11,251 research outputs found
Maternal nutritional status, C1 metabolism and offspring DNA methylation: a review of current evidence in human subjects.
: Evidence is growing for the long-term effects of environmental factors during early-life on later disease susceptibility. It is believed that epigenetic mechanisms (changes in gene function not mediated by DNA sequence alteration), particularly DNA methylation, play a role in these processes. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge of the involvement of C1 metabolism and methyl donors and cofactors in maternal diet-induced DNA methylation changes in utero as an epigenetic mechanism. Methyl groups for DNA methylation are mostly derived from the diet and supplied through C1 metabolism by way of choline, betaine, methionine or folate, with involvement of riboflavin and vitamins B6 and B12 as cofactors. Mouse models have shown that epigenetic features, for example DNA methylation, can be altered by periconceptional nutritional interventions such as folate supplementation, thereby changing offspring phenotype. Evidence of early nutrient-induced epigenetic change in human subjects is scant, but it is known that during pregnancy C1 metabolism has to cope with high fetal demands for folate and choline needed for neural tube closure and normal development. Retrospective studies investigating the effect of famine or season during pregnancy indicate that variation in early environmental exposure in utero leads to differences in DNA methylation of offspring. This may affect gene expression in the offspring. Further research is needed to examine the real impact of maternal nutrient availability on DNA methylation in the developing fetus
Vertical features in flux: Elevation, interiority and the Anthropocene disruption of South West Louisiana’s five salt dome land islands
© 2018 Institution for Marine and Island Cultures, Mokpo National University. While islands are clearly delineated from mainland locations by virtue of their encirclement by water, fixation on this element has led to an under-appreciation and related under-exploration of the comparability of islands to elevated terrestrial features such as hills, mountains and ridges. In this article we discuss the manner in which the five so-called salt dome ‘islands’ (SDIs) of south-western Louisiana exhibit a continuum of features across locations that range from an island (Belle) to a hill (Jefferson) with the remainder (Avery, Cote Blanche and Weeks) occupying positions within these dualities. Salt domes are landscape elements produced when areas of horizontal salt deposits are forced into the strata above, where they form dome shaped intrusions. Some of these distort the surface and protrude above flat areas of land as small hills. In the case of the five salt domes discussed in this article, their protrusion above the swamplands and drier flatlands of south-western Louisiana has resulted in their perception, identification and nomenclative representation as islands. In this article, we focus on the verticality and material spatiality of the SDIs and consider the ways in which their islandness has been effected by the commercial operations that have operated on/in them. Particular focus is given to various mining and related underground storage enterprises that have disrupted the physical nature of the salt domes’ subterranean spaces, the surface that covers them and surrounding land- and water-scapes. Verticality and interiority are identified as key – if often under-recognised – aspects of islandness in general and of the SDIs in particular
The Emergent Role of the Social Designer
This paper responds to the Academic Design Management Conference, Design Management Futures theme. It answers questions relating to the way in which we think about the future of Design Management, and the way in which Design Management may need to adapt to the changing nature of design and new management theories. This piece draws on the work of an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the fields of Engineering, Sociology and Graphic Design, and their experience in the areas of user-engagement, anti-oppressive education/pedagogy and inclusive design. This position paper is a reflective piece that examines the value of designers, engineers and sociologists working together. It puts forward the question ‘What can designers and engineers learn from the emancipatory paradigm of the Social Scientist?’ Reflections from a UK-based team of undergraduate designers and engineers provide insight to their experience of engaging with the user through an inclusive design project. They cast light upon their experience of cross-faculty studies, interdisciplinary collaborations and both the challenges and benefits to working with different user groups. This paper concludes by examining the practical implications for Design Management, providing insights for Design Management education, research and practice
Using Commercial Data and Genomics to Improve Female Fertility and Calf Survival of Limousin beef cattle in the UK
Appreciating interconnectivity between habitats is key to Blue Carbon management
We welcome the recent synthesis by
Howard et al. (2017), which drew
attention to the role of marine systems
and natural carbon sequestration
in the oceans as a fundamental
aspect of climate-change
mitigation.
The importance of long-term
carbon
storage in marine habitats (ie “blue
carbon”) is rapidly gaining recognition
and is increasingly a
focus of national and international
attempts to mitigate rising atmospheric
emissions of carbon dioxide.
However, effectively managing blue
carbon requires an appreciation of
the inherent connectivity between
marine populations and habitats.
