An example of long-term variability for subsurface current and hydrographic patterns in the western North Atlantic

An example of long-term variability along 55W, perhaps interannual, for current and temperature distributions during mid-1975-1977 is presented. The existence of significant energy in the 55W data set at time scales longer than mesoscale (50-150 days) has been clear for , some time, but this is a first description of the latitudinal and vertical configuration of this low-frequency variability...

An Empirical Chart Analysis of the Suitability of Telemedicine for Hospice Visits

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/tmj.2005.11.90.Telehospice® (TH) utilizes telemedicine technology to provide care at the end of life. A bistate project was launched in 1998 to study the use of home-based telemedicine for routine hospice care. Videophones were deployed for telenursing visits and evaluations by social workers. In order to determine what proportion of home hospice visits could be performed using currently available telemedicine technology, we reviewed clinical records retrospectively for hospice nurse home visits. Clinical notes documenting home nursing visits were obtained from two large hospices, one based in Kansas, and the other in Michigan. Records were randomly selected for patients who received hospice nurse visits during the month of January 2000. The charts were reviewed for patient demographic information, patient assessments, teaching activities, and interventions. Five hundred ninety-seven nursing notes were analyzed using an 85-item coding instrument. After careful review of the records, the coders also made a subjective observation regarding the suitability of each visit for telemedicine. As part of this analysis, we found that 64.5% of home hospice nursing visits could be performed by telemedicine. Using TH, it is possible to reduce the number of in-person visits, thereby significantly decreasing the cost of providing hospice care

Duration of Periconceptual Folic Acid Supplementation in Women Booking for Antenatal Care

Objective: To provide accurate estimates of the commencement time, duration and dosage of folic acid (FA) supplementation taken by Irish women in the periconceptional period. The study also aimed to establish the factors associated with optimal FA supplementation practices. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Women’s clinical and sociodemographic details were computerised. Maternal weight and height were measured before calculating BMI. Detailed FA supplementation questionnaires were completed under the supervision of a trained researcher. Setting: A large university maternity hospital, Republic of Ireland, January 2014–April 2016. Subjects: Women (n 856) recruited at their convenience in the first trimester. Results: While almost all of the women (97 %) were taking FA at enrolment, only one in four women took FA for at least 12 weeks preconceptionally (n 208). Among the 44% of women who were supplementing with FA preconceptionally, 44% (162/370) reported taking FA for less than the 12 weeks required to achieve optimal red-blood-cell folate levels for prevention of neural tube defects. On multivariate analysis, only planned pregnancy and nulliparity were associated with taking FA for at least 12 weeks preconceptionally. Among women who only took FA postconceptionally, almost two-thirds commenced it after day 28 of their pregnancy when the neural tube had already closed. Conclusions: As the timing of FA was suboptimal both before and after conception, we recommend that current national FA guidelines need to be reviewed

Breast-feeding and Postpartum Maternal Weight Trajectories

We examined whether breast-feeding, and in particular exclusive breast-feeding, was associated with maternal weight and body composition changes at 4 months postpartum independently of other maternal variables

An Estimation of Periconceptional Under-reporting of Dietary Energy Intake

Background The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine periconceptional misreporting of energy intake (EI) using the Willet food frequency questionnaire (WFFQ). Methods Women were recruited in the first trimester. Women completed a semi-quantitative WFFQ. Maternal body composition was measured using eight-electrode bioelectrical impedance analysis. Under-reporters were those whose ratio of EI to their calculated basal metabolic rate fell below the calculated plausible threshold for their physical activity category. Results The mean age was 30.1+5.3 years (n ¼ 524). The mean body mass index (BMI) was 25.4+5.6 kg/m2 , and 16.6% were obese (BMI 30.0 kg/m2 ). Under-reported EI was observed in 122 women (23.3%) with no over-reporters in the sample. Under-reporters were younger (P , 0.001), less likely to have a normal BMI (P ¼ 0.002) and more likely to be obese (P , 0.001) than plausible reporters. Under-reporters had higher percentage of body-fat and lower percentage of body fat-free mass (P , 0.001), were more likely to be at risk of relative deprivation (P ¼ 0.001) and reported a higher percentage of EI from carbohydrate (P ¼ 0.02) than plausible reporters. Conclusions Observed differences between under-reporters and plausible reporters suggest that the exclusion of these under-reporters represents an important potential source of bias in obesity research among women in the periconceptional period

