Survival with Treated and Well-Controlled Blood Pressure: Findings from a Prospective Cohort Study.

AIM: To compare survival and incident cardiovascular disease between normotensive, untreated hypertensive, treated and poorly-controlled hypertensive and treated and well-controlled hypertensive adults. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data from the British Regional Heart Study (men) and British Women's Heart and Health Study (women) were used (N = 6476). Blood pressure and treatment were assessed at baseline (1998-2001) when participants were aged 60-79 years and participants were followed up for a median of 8 years. Date and cause of death were obtained from death certificates and non-fatal cardiovascular disease events were obtained from repeat detailed medical record reviews. Of the whole cohort 52% of women and 49% of men had untreated hypertension and a further 22% and 18%, respectively, had poorly treated hypertension. Just 3% of women and 4% of men had treated and well controlled hypertension and 23% and 29%, respectively, were normotensive. Compared to normotensive individuals, incident cardiovascular disease (fatal and non-fatal) was increased in those with poorly-controlled hypertension (Hazard Ratio (HR): 1.88; 95%CI: 1.53, 2.30), those with untreated hypertension (HR 1.46; 95%CI 1.22, 1.75) and those who were well-controlled hypertension (HR 1.38; 95%CI 0.94, 2.03). Adjustment for baseline differences in mean blood pressure between the groups resulted in attenuation of the increased risk in the poorly-controlled (1.52 (1.18, 1.97) and untreated groups (1.21 (0.97, 1.52), but did not change the association in the well-controlled group. All-cause mortality was also increased in all three hypertension groups but estimates were imprecise with wide confidence intervals. CONCLUSIONS: Half of women and men aged 60-79 in Britain had untreated hypertension and only a very small proportion of those with diagnosed and treated hypertension were well controlled. Those with hypertension, irrespective of whether this was treated and controlled or not, were at greater risk of future cardiovascular disease than those who are normotensive

Studies of Anopheles gambiae s.l (Diptera: Culicidae) exhibiting different vectorial capacities in lymphatic filariasis transmission in the Gomoa district, Ghana

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Two lymphatic filariasis endemic communities Mampong and Hwida in Ghana have been regularly monitored for impact on transmission after annual mass drug administration (MDA) with albendazole and ivermectin. After six MDAs even though the ABR for Mampong was 55883/person/year and that of Hwida was 2494/person/year, they both had ATPs of 15.21 infective larvae/person/year. Interestingly the human microfilaraemia levels had reduced significantly from 14% to 0% at Mampong and 12% to 3% at Hwida. In an attempt to understand this anomaly, we collected mosquitoes over a 5-month period using human landing catches to determine the species composition, the number of cibarial teeth, the lengths and widths of the cibarium and the cibarial dome of the vector populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of 2553 mosquitoes caught at Mampong, 42.6% were <it>An. gambiae </it>s.l. All 280 identified further by PCR were <it>An. gambiae </it>s.s (275 M and 5 S molecular forms). At Hwida, 112 mosquitoes were obtained; 67 (59.8%) were <it>An. gambiae </it>s.l, comprised of 40 (59.7%) <it>An. melas</it>, 24 (35.8%) <it>An. gambiae </it>s.s (17 and 5 M and S molecular forms respectively) and 3 (4.5%) unidentified. The mean number of teeth for <it>An. melas </it>was 14.1 (median = 14, range = 12-15), <it>An. gambiae </it>s.s., 15.7 (median = 15, range = 13-19) M form 15.5 (median = 15 range = 13-19) and S form 16 (median = 16, range 15-17). The observed differences in teeth numbers were significantly different between <it>An. melas </it>and <it>An. gambiae </it>s.s (p = 0.004), and the M form (p = 0.032) and the S form (p = 0.002).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study, <it>An. gambiae </it>s.s was the main vector at Mampong and was found to possess significantly more cibarial teeth than <it>An. melas</it>, the principal vector at Hwida. We postulate that the different impact observed after 6 MDAs may be due to <it>An. gambiae </it>s.s exhibiting 'facilitation' at Mampong and at Hwida <it>An. melas </it>the main vector exhibits 'limitation'. Thus it may be necessary to compliment MDA with vector control to achieve interruption of transmission in areas where <it>An. melas </it>may exhibit limitation.</p

A Low Cost Synthesis and Characterization of CuO Nanoparticles for Photovoltaic Applications

A simple low cost chemical route has been used to synthesize cupric oxide nanoparticles. The synthesized CuO nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, TEM and UV-absorption. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the synthesized nanoparticles to be a pure cupric oxide. EDAX analysis showed the presence of copper and Oxygen in the as prepared CuO nano particles, with the AAS indicating that Cu2+ represented 53.5% of the sample. The particle size and particle size distribution of the cupric oxide nanoparticles were obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) whereas the crystallite size and crystallite size distribution were obtained by X-ray diffraction. The particle size was found to be between 20 nm and 60 nm. The particle size distribution obtained from cumulative percentage frequency plots features a log-normal function. Absorbance measurements and analysis showed that the material has an absorbance peak at 314 nm and energy bandgap of 1.48 eV, making it a good candidate for photovoltaic applications

