Thrifty Phenotype vs Cold Adaptation: Trade-offs in Upper Limb Proportions of Himalayan Populations of Nepal

The multi-stress environment of high altitude has been associated with growth deficits in humans, particularly in zeugopod elements (forearm, lower leg). This is consistent with the thrifty phenotype hypothesis, which has been observed in Andeans, but has yet to be tested in other high altitude populations. In Himalayan populations, other factors, such as cold stress, may shape limb proportions. The current study investigated whether relative upper limb proportions of Himalayan adults (n=254) differ between highland and lowland populations, and whether cold adaptation or a thrifty phenotype mechanism may be acting here. Height, weight, humerus length, ulna length, hand length, and hand width were measured using standard methods. Relative to height, total upper limb and ulna lengths were significantly shorter in highlanders compared to lowlanders in both sexes, whilst hand and humerus length were not. Hand width did not significantly differ between populations. These results support the thrifty phenotype hypothesis, as hand and humerus proportions are conserved at the expense of the ulna. The reduction in relative ulna length could be attributed to cold adaptation, but the lack of difference between populations in both hand length and width indicate that cold adaptation is not shaping hands proportions in this case

Power grip, pinch grip, manual muscle testing or thenar atrophy - which should be assessed as a motor outcome after carpal tunnel decompression? A systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Objective assessment of motor function is frequently used to evaluate outcome after surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However a range of outcome measures are used and there appears to be no consensus on which measure of motor function effectively captures change. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the methods used to assess motor function in randomized controlled trials of surgical interventions for CTS. A secondary aim was to evaluate which instruments reflect clinical change and are psychometrically robust.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The bibliographic databases Medline, AMED and CINAHL were searched for randomized controlled trials of surgical interventions for CTS. Data on instruments used, methods of assessment and results of tests of motor function was extracted by two independent reviewers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-two studies were retrieved which included performance based assessments of motor function. Nineteen studies assessed power grip dynamometry, fourteen studies used both power and pinch grip dynamometry, eight used manual muscle testing and five assessed the presence or absence of thenar atrophy. Several studies used multiple tests of motor function. Two studies included both power and pinch strength and reported descriptive statistics enabling calculation of effect sizes to compare the relative responsiveness of grip and pinch strength within study samples. The study findings suggest that tip pinch is more responsive than lateral pinch or power grip up to 12 weeks following surgery for CTS.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although used most frequently and known to be reliable, power and key pinch dynamometry are not the most valid or responsive tools for assessing motor outcome up to 12 weeks following surgery for CTS. Tip pinch dynamometry more specifically targets the thenar musculature and appears to be more responsive. Manual muscle testing, which in theory is most specific to the thenar musculature, may be more sensitive if assessed using a hand held dynamometer – the Rotterdam Intrinsic Handheld Myometer. However further research is needed to evaluate its reliability and responsiveness and establish the most efficient and psychometrically robust method of evaluating motor function following surgery for CTS.</p

Comparison of the efficacy of a neutral wrist splint and wrist splint with lumbrical unit for the treatment of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of a neutral wrist splint or a wrist splint with an additional metacarpophalangeal (MCP) unit on pain, function, grip and pinch strength in patients with mild-to-moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods: Twenty four patients received conservative treatment using either the neutral wrist splint or wrist splint with the MCP unit for a period of 6 weeks. Primary outcome measures were pain, function, grip and pinch strength. Data was collected immediately before and after using the two types of splints at baseline (0 weeks) and 6 weeks. Statistical analysis was performed using the paired t-test and independent T-test. Results: Compared to baseline, both the neutral wrist splint and the wrist splint with an MCP unit significantly decreased pain, increased function and pinch and grip strength. Comparisons of the two types of splints for grip (P =0.675) and pinch strength (P =0.650) revealed that there were no significant differences between the two after 6 weeks of wear. However, there were significant differences in pain levels (P =0.022) and the DASH score (P =0.027) between the two types of splints from baseline to 6 weeks. Conclusion: The wrist splint with an MCP unit was more effective than the neutral wrist splint in pain reduction and improvement of function

