Daily calcium intake in male children and adolescents obtained from the rapid assessment method and the 24-hour recall method

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In order to rapidly assess nutrient intake, Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ) have been developed and proven to be reliable for quick, user friendly analysis in adults. However, the accuracy of these questionnaires in children has been studied to a limited extent. The aim of this study was to compare the daily calcium intake values obtained from the Rapid Assessment Method (RAM), an FFQ, for assessing daily calcium intake in child and adolescent males with the values obtained from the 24-hour recall method.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Subjects included 162 child and adolescent males, aged 9–16 years, subdivided into elementary school (ES, 9–12 years) and high school (HS, 14–16 years) age groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Daily calcium intake was significantly lower in ES compared with HS, using both methods. The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) between RAM values and those obtained using the 24-hour recall questionnaire were significant yet moderate (ICC = 0.46 and 0.43 for ES and HS, respectively). However, daily calcium intake obtained using RAM was significantly higher when compared with the 24-hour recall values in both ES (1576 +/- 1101 vs. 1003 +/- 543 mg, in RAM and 24-hour, respectively) and in HS males (1873 +/- 739 vs. 1159 +/- 515 mg, in RAM and 24-hour, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>RAM overestimates daily calcium intake as compared with the 24-hour recall method in both child and adolescent males.</p

The temporal reliability of serum estrogens, progesterone, gonadotropins, SHBG and urinary estrogen and progesterone metabolites in premenopausal women

BACKGROUND: There is little existing research to guide researchers in estimating the minimum number of measurement occasions required to obtain reliable estimates of serum estrogens, progesterone, gonadotropins, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and urinary estrogen and progesterone metabolites in premenopausal women. METHODS: Using data from a longitudinal study of 34 women with a mean age of 42.3 years (SD = 2.6), we calculated the minimum number of measurement occasions required to obtain reliable estimates of 12 analytes (8 in blood, 4 in urine). Five samples were obtained over 1 year: at baseline, and after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. We also calculated the percent of true variance accounted for by a single measurement and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) between measurement occasions. RESULTS: Only 2 of the 12 analytes we examined, SHBG and estrone sulfate (E(1)S), could be adequately estimated by a single measurement using a minimum reliability standard of having the potential to account for 64% of true variance. Other analytes required from 2 to 12 occasions to account for 81% of the true variance, and 2 to 5 occasions to account for 64% of true variance. ICCs ranged from 0.33 for estradiol (E(2)) to 0.88 for SHBG. Percent of true variance accounted for by single measurements ranged from 29% for luteinizing hormone (LH) to 92% for SHBG. CONCLUSIONS: Experimental designs that take the natural variability of these analytes into account by obtaining measurements on a sufficient number of occasions will be rewarded with increased power and accuracy

Statistical modeling of ground motion relations for seismic hazard analysis

We introduce a new approach for ground motion relations (GMR) in the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), being influenced by the extreme value theory of mathematical statistics. Therein, we understand a GMR as a random function. We derive mathematically the principle of area-equivalence; wherein two alternative GMRs have an equivalent influence on the hazard if these GMRs have equivalent area functions. This includes local biases. An interpretation of the difference between these GMRs (an actual and a modeled one) as a random component leads to a general overestimation of residual variance and hazard. Beside this, we discuss important aspects of classical approaches and discover discrepancies with the state of the art of stochastics and statistics (model selection and significance, test of distribution assumptions, extreme value statistics). We criticize especially the assumption of logarithmic normally distributed residuals of maxima like the peak ground acceleration (PGA). The natural distribution of its individual random component (equivalent to exp(epsilon_0) of Joyner and Boore 1993) is the generalized extreme value. We show by numerical researches that the actual distribution can be hidden and a wrong distribution assumption can influence the PSHA negatively as the negligence of area equivalence does. Finally, we suggest an estimation concept for GMRs of PSHA with a regression-free variance estimation of the individual random component. We demonstrate the advantages of event-specific GMRs by analyzing data sets from the PEER strong motion database and estimate event-specific GMRs. Therein, the majority of the best models base on an anisotropic point source approach. The residual variance of logarithmized PGA is significantly smaller than in previous models. We validate the estimations for the event with the largest sample by empirical area functions. etc

Genome-wide association study identifies loci associated with liability to alcohol and drug dependence that is associated with variability in reward-related ventral striatum activity in African- and European-Americans.

