1,573 research outputs found
The association between maternal childhood trauma and offspring childhood psychopathology: a mediation analysis from the ALSPAC cohort
Background: Studies have shown that a motherâs history of child maltreatment is associated with her childâs experience of internalising and externalising difficulties.
Aims: To characterise the mediating pathways that underpin this association.
Method: Data on a motherâs history of child maltreatment, depression during pregnancy, postnatal depression, maladaptive parenting practices and her childâs experience of maltreatment and internalising and externalising difficulties were analysed in an ALSPAC sample of 9,397 mother-child dyads followed prospectively from pregnancy to age 13.
Results: Maternal history of child maltreatment was significantly associated with offspring internalising and externalising difficulties. Maternal antenatal depression, postnatal depression and offspring child maltreatment were observed to significantly mediate this association independently.
Conclusions: Psychological and psychosocial interventions focused around treating maternal depression, particularly during pregnancy, and safeguarding against adverse childhood experiences could be offered to mothers with traumatic childhood histories to help protect against psychopathology in the next generation
SUMOylation determines the voltage required to activate cardiac IKs channels.
IKs channels open in response to depolarization of the membrane voltage during the cardiac action potential, passing potassium ions outward to repolarize ventricular myocytes and end each beat. Here, we show that the voltage required to activate IKs channels depends on their covalent modification by small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) proteins. IKs channels are comprised of four KCNQ1 pore-forming subunits, two KCNE1 accessory subunits, and up to four SUMOs, one on Lys424 of each KCNQ1 subunit. Each SUMO shifts the half-maximal activation voltage (V1/2) of IKs ⌠+8 mV, producing a maximal +34-mV shift in neonatal mouse cardiac myocytes or Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing the mouse or human subunits. Unexpectedly, channels formed without KCNE1 carry at most two SUMOs despite having four available KCNQ1-Lys424 sites. SUMOylation of KCNQ1 is KCNE1 dependent and determines the native attributes of cardiac IKs in vivo
Diethylcarbamazine activity against Brugia malayi microfilariae is dependent on inducible nitric-oxide synthase and the cyclooxygenase pathway
BACKGROUND: Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) has been used for many years in the treatment of human lymphatic filariasis. Its mode of action is not well understood, but it is known to interact with the arachidonic acid pathway. Here we have investigated the contribution of the nitric oxide and cyclooxygenase (COX) pathways to the activity of DEC against B. malayi microfilariae in mice. METHODS: B. malayi microfilariae were injected intravenously into mice and parasitaemia was measured 24 hours later. DEC was then administered to BALB/c mice with and without pre-treatment with indomethacin or dexamethasone and the parasitaemia monitored. To investigate a role for inducible nitric oxide in DEC's activity, DEC and ivermectin were administered to microfilaraemic iNOS(-/- )mice and their background strain (129/SV). Western blot analysis was used to determine any effect of DEC on the production of COX and inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS) proteins. RESULTS: DEC administered alone to BALB/c mice resulted in a rapid and profound reduction in circulating microfilariae within five minutes of treatment. Microfilarial levels began to recover after 24 hours and returned to near pre-treatment levels two weeks later, suggesting that the sequestration of microfilariae occurs independently of parasite killing. Pre-treatment of animals with dexamethasone or indomethacin reduced DEC's efficacy by almost 90% or 56%, respectively, supporting a role for the arachidonic acid and cyclooxygenase pathways in vivo. Furthermore, experiments showed that treatment with DEC results in a reduction in the amount of COX-1 protein in peritoneal exudate cells. Additionally, in iNOS(-/- )mice infected with B. malayi microfilariae, DEC showed no activity, whereas the efficacy of another antifilarial drug, ivermectin, was unaffected. CONCLUSION: These results confirm the important role of the arachidonic acid metabolic pathway in DEC's mechanism of action in vivo and show that in addition to its effects on the 5-lipoxygenase pathway, it targets the cyclooxygenase pathway and COX-1. Moreover, we show for the first time that inducible nitric oxide is essential for the rapid sequestration of microfilariae by DEC
The UTMOST Survey for Magnetars, Intermittent pulsars, RRATs and FRBs I: System description and overview
We describe the ongoing `Survey for Magnetars, Intermittent pulsars, Rotating
radio transients and Fast radio bursts' (SMIRF), performed using the newly
refurbished UTMOST telescope. SMIRF repeatedly sweeps the southern Galactic
plane performing real-time periodicity and single-pulse searches, and is the
first survey of its kind carried out with an interferometer. SMIRF is
facilitated by a robotic scheduler which is capable of fully autonomous
commensal operations. We report on the SMIRF observational parameters, the data
analysis methods, the survey's sensitivities to pulsars, techniques to mitigate
radio frequency interference and present some early survey results. UTMOST's
wide field of view permits a full sweep of the Galactic plane to be performed
every fortnight, two orders of magnitude faster than previous surveys. In the
six months of operations from January to June 2018, we have performed
sweeps of the Galactic plane with SMIRF. Notable blind re-detections include
the magnetar PSR J16224950, the RRAT PSR J09413942 and the eclipsing
pulsar PSR J17482446A. We also report the discovery of a new pulsar, PSR
J170554. Our follow-up of this pulsar with the UTMOST and Parkes telescopes
at an average flux limit of mJy and mJy respectively,
categorizes this as an intermittent pulsar with a high nulling fraction of Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, comments welcom
Broken-symmetry-adapted Green function theory of condensed matter systems:towards a vector spin-density-functional theory
The group theory framework developed by Fukutome for a systematic analysis of
the various broken symmetry types of Hartree-Fock solutions exhibiting spin
structures is here extended to the general many body context using spinor-Green
function formalism for describing magnetic systems. Consequences of this theory
are discussed for examining the magnetism of itinerant electrons in nanometric
systems of current interest as well as bulk systems where a vector spin-density
form is required, by specializing our work to spin-density-functional
formalism. We also formulate the linear response theory for such a system and
compare and contrast them with the recent results obtained for localized
electron systems. The various phenomenological treatments of itinerant magnetic
systems are here unified in this group-theoretical description.Comment: 17 page
Basic concepts for convection parameterization in weather forecast and climate models: COST Action ES0905 final report
The research network âBasic Concepts for Convection Parameterization in Weather Forecast and Climate Modelsâ was organized with European funding (COST Action ES0905) for the period of 2010â2014. Its extensive brainstorming suggests how the subgrid-scale parameterization problem in atmospheric modeling, especially for convection, can be examined and developed from the point of view of a robust theoretical basis. Our main cautions are current emphasis on massive observational data analyses and process studies. The closure and the entrainmentâdetrainment problems are identified as the two highest priorities for convection parameterization under the massâflux formulation. The need for a drastic change of the current European research culture as concerns policies and funding in order not to further deplete the visions of the European researchers focusing on those basic issues is emphasized
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