Sedentary behaviour and diet across the lifespan: an updated systematic review.

Sedentary behaviour and its association with dietary intake in young people and adults are important topics and were systematically reviewed in 2011. There is a need to update this evidence given the changing nature of sedentary behaviour and continued interest in this field. This review aims to assist researchers in better interpreting the diversity of findings concerning sedentary behaviour and weight status

Predicting copper speciation in estuarine waters – Is dissolved organic carbon a good proxy for the presence of organic ligands?

A new generation of speciation-based aquatic environmental quality standards (EQS) for metals have been developed using models to predict the free metal ion concentration, the most ecologically relevant form, to set site-specific values. Some countries such as the U.K. have moved toward this approach by setting a new estuarine and marine water EQS for copper, based on an empirical relationship between copper toxicity to mussels (<i>Mytilus</i> sp.) and ambient dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations. This assumes an inverse relationship between DOC and free copper ion concentration owing to complexation by predominantly organic ligands. At low DOC concentrations, the new EQS is more stringent, but above 162 μM DOC it is higher than the previous value. However, the relationship between DOC and copper speciation is poorly defined in estuarine waters. This research discusses the influence of DOC from different sources on copper speciation in estuaries and concludes that DOC is not necessarily an accurate predictor of copper speciation. Nevertheless, the determination of ligand strength and concentrations by Competitive Ligand Exchange Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry enabled the prediction of the free metal ion concentration within an order of magnitude for estuarine waters by using a readily available metal speciation model (Visual MINTEQ)

Aspirin, clopidogrel and prasugrel monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a double-blind randomised controlled trial of the effects on thrombotic markers and microRNA levels

Background: Despite increased atherothrombotic risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus, (T2DM) the best preventative antithrombotic strategy remains undetermined. We defined the effects of three antiplatelet agents on functional readout and biomarker kinetics in platelet activation and coagulation in patients with T2DM. Materials and methods: 56 patients with T2DM were randomised to antiplatelet monotherapy with aspirin 75 mg once daily (OD), clopidogrel 75 mg OD or prasugrel 10 mg OD during three periods of a crossover study. Platelet aggregation (PA) was determined by light-transmittance aggregometry and P-selectin expression by flow cytometry. Markers of fibrin clot dynamics, inflammation and coagulation were measured. Plasma levels of 14 miRNA were assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reactions. Results: Of the 56 patients, 24 (43%) were receiving aspirin for primary prevention of ischaemic events and 32 (57%) for secondary prevention. Prasugrel was the strongest inhibitor of ADP-induced PA (mean ± SD maximum response to 20μmol/L ADP 77.6 ± 8.4% [aspirin] vs. 57.7 ± 17.6% [clopidogrel] vs. 34.1 ± 14.1% [prasugrel], p < 0.001), P-selectin expression (30 μmol/L ADP; 45.1 ± 21.4% vs. 27.1 ± 19.0% vs. 14.1 ± 14.9%, p < 0.001) and collagen-induced PA (2 μg/mL; 62.1 ± 19.4% vs. 72.3 ± 18.2% vs. 60.2 ± 18.5%, p < 0.001). Fibrin clot dynamics and levels of coagulation and inflammatory proteins were similar. Lower levels of miR-24 (p = 0.004), miR-191 (p = 0.019), miR-197 (p = 0.009) and miR-223 (p = 0.014) were demonstrated during prasugrel-therapy vs. aspirin. Circulating miR-197 was lower in those cardiovascular disease during therapy with aspirin (p = 0.039) or prasugrel (p = 0.0083). Conclusions: Prasugrel monotherapy in T2DM provided potent platelet inhibition and reduced levels of a number of platelet-associated miRNAs. miR-197 is a potential marker of cardiovascular disease in this population. Clinical outcome studies investigating prasugrel monotherapy are warranted in individuals with T2DM. Trial registration: EudraCT, 2009-011907-22. Registered 15 March 2010, https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/trial/2009-011907-22/GB

Clarifying the relationship between metformin, acute kidney injury and lactic acidosis

No abstract available

Munchausen by internet: current research and future directions.

The Internet has revolutionized the health world, enabling self-diagnosis and online support to take place irrespective of time or location. Alongside the positive aspects for an individual's health from making use of the Internet, debate has intensified on how the increasing use of Web technology might have a negative impact on patients, caregivers, and practitioners. One such negative health-related behavior is Munchausen by Internet

How large should whales be?

