Agrin-induced acetylcholine receptor clustering in mammalian muscle requires tyrosine phosphorylation.

Agrin is thought to be the nerve-derived factor that initiates acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clustering at the developing neuromuscularjunction. We have investigated the signaling pathway in mouse C2 myotubes and report that agrin induces a rapid but transient tyrosine phosphorylation of the AChR beta subunit. As the beta-subunit tyrosine phosphorylation occurs before the formation of AChR clusters, it may serve as a precursor step in the clustering mechanism. Consistent with this, we observed that tyrosine phosphorylation of the beta subunit correlated precisely with the presence or absence of clustering under several experimental conditions. Moreover, two tyrosine kinase inhibitors, herbimycin and staurosporine, that blocked beta-subunit phosphorylation also blocked agrin-induced clustering. Surprisingly, the inhibitors also dispersed preformed AChR clusters, suggesting that the tyrosine phosphorylation of other proteins may be required for the maintenance of receptor clusters. These findings indicate that in mammalian muscle, agrin-induced AChR clustering occurs through a mechanism that requires tyrosine phosphorylation and may involve tyrosine phosphorylation of the AChR itself

Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals in the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is now the leading cause of death globally and is a growing health concern. Dietary factors are important in the pathogenesis of CVD and may to a large degree determine CVD risk, but have been less extensively investigated. Functional foods are those that are thought to have physiological benefits and/or reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond their basic nutritional functions. The food industry has started to market products labelled as “functional foods.” Although many review articles have focused on individual dietary variables as determinants of CVD that can be modified to reduce the risk of CVD, the aim of this current paper was to examine the impact of functional foods in relation to the development and progression of CVD. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated the association between certain dietary patterns and cardiovascular health. Research into the cardio-protective potential of their dietary components might support the development of functional foods and nutraceuticals. This paper will also compare the effect of individual bioactive dietary compounds with the effect of some dietary patterns in terms of their cardiovascular protection

Heavy Metal Poisoning and Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an increasing world health problem. Traditional risk factors fail to account for all deaths from CVD. It is mainly the environmental, dietary and lifestyle behavioral factors that are the control keys in the progress of this disease. The potential association between chronic heavy metal exposure, like arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, and CVD has been less well defined. The mechanism through which heavy metals act to increase cardiovascular risk factors may act still remains unknown, although impaired antioxidants metabolism and oxidative stress may play a role. However, the exact mechanism of CVD induced by heavy metals deserves further investigation either through animal experiments or through molecular and cellular studies. Furthermore, large-scale prospective studies with follow up on general populations using appropriate biomarkers and cardiovascular endpoints might be recommended to identify the factors that predispose to heavy metals toxicity in CVD. In this review, we will give a brief summary of heavy metals homeostasis, followed by a description of the available evidence for their link with CVD and the proposed mechanisms of action by which their toxic effects might be explained. Finally, suspected interactions between genetic, nutritional and environmental factors are discussed

Social media guidelines: a review for health professionals and faculty members

Background The rising societal use of social media has encouraged health professionals to use social media in their professional activities; however, this can be a daunting task, particularly for those who are uncertain about the boundaries for the professional use of social media. This article summarises the guidelines provided by medical governing bodies on social media use and provides practical advice on how social media can be used, which is transferrable across the health professions. Methods Nine guidance documents published by medical governing bodies in major international English‐speaking countries were reviewed and analysed to identify their key common messages. Findings Five key themes were identified across all of the guidance documents, as follows: maintain patient confidentiality; defamation is unacceptable; privacy cannot be guaranteed; responsibility to maintain public trust; and reasons to use social media. Conclusions The guidelines predominantly focus on the risks of using social media. Although this is necessary, it is likely to inhibit the exploration of the potential uses of social media in health care education and practice. All of the guidance documents from governing bodies encourage the use of social media to engage with patients and to network with colleagues; however, there is relatively little practical guidance on how to use social media as a health professional. This article offers some practical advice for faculty members who wish to run development sessions on how to use social media for professional purposes

Relationship Between Vitamin D and Cardio-Metabolic Biomarkers Among Saudi Postmenopausal Women

