Lean body mass associated with upper body strength in healthy older adults while higher body fat limits lower extremity performance and endurance

Impaired strength adversely influences an older person\u27s ability to perform activities of daily living. A cross-sectional study of 117 independently living men and women (age = 73.4 9.4 year; body mass index (BMI) = 27.6 4.8 kg/m2) aimed to assess the association between body composition and: (1) upper body strength (handgrip strength, HGS); (2) lower extremity performance (timed up and go (TUG) and sit to stand test (STS)); and (3) endurance (6-minute walk (SMWT). Body composition (% fat; lean body mass (LBM)) was assessed using bioelectrical impedance. Habitual physical activity was measured using the Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (MLTPA) and dietary macronutrient intake, assessed using 24 h recalls and 3-day food records. Regression analyses included the covariates, protein intake (g/kg), MLTPA, age and sex. For natural logarithm (Ln) of right HGS, LBM (p \u3c 0.001) and % body fat (p \u3c 0.005) were significant (r2 = 46.5%; p \u3c 0.000). For left LnHGS, LBM (p \u3c 0.000), age (p = 0.036), protein intake (p = 0.015) and LnMLTPA (p = 0.015) were significant (r2 = 0.535; p \u3c 0.000). For SMW, % body fat, age and LnMLTPA were significant (r2 = 0.346; p \u3c 0.000). For STS, % body fat and age were significant (r2 = 0.251; p \u3c 0.000). LBM is a strong predictor of upper body strength while higher % body fat and lower physical activity are associated with poorer outcomes on tests of lower extremity performance

Genomic Approaches Uncover Increasing Complexities in the Regulatory Landscape at the Human SCL (TAL1) Locus

The SCL (TAL1) transcription factor is a critical regulator of haematopoiesis and its expression is tightly controlled by multiple cis-acting regulatory elements. To elaborate further the DNA elements which control its regulation, we used genomic tiling microarrays covering 256 kb of the human SCL locus to perform a concerted analysis of chromatin structure and binding of regulatory proteins in human haematopoietic cell lines. This approach allowed us to characterise further or redefine known human SCL regulatory elements and led to the identification of six novel elements with putative regulatory function both up and downstream of the SCL gene. They bind a number of haematopoietic transcription factors (GATA1, E2A LMO2, SCL, LDB1), CTCF or components of the transcriptional machinery and are associated with relevant histone modifications, accessible chromatin and low nucleosomal density. Functional characterisation shows that these novel elements are able to enhance or repress SCL promoter activity, have endogenous promoter function or enhancer-blocking insulator function. Our analysis opens up several areas for further investigation and adds new layers of complexity to our understanding of the regulation of SCL expression

Using Geographic Information Systems to investigate variations in accessibility to ‘extended hours’ primary healthcare provision

There are ongoing policy concerns surrounding the difficulty in obtaining timely appointments to primary healthcare services and the potential impact on, for example, attendance at accident and emergency services and potential health outcomes. Using the case study of potential access to primary healthcare services in Wales, Geographic Information System (GIS)‐based tools that permit a consideration of population‐to‐provider ratios over space are used to examine variations in geographical accessibility to general practitioner (GP) surgeries offering appointment times outside of ‘core’ operating hours. Correlation analysis is used to explore the association of accessibility scores with potential demand for such services using UK Population Census data. Unlike the situation in England, there is a tendency for accessibility to those surgeries offering ‘extended’ hours of appointment times to be better for more deprived census areas in Wales. However, accessibility to surgeries offering appointments in the evening was associated with lower levels of working age population classed as ‘economically active’; that is, those who could be targeted beneficiaries of policies geared towards ‘extended’ appointment hours provision. Such models have the potential to identify spatial mismatches of different facets of primary healthcare, such as ‘extended’ hours provision available at GP surgeries, and are worthy of further investigation, especially in relation to policies targeted at particular demographic groups

Agribusiness Sheep Updates - 2004 - Part 1

Proceedings of the Agribusiness Sheep Updates - 2004 Forward Dr Mark Dolling Manager, Sheep Industries and Pasture, Department of Agriculture Western Australia Keynotes Australian Wool Innovation Limited DR LEN STEPHENS AUSTRALIAN WOOL INNOVATION LIMITED (AWI) Commercialisation of Sheepmeat Eating Quality Outcomes, David Thomason, General Manger Marketing Meat & livestock Australia Limited PLENARY The Fitness of the Future Merino, Norm Adams and Shimin Liu, CSIRO Livestock Industries Ovine Johne’s Disease – Managing the Disease, Managing the Issues, PETER BUCKMAN, CHIEF VETERINARY OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WESTERN AUSTRALIA Animal Welfare – Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes, Michael Paton and Dianne Evans, Department of Agriculture Western Australian. Live Sheep Exports, JOHN EDWARDS. CHAIRMAN, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN LIVE SHEEP EXPORTERS ASSOCIATION MeCustomising to the Needs of the Customer – Insights from the New Zealand Merino Experience, DR SCOTT CHAMPION, RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGER, THE NEW ZEALAND MERINO COMPANY LIMITED Agribusiness Sheep Updates Conference -Economic and Financial Market Update Alan Langford, Economist, BankWest Concurrent sessions - Meeting the Market Breeding Wool to Address Consumer Requirements in Fabrics A.C. SCHLINK CSIRO Livestock Industries, J.C. GREEFF AND M. E. LADYMAN Department of Agriculture Western Australia Fibre Contribution to Retail Demand for Knitwear Melanie LadymanA and John StantonAB ADepartment of Agriculture Western Australia and BCurtin University of Technology Sustainable Merino, is this the Future for Merino? Stuart Adams, iZWool International P/L Meeting lamb Market Specs from Crossbred Ewes Dr. Neal Fogarty, NSW Agriculture and the Australian Sheep Industry CRC Use of Serial Body Weight Measurements in Prime Lamb Finishing Systems Matthew Kelly, CSIRO Livestock Industries, James Skerritt, Ian McFarland Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Australian Sheep Industry CR

