Epibenthic assessment of a renewable tidal energy site.

Concern over global climate change as a result of fossil fuel use has resulted in energy production from renewable sources. Marine renewable energy devices provide clean electricity but can also cause physical disturbance to the local environment. There is a considerable paucity of ecological data at potential marine renewable energy sites that is needed to assess potential future impacts and allow optimal siting of devices. Here, we provide a baseline benthic survey for the Big Russel in Guernsey, UK, a potential site for tidal energy development. To assess the suitability of proposed sites for marine renewable energy in the Big Russel and to identify potential control sites, we compared species assemblages and habitat types. This baseline survey can be used to select control habitats to compare and monitor the benthic communities after installation of the device and contribute towards the optimal siting of any future installation

Circulating angiopoietin-1 is not a biomarker of disease severity or prognosis in pulmonary hypertension

Background Circulating angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) has been linked to pulmonary hypertension (PH) in experimental studies. However, the clinical relevance of Ang-1 as a biomarker in PH remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the prognostic and clinical significance of Ang-1 in PH using data from the prospectively recruiting Giessen PH Registry. Methods Patients with suspected PH (without previous specific pulmonary arterial hypertension [PAH] therapy) who underwent initial right heart catheterization (RHC) in our national referral center between July 2003 and May 2012 and who agreed to optional biomarker analysis were included if they were diagnosed with idiopathic PAH, connective tissue disease-associated PAH (CTD-PAH), PH due to left heart disease (PH-LHD), or chronic thromboembolic PH (CTEPH), or if PH was excluded by RHC (non-PH controls). The association of Ang-1 levels with disease severity (6-minute walk distance and pulmonary hemodynamics) was assessed using linear regression, and the impact of Ang-1 levels on transplant-free survival (primary endpoint) and clinical worsening was assessed using Kaplan—Meier curves, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses, and Cox regression. Results 151 patients (39, 39, 32, and 41 with idiopathic PAH, CTD-PAH, PH-LHD, and CTEPH, respectively) and 41 non-PH controls were included. Ang-1 levels showed no significant difference between groups (p = 0.8), and no significant associations with disease severity in PH subgroups (p ≥ 0.07). In Kaplan—Meier analyses, Ang-1 levels (stratified by quartile) had no significant impact on transplant-free survival (p ≥ 0.27) or clinical worsening (p ≥ 0.51) in PH subgroups. Regression models found no significant association between Ang-1 levels and outcomes (p ≥ 0.31). ROC analyses found no significant cut-off that would maximize sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions Despite a strong pathophysiological association in experimental studies, this first comprehensive analysis of Ang-1 in PH subgroups suggests that Ang-1 is not a predictive and clinically relevant biomarker in PH

Factors associated with persistently high muscular power from childhood to adulthood

Purpose: Child and adult muscular power have been shown to associate with contemporary cardiometabolic health. Muscular power typically persists (tracks) between childhood and adulthood. Few studies span childhood to adulthood, so we aimed to identify modifiable and environmental factors associated with the persistence or change in muscular power across the life course.Methods: Prospective study examining 1938 participants who had their muscular power (standing long jump distance) measured in 1985 as children 7-15 yr old and again 20 yr later in adulthood (26-36 yr old). A selection of objectively measured anthropometric characteristics (adiposity and fat-free mass), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), self-reported physical activity, dietary (quality and fruit, vegetable, and protein intake), and sociodemographic data were available at both time points. Muscular power was separated into thirds, and participants were reported as having persistently low, decreasing, persistently moderate, increasing, or persistently high muscular power.Results: Higher adiposity, lower physical activity, diet quality and socioeconomic status (SES) across the life course, and lower adult CRF were associated with persistently low muscular power. Lower adult protein intake and an increase in adiposity over time were associated with decreasing muscular power. An increase in fat-free mass was associated with a reduced probability of decreasing or persistently high muscular power and an increased probability of increasing muscular power. Higher adult fruit intake was associated with increasing muscular power. Lower adiposity across the life course, higher adult CRF and SES, and higher child protein intake were associated with persistently high muscular power.Conclusion: Healthy weight, good CRF, greater protein intake, and high SES are important correlates of high muscular power maintained from childhood to adulthood

