Active Living for Sustainable Future: A Model to Measure “Walk Scores” via Geographic Information Systems

AbstractIn 2007 a private firm in Seattle, Washington began to measure and publish walkability maps of cities, neighborhoods, and streets via “walkscore.com”. Although “walkscore” have been criticized for its parameters, no alternative have been provided so far. More over, such maps have been published for developed countries. No such initiative has been undertaken in developing countries. This study aims to introduce and discuss an alternative model to measure walkability on street level via Geographic Information Systems (GIS). About 6500 street segments in nine districts of Izmır, Turkey have been digitized as well as the land use. A walkability score (based on betweenness / centrality scores derived from street network and accessibility scores derived from landuse) for each street segment was measured via GIS and its extension Spatial Design Network Analysis (SDNA)

Obesity, Physical Activity, Spatial Environmental Characteristics in Three Types of Residential Settings

AbstractObesity relates to physical activity and the level of physical activity a person could be involved is influenced by his/her physical environment. This study aims to investigate the relation between these characteristics via an empirical study, in Izmir, Turkey. Randomly selected 676 people completed household surveys and revealed their address, body mass index (BMI) and mean energy consumption for various activities (PA). The study area involved planned and unplanned developments for low, moderate, and high income neighborhoods. Three spatial setting characteristics (SC) were calculated for the streets within 400 meter network distance to each participants’ residence via geographic information systems: (1) destination density, (2) accessibility to destinations and (3) betweenness index. The participants’ mean BMI and PA and the spatial setting characteristics were compared in low, middle and high income neighborhoods. Results, showed no differences

Recommendations for a nomenclature system for reporting methylation aberrations in imprinted domains

The analysis of DNA methylation has become routine in the pipeline for diagnosis of imprinting disorders, with many publications reporting aberrant methylation associated with imprinted differentially methylated regions (DMRs). However, comparisons between these studies are routinely hampered by the lack of consistency in reporting sites of methylation evaluated. To avoid confusion surrounding nomenclature, special care is needed to communicate results accurately, especially between scientists and other health care professionals. Within the European Network for Human Congenital Imprinting Disorders we have discussed these issues and designed a nomenclature for naming imprinted DMRs as well as for reporting methylation values. We apply these recommendations for imprinted DMRs that are commonly assayed in clinical laboratories and show how they support standardized database submission. The recommendations are in line with existing recommendations, most importantly the Human Genome Variation Society nomenclature, and should facilitate accurate reporting and data exchange among laboratories and thereby help to avoid future confusion

Splice Site Mutations in the ATP7A Gene

Menkes disease (MD) is caused by mutations in the ATP7A gene. We describe 33 novel splice site mutations detected in patients with MD or the milder phenotypic form, Occipital Horn Syndrome. We review these 33 mutations together with 28 previously published splice site mutations. We investigate 12 mutations for their effect on the mRNA transcript in vivo. Transcriptional data from another 16 mutations were collected from the literature. The theoretical consequences of splice site mutations, predicted with the bioinformatics tool Human Splice Finder, were investigated and evaluated in relation to in vivo results. Ninety-six percent of the mutations identified in 45 patients with classical MD were predicted to have a significant effect on splicing, which concurs with the absence of any detectable wild-type transcript in all 19 patients investigated in vivo. Sixty-seven percent of the mutations identified in 12 patients with milder phenotypes were predicted to have no significant effect on splicing, which concurs with the presence of wild-type transcript in 7 out of 9 patients investigated in vivo. Both the in silico predictions and the in vivo results support the hypothesis previously suggested by us and others, that the presence of some wild-type transcript is correlated to a milder phenotype

Metaphase FISH on a Chip: Miniaturized Microfluidic Device for Fluorescence in situ Hybridization

Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) is a major cytogenetic technique for clinical genetic diagnosis of both inherited and acquired chromosomal abnormalities. Although FISH techniques have evolved and are often used together with other cytogenetic methods like CGH, PRINS and PNA-FISH, the process continues to be a manual, labour intensive, expensive and time consuming technique, often taking over 3 5 days, even in dedicated labs. We have developed a novel microFISH device to perform metaphase FISH on a chip which overcomes many shortcomings of the current laboratory protocols. This work also introduces a novel splashing device for preparing metaphase spreads on a microscope glass slide, followed by a rapid adhesive tape-based bonding protocol leading to rapid fabrication of the microFISH device. The microFISH device allows for an optimized metaphase FISH protocol on a chip with over a 20-fold reduction in the reagent volume. This is the first demonstration of metaphase FISH on a microfluidic device and offers a possibility of automation and significant cost reduction of many routine diagnostic tests of genetic anomalies

Active Living For Sustainable Future: A model to measure "walk scores" via Geographic Information Systems

In 2007 a private firm in Seattle, Washington began to measure and publish walkability maps of cities, neighborhoods, and streets via "walkscore. com". Although "walkscore" have been criticized for its parameters, no alternative have been provided so far. More over, such maps have been published for developed countries. No such initiative has been undertaken in developing countries. This study aims to introduce and discuss an alternative model to measure walkability on street level via Geographic Information Systems (GIS). About 6500 street segments in nine districts of Izmir, Turkey have been digitized as well as the land use. A walkability score (based on betweenness / centrality scores derived from street network and accessibility scores derived from landuse) for each street segment was measured via GIS and its extension Spatial Design Network Analysis (SDNA). (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd