Child Nutrition and Fitness in Switzerland and the United Kingdom: Analyzing Preventative Solutions for the Developing Obesity and Diabetes Crises

The current study takes a novel approach to analyzing how child nutrition and fitness can be used as preventative measures to solve the ongoing crises of obesity and diabetes. A comparison case-study between two stereotypically different European nations, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, was utilized to address how nutrition and fitness education, policy, culture and programs affect the health of the country. Each nation was analyzed comprehensively, accounting for dietary and exercise practices from infant stages to adolescence. Personal interviews with experts in the fields of breastfeeding, nutrition and fitness provided the main sources of information. Primary research was supplemented with data and studies collected from the literature, to provide a well-rounded depiction of nutrition and fitness cultures in Switzerland and the UK. Following investigation into the countries’ practices, non-communicable disease (NCD) rates were consulted in an attempt to draw a correlation between the observed differences in nutrition and fitness culture and disease trends. While a specific causative relationship was nearly impossible to draw, the anecdotal data support the notion that poorer nutrition and fitness cultures in the UK are an unquestioned factor in the higher obesity and overweight rates seen in this country. The results depicted in this study give credence to the notion that proper public health policy, programs and educational initiatives targeting infant to adolescent nutrition and fitness can be used as powerful preventative mechanisms to slow the spread of NCDs such as obesity and diabetes

Greenpoint\u27s Superfund Problem

A feature observing a community living in the shadow of a superfund site, a toxic industrial site in need of cleanup, that was recently purchased for development. The story looks at the complicated nature of this particular superfund and the problems the community around it has--including potential health risks during cleanup, rapid development, and an inescapable industrial past

ECOTOURISM POTENTIALS OF THE MAJANG FOREST BIOSPHERE RESERVE. GAMBELLA, SOUTH WEST ETHIOPIA

Purpose – the purpose of this study was to identify ecotourism potentials of the Majang Forest Biosphere Reserve. Methodology – The study employed qualitative research approach using an exploratory research design. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussion besides to field observations. Accordingly, key informants interviewees were held with 12 villages senior leaders (n=60), key informants from 6 departments (n=30) and NGO experts (n=5). Altogether, 95 respondents were involved in this study Findings – The results of this research revealed that fauna and flora (87%), water bodies (waterfalls, rivers, and lakes) (82%), cultural attractions (54%), manmade attractions as well as historical sites are found to be the major ecotourism potentials of the Biosphere Reserve. Originality – The study provides complied information of ecotourism potentials of the Majang Forest Biosphere Reserve, which has not been explored before. It enhances the concept of ecotourism and level of understanding of stakeholders in ecotourism potentials of the biosphere. Its findings contributes to better conservation of the biosphere reserve through creating awareness and commitment to decision makers, politicians, experts, leaders, eco-tourists, local community, etc. Social Implications - Majang Forest Biosphere Reserve has endowed numerous ecotourism potentials. However, the flow of eco-tourists to the destination and ecotourism activities are very weak. As a result, local communities living around biosphere reserve are less benefited from the ecotourism development. This study promotes ecotourism potentials of the biosphere reserve. It enhances the benefit of local communities through ecotourism activities like tour guiding association, beekeeping, souvenir shops, cultural shows, horse riding services, offering cultural foods, drinks and dressings. Limitations – Further deep study is vital to identify more ecotourism potentials. Promotion and marketing strategies need to be adopted and promoted wherein using internet, big hoardings, billboards, posters, and travel desks. Infrastructures should be improved eco-friendly to facilitate ecotourism activities

BA11 FKBP5 expression levels correlate with dendritic spine density in postmortem PTSD and controls