Integration of genetics into a systems model of electrocardiographic traits using humanCVD BeadChip

&lt;p&gt;Background—Electrocardiographic traits are important, substantially heritable determinants of risk of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods and Results—In this study, 3 population-based cohorts (n=10 526) genotyped with the Illumina HumanCVD Beadchip and 4 quantitative electrocardiographic traits (PR interval, QRS axis, QRS duration, and QTc interval) were evaluated for single-nucleotide polymorphism associations. Six gene regions contained single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with these traits at P&#60;10−6, including SCN5A (PR interval and QRS duration), CAV1-CAV2 locus (PR interval), CDKN1A (QRS duration), NOS1AP, KCNH2, and KCNQ1 (QTc interval). Expression quantitative trait loci analyses of top associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms were undertaken in human heart and aortic tissues. NOS1AP, SCN5A, IGFBP3, CYP2C9, and CAV1 showed evidence of differential allelic expression. We modeled the effects of ion channel activity on electrocardiographic parameters, estimating the change in gene expression that would account for our observed associations, thus relating epidemiological observations and expression quantitative trait loci data to a systems model of the ECG.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions—These association results replicate and refine the mapping of previous genome-wide association study findings for electrocardiographic traits, while the expression analysis and modeling approaches offer supporting evidence for a functional role of some of these loci in cardiac excitation/conduction.&lt;/p&gt

Social deprivation and exposure to health promotion. A study of the distribution of health promotion resources to schools in England

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund and is available from the specified link - Copyright @ 2010 Chivu and ReidpathBACKGROUND: Area deprivation is a known determinant of health. It is also known that area deprivation is associated with lower impact health promotion. It is less well known, however, whether deprived areas are less responsive to health promotion, or whether they are less exposed. Using data from a national, school-based campaign to promote vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV), the relationship between area deprivation and exposure was examined. METHODS: Taking advantage of a health promotion campaign to provide information to schools about HPV vaccination, a cross sectional study was conducted to examine the relationship between area level, social deprivation, and take-up of (i.e., exposure to) available health promotion material. The sample was 4,750 schools across England, including government maintained and independent schools. The relationship between area deprivation and exposure was examined using bi- and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: It was found that schools in the least deprived quintile had 1.32 times the odds of requesting health promotion materials than schools in the most deprived areas (p = .01). This effect was independent of the school size, the type of school, and the geographic region. Conclusion The relationship between area deprivation and the impact of health promotion may be due, at least in part, to differential levels of exposure. The study was limited in scope, pointing to the need for more research, but also points to potentially important policy implications

Association Between Genetic Variants on Chromosome 15q25 Locus and Objective Measures of Tobacco Exposure

BACKGROUND Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms, rs1051730 and rs16969968, located within the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene cluster on chromosome 15q25 locus, are associated with heaviness of smoking, risk for lung cancer, and other smoking-related health outcomes. Previous studies have typically relied on self-reported smoking behavior, which may not fully capture interindividual variation in tobacco exposure. METHODS We investigated the association of rs1051730 and rs16969968 genotype (referred to as rs1051730–rs16969968, because these are in perfect linkage disequilibrium and interchangeable) with both self-reported daily cigarette consumption and biochemically measured plasma or serum cotinine levels among cigarette smokers. Summary estimates and descriptive statistical data for 12 364 subjects were obtained from six independent studies, and 2932 smokers were included in the analyses. Linear regression was used to calculate the per-allele association of rs1051730–rs16969968 genotype with cigarette consumption and cotinine levels in current smokers for each study. Meta-analysis of per-allele associations was conducted using a random effects method. The likely resulting association between genotype and lung cancer risk was assessed using published data on the association between cotinine levels and lung cancer risk. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS Pooled per-allele associations showed that current smokers with one or two copies of the rs1051730–rs16969968 risk allele had increased self-reported cigarette consumption (mean increase in unadjusted number of cigarettes per day per allele = 1.0 cigarette, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.57 to 1.43 cigarettes, P = 5.22 × 10−6) and cotinine levels (mean increase in unadjusted cotinine levels per allele = 138.72 nmol/L, 95% CI = 97.91 to 179.53 nmol/L, P = 2.71 × 10−11). The increase in cotinine levels indicated an increased risk of lung cancer with each additional copy of the rs1051730–rs16969968 risk allele (per-allele odds ratio = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.21 to 1.42). CONCLUSIONS Our data show a stronger association of rs1051730–rs16969968 genotype with objective measures of tobacco exposure compared with self-reported cigarette consumption. The association of these variants with lung cancer risk is likely to be mediated largely, if not wholly, via tobacco exposure

Predicting heterosis for egg production traits in crossbred offspring of individual White Leghorn sires using genome-wide SNP data

