Association between TCF7L2 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: a large Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Transcription factor 7-like 2 (<it>TCF7L2</it>) has been shown to be associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2MD) in multiple ethnic groups in the past two years, but, contradictory results were reported for Chinese and Pima Indian populations. The authors then performed a large meta-analysis of 36 studies examining the association of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with polymorphisms in the <it>TCF7L2 </it>gene in various ethnicities, containing rs7903146 C-to-T (IVS3C>T), rs7901695 T-to-C (IVS3T>C), a rs12255372 G-to-T (IVS4G>T), and rs11196205 G-to-C (IVS4G>C) polymorphisms and to evaluate the size of gene effect and the possible genetic mode of action.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Literature-based searching was conducted to collect data and three methods, that is, fixed-effects, random-effects and Bayesian multivariate mete-analysis, were performed to pool the odds ratio (<it>OR</it>). Publication bias and study-between heterogeneity were also examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The studies included 35,843 cases of T2DM and 39,123 controls, using mainly primary data. For T2DM and IVS3C>T polymorphism, the Bayesian <it>OR </it>for TT homozygotes and TC heterozygotes versus CC homozygote was 1.968 (95% credible interval (<it>CrI</it>): 1.790, 2.157), 1.406 (95% <it>CrI</it>: 1.341, 1.476), respectively, and the population attributable risk (PAR) for the TT/TC genotypes of this variant is 16.9% for overall. For T2DM and IVS4G>T polymorphism, TT homozygotes and TG heterozygotes versus GG homozygote was 1.885 (95%<it>CrI</it>: 1.698, 2.088), 1.360 (95% <it>CrI</it>: 1.291, 1.433), respectively. Four <it>OR</it>s among these two polymorphisms all yielded significant between-study heterogeneity (P < 0.05) and the main source of heterogeneity was ethnic differences. Data also showed significant associations between T2DM and the other two polymorphisms, but with low heterogeneity (<it>P </it>> 0.10). Pooled <it>OR</it>s fit a codominant, multiplicative genetic model for all the four polymorphisms of <it>TCF7L2 </it>gene, and this model was also confirmed in different ethnic populations when stratification of IVS3C>T and IVS4G>T polymorphisms except for Africans, where a dominant, additive genetic mode is suggested for IVS3C>T polymorphism.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This meta-analysis demonstrates that four variants of <it>TCF7L2 </it>gene are all associated with T2DM, and indicates a multiplicative genetic model for all the four polymorphisms, as well as suggests the <it>TCF7L2 </it>gene involved in near 1/5 of all T2MD. Potential gene-gene and gene-environmental interactions by which common variants in the <it>TCF7L2 </it>gene influence the risk of T2MD need further exploration.</p

