Impact of genotype on EPA and DHA status and responsiveness to increased intakes

At a population level, cardioprotective and cognitive actions of the fish oil (FO) derived long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have been extensively demonstrated. In addition to dietary intake, which is limited for many individuals, EPA and DHA status is dependent on the efficiency of their biosynthesis from α-linolenic acid. Gender and common gene variants have been identified as influencing the rate-limiting desaturase and elongase enzymes. Response to a particular intake or status is also highly heterogeneous and likely influenced by genetic variants which impacts on EPA and DHA metabolism and tissue partitioning, transcription factor activity, or physiological end-point regulation. Here available literature relating genotype to tissue LC n-3 PUFA status and response to FO intervention is considered. It is concluded that the available evidence is relatively limited, with much of the variability unexplained, though APOE and FADS genotypes are emerging as being important. Although numerous genotype × LC-n3 PUFA × phenotype associations have been described, few have been confirmed in independent studies. A more comprehensive understanding of the genetic, physiological and behavioural modulators of EPA and DHA status and response to intervention is needed to allow refinement of current dietary LC n-3 PUFA recommendations and stratification of advice to ‘vulnerable’ and responsive subgroups

Human Rights Movements in the Middle East: Global Norms and Regional Particularities

(Excerpt) The Middle East is often portrayed as an outlier when it comes to human rights, but rights are an important part of the political, diplomatic, and social fabric of the region. This chapter summarises regional trends in human rights advocacy at both the international and domestic levels. Popular movements for independence, equality for women, and protections for workers have deep roots in the region. When the United Nations began to enshrine these values into law after World War II, representatives from the Middle East were at the centre of the debates. In the following two decades, human rights largely played out in the international political realm. Middle Eastern governments contributed to diplomatic efforts to shape emerging treaties and norms and often mobilised human rights rhetoric against colonialism. In the 1970s, however, the locus of human rights shifted to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that used human rights to pressure their own governments for change. Activists created organisations promoting the rights of prisoners, leftists, Islamists, dissidents, women, and the poor. Human rights became more threatening to Middle Eastern regimes that were overwhelmingly undemocratic. States had little tolerance for institutions that could challenge them and often responded violently. Even though widespread violations continue, human rights have become an important framework across the region. Most states now address human rights concerns in response to domestic and international pressure. Rights have increasingly become the language of popular protest and were one of several ways that people articulated grievances before and during the uprisings in several Arab countries in 2011

Mobilizing Universalism: The Origins of Human Rights

Human rights law claims to be universal, setting rights apart from paradigms based on shared religion, culture, or nationality. This claim of universality was a significant factor in the proliferation of human rights NGOs in the 1970s and remains an important source of legitimacy. The universality of human rights has been challenged and contested since they were first discussed at the United Nations (UN). Today, much of the debate centers around the origins of human rights-particularly whether they arose out of Western traditions or whether they have more global roots. For too long, discussions about universality have ignored the practice of human rights in the Global South, particularly in Arab countries. Instead of searching for evidence of universality in the halls of the UN, this Article looks at how activists mobilized and produced universality through their work. Archival sources and interviews show that the turn to human rights in the Arab world was rooted in the politics of the 1970s but relied on the concept of universality as embodied in the foundational human rights documents of the 1940s and 1960s. Activists used these documents to advance conceptions of human rights that were compatible with several distinct political visions. Their work supports the claim that human rights can be universal, not because rights exist outside of politics or have diverse origins, but because they were constantly reinvented to support a range of different, sometimes contradictory, political goals

The Roots of Collapse: Imposing Constitutional Governance

The foundational assumption of constitutional governance poses a conundrum for contemporary state-builders: a constitution heavily influenced by foreigners does not represent the views of the governed. Can a modern state-building effort foster democratic institutions when the new government reflects foreign? Nowhere was this tension more apparent than in Afghanistan, where the United States and the United Nations were heavily involved in drafting the 2004 Constitution. They shaped the process from the initial framework to the final, frenzied approval. Foreigners were engaged at both the procedural level—determining how the negotiations would occur and who would participate—and at the substantive level—providing input about particular provisions. Using judicial review as a lens through which to understand the constitution-writing process, this article shows how foreign involvement led to a final draft that failed to resolve a fundamental issue of governance: what institution had the authority to interpret the constitution. The resulting confusion contributed to an ineffective central government and, eventually, the quick downfall of the Afghan government

