In situ grazing on plankton \u3c10 mu m by the boreal sponge Mycale lingua

Ultraplankton, heterotrophic and autotrophic plankton \u3c 5 mu m, are the most abundant food source in the world\u27s oceans, yet their role as a food source for macroinvertebrates is largely unexamined. We quantified in situ feeding on heterotrophic and autotrophic plankton \u3c 10 mu m by the boreal sponge Mycale lingua using measurements that quantified sponge feeding efficiencies, pumping rates, and abundance to determine the contribution of plankton \u3c 10 mu m to sponge carbon intake. Using dual-beam now cytometry we identified 5 populations of plankton \u3c 10 mu m: heterotrophic bacteria, Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus-type cyanobacteria, autotrophic eucaryotes \u3c 3 mu m, and autotrophic eucaryotes 3 to 10 mu m Mycale lingua nonselectively grazed on all types of plankton \u3c 10 mu m. Prochlorococcus was filtered with the highest efficiency (93%), followed by Synechococcus-type cyanobacteria (89%), autotrophic eucaryotes 3 to 10 mu m (86%), heterotrophic bacteria (74%), and autotrophic eucaryotes \u3c 3 mu m (72%). We conservatively estimate that M. lingua al naturally occurring densities can obtain 29 mg C d(-1) m(-2) feeding on plankton \u3c 10 mu m, with 74% resulting from ultraplankton, suggesting that ultraplankton are an important overlooked component of benthic-pelagic coupling

The human papillomavirus (HPV) oncoproteins: a review of the host pathways targeted on the road to transformation

Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs) is the causal factor in over 99 % of cervical cancer cases, and a significant proportion of oropharyngeal and anogenital cancers. The key drivers of HPV-mediated transformation are the oncoproteins E5, E6 and E7. Together, they act to prolong cell-cycle progression, delay differentiation and inhibit apoptosis in the host keratinocyte cell in order to generate an environment permissive for viral replication. The oncoproteins also have key roles in mediating evasion of the host immune response, enabling infection to persist. Moreover, prolonged infection within the cellular environment established by the HR-HPV oncoproteins can lead to the acquisition of host genetic mutations, eventually culminating in transformation to malignancy. In this review, we outline the many ways in which the HR-HPV oncoproteins manipulate the host cellular environment, focusing on how these activities can contribute to carcinogenesis

Assessing the Interocular Symmetry of Foveal Outer Nuclear Layer Thickness in Achromatopsia

Purpose: We examine the interocular symmetry of foveal outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness measurements in subjects with achromatopsia (ACHM). Methods: Images from 76 subjects with CNGA3- or CNGB3-associated ACHM and 42 control subjects were included in the study. Line or volume scans through the fovea of each eye were acquired using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Image quality was assessed for each image included in the analysis using a previously-described maximum tissue contrast index (mTCI) metric. Three foveal ONL thickness measurements were made by a single observer and interocular symmetry was assessed using the average of the three measurements for each eye. Results: Mean (± standard deviation) foveal ONL thickness for subjects with ACHM was 79.7 ± 18.3 μm (right eye) and 79.2 ± 18.7 μm (left eye) compared to 112.9 ± 15.2 (right eye) and 112.1 ± 13.9 μm (left eye) for controls. Foveal ONL thickness did not differ between eyes for ACHM (P = 0.636) or control subjects (P = 0.434). No significant relationship between mTCI and observer repeatability was observed for either control (P = 0.140) or ACHM (P = 0.351) images. Conclusions: While foveal ONL thickness is reduced in ACHM compared to controls, the high interocular symmetry indicates that contralateral ONL measurements could be used as a negative control in early-phase monocular treatment trials. Translational Relevance: Foveal ONL thickness can be measured using OCT images over a wide range of image quality. The interocular symmetry of foveal ONL thickness in ACHM and control populations supports the use of the non-study eye as a control for clinical trial purposes

A review of parental engagement in parenting interventions and strategies to promote it

Despite the importance of increasing engagement and minimising attrition and drop-out in parenting interventions, there is a paucity of empirical evidence examining factors related to engagement and participation. The range of factors examined in relation to engagement is generally limited in scope and variety, focusing on variables of convenience rather than utilising a theoretically-driven approach.The aim of this article is to review the factors related to parental engagement with interventions and to describe strategies and implications for improving engagement with parenting interventions. Several policy and practice implications are identified: (1) Poor parental engagement may threaten or compromise the capacity of parenting programmes to deliver valued outcomes. Viable engagement strategies need to be a core part of prevention and early intervention parenting programmes; (2) Agencies delivering parenting services need a proactive engagement strategy, which includes strategies to prevent drop-out, as well as strategies to actively respond to parental disengagement; (3) Research is needed to test the efficacy and robustness of different engagement enhancement strategies. Empirical tests are needed to test the effectiveness of different engagement strategies in order to ensure that the most efficient, cost-effective and efficacious approach is used in order to engage parents. Investment of research effort to improve parental engagement is likely to have a high yield in terms of programme efficiency, utility and cost effectiveness. We conclude that research examining how to improve engagement and decrease non-completion is needed to strengthen the population level value of parenting programmes as preventive interventions

Is dietary zinc protective for type 2 diabetes? Results from the Australian longitudinal study on women's health