Fungal Planet description sheets : 951–1041

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Antarctica,Apenidiella antarctica from permafrost, Cladosporium fildesense from an unidentified marine sponge. Argentina,Geastrum wrightii on humus in mixed forest. Australia, Golovinomyces glandulariae on Glandularia aristigera,Neoanungitea eucalyptorum on leaves of Eucalyptus grandis, Teratosphaeria corymbiicola on leaves of Corymbiaficifolia, Xylaria eucalypti on leaves of Eucalyptus radiata. Brazil, Bovista psammophila on soil, Fusarium awaxy onrotten stalks of Zea mays, Geastrum lanuginosum on leaf litter covered soil, Hermetothecium mikaniae-micranthae(incl. Hermetothecium gen. nov.) on Mikania micrantha, Penicillium reconvexovelosoi in soil, Stagonosporopsis vannacciifrom pod of Glycine max. British Virgin Isles, Lactifluus guanensis on soil. Canada, Sorocybe oblongisporaon resin of Picea rubens. Chile, Colletotrichum roseum on leaves of Lapageria rosea. China, Setophoma cavernafrom carbonatite in Karst cave. Colombia, Lareunionomyces eucalypticola on leaves of Eucalyptus grandis. CostaRica, Psathyrella pivae on wood. Cyprus, Clavulina iris on calcareous substrate. France, Chromosera ambiguaand Clavulina iris var. occidentalis on soil. French West Indies, Helminthosphaeria hispidissima on dead wood.Guatemala, Talaromyces guatemalensis in soil. Malaysia, Neotracylla pini (incl. Tracyllales ord. nov. and Neotracyllagen. nov.) and Vermiculariopsiella pini on needles of Pinus tecunumanii. New Zealand, Neoconiothyriumviticola on stems of Vitis vinifera, Parafenestella pittospori on Pittosporum tenuifolium, Pilidium novae-zelandiaeon Phoenix sp. Pakistan, Russula quercus-floribundae on forest floor. Portugal, Trichoderma aestuarinum fromsaline water. Russia, Pluteus liliputianus on fallen branch of deciduous tree, Pluteus spurius on decaying deciduous wood or soil. South Africa, Alloconiothyrium encephalarti, Phyllosticta encephalarticola and Neothyrostromaencephalarti (incl. Neothyrostroma gen. nov.) on leaves of Encephalartos sp., Chalara eucalypticola on leaf spots ofEucalyptus grandis x urophylla, Clypeosphaeria oleae on leaves of Olea capensis, Cylindrocladiella postalofficiumon leaf litter of Sideroxylon inerme, Cylindromonium eugeniicola (incl. Cylindromonium gen. nov.) on leaf litter ofEugenia capensis, Cyphellophora goniomatis on leaves of Gonioma kamassi, Nothodactylaria nephrolepidis (incl.Nothodactylaria gen. nov. and Nothodactylariaceae fam. nov.) on leaves of Nephrolepis exaltata, Falcocladiumeucalypti and Gyrothrix eucalypti on leaves of Eucalyptus sp., Gyrothrix oleae on leaves of Olea capensis subsp.macrocarpa, Harzia metro-sideri on leaf litter of Metrosideros sp., Hippopotamyces phragmitis (incl. Hippopotamycesgen. nov.) on leaves of Phragmites australis, Lectera philenopterae on Philenoptera violacea, Leptosilliamayteni on leaves of Maytenus heterophylla, Lithohypha aloicola and Neoplatysporoides aloes on leaves of Aloesp., Millesimomyces rhoicissi (incl. Millesimomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Rhoicissus digitata, Neodevriesiastrelitziicola on leaf litter of Strelitzia nicolai, Neokirramyces syzygii (incl. Neokirramyces gen. nov.) on leaf spots of Syzygium sp., Nothoramichloridium perseae (incl. Nothoramichloridium gen. nov. and Anungitiomycetaceae fam.nov.) on leaves of Persea americana, Paramycosphaerella watsoniae on leaf spots of Watsonia sp., Penicilliumcuddlyae from dog food, Podocarpomyces knysnanus (incl. Podocarpomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Podocarpusfalcatus, Pseudocercospora heteropyxidicola on leaf spots of Heteropyxis natalensis, Pseudopenidiella podocarpi,Scolecobasidium podocarpi and Ceramothyrium podocarpicola on leaves of Podocarpus latifolius, Scolecobasidiumblechni on leaves of Blechnum capense, Stomiopeltis syzygii on leaves of Syzygium chordatum, Strelitziomycesknysnanus (incl. Strelitziomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Strelitzia alba, Talaromyces clemensii from rotting wood ingoldmine, Verrucocladosporium visseri on Carpobrotus edulis. Spain, Boletopsis mediterraneensis on soil, Calycinacortegadensisi on a living twig of Castanea sativa, Emmonsiellopsis tuberculata in fluvial sediments, Mollisia cortegadensison dead attached twig of Quercus robur, Psathyrella ovispora on soil, Pseudobeltrania lauri on leaf litterof Laurus azorica, Terfezia dunensis in soil, Tuber lucentum in soil, Venturia submersa on submerged plant debris.Thailand, Cordyceps jakajanicola on cicada nymph, Cordyceps kuiburiensis on spider, Distoseptispora caricis onleaves of Carex sp., Ophiocordyceps khonkaenensis on cicada nymph. USA, Cytosporella juncicola and Davidiellomycesjuncicola on culms of Juncus effusus, Monochaetia massachusettsianum from air sample, Neohelicomycesmelaleucae and Periconia neobrittanica on leaves of Melaleuca styphelioides x lanceolata, Pseudocamarosporiumeucalypti on leaves of Eucalyptus sp., Pseudogymnoascus lindneri from sediment in a mine, Pseudogymnoascusturneri from sediment in a railroad tunnel, Pulchroboletus sclerotiorum on soil, Zygosporium pseudomasonii onleaf of Serenoa repens. Vietnam, Boletus candidissimus and Veloporphyrellus vulpinus on soil. Morphological andculture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes

Development and characterization of phytosterol-enriched oil microcapsules for foodstuff application

