Childhood Home Injuries: A Nursing Student Approach to Preventing Childhood Home Injuries

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children under 14 years of age. Of the unintentional injuries, a significant portion occurs within the home setting. Creating a safe home environment for children has become a focus in current efforts for health promotion and injury prevention. Our objective is to enhance caregivers’ knowledge of home safety thus decreasing the incidence of childhood unintentional injuries. To this end, a series of educational workshops were conducted on poisoning, choking, furniture tip-over, scalds and burns. The material was presented via PowerPoint, videos, posters, handouts, demonstrations and return demonstrations. Verbal pre-and post tests and return demonstration were used to determine the effectiveness of these workshops. The number of participants from each workshop varied from 11 to 14. Pretests revealed that no more than 33% of the participants were able to give correct responses. This percentage increased to 75-100% for the posttests. Conclusions: Comparison of pre and posttest participant responses revealed increased knowledge of common childhood home injuries, prevention strategies, and how to respond should an injury occur. More studies should explore caregivers’ actual implementation of safety knowledge within the home environment

Lead Exposure, B Vitamins, and Plasma Homocysteine in Men 55 Years of Age and Older: The VA Normative Aging Study

Background: Lead (Pb) exposure may influence the plasma concentration of homocysteine, a one-carbon metabolite associated with cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Little is known about the associations between Pb and homocysteine over time, or the potential influence of dietary factors. Objectives: We examined the longitudinal association of recent and cumulative Pb exposure with homocysteine concentrations and the potential modifying effect of dietary nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism. Methods: In a subcohort of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Normative Aging Study (1,056 men with 2,301 total observations between 1993 and 2011), we used mixed-effects models to estimate differences in repeated measures of total plasma homocysteine across concentrations of Pb in blood and tibia bone, assessing recent and cumulative Pb exposure, respectively. We also assessed effect modification by dietary intake and plasma concentrations of folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. Results: An interquartile range (IQR) increment in blood Pb (3 μg/dL) was associated with a 6.3% higher homocysteine concentration (95% CI: 4.8, 7.8%). An IQR increment in tibia bone Pb (14 μg/g) was associated with a 3.7% higher homocysteine (95% CI: 1.6, 5.6%), which was attenuated to 1.5% (95% CI: –0.5, 3.6%) after adjusting for blood Pb. For comparison, a 5-year increase in time from baseline was associated with a 5.7% increase in homocysteine (95% CI: 4.3, 7.1%). The association between blood Pb and homocysteine was significantly stronger among participants with estimated dietary intakes of vitamin B6 and folate below (vs. above) the study population medians, which were similar to the U.S. recommended dietary allowance intakes. Conclusions: Pb exposure was positively associated with plasma homocysteine concentration. This association was stronger among men with below-median dietary intakes of vitamins B6 and folate. These findings suggest that increasing intake of folate and B6 might reduce Pb-associated increases in homocysteine, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration. Citation: Bakulski KM, Park SK, Weisskopf MG, Tucker KL, Sparrow D, Spiro A III, Vokonas PS, Nie LH, Hu H, Weuve J. 2014. Lead exposure, B vitamins, and plasma homocysteine in men 55 years of age and older: the VA Normative Aging Study. Environ Health Perspect 122:1066–1074; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.130693

Electroretinography Reveals Difference in Cone Function between Syndromic and Nonsyndromic USH2A Patients

Usher syndrome is an inherited and irreversible disease that manifests as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and bilateral neurosensory hearing loss. Mutations in Usherin 2A (USH2A) are not only a frequent cause of Usher syndrome, but also nonsyndromic RP. Although gene-and cell-based therapies are on the horizon for RP and Usher syndrome, studies characterizing natural disease are lacking. In this retrospective analysis, retinal function of USH2A patients was quantified with electroretinography. Both groups had markedly reduced rod and cone responses, but nonsyndromic USH2A patients had 30 Hz-flicker electroretinogram amplitudes that were significantly higher than syndromic patients, suggesting superior residual cone function. There was a tendency for Usher syndrome patients to have a higher distribution of severe mutations, and alleles in this group had a higher odds of containing nonsense or frame-shift mutations. These data suggest that the previously reported severe visual phenotype seen in syndromic USH2A patients could relate to a greater extent of cone dysfunction. Additionally, a genetic threshold may exist where mutation burden relates to visual phenotype and the presence of hearing deficits. The auditory phenotype and allelic hierarchy observed among patients should be considered in prospective studies of disease progression and during enrollment for future clinical trials.National Institute of HealthNational Cancer InstituteResearch to Prevent Blindness (RPB)RPB, New York, NY, USARPBInternational Council of Ophthalmology - Retina Research FoundationNIHTistou and Charlotte Kerstan FoundationSchneeweiss Stem Cell Fund, New York StateFoundation Fighting Blindness New York Regional Research CenterCrowley Family FundGebroe Family FoundationColumbia Univ, Dept Ophthalmol, Med Ctr, Jonas Childrens Vis Care, New York, NY 10027 USAColumbia Univ, Dept Ophthalmol, Med Ctr, Bernard & Shirlee Brown Glaucoma Lab, New York, NY 10027 USANew York Presbyterian Hosp, Edward S Harkness Eye Inst, New York, NY 10034 USASuny Downstate Med Ctr, Brooklyn, NY 11203 USAUniv Fed Espirito Santo, Dept Ophthalmol, Vitoria, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ophthalmol, Sao Paulo, BrazilColumbia Univ, Dept Biostat, New York, NY USAUniv Montreal, Dept Ophthalmol, Montreal, PQ, CanadaShanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Sch Med, Xin Hua Hosp, Dept Ophthalmol, Shanghai, Peoples R ChinaColumbia Univ, Inst Human Nutr, Dept Pathol & Cell Biol, Stem Cell Initiat CSCI,Coll Phys & Surg, New York, NY 10032 USAStanford Univ, Dept Ophthalmol, Om Lab, Byers Eye Inst, Palo Alto, CA 94304 USAUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ophthalmol, Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Open Science principles for accelerating trait-based science across the Tree of Life.

Synthesizing trait observations and knowledge across the Tree of Life remains a grand challenge for biodiversity science. Species traits are widely used in ecological and evolutionary science, and new data and methods have proliferated rapidly. Yet accessing and integrating disparate data sources remains a considerable challenge, slowing progress toward a global synthesis to integrate trait data across organisms. Trait science needs a vision for achieving global integration across all organisms. Here, we outline how the adoption of key Open Science principles-open data, open source and open methods-is transforming trait science, increasing transparency, democratizing access and accelerating global synthesis. To enhance widespread adoption of these principles, we introduce the Open Traits Network (OTN), a global, decentralized community welcoming all researchers and institutions pursuing the collaborative goal of standardizing and integrating trait data across organisms. We demonstrate how adherence to Open Science principles is key to the OTN community and outline five activities that can accelerate the synthesis of trait data across the Tree of Life, thereby facilitating rapid advances to address scientific inquiries and environmental issues. Lessons learned along the path to a global synthesis of trait data will provide a framework for addressing similarly complex data science and informatics challenges

Advancing the Selection of Neurodevelopmental Measures in Epidemiological Studies of Environmental Chemical Exposure and Health Effects

With research suggesting increasing incidence of pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders, questions regarding etiology continue to be raised. Neurodevelopmental function tests have been used in epidemiology studies to evaluate relationships between environmental chemical exposures and neurodevelopmental deficits. Limitations of currently used tests and difficulties with their interpretation have been described, but a comprehensive critical examination of tests commonly used in studies of environmental chemicals and pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders has not been conducted. We provide here a listing and critical evaluation of commonly used neurodevelopmental tests in studies exploring effects from chemical exposures and recommend measures that are not often used, but should be considered. We also discuss important considerations in selecting appropriate tests and provide a case study by reviewing the literature on polychlorinated biphenyls