Global malnutrition overlaps with pollinator-dependent micronutrient production

Pollinators contribute around 10% of the economic value of crop production globally, but the contribution of these pollinators to human nutrition is potentially much higher. Crops vary in the degree to which they benefit from pollinators, and many of the most pollinator-dependent crops are also among the richest in micronutrients essential to human health. This study examines regional differences in the pollinator-dependence of crop micronutrient content and reveals overlaps between this dependency and the severity of micronutrient deficiency in people around the world. As much as 50% of the production of plant-derived sources of vitamin A requires pollination throughout much of Southeast Asia, while other essential micronutrients such as iron and folate have lower dependencies, scattered throughout Africa, Asia and Central America. Micronutrient deficiencies are three times as likely to occur in areas of highest pollination dependence for vitamin A and iron, suggesting that disruptions in pollination could have serious implications for the accessibility of micronutrients for public health. These regions of high nutritional vulnerability are understudied in the pollination literature, and should be priority areas for research related to ecosystem services and human well-being

Impact of the solvent capacity constraint on E. coli metabolism

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obtaining quantitative predictions for cellular metabolic activities requires the identification and modeling of the physicochemical constraints that are relevant at physiological growth conditions. Molecular crowding in a cell's cytoplasm is one such potential constraint, as it limits the solvent capacity available to metabolic enzymes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using a recently introduced flux balance modeling framework (FBAwMC) here we demonstrate that this constraint determines a metabolic switch in <it>E. coli </it>cells when they are shifted from low to high growth rates. The switch is characterized by a change in effective optimization strategy, the excretion of acetate at high growth rates, and a global reorganization of <it>E. coli </it>metabolic fluxes, the latter being partially confirmed by flux measurements of central metabolic reactions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results implicate the solvent capacity as an important physiological constraint acting on <it>E. coli </it>cells operating at high metabolic rates and for the activation of a metabolic switch when they are shifted from low to high growth rates. The relevance of this constraint in the context of both the aerobic ethanol excretion seen in fast growing yeast cells (Crabtree effect) and the aerobic glycolysis observed in rapidly dividing cancer cells (Warburg effect) should be addressed in the future.</p

Understanding adolescent and young adult use of family physician services: a cross-sectional analysis of the Canadian Community Health Survey

BACKGROUND: Primary health care is known to have positive effects on population health and may reduce at-risk behavior and health problems in adolescence. Yet little is known about the factors that are associated with adolescent and young adult utilization of family physician services. It is critical to determine the factors associated with utilization to inform effective primary health care policy. We address this gap in the primary health care literature by examining three issues concerning adolescent and young adult family physician use: inequity; the unique developmental stage of adolescence; and the distinction between utilization (users versus non-users) and intensity (high users versus low users). METHODS: We conducted nested logistic regressions for two outcomes: utilization and intensity of family physician services for early adolescence, middle adolescence, and young adulthood using the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. RESULTS: Chronic conditions were associated with utilization in early and middle adolescence and intensity in all age groups. Respondents from Quebec had lower odds of utilization. Those without a regular medical doctor had much lower odds of being users. The factors associated with use in early and middle adolescence were in keeping with parental involvement while the factors in young adulthood show the emerging independence of this group. CONCLUSIONS: We highlight key messages not known previously for adolescent and young adult use of family physician services. There is inequity concerning regional variation and for those who do not have a regular medical doctor. There is variation in factors associated with family physician services across the three age groups of adolescence. Health care and health care policies aimed at younger adolescents must consider that parents are still the primary decision-maker while older adolescents are more autonomous. There is variation in the factors associated with the two outcomes of utilization and intensity of services. Factors associated with utilization must be understood when considering the equitability of access to primary health care while factors associated with intensity must be understood when considering appropriate use of resources. The understanding gained from this study can inform health care policy that is responsive to the critical developmental stage of adolescence and young adulthood

The Intrinsic Antiviral Defense to Incoming HSV-1 Genomes Includes Specific DNA Repair Proteins and Is Counteracted by the Viral Protein ICP0