Background: Animal studies have shown that zinc intake has protective effects against type 2 diabetes, but few studies have been conducted to examine this relationship in humans. The aim of this study is to investigate if dietary zinc is associated with risk of type 2 diabetes in a longitudinal study of mid-age Australian women. Methods: Data were collected from a cohort of women aged 45-50 years at baseline, participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to assess dietary intake and other nutrients. Predictors of 6-year incidence of type 2 diabetes were examined using multivariable logistic regression. Results: From 8921 participants, 333 incident cases of type 2 diabetes were identified over 6 years of follow-up. After adjustment for dietary and non-dietary factors, the highest quintile dietary zinc intake had almost half the odds of developing type 2 diabetes (OR = 0.50, 95% C.I. 0.32-0.77) compared with the lowest quintile. Similar findings were observed for the zinc/iron ratio; the highest quintile had half the odds of developing type 2 diabetes (OR = 0.50, 95% C.I 0.30-0.83) after multivariable adjustment of covariates. Conclusions: Higher total dietary zinc intake and high zinc/iron ratio are associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes in women. This finding is a positive step towards further research to determine if zinc supplementation may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. © 2013 Vashum et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Excited state intramolecular proton transfer in hydroxyanthraquinones: Toward predicting fading of organic red colorants in art.

Compositionally similar organic red colorants in the anthraquinone family, whose photodegradation can cause irreversible color and stability changes, have long been used in works of art. Different organic reds, and their multiple chromophores, suffer degradation disparately. Understanding the details of these molecules' degradation therefore provides a window into their behavior in works of art and may assist the development of improved conservation methods. According to one proposed model of photodegradation dynamics, intramolecular proton transfer provides a kinetically favored decay pathway in some photoexcited chromophores, preventing degradation-promoting electron transfer (ET). To further test this model, we measured excited state lifetimes of substituted gas-phase anthraquinones using high-level theory to explain the experimental results. The data show a general structural trend: Anthraquinones with 1,4-OH substitution are long-lived and prone to damaging ET, while excited state intramolecular proton transfers promote efficient quenching for hydroxyanthraquinones that lack this motif

The geography of recent genetic ancestry across Europe

The recent genealogical history of human populations is a complex mosaic formed by individual migration, large-scale population movements, and other demographic events. Population genomics datasets can provide a window into this recent history, as rare traces of recent shared genetic ancestry are detectable due to long segments of shared genomic material. We make use of genomic data for 2,257 Europeans (the POPRES dataset) to conduct one of the first surveys of recent genealogical ancestry over the past three thousand years at a continental scale. We detected 1.9 million shared genomic segments, and used the lengths of these to infer the distribution of shared ancestors across time and geography. We find that a pair of modern Europeans living in neighboring populations share around 10-50 genetic common ancestors from the last 1500 years, and upwards of 500 genetic ancestors from the previous 1000 years. These numbers drop off exponentially with geographic distance, but since genetic ancestry is rare, individuals from opposite ends of Europe are still expected to share millions of common genealogical ancestors over the last 1000 years. There is substantial regional variation in the number of shared genetic ancestors: especially high numbers of common ancestors between many eastern populations likely date to the Slavic and/or Hunnic expansions, while much lower levels of common ancestry in the Italian and Iberian peninsulas may indicate weaker demographic effects of Germanic expansions into these areas and/or more stably structured populations. Recent shared ancestry in modern Europeans is ubiquitous, and clearly shows the impact of both small-scale migration and large historical events. Population genomic datasets have considerable power to uncover recent demographic history, and will allow a much fuller picture of the close genealogical kinship of individuals across the world.Comment: Full size figures available from http://www.eve.ucdavis.edu/~plralph/research.html; or html version at http://ralphlab.usc.edu/ibd/ibd-paper/ibd-writeup.xhtm

Cost-Effectiveness of an Intervention to Reduce HIV/STI Incidence and Promote Condom Use among Female Sex Workers in the Mexico–US Border Region

Previous research demonstrated efficacy of a brief behavioral intervention to reduce incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among female sex workers (FSWs) in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, cities on Mexico's border with the US. We assessed this intervention's cost-effectiveness.A life-time Markov model was developed to estimate HIV cases prevented, changes in quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE), and costs per additional quality-adjusted life year gained (QALY), comparing (in US$2,009) no intervention to a once-only and annual intervention. Future costs and health benefits were discounted annually at 3$183. For FSWs receiving the intervention annually, there were 29 additional HIV cases prevented and 4.5 additional months of QALE compared to the once-only intervention. The additional cost per QALY was US$1,075. When highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was included in the model, the annual intervention strategy resulted in net savings and dominated both once-only and no intervention strategies, and remained robust across extensive sensitivity analyses. Even when considering clinical benefits from HAART, ignoring added costs, the cost per QALY gained remained below three times the Mexican GDP per capita, and below established cost-effectiveness thresholds.This brief intervention was shown to be cost-effective among FSWs in two Mexico-US border cities and may have application for FSWs in other resource-limited settings.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00338845

Do personality traits assessed on medical school admission predict exit performance?:A UK-wide longitudinal cohort studyA2

We thank the UKCAT Research Group for funding this independent evaluation and thank Rachel Greatrix and Sandra Nicholson of the UKCAT Consortium for their support throughout this project, and their feedback on the draft paper. We also thank Professor Amanda Lee and Ms Katie Wilde for their input into the application for funding, and ongoing support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD