New light on the ‘Drummer of Tedworth’: conflicting narratives of witchcraft in Restoration England

This paper presents a definitive text of hitherto little-known early documents concerning ‘The Drummer of Tedworth’, a poltergeist case that occurred in 1662-3 and became famous not least due to its promotion by Joseph Glanvill in his demonological work, Saducismus Triumphatus. On the basis of these and other sources, it is shown how responses to the events at Tedworth evolved from anxious piety on the part of their victim, John Mompesson, to confident apologetic by Glanvill, before they were further affected by the emergence of articulate scepticism about the case

Multifractal Analysis of Soil Surface Roughness

Soil surface roughness (SSR) is a parameter highly suited to the study of soil susceptibility to wind and water erosion. The development of a methodology for quantifying SSR is therefore instrumental to soil evaluation. We developed such a method, based on the multifractal analysis (MFA) of soil elevation measurements collected at the intersections on a 2- by 2-cm2 grid in a 200- by 200-cm2 plot. Samples were defined using the gliding box algorithm (GB), in which a box of a given size "glides" across the grid map in all possible directions. The advantage of the GB over the box counting algorithm is that it yields a greater number of large sample sizes, which usually leads to better statistical results. Standard deviation, semivariogram fractal dimension, and semivariogram crossover length were estimated for all scenarios to compare the results of SSR multifractal analysis to indices found with traditional techniques. For its high sensitivity to the spatial arrangement implicit in a data set, MFA appears to be better suited than classical indices to compare plots tilled under different management criteria. The results showed that MFA is able to effectively reflect the heterogeneity and complexity of agricultural SSR. Based on this type of analysis, two new indices have been defined to compare the multifractal spectrum characteristics of the raw data to the characteristics of a random field with the same average and SD

Replication and Characterization of Association between ABO SNPs and Red Blood Cell Traits by Meta-Analysis in Europeans.

Red blood cell (RBC) traits are routinely measured in clinical practice as important markers of health. Deviations from the physiological ranges are usually a sign of disease, although variation between healthy individuals also occurs, at least partly due to genetic factors. Recent large scale genetic studies identified loci associated with one or more of these traits; further characterization of known loci and identification of new loci is necessary to better understand their role in health and disease and to identify potential molecular mechanisms. We performed meta-analysis of Metabochip association results for six RBC traits-hemoglobin concentration (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red blood cell count (RCC)-in 11 093 Europeans from seven studies of the UCL-LSHTM-Edinburgh-Bristol (UCLEB) Consortium. We identified 394 non-overlapping SNPs in five loci at genome-wide significance: 6p22.1-6p21.33 (with HFE among others), 6q23.2 (with HBS1L among others), 6q23.3 (contains no genes), 9q34.3 (only ABO gene) and 22q13.1 (with TMPRSS6 among others), replicating previous findings of association with RBC traits at these loci and extending them by imputation to 1000 Genomes. We further characterized associations between ABO SNPs and three traits: hemoglobin, hematocrit and red blood cell count, replicating them in an independent cohort. Conditional analyses indicated the independent association of each of these traits with ABO SNPs and a role for blood group O in mediating the association. The 15 most significant RBC-associated ABO SNPs were also associated with five cardiometabolic traits, with discordance in the direction of effect between groups of traits, suggesting that ABO may act through more than one mechanism to influence cardiometabolic risk.British Heart Foundation (Grant ID: RG/10/12/28456, RG/08/013/25942, RG/13/16/30528, RG/98002, RG/07/008/23674); Medical Research Council (Grant ID: G0000934, G0500877, MC_UU_12019/1, K013351); Wellcome Trust (Grant ID: 068545/Z/02, 097451/Z/11/Z); European Commission Framework Programme 6 (Grant ID: 018996); French Ministry of Research; Department of Health Policy Research Programme (England); Chief Scientist Office of Scotland (Grant ID: CZB/4/672, CZQ/1/38); National Institute on Ageing (NIA) (Grant ID: AG1764406S1, 5RO1AG13196); Pfizer plc (Unrestricted Investigator Led Grant); Diabetes UK (Clinical Research Fellowship 10/0003985); Stroke Association; National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (5RO1HL036310); Agency for Health Care Policy Research (HS06516); John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Networks on Successful Midlife Development and Socio-economic Status and Health; Swiss National Science Foundation (33CSCO-122661); GlaxoSmithKline. Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne,Switzerland.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Public Library of Science (PLOS) via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.015691