AbstractGenetic variants of the immunophilin FKBP5 have been implicated in susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other stress-related disorders. We examined the relationship between mushroom, stubby, thin and filopodial spine densities measured with Golgi staining and FKBP5 gene expression in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (BA11) in individuals diagnosed with PTSD and normal controls (n = 8/8). ANCOVA revealed PTSD cases had a significantly elevated density of stubby spines (29%, P < 0.037) and a trend for a reduction in mushroom spine density (25%, p < 0.082). Levels of FKBP5 mRNA were marginally elevated in the PTSD cases (z = 1.94, p = 0.053) and levels correlated inversely with mushroom (Spearman's rho = −0.83, p < 0.001) and overall spine density (rho = −0.75, p < 0.002) and directly with stubby spine density (rho = 0.55, p < 0.027). These data suggest that FKBP5 may participate in a cellular pathway modulating neuronal spine density changes in the brain, and that this pathway may be dysregulated in PTSD

Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping Registration of Reconstructed 3D Histological Section Images and in vivo MR Images

Our current understanding of neuroanatomical abnormalities in neuropsychiatric diseases is based largely on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and post mortem histological analyses of the brain. Further advances in elucidating altered brain structure in these human conditions might emerge from combining MRI and histological methods. We propose a multistage method for registering 3D volumes reconstructed from histological sections to corresponding in vivo MRI volumes from the same subjects: (1) manual segmentation of white matter (WM), gray matter (GM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compartments in histological sections, (2) alignment of consecutive histological sections using 2D rigid transformation to construct a 3D histological image volume from the aligned sections, (3) registration of reconstructed 3D histological volumes to the corresponding 3D MRI volumes using 3D affine transformation, (4) intensity normalization of images via histogram matching, and (5) registration of the volumes via intensity based large deformation diffeomorphic metric (LDDMM) image matching algorithm. Here we demonstrate the utility of our method in the transfer of cytoarchitectonic information from histological sections to identify regions of interest in MRI scans of nine adult macaque brains for morphometric analyses. LDDMM improved the accuracy of the registration via decreased distances between GM/CSF surfaces after LDDMM (0.39 ± 0.13 mm) compared to distances after affine registration (0.76 ± 0.41 mm). Similarly, WM/GM distances decreased to 0.28 ± 0.16 mm after LDDMM compared to 0.54 ± 0.39 mm after affine registration. The multistage registration method may find broad application for mapping histologically based information, for example, receptor distributions, gene expression, onto MRI volumes

SeroTracker-RoB: a decision rule-based algorithm for reproducible risk of bias assessment of seroprevalence studies

Risk of bias (RoB) assessments are a core element of evidence synthesis but can be time consuming and subjective. We aimed to develop a decision rule-based algorithm for RoB assessment of seroprevalence studies. We developed the SeroTracker-RoB algorithm. The algorithm derives seven objective and two subjective critical appraisal items from the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence studies and implements decision rules that determine study risk of bias based on the items. Decision rules were validated using the SeroTracker seroprevalence study database, which included non-algorithmic RoB judgments from two reviewers. We quantified efficiency as the mean difference in time for the algorithmic and non-algorithmic assessments of 80 randomly selected articles, coverage as the proportion of studies where the decision rules yielded an assessment, and reliability using intraclass correlations comparing algorithmic and non-algorithmic assessments for 2070 articles. A set of decision rules with 61 branches was developed using responses to the nine critical appraisal items. The algorithmic approach was faster than non-algorithmic assessment (mean reduction 2.32 min [SD 1.09] per article), classified 100% (n = 2070) of studies, and had good reliability compared to non-algorithmic assessment (ICC 0.77, 95% CI 0.74–0.80). We built the SeroTracker-RoB Excel Tool, which embeds this algorithm for use by other researchers. The SeroTracker-RoB decision-rule based algorithm was faster than non-algorithmic assessment with complete coverage and good reliability. This algorithm enabled rapid, transparent, and reproducible RoB evaluations of seroprevalence studies and may support evidence synthesis efforts during future disease outbreaks. This decision rule-based approach could be applied to other types of prevalence studies

Status and promise of particle interferometry in heavy-ion collisions

After five years of running at RHIC, and on the eve of the LHC heavy-ion program, we highlight the status of femtoscopic measurements. We emphasize the role interferometry plays in addressing fundamental questions about the state of matter created in such collisions, and present an enumerated list of measurements, analyses and calculations that are needed to advance the field in the coming years

Association between a longer duration of illness, age and lower frontal lobe grey matter volume in schizophrenia