Telbivudine versus lamivudine in patients with chronic hepatitis B

BACKGROUND: Reducing hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication to minimal levels is emerging as a key therapeutic goal for chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: In this double-blind, phase 3 trial, 1370 patients with chronic hepatitis B were randomly assigned to receive 600 mg of telbivudine or 100 mg of lamivudine once daily. The primary efficacy end point was noninferiority of telbivudine to lamivudine for therapeutic response (i.e., a reduction in serum HBV DNA levels to fewer than 5 log 10 copies per milliliter, along with loss of hepatitis B e antigen [HBeAg] or normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels). Secondary efficacy measures included histologic response, changes in serum HBV DNA levels, and HBeAg responses. RESULTS: At week 52, a significantly higher proportion of HBeAg-positive patients receiving telbivudine than of those receiving lamivudine had a therapeutic response (75.3% vs. 67.0%, P = 0.005) or a histologic response (64.7% vs. 56.3%, P = 0.01); telbivudine also was not inferior to lamivudine for these end points in HBeAg-negative patients. In HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative patients, telbivudine was superior to lamivudine with respect to the mean reduction in the number of copies of HBV DNA from baseline, the proportion of patients with a reduction in HBV DNA to levels undetectable by polymerase-chain-reaction assay, and development of resistance to the drug. Elevated creatine kinase levels were more common in patients who received telbivudine, whereas elevated alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels were more common in those who received lamivudine. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B, the rates of therapeutic and histologic response at 1 year were significantly higher in patients treated with telbivudine than in patients treated with lamivudine. In both the HBeAg-negative and the HBeAg-positive groups, telbivudine demonstrated greater HBV DNA suppression with less resistance than did lamivudine. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00057265.) Copyright © 2007 Massachusetts Medical Society.published_or_final_versio

Hydrogen chloride emissions monitoring: European survey of practises, issues and opinions

This paper assesses the results from a survey on how hydrogen chloride (HCl) in stack gas emissions from industrial processes is measured by organisations based in Europe that do periodic short-term measurements. The survey was done by asking organisations to complete a questionnaire.The questions focused on the use of different monitoring techniques and the implementation of associated European monitoring methods (that is Committee of European Normalisation (CEN) standards).The results of the survey showed that there are a variety of different approaches used throughout Europe for the measurement of HCl. The preference remains for the use of a wet chemistry method, as opposed to automated systems. However, the survey has shown that the approach to determining the uncertainty of the wet chemistry method varies between test laboratories with some using an uncertainty provided by the analysis laboratory and others using a fixed uncertainty provided in the CEN standard.This work was part of a European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) project on “Determining new uncertainty requirements for increasingly stringent legislative HCl industrial emission limits” (18NRM04)

Hydrogen chloride emissions monitoring: European survey of practises, issues and opinions

This paper assesses the results from a survey on how hydrogen chloride (HCl) in stack gas emissions from industrial processes is measured by organisations based in Europe that do periodic short-term measurements. The survey was done by asking organisations to complete a questionnaire.The questions focused on the use of different monitoring techniques and the implementation of associated European monitoring methods (that is Committee of European Normalisation (CEN) standards).The results of the survey showed that there are a variety of different approaches used throughout Europe for the measurement of HCl. The preference remains for the use of a wet chemistry method, as opposed to automated systems. However, the survey has shown that the approach to determining the uncertainty of the wet chemistry method varies between test laboratories with some using an uncertainty provided by the analysis laboratory and others using a fixed uncertainty provided in the CEN standard.This work was part of a European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) project on “Determining new uncertainty requirements for increasingly stringent legislative HCl industrial emission limits” (18NRM04)

Ichnological and sedimentological analysis from IODP Expedition 401 sites: A approach to investigate Miocene-Pliocene Mediterranean-Atlantic paleoenvironmental evolution