WPA position statement on prisoner mental and public health care

As a group, prisoners have a tendency not to engage effectively with healthcare services while they are in the community because they have so many other competing priorities. Other priorities may include access to adequate finance, finding a place to sleep that is dry and safe, having sufficient food for themselves and their families, or the need to meet existing addictions. However, as a group, they present with high levels of health morbidity across domains of physical and mental health and addictions. It is widely established that screening people for healthcare conditions at the point when they are received into prison can assist in identifying a range of medical conditions. Although the process has limitations, the practice of screening is recommended internationally. After screening has taken place, healthcare services are meant to be provided in prisons to the same extent and quality as would be available in the community, yet across the world, there have often been problems in ensuring the adequacy of prison healthcare systems. Prison healthcare departments have often lagged behind regarding funding, and many countries have reported problems with the quality and consistency of delivery. Also, issues with training and continuous professional development are often cited as problematic in this area. This curriculum has been prepared to assist countries in ensuring that systems are in place for the effective training and continuous professional development of staff. It is meant to assist those who design such programs for local use

Novel loci affecting iron homeostasis and their effects in individuals at risk for hemochromatosis

Variation in body iron is associated with or causes diseases, including anaemia and iron overload. Here, we analyse genetic association data on biochemical markers of iron status from 11 European-population studies, with replication in eight additional cohorts (total up to 48,972 subjects). We find 11 genome-wide-significant (P<5 × 10(-8)) loci, some including known iron-related genes (HFE, SLC40A1, TF, TFR2, TFRC, TMPRSS6) and others novel (ABO, ARNTL, FADS2, NAT2, TEX14). SNPs at ARNTL, TF, and TFR2 affect iron markers in HFE C282Y homozygotes at risk for hemochromatosis. There is substantial overlap between our iron loci and loci affecting erythrocyte and lipid phenotypes. These results will facilitate investigation of the roles of iron in disease

Replication and characterization of association between ABO SNPs and red blood cell traits by meta-analysis in Europeans

Published: June 9, 2016Red blood cell (RBC) traits are routinely measured in clinical practice as important markers of health. Deviations from the physiological ranges are usually a sign of disease, although variation between healthy individuals also occurs, at least partly due to genetic factors. Recent large scale genetic studies identified loci associated with one or more of these traits; further characterization of known loci and identification of new loci is necessary to better understand their role in health and disease and to identify potential molecular mechanisms. We performed meta-analysis of Metabochip association results for six RBC traits-hemoglobin concentration (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red blood cell count (RCC)-in 11 093 Europeans from seven studies of the UCL-LSHTM-Edinburgh-Bristol (UCLEB) Consortium. We identified 394 non-overlapping SNPs in five loci at genome-wide significance: 6p22.1-6p21.33 (with HFE among others), 6q23.2 (with HBS1L among others), 6q23.3 (contains no genes), 9q34.3 (only ABO gene) and 22q13.1 (with TMPRSS6 among others), replicating previous findings of association with RBC traits at these loci and extending them by imputation to 1000 Genomes. We further characterized associations between ABO SNPs and three traits: hemoglobin, hematocrit and red blood cell count, replicating them in an independent cohort. Conditional analyses indicated the independent association of each of these traits with ABO SNPs and a role for blood group O in mediating the association. The 15 most significant RBC-associated ABO SNPs were also associated with five cardiometabolic traits, with discordance in the direction of effect between groups of traits, suggesting that ABO may act through more than one mechanism to influence cardiometabolic risk.Stela McLachlan, Claudia Giambartolomei, Jon White, Pimphen Charoen, Andrew Wong, Chris Finan, Jorgen Engmann, Tina Shah, Micha Hersch, Clara Podmore, Alana Cavadino, Barbara J. Jefferis, Caroline E. Dale, Elina Hypponen, Richard W. Morris, Juan P. Casas, Meena Kumari, Yoav Ben-Shlomo, Tom R. Gaunt, Fotios Drenos, Claudia Langenberg, Diana Kuh, Mika Kivimaki, Rico Rueedi, Gerard Waeber, Aroon D. Hingorani, Jacqueline F. Price, Ann P. Walker, UCLEB Consortiu