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent worldwide, and in Saudi Arabia in particular. There is growing evidence that hypovitaminosis D is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. We determined concentrations of serum 25 hydroxy 25(OH) vitamin D in relation to several metabolic biomarkers including total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), atherogenic index (AI), glucose, C-reactive protein (CRP), adiposity, and blood pressure in a cross-sectional analysis in 300 Saudi postmenopausal women. Participants completed a detailed questionnaire and fasting blood samples were collected. Vitamin D deficiency was common, affecting 89% of individuals. Higher serum 25(OH) vitamin D levels were consistently found among subjects with no prevalent cardiovascular risk factors (p>0.05) except for those subjects with serum CRP level ≥3mg/dl, HDL-C <1.04mmol/L, AI≥5, exercising ≥3times/week, and those with 4 or more pregnancies. Hypovitaminosis D was inversely correlated with DBP (r=-0.118, p=0.042), TC (r=-0.165, p=0.004), TG (r=-0.119, p=0.040), LDL-C (r=-0.138, p=0.017), AI (r=-0.125, p=0.031), and veiling type (r=-0.127, p=0.028). No significant impact of hypovitaminosis D on CRP, levels of which were similar among vitamin D sufficient and deficient subjects. However, hypovitaminosis D was significantly related to dyslipidemia and diastolic blood pressure in a group of Saudi postmenopausal women

Dietary behaviors in relation to prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in adolescent girls.

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS There is limited evidence regarding the relationship between dietary behaviors and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study aimed to explore the association between diet-related practices and prevalence of IBS. METHODS The study was conducted among 988 adolescent girls living in Iran. Dietary behaviors were pre-defined and assessed in nine domains using a pre-tested questionnaire. To investigate the association between diet-related practices and the presence of IBS, we used logistic regression analysis in crude and adjusted models. RESULTS The prevalence of IBS was 16.9% in this population. Compared with individuals who did not consume fluid with their meal, those who always consumed fluid with meals had a greater chance of IBS (OR: 2.91; P: 0.01). We found a direct relationship between a greater intake of spicy food and IBS prevalence (OR: 5.28; P: 0.02). The individuals who ate fried foods every day also had a greater risk of IBS compared with those who did not consume fried foods (OR: 1.65; P: 0.01). The subjects who had lost ≥5 teeth had 2.23 times greater odds for IBS than the individual who had lost ≤1 tooth (OR: 2.23; P: 0.01) was a significant inverse relationship between the chewing sufficiency and the risk of IBS (OR: 4.04; P: 0.02). These associations remained significant after controlling for potential confounder CONCLUSIONS: Intra-meal fluid intake, chewing insufficiency, higher tooth loss and the consumption of spicy and fried food were associated with increased risk of IBS. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings

Columbia River Rhyolites: Age-Distribution Patterns and Their Implications for Arrival, Location, and Dispersion of Continental Flood Basalt Magmas in the Crust

Columbia River province magmatism is now known to include abundant and widespread rhyolite centers even though the view that the earliest rhyolites erupted from the McDermitt Caldera and other nearby volcanic fields along the Oregon–Nevada state border has persisted. Our study covers little-studied or unknown rhyolite occurrences in eastern Oregon that show a much wider distribution of older centers. With our new data on distribution of rhyolite centers and ages along with literature data, we consider rhyolites spanning from 17.5 to 14.5 Ma of eastern Oregon, northern Nevada, and western Idaho to be a direct response to flood basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) and collectively categorize them as Columbia River Rhyolites. The age distribution patterns of Columbia River Rhyolites have implications for the arrival, location, and dispersion of flood basalt magmas in the crust. We consider the period from 17.5 to 16.4 Ma to be the waxing phase of rhyolite activity and the period from 15.3 to 14.5 Ma to be the waning phase. The largest number of centers was active between 16.3–15.4 Ma. The existence of crustal CRBG magma reservoirs beneath rhyolites seems inevitable, and hence, rhyolites suggest the following. The locations of centers of the waxing phase imply the arrival of CRBG magmas across the distribution area of rhyolites and are thought to correspond to the thermal pulses of arriving Picture Gorge Basalt and Picture-Gorge-Basalt-like magmas of the Imnaha Basalt in the north and to those of Steens Basalt magmas in the south. The earlier main rhyolite activity phase corresponds with Grande Ronde Basalt and evolved Picture Gorge Basalt and Steens Basalt. The later main phase rhyolite activity slightly postdated these basalts but is contemporaneous with icelanditic magmas that evolved from flood basalts. Similarly, centers of the waning phase span the area distribution of earlier phases and are similarly contemporaneous with icelanditic magmas and with other local basalts. These data have a number of implications for long-held notions about flood basalt migration through time and the age-progressive Snake River Plain Yellowstone rhyolite trend. There is no age progression in rhyolite activity from south-to-north, and this places doubt on the postulated south-to-north progression in basalt activity, at least for main-phase CRBG lavas. Furthermore, we suggest that age-progressive rhyolite activity of the Snake River Plain–Yellowstone trend starts at ~12 Ma with activity at the Bruneau Jarbidge center, and early centers along the Oregon–Nevada border, such as McDermitt, belong to the early to main phase rhyolites identified here

