CASP7 (caspase 7, apoptosis-related cysteine peptidase)

Review on CASP7 (caspase 7, apoptosis-related cysteine peptidase), with data on DNA, on the protein encoded, and where the gene is implicated

Changes in Climate and Land Use Over the Amazon Region: Current and Future Variability and Trends

This is the final version. Available on open access from Frontiers media via the DOI in this recordThis paper shows recent progress in our understanding of climate variability and trends in the Amazon region, and how these interact with land use change. The review includes an overview of up-to-date information on climate and hydrological variability, and on warming trends in Amazonia, which reached 0.6–0.7°C over the last 40 years, with 2016 as the warmest year since at least 1950 (0.9°C + 0.3°C). We focus on local and remote drivers of climate variability and change. We review the impacts of these drivers on the length of dry season, the role of the forest in climate and carbon cycles, the resilience of the forest, the risk of fires and biomass burning, and the potential “die back” of the Amazon forests if surpassing a “tipping point”. The role of the Amazon in moisture recycling and transport is also investigated, and a review of model development for climate change projections in the region is included. In sum, future sustainability of the Amazonian forests and its many services requires management strategies that consider the likelihood of multi-year droughts superimposed on a continued warming trend. Science has assembled enough knowledge to underline the global and regional importance of an intact Amazon region that can support policymaking and to keep this sensitive ecosystem functioning. This major challenge requires substantial resources and strategic cross-national planning, and a unique blend of expertise and capacities established in Amazon countries and from international collaboration. This also highlights the role of deforestation control in support of policy for mitigation options as established in the Paris Agreement of 2015.National Institute of Science and Technology for Climate ChangeFAPESPNational Coordination for High Level Education and Training (CAPES)Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschafNewton Fun

‘I Do It All Alone’: The Burdens and Benefits of Being Diagnosed With, and Treated for, Colorectal Cancer During the Covid-19 Pandemic

\ua9 2024 The Author(s). Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic dramatically altered the way cancer care services were accessed and delivered, including for colorectal cancer (CRC). In the United Kingdom, patients were discouraged from presenting in primary care, many consultations took place remotely, investigative procedures and screening programmes were temporarily suspended, and fewer operations and treatments were delivered. People had to face the practical consequences of having cancer during a pandemic and navigate never before seen pathways, often alone. We examined the experience of being diagnosed and treated for CRC during the pandemic, and the implications of this on people\u27s cancer journeys. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with people diagnosed with CRC during the Covid-19 pandemic (January 2020–May 2021), in the North East of England. An iterative topic guide was used during interviews, which took place remotely (telephone or Zoom), were audio recorded, pseudo-anonymised and transcribed. Initial transcripts were independently coded by two researchers, and a code ‘bank’ developed for application across transcripts. Development of themes and overarching analytical constructs was undertaken collaboratively by the research team. Results: Interviews were conducted with 19 participants, analysed and four key themes identified: (1) The relative threats of Covid-19 and Cancer were not comparable, with cancer seen as posing a far greater risk than Covid-19; (2) Remote consultations were problematic, affecting patients\u27 abilities to build rapport and trust with clinicians, assess nonverbal communication, and feel able to disclose, comprehend and retain information; (3) Stoma follow-up care was seen to be lacking, with long wait times for stoma reversal experienced by some; Finally, (4) Being alone during consultations negatively impacted some peoples\u27 abilities to absorb information, and left them without the support of loved ones at an emotionally vulnerable time. However, some participants preferred being alone at certain points in their pathways, including receiving a diagnosis, and most frequently when receiving in-patient treatment. Conclusion: Being alone brought unexpected benefits, absolving people from undertaking emotions work for others, and instead focus on their recovery, however, remote consultations negatively impacted patients\u27 experiences. This study highlights the complex benefits and burdens of pandemic-located cancer journeys, including how these shifted at different points across cancer pathways. Patient or Public Contribution: Lorraine Angell, a cancer survivor, has been central to this study from idea conception, contributing to: development of study focus and design; securing funding; production of patient-facing materials; development of interview topic guides; analysis and interpretation of data; and drafting of key findings and manuscripts

Evaluation of the role of glutathione in the lead-induced toxicity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The effect of intracellular reduced glutathione (GSH) in the lead stress response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was investigated. Yeast cells exposed to Pb, for 3 h, lost the cell proliferation capacity (viability) and decreased intracellular GSH level. The Pb-induced loss of cell viability was compared among yeast cells deficient in GSH1 (∆gsh1) or GSH2 (∆gsh2) genes and wild-type (WT) cells. When exposed to Pb, ∆gsh1 and ∆gsh2 cells did not display an increased loss of viability, compared with WT cells. However, the depletion of cellular thiols, including GSH, by treatment of WT cells with iodoacetamide (an alkylating agent, which binds covalently to thiol group), increased the loss of viability in Pb-treated cells. In contrast, GSH enrichment, due to the incubation of WT cells with amino acids mixture constituting GSH (l-glutamic acid, l-cysteine and glycine), reduced the Pb-induced loss of proliferation capacity. The obtained results suggest that intracellular GSH is involved in the defence against the Pb-induced toxicity; however, at physiological concentration, GSH seems not to be sufficient to prevent the Pb-induced loss of cell viability

Service provision and barriers to care for homeless people with mental health problems across 14 European capital cities

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Greater incidence of depression with hypnotic use than with placebo

