“It feels like medically promoted disordered eating”: The psychosocial impact of gestational diabetes mellitus in the perinatal period

Background The global prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing, and it can significantly impact women’s psychosocial outcomes in the perinatal period. The aim of this study was to explore the psychosocial impacts including experiences of support for women with GDM in the antenatal and postnatal period. Methods Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with women (n = 33) living in the UK, who were either pregnant and recently diagnosed with GDM or had a previous GDM diagnosis within the past three years. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings Analysis revealed six themes: 1. Diagnostic related frustration; 2. Impact on mental health; 3. The medicalisation of eating; 4. Losing agency to gain control; 5. Sourcing networks of support; 6. Current pregnancy; and future reproductive health. Each theme provides a unique insight into the experiences and psychological strain associated with GDM. From confusion and frustration at diagnosis, to the profound knock-on impact a diagnosis, associated lifestyle changes and medical appointments had on women’s mental health, and the perceived medicalisation of their eating behaviours and patterns. Conclusion Given the increasing prevalence of GDM and its wide-ranging psychosocial impacts, this study emphasises the need for healthcare professionals to consider the potential implications of GDM on women’s psychosocial outcome, and to consider alternative support options outside of the medical system, such as peer support

The (un)controlled body: A grounded theory analysis to conceptualise stigma for women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Health-related stigma is associated with adverse outcomes including depression, stress, and reduced engagement in health behaviours which are particularly harmful in pregnancy and postpartum. Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) report negative psychosocial experiences and may be at risk of stigma related to the condition. We aimed to understand women’s experiences of GDM-specific stigma. Individual interviews were conducted with n=53 women living in the UK with current or past (within four years) GDM. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyse the data. Four themes were identified: 1. Preconceptions and misconceptions; 2. Locating, regaining, and negotiating agency; 3. Tension about and resisting the dominant discourse of stigma; and 4. Reclaiming control over the body. GDM-specific stigma was diverse and far reaching and may have broader implications for perinatal mental health and postnatal wellbeing. It is pertinent to investigate possible prospective associations between GDMspecific stigma and biomedical and mental health outcomes

A high-throughput behavioral paradigm for Drosophila olfaction - The Flywalk

How can odor-guided behavior of numerous individual Drosophila be assessed automatically with high temporal resolution? For this purpose we introduce the automatic integrated tracking and odor-delivery system Flywalk. In fifteen aligned small wind tunnels individual flies are exposed to repeated odor pulses, well defined in concentration and timing. The flies' positions are visually tracked, which allows quantification of the odor-evoked walking behavior with high temporal resolution of up to 100 ms. As a demonstration of Flywalk we show that the flies' behavior is odorant-specific; attractive odors elicit directed upwind movements, while repellent odors evoke decreased activity, followed by downwind movements. These changes in behavior differ between sexes. Furthermore our findings show that flies can evaluate the sex of a conspecific and males can determine a female's mating status based on olfactory cues. Consequently, Flywalk allows automatic screening of individual flies for their olfactory preference and sensitivity

Deductive Verification of Cryptographic Software

We report on the application of an off-the-shelf verification platform to the RC4 stream cipher cryptographic software implementation (as available in the openSSL library), and introduce a deductive verification technique based on self-composition for proving the absence of error propagation

A Case of the Inferior Mesenteric Artery Arising from the Superior Mesenteric Artery in a Korean Woman

Anatomical variations of the inferior mesenteric artery are extremely uncommon, since the inferior mesenteric artery is regularly diverged at the level of the third lumbar vertebra. We found a rare case in which the inferior mesenteric artery arose from the superior mesenteric artery. The findings were made during a routine dissection of the cadaver of an 82-yr-old Korean woman. This is the tenth report on this anomaly, the second female and the first Korean. The superior mesenteric artery normally arising from abdominal aorta sent the inferior mesenteric artery as the second branch. The longitudinal anastomosis vessels between the superior mesenteric artery and inferior mesenteric artery survived to form the common mesenteric artery. This anatomical variation concerning the common mesenteric artery is of clinical importance, performing procedures containing the superior mesenteric artery

The Thermal Design, Characterization, and Performance of the SPIDER Long-Duration Balloon Cryostat

We describe the SPIDER flight cryostat, which is designed to cool six millimeter-wavelength telescopes during an Antarctic long-duration balloon flight. The cryostat, one of the largest to have flown on a stratospheric payload, uses liquid helium-4 to deliver cooling power to stages at 4.2 and 1.6 K. Stainless steel capillaries facilitate a high flow impedance connection between the main liquid helium tank and a smaller superfluid tank, allowing the latter to operate at 1.6 K as long as there is liquid in the 4.2 K main tank. Each telescope houses a closed cycle helium-3 adsorption refrigerator that further cools the focal planes down to 300 mK. Liquid helium vapor from the main tank is routed through heat exchangers that cool radiation shields, providing negative thermal feedback. The system performed successfully during a 17 day flight in the 2014-2015 Antarctic summer. The cryostat had a total hold time of 16.8 days, with 15.9 days occurring during flight.Comment: 15 pgs, 17 fig

Complex polarity: building multicellular tissues through apical membrane traffic

The formation of distinct subdomains of the cell surface is crucial for multicellular organism development. The most striking example of this is apical-basal polarization. What is much less appreciated is that underpinning an asymmetric cell surface is an equally dramatic intracellular endosome rearrangement. Here, we review the interplay between classical cell polarity proteins and membrane trafficking pathways, and discuss how this marriage gives rise to cell polarization. We focus on those mechanisms that regulate apical polarization, as this is providing a number of insights into how membrane traffic and polarity are regulated at the tissue level

The role of the right temporoparietal junction in perceptual conflict: detection or resolution?

