Effects of Protein Deficiency on Perinatal and Postnatal Health Outcomes

There are a variety of environmental insults that can occur during pregnancy which cause low birth weight and poor fetal health outcomes. One such insult is maternal malnutrition, which can be further narrowed down to a low protein diet during gestation. Studies show that perinatal protein deficiencies can impair proper organ growth and development, leading to long-term metabolic dysfunction. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie how this deficiency leads to adverse developmental outcomes is essential for establishing better therapeuticstrategies that may alleviate or prevent diseases in later life. This chapter reviews how perinatal protein restriction in humans and animals leads to metabolic disease, and it identifies the mechanisms that have been elucidated, to date. These include alterations in transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms, as well as indirect means such as endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and oxidative stress. Furthermore, nutritional and pharmaceutical interventions are highlighted to illustrate that the plasticity of the underdeveloped organs during perinatal life can be exploited to prevent onset of long-term metabolic disease

Symptoms and signs in individuals with serology positive for celiac disease but normal mucosa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antibody serology is an important tool in the investigation of celiac disease (CD), but does not always correlate with mucosal appearance in the small intestine. Patients with positive CD serology but normal mucosa (Marsh 0) are at increased risk of future CD. In this study we describe a model for identifying and characterizing individuals with normal mucosa but positive CD serology. Such individuals are sometimes referred to as having latent CD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The records of ten Swedish pathology departments were used to identify individuals with biopsies indicating normal duodenal/jejunal mucosa. Using the national personal identification number, these data were linked with CD serology data (antigliadin, antiendomysial and tissue transglutaminase antibodies); and we thereby identified 3,736 individuals with normal mucosa but positive CD serology. Two independent reviewers then manually reviewed their biopsy reports to estimate comorbidity. We also randomly selected 112 individuals for validation through patient chart review.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The majority of the 3,736 individuals were females (62%). Children (0–15 years) made up 21.4%. The median number of biopsy specimen was 3. Our review of biopsy reports found that other gastrointestinal comorbidity was rare (inflammatory bowel disease: 0.4%; helicobacter pylori infection: 0.2%). Some 22% individuals selected for patient chart review had a relative with CD. The most common symptoms among these individuals were diarrhea (46%) and abdominal pain (45%), while 26% had anemia. Although 27% of the individuals selected for validation had been informed about gluten-free diet, only 13% were adhering to a gluten-free diet at the end of follow-up.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Individuals with positive CD serology but normal mucosa often have CD-like symptoms and a family history of CD.</p

Cross-cultural pragmatics and translation: the case of museum texts as interlingual representation

This chapter documents issues of interlingual and intercultural transfer in museum texts from a cross-cultural pragmatics perspective. Research interest in museum communication has been limited in translation studies and linguistics, with a few notable exceptions (e.g. Neather, 2005, 2008; Jiang, 2010; Sturge, 2007; Ravelli 2006, for sources in English). The questions about linguistic and cultural representation that arise, in museum texts, from the interplay of systemic or pragmatic differences across languages and factors like museology policies, audience expectations (communicative, textual and museological) and support media, for example, have barely received attention despite their rising significance in a global context. Although there are textual problems (e.g. terminology, culture specific intertextuality or referencing), it is the contextual and the pragmatic that have been least catered for and require attention as the internationalisation of museum audiences and the global dissemination of cultural products gather pace. This is evidenced in translation students’ responses to museum text materials in the context of UK higher education work experience modules that are used here as a trigger for the discussion. Subsequent analyses are then applied to texts relating to exhibits (e.g. information panels and labels available in situ or online) rather than signage or other practical information, within a broadly functional and register and discourse approaches framework. These analyses also deal with text for fine arts displays, as an extension to discussions for the more ethnographic contexts that are the main object of study in the literature