A path analysis of binge eating and obesity in African Americans: acculturation, racism, emotional distress, binge eating, body dissatisfaction, attitudes towards obesity, dietary restraint, dietary fat intake, and physical activity

The purpose of this study was to test a general stress-related health behavior model as it applied to binge eating and obesity in African Americans using path analysis. Acculturation, racism, emotional distress, binge eating, and obesity were among the variables related to this theory, and included in the model. Other variables that have been implicated in the study of obesity in African Americans were also included, such as; lack of body dissatisfaction, accepting attitudes towards obesity, decreased dietary restraint, increased dietary fat intake and decreased physical activity. The study sample was 325 African Americans, including 187 females with a mean age of 28.59 (SD = 11.47) and mean percent body fat of 34.86 (SD = 9.74); and, 138 males, with a mean age of 30.67 (SD =13.06), and mean percent body fat of 21.73 (SD = 9.14). A revised baseline model was estimated via post-hoc analyses, which achieved adequate fit. Four multiple group path analyses were conducted to test for overall gender differences, specific gender differences, and cross validation of the overall and female models. The male model was significantly different from the female model, and both achieved adequate fit. Males and females differed significantly from one another on 6 of the 19 paths in the revised model. The males appeared to fit the model significantly better than the females. All proposed variables, with the exclusion of dietary fat intake, were retained in the models and provided useful information in explaining obesity in African Americans. Longitudinal studies that include these variables is warranted, and could provide information on the risk factors for binge eating and obesity in African Americans, which could then be targeted in specifically tailored prevention and treatment programs

Functional characterization of the SAS-4-related protein CPAP in centrosome biology of human cells

The centrosome is an organelle that resides at the center of most animal cells and comprises two microtubule-based centriole cylinders surrounded by pericentriolar material (PCM). The centrosome plays a fundamental role for nucleating and organizing a radial array of cytoplasmic microtubules during interphase and promoting the assembly of the mitotic spindle during mitosis. In proliferating cells, the centrosome duplicates once per cell cycle, a process that involves notably the formation of one procentriole at the base of each centriole. The procentriole then grows until it reaches the same size of its associated centriole. The formation of supernumerary centrosomes causes severe problems, since this can lead to multipolar spindle formation, chromosome missegregation and genomic instability, which are hallmarks of cancer cells. The mechanisms regulating centrosome duplication are still incompletely understood. We have studied the role of the centrosomal P4.1-associated protein (CPAP) in human cells. We found that this protein is required for efficient growth of cytoplasmic microtubules from centrosomes as well as for centrosome duplication. There, CPAP is required at an early step during procentriole assembly, after the incorporation of HsSAS-6 but before that of Centrin. Importantly, we found also that the overexpression of CPAP leads to abnormal elongation of procentrioles and centrioles, indicating that the levels of CPAP determine centriole length. Excess CPAP levels furthermore lead to the formation of multiple procentrioles along overly elongated centrioles, multipolar spindle formation and cell division errors. Therefore, proper regulation of proteins such as CPAP that set centriole length contributes to ensure genome integrity. Overall, we gained important insights into the functions of CPAP at the centrosome and identified a novel control mechanism of centriole length. This will be relevant for a better understanding of how centrosomes function in the progression of cancer and other diseases