The right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is a polysensory cortical area that plays a key role in perception and awareness. Neuroimaging evidence shows activation of rTPJ in intersensory and sensorimotor conflict situations, but it remains unclear whether this activity reflects detection or resolution of such conflicts. To address this question, we manipulated the relationship between touch and vision using the so-called mirror-box illusion. Participants' hands lay on either side of a mirror, which occluded their left hand and reflected their right hand, but created the illusion that they were looking directly at their left hand. The experimenter simultaneously touched either the middle (D3) or the ring finger (D4) of each hand. Participants judged, which finger was touched on their occluded left hand. The visual stimulus corresponding to the touch on the right hand was therefore either congruent (same finger as touch) or incongruent (different finger from touch) with the task-relevant touch on the left hand. Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was delivered to the rTPJ immediately after touch. Accuracy in localizing the left touch was worse for D4 than for D3, particularly when visual stimulation was incongruent. However, following TMS, accuracy improved selectively for D4 in incongruent trials, suggesting that the effects of the conflicting visual information were reduced. These findings suggest a role of rTPJ in detecting, rather than resolving, intersensory conflict

Adult Neurogenesis: Ultrastructure of a Neurogenic Niche and Neurovascular Relationships

The first-generation precursors producing adult-born neurons in the crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) brain reside in a specialized niche located on the ventral surface of the brain. In the present work, we have explored the organization and ultrastructure of this neurogenic niche, using light-level, confocal and electron microscopic approaches. Our goals were to define characteristics of the niche microenvironment, examine the morphological relationships between the niche and the vasculature and observe specializations at the boundary between the vascular cavity located centrally in the niche. Our results show that the niche is almost fully encapsulated by blood vessels, and that cells in the vasculature come into contact with the niche. This analysis also characterizes the ultrastructure of the cell types in the niche. The Type I niche cells are by far the most numerous, and are the only cell type present superficially in the most ventral cell layers of the niche. More dorsally, Type I cells are intermingled with Types II, III and IV cells, which are observed far less frequently. Type I cells have microvilli on their apical cell surfaces facing the vascular cavity, as well as junctional complexes between adjacent cells, suggesting a role in regulating transport from the blood into the niche cells. These studies demonstrate a close relationship between the neurogenic niche and vascular system in P. clarkii. Furthermore, the specializations of niche cells contacting the vascular cavity are also typical of the interface between the blood/cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-brain barriers of vertebrates, including cells of the subventricular zone (SVZ) producing new olfactory interneurons in mammals. These data indicate that tissues involved in producing adult-born neurons in the crayfish brain use strategies that may reflect fundamental mechanisms preserved in an evolutionarily broad range of species, as proposed previously. The studies described here extend our understanding of neurovascular relationships in the brain of P. clarkii by characterizing the organization and ultrastructure of the neurogenic niche and associated vascular tissues

Free breakfasts in schools: design and conduct of a cluster randomised controlled trial of the Primary School Free Breakfast Initiative in Wales [ISRCTN18336527]

Background: School-based breakfast provision is increasingly being seen as a means of improving educational performance and dietary behaviour amongst children. Furthermore, recognition is growing that breakfast provision offers potential as a means of addressing social inequalities in these outcomes. At present however, the evidence base on the effectiveness of breakfast provision in bringing about these improvements is limited. Methods/Design: This paper describes the research design of a large scale evaluation of the effectiveness of the Welsh Assembly Government's Primary School Free Breakfast Initiative. A cluster randomised trial, with school as the unit of randomisation was used for the outcome evaluation, with a nested qualitative process evaluation. Quantitative outcome measures included dietary habits, attitudes, cognitive function, classroom behaviour, and school attendance. The study recruited 111 primary schools in Wales, of which 56 were randomly assigned to control condition and 55 to intervention. Participants were Year 5 and 6 students (aged 9–11 years) in these schools. Data were collected for all 111 schools at each of three time points: baseline, 4 month and 12 month follow-up. This was achieved through a repeated cross-sectional survey of approximately 4350 students on each of these occasions. Of those students in Year 5 at baseline, 1975 provided data at one or both of the follow-ups, forming a nested cohort. The evaluation also included a nested process evaluation, using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and case studies with students, school staff, and local authority scheme coordinators as key informants. Discussion: An overview of the methods used for the evaluation is presented, providing an example of the feasibility of conducting robust evaluations of policy initiatives using a randomised trial design with nested process evaluation. Details are provided of response rates and the flow of participants. Reflection is offered on methodological issues encountered at various stages through the course of the study, focusing upon issues associated with conducting a randomised trial of a government policy initiative, and with conducting research in school settings. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN1833652