Currents and finite elements as tools for shape space

The nonlinear spaces of shapes (unparameterized immersed curves or submanifolds) are of interest for many applications in image analysis, such as the identification of shapes that are similar modulo the action of some group. In this paper we study a general representation of shapes that is based on linear spaces and is suitable for numerical discretization, being robust to noise. We develop the theory of currents for shape spaces by considering both the analytic and numerical aspects of the problem. In particular, we study the analytical properties of the current map and the $H^{-s}$ norm that it induces on shapes. We determine the conditions under which the current determines the shape. We then provide a finite element discretization of the currents that is a practical computational tool for shapes. Finally, we demonstrate this approach on a variety of examples

Assessing whether environmental impact is a criterion of consumers when selecting an airline

The aim of this study is to gain insight as to whether environmental impact is a criterion of consumers when actually selecting an airline. Findings indicate that cost and convenience, followed by destinations on offer and departure airports, are the key criteria for consumers in airline ticket purchasing decisions. Airlines may continue environmental activity and disclosure for long-term strategic reasons although individual ticket purchase decisions do not appear to be based primarily on environmental considerations. The research fills a gap in the U.K. empirical literature by exploring whether consumers of airlines operating out of the U.K. consider environmental impacts when making actual ticket purchase decisions

Attitudes to ageing, biomarkers of ageing and mortality:The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Objective: To investigate whether people with more positive attitudes to ageing are biologically younger as defined by leucocyte telomere length, accelerated DNA methylation GrimAge (AgeAccelGrim) and brain-predicted age difference, and whether these biomarkers explain relationships between attitudes to ageing and mortality.Methods: We used linear regression to examine cross-sectionally attitudes to ageing (measured using the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire) and the three biomarkers in 758 adults, mean age 72.5 years, from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. We used Cox proportional hazards models to examine longitudinally attitudes to ageing and mortality and the role of the biomarkers.Results: More positive attitude to physical change was associated with younger biological age, as measured by AgeAccelGrim and brain-predicted age difference in age-adjusted and sex-adjusted models: for an SD higher score, AgeAccelGrim was lower by -0.73 (95% CI -1.03 to -0.42) of a year, and brain-predicted age difference was lower by -0.87 (1.51 to 0.23) of a year. Both associations were attenuated by adjustment for covariates and not significant after simultaneous adjustment for all covariates and correction for multiple testing. More positive attitudes to physical change were associated with lower mortality: for an SD higher score the age-adjusted and sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) was 0.66 (0.56 to 0.78). Adjustment for AgeAccelGrim or brain-predicted age difference attenuated this association slightly. It remained significant after adjustment for all covariates.Conclusion: We found partial evidence that attitudes to ageing are linked with ageing biomarkers but they accounted for only a little of the association between attitudes and mortality

Both low and high body iron stores relate to metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women:Findings from the VIKING Health Study-Shetland (VIKING I)

BACKGROUND: There are conflicting results among studies on the association between serum ferritin (SF) and metabolic syndrome (MetS), and by groups of sex/menopausal status. To date, there are no studies on British populations. The SF-MetS association might be U/J-shaped. We evaluated whether SF was independently associated with MetS (harmonized definition) in people from Shetland, Scotland.METHODS: We analysed cross-sectional data from the Viking Health Study-Shetland (589 premenopausal women [PreMW], 625 postmenopausal women [PostW] and 832 men). Logistic regressions using two approaches, one with the lowest sex and menopausal status-specific ferritin quartile (Q) as the reference and other using the middle two quartiles combined (2-3) as the reference, were conducted to estimate the SF-MetS association. The shape of the association was verified via cubic spline analyses. The associations were adjusted for age, inflammatory and hepatic injury markers, alcohol intake, smoking and BMI.RESULTS: Prevalence of MetS was 18.3%. Among PostMW both low and high SF were associated with MetS (fully adjusted odds ratios [95% confidence interval] compared to the middle two quartiles combined were: 1.99 [1.17-3.38] p =.011 for Q1 and 2.10 [1.27-3.49] p =.004 for Q4) This U-shaped pattern was confirmed in the cubic spline analysis in PostMW with a ferritin range of 15-200 ug/L. In men, a positive association between ferritin quartiles with Q1 as the reference, did not remain significant after adjustment for BMI.CONCLUSION: Extreme quartiles of iron status were positively associated with MetS in PostMW, while no SF-MetS associations were found in men or PreMW. The ferritin-MetS association pattern differs between populations and U/J-shaped associations may exist.</p

Tenascin-C is a driver of inflammation in the DSS model of colitis

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a grouping of chronic inflammatory disorders of the gut. Tenascin-C is a pro-inflammatory, extracellular matrix protein found upregulated in IBD patients and whilst a pathological driver of chronic inflammation, its precise role in the etiology of IBD is unknown. To study tenascin-C’s role in colitis pathology we investigated its expression in a murine model of IBD. Wild-type (WT) or tenascin-C knockout (KO) male mice were left untreated or treated with dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) in their drinking water. Tenascin-C was upregulated at the mRNA level in the colitic distal colon of day eight DSS treated mice, coinciding with significant increases in gross and histological pathology. Immunohistochemistry localized this increase in tenascin-C to areas of inflammation and ulceration in the mucosa. Tenascin-C KO mice exhibited reduced gross pathology in comparison. These differences also extended to the histopathological level where reduced colonic inflammation and tissue damage were found in KO compared to WT mice. Furthermore, the severity of the distal colon lesions were less in the KO mice after 17 days of recovery from DSS treatment. This study demonstrates a role for tenascin-C as a driver of inflammatory pathology in a murine model of IBD and thus suggests neutralizing its pro-inflammatory activity could be explored as a therapeutic strategy for treating IBD

