Health, education, and social care provision after diagnosis of childhood visual disability

Aim: To investigate the health, education, and social care provision for children newly diagnosed with visual disability.Method: This was a national prospective study, the British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2 (BCVIS2), ascertaining new diagnoses of visual impairment or severe visual impairment and blindness (SVIBL), or equivalent vi-sion. Data collection was performed by managing clinicians up to 1-year follow-up, and included health and developmental needs, and health, education, and social care provision.Results: BCVIS2 identified 784 children newly diagnosed with visual impairment/SVIBL (313 with visual impairment, 471 with SVIBL). Most children had associated systemic disorders (559 [71%], 167 [54%] with visual impairment, and 392 [84%] with SVIBL). Care from multidisciplinary teams was provided for 549 children (70%). Two-thirds (515) had not received an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). Fewer children with visual impairment had seen a specialist teacher (SVIBL 35%, visual impairment 28%, χ2p < 0.001), or had an EHCP (11% vs 7%, χ2p < 0 . 01).Interpretation: Families need additional support from managing clinicians to access recommended complex interventions such as the use of multidisciplinary teams and educational support. This need is pressing, as the population of children with visual impairment/SVIBL is expected to grow in size and complexity.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The role of the neuropeptide phoenixin-14 in the regulation of porcine ovarian follicle cell proliferation.

Feniksyna to stosunkowo niedawno odkryty neuropeptyd. Powstaję dzięki rozszczepieniu małego integralnego białka błonowego 20 (SMIM20). Istnieje wiele izoform feniksyny, natomiast tylko feniksyna-14 (PNX-14) oraz feniksyna-20 (PNX-20) wykazują fizjologiczny wpływ oraz występują najliczniej w organizmie. PNX-14 posiada plejotropowy charakter, a jej ekspresję wykazano w licznych tkankach oraz narządach.Celem niniejszej pracy było zbadanie wpływu PNX-14 na proliferację komórek pęcherzyka jajnikowego świni. W pracy wykorzystano hodowle in vitro komórek warstwy ziarnistej pozyskanej z pęcherzyków jajnikowych świń w 10-12 dniu cyklu rujowego. Do zbadania proliferacji komórek oraz molekularnego mechanizmu działania PNX-14 wykorzystano test alamarBlue, natomiast ekspresję białka kinazy aktywowanej mitogenem (ERK1/2), przekaźnika sygnału i aktywatora transkrypcji (Stat-3) i kinazy białkowej B (Akt) badano metodą western blot. Analizę statystyczną wykonano w programie Graph Pad Prism 5 software, wyniki analizowano przy pomocy testu oneway ANOVA. Wykazano, iż PNX-14 stymuluję proliferację komórek warstwy ziarnistej. Dodatkowe eksperymenty z łącznym podaniem PNX-14 z FSH, LH, IGF1 i insuliną wykazały: a) modulacyjny efekt z FSH, b) z IGF1 wykazano zniesienie stymulującego efektu działania IGF1 na proliferację komórek warstwy ziarnistej c) z LH oraz insuliną nie wykazano statystycznie istotnych różnic. Ponadto PNX-14 stymuluje fosforylację ERK 1/2, Stat-3 oraz Akt. Badania przeprowadzone z wykorzystaniem farmakologicznych inhibitorów ww kinaz: PD98059 (ERK 1/2), LY29402 (Akt) oraz AG490 (Stat-3) wykazały zaangażowanie wszystkich badanych kinaz w mitogenne działanie PNX-14 w komórkach ziarnistych. Podsumowując, w niniejszej pracy wykazano stymulujący wpływ PNX-14 na proliferację komórek warstwy ziarnistej jajnika świń. PNX-14 poprzez swoje mitogenne działanie działa jako nowy regulator folikulogenezy u świń.Phoenixin is a relatively recently discovered neuropeptide. It is formed by cleavage of small integral membrane protein 20 (SMIM20). While there are many isoforms of phoenixin only phoenixin-14 (PNX-14) and phoenixin-20 (PNX-20) show physiological effects and are most abundantly found in the body. PNX-14 has a pleiotropic effect and its expression has been demonstrated in numerous tissues and organs. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effect of PNX-14 on the proliferation of porcine ovarian follicle cells. In vitro cultures of granulosa cells collected from porcine ovarian follicles on day 10-12 of the estrous cycle. The alamarBlue assay was used to examine cell proliferation and the molecular mechanism of action of PNX-14, while protein expression of mitogen-activated kinase (ERK1/2), signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat-3) and protein kinase B (Akt) was examined by western blot. Statistical analysis were performed in Graph Pad Prism 5 software; results were analysed using one-way ANOVA. The results showed that PNX-14 stimulates proliferation of granulosa cells. Additional experiments with the combined administration of PNX-14 with FSH, LH, IGF1 and insulin showed: a) a modulatory effect with FSH, b) with IGF1 the stimulatory effect of IGF1 on granulosa cell proliferation was abolished c) with LH and insulin no statistically significant differences were shown. Furthermore, the analysis showed that PNX-14 had a stimulatory effect on activation of ERK 1/2, Stat-3 and Akt. Studies conducted using pharmacological inhibitors: PD98059 (ERK 1/2), LY29402 (Akt) and AG490 (Stat-3) demonstrated the involvement of all kinases in the mitogenic effects of PNX-14 in granulosa cells. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated a stimulatory effect of PNX-14 on the proliferation of granulosa cells, suggesting that its mitogenic action can acts like a new regulator of folliculogenesis in pigs