPS and GGPS1 gene, 4 genetic polymorphisms with frequencies > 5% were selected for further study. Bone mineral density (BMD) response after 1 year treatment of bisphosphonate therapy was analyzed according to the genotypes. Results: Women with 2 deletion allele of GGPS1 -8188A ins/del (rs3840452) had significantly higher femoral neck BMD at baseline compared with those with one or no deletion allele (0.768 +/- 0.127 vs. 0.695 +/- 0.090 respectively; p = 0.041). The response rate of women with 2 deletion allele of GGPS1 -8188A ins/del (28.6%) was significantly lower than the rate of women with one (81.4%) or no deletion allele (75.0%) (p = 0.011). Women with 2 deletion allele of GGPS1 -8188A ins/del had 7-fold higher risk of non-response to bisphosphonate therapy compared with women with other genotypes in GGPS1 -8188 after adjusting for baseline BMD (OR = 7.48; 95% CI = 1.3242.30; p = 0.023). Other polymorphisms in FDPS or GGPS1 were not associated with lumbar spine BMD or femoral neck BMD. Conclusion: Our Study suggested that GGPS1 -8188A ins/del polymorphism may confer susceptibility to femoral heck BMD response to bisphosphonate therapy in Korean women. However, further study should be done to confirm the results in a larger population.This work was supported by a grant from Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family of Korea (03-PJ10-PG13- GD01-0002).Guo RT, 2007, P NATL ACAD SCI USA, V104, P10022, DOI 10.1073/pnas.0702254104Gallagher JC, 2006, BONE, V39, P1268, DOI 10.1016/j.bone.2006.06.007Bonnick S, 2006, J CLIN ENDOCR METAB, V91, P2631, DOI 10.1210/jc.2005-2602BONNICK SL, 2006, AM J MED S1, V119, pS25Kim SW, 2005, ENDOCR J, V52, P667Palomba S, 2005, OSTEOPOROSIS INT, V16, P943, DOI 10.1007/s00198-004-1800-5Lewiecki EM, 2003, J CLIN DENSITOM, V6, P307Palomba S, 2003, CLIN ENDOCRINOL, V58, P365Qureshi AM, 2002, CALCIFIED TISSUE INT, V70, P158Turner CH, 2002, OSTEOPOROSIS INT, V13, P97Mann V, 2001, J CLIN INVEST, V107, P899Keen RW, 2001, RHEUMATOLOGY, V40, P48Bergstrom JD, 2000, ARCH BIOCHEM BIOPHYS, V373, P231Crilly RG, 2000, OSTEOPOROSIS INT, V11, P607Eisman JA, 1999, ENDOCR REV, V20, P788Tsukamoto K, 1999, J HUM GENET, V44, P148Keen RW, 1998, BONE, V23, P367Masi L, 1998, BIOCHEM BIOPH RES CO, V248, P190Uitterlinden AG, 1998, NEW ENGL J MED, V338, P1016Mizunuma H, 1997, BONE, V21, P379Kurland ES, 1997, J CLIN ENDOCR METAB, V82, P2799Shiraki M, 1997, J BONE MINER RES, V12, P1438Sainz J, 1997, NEW ENGL J MED, V337, P77Johnson ML, 1997, AM J HUM GENET, V60, P1326Langdahl BL, 1997, BONE, V20, P289SILVERMAN SL, 1992, CALCIFIED TISSUE INT, V50, P101

Risk of upper limb complaints due to computer use in older persons: a randomized study

Abstract Background We studied whether the twelve-month use of a standard computer would induce complaints of upper limb pain or functional limitations in older novice computer users. Methods Participants between 64 and 76 of age were randomly assigned to an Intervention group (n = 62), whose members received a personal computer and fast Internet access at their homes, or a No Intervention control group (n = 61), whose members refrained from computer use during the twelve month study period. Results Difference scores between baseline and twelve months assessments on both complaint (SFS) and functional health scales (SF-36) did not differ between groups (all p > .05). Conclusion Prolonged, self-paced use of a standard computer interface does not put older persons at a risk of upper limb complaints or reduce functional health in older adults.</p