Genetic influences on alcohol and drug dependence partially overlap, however, specific loci underlying this overlap remain unclear. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of a phenotype representing alcohol or illicit drug dependence (ANYDEP) among 7291 European-Americans (EA; 2927 cases) and 3132 African-Americans (AA: 1315 cases) participating in the family-based Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. ANYDEP was heritable (h 2 in EA = 0.60, AA = 0.37). The AA GWAS identified three regions with genome-wide significant (GWS; P &lt; 5E-08) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosomes 3 (rs34066662, rs58801820) and 13 (rs75168521, rs78886294), and an insertion-deletion on chromosome 5 (chr5:141988181). No polymorphisms reached GWS in the EA. One GWS region (chromosome 1: rs1890881) emerged from a trans-ancestral meta-analysis (EA + AA) of ANYDEP, and was attributable to alcohol dependence in both samples. Four genes (AA: CRKL, DZIP3, SBK3; EA: P2RX6) and four sets of genes were significantly enriched within biological pathways for hemostasis and signal transduction. GWS signals did not replicate in two independent samples but there was weak evidence for association between rs1890881 and alcohol intake in the UK Biobank. Among 118 AA and 481 EA individuals from the Duke Neurogenetics Study, rs75168521 and rs1890881 genotypes were associated with variability in reward-related ventral striatum activation. This study identified novel loci for substance dependence and provides preliminary evidence that these variants are also associated with individual differences in neural reward reactivity. Gene discovery efforts in non-European samples with distinct patterns of substance use may lead to the identification of novel ancestry-specific genetic markers of risk

CMR Assessment of endothelial damage and angiogenesis in porcine coronary arteries using gadofosveset

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endothelial damage and angiogenesis are essential for atherosclerotic plaque development and destabilization. We sought to examine whether contrast enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) using gadofosveset could show endothelial damage and neovessel formation in balloon injured porcine coronary arteries.</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>Data were obtained from seven pigs that all underwent balloon injury of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) to induce endothelial damage and angiogenesis. Between one - 12 days (average four) after balloon injury, in vivo and ex vivo T1-weighted coronary CMR was performed after intravenous injection of gadofosveset. Post contrast, CMR showed contrast enhancement of the coronary arteries with a selective and time-dependent average expansion of the injured LAD segment area of 45% (p = 0.04; CI₉₅= [15%-75%]), indicating local extravasation of gadofosveset. Vascular and perivascular extravasation of albumin (marker of endothelial leakiness) and gadofosveset was demonstrated with agreement between Evans blue staining and ex vivo CMR contrast enhancement (p = 0.026). Coronary MRI contrast enhancement and local microvessel density determined by microscopic examination correlated (ρ = 0.82, p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Contrast enhanced coronary CMR with gadofosveset can detect experimentally induced endothelial damage and angiogenesis in the porcine coronary artery wall.</p

Environmental barriers to sociality in an obligate eusocial sweat bee

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary materials.Understanding the ecological and environmental contexts in which eusociality can evolve is fundamental to elucidating its evolutionary origins. A sufficiently long active season is postulated to have been a key factor facilitating the transition to eusociality. Many primitively eusocial species exhibit an annual life cycle, which is thought to preclude the expression of eusociality where the active season is too short to produce successive worker and reproductive broods. However, few studies have attempted to test this idea experimentally. We investigated environmental constraints on the expression of eusociality in the obligate primitively eusocial sweat bee Lasioglossum malachurum, by transplanting nest foundresses from the south to the far north of the United Kingdom, far beyond the natural range of L. malachurum. We show that transplanted bees can exhibit eusociality, but that the short length of the season and harsher environmental conditions could preclude its successful expression. In one year, when foundresses were transplanted only after provisioning first brood (B1) offspring, workers emerged in the north and provisioned a second brood (B2) of reproductives. In another year, when foundresses were transplanted prior to B1 being provisioned, they were just as likely to initiate nesting and provisioned just as many B1 cells as foundresses in the south. However, the life cycle was delayed by approximately 7 weeks and nests suffered 100% B1 mortality. Our results suggest that short season length together with poor weather conditions represent an environmental barrier to the evolution and expression of eusociality in sweat bees.This work formed part of a studentship (1119965) awarded to PJD funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the University of Sussex, supervised by JF