International audienceAbstractBackgroundThe development of a reliable method to predict heterosis would greatly improve the efficiency of commercial crossbreeding schemes. Extending heterosis prediction from the line level to the individual sire level would take advantage of variation between sires from the same pure line, and further increase the use of heterosis in crossbreeding schemes. We aimed at deriving the theoretical expectation for heterosis due to dominance in the crossbred offspring of individual sires, and investigating how much extra variance in heterosis can be explained by predicting heterosis at the individual sire level rather than at the line level. We used 53 421 SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) genotypes of 3427 White Leghorn sires, allele frequencies of six White Leghorn dam-lines and cage-based records on egg number and egg weight of ~210 000 crossbred hens.ResultsWe derived the expected heterosis for the offspring of individual sires as the between- and within-line genome-wide heterozygosity excess in the offspring of a sire relative to the mean heterozygosity of the pure lines. Next, we predicted heterosis by regressing offspring performance on the heterozygosity excess. Predicted heterosis ranged from 7.6 to 16.7 for egg number, and from 1.1 to 2.3 grams for egg weight. Between-line differences accounted for 99.0% of the total variance in predicted heterosis, while within-line differences among sires accounted for 0.7%.ConclusionsWe show that it is possible to predict heterosis at the sire level, thus to distinguish between sires within the same pure line with offspring that show different levels of heterosis. However, based on our data, variation in genome-wide predicted heterosis between sires from the same pure line was small; most differences were observed between lines. We hypothesise that this method may work better if predictions are based on SNPs with identified dominance effects

In Support of the Matrix Language Frame Model: Evidence from Igbo-English Intrasentential Codeswitching

This paper explores the morphosyntactic features of mixed nominal expressions in a sample of empirical Igbo-English intrasentential codeswitching data (i.e. codeswitching within a bilingual clause) in terms of the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model. Since both Igbo and English differ in the relative order of head and complement within the nominal argument phrase, the analysed data seem appropriate for testing the veracity of the principal assumption underpinning the MLF model: the notion that the two languages (in our case Igbo and English) participating in codeswitching do not both contribute equally to the morphosyntactic frame of a mixed constituent. As it turns out, the findings provide both empirical and quantitative support for the basic theoretical view that there is a Matrix Language (ML) versus Embedded Language (EL) hierarchy in classic codeswitching as predicted by the MLF model because both Igbo and English do not simultaneously satisfy the roles of the ML in Igbo-English codeswitching

Genetic Analyses of Tanzanian Local Chicken Ecotypes Challenged with Newcastle Disease Virus

Newcastle Disease (ND) is a continuing global threat to domestic poultry, especially in developing countries, where severe outbreaks of velogenic ND virus (NDV) often cause major economic losses to households. Local chickens are of great importance to rural family livelihoods through provision of high-quality protein. To investigate the genetic basis of host response to NDV, three popular Tanzanian chicken ecotypes (regional populations) were challenged with a lentogenic (vaccine) strain of NDV at 28 days of age. Various host response phenotypes, including anti-NDV antibody levels (pre-infection and 10 days post-infection, dpi), and viral load (2 and 6 dpi) were measured, in addition to growth rate. We estimated genetic parameters and conducted genome-wide association study analyses by genotyping 1399 chickens using the Affymetrix 600K chicken SNP chip. Estimates of heritability of the evaluated traits were moderate (0.18–0.35). Five quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with growth and/or response to NDV were identified by single-SNP analyses, with some regions explaining ≥1% of genetic variance based on the Bayes-B method. Immune related genes, such as ETS1, TIRAP, and KIRREL3, were located in regions associated with viral load at 6 dpi. The moderate estimates of heritability and identified QTL indicate that NDV response traits may be improved through selective breeding of chickens to enhance increased NDV resistance and vaccine efficacy in Tanzanian local ecotypes

Investigating associations between the built environment and physical activity among older people in 20 UK towns.

BACKGROUND: Policy initiatives such as WHO Age Friendly Cities recognise the importance of the urban environment for improving health of older people, who have both low physical activity (PA) levels and greater dependence on local neighbourhoods. Previous research in this age group is limited and rarely uses objective measures of either PA or the environment. METHODS: We investigated the association between objectively measured PA (Actigraph GT3x accelerometers) and multiple dimensions of the built environment, using a cross-sectional multilevel linear regression analysis. Exposures were captured by a novel foot-based audit tool that recorded fine-detail neighbourhood features relevant to PA in older adults, and routine data. RESULTS: 795 men and 638 women aged 69-92 years from two national cohorts, covering 20 British towns, were included in the analysis. Median time in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) was 27.9 (lower quartile: 13.8, upper quartile: 50.4) minutes per day. There was little evidence of associations between any of the physical environmental domains (eg, road and path quality defined by latent class analysis; number of bus stops; area aesthetics; density of shops and services; amount of green space) and MVPA. However, analysis of area-level income deprivation suggests that the social environment may be associated with PA in this age group. CONCLUSIONS: Although small effect sizes cannot be discounted, this study suggests that older individuals are less affected by their local physical environment and more by social environmental factors, reflecting both the functional heterogeneity of this age group and the varying nature of their activity spaces