Quaker activity in Ramallah: 1869 -1914

The story of the Quakers in Ramallah is one thread of the complex tapestry of Arab-American relations in the 19th and early 20th centuries. American Quakers first traveled to the region in 1869 to establish schools and medical outreach. By the early twentieth century, Quakers were running half a dozen day schools with more than 250 students and spots in their boarding schools were highly coveted. The evolution of these Quaker institutions illuminates some of the complex dynamics between missionaries and their intended converts. Using memoirs and archival sources, including private letters and diaries, I argue that the Quaker mission is best understood not as a colonial project, but a space for interaction in which Palestinians and Americans exerted varying levels of control over resources

Use of dried blood for measurement of trans fatty acids

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Double Strand Breaks Can Initiate Gene Silencing and SIRT1-Dependent Onset of DNA Methylation in an Exogenous Promoter CpG Island

Chronic exposure to inducers of DNA base oxidation and single and double strand breaks contribute to tumorigenesis. In addition to the genetic changes caused by this DNA damage, such tumors often contain epigenetically silenced genes with aberrant promoter region CpG island DNA hypermethylation. We herein explore the relationships between such DNA damage and epigenetic gene silencing using an experimental model in which we induce a defined double strand break in an exogenous promoter construct of the E-cadherin CpG island, which is frequently aberrantly DNA hypermethylated in epithelial cancers. Following the onset of repair of the break, we observe recruitment to the site of damage of key proteins involved in establishing and maintaining transcriptional repression, namely SIRT1, EZH2, DNMT1, and DNMT3B, and the appearance of the silencing histone modifications, hypoacetyl H4K16, H3K9me2 and me3, and H3K27me3. Although in most cells selected after the break, DNA repair occurs faithfully with preservation of activity of the promoter, a small percentage of the plated cells demonstrate induction of heritable silencing. The chromatin around the break site in such a silent clone is enriched for most of the above silent chromatin proteins and histone marks, and the region harbors the appearance of increasing DNA methylation in the CpG island of the promoter. During the acute break, SIRT1 appears to be required for the transient recruitment of DNMT3B and subsequent methylation of the promoter in the silent clones. Taken together, our data suggest that normal repair of a DNA break can occasionally cause heritable silencing of a CpG island–containing promoter by recruitment of proteins involved in silencing. Furthermore, with contribution of the stress-related protein SIRT1, the break can lead to the onset of aberrant CpG island DNA methylation, which is frequently associated with tight gene silencing in cancer

Lifestyle Cardiovascular Risk Score, Genetic Risk Score, and Myocardial Infarction in Hispanic/Latino Adults Living in Costa Rica

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139101/1/jah31925-sup-0001-TablesS1-S4.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139101/2/jah31925.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139101/3/jah31925_am.pd

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Therapies as a Means of Advancing Patient-Centered Care for Veterans Receiving Palliative Care

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140336/1/acm.2014.5130.abstract.pd

Photographs and objects

My thesis consists of photographs and objects which can be divided into two categories. The first is a group of pictures taken in department stores of women's wear and accessory displays and a series of store mirrors. Also Included with these photographs are several actual displays which I have fabricated. In the second group, photographs are juxtaposed with real objects outside the picture in the gallery space. The department store "still-lifes" have for me an artificial, absurd, surreal quality which I hope becomes more apparent by removing them from their context through photographs. I am not trying to explain but just to present. I enjoy finding these displays which others have made. When I was painting I always disliked setting up a still-life and preferred finding things which already had a place. I am documenting vignettes of fashion and taste which are always changing. A display has a short life, and is soon replaced by something newer and more seasonal. The combination of a few objects can express values, taste, class and personality. Judgements are made in constructing these displays which speak to the consumer public. I am interested in these hidden messages. The mirror photographs deal with a feeling of displacement that I experience in these large, rambling stores. I am always getting turned around, feeling lost, catching myself in mirrors thinking at first it is someone else. Mirrors become like doors and doors become like mirrors