A dual-fMRI investigation of the iterated Ultimatum Game reveals that reciprocal behaviour is associated with neural alignment

Dyadic interactions often involve a dynamic process of mutual reciprocity; to steer a series of exchanges towards a desired outcome, both interactants must adapt their own behaviour according to that of their interaction partner. Understanding the brain processes behind such bidirectional reciprocity is therefore central to social neuroscience, but this requires measurement of both individuals’ brains during realworld exchanges. We achieved this by performing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on pairs of male individuals simultaneously while they interacted in a modifed iterated Ultimatum Game (iUG). In this modifcation, both players could express their intent and maximise their own monetary gain by reciprocating their partner’s behaviour – they could promote generosity through cooperation and/or discourage unfair play with retaliation. By developing a novel model of reciprocity adapted from behavioural economics, we then show that each player’s choices can be predicted accurately by estimating expected utility (EU) not only in terms of immediate payof, but also as a reaction to their opponent’s prior behaviour. Finally, for the frst time we reveal that brain signals implicated in social decision making are modulated by these estimates of EU, and become correlated more strongly between interacting players who reciprocate one another

Reduction of Clostridium Difficile and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus contamination of environmental surfaces after an intervention to improve cleaning methods

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Contaminated environmental surfaces may play an important role in transmission of some healthcare-associated pathogens. In this study, we assessed the adequacy of cleaning practices in rooms of patients with <it>Clostridium difficile</it>-associated diarrhea (CDAD) and vancomycin-resistant <it>Enterococcus </it>(VRE) colonization or infection and examined whether an intervention would result in improved decontamination of surfaces.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>During a 6-week period, we cultured commonly touched surfaces (i.e. bedrails, telephones, call buttons, door knobs, toilet seats, and bedside tables) in rooms of patients with CDAD and VRE colonization or infection before and after housekeeping cleaning, and again after disinfection with 10% bleach performed by the research staff. After the housekeeping staff received education and feedback, additional cultures were collected before and after housekeeping cleaning during a 10-week follow-up period.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 17 rooms of patients with VRE colonization or infection, 16 (94%) had one or more positive environmental cultures before cleaning versus 12 (71%) after housekeeping cleaning (p = 0.125), whereas none had positive cultures after bleach disinfection by the research staff (p < 0.001). Of the 9 rooms of patients with CDAD, 100% had positive cultures prior to cleaning versus 7 (78%) after housekeeping cleaning (p = 0.50), whereas only 1 (11%) had positive cultures after bleach disinfection by research staff (p = 0.031). After an educational intervention, rates of environmental contamination after housekeeping cleaning were significantly reduced.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings provide additional evidence that simple educational interventions directed at housekeeping staff can result in improved decontamination of environmental surfaces. Such interventions should include efforts to monitor cleaning and disinfection practices and provide feedback to the housekeeping staff.</p

Clinical realism: a new literary genre and a potential tool for encouraging empathy in medical students

Background: Empathy has been re-discovered as a desirable quality in doctors. A number of approaches using the medical humanities have been advocated to teach empathy to medical students. This paper describes a new approach using the medium of creative writing and a new narrative genre: clinical realism. Methods: Third year students were offered a four week long Student Selected Component (SSC) in Narrative Medicine and Creative Writing. The creative writing element included researching and creating a character with a life-changing physical disorder without making the disorder the focus of the writing. The age, gender, social circumstances and physical disorder of a character were randomly allocated to each student. The students wrote repeated assignments in the first person, writing as their character and including details of living with the disorder in all of their narratives. This article is based on the work produced by the 2013 cohort of students taking the course, and on their reflections on the process of creating their characters. Their output was analysed thematically using a constructivist approach to meaning making. Results: This preliminary analysis suggests that the students created convincing and detailed narratives which included rich information about living with a chronic disorder. Although the writing assignments were generic, they introduced a number of themes relating to illness, including stigma, personal identity and narrative wreckage. Some students reported that they found it difficult to relate to “their” character initially, but their empathy for the character increased as the SSC progressed. Conclusion: Clinical realism combined with repeated writing exercises about the same character is a potential tool for helping to develop empathy in medical students and merits further investigation