The frontal lobe has an extended maturation period and may be vulnerable to the long-term effects of schizophrenia. We tested this hypothesis by studying the relationship between duration of illness (DoI), grey matter (GM) and cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) volume across the whole brain. Sixty-four patients with schizophrenia and 25 healthy controls underwent structural MRI scanning and neuropsychological assessment. We performed regression analyses in patients to examine the relationship between DoI and GM and CSF volumes across the whole brain, and correlations in controls between age and GM or CSF volume of the regions where GM or CSF volumes were associated with DoI in patients. Correlations were also performed between GM volume in the regions associated with DoI and neuropsychological performance. A longer DoI was associated with lower GM volume in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), right middle frontal cortex, left fusiform gyrus (FG) and left cerebellum (lobule III). Additionally, age was inversely associated with GM volume in the left dorsomedial PFC in patients, and in the left FG and CSF excess near the left cerebellum in healthy controls. Greater GM volume in the left dorsomedial PFC was associated with better working memory, attention and psychomotor speed in patients. Our findings suggest that the right middle frontal cortex is particularly vulnerable to the long-term effect of schizophrenia illness whereas the dorsomedial PFC, FG and cerebellum are affected by both a long DoI and aging. The effect of illness chronicity on GM volume in the left dorsomedial PFC may be extended to brain structure–neuropsychological function relationships

Preproenkephalin messenger RNA—containing neurons in striatum of patients with symptomatic and presymptomatic huntington's disease: An in situ hybridization study

Previous studies have revealed a loss of enkephalin immunoreactivity in the terminals of striatal neurons projecting to the external globus pallidus in patients with early grades of Huntington's disease (HD). To assess the status of the perikarya of striatal enkephalinergic neurons, we performed in situ hybridization histochemistry with a radiolabeled RNA probe complementary to preproenkephalin messenger RNA. We studied postmortem brain tissue of 6 patients with symptomatic HD, 7 control subjects, and 2 presymptomatic carriers of the HD allele. There was a significant reduction in the areal density of striatal neurons expressing preproenkephalin messenger RNA in the patients with symptomatic HD, but the level of labeling in the remaining cells was not altered compared with the control subjects. In the specimens from presymptomatic individuals, there was no reduction of areal density of preproenkephalin messenger RNA-containing neurons in the striatum, despite the fact that loss of enkephalin immunoreactivity in the external globus pallidus had been previously demonstrated in the same brains. The results correlate with the previous demonstration of depleted enkephalin immunoreactive terminals in the external globus pallidus in patients with symptomatic HD. They also suggest that the early loss of enkephalin immunoreactivity observed in the external globus pallidus of presymptomatic carriers of the HD allele is not related to a generalized death of striatal enkephalinergic neurons early in the course of the disease.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50345/1/410300406_ftp.pd

The Effect of Preterm Birth on Thalamic and Cortical Development

Preterm birth is a leading cause of cognitive impairment in childhood and is associated with cerebral gray and white matter abnormalities. Using multimodal image analysis, we tested the hypothesis that altered thalamic development is an important component of preterm brain injury and is associated with other macro- and microstructural alterations. T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance images and 15-direction diffusion tensor images were acquired from 71 preterm infants at term-equivalent age. Deformation-based morphometry, Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, and tissue segmentation were combined for a nonsubjective whole-brain survey of the effect of prematurity on regional tissue volume and microstructure. Increasing prematurity was related to volume reduction in the thalamus, hippocampus, orbitofrontal lobe, posterior cingulate cortex, and centrum semiovale. After controlling for prematurity, reduced thalamic volume predicted: lower cortical volume; decreased volume in frontal and temporal lobes, including hippocampus, and to a lesser extent, parietal and occipital lobes; and reduced fractional anisotropy in the corticospinal tracts and corpus callosum. In the thalamus, reduced volume was associated with increased diffusivity. This demonstrates a significant effect of prematurity on thalamic development that is related to abnormalities in allied brain structures. This suggests that preterm delivery disrupts specific aspects of cerebral development, such as the thalamocortical system