Iron Metabolism and Type 2 Diabetes Incidence

OBJECTIVE: Observational studies show an association between ferritin and type 2 diabetes (T2D), suggesting a role of high iron stores in T2D development. However, ferritin is influenced by factors other than iron stores, which is less the case for other biomarkers of iron metabolism. We investigated associations of ferritin, transferrin saturation (TSAT), serum iron, and transferrin with T2D incidence to clarify the role of iron in the pathogenesis of T2D. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-InterAct study includes 12,403 incident T2D cases and a representative subcohort of 16,154 individuals from a European cohort with 3.99 million person-years of follow-up. We studied the prospective association of ferritin, TSAT, serum iron, and transferrin with incident T2D in 11,052 cases and a random subcohort of 15,182 individuals and assessed whether these associations differed by subgroups of the population. RESULTS: Higher levels of ferritin and transferrin were associated with a higher risk of T2D (hazard ratio [HR] [95% CI] in men and women, respectively: 1.07 [1.01-1.12] and 1.12 [1.05-1.19] per 100 μg/L higher ferritin level; 1.11 [1.00-1.24] and 1.22 [1.12-1.33] per 0.5 g/L higher transferrin level) after adjustment for age, center, BMI, physical activity, smoking status, education, hs-CRP, alanine aminotransferase, and γ-glutamyl transferase. Elevated TSAT (≥45% vs. <45%) was associated with a lower risk of T2D in women (0.68 [0.54-0.86]) but was not statistically significantly associated in men (0.90 [0.75-1.08]). Serum iron was not associated with T2D. The association of ferritin with T2D was stronger among leaner individuals (Pinteraction < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of association of TSAT and transferrin with T2D suggests that the underlying relationship between iron stores and T2D is more complex than the simple link suggested by the association of ferritin with T2D.We thank all EPIC participants and staff for their contribution to the study. We thank Nicola Kerrison (MRC Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge) for managing the data for the InterAct Project. We thank Dr Felix Day (MRC Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge) for assistance with figures. Funding for the InterAct project was provided by the EU FP6 programme (grant number LSHM_CT_2006_037197). In addition, InterAct investigators acknowledge funding from the following agencies: IS, JWJB and YTvdS: Verification of diabetes cases was additionally funded by NL Agency grant IGE05012 and an Incentive Grant from the Board of the UMC Utrecht (The Netherlands); HBBdM, AMWS and DLvdA: Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), Statistics Netherlands (The Netherlands); FLC: Cancer Research UK; PWF: Swedish Research Council, Novo nordisk, Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, Swedish Diabetes Association; JH, KO and AT: Danish Cancer Society; RK: Deutsche Krebshilfe; SP: Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro; JRQ: Asturias Regional Government; MT: Health Research Fund (FIS) of the Spanish Ministry of Health; the CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain; Murcia Regional Government (Nº 6236); RT: AIRE-ONLUS Ragusa, AVIS-Ragusa, Sicilian Regional Government. Biomarker measurements in the EPIC-InterAct subcohort were partially funded by a grant from the UK Medical Research Council and British Heart Foundation (EPIC-Heart: G0800270). Clara Podmore is funded by the Wellcome Trust (097451/Z/11/Z).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/29/dc15-0257.abstract

Use of vitamin supplements and risk of total cancer and cardiovascular disease among the Japanese general population: A population-based survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the popular use of vitamin supplements and several prospective cohort studies investigating their effect on cancer incidence and cardiovascular disease (CVD), scientific data supporting their benefits remain controversial. Inconsistent results may be partly explained by the fact that use of supplements is an inconsistent behavior in individuals. We examined whether vitamin supplement use patterns affect cancer and CVD risk in a population-based cohort study in Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 28,903 men and 33,726 women in the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study cohort, who answered questions about vitamin supplement use in the first survey from 1990-1994 and the second survey from 1995-1998, were categorized into four groups (never use, past use, recent use, and consistent use) and followed to the end of 2006 for cancer and 2005 for CVD. Sex-specific hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to describe the relative risks of cancer and CVD associated with vitamin supplement use.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During follow-up, 4501 cancer and 1858 CVD cases were identified. Multivariate adjusted analysis revealed no association of any pattern of vitamin supplement use with the risk of cancer and CVD in men. In women, consistent use was associated with lower risk of CVD (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.41-0.89), whereas past (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.02-1.33) and recent use (HR 1.24, 95% CI 1.01-1.52) were associated with higher risk of cancer.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To our knowledge, this is the first prospective cohort study to examine simultaneously the associations between vitamin supplement use patterns and risk of cancer and CVD. This prospective cohort study demonstrated that vitamin supplement use has little effect on the risk of cancer or CVD in men. In women, however, consistent vitamin supplement use might reduce the risk of CVD. Elevated risk of cancer associated with past and recent use of vitamin supplements in women may be partly explained by preexisting diseases or unhealthy background, but we could not totally control for this in our study.</p