Intensive Work-Integrated Learning (WIL): The benefits and challenges of condensed and compressed WIL experiences

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a well-established educational strategy with acknowledged benefits for student learning and employability. This paper explores and documents Intensive WIL, where students undertake short or condensed WIL experiences, ranging from 35 to 400 hours. Four case studies from different universities, designed for different purposes, using either placement or project approaches, and with different student cohorts, showcase the flexibility and adaptability of this model of WIL. Drawing on existing quality frameworks developed for WIL, a new, dedicated set of quality indicators was developed to evaluate examples of intensive WIL, as demonstrated in the case studies. This new framework places greater emphasis on the WIL experience itself, which has had little previous attention. The study confirms that given the right conditions, and used for the right purposes, Intensive WIL delivers quality experiences for students. Unique challenges of Intensive WIL include: sourcing projects with appropriate scope and complexity that are achievable and from which students will learn; ensuring students have command of previous theoretical concepts, as there may be little time to get them up to speed during Intensive WIL; ensuring all stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities for smooth operation; and effective communication between workplace and university staff, as there is less time to recover from any difficult situations that may arise

The effects of curcumin on weight loss among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background and objective: The current systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was carried out to assess the influence of curcumin intake on weight among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders. Methods: We searched the following databases up until January 2018: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The relevant data were extracted and evaluated for quality of the studies in accordance with the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Data were pooled using the inverse variance method and expressed as standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95 confidence intervals (95 CI). Results: Eighteen articles (21 studies) that comprised a total of 1,604 individuals were finally included in the meta-analysis. Curcumin intake significantly reduced body mass index (BMI) (SMD �0.37; 95 CI, �0.61, �0.13; P < 0.01), weight (SMD �0.23; 95 CI, �0.39, �0.06; P < 0.01), waist-circumference (WC) (SMD �0.25; 95 CI, �0.44, �0.05; P = 0.01), leptin levels (SMD �0.97; 95 CI, �1.18, �0.75; P < 0.001) and increased adiponectin levels (SMD 1.05; 95 CI, 0.23, 1.87; P = 0.01). We found no significant effect of curcumin intake on hip ratio (HR) (SMD �0.17; 95 CI, �0.42, 0.08; P = 0.18). Conclusions: Overall, we have found that curcumin intake among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders was correlated with a significant reduction in BMI, weight, WC, and leptin, and a significant increase in adiponectin levels, but did not affect HR. Copyright © 2019 Akbari, Lankarani, Tabrizi, Ghayour-Mobarhan, Peymani, Ferns, Ghaderi and Asemi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms

Low coordinate magnesium sulfide and selenide complexes

Funding: Authors thank the University of St Andrews and the EPSRC doctoral training grant (EP/N509759/1) for support. We gratefully acknowledge computational support via the EaStCHEM Research Computing Facility.The reactions of [{(iPrDipNacNac)Mg}2] 1 (iPrDipnacnac = HC(iPrCNDip)2) with Ph3P═O at 100 °C afforded the phosphinate complex [(iPrDipNacNac)Mg(OPPh3)(OPPh2)] 3 . Reactions of 1 with Ph3P═E (E = S, Se) proceeded rapidly at room temperature to low-coordinate chalcogenide complexes [{(iPrDipNacNac)Mg}2(μ-S)] 4 and [{(iPrDipNacNac)Mg}2(μ-Se)] 5 , respectively. Similarly, reactions of RNHC═S ((MeCNR)2C═S with R = Me, Et, or iPr) with 1 afforded NHC adducts of magnesium sulfide complexes, [{(iPrDipNacNac)Mg(RNHC)}(μ-S){Mg(iPrDipNacNac)}] 6 , that could alternatively be obtained by adding the appropriate RNHC to sulfide complex 4 . Complex 4 reacted with 1-adamantylazide (AdN3) to give [{(iPrDipNacNac)Mg}2(μ-SN3Ad)] 7 and can form various simple donor adducts in solution, of which [(iPrDipNacNac)Mg(OAd)}2(μ-S)] 8a (OAd = 2-adamantanone) was structurally characterized. The nature of the ionic Mg–E–Mg unit is described by solution and solid-state studies of the complexes and by DFT computational investigations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe