Developmental programming of offspring adipose tissue biology and obesity risk.

Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions and imposes major negative health crises and an economic burden in both high and low income countries. The multifaceted nature of obesity represents a major health challenge, with obesity affecting a variety of different organs and increases the risk of many other noncommunicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, dementia, cardiovascular diseases, and even cancer. The defining organ of obesity is the adipose tissue, highlighting the need to more comprehensively understand the development and biology of this tissue to understand the pathogenesis of obesity. Adipose tissue is a miscellaneous and highly plastic endocrine organ. It comes in many different sizes and shades and is distributed throughout many different locations in the body. Though its development begins prenatally, quite uniquely, it has the capacity for unlimited growth throughout adulthood. Adipose tissue is also a highly sexually dimorphic tissue, patterning men and women in different ways, which means the risks associated with obesity are also sexually dimorphic. Recent studies show that environmental factors during prenatal and early stages of postnatal development have the capacity to programme the structure and function of adipose tissue, with implications for the development of obesity. This review summarizes the evidence for a role for early environmental factors, such as maternal malnutrition, hypoxia, and exposure to excess hormones and endocrine disruptors during gestation in the programming of adipose tissue and obesity in the offspring. We will also discuss the complexity of studying adipose tissue biology and the importance of appreciating nuances in adipose tissue, such as sexual dimorphism and divergent responses to metabolic and endocrine stimuli. Given the rising levels of obesity worldwide, understanding how environmental conditions in early life affects adipose tissue phenotype and the subsequent development of obesity is of absolute importance

Research priorities relating to the debate on assisted dying: what do we still need to know? : Results of a modified Delphi technique

Objective To identify the main areas of uncertainty and subsequent research priorities to inform the ongoing debate around assisted dying. Design Two-round electronic modified Delphi consultation with experts and interested bodies. Setting and participants 110 groups and individuals interested in the subject of end of life care and/or assisted dying were approached to participate. Respondents included health and social care professionals, researchers, campaigners, patients, and carers predominately based in the UK. In the first round, the respondents were asked to propose high-priority research questions related to the topic of assisted dying. The collected research questions were then de-duplicated and presented to all respondents in a second round in which they could rate each question in terms of importance. Results 24% and 26% of participants responded to the first and second rounds respectively. Respondents suggested 85 unique research questions in the first round. These were grouped by theme and rated in terms of importance in the second round. Emergent themes were: Palliative care/symptom control; patient characteristics, experiences and decisions; families and carers; society and the general public; arguments for and against assisted dying; international experiences /analysis of existing national data; suicide; mental health, psychological and psychosocial considerations; comorbidities; the role of clinicians; environment and external influences; broader topics incorporating assisted dying; and moral, ethical and legal issues. Ten of the 85 proposed questions were rated as being important (≥7/10) by at least 50% of respondents. Conclusions Research questions with the highest levels of consensus were predominately concerned with understanding how and why people make end-of-life decisions, and which factors influence those decisions. Dissemination of these findings alongside a focused examination of the existing literature may be the most effective way to add evidence to the ongoing debate around assisted dying

The COVID-19 pandemic as a pivot point for biological conservation

The COVID-19 lockdown reduced human mobility and led to immediate insights into how humans impact nature. Yet the strongest ecological impacts are likely to come. As we emerge from the pandemic, governments should avoid prioritizing short-term economic gains that compromise ecosystems and the services they provide humanity. Instead, the pandemic can be a pivot point for societal transformation to value longer term ecosystem and economic sustainability

Are ecstasy users biased toward endorsing somatic mental health symptoms? Results from a general community sample

Abstract Rationale Whether the reported poorer mental health of ecstasy users is due to a bias in endorsement of somatic symptoms has been postulated, but rarely examined. Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate whether levels of ecstasy use were associated with differential probabilities of endorsing somatic mental health symptoms. Methods Current ecstasy users aged 24-30 years (n=316) were identified from a population-based Australian study. Measures included frequency of ecstasy, meth/amphetamine, and cannabis use and the Goldberg anxiety/ depression symptom scales