Auf der Suche nach dem Selbst

Die an der Universität Wien verfasste Diplomarbeit „Auf der Suche nach dem Selbst- Strategien spiritueller Selbsterfahrung und religiöse Pluralität in Wien“ wurde im Rahmen des Studiums der Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie verfasst. Geographisch auf den Raum Wien beschränkt, befasst sie sich mit Strategien der Identitätsbildung und dem Bewusstsein über die eigene Individualität in einer modernen, westlichen Gesellschaft. Durch das Phänomen der Globalisierung und transkulturellen Bewegungen ist wahrnehmbar, dass unterschiedlichste kulturelle Traditionen in dem untersuchten Gesellschaftssystem aufeinandertreffen. So soll erforscht werden, welchen Einfluss diese Vielfalt auf das eigene Verständnis von Identität hat. Besonderes Augenmerk wird hierbei auf Elemente religiöser oder spiritueller Traditionen gelenkt. Die durch die Aufklärung ausgelösten religionskritischen Stimmen trugen wesentlich zu der Veränderung des vorherrschenden Individualitäts- Verständnisses bei. Ebenso haben spiritistischen „Gegenbewegungen“ und Neue Religiöse Bewegungen Eingang in das ge-genwärtige Weltbild gefunden. Nach der Beobachtung, dass zeitgleich mit säkularisierenden Tendenzen auch eine Art Re- Religionisierung stattgefunden hat, steht der Zusammenhang zwischen unterschiedlichen (spirituellen) Weltauffassungen und dem eigenen Selbst- Bewusstsein im Zentrum der empirischen Untersuchungen- ebenso wie die Wechselwirkung zwischen dem gegenwärtigen, religiösen (oder anti- religiösen) Weltbild und dem Individualitätsverständnis. Ein Verständnis für die soziale Bedeutung dieser Wechselwirkung und deren Manifestationen begründet sich vornehmlich auf der Basis von kultur- und sozialanthropologischen Betrachtungen. Es werden daher Beispiele unterschiedlicher, kultureller Traditionen herangezogen, um die spirituelle Komponente einer sozialen Identitätsbildung vorzustellen. Zur Darstellung des modernen, westlichen Verständnisses von Identität, werden schließlich Säkularisierungstheorien diskutiert und in Zusammenhang mit Individualisierungstheorien der Gegenwart gebracht. Es existieren unterschiedliche wissenschaftliche Zugänge, welche sich mit dem Einfluss religiöser oder spiritueller Erfahrungen auf den Einzelnen beschäftigen. Religionspsychologische Forschungen, welche sich auf das persönliche Erleben von Religiosität konzentrieren, genauso wie Religionswissenschaft und Religionssoziologie werden miteinander verknüpft. Die für die Diplomarbeit unternommene Feldforschung (November 2008- Februar 2009) soll die oben dargestellten, theoretischen Überlegungen empirisch unterlegen. Teilnehmende Beobachtungen und Leitfadeninterviews dienen als Grundlage der Analysen. Selbsterfahrung- und Selbstfindungsseminare, die in Wien veranstaltet wurden, bildeten die Untersuchungseinheit, an denen die Autorin selbst teilnahm, um vermittelte Inhalt Strategien und Techniken beobachten zu können. Interviews wurden sowohl mit den VeranstalterInnen, als auch den TeilnehmerInnen jener Veranstaltungen geführt. Die SeminarleiterInnen wurden nach der Intention, bestimmte Seminare zu leiten, gefragt. Außerdem waren das persönliche Weltbild und biographische Hintergründe Teil der Gespräche. Bei den TeilnehmerInnen besagter Veranstaltungen wurden Intention der Teilnahme und Vorwissen, Weltbild, Biographie und Lebensziele, wie auch die Rezeption der besuchten Seminare thematisiert. Gründe für ein Bedürfnis nach Selbsterfahrung und die hierfür angewendeten Strategien sollten so empirisch fassbar gemacht werden. Inwiefern religiöse Pluralität vor dem Hintergrund einer individualistisch orientierten Gesellschaft für das Selbstbewusstsein der Menschen maßgeblich ist, steht im Zentrum der Untersuchungen. Sie zeigen, dass Selbstverantwortung und das Wahrnehmen persönlicher Fähigkeiten das Fundament für Verwirklichung persönlicher Ziele darstellt. Individualität ist aber nicht mit einem egozentrischen Selbstverständnis gleichzusetzen. Es stellt sich heraus, dass der Weg zu sich selbst dazu führt, die Verbundenheit mit anderen Menschen, der Welt und sogar dem Göttlichen zu erkennen. So ergibt sich, dass auch individualisierte Handlungen und Prozesse der Identitätsbildung letztlich ein kollektives Phänomen bilden. So endet Selbsterfahrung in der Akzeptanz der eigenen Existenz und der Wahrnehmung eines All- Eins

