Nutritional status of young children with inherited blood disorders in western Kenya.

To determine the association between a range of inherited blood disorders and indicators of poor nutrition, we analyzed data from a population-based, cross-sectional survey of 882 children 6–35 months of age in western Kenya. Of children with valid measurements, 71.7% were anemic (hemoglobin < 11 g/dL), 19.1% had ferritin levels < 12 μg/L, and 30.9% had retinol binding protein (RBP) levels < 0.7 μmol/L. Unadjusted analyses showed that compared with normal children, homozygous α(+)-thalassemia individuals had a higher prevalence of anemia (82.3% versus 66.8%, P = 0.001), but a lower prevalence of low RBP (20.5% versus 31.4%, P = 0.024). In multivariable analysis, homozygous α(+)-thalassemia remained associated with anemia (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.8, P = 0.004) but not with low RBP (aOR = 0.6, P = 0.065). Among young Kenyan children, α(+)-thalassemia is associated with anemia, whereas G6PD deficiency, haptoglobin 2-2, and HbS are not; none of these blood disorders are associated with iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, or poor growth

Acoustic black holes for relativistic fluids

We derive a new acoustic black hole metric from the Abelian Higgs model. In the non-relativistic limit, while the Abelian Higgs model becomes the Ginzburg-Landau model, the metric reduces to an ordinary Unruh type. We investigate the possibility of using (type I and II) superconductors as the acoustic black holes. We propose to realize experimental acoustic black holes by using spiral vortices solutions from the Navier-stokes equation in the non-relativistic classical fluids.Comment: 16 pages. typos corrected, contents expande

Sub-Sets of Cancer Stem Cells Differ Intrinsically in Their Patterns of Oxygen Metabolism

PMCID: PMC3640080This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Can programme theory be used as a 'translational tool’ to optimise health service delivery in a national early years’ initiative in Scotland: a case study

Background Theory-based evaluation (TBE) approaches are heralded as supporting formative evaluation by facilitating increased use of evaluative findings to guide programme improvement. It is essential that learning from programme implementation is better used to improve delivery and to inform other initiatives, if interventions are to be as effective as they have the potential to be. Nonetheless, few studies describe formative feedback methods, or report direct instrumental use of findings resulting from TBE. This paper uses the case of Scotland’s, National Health Service, early years’, oral health improvement initiative (Childsmile) to describe the use of TBE as a framework for providing feedback on delivery to programme staff and to assess its impact on programmatic action.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Methods In-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders explored perceived deviations between the Childsmile programme 'as delivered’ and its Programme Theory (PT). The data was thematically analysed using constant comparative methods. Findings were shared with key programme stakeholders and discussions around likely impact and necessary actions were facilitated by the authors. Documentary review and ongoing observations of programme meetings were undertaken to assess the extent to which learning was acted upon.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Results On the whole, the activities documented in Childsmile’s PT were implemented as intended. This paper purposefully focuses on those activities where variation in delivery was evident. Differences resulted from the stage of roll-out reached and the flexibility given to individual NHS boards to tailor local implementation. Some adaptations were thought to have diverged from the central features of Childsmile’s PT, to the extent that there was a risk to achieving outcomes. The methods employed prompted national service improvement action, and proposals for local action by individual NHS boards to address this.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Conclusions The TBE approach provided a platform, to direct attention to areas of risk within a national health initiative, and to agree which intervention components were 'core’ to its hypothesised success. The study demonstrates that PT can be used as a 'translational tool’ to facilitate instrumental use of evaluative findings to optimise implementation within a complex health improvement programme.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt

Nutritional management of children with cerebral palsy: a practical guide

Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Phosphorylation of GFAP is associated with injury in the neonatal pig hypoxic-ischemic brain

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is an intermediate filament protein expressed in the astrocyte cytoskeleton that plays an important role in the structure and function of the cell. GFAP can be phosphorylated at six serine (Ser) or threonine (Thr) residues but little is known about the role of GFAP phosphorylation in physiological and pathophysiological states. We have generated antibodies against two phosphorylated GFAP (pGFAP) proteins: p8GFAP, where GFAP is phosphorylated at Ser-8 and p13GFAP, where GFAP is phosphorylated at Ser-13. We examined p8GFAP and p13GFAP expression in the control neonatal pig brain and at 24 and 72 h after an hypoxic-ischemic (HI) insult. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated pGFAP expression in astrocytes with an atypical cytoskeletal morphology, even in control brains. Semi-quantitative western blotting revealed that p8GFAP expression was significantly increased at 24 h post-insult in HI animals with seizures in frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital cortices. At 72 h post-insult, p8GFAP and p13GFAP expression were significantly increased in HI animals with seizures in brain regions that are vulnerable to cellular damage (cortex and basal ganglia), but no changes were observed in brain regions that are relatively spared following an HI insult (brain stem and cerebellum). Increased pGFAP expression was associated with poor neurological outcomes such as abnormal encephalography and neurobehaviour, and increased histological brain damage. Phosphorylation of GFAP may play an important role in astrocyte remodelling during development and disease and could potentially contribute to the plasticity of the central nervous system

