Increasing Physical Activity in Inner City Youth Using Novel Interactive Gaming

The aim of this project was to assess the feasibility of participation in an afterschool physical activity program incorporating novel exercise technologies on changing physical activity level and physical fitness, compared to a nutrition education intervention alone. A second objective was to assess whether this type of intervention could modify cardiovascular risk factors and anthropometrics

The failure of suicide prevention in primary care: family and GP perspectives - a qualitative study

Background Although Primary care is crucial for suicide prevention, clinicians tend to report completed suicides in their care as non-preventable. We aimed to examine systemic inadequacies in suicide prevention from the perspectives of bereaved family members and GPs.Methods Qualitative study of 72 relatives or close friends bereaved by suicide and 19 General Practitioners who have experienced the suicide of patients.Results Relatives highlight failures in detecting symptoms and behavioral changes and the inability of GPs to understand the needs of patients and their social contexts. A perceived overreliance on anti-depressant treatment is a major source of criticism by family members. GPs tend to lack confidence in the recognition and management of suicidal patients, and report structural inadequacies in service provision.Conclusions Mental health and primary care services must find innovative and ethical ways to involve families in the decision-making process for patients at risk of suicide

Munchausen by internet: current research and future directions.

The Internet has revolutionized the health world, enabling self-diagnosis and online support to take place irrespective of time or location. Alongside the positive aspects for an individual's health from making use of the Internet, debate has intensified on how the increasing use of Web technology might have a negative impact on patients, caregivers, and practitioners. One such negative health-related behavior is Munchausen by Internet

Quantitative trait loci conferring grain mineral nutrient concentrations in durum wheat 3 wild emmer wheat RIL population

Mineral nutrient malnutrition, and particularly deficiency in zinc and iron, afflicts over 3 billion people worldwide. Wild emmer wheat, Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides, genepool harbors a rich allelic repertoire for mineral nutrients in the grain. The genetic and physiological basis of grain protein, micronutrients (zinc, iron, copper and manganese) and macronutrients (calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and sulfur) concentration was studied in tetraploid wheat population of 152 recombinant inbred lines (RILs), derived from a cross between durum wheat (cv. Langdon) and wild emmer (accession G18-16). Wide genetic variation was found among the RILs for all grain minerals, with considerable transgressive effect. A total of 82 QTLs were mapped for 10 minerals with LOD score range of 3.2–16.7. Most QTLs were in favor of the wild allele (50 QTLs). Fourteen pairs of QTLs for the same trait were mapped to seemingly homoeologous positions, reflecting synteny between the A and B genomes. Significant positive correlation was found between grain protein concentration (GPC), Zn, Fe and Cu, which was supported by significant overlap between the respective QTLs, suggesting common physiological and/or genetic factors controlling the concentrations of these mineral nutrients. Few genomic regions (chromosomes 2A, 5A, 6B and 7A) were found to harbor clusters of QTLs for GPC and other nutrients. These identified QTLs may facilitate the use of wild alleles for improving grain nutritional quality of elite wheat cultivars, especially in terms of protein, Zn and Fe

A Versatile Route for the Synthesis of Nickel Oxide Nanostructures Without Organics at Low Temperature

Nickel oxide nanoparticles and nanoflowers have been synthesized by a soft reaction of nickel powder and water without organics at 100 °C. The mechanism for the formation of nanostructures is briefly described in accordance with decomposition of metal with water giving out hydrogen. The structure, morphology, and the crystalline phase of resulting nanostructures have been characterized by various techniques. Compared with other methods, the present method is simple, fast, economical, template-free, and without organics. In addition, the approach is nontoxic without producing hazardous waste and could be expanded to provide a general and convenient strategy for the synthesis of nanostructures to other functional nanomaterials

Mutation analysis for heterozygote detection and the prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis

The cystic fibrosis gene was recently cloned, and a three-base deletion removing phenylalanine 508 from the coding region was identified as the mutation on the majority of cystic fibrosis chromosomes. We used the polymerase chain reaction and hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotides to analyze the presence or absence of this mutation on 439 cystic fibrosis chromosomes and 433 normal chromosomes from non-Ashkenazic white families. This mutation was present on 75.8 percent of the cystic fibrosis chromosomes. Using the DNA markers XV-2c and KM-19, we found that 96 percent of cystic fibrosis chromosomes with the mutation had a single DNA haplotype that occurs frequently with cystic fibrosis chromosomes. This haplotype was also found on 54 percent of the cystic fibrosis chromosomes without the three-base deletion. The three-base deletion was found on only 30.3 percent of cystic fibrosis chromosomes from Ashkenazic families, although the common cystic fibrosis haplotype was present on 97 percent of cystic fibrosis chromosomes from Ashkenazic families. The ability to detect the common mutation causing cystic fibrosis represents a major improvement in prenatal diagnosis and heterozygote detection, particularly in families in which no DNA sample is available from the affected child, and provides an improved method of testing for spouses of carriers of cystic fibrosis. Mutation analysis introduces the possibility of population-based screening programs for carriers, which on the basis of the sample in this study, would currently identify about 57 percent of the non-Ashkenazic white couples at risk.published_or_final_versio

Cosmic Ray Anomalies from the MSSM?

