Systematic review of nutritional interventions for people admitted to hospital for alcohol withdrawal

Aim: The aim of this review is to describe the nature of nutritional interventions for people admitted to hospital for alcohol withdrawal reported in the scientific literature and the health outcomes achieved. Methods: The review protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42017081884). The following databases were systematically searched following the PRISMA protocol: CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science. Eligible studies were those published in English, in a hospital inpatient setting with the primary reason for admission being alcohol withdrawal. Studies of patient populations with the diagnosis of pancreatitis or liver cirrhosis were excluded. Studies were screened for eligibility, and data were extracted and descriptively analysed. Identified articles were assessed using the Quality Criteria Checklist for Primary Research produced by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Results: Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Given the heterogeneity of studies, only a descriptive analysis of interventions could be achieved. Nutrition interventions included supplementation with thiamine, multivitamins, amino acids, antioxidant compounds, probiotics, magnesium or were educational interventions. Outcome measures included memory function, biochemical and anthropometrical indices, withdrawal symptoms, bowel flora levels and nutrition knowledge. However, the overall body of evidence was limited, particularly as there was a wide variation in participant age, study designs and duration of interventions. Conclusions: A wide range of nutrition interventions were identified, mostly involving nutrient supplements ameliorating inadequacies. Future research might also consider total dietary interventions as well as studies on the perspectives of people undergoing alcohol withdrawal

Voices Across the Spectrum: Grit, Gusto & The Greater Good: The Formation of a First-Gen Caucus

Article sharing the story of the newly-formed First-Gen Caucus in the American Association of Law Libraries

The environment drives microbial trait variability in aquatic habitats

A prerequisite to improve the predictability of microbial community dynamics is to understand the mechanisms of microbial assembly. To study factors that contribute to microbial community assembly, we examined the temporal dynamics of genes in five aquatic metagenome time-series, originating from marine offshore or coastal sites and one lake. With this trait-based approach we expected to find gene-specific patterns of temporal allele variability that depended on the seasonal metacommunity size of carrier-taxa and the variability of the milieu and the substrates to which the resulting proteins were exposed. In more detail, we hypothesized that a larger seasonal metacommunity size would result in increased temporal variability of functional units (i.e., gene alleles), as shown previously for taxonomic units. We further hypothesized that multicopy genes would feature higher temporal variability than single-copy genes, as gene multiplication can result from high variability in substrate quality and quantity. Finally, we hypothesized that direct exposure of proteins to the extracellular environment would result in increased temporal variability of the respective gene compared to intracellular proteins that are less exposed to environmental fluctuations. The first two hypotheses were confirmed in all data sets, while significant effects of the subcellular location of gene products was only seen in three of the five time-series. The gene with the highest allele variability throughout all data sets was an iron transporter, also representing a target for phage infection. Previous work has emphasized the role of phage-prokaryote interactions as a major driver of microbial diversity. Our finding therefore points to a potentially important role of iron transporter-mediated phage infections for the assembly and maintenance of diversity in aquatic prokaryotes

Dictyostelium Myosin Bipolar Thick Filament Formation: Importance of Charge and Specific Domains of the Myosin Rod

Myosin-II thick filament formation in Dictyostelium is an excellent system for investigating the phenomenon of self-assembly, as the myosin molecule itself contains all the information required to form a structure of defined size. Phosphorylation of only three threonine residues can dramatically change the assembly state of myosin-II. We show here that the C-terminal 68 kDa of the myosin-II tail (termed AD-Cterm) assembles in a regulated manner similar to full-length myosin-II and forms bipolar thick filament (BTF) structures when a green fluorescent protein (GFP) “head” is added to the N terminus. The localization of this GFP-AD-Cterm to the cleavage furrow of dividing Dictyostelium cells depends on assembly state, similar to full-length myosin-II. This tail fragment therefore represents a good model system for the regulated formation and localization of BTFs. By reducing regulated BTF assembly to a more manageable model system, we were able to explore determinants of myosin-II self-assembly. Our data support a model in which a globular head limits the size of a BTF, and the large-scale charge character of the AD-Cterm region is important for BTF formation. Truncation analysis of AD-Cterm tail fragments shows that assembly is delicately balanced, resulting in assembled myosin-II molecules that are poised to disassemble due to the phosphorylation of only three threonines

Novel digital food photos resource enhances knowledge of nutrition and dietetics students

