Weight gain, overweight, and obesity: determinants and health outcomes from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health

Recent estimates suggest that 35.3\ua0% of adult Australians are overweight and a further 27.5\ua0% are obese. The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) is a prospective study of women's health that commenced in Australia in 1996. The study recruited approximately 40,000 women in three birth cohorts, 1973-1978, 1946-1951 and 1921-1926, who have since been followed up approximately every three years using self-report surveys. Six surveys have been completed to date. This review aims to describe the changes in weight and weight status over time in the three ALSWH cohorts, and to review and summarise the published findings to date relating to the determinants and health consequences of weight gain, overweight and obesity. Future plans for the ALSWH include on-going surveys for all cohorts, with a seventh survey in 2013-2015, and establishment of a new cohort of women born in 1990-1995, which is currently being recruited

A Datasheet for the INSIGHT Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Dataset

Purpose: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication associated with diabetes mellitus (DM), affecting approximately 40% of this patient population. Early detection of DR is vital to ensure monitoring of disease progression and prompt sight saving treatments as required. This article describes the data contained within the INSIGHT Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country Diabetic Retinopathy Dataset. / Design: Dataset descriptor for routinely collected eye screening data. / Participants: All diabetic patients aged 12 years and older, attending annual digital retinal photography-based screening within the Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country Eye Screening Programme. / Methods: The INSIGHT Health Data Research Hub for Eye Health is a National Health Service (NHS)–led ophthalmic bioresource that provides researchers with safe access to anonymized, routinely collected data from contributing NHS hospitals to advance research for patient benefit. This report describes the INSIGHT Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country DR Screening Dataset, a dataset of anonymized images and linked screening data derived from the United Kingdom's largest regional DR screening program. / Main Outcome Measures: This dataset consists of routinely collected data from the eye screening program. The data primarily include retinal photographs with the associated DR grading data. Additional data such as corresponding demographic details, information regarding patients’ diabetic status, and visual acuity data are also available. Further details regarding available data points are available in the supplementary information, in addition to the INSIGHT webpage included below. / Results: At the time point of this analysis (December 31, 2019), the dataset comprised 6 202 161 images from 246 180 patients, with a dataset inception date of January 1, 2007. The dataset includes 1 360 547 grading episodes between R0M0 and R3M1. / Conclusions: This dataset descriptor article summarizes the content of the dataset, how it has been curated, and what its potential uses are. Data are available through a structured application process for research studies that support discovery, clinical evidence analyses, and innovation in artificial intelligence technologies for patient benefit. Further information regarding the data repository and contact details can be found at https://www.insight.hdrhub.org/

Elastic theory for the vortex-lattice melting in iron-based high-Tc superconductors

The vortex-lattice melting transitions in two typical iron-based high-Tc superconductor $Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2}$ (122-type) and$Nd(O_{1-x}F_{x})FeAs$ (1111-type) for magnetic fields both parallel and perpendicular to the anisotropy axis are studied within the elastic theory. Using the parameters from experiments, the vortex-lattice melting lines in the H-T diagram are located systematically by various groups of Lindemann numbers. It is observed that the theoretical result for the vortex melting on $Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2}$ for parallel fields agrees well the recent experimental data. The future experimental results for the vortex melting can be compared with the present theoretical prediction by tuning reasonable Lindemann numbers.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Human cytomegalovirus haplotype reconstruction reveals high diversity due to superinfection and evidence of within-host recombination

Recent sequencing efforts have led to estimates of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) genome-wide intrahost diversity that rival those of persistent RNA viruses [Renzette N, Bhattacharjee B, Jensen JD, Gibson L, Kowalik TF (2011) PLoS Pathog 7:e1001344]. Here, we deep sequence HCMV genomes recovered from single and longitudinally collected blood samples from immunocompromised children to show that the observations of high within-host HCMV nucleotide diversity are explained by the frequent occurrence of mixed infections caused by genetically distant strains. To confirm this finding, we reconstructed within-host viral haplotypes from short-read sequence data. We verify that within-host HCMV nucleotide diversity in unmixed infections is no greater than that of other DNA viruses analyzed by the same sequencing and bioinformatic methods and considerably less than that of human immunodeficiency and hepatitis C viruses. By resolving individual viral haplotypes within patients, we reconstruct the timing, likely origins, and natural history of superinfecting strains. We uncover evidence for within-host recombination between genetically distinct HCMV strains, observing the loss of the parental virus containing the nonrecombinant fragment. The data suggest selection for strains containing the recombinant fragment, generating testable hypotheses about HCMV evolution and pathogenesis. These results highlight that high HCMV diversity present in some samples is caused by coinfection with multiple distinct strains and provide reassurance that within the host diversity for single-strain HCMV infections is no greater than for other herpesviruses

Developing the principles of chair based exercise for older people: a modified Delphi study