Abstract Background Although it has been claimed that insomnia causes an increased risk for depression, adequate controlled trials testing this hypothesis have not been available. This study contrasted the incidence of depression among subjects receiving hypnotics in randomized controlled trials versus those receiving placebo. Methods The incidence of depression among patients randomized to hypnotic drugs or placebo was compiled from prescribing information approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and from FDA New Drug Application documents. Available data for zolpidem, zaleplon, eszopiclone, and ramelteon were accessed. Results Data for 5535 patients randomized to a hypnotic and for 2318 randomized to placebo were compiled. The incidence of depression was 2.0% among participants randomized to hypnotics as compared to 0.9% among those randomized in parallel to placebo (p Conclusion Modern hypnotics were associated with an increased incidence of depression in data released by the FDA. This suggests that when there is a risk of depression, hypnotics may be contra-indicated. Preventive treatments such as antidepressant drugs, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or bright light might be preferred. Limitations in the FDA data prevented a formal meta-analysis, and there was a lack of information about drop-out rates and definitions of depression. Trials specifically designed to detect incident depression when treating insomnia with hypnotic drugs and better summarization of adverse events in trials submitted to the FDA are both necessary.</p

Wizard CD Plus and ProTaper Universal: analysis of apical transportation using new software

OBJECTIVE: This study has two aims: 1) to evaluate the apical transportation of the Wizard CD Plus and ProTaper Universal after preparation of simulated root canals; 2) to compare, with Adobe Photoshop, the ability of a new software (Regeemy) in superposing and subtracting images. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty five simulated root canals in acrylic-resin blocks (with 20º curvature) underwent cone beam computed tomography before and after preparation with the rotary systems (70 kVp, 4 mA, 10 s and with the 8×8 cm FoV selection). Canals were prepared up to F2 (ProTaper) and 24.04 (Wizard CD Plus) instruments and the working length was established to 15 mm. The tomographic images were imported into iCAT Vision software and CorelDraw for standardization. The superposition of pre- and post-instrumentation images from both systems was performed using Regeemy and Adobe Photoshop. The apical transportation was measured in millimetres using Image J. Five acrylic resin blocks were used to validate the superposition achieved by the software. Student's t-test for independent samples was used to evaluate the apical transportation achieved by the rotary systems using each software individually. Student's t-test for paired samples was used to compare the ability of each software in superposing and subtracting images from one rotary system per time. RESULTS: The values obtained with Regeemy and Adobe Photoshop were similar to rotary systems (P>0.05). ProTaper Universal and Wizard CD Plus promoted similar apical transportation regardless of the software used for image's superposition and subtraction (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Wizard CD Plus and ProTaper Universal promoted little apical transportation. Regeemy consists in a feasible software to superpose and subtract images and appears to be an alternative to Adobe Photoshop

Fear Conditioning to Subliminal Fear Relevant and Non Fear Relevant Stimuli

A growing body of evidence suggests that conscious visual awareness is not a prerequisite for human fear learning. For instance, humans can learn to be fearful of subliminal fear relevant images – images depicting stimuli thought to have been fear relevant in our evolutionary context, such as snakes, spiders, and angry human faces. Such stimuli could have a privileged status in relation to manipulations used to suppress usually salient images from awareness, possibly due to the existence of a designated sub-cortical ‘fear module’. Here we assess this proposition, and find it wanting. We use binocular masking to suppress awareness of images of snakes and wallabies (particularly cute, non-threatening marsupials). We find that subliminal presentations of both classes of image can induce differential fear conditioning. These data show that learning, as indexed by fear conditioning, is neither contingent on conscious visual awareness nor on subliminal conditional stimuli being fear relevant

Association of limbic system-associated membrane protein (LSAMP) to male completed suicide

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated volumetric abnormalities in limbic structures of suicide victims. The morphological changes might be caused by some inherited neurodevelopmental defect, such as failure to form proper axonal connections due to genetically determined dysfunction of neurite guidance molecules. Limbic system-associated membrane protein (LSAMP) is a neuronal adhesive molecule, preferentially expressed in developing limbic system neuronal dendrites and somata. Some evidence for the association between LSAMP gene and behavior has come from both animal as well as human studies but further investigation is required. In current study, polymorphic loci in human LSAMP gene were examined in order to reveal any associations between genetic variation in <it>LSAMP </it>and suicidal behaviour.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>DNA was obtained from 288 male suicide victims and 327 healthy male volunteers. Thirty SNPs from LSAMP gene and adjacent region were selected by Tagger algorithm implemented in Haploview 3.32. Genotyping was performed using the SNPlex™ (Applied Biosystems) platform. Data was analyzed by Genemapper 3.7, Haploview 3.32 and SPSS 13.0.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Chi square test revealed four allelic variants (rs2918215, rs2918213, rs9874470 and rs4821129) located in the intronic region of the gene to be associated with suicide, major alleles being overrepresented in suicide group. However, the associations did not survive multiple correction test. Defining the haplotype blocks using confidence interval algorithm implemented in Haploview 3.32, we failed to detect any associated haplotypes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Despite a considerable amount of investigation on the nature of suicidal behaviour, its aetiology and pathogenesis remain unknown. This study examined the variability in LSAMP gene in relation to completed suicide. Our results indicate that LSAMP might play a role in pathoaetiology of suicidal behaviour but further studies are needed to understand its exact contribution.</p