Students’ Perceptions of and Responses to Teaching Assistant and Peer Feedback

Authentic open-ended problems are increasingly appearing in university classrooms at all levels. Formative feedback that leads to learning and improved student work products is a challenge, particularly in large enrollment courses. This is a case study of one first-year engineering student team’s experience with teaching assistant and peer feedback during a series of open-ended mathematical modeling problems called Model-Eliciting Activities. The goal of this study was to gain deep insight into the interactions between students, feedback providers, and written feedback by examining one team’s perceptions of the feedback they received and the changes they made to their solutions based on their feedback. The practical purpose of this work is to begin to make recommendations to improve students’ interactions with written feedback. The data sources consisted of individual student interviews, videos of the team’s meetings to revise their solutions, the team’s iteratively-developed solutions, the team’s documented changes to the their solutions, and the written feedback they received from their teaching assistant and peers. The students explained that helpful peer feedback requires a time commitment, focuses on the mathematical model, and goes beyond praise to prompt change. The students also stated that generic TA feedback was not helpful. The greatest difference between the students’ perceptions of TA and peer feedback was that the TA had influence over the team’s grade and therefore the TA feedback was deemed more important. Feedback strategies to increase peer participation and improve teaching assistant training are described. Suggestions for continued research on feedback are provided

Straight from the Coyote’s Mouth: Genetic Identification of Prey through Oral Swabs of Predators

Human-carnivore conflicts often involve the depredation of domestic livestock. These depredation events are rarely observed, yet mitigation typically involves identifying the species or individual involved for removal or relocation. We tested a molecular method to identify individuals involved in depredation events using mouth swabs to determine if prey DNA could be detected, and for how long. We fed mule deer Odocoileus hemionus meat to captive coyotes Canis latrans and swabbed their mouths at five predetermined intervals between 2–72 h after consumption of the deer meat. We assessed two different molecular forensic methods to analyze the saliva swabs: qPCR for species identification and microsatellites for individual prey identification. We found that qPCR analysis was highly effective, detecting the deer DNA in the coyote saliva for up to 72 h post-deer consumption. Our results suggest that if an individual carnivore suspected of livestock depredation is captured within 72 h of a depredation incident, it is possible to confirm their potential involvement with a buccal swab and qPCR analysis. Utilizing this method could aid in more targeted and effective removal of individual problem carnivores as opposed to widespread removal of involved species

Engineering a modular 44Ti/44Sc generator: Eluate evaluation in preclinical models and estimation of human radiation dosimetry

BACKGROUND: METHODS: RESULTS: CONCLUSIONS: A clinical-scal

Assessment of Cardiac Energy Metabolism, Function, and Physiology in Patients With Heart Failure Taking Empagliflozin : The Randomized, Controlled EMPA-VISION Trial

Acknowledgments The authors express their gratitude toward the Oxford cardiovascular magnetic resonance nursing team, specifically Judith DeLos Santos, Catherine Krasopoulos, Marion Galley, and Claudia Nunes; and the diabetes trials unit team, particularly Irene Kennedy, for her organization skills. The authors also thank the team of the computed tomography suite at the Manor Hospital Oxford as well as all patients who participated in this trial. Drs Holman and Neubauer are Emeritus National Institute for Health Research senior investigators. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Health Service, National Institute for Health and Care Research, or Department of Health. Sources of Funding Boehringer Ingelheim is the sponsor of the EMPA-VISION study and was involved in early stages of its study design. Boehringer Ingelheim employees (Drs Lee and Massey) also supported preparation of this manuscript. Dr Neubauer acknowledges support from the Oxford British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence. Drs Holman and Neubauer were supported by the Oxford National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre. Drs Rodgers and Valkovič are funded by Sir Henry Dale Fellowships from the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society [098436/Z/12/B and 221805/Z/20/Z, respectively]. Dr Valkovič also gratefully acknowledges support of the Slovak Grant Agencies VEGA (Vedecká grantová agentúra) [2/0003/20] and APVV (Slovak Research and Development Agency) [No. 19–0032]. Dr Miller acknowledges support from the Novo Foundation (NNF21OC0068683).Peer reviewedPublisher PD