The recent positron excess in cosmic rays (CR) observed by the PAMELA satellite may be a signal for dark matter (DM) annihilation. When these measurements are combined with those from FERMI on the total ($e^++e^-$) flux and from PAMELA itself on the $\bar p/p$ ratio, these and other results are difficult to reconcile with traditional models of DM, including the conventional mSUGRA version of Supersymmetry even if boosts as large as $10^{3-4}$ are allowed. In this paper, we combine the results of a previously obtained scan over a more general 19-parameter subspace of the MSSM with a corresponding scan over astrophysical parameters that describe the propagation of CR. We then ascertain whether or not a good fit to this CR data can be obtained with relatively small boost factors while simultaneously satisfying the additional constraints arising from gamma ray data. We find that a specific subclass of MSSM models where the LSP is mostly pure bino and annihilates almost exclusively into $\tau$ pairs comes very close to satisfying these requirements. The lightest $\tilde \tau$ in this set of models is found to be relatively close in mass to the LSP and is in some cases the nLSP. These models lead to a significant improvement in the overall fit to the data by an amount $\Delta \chi^2 \sim 1/$dof in comparison to the best fit without Supersymmetry while employing boosts $\sim 100$. The implications of these models for future experiments are discussed.Comment: 57 pages, 31 figures, references adde

Cost-consciousness among Swiss doctors: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Knowing what influences physicians attitudes toward health care costs is an important matter, because most health care expenditures are the results of doctors' decisions. Many decisions regarding medical tests and treatments are influenced by factors other than the expected benefit to the patient, including the doctor's demographic characteristics and concerns about cost and income. METHODS: Doctors (n = 1184) in Geneva, Switzerland, answered questions about their cost-consciousness, practice patterns (medical specialty, public.vs. private sector, number of patients per week, time spent with a new patient), work satisfaction, and stress from uncertainty. General linear models were used to identify independent risk factors of higher cost-consciousness. RESULTS: Most doctors agreed that trying to contain costs was their responsibility ("agree" or "totally agree": 90%) and that they should take a more prominent role in limiting the use of unnecessary tests (92%); most disagreed that doctors are too busy to worry about costs (69%) and that the cost of health care is only important if the patient has to pay for it out-of-pocket (88%). In multivariate analyses, cost-consciousness was higher among doctors in the public sector, those who saw fewer patients per week, who were most tolerant of uncertainty, and who were most satisfied with their work. CONCLUSION: Thus even in a setting with very high health care expenditures, doctors' stated cost-consciousness appeared to be generally high, even though it was not uniformly distributed among them

Cardiac magnetic resonance visualizes acute and chronic myocardial injuries in myocarditis

Our objective was to evaluate the ability of CMR to visualize myocardial injuries over the course of myocarditis. We studied 42 patients (39 males, 3 females; age 37 ± 14 years) with myocarditis during the acute phase and after 12 ± 9 months. CMR included function analyses, T2-weighted imaging (T2 ratio), T1-weighted imaging before and after i.v. gadolinium injection (global relative enhancement; gRE), and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). In the acute phase, the T2 ratio was elevated in 57%, gRE in 31%, and LGE was present in 64% of the patients. In 32 patients (76%) were any two (or more) out of three sequences abnormal. At follow-up, there was an increase in ejection fraction (57.4 ± 11.9% vs. 61.4 ± 7.6; P < 0.05) while both T2 ratio (2.04 ± 0.32 vs. 1.70 ± 0.28; P < 0.001) and gRE (4.07 ± 1.63 vs. 3.11 ± 1.22; P < 0.05) significantly decreased. The LGE persisted in 10 patients. Dilated cardiomyopathy was present in 3 patients and 4 patients received a defibrillator or a pacemaker. A comprehensive CMR approach is a useful tool to visualize myocardial tissue injuries over the course of myocarditis. CMR may help to differentiate acute from healed myocarditis, and add information for the differential diagnoses

Estimated pre-morbid IQ effects on cognitive and functional outcomes in Alzheimer disease: a longitudinal study in a treated cohort

Abstract Background Cognitive reserve is thought to influence the degree of neuropathology needed for diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD). Cognitive reserve can be operationally defined as the hypothesized capacity of the mature adult brain to sustain the effects of disease or injury without manifesting clinical symptoms of AD, but sufficient to cause clinical dementia in an individual possessing less cognitive reserve. Its effect on the subsequent course of AD is less clear. Pre-morbid IQ is a useful measure of cognitive reserve. Methods We studied 659 consecutive patients with AD at a tertiary referral memory clinic. Patients were assessed on six cognitive tests at baseline. Activities of Daily Living (ADL) were measured on the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale and Physical Self-Maintenance Scale (PSMS). The National Adult Reading Test (NART) was used to estimate pre-morbid IQ. Patients were followed up after starting a cholinesterase inhibitor over 78 weeks. Mixed general linear models estimated the effects of NART on cognition and ADL. Results Three hundred and fifty-five patients had NART scored with a mean estimated pre-morbid IQ of 104.7 (standard deviation 18.5). NART increased overall cognitive ability by 2.7% for every 10 IQ points (p Conclusion Our data support the hypothesis that cognitive reserve continues to have a limited influence on cognition after AD has been diagnosed and thus, indirectly, has an impact on ADL.</p