3,572 research outputs found
Maternal and early life nutrition and physical activity: setting the research and intervention agenda for addressing the double burden of malnutrition in South African children.
Early life is important for later health outcomes, yet there are few studies which adequately address all of the potential early life insults that may affect later life health and growth trajectories. This is particularly evident in low- to middle-income countries such as South Africa, where women of childbearing age are particularly vulnerable to high levels of physical inactivity, malnutrition, and obesity. Pregnancy may therefore be an opportune time to change behaviours and improve maternal and offspring health outcomes, and decrease the inter-generational transfer of risk. We show clear evidence that physical activity and nutrition are important target areas for intervention during pregnancy and in the early years of life, yet that current literature in Africa, and specifically South Africa, is limited. We have outlined the available literature concerning the impact of maternal and early life nutrition and physical activity on the health status of South African children, and have provided some recommendations for future research and policy
Abelian-Higgs and Vortices from ABJM: towards a string realization of AdS/CMT
We present ans\"{a}tze that reduce the mass-deformed ABJM model to gauged
Abelian scalar theories, using the fuzzy sphere matrices . One such
reduction gives a Toda system, for which we find a new type of nonabelian
vortex. Another gives the standard Abelian-Higgs model, thereby allowing us to
embed all the usual (multi-)vortex solutions of the latter into the ABJM model.
By turning off the mass deformation at the level of the reduced model, we can
also continuously deform to the massive theory in the massless ABJM
case. In this way we can embed the Landau-Ginzburg model into the AdS/CFT
correspondence as a consistent truncation of ABJM. In this context, the mass
deformation parameter and a field VEV act as and
respectively, leading to a well-motivated AdS/CMT construction from string
theory. To further this particular point, we propose a simple model for the
condensed matter field theory that leads to an approximate description for the
ABJM abelianization. Finally, we also find some BPS solutions to the
mass-deformed ABJM model with a spacetime interpretation as an M2-brane ending
on a spherical M5-brane.Comment: 43 pages, latex, explanations added in the introduction, end of
section 4, and on page 2
Common variants in FOXP1 are associated with generalized vitiligo
In a recent genome-wide association study of generalized vitiligo, we identified ten confirmed susceptibility loci. By testing additional loci that showed suggestive association in the genome-wide study, using two replication cohorts of European descent, we observed replicated association of generalized vitiligo with variants at 3p13 encompassing FOXP1 (rs17008723, combined P = 1.04 × 10−8) and with variants at 6q27 encompassing CCR6 (rs6902119, combined P = 3.94 × 10−7)
Generic Mechanism of Emergence of Amyloid Protofilaments from Disordered Oligomeric aggregates
The presence of oligomeric aggregates, which is often observed during the
process of amyloid formation, has recently attracted much attention since it
has been associated with neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's diseases. We provide a description of a sequence-indepedent
mechanism by which polypeptide chains aggregate by forming metastable
oligomeric intermediate states prior to converting into fibrillar structures.
Our results illustrate how the formation of ordered arrays of hydrogen bonds
drives the formation of beta-sheets within the disordered oligomeric aggregates
that form early under the effect of hydrophobic forces. Initially individual
beta-sheets form with random orientations, which subsequently tend to align
into protofilaments as their lengths increases. Our results suggest that
amyloid aggregation represents an example of the Ostwald step rule of first
order phase transitions by showing that ordered cross-beta structures emerge
preferentially from disordered compact dynamical intermediate assemblies.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Groups whose word problem is a Petri net language
There has been considerable interest in exploring the connections between the word problem of a finitely generated group as a formal language and the algebraic structure of the group. However, there are few complete characterizations that tell us precisely which groups have their word problem in a specified class of languages. We investigate which finitely generated groups have their word problem equal to a language accepted by a Petri net and give a complete classification, showing that a group has such a word problem if and only if it is virtually abelian
Enhanced Supersymmetry of Nonrelativistic ABJM Theory
We study the supersymmetry enhancement of nonrelativistic limits of the ABJM
theory for Chern-Simons level . The special attention is paid to the
nonrelativistic limit (known as `PAAP' case) containing both particles and
antiparticles. Using supersymmetry transformations generated by the monopole
operators, we find additional 2 kinematical, 2 dynamical, and 2 conformal
supercharges for this case. Combining with the original 8 kinematical
supercharges, the total number of supercharges becomes maximal: 14
supercharges, like in the well-known PPPP limit. We obtain the corresponding
super Schr\"odinger algebra which appears to be isomorphic to the one of the
PPPP case. We also discuss the role of monopole operators in supersymmetry
enhancement and partial breaking of supersymmetry in nonrelativistic limit of
the ABJM theory.Comment: 22 pages, references added, version to appear in JHE
A preliminary study of the effect of closed incision management with negative pressure wound therapy over high-risk incisions
Background
Certain postoperative wounds are recognised to be associated with more complications than others and may be termed high-risk. Wound healing can be particularly challenging following high-energy trauma where wound necrosis and infection rates are high. Surgical incision for joint arthrodesis can also be considered high-risk as it requires extensive and invasive surgery and postoperative distal limb swelling and wound dehiscence are common. Recent human literature has investigated the use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) over high-risk closed surgical incisions and beneficial effects have been noted including decreased drainage, decreased dehiscence and decreased infection rates. In a randomised, controlled study twenty cases undergoing distal limb high-energy fracture stabilisation or arthrodesis were randomised to NPWT or control groups. All cases had a modified Robert-Jones dressing applied for 72 h postoperatively and NPWT was applied for 24 h in the NPWT group. Morphometric assessment of limb circumference was performed at six sites preoperatively, 24 and 72 h postoperatively. Wound discharge was assessed at 24 and 72 h. Postoperative analgesia protocol was standardised and a Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Score (GCPS) carried out at 24, 48 and 72 h. Complications were noted and differences between groups were assessed.