Total and positronium formation cross sections for positron scattering from H2O and HCOOH

Total and positronium formation cross sections have been measured for positron scattering from H2O and HCOOH using a positron beam with an energy resolution of 60 meV (full-width at half-maximum (FWHM)). The energy range covered is 0.5–60 eV, including an investigation of the behavior of the onset of the positronium formation channel using measurements with a 50 meV energy step, the result of which shows no evidence of any channel coupling effects or scattering resonances for either molecule

Genome-wide association study identifies loci associated with liability to alcohol and drug dependence that is associated with variability in reward-related ventral striatum activity in African- and European-Americans.

Genetic influences on alcohol and drug dependence partially overlap, however, specific loci underlying this overlap remain unclear. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of a phenotype representing alcohol or illicit drug dependence (ANYDEP) among 7291 European-Americans (EA; 2927 cases) and 3132 African-Americans (AA: 1315 cases) participating in the family-based Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. ANYDEP was heritable (h 2 in EA = 0.60, AA = 0.37). The AA GWAS identified three regions with genome-wide significant (GWS; P &lt; 5E-08) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosomes 3 (rs34066662, rs58801820) and 13 (rs75168521, rs78886294), and an insertion-deletion on chromosome 5 (chr5:141988181). No polymorphisms reached GWS in the EA. One GWS region (chromosome 1: rs1890881) emerged from a trans-ancestral meta-analysis (EA + AA) of ANYDEP, and was attributable to alcohol dependence in both samples. Four genes (AA: CRKL, DZIP3, SBK3; EA: P2RX6) and four sets of genes were significantly enriched within biological pathways for hemostasis and signal transduction. GWS signals did not replicate in two independent samples but there was weak evidence for association between rs1890881 and alcohol intake in the UK Biobank. Among 118 AA and 481 EA individuals from the Duke Neurogenetics Study, rs75168521 and rs1890881 genotypes were associated with variability in reward-related ventral striatum activation. This study identified novel loci for substance dependence and provides preliminary evidence that these variants are also associated with individual differences in neural reward reactivity. Gene discovery efforts in non-European samples with distinct patterns of substance use may lead to the identification of novel ancestry-specific genetic markers of risk

Increased pain intensity is associated with greater verbal communication difficulty and increased production of speech and co-speech gestures

Effective pain communication is essential if adequate treatment and support are to be provided. Pain communication is often multimodal, with sufferers utilising speech, nonverbal behaviours (such as facial expressions), and co-speech gestures (bodily movements, primarily of the hands and arms that accompany speech and can convey semantic information) to communicate their experience. Research suggests that the production of nonverbal pain behaviours is positively associated with pain intensity, but it is not known whether this is also the case for speech and co-speech gestures. The present study explored whether increased pain intensity is associated with greater speech and gesture production during face-to-face communication about acute, experimental pain. Participants (N = 26) were exposed to experimentally elicited pressure pain to the fingernail bed at high and low intensities and took part in video-recorded semi-structured interviews. Despite rating more intense pain as more difficult to communicate (t(25) = 2.21, p = .037), participants produced significantly longer verbal pain descriptions and more co-speech gestures in the high intensity pain condition (Words: t(25) = 3.57, p = .001; Gestures: t(25) = 3.66, p = .001). This suggests that spoken and gestural communication about pain is enhanced when pain is more intense. Thus, in addition to conveying detailed semantic information about pain, speech and co-speech gestures may provide a cue to pain intensity, with implications for the treatment and support received by pain sufferers. Future work should consider whether these findings are applicable within the context of clinical interactions about pain

The yeast P5 type ATPase, Spf1, regulates manganese transport into the endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a large, multifunctional and essential organelle. Despite intense research, the function of more than a third of ER proteins remains unknown even in the well-studied model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One such protein is Spf1, which is a highly conserved, ER localized, putative P-type ATPase. Deletion of SPF1 causes a wide variety of phenotypes including severe ER stress suggesting that this protein is essential for the normal function of the ER. The closest homologue of Spf1 is the vacuolar P-type ATPase Ypk9 that influences Mn2+ homeostasis. However in vitro reconstitution assays with Spf1 have not yielded insight into its transport specificity. Here we took an in vivo approach to detect the direct and indirect effects of deleting SPF1. We found a specific reduction in the luminal concentration of Mn2+ in ∆spf1 cells and an increase following it’s overexpression. In agreement with the observed loss of luminal Mn2+ we could observe concurrent reduction in many Mn2+-related process in the ER lumen. Conversely, cytosolic Mn2+-dependent processes were increased. Together, these data support a role for Spf1p in Mn2+ transport in the cell. We also demonstrate that the human sequence homologue, ATP13A1, is a functionally conserved orthologue. Since ATP13A1 is highly expressed in developing neuronal tissues and in the brain, this should help in the study of Mn2+-dependent neurological disorders