Indian health conditions.

This volume is a compendium of scholarly analyses of the health conditions that together constitute most of the illness borne by American Indians and Alaska Natives. Topics include; health intervention; cancer; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes; digestive system diseases; infant mortality; infectious diseases; maternal health; mental health and mental illness; musculosketetal system disease; oral disease; end-stage renal disease; respiratory diseases; violence; substance abuse; and accidental injuries. This publication was developed in 1986 and although, the data are several years old, much of the analyses and recommendations are still relevant today. It also serves as an important historical or reference document for the Indian Health Service. Each analysis provides an overview of a particular health condition as it affects the IHS service population nationwide and suggests, recommendations regarding the steps that IHS can take to reduce and eventually eliminate the described health problems

Epidemic space

The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of 'spatiality' in understanding the materialization of risk society and cultivation of risk sensibilities. More specifically it provides a cultural analysis of pathogen virulence (as a social phenomenon) by means of tracing and mapping the spatial flows that operate in the uncharted zones between the microphysics of infection and the macrophysics of epidemics. It will be argued that epidemic space consists of three types of forces: the vector, the index and the vortex. It will draw on Latour's Actor Network Theory to argue that epidemic space is geared towards instability when the vortex (of expanding associations and concerns) displaces the index (of finding a single cause)

Systematic Identification of Placental Epigenetic Signatures for the Noninvasive Prenatal Detection of Edwards Syndrome

Background: Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal aneuploidy by maternal plasma analysis is challenging owing to the low fractional and absolute concentrations of fetal DNA in maternal plasma. Previously, we demonstrated for the first time that fetal DNA in maternal plasma could be specifically targeted by epigenetic (DNA methylation) signatures in the placenta. By comparing one such methylated fetal epigenetic marker located on chromosome 21 with another fetal genetic marker located on a reference chromosome in maternal plasma, we could infer the relative dosage of fetal chromosome 21 and noninvasively detect fetal trisomy 21. Here we apply this epigenetic-genetic (EGG) chromosome dosage approach to detect Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18) in the fetus noninvasively. Principal Findings: We have systematically identified methylated fetal epigenetic markers on chromosome 18 by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) and tiling array analysis with confirmation using quantitative DNA methylation assays. Methylated DNA sequences from an intergenic region between the VAPA and APCDD1 genes (the VAPAAPCDD1 DNA) were detected in pre-delivery, but not post-delivery, maternal plasma samples. The concentrations correlated positively with those of an established fetal genetic marker, ZFY, in pre-delivery maternal plasma. The ratios of methylated VAPA-APCDD1(chr18) to ZFY(chrY) were higher in maternal plasma samples of 9 male trisomy 18 fetuses than those of 27 male euploid fetuses (Mann-Whitney test, P = 0.029). We defined the cutoff value for detecting trisomy 18 fetuses as mean+1.96 SD of the EGG ratios of the euploid cases. Eight of 9 trisomy 18 and 1 of 27 euploid cases showed EGG ratios higher than the cutoff value, giving a sensitivity of 88.9% and a specificity of 96.3%. Conclusions: Our data have shown that the methylated VAPA-APCDD1 DNA in maternal plasma is redominantly derived from the fetus. We have demonstrated that this novel fetal epigenetic marker in maternal plasma is useful for the noninvasive detection of fetal trisomy 18. © Tsui et al.published_or_final_versio

Transcriptomic analysis supports similar functional roles for the two thymuses of the tammar wallaby

Background: The thymus plays a critical role in the development and maturation of T-cells. Humans have a single thoracic thymus and presence of a second thymus is considered an anomaly. However, many vertebrates have multiple thymuses. The tammar wallaby has two thymuses: a thoracic thymus (typically found in all mammals) and a dominant cervical thymus. Researchers have known about the presence of the two wallaby thymuses since the 1800s, but no genome-wide research has been carried out into possible functional differences between the two thymic tissues. Here, we used pyrosequencing to compare the transcriptomes of a cervical and thoracic thymus from a single 178 day old tammar wallaby.Results: We show that both the tammar thoracic and the cervical thymuses displayed gene expression profiles consistent with roles in T-cell development. Both thymuses expressed genes that mediate distinct phases of T-cells differentiation, including the initial commitment of blood stem cells to the T-lineage, the generation of T-cell receptor diversity and development of thymic epithelial cells. Crucial immune genes, such as chemokines were also present. Comparable patterns of expression of non-coding RNAs were seen. 67 genes differentially expressed between the two thymuses were detected, and the possible significance of these results are discussed.Conclusion: This is the first study comparing the transcriptomes of two thymuses from a single individual. Our finding supports that both thymuses are functionally equivalent and drive T-cell development. These results are an important first step in the understanding of the genetic processes that govern marsupial immunity, and also allow us to begin to trace the evolution of the mammalian immune system

Aging, working memory capacity and the proactive control of recollection:An event-related potential study

The present study investigated the role of working memory capacity (WMC) in the control of recollection in young and older adults. We used electroencephalographic event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the effects of age and of individual differences in WMC on the ability to prioritize recollection according to current goals. Targets in a recognition exclusion task were words encoded using two alternative decisions. The left parietal ERP old/new effect was used as an electrophysiological index of recollection, and the selectivity of recollection measured in terms of the difference in its magnitude according to whether recognized items were targets or non-targets. Young adults with higher WMC showed greater recollection selectivity than those with lower WMC, while older adults showed nonselective recollection which did not vary with WMC. The data suggest that aging impairs the ability to engage cognitive control effectively to prioritize what will be recollected

Cancer: evolutionary, genetic and epigenetic aspects

There exist two paradigms about the nature of cancer. According to the generally accepted one, cancer is a by-product of design limitations of a multi-cellular organism (Greaves, Nat Rev Cancer 7:213–221, 2007). The essence of the second resides in the question “Does cancer kill the individual and save the species?” (Sommer, Hum Mutat 3:166–169, 1994). Recent data on genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of cell transformation summarized in this review support the latter point of view, namely that carcinogenesis is an evolutionary conserved phenomenon—a programmed death of an organism. It is assumed that cancer possesses an important function of altruistic nature: as a mediator of negative selection, it serves to preserve integrity of species gene pool and to mediate its evolutionary adjustment. Cancer fulfills its task due apparently to specific killer function, understanding mechanism of which may suggest new therapeutic strategy