Results
Percentage change in limb circumference between preoperative and 24 and 72 h postoperative measurements was significantly less at all sites for the NPWT group with exception of the joint proximal to the surgical site and the centre of the operated bone at 72 h. Median discharge score was lower in the NPWT group than the control group at 24 h. No significant differences in GCPS or complication rates were noted.
Conclusions
Digital swelling and wound discharge were reduced when NPWT was employed for closed incision management. Larger studies are required to evaluate whether this will result in reduced discomfort and complication rates postoperatively
miR-132/212 knockout mice reveal roles for these miRNAs in regulating cortical synaptic transmission and plasticity
miR-132 and miR-212 are two closely related miRNAs encoded in the same intron of a small non-coding gene, which have been suggested to play roles in both immune and neuronal function. We describe here the generation and initial characterisation of a miR-132/212 double knockout mouse. These mice were viable and fertile with no overt adverse phenotype. Analysis of innate immune responses, including TLR-induced cytokine production and IFNβ induction in response to viral infection of primary fibroblasts did not reveal any phenotype in the knockouts. In contrast, the loss of miR-132 and miR-212, while not overtly affecting neuronal morphology, did affect synaptic function. In both hippocampal and neocortical slices miR-132/212 knockout reduced basal synaptic transmission, without affecting paired-pulse facilitation. Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by tetanic stimulation was not affected by miR-132/212 deletion, whilst theta burst LTP was enhanced. In contrast, neocortical theta burst-induced LTP was inhibited by loss of miR-132/212. Together these results indicate that miR-132 and/or miR-212 play a significant role in synaptic function, possibly by regulating the number of postsynaptic AMPA receptors under basal conditions and during activity-dependent synaptic plasticity
Male Microchimerism at High Levels in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Women with End Stage Renal Disease before Kidney Transplantation
Patients with end stage renal diseases (ESRD) are generally tested for donor chimerism after kidney transplantation for tolerance mechanism purposes. But, to our knowledge, no data are available on natural and/or iatrogenic microchimerism (Mc), deriving from pregnancy and/or blood transfusion, acquired prior to transplantation. In this context, we tested the prevalence of male Mc using a real time PCR assay for DYS14, a Y-chromosome specific sequence, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 55 women with ESRD, prior to their first kidney transplantation, and compared them with results from 82 healthy women. Male Mc was also quantified in 5 native kidney biopsies obtained two to four years prior to blood testing and in PBMC from 8 women collected after female kidney transplantation, several years after the initial blood testing. Women with ESRD showed statistically higher frequencies (62%) and quantities (98 genome equivalent cells per million of host cells, gEq/M) of male Mc in their PBMC than healthy women (16% and 0.3 gEq/M, p<0.00001 and p = 0.0005 respectively). Male Mc was increased in women with ESRD whether they had or not a history of male pregnancy and/or of blood transfusion. Three out of five renal biopsies obtained a few years prior to the blood test also contained Mc, but no correlation could be established between earlier Mc in a kidney and later presence in PBMC. Finally, several years after female kidney transplantation, male Mc was totally cleared from PBMC in all women tested but one. This intriguing and striking initial result of natural and iatrogenic male Mc persistence in peripheral blood from women with ESRD raises several hypotheses for the possible role of these cells in renal diseases. Further studies are needed to elucidate mechanisms of recruitment and persistence of Mc in women with ESRD
Common carotid intima media thickness and ankle-brachial pressure index correlate with local but not global atheroma burden:a cross sectional study using whole body magnetic resonance angiography
Common carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) and ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI) are used as surrogate marker of atherosclerosis, and have been shown to correlate with arterial stiffness, however their correlation with global atherosclerotic burden has not been previously assessed. We compare CIMT and ABPI with atheroma burden as measured by whole body magnetic resonance angiography (WB-MRA).50 patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease were recruited. CIMT was measured using ultrasound while rest and exercise ABPI were performed. WB-MRA was performed in a 1.5T MRI scanner using 4 volume acquisitions with a divided dose of intravenous gadolinium gadoterate meglumine (Dotarem, Guerbet, FR). The WB-MRA data was divided into 31 anatomical arterial segments with each scored according to degree of luminal narrowing: 0 = normal, 1 = <50%, 2 = 50-70%, 3 = 70-99%, 4 = vessel occlusion. The segment scores were summed and from this a standardized atheroma score was calculated.The atherosclerotic burden was high with a standardised atheroma score of 39.5±11. Common CIMT showed a positive correlation with the whole body atheroma score (β 0.32, p = 0.045), however this was due to its strong correlation with the neck and thoracic segments (β 0.42 p = 0.01) with no correlation with the rest of the body. ABPI correlated with the whole body atheroma score (β -0.39, p = 0.012), which was due to a strong correlation with the ilio-femoral vessels with no correlation with the thoracic or neck vessels. On multiple linear regression, no correlation between CIMT and global atheroma burden was present (β 0.13 p = 0.45), while the correlation between ABPI and atheroma burden persisted (β -0.45 p = 0.005).ABPI but not CIMT correlates with global atheroma burden as measured by whole body contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography in a population with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease. However this is primarily due to a strong correlation with ilio-femoral atheroma burden
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