Cellular restriction factors responding to herpesvirus infection include the ND10 components PML, Sp100 and hDaxx. During the initial stages of HSV-1 infection, novel sub-nuclear structures containing these ND10 proteins form in association with incoming viral genomes. We report that several cellular DNA damage response proteins also relocate to sites associated with incoming viral genomes where they contribute to the cellular front line defense. We show that recruitment of DNA repair proteins to these sites is independent of ND10 components, and instead is coordinated by the cellular ubiquitin ligases RNF8 and RNF168. The viral protein ICP0 targets RNF8 and RNF168 for degradation, thereby preventing the deposition of repressive ubiquitin marks and counteracting this repair protein recruitment. This study highlights important parallels between recognition of cellular DNA damage and recognition of viral genomes, and adds RNF8 and RNF168 to the list of factors contributing to the intrinsic antiviral defense against herpesvirus infection

Syndromics: A Bioinformatics Approach for Neurotrauma Research

Substantial scientific progress has been made in the past 50 years in delineating many of the biological mechanisms involved in the primary and secondary injuries following trauma to the spinal cord and brain. These advances have highlighted numerous potential therapeutic approaches that may help restore function after injury. Despite these advances, bench-to-bedside translation has remained elusive. Translational testing of novel therapies requires standardized measures of function for comparison across different laboratories, paradigms, and species. Although numerous functional assessments have been developed in animal models, it remains unclear how to best integrate this information to describe the complete translational “syndrome” produced by neurotrauma. The present paper describes a multivariate statistical framework for integrating diverse neurotrauma data and reviews the few papers to date that have taken an information-intensive approach for basic neurotrauma research. We argue that these papers can be described as the seminal works of a new field that we call “syndromics”, which aim to apply informatics tools to disease models to characterize the full set of mechanistic inter-relationships from multi-scale data. In the future, centralized databases of raw neurotrauma data will enable better syndromic approaches and aid future translational research, leading to more efficient testing regimens and more clinically relevant findings

Polipose múltipla familiar: análise de 44 casos tratados no Hospital das Clínicas da FMRP-USP Familiar adenomatosis polyposis: analysis of forty-four cases from the school of medicine of Riberão preto Hospital and Clinics

Os autores apresentam análise retrospectiva de 44 pacientes com Polipose Múltipla Familiar tratados no Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto,Universidade de São Paulo, entre janeiro de 1991 a julho de 2005. Foram estudados aspectos epidemiológicos (idade, sexo), genéticos, principais sintomas, antecedentes pessoais e aspectos envolvendo tratamento cirúrgico e complicações pós-operatórias, comparando os achados com os da literatura correlata. Dos pacientes, 31 são do sexo masculino e 13 do feminino com idade média de 32 anos (14 - 60 anos). Os sintomas prevalentes foram: sangramento intestinal (62,5 %), alteração do hábito intestinal (60%), e com menor freqüência dor abdominal (45 %) e emagrecimento (30%). Relataram casos de polipose familiar 67,5% dos pacientes e 62,5% referiram parentes com antecedente de neoplasias (intestinal e extra-intestinal). Cerca de 32,5% dos pacientes já apresentavam neoplasia de cólon na época do diagnóstico da polipose,com idade média de 39 anos. O tratamento cirúrgico foi realizado em 95,4% dos pacientes: 35,7% foram submetidos à proctocolectomia total(9 casos com bolsa ileal em J e 6 casos com ileostomia definitiva) e 59,2% a colectomia total com ileorretoanastomose. Atualmente 57% dos pacientes avaliados ainda estão em seguimento com reavaliações periódicas, 7% faleceram e 27% abandonaram o tratamento.<br>The authors present a retrospective analysis of forty-four patients with familiar adenomatosis polyposis treated at the School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto Hospital and Clinics - University of São Paulo, from January 1991 to July 2005. Epidemiologic (age and gender) and genetic aspects were investigated as well as main symptoms, personal history and surgical treatment outcome. Data obtained were compared to the available literature. Our results show that 31 patients were male and 13 female, with average age of 32 years-old (14 to 60 years-old). The main symptoms were intestinal bleeding (62.5 %) and intestinal habit alteration (60 %). Less frequently, patients showed abdominal pain (45 %) and loss of weight (30 %). Familiar adenomatosis polyposis was reported by 67.5 % of the patients and relatives with neoplasms (intestinal and extra-intestinal) were referred by 62.5 % of the patients. By the time of the polyposis diagnosis, 32.5 % of the patients have already been diagnosed for colon cancer, with average age of 39 years old. Surgical treatment was performed in 95.4 % of the patients, total proctocolectomy was performed in 35.7 % (9 cases with ileal J- pouch and 6 with permanent ileostomy) and total colectomy with ileo rectal anasthomosis in 59.2%. From all patients evaluated, 57 % are still under follow up, 7 % died and 27 % gave up treatment