The evolution and distribution of species body sizes for terrestrial mammals is well-explained by a macroevolutionary tradeoff between short-term selective advantages and long-term extinction risks from increased species body size, unfolding above the 2g minimum size induced by thermoregulation in air. Here, we consider whether this same tradeoff, formalized as a constrained convection-reaction-diffusion system, can also explain the sizes of fully aquatic mammals, which have not previously been considered. By replacing the terrestrial minimum with a pelagic one, at roughly 7000g, the terrestrial mammal tradeoff model accurately predicts, with no tunable parameters, the observed body masses of all extant cetacean species, including the 175,000,000g Blue Whale. This strong agreement between theory and data suggests that a universal macroevolutionary tradeoff governs body size evolution for all mammals, regardless of their habitat. The dramatic sizes of cetaceans can thus be attributed mainly to the increased convective heat loss is water, which shifts the species size distribution upward and pushes its right tail into ranges inaccessible to terrestrial mammals. Under this macroevolutionary tradeoff, the largest expected species occurs where the rate at which smaller-bodied species move up into large-bodied niches approximately equals the rate at which extinction removes them.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 data table

Mixtures of tritiated water, zinc and dissolved organic carbon: Assessing interactive bioaccumulation and genotoxic effects in marine mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Mixtures of tritiated water, zinc and dissolved organic carbon: Assessing interactive bioaccumulation and genotoxic effects in marine mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis journaltitle: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity articlelink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.12.018 content_type: article copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Determination and prediction of zinc speciation in estuaries

Lowering of the estuarine Environmental Quality Standard for zinc in the UK to 121 nM reflects rising concern regarding zinc in ecosystems and is driving the need to better understand its fate and behaviour and to develop and parameterise speciation models to predict the metal species present. For the first time, an extensive dataset has been gathered for the speciation of zinc within an estuarine system with supporting physico-chemical characterisation, in particular dissolved organic carbon. WHAM/Model VII and Visual MINTEQ speciation models were used to simulate zinc speciation, using a combination of measured complexation variables and available defaults. Data for the five estuarine transects from freshwater to seawater endmembers showed very variable patterns of zinc speciation depending on river flows, seasons, and potential variations in metal and ligand inputs from in situ and ex situ sources. There were no clear relationships between free zinc ion concentration [Zn2+] and measured variables such as DOC concentration, humic and biological indices. Simulations of [Zn2+] carried out with both models at high salinities or by inputting site specific complexation capacities were successful, but overestimated [Zn2+] in low salinity waters, probably owing to an underestimation of the complexation strength of the ligands present. Uncertainties in predicted [Zn2+] are consistently smaller than standard deviations of the measured values, suggesting that the accuracy of the measurements is more critical than model uncertainty in evaluating the predictions

Enhanced Protective Efficacy of a Chimeric Form of the Schistosomiasis Vaccine Antigen Sm-TSP-2

The large extracellular loop of the Schistosoma mansoni tetraspanin, Sm-TSP-2, when fused to a thioredoxin partner and formulated with Freund's adjuvants, has been shown to be an efficacious vaccine against murine schistosomiasis. Moreover, Sm-TSP-2 is uniquely recognised by IgG1 and IgG3 from putatively resistant individuals resident in S. mansoni endemic areas in Brazil. In the present study, we expressed Sm-TSP-2 at high yield and in soluble form in E. coli without the need for a solubility enhancing fusion partner. We also expressed in E. coli a chimera called Sm-TSP-2/5B, which consisted of Sm-TSP-2 fused to the immunogenic 5B region of the hookworm aspartic protease and vaccine antigen, Na-APR-1. Sm-TSP-2 formulated with alum/CpG showed significant reductions in adult worm and liver egg burdens in two separate murine schistosomiasis challenge studies. Sm-TSP-2/5B afforded significantly greater protection than Sm-TSP-2 alone when both antigens were formulated with alum/CpG. The enhanced protection obtained with the chimeric fusion protein was associated with increased production of anti-Sm-TSP-2 antibodies and IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-γ from spleen cells of vaccinated animals. Sera from 666 individuals from Brazil who were infected with S. mansoni were screened for potentially deleterious IgE responses to Sm-TSP-2. Anti-Sm-TSP-2 IgE to this protein was not detected (also shown previously for Na-APR-1), suggesting that the chimeric antigen Sm-TSP-2/5B could be used to safely and effectively vaccinate people in areas where schistosomes and hookworms are endemic

A magnetically collimated jet from an evolved star

Planetary nebulae often have asymmetric shapes, which could arise due to collimated jets from evolved stars before evolution to the planetary nebula phase. The source of jet collimation in these stars is unknown. Magnetic fields are thought to collimate outflows that are observed in many other astrophysical sources, such as active galactic nuclei and proto-stars, although hitherto there are no direct observations of both the magnetic field direction and strength in any collimated jet. Theoretical models have shown that magnetic fields could also be the dominant source of collimation of jet in evolved stars. Here we report measurements of the polarization of water vapour masers that trace the precessing jet emanating from the asymptotic giant branch star W43A at 2.6 kpc from the Sun, which is undergoing rapid evolution into a planetary nebula. The masers occur in two clusters at opposing tips of the jets, ~1,000 AU from the star. We find direct evidence that the magnetic field is collimating the jet.Comment: Published in Nature 440 (March 2nd 2006). High-res figures can be found at http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/~wouter/papers/w43a/w43a.htm