Complex exon-intron marking by histone modifications is not determined solely by nucleosome distribution

It has recently been shown that nucleosome distribution, histone modifications and RNA polymerase II (Pol II) occupancy show preferential association with exons (“exon-intron marking”), linking chromatin structure and function to co-transcriptional splicing in a variety of eukaryotes. Previous ChIP-sequencing studies suggested that these marking patterns reflect the nucleosomal landscape. By analyzing ChIP-chip datasets across the human genome in three cell types, we have found that this marking system is far more complex than previously observed. We show here that a range of histone modifications and Pol II are preferentially associated with exons. However, there is noticeable cell-type specificity in the degree of exon marking by histone modifications and, surprisingly, this is also reflected in some histone modifications patterns showing biases towards introns. Exon-intron marking is laid down in the absence of transcription on silent genes, with some marking biases changing or becoming reversed for genes expressed at different levels. Furthermore, the relationship of this marking system with splicing is not simple, with only some histone modifications reflecting exon usage/inclusion, while others mirror patterns of exon exclusion. By examining nucleosomal distributions in all three cell types, we demonstrate that these histone modification patterns cannot solely be accounted for by differences in nucleosome levels between exons and introns. In addition, because of inherent differences between ChIP-chip array and ChIP-sequencing approaches, these platforms report different nucleosome distribution patterns across the human genome. Our findings confound existing views and point to active cellular mechanisms which dynamically regulate histone modification levels and account for exon-intron marking. We believe that these histone modification patterns provide links between chromatin accessibility, Pol II movement and co-transcriptional splicing

Structural Competency: Curriculum for Medical Students, Residents, and Interprofessional Teams on the Structural Factors That Produce Health Disparities

Introduction: Research on disparities in health and health care has demonstrated that social, economic, and political factors are key drivers of poor health outcomes. Yet the role of such structural forces on health and health care has been incorporated unevenly into medical training. The framework of structural competency offers a paradigm for training health professionals to recognize and respond to the impact of upstream, structural factors on patient health and health care. Methods: We report on a brief, interprofessional structural competency curriculum implemented in 32 distinct instances between 2015 and 2017 throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. In consultation with medical and interprofessional education experts, we developed open-ended, written-response surveys to qualitatively evaluate this curriculum\u27s impact on participants. Qualitative data from 15 iterations were analyzed via directed thematic analysis, coding language, and concepts to identify key themes. Results: Three core themes emerged from analysis of participants\u27 comments. First, participants valued the curriculum\u27s focus on the application of the structural competency framework in real-world clinical, community, and policy contexts. Second, participants with clinical experience (residents, fellows, and faculty) reported that the curriculum helped them reframe how they thought about patients. Third, participants reported feeling reconnected to their original motivations for entering the health professions. Discussion: This structural competency curriculum fills a gap in health professional education by equipping learners to understand and respond to the role that social, economic, and political structural factors play in patient and community health

EB1 Is Required for Spindle Symmetry in Mammalian Mitosis

Most information about the roles of the adenomatous polyposis coli protein (APC) and its binding partner EB1 in mitotic cells has come from siRNA studies. These suggest functions in chromosomal segregation and spindle positioning whose loss might contribute to tumourigenesis in cancers initiated by APC mutation. However, siRNA-based approaches have drawbacks associated with the time taken to achieve significant expression knockdown and the pleiotropic effects of EB1 and APC gene knockdown. Here we describe the effects of microinjecting APC- or EB1- specific monoclonal antibodies and a dominant-negative EB1 protein fragment into mammalian mitotic cells. The phenotypes observed were consistent with the roles proposed for EB1 and APC in chromosomal segregation in previous work. However, EB1 antibody injection also revealed two novel mitotic phenotypes, anaphase-specific cortical blebbing and asymmetric spindle pole movement. The daughters of microinjected cells displayed inequalities in microtubule content, with the greatest differences seen in the products of mitoses that showed the severest asymmetry in spindle pole movement. Daughters that inherited the least mobile pole contained the fewest microtubules, consistent with a role for EB1 in processes that promote equality of astral microtubule function at both poles in a spindle. We propose that these novel phenotypes represent APC-independent roles for EB1 in spindle pole function and the regulation of cortical contractility in the later stages of mitosis. Our work confirms that EB1 and APC have important mitotic roles, the loss of which could contribute to CIN in colorectal tumour cells

Learning about pain from others: an observational learning account

Although direct experience and verbal instruction are important sources in the development of pain-related beliefs and behaviors, accumulating evidence indicates that observation of others in pain may be equally as important. Taking a contemporary view on learning as a starting point, we discuss available evidence on observational learning in the context of pain, highlight its importance for both development and management of chronic pain problems, and discuss potential moderators of observational learning effects. We argue that the capacity to understand and appreciate the experience of another person is fundamental to observational learning, including use of this information to establish the association between pain and antecedent or consequent stimuli. A main objective of this paper is to stimulate research on the role of learning about pain from others. Several lines for further research, including clinical applications, are delineated. Perspective: Based upon a contemporary view on learning, this focus article delineates how pain-related beliefs and behaviors may be learnt by observing others. It is discussed how further research on the acquisition of pain-related beliefs/behaviors might further our understanding of pain and disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract

New metrics for the Lancet Standing Commission on Liver Disease in the UK

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