More so than their terrestrial counterparts,
marine ecosystems are
“open”, with high rates of transfer of
energy, matter, genetic material, and
species across regional seascapes
(Kinlan and Gaines 2003). We suggest
that policy frameworks, and the
science underpinning them, should
focus not only on carbon sink habitats
but also on carbon source habitats,
which play critical roles in
marine carbon cycling and natural
carbon sequestration in the oceans
Urinary N-methylnicotinamide and β-aminoisobutyric acid predict catch-up growth in undernourished Brazilian children
The influence of cannabis smoke and cannabis vapour on simulated lung surfactant function under physiologically relevant conditions
The use of cannabis for medicinal/recreational purposes is widespread throughout the world. Smoke inhalation is known to cause airway irritation due to noxious substances (ie, benzene) within the mix. Thus, advanced vaporisation platforms (eg, Davinci IQ) have been developed to circumvent negative health implications. Here, we consider the impact that cannabis smoke and cannabis vapour have on simulated lung surfactant performance within a model pulmonary space (ie, 37°C, elevated humidity and related fluid hydrodynamics). In total, 50 mg of herbal material was ignited or placed within a Davinci IQ vaporiser with subsequent activation. The aliquots were collected and then analysed using gas chromatography‐mass spectroscopy for composition and cannabinoid (eg, Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol [Δ9‐THC]) concentration. The average content within cannabis smoke was 2.84% (0.07%, SD) Δ9‐THC, with the same for cannabis vapour being 0.88% (0.14%, SD). Aerosolised samples were transferred to the lung biosimulator. When compared with the pristine Curosurf system, challenge with cannabis smoke and cannabis vapour reduced the surface pressure term by 26% and 7% and increased film compressibility by 60% and 15% at 80% trough area, respectively. The net effect would be enhanced film elasticity and an increased work of breathing, being more pronounced on cannabis smoke inhalation. The trends noted were ascribed to two factors operating synergistically, namely the amount of Δ9‐THC (plus others) within the aerosolised samples and the associated toxicity profile. Further research is required to establish mass‐balance effects (ie, titrated outputs) along with detailed chemical profiling of material generated from the unrelated cannabis activation pathways
Hanging up single-use plastics in fashion retail: Post-pandemic sustainable distribution chains.
Anomaly-Free Supersymmetric SO(2N+2)/U(N+1) sigma-Model Based on the SO(2N+1) Lie Algebra of the Fermion Operators
The extended supersymmetric (SUSY) sigma-model has been proposed on the bases
of SO(2N+1) Lie algebra spanned by fermion annihilation-creation operators and
pair operators. The canonical transformation, extension of an SO(2N) Bogoliubov
transformation to an SO(2N+1) group, is introduced. Embedding the SO(2N+1)
group into an SO(2N+2) group and using SO(2N+2)/U(N+1) coset variables, we have
investigated the SUSY sigma-model on the Kaehler manifold, the coset space
SO(2N+2)/U(N+1). We have constructed the Killing potential, extension of the
potential in the SO(2N)/U(N) coset space to that in the SO(2N+2)/U(N+1) coset
space. It is equivalent to the generalized density matrix whose diagonal-block
part is related to a reduced scalar potential with a Fayet-Ilipoulos term. The
f-deformed reduced scalar potential is optimized with respect to vacuum
expectation value of the sigma-model fields and a solution for one of the
SO(2N+1) group parameters has been obtained. The solution, however, is only a
small part of all solutions obtained from anomaly-free SUSY coset models. To
construct the coset models consistently, we must embed a coset coordinate in an
anomaly-free spinor representation (rep) of SO(2N+2) group and give
corresponding Kaehler and Killing potentials for an anomaly-free
SO(2N+2)/U(N+1) model based on each positive chiral spinor rep. Using such
mathematical manipulation we construct successfully the anomaly-free
SO(2N+2)/U(N+1) SUSY sigma-model and investigate new aspects which have never
been seen in the SUSY sigma-model on the Kaehler coset space SO(2N)/U(N). We
reach a f-deformed reduced scalar potential. It is minimized with respect to
the vacuum expectation value of anomaly-free SUSY sigma-model fields. Thus we
find an interesting f-deformed solution very different from the previous
solution for an anomaly-free SO(2.5+2)/(SU(5+1)*U(1)) SUSY sigma-model.Comment: 24 pages, no fiure
- …