Background Chair based exercise (CBE) is suggested to engage older people with compromised health and mobility in an accessible form of exercise. A systematic review looking at the benefits of CBE for older people identified a lack of clarity regarding a definition, delivery, purpose and benefits. This study aimed to utilise expert consensus to define CBE for older people and develop a core set of principles to guide practice and future research. Methods The framework for consensus was constructed through a team workshop identifying 42 statements within 7 domains. A four round electronic Delphi study with multi-disciplinary health care experts was undertaken. Statements were rated using a 5 point Likert scale of agreement and free text responses. A threshold of 70% agreement was used to determine consensus. Free text responses were analysed thematically. Between rounds a number of strategies (e.g., amended wording of statements, generation and removal of statements) were used to move towards consensus. Results 16 experts agreed on 46 statements over four rounds of consultation (Round 1: 22 accepted, 3 removed, 5 new and 17 modified; Round 2: 16 accepted, 0 removed, 4 new and 6 modified; Round 3: 4 accepted, 2 removed, 0 new and 4 modified; Round 4: 4 accepted, 0 removed, 0 new, 0 modified). Statements were accepted in all seven domains: the definition of CBE (5), intended users (3), potential benefits (8), structure (12), format (8), risk management (7) and evaluation (3). The agreed definition of CBE had five components: 1. CBE is primarily a seated exercise programme; 2. The purpose of using a chair is to promote stability in both sitting and standing; 3. CBE should be considered as part of a continuum of exercise for frail older people where progression is encouraged; 4. CBE should be used flexibly to respond to the changing needs of frail older people; and 5. Where possible CBE should be used as a starting point to progress to standing programmes. Conclusions Consensus has been reached on a definition and a set of principles governing CBE for older people; this provides clarity for implementation and future research about CBE

Common Variants at 10 Genomic Loci Influence Hemoglobin A(1C) Levels via Glycemic and Nonglycemic Pathways

OBJECTIVE-Glycated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)), used to monitor and diagnose diabetes, is influenced by average glycemia over a 2- to 3-month period. Genetic factors affecting expression, turnover, and abnormal glycation of hemoglobin could also be associated with increased levels of HbA(1c). We aimed to identify such genetic factors and investigate the extent to which they influence diabetes classification based on HbA(1c) levels.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS-We studied associations with HbA(1c) in up to 46,368 nondiabetic adults of European descent from 23 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and 8 cohorts with de novo genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We combined studies using inverse-variance meta-analysis and tested mediation by glycemia using conditional analyses. We estimated the global effect of HbA(1c) loci using a multilocus risk score, and used net reclassification to estimate genetic effects on diabetes screening.RESULTS-Ten loci reached genome-wide significant association with HbA(1c), including six new loci near FN3K (lead SNP/P value, rs1046896/P = 1.6 x 10(-26)), HFE (rs1800562/P = 2.6 x 10(-20)), TMPRSS6 (rs855791/P = 2.7 x 10(-14)), ANK1 (rs4737009/P = 6.1 x 10(-12)), SPTA1 (rs2779116/P = 2.8 x 10(-9)) and ATP11A/TUBGCP3 (rs7998202/P = 5.2 x 10(-9)), and four known HbA(1c) loci: HK1 (rs16926246/P = 3.1 x 10(-54)), MTNR1B (rs1387153/P = 4.0 X 10(-11)), GCK (rs1799884/P = 1.5 x 10(-20)) and G6PC2/ABCB11 (rs552976/P = 8.2 x 10(-18)). We show that associations with HbA(1c) are partly a function of hyperglycemia associated with 3 of the 10 loci (GCK, G6PC2 and MTNR1B). The seven nonglycemic loci accounted for a 0.19 (%HbA(1c)) difference between the extreme 10% tails of the risk score, and would reclassify similar to 2% of a general white population screened for diabetes with HbA(1c).CONCLUSIONS-GWAS identified 10 genetic loci reproducibly associated with HbA(1c). Six are novel and seven map to loci where rarer variants cause hereditary anemias and iron storage disorders. Common variants at these loci likely influence HbA(1c) levels via erythrocyte biology, and confer a small but detectable reclassification of diabetes diagnosis by HbA(1c) Diabetes 59: 3229-3239, 201

Vocalisations of Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) in the Bremer Canyon, Western Australia

To date, there has been no dedicated study in Australian waters on the acoustics of killer whales. Hence no information has been published on the sounds produced by killer whales from this region. Here we present the first acoustical analysis of recordings collected off the Western Australian coast. Underwater sounds produced by Australian killer whales were recorded during the months of February and March 2014 and 2015 in the Bremer Canyon in Western Australia. Vocalisations recorded included echolocation clicks, burst-pulse sounds and whistles. A total of 28 hours and 29 minutes were recorded and analysed, with 2376 killer whale calls (whistles and burst-pulse sounds) detected. Recordings of poor quality or signal-to-noise ratio were excluded from analysis, resulting in 142 whistles and burst-pulse vocalisations suitable for analysis and categorisation. These were grouped based on their spectrographic features into nine Bremer Canyon (BC) "call types". The frequency of the fundamental contours of all call types ranged from 600 Hz to 29 kHz. Calls ranged from 0.05 to 11.3 seconds in duration. Biosonar clicks were also recorded, but not studied further. Surface behaviours noted during acoustic recordings were categorised as either travelling or social behaviour. A detailed description of the acoustic characteristics is necessary for species acoustic identification and for the development of passive acoustic tools for population monitoring, including assessments of population status, habitat usage, migration patterns, behaviour and acoustic ecology. This study provides the first quantitative assessment and report on the acoustic features of killer whales vocalisations in Australian waters, and presents an opportunity to further investigate this little-known population