Prevalence of diabetes in the Republic of Ireland: results from the National Health Survey (SLAN) 2007

Background: Current estimates of diabetes prevalence in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) are based on UK epidemiological studies. This study uses Irish data to describe the prevalence of doctor-diagnosed diabetes amongst all adults aged 18+ years and undiagnosed diabetes amongst those aged 45+ years. Methods: The survey of lifestyle attitudes and nutrition (SLAN) 2007 is based on a nationally representative sample of Irish adults aged 18+ years (n = 10,364). Self-reported doctor-diagnosed diabetes was recorded for respondents in the full sample. Diabetes medication use, measured height and weight, and non-fasting blood samples were variously recorded in sub-samples of younger (n = 967) and older (n = 1,207) respondents. Results: The prevalence of doctor-diagnosed diabetes amongst adults aged 18+ years was 3.5% (95% CI 3.1% - 3.9%). After adjustment for other explanatory variables; the risk of self-reported doctor-diagnosed diabetes was significantly related to age (p < 0.0001), employment status (p = 0.0003) and obesity (p = 0.0003). Amongst adults aged 45+ years, the prevalence of doctor-diagnosed diabetes was 8.9% (95% CI 7.3% -10.5%) and undiagnosed diabetes was 2.8% (95% CI 1.4% - 4.1%). This represented 31.2% of diabetes cases in this age group. Conclusion: Notwithstanding methodological differences, these prevalence estimates are consistent with those in the UK and France. However, the percentage of undiagnosed cases amongst adults aged 45+ years appears to be higher in the RoI. Increased efforts to improve early detection and population level interventions to address adverse diet and lifestyle factors are urgently needed

Integrated lipidomics and proteomics point to early blood-based changes in childhood preceding later development of psychotic experiences: evidence from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

Background The identification of early biomarkers of psychotic experiences (PEs) is of interest as early diagnosis and treatment of those at risk of future disorder is associated with improved outcomes. The current study investigated early lipidomic and coagulation pathway protein signatures of later PEs in subjects from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. Methods Plasma of 115 children (age 12) who were first identified as experiencing PEs at age 18 (48 cases and 67 controls) were assessed through integrated and targeted lipidomics and semi-targeted proteomics approaches. We assessed the lipids, LPCs (n=11) and PCs (n=61), and the protein members of the coagulation pathway (n=22) and integrated this data with complement pathway protein data already available on these subjects. Results Twelve PCs, four LPCs and the coagulation protein plasminogen were altered between the control and PE group after correction for multiple comparisons. Lipidomic and proteomic datasets were integrated into a multivariate network displaying a strong relationship between most lipids that were significantly associated to PEs and plasminogen. Finally, an unsupervised clustering approach identified four different clusters with one of the clusters presenting the highest ratio cases:controls (P < 0.01) and associated with a higher concentration of smaller LDL cholesterol particles. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the lipidome and proteome of subjects who report PEs at age 18 is already altered at age 12 indicating that metabolic dysregulation may contribute to an early vulnerability to PEs and suggesting cross-talk between these LPCs, PCs and coagulation and complement proteins

Sensory Communication

Contains table of contents for Section 2, an introduction and reports on twelve research projects.National Institutes of Health Grant R01 DC00117National Institutes of Health Grant R01 DC02032National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Grant 2 R01 DC00126National Institutes of Health Grant 2 R01 DC00270National Institutes of Health Contract N01 DC-5-2107National Institutes of Health Grant 2 R01 DC00100U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N61339-96-K-0002U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N61339-96-K-0003U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-97-1-0635U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-97-1-0655U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Subcontract 40167U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-96-1-0379U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F49620-96-1-0202National Institutes of Health Grant RO1 NS33778Massachusetts General Hospital, Center for Innovative Minimally Invasive Therapy Research Fellowship Gran

Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height

Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with ~700 common associated variants identified so far through genome - wide association studies . Here , we report 83 height - associated coding variants with lower minor allele frequenc ies ( range of 0.1 - 4.8% ) and effects of up to 2 16 cm /allele ( e.g. in IHH , STC2 , AR and CRISPLD2 ) , >10 times the average effect of common variants . In functional follow - up studies, rare height - increasing alleles of STC2 (+1 - 2 cm/allele) compromise d proteolytic inhibition of PAPP - A and increased cleavage of IGFBP - 4 in vitro , resulting in higher bioavailability of insulin - like growth factors . The se 83 height - associated variants overlap genes mutated in monogenic growth disorders and highlight new biological candidates ( e.g. ADAMTS3, IL11RA, NOX4 ) and pathways ( e.g . proteoglycan/ glycosaminoglycan synthesis ) involved in growth . Our results demonstrate that sufficiently large sample sizes can uncover rare and low - frequency variants of moderate to large effect associated with polygenic human phenotypes , and that these variants implicate relevant genes and pathways

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Rethinking inclusion : reading for success

Although the term 'inclusion' is used widely in the children's services sector, seldom has time been taken to explore what inclusion looks like in daily practice

The Process of Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation is a developmental skill that everyone must learn. It is the ability for you to tune into, make sense of and control your own strong feelings. It affectively influences how well you can adapt to situations and events in your life, as well as how you navigate and adapt to the world. A lack of healthy emotional regulation can lead one to become dysregulated. Two important phenomenon underpin our ability to regulate: emotional complexity and splitting. The more acknowledgment and understanding that we give to our emotions (not just the thoughts in our mind but the feelings in our better), the more control and problem solving skills we can harness to sustain a good standard of personal well-being

The Role of the Educational Leader : perceptions and expectations in a period of change

AT A TIME OF RAPID pedagogical and policy change in the Australian early childhood educators' professional context, little is known about the experience of the evolving Educational Leader role. This position is currently mandated in educational settings for young children, but at the time of writing, both the perceptions about the nature of the role and expectations of such a person, were unclear. This paper reports on a study across two geographical regions which contributes to the knowledge base of the unfolding of this role in the prior-to-school early childhood sector. Based on surveys from 206 people in the ACT and NSW in 2012, information collection was followed by a series of intensive workshops designed to facilitate understanding of the role and of the processes of educational change. Data from the survey and from these 41 workshop participants from diverse organisational and geographical settings enable greater insight to the issues, complexities and potential of this important role in the educational and policy landscape as well as the realities of workplace experiences of Educational Leaders. This paper has a focus on survey responses as affirmed through contributions by workshop participants; the actual enquiry projects undertaken by participants as part of the workshop initiatives are not included in the current paper. Despite contextual differences in responses, it is clear that expectations of the Educational Leader are high, appointment processes are constrained and role definition needs relevant local clarification.9 page(s

Genotypic characterisation and cluster analysis of campylobacter jejuni isolates from domestic pets, human clinical cases and retail food

The genetic similarity of Campylobacter jejuni isolates from pets, compared to human clinical cases and retail food isolates collected in Ireland over 2001-2006 was investigated by cluster analysis of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) fingerprinting profiles. Comparison of the PFGE profiles of 60 pet isolates and 109 human isolates revealed that seven (4.1%) profiles were grouped in clusters including at least one human and one pet C. jejuni isolate. In total six (1.6%) of 60 pet and 310 food profiles were in clusters with at least one food and one pet C. jejuni isolate. The detection of only a small number of genetically indistinguishable isolates by PFGE profile cluster analysis from pets and from humans with enteritis in this study suggests that pets are unlikely to be an important reservoir for human campylobacteriosis in Ireland. However, genetically indistinguishable isolates were detected and C. jejuni from pets may circulate and may contribute to clinical infections in humans. In addition, contaminated food fed to pets may be a potential source of Campylobacter infection in pets, which may subsequently pose a risk to humans