Phytosterols are lipophilic compounds contained in plants and have several biological activities. The use of phytosterols in food fortification is hampered due to their high melting temperature, chalky taste, and low solubility in an aqueous system. Also, phytosterols are easily oxidized and are poorly absorbed by the human body. Formulation engineering coupled with microencapsulation could be used to overcome these problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of encapsulating soybean oil enriched with phytosterols by spray-drying using ternary mixtures of health-promoting ingredients, whey protein isolate (WPI), inulin, and chitosan as carrier agents. The effect of different formulations and spray-drying conditions on the microencapsules properties, encapsulation efficiency, surface oil content, and oxidation stability were studied. It was found that spherical WPI-inulin-chitosan phytosterol-enriched soybean oil microcapsules with an average size below 50 μm could be produced with good encapsulation efficiency (85%), acceptable level of surface oil (11%), and water activity (0.2–0.4) that meet industrial requirements. However, the microcapsules showed very low oxidation stability with peroxide values reaching 101.7 meq O2/kg of oil just after production, and further investigations and optimization are required before any industrial application of this encapsulated system

Comunicação no Programa Saúde da Família: o agente de saúde como elo integrador entre a equipe e a comunidade Communication in the Family Health Program: the health agent as an integrating link between the team and the community

Este estudo é parte do projeto "Avaliação da Estratégia da Saúde da Família no Município do Rio de Janeiro", desenvolvido na Universidade Estácio de Sá com apoio do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). Buscou identificar e analisar a percepção dos agentes comunitários de saúde (ACS) quanto aos seus principais interlocutores, o grau de impacto destes interlocutores e as formas de comunicação predominantes no seu processo de trabalho. É um estudo descritivo, de abordagem qualitativa, com base em categorias teórico-metodológicas da educação popular e do modelo de comunicação do mercado simbólico. Os dados foram coletados em quatro equipes, de duas unidades do Programa Saúde da Família. Os mapas de comunicação elaborados com os ACS identificam o grupo de apoio técnico, a equipe técnica, os próprios ACS e os moradores antigos da comunidade como seus principais interlocutores. A comunicação com os demais profissionais da equipe é percebida de forma predominantemente verticalizada e com traços de autoritarismo. Os resultados revelam a importância de ampliação do diálogo e da negociação na comunicação estabelecida no interior da equipe e com a comunidade.<br>This study is part of the project Evaluation of the Family Health Strategy in Rio de Janeiro, developed at Estácio de Sá University with support of the National Advice of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). The study aimed to identify and analyze the perception of the health communitarian agents (HCA) about their main interlocutors, the impact of these interlocutors and the predominant communication forms in their work process. It is a descriptive study, with a qualitative approach, based on theoretical-methodological categories of the popular education and the symbolic market communication model. The data was collected in four teams of the Family Health Program. The results show the communication maps elaborated with the HCA which identifies the group of technical support, the technician team, the HCA themselves and the old inhabitants of the community as their main interlocutors. The communication with the other professionals of the team is acknowledged in a predominantly verticalized way with authoritarianism traces. The results highlight the importance of extending the dialogue and negotiation in the established communication within the team and with the community

Desempenho dos serviços de controle da tuberculose em municípios do Paraná: enfoque na família

Objetivo: Analisar, sob a perspectiva dos usuários, o desempenho dos serviços de saúde no controle da tuberculose em relação ao enfoque na família.Métodos: Estudo descritivo, quanti-qualitativo com 89 pacientes que realizavam o tratamento de tuberculose no âmbito da 15ª Regional de Saúde do Paraná. Os dados foram coletados entre abril e junho de 2012 por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os dadosquantitativos foram submetidos à análise de variância ou ao teste de Kruskall-Wallis, e os dados qualitativos, à análise de conteúdo.Resultados: Os dados quantitativos mostraram que as Unidades Básicas de Saúde apresentaram melhor desempenho em relação aos indicadores: conhecimento pelos profissionais de saúde das pessoas que moram com o usuário (p=0,1340) e avaliação dos familiares com exames específicos (p=0,1430), enquanto os ambulatórios de referência foram melhor avaliados quanto ao diálogo com os familiares sobre tuberculose (p=0,5203) e o seu tratamento (p=0,4788). Da análise dos dados qualitativos emergiram duas categorias: envolvimento da família no tratamento da tuberculose e desconexão do serviço de saúde com a família do doente com tuberculose.Conclusões: Considera-se que a equipe de saúde deve oferecer suporte e orientações às famílias, pois elas são fonte de cuidado e apoio às pessoas em tratamento de tuberculose.Palavras-chave: Tuberculose. Família. Avaliação de serviços de saúde. Enfermagem. Objetivos de Desenvolvimento do Milênio