A robust knowledge of food composition, the Australian food supply and cooking methods is integral to dietetics practice. Students learn these concepts across a variety of subjects, however a new dietetics subject in 2009 and a faculty based learning and teaching grant provided a timely opportunity to develop innovative new digital resources for students to enhance their food composition knowledge. One-hundred and sixty high quality digital food photographs were developed and nutrient composition data were added, before making the resource accessible to students via their eLearning sites. The primary aim of this study was to assess the views and experiences of first and fourth year students regarding the usefulness and application of the digital food photos resource in developing their food composition knowledge. The secondary aim was to identify and explore other potential applications of the resource and recommendations for future upgrades. Forty students completed an online survey and six took part in semi-structured qualitative interviews, which were facilitated by the same two researchers, before being digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Preliminary findings highlighted that students found the resource to be an interactive and valuable contributor to their knowledge, I loved it. I absolutely loved it. Like I sat on it for hours going through it (S1). All of the fourth year respondents said they would use the resource again, as did 83% of the first year students. A revised edition is currently being developed with 180 additional photographs and student feedback about further nutrients, symbols used and future commercial applications

The Grizzly, September 23, 2010

Biology Department Receives $1.3 Million Grant • Shorter Rush Period Impacts Thoughts Surrounding Greeks • Students Continue the Growth of the UC Organic Garden • Lecture on Protecting Manatees Highlights Human Interference • How to Become a Deep Learner • Project Pericles to Sponsor Debating for Democracy in the Berman Museum Tomorrow • Bed Bug Epidemic Hits College Campuses Across Nation • Professor Seeking Tenure: Dr. Rebecca Jaroff • Opinions: Catholic Church Taking the Next Step Towards Healing; Never-Ending Ordeal of Crossing Main Street • UC Alum Honored with Prestigious Gymnastics Accolade • UC Field Hockey: In it to Win it for \u2710 Seasonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1818/thumbnail.jp

Optical modeling and polarization calibration for CMB measurements with ACTPol and Advanced ACTPol

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) is a polarization sensitive upgrade to the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. Located at an elevation of 5190 m, ACTPol measures the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization with arcminute-scale angular resolution. Calibration of the detector angles is a critical step in producing maps of the CMB polarization. Polarization angle offsets in the detector calibration can cause leakage in polarization from E to B modes and induce a spurious signal in the EB and TB cross correlations, which eliminates our ability to measure potential cosmological sources of EB and TB signals, such as cosmic birefringence. We present our optical modeling and measurements associated with calibrating the detector angles in ACTPol.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, conference proceedings submitted to Proceedings of SPIE; added reference in section 2 and merged repeated referenc

Malaria surveillance from both ends: concurrent detection of Plasmodium falciparum in saliva and excreta harvested from Anopheles mosquitoes

Background: Malaria is the most important vector-borne disease in the world. Epidemiological and ecological studies of malaria traditionally utilize detection of Plasmodium sporozoites in whole mosquitoes or salivary glands by microscopy or serological or molecular assays. However, these methods are labor-intensive, and can over- or underestimate mosquito transmission potential. To overcome these limitations, alternative sample types have been evaluated for the study of malaria. It was recently shown that Plasmodium could be detected in saliva expectorated on honey-soaked cards by Anopheles stephensi, providing a better estimate of transmission risk. We evaluated whether excretion of Plasmodium falciparum nucleic acid by An. stephensi correlates with expectoration of parasites in saliva, thus providing an additional sample type for estimating transmission potential. Mosquitoes were exposed to infectious blood meals containing cultured gametocytes, and excreta collected at different time points post-exposure. Saliva was collected on honey-soaked filter paper cards, and salivary glands were dissected and examined microscopically for sporozoites. Excreta and saliva samples were tested by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-rtPCR). Results: Plasmodium falciparum RNA was detected in mosquito excreta as early as four days after ingesting a bloodmeal containing gametocytes. Once sporogony (the development of sporozoites) occurred, P. falciparum RNA was detected concurrently in both excreta and saliva samples. In the majority of cases, no difference was observed between the Ct values obtained from matched excreta and saliva samples, suggesting that both samples provide equally sensitive results. A positive association was observed between the molecular detection of the parasites in both samples and the proportion of mosquitoes with sporozoites in their salivary glands from each container. No distinguishable parasites were observed when excreta samples were stained and microscopically analyzed. Conclusions: Mosquito saliva and excreta are easily collected and are promising for surveillance of malaria-causing parasites, especially in low transmission settings or in places where arboviruses co-circulate