Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Risk of Parkinsons Disease in a Veteran Cohort.

 Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be a risk factor for Parkinsons disease (PD). We examined the relation between PTSD and PD in a cohort of 158,122 Veterans who had any Veterans Health Administration (VHA) or Medicare health care utilization between 10/1/1999- 2/17/2021. Using a nested case-control design we matched 10 controls to each Veteran with PD by sex, race, and rank. In conditional logistic regression models adjusted for camp and smoking, a PTSD diagnosis was significantly associated with PD (OR = 1.35; p = 0.0002); odds were higher if PTSD was coded before PD (OR = 1.53, p < 0.0001). PTSD may be a risk factor for PD

Investigation into the effects of pesticides on amphibians

Amphibian population decline is a recognised phenomenon spanning at least the last 40 years, and it is likely that a number of factors have contributed, including environmental contamination. Amphibians are vulnerable to agrochemical uptake as they must breed in water, and often spend the aquatic phase of their lifecycle in agricultural water bodies, which may contain a complex mixture of biologically active chemicals. Endocrine disrupting compounds may cause reproductive effects in humans and wildlife, although the link between pesticides and endocrine disruption is largely unknown. Therefore, in this study, the role of pesticides in endocrine disruption, in relation to amphibian metamorphosis and reproductive development, was investigated. To achieve this objective, population data were used to select suitable field sites, water from which was tested for endocrine activity using the yeast estrogen/androgen screen, hepatocyte culture (estrogenic response), and a transgenic Xenopus test (thyroid disruption). Toad (Bufo bufo) specimens from a subsample of these sites were used to compare morphology, thyroidal, and gonadal development of caged and wild-caught tadpoles/metamorphs, to their laboratory-raised counterparts. In addition, environmentally relevant pesticides were tested for endocrine effects in vitro, and a short-term in vivo exposure was used to assess the predictive ability of the in vitro screens in Xenopus. Mortality of Bufo bufo was high in both laboratory-reared and caged individuals, which hindered the interpretation of results due to low n values. However, laboratory-reared individuals from different sites had distinct morphology and gonadal differentiation, possibly suggesting maternal transfer, a latent effect of the pond environment, and/or genetic effects. In addition, caged and wild-caught individuals were smaller, metamorphosed later, and had retarded gonadal differentiation or increased incidence of intersex, compared to their laboratory-reared counterparts. Extracts of water samples from these sites were predominantly anti-estrogenic, and/or anti-androgenic in yeast based assays, and this was also the effect observed in response to environmentally relevant pesticides tested in the same assays. Pesticides also affected ovarian steroidogenesis in vitro, and pentachlorophenol had a reprotoxic effect on adult female Xenopus laevis. Data reported in this study suggest there may be endocrine disrupting effects in native amphibians in the agricultural landscape, although further investigation is needed to confirm these findings.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Centromere-associated protein-E is essential for the mammalian mitotic checkpoint to prevent aneuploidy due to single chromosome loss

Centromere-associated protein-E (CENP-E) is an essential mitotic kinesin that is required for efficient, stable microtubule capture at kinetochores. It also directly binds to BubR1, a kinetochore-associated kinase implicated in the mitotic checkpoint, the major cell cycle control pathway in which unattached kinetochores prevent anaphase onset. Here, we show that single unattached kinetochores depleted of CENP-E cannot block entry into anaphase, resulting in aneuploidy in 25% of divisions in primary mouse fibroblasts in vitro and in 95% of regenerating hepatocytes in vivo. Without CENP-E, diminished levels of BubR1 are recruited to kinetochores and BubR1 kinase activity remains at basal levels. CENP-E binds to and directly stimulates the kinase activity of purified BubR1 in vitro. Thus, CENP-E is required for enhancing recruitment of its binding partner BubR1 to each unattached kinetochore and for stimulating BubR1 kinase activity, implicating it as an essential amplifier of a basal mitotic checkpoint signal

Transfer of Information from Personal Health Records: A Survey of Veterans Using My HealtheVet

Abstract Objective: Personal health records provide patients with ownership of their health information and allow them to share information with multiple healthcare providers. However, the usefulness of these records relies on patients understanding and using their records appropriately. My HealtheVet is a Web-based patient portal containing a personal health record administered by the Veterans Health Administration. The goal of this study was to explore veterans' interest and use of My HealtheVet to transfer and share information as well as to identify opportunities to increase veteran use of the My HealtheVet functions. Materials and Methods: Two waves of data were collected in 2010 through an American Customer Satisfaction Index Web-based survey. A random sample of veterans using My HealtheVet was invited to participate in the survey conducted on the My HealtheVet portal through a Web-based pop-up browser window. Results: Wave One results (n=25,898) found that 41% of veterans reported printing information, 21% reported saving information electronically, and only 4% ever sent information from My HealtheVet to another person. In Wave Two (n=18,471), 30% reported self-entering medication information, with 18% sharing this information with their Veterans Affairs (VA) provider and 9.6% sharing with their non-VA provider. Conclusion: Although veterans are transferring important medical information from their personal health records, increased education and awareness are needed to increase use. Personal health records have the potential to improve continuity of care. However, more research is needed on both the barriers to adoption as well as the actual impact on patient health outcomes and well-being.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98490/1/tmj%2E2011%2E0109.pd