Circular RNAs as Therapeutic Agents and Targets

It has recently been reported that thousands of covalently linked circular RNAs (circRNAs) are expressed from human genomes. circRNAs emerge during RNA splicing. circRNAs are circularized in a reaction termed “backsplicing,” whereby the spliceosome fuses a splice donor site in a downstream exon to a splice acceptor site in an upstream exon. Although a young field of research, first studies indicate that backsplicing is not an erroneous reaction of the spliceosome. Instead, circRNAs are produced in cells with high cell-type specificity and can exert biologically meaningful and specific functions. These observations and the finding that circRNAs are stable against exonucleolytic decay are raising the question whether circRNAs may be relevant as therapeutic agents and targets. In this review, we start out with a short introduction into classification, biogenesis and general molecular mechanisms of circRNAs. We then describe reports, where manipulating circRNA abundance has been shown to have therapeutic value in animal disease models in vivo, with a focus on cardiovascular disease (CVD). Starting from existing approaches, we outline particular challenges and opportunities for future circRNA-based therapeutic approaches that exploit stability and molecular effector functions of native circRNAs. We end with considerations which designer functions could be engineered into artificial therapeutic circular RNAs

A touching movement : force control turns machining robots into universal tools

ABB has written a new chapter in the book of robot applications. While in the past it had been a tedious and time-consuming effort to program a robot for delicate fine-tuning operations, robots can now learn how to best manage such tasks themselves. This innovative approach can reduce overall programming times by up to 80 percent for robots used to grind castings, vastly improving productivity levels. With ABB’s new Flex Finishing system featuring RobotWare Machining FC (force control), one of the last real barriers to productivity improvement in this sector has been lifted

European study confirms the combination of fever and petechial rash as an important warning sign for childhood sepsis and meningitis

Funding Information: This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 668303. The research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centres at Imperial College London, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Acta Paediatrica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation Acta Paediatrica.AIM: This study investigated febrile children with petechial rashes who presented to European emergency departments (EDs) and investigated the role that mechanical causes played in diagnoses. METHODS: Consecutive patients with fever presenting to EDs in 11 European emergency departments in 2017-2018 were enrolled. The cause and focus of infection were identified and a detailed analysis was performed on children with petechial rashes. The results are presented as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: We found that 453/34,010 (1.3%) febrile children had petechial rashes. The focus of the infection included sepsis (10/453, 2.2%) and meningitis (14/453, 3.1%). Children with a petechial rash were more likely than other febrile children to have sepsis or meningitis (OR 8.5, 95% CI 5.3-13.1) and bacterial infections (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0-1.8) as well as need for immediate life-saving interventions (OR 6.6, 95% CI 4.4-9.5) and intensive care unit admissions (OR 6.5, 95% CI 3.0-12.5). CONCLUSION: The combination of fever and petechial rash is still an important warning sign for childhood sepsis and meningitis. Ruling out coughing and/or vomiting was insufficient to safely identify low-risk patients.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Intestinal Stem Cell Pool Regulation in Drosophila

Intestinal epithelial renewal is mediated by intestinal stem cells (ISCs) that exist in a state of neutral drift, wherein individual ISC lineages are regularly lost and born but ISC numbers remain constant. To test whether an active mechanism maintains stem cell pools in the Drosophila midgut, we performed partial ISC depletion. In contrast to the mouse intestine, Drosophila ISCs failed to repopulate the gut after partial depletion. Even when the midgut was challenged to regenerate by infection, ISCs retained normal proportions of asymmetric division and ISC pools did not increase. We discovered, however, that the loss of differentiated midgut enterocytes (ECs) slows when ISC division is suppressed and accelerates when ISC division increases. This plasticity in rates of EC turnover appears to facilitate epithelial homeostasis even after stem cell pools are compromised. Our study identifies unique behaviors of Drosophila midgut cells that maintain epithelial homeostasis

Spindle positioning in human cells relies on proper centriole formation and on the microcephaly proteins CPAP and STIL