Maternal Nutrient Intakes From Food and Drinks Consumed in Early Pregnancy in Ireland

Background: The aim of this observational study was to measure food, macronutrient and micronutrient intakes of women presenting for antenatal care and assess compliance with current nutritional recommendations

Relationship between fasting plasma glucose levels and maternal food group and macronutrient intakes in pregnancy

Aim Increased maternal body mass index (BMI) has been consistently associated with elevated blood glucose levels during pregnancy. Studies to date investigating the relationship between maternal blood glucose levels and dietary intake have shown mixed results. We investigated the association between maternal fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels and food group and macronutrient intakes in the first trimester of pregnancy, after adjustment for maternal bodyweight. Methods Women were recruited after sonographic confirmation of an ongoing singleton pregnancy in the first trimester. Dietary information was collected using the validated Willett Food Frequency Questionnaire. Maternal height and weight were measured and BMI calculated. Body composition was measured using advanced bioelectrical impedance analysis. FPG levels were obtained for women who were selectively screened with a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. Results No associations were observed between maternal FPG levels and food group or macronutrient intakes but higher energy and starch intakes were found in obese subjects (P = 0.009 and P = 0.03 respectively). On univariate analysis, higher FPG levels were associated positively with higher maternal bodyweight, BMI, body fat, fat free mass and visceral fat (all P \u3c 0.001). However, on multivariate regression analysis, higher FPG levels remained associated only with maternal BMI \u3e 29.9 kg/m2 (OR 7.4, P = 0.01). Conclusions Our findings indicate that maternal BMI is the key determinant of maternal glycaemia. Interventions which focus on overall energy restriction and especially the limitation of dietary starch to optimise prepregnancy maternal bodyweight are likely to be useful in improving glycaemic control in higher risk pregnancies

Modulation of synaptic function by VAC14, a protein that regulates the phosphoinositides PI(3,5)P 2 and PI(5)P

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102191/1/embj2012200.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102191/2/embj2012200-sup-0001.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102191/3/embj2012200-reviewer_comments.pd

Phenotypes associated with genetic determinants of type I interferon regulation in the UK Biobank:a protocol

BACKGROUND: Type I interferons are cytokines involved in innate immunity against viruses. Genetic disorders of type I interferon regulation are associated with a range of autoimmune and cerebrovascular phenotypes. Carriers of pathogenic variants involved in genetic disorders of type I interferons are generally considered asymptomatic. Preliminary data suggests, however, that genetically determined dysregulation of type I interferon responses is associated with autoimmunity, and may also be relevant to sporadic cerebrovascular disease and dementia. We aim to determine whether functional variants in genes involved in type I interferon regulation and signalling are associated with the risk of autoimmunity, stroke, and dementia in a population cohort.METHODS: We will perform a hypothesis-driven candidate pathway association study of type I interferon-related genes using rare variants in the UK Biobank (UKB). We will manually curate type I interferon regulation and signalling genes from a literature review and Gene Ontology, followed by clinical and functional filtering. Variants of interest will be included based on pre-defined clinical relevance and functional annotations (using LOFTEE, M-CAP and a minor allele frequency &lt;0.1%). The association of variants with 15 clinical and three neuroradiological phenotypes will be assessed with a rare variant genetic risk score and gene-level tests, using a Bonferroni-corrected p-value threshold from the number of genetic units and phenotypes tested. We will explore the association of significant genetic units with 196 additional health-related outcomes to help interpret their relevance and explore the clinical spectrum of genetic perturbations of type I interferon.ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The UKB has received ethical approval from the North West Multicentre Research Ethics Committee, and all participants provided written informed consent at recruitment. This research will be conducted using the UKB Resource under application number 93160. We expect to disseminate our results in a peer-reviewed journal and at an international cardiovascular conference.</p