Oral presentada en XXXIX Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología, del 2 al 4 de octubre a en A Coruña (España)The present-day Mediterranean-Atlantic water masses exchange across the Strait of Gibraltar. This exchange configuration developed during the Early Pliocene. However, around 8 My ago, during the Late Miocene, the palaeogeography was different, and exchange occurred through two main corridors: one in southern Spain (Betic), the other in northern Morocco (Rifian). Progressive northward convergence of Africa with southern Europe restricted and closed these corridors, resulting in extreme salinity fluctuations in the Mediterranean, and leading to the precipitation of the Messinian Salinity Crisis salt giant. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 401 is the offshore drilling component of the Land-2-Sea drilling proposal, Investigating Miocene Mediterranean-Atlantic Gateway Exchange (IMMAGE). The target of the IMMAGE drilling proposal is the record of Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange from inception (~8 Ma) through salt giant formation (5.9 to 5.3 Ma) to the establishment of an exchange configuration similar to today in the Early Pliocene. The sediments from the Alborán Sea, Gulf of Cádiz and west of Iberia, which are preserved both onshore and offshore, record the Late Miocene water masses, allowing us to evaluate the role of Mediterranean-Atlantic exchange in global-scale climate systems. The preliminary sedimentological and ichnological integrative analysis undertaken on cores recovered from Sites U1385 (Promontório dos Príncipes de Avis), U1609 (Portuguese margin), U1610 (Gulf of Cádiz) and U1611 (Alborán Sea) onboard the JOIDES Resolution during Expedition 401 has been used to assess the Miocene¿Pliocene Mediterranean-Atlantic paleoenvironmental evolution. Changes in ichnological features, such as bioturbation index, ichnodiversity, penetration depth, and cross-cutting relationships, together with variations in sedimentological features such as sedimentary facies (lithology, grain size, sedimentary structures, color, etc.) and sedimentary facies associations allow the characterization and discrimination of deepwater sedimentary systems, their deposits and the associated dominant sedimentary processes (i.e., pelagic/ hemipelagic, gravitational and bottom currents)

Early development of the malleus and incus in humans.

It is widely accepted by developmental biologists that the malleus and incus of the mammalian middle ear are first pharyngeal arch derivatives, a contention based originally on classical embryology that has now been backed up by molecular evidence from rodent models. However, it has been claimed in several studies of human ossicular development that the manubrium of the malleus and long process of the incus are actually derived from the second arch. This 'dual-arch' interpretation is commonly presented in otolaryngology textbooks, and it has been used by clinicians to explain the aetiology of certain congenital abnormalities of the human middle ear. In order to re-examine the origins of the human malleus and incus, we made three-dimensional reconstructions of the pharyngeal region of human embryos from 7 to 28 mm crown-rump length, based on serial histological sections from the Boyd Collection. We considered the positions of the developing ossicles relative to the pharyngeal pouches and clefts, and the facial and chorda tympani nerves. Confirming observations from previous studies, the primary union between first pharyngeal pouch and first cleft found in our youngest specimens was later lost, the external meatus developing rostroventral to this position. The mesenchyme of the first and second arches in these early embryos seemed to be continuous, but the boundaries of the developing ossicles proved to be very hard to determine at this stage. When first distinguishable, the indications were that both the manubrium of the malleus and the long process of the incus were emerging within the first pharyngeal arch. We therefore conclude that the histological evidence, on balance, favours the 'classical' notion that the human malleus and incus are first-arch structures. The embryological basis of congenital ossicular abnormalities should be reconsidered in this light.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.1252

Explaining counterterrorism in the UK: Normal politics, securitized politics or performativity of the neoliberal state?

This paper seeks to explore the politics of counter terrorism in the UK. It argues that for a number of reasons, counter terrorism policy has been separated off from other policy areas and seen as securitised, exceptional or just different. The paper argues that such a separation from “normal” politics is problematic, both conceptually and empirically. It argues that much can be gained by considering counter terrorism policy through the lenses, concepts and debates which feature in other areas of British politics. The paper then examines two such lenses/debates – depoliticisation and neoliberalism. An argument is developed that counter terrorism policy is not, in the main, depoliticised, but rather overt, politicised and visible. This prominence, it is argued, is due to the ways in which neoliberalism has reduced many of the traditional roles of the state. Drawing on the work of Wacquant and Hall, the paper argues that in the absence of such traditional roles, counter terrorism offers the state an opportunity to perform its own “stateness”, to visibly display its sovereign power in a context of ever more (self-imposed) diminished powers