Bacterial genotoxins induce T cell senescence

Several types of pathogenic bacteria produce genotoxins that induce DNA damage in host cells. Accumulating evidence suggests that a central function of these genotoxins is to dysregulate the host's immune response, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To address this issue, we investigated the effects of the most widely expressed bacterial genotoxin, the cytolethal distending toxin (CDT), on T cells—the key mediators of adaptive immunity. We show that CDT induces premature senescence in activated CD4 T cells in vitro and provide evidence suggesting that infection with genotoxin-producing bacteria promotes T cell senescence in vivo. Moreover, we demonstrate that genotoxin-induced senescent CD4 T cells assume a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) which, at least partly, is orchestrated by the ATM-p38 signaling axis. These findings provide insight into the immunomodulatory properties of bacterial genotoxins and uncover a putative link between bacterial infections and T cell senescence

Childhood health motivation and adult cardiometabolic health in the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health (CDAH) study

Objective: This research examined if childhood health motivation was associated with adult health behaviors and objectively measured health outcomes.Method: Data were from the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study. Children aged 9 to 15 years in 1985 completed a questionnaire with health motivation items. In 2004-2006, when aged 26 to 36, participants completed assessments of health behaviors (smoking, diet, alcohol consumption, and physical activity) and cardiometabolic outcomes (body mass index, carotid intima-media thickness from ultrasound, and HOMA insulin resistance from fasting blood samples). Structural path regression analyses examined pathways from health motivation in childhood to adult cardiometabolic outcomes, mediated via adult health behaviors measured concurrently, controlling for age, sex and socioeconomic position.Results: There were 6,230 (49% female) children with data on health motivation. There were two latent constructs: health motivation (4 items: visiting a dentist, visiting a doctor, knowing about your body, and eating a good diet) and risk motivation (3 items: not being a smoker, not being fat, and not drinking alcohol). Greater health motivation was directly associated with nonsmoking, lower carotid intima-media thickness, and lower body mass index in adulthood. Greater risk motivation was directly associated with smoking, higher alcohol consumption, and poorer diets in adulthood. It was also indirectly associated with higher carotid intima-media thickness and higher HOMA insulin resistance via poorer health behaviors.Conclusions: Health motivation during childhood appears important to maintain health across the life course. It could be a target for interventions to improve cardiovascular health in children and adults

Childhood/adolescent smoking and adult smoking and cessation: The International Childhood Cardiovascular Cohort (i3C) Consortium

Background: Despite declining US adolescent smoking prevalence from 40% among 12th graders in 1995 to around 10% in 2018, adolescent smoking is still a significant problem. Using the International Childhood Cardiovascular Cohort (i3C) Consortium, which includes 7 international cohorts recruited in childhood and followed into adulthood, the present study was designed to confirm the important relation between adolescent smoking and daily adult smoking and present new data on adult smoking into the forties and comparison of smoking in the United States, Finland, and Australia. Methods and Results: Childhood smoking experience during ages 6 to 19 in the 1970s and 1980s was classifiable in 6687 i3C participants who also provided smoking status in their twenties and forties through 2011-2018. Prevalence of daily smoking in their twenties was directly related to degree of smoking during adolescence and inversely related to the age at which that smoking experience occurred (P trend, P trend, Conclusions: These long-term follow-up data show that smoking intensity increased throughout adolescence. Prevalence of adult smoking and cessation by the forties were both correlated with levels of childhood smoking intensity. These data lend support to preventive strategies designed to reduce, delay, or eliminate any youth access to cigarettes

Metabolic Disturbances Associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The metabolic disturbances that underlie systemic lupus erythematosus are currently unknown. A metabolomic study was executed, comparing the sera of 20 SLE patients against that of healthy controls, using LC/MS and GC/MS platforms. Validation of key differences was performed using an independent cohort of 38 SLE patients and orthogonal assays. SLE sera showed evidence of profoundly dampened glycolysis, Krebs cycle, fatty acid β oxidation and amino acid metabolism, alluding to reduced energy biogenesis from all sources. Whereas long-chain fatty acids, including the n3 and n6 essential fatty acids, were significantly reduced, medium chain fatty acids and serum free fatty acids were elevated. The SLE metabolome exhibited profound lipid peroxidation, reflective of oxidative damage. Deficiencies were noted in the cellular anti-oxidant, glutathione, and all methyl group donors, including cysteine, methionine, and choline, as well as phosphocholines. The best discriminators of SLE included elevated lipid peroxidation products, MDA, gamma-glutamyl peptides, GGT, leukotriene B4 and 5-HETE. Importantly, similar elevations were not observed in another chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis. To sum, comprehensive profiling of the SLE metabolome reveals evidence of heightened oxidative stress, inflammation, reduced energy generation, altered lipid profiles and a pro-thrombotic state. Resetting the SLE metabolome, either by targeting selected molecules or by supplementing the diet with essential fatty acids, vitamins and methyl group donors offers novel opportunities for disease modulation in this disabling systemic autoimmune ailment