Patients with MCPH (autosomal recessive primary microcephaly) exhibit impaired brain development, presumably due to the compromised function of neuronal progenitors. Seven MCPH loci have been identified, including one that encodes centrosome protein 4.1 associated protein (CPAP; also known as centromere protein J, CENPJ). CPAP is a large coiled-coil protein enriched at the centrosome, a structure that comprises two centrioles and surrounding pericentriolar material (PCM). CPAP depletion impairs centriole formation, whereas CPAP overexpression results in overly long centrioles. The mechanisms by which CPAP MCPH patient mutations affect brain development are not clear. Here, we identify CPAP protein domains crucial for its centriolar localization, as well as for the elongation and the formation of centrioles. Furthermore, we demonstrate that conditions that resemble CPAP MCPH patient mutations compromise centriole formation in tissue culture cells. Using adhesive micropatterns, we reveal that such defects correlate with a randomization of spindle position. Moreover, we demonstrate that the MCPH protein SCL/TAL1 interrupting locus (STIL) is also essential for centriole formation and for proper spindle position. Our findings are compatible with the notion that mutations in CPAP and STIL cause MCPH because of aberrant spindle positioning in progenitor cells during brain development

Oligonucleotide-based systems: DNA, microRNAs, DNA/RNA aptamers

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society. There are an increasing number of applications that have been developed for oligonucleotide-based biosensing systems in genetics and biomedicine. Oligonucleotidebased biosensors are those where the probe to capture the analyte is a strand of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA) or a synthetic analogue of naturally occurring nucleic acids. This review will shed light on various types of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA (particularly microRNAs), their role and their application in biosensing. It will also cover DNA/RNA aptamers, which can be used as bioreceptors for a wide range of targets such as proteins, small molecules, bacteria and even cells. It will also highlight how the invention of synthetic oligonucleotides such as peptide nucleic acid (PNA) or locked nucleic acid (LNA) has pushed the limits of molecular biology and biosensor development to new perspectives. These technologies are very promising albeit still in need of development in order to bridge the gap between the laboratory-based status and the reality of biomedical applications

The effects of CO2, climate and land-use on terrestrial carbon balance, 1920-1992: An analysis with four process-based ecosystem models

The concurrent effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration, climate variability, and cropland establishment and abandonment on terrestrial carbon storage between 1920 and 1992 were assessed using a standard simulation protocol with four process-based terrestrial biosphere models. Over the long-term(1920–1992), the simulations yielded a time history of terrestrial uptake that is consistent (within the uncertainty) with a long-term analysis based on ice core and atmospheric CO2 data. Up to 1958, three of four analyses indicated a net release of carbon from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere caused by cropland establishment. After 1958, all analyses indicate a net uptake of carbon by terrestrial ecosystems, primarily because of the physiological effects of rapidly rising atmospheric CO2. During the 1980s the simulations indicate that terrestrial ecosystems stored between 0.3 and 1.5 Pg C yr−1, which is within the uncertainty of analysis based on CO2 and O2 budgets. Three of the four models indicated (in accordance with O2 evidence) that the tropics were approximately neutral while a net sink existed in ecosystems north of the tropics. Although all of the models agree that the long-term effect of climate on carbon storage has been small relative to the effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 and land use, the models disagree as to whether climate variability and change in the twentieth century has promoted carbon storage or release. Simulated interannual variability from 1958 generally reproduced the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-scale variability in the atmospheric CO2 increase, but there were substantial differences in the magnitude of interannual variability simulated by the models. The analysis of the ability of the models to simulate the changing amplitude of the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO2 suggested that the observed trend may be a consequence of CO2 effects, climate variability, land use changes, or a combination of these effects. The next steps for improving the process-based simulation of historical terrestrial carbon include (1) the transfer of insight gained from stand-level process studies to improve the sensitivity of simulated carbon storage responses to changes in CO2 and climate, (2) improvements in the data sets used to drive the models so that they incorporate the timing, extent, and types of major disturbances, (3) the enhancement of the models so that they consider major crop types and management schemes, (4) development of data sets that identify the spatial extent of major crop types and management schemes through time, and (5) the consideration of the effects of anthropogenic nitrogen deposition. The evaluation of the performance of the models in the context of a more complete consideration of the factors influencing historical terrestrial carbon dynamics is important for reducing uncertainties in representing the role of terrestrial ecosystems in future projections of the Earth system