Technology-enhanced learning in physiotherapy education: Student satisfaction and knowledge acquisition of entry-level students in the United Kingdom

Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) can engage students with learning and offer benefits in knowledge acquisition due to the flexibility of learning it provides. There is difficulty ascertaining best practice for the implementation of TEL in physiotherapy education. This study aims to address this through a case study with pre-registration students using a virtual learning environment (VLE) to supplement their learning. Seventy-nine students were enrolled onto a Movement & Exercise module and had access to the VLE resources. Data were captured by online survey, student focus groups, learning analytics data and comparison of examination results with a previous cohort who did not have access to all the resources. Survey data demonstrated that most students were satisfied with the resources and that they facilitated knowledge acquisition. Thematic analysis from the focus groups resulted in five higher order themes: (1) Content quality, (2) Interaction and accessibility, (3) Learning goal alignment, (4) Satisfaction with resources and (5) Suggestions for the future. Learning analytics data revealed students accessed the resources predominantly before examination periods. There were statistically significant improvements in mean examination marks compared to the previous cohort. In conclusion, satisfaction with the TEL resources was high, and there may be some positive effect on knowledge acquisition

Serum metabolomic profiles associated with subclinical and clinical cardiovascular phenotypes in people with type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is the leading cause of death in diabetes, but the full range of biomarkers reflecting atherosclerotic burden and CVD risk in people with diabetes is unknown. Metabolomics may help identify novel biomarkers potentially involved in development of atherosclerosis. We investigated the serum metabolomic profile of subclinical atherosclerosis, measured using ankle brachial index (ABI), in people with type 2 diabetes, compared with the profile for symptomatic CVD in the same population. METHODS: The Edinburgh Type 2 Diabetes Study is a cohort of 1,066 individuals with type 2 diabetes. ABI was measured at baseline, years 4 and 10, with cardiovascular events assessed at baseline and during 10 years of follow-up. A panel of 228 metabolites was measured at baseline using nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, and their association with both ABI and prevalent CVD was explored using univariate regression models and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Metabolites associated with baseline ABI were further explored for association with follow-up ABI and incident CVD. RESULTS: Mean (standard deviation, SD) ABI at baseline was 0.97 (0.18, N = 1025), and prevalence of CVD was 35.0%. During 10-year follow-up, mean (SD) change in ABI was + 0.006 (0.178, n = 436), and 257 CVD events occurred. Lactate, glycerol, creatinine and glycoprotein acetyls levels were associated with baseline ABI in both univariate regression [βs (95% confidence interval, CI) ranged from − 0.025 (− 0.036, − 0.015) to − 0.023 (− 0.034, − 0.013), all p < 0.0002] and LASSO analysis. The associations remained nominally significant after adjustment for major vascular risk factors. In prospective analyses, lactate was nominally associated with ABI measured at years 4 and 10 after adjustment for baseline ABI. The four ABI-associated metabolites were all positively associated with prevalent CVD [odds ratios (ORs) ranged from 1.29 (1.13, 1.47) to 1.49 (1.29, 1.74), all p < 0.0002], and they were also positively associated with incident CVD [ORs (95% CI) ranged from 1.19 (1.02, 1.39) to 1.35 (1.17, 1.56), all p < 0.05]. CONCLUSIONS: Serum metabolites relating to glycolysis, fluid balance and inflammation were independently associated with both a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis and with symptomatic CVD in people with type 2 diabetes. Additional investigation is warranted to determine their roles as possible etiological and/or predictive biomarkers for atherosclerotic CVD. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12933-022-01493-w

A case-control study in an Orcadian population investigating the relationship between human plasma N-glycans and metabolic syndrome.

Background: Alterations in glycosylation patterns have long been known to reflect changes in cell metabolism. In this study, we investigated the relationship between human N-glycan profiles and metabolic syndrome. Method: Between 2005 and 2011, 2,155 individuals from the Orkney Islands (UK) were recruited and biological material, alongside phenotypic measures were collected. Individual N-glycan profiles were measured in plasma using weak anion exchange high performance liquid chromatography and calibrated hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography. Pre-specified criteria were used to identify 564 cases with metabolic syndrome and 1475 controls. We applied logistic regression to test for association between this binary outcome against measured plasma N-glycans. We also assessed the correlation between N-glycan traits and individual components of metabolic syndrome and compared this to results found in similar analyses based in Chinese and Croatian populations. Results: 21 N-glycan traits were found to be associated with either an increased or a decreased likelihood of participants having metabolic syndrome, including monosialylated plasma N-glycans (OR of 1.49 (95%CI 1.33, 1.67), q=1.26E-12) and core fucosylated plasma N-glycans (OR of 0.81(95% CI 0.72-0.90), q=7.75E-4). Notably, consistent results in both sections of this analysis demonstrated the protective association of higher levels of core fucosylated N-glycans. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that metabolic syndrome is associated with an alteration in plasma N-glycosylation patterns. The metabolic role of core fucosylated N-glycans is of particular interest for future study