Do residents’ perceptions of being well-placed and objective presence of local amenities match? A case study in West Central Scotland, UK

Background:<p></p> Recently there has been growing interest in how neighbourhood features, such as the provision of local facilities and amenities, influence residents’ health and well-being. Prior research has measured amenity provision through subjective measures (surveying residents’ perceptions) or objective (GIS mapping of distance) methods. The latter may provide a more accurate measure of physical access, but residents may not use local amenities if they do not perceive them as ‘local’. We believe both subjective and objective measures should be explored, and use West Central Scotland data to investigate correspondence between residents’ subjective assessments of how well-placed they are for everyday amenities (food stores, primary and secondary schools, libraries, pharmacies, public recreation), and objective GIS-modelled measures, and examine correspondence by various sub-groups.<p></p> Methods:<p></p> ArcMap was used to map the postal locations of ‘Transport, Health and Well-being 2010 Study’ respondents (n = 1760), and the six amenities, and the presence/absence of each of them within various straight-line and network buffers around respondents’ homes was recorded. SPSS was used to investigate whether objective presence of an amenity within a specified buffer was perceived by a respondent as being well-placed for that amenity. Kappa statistics were used to test agreement between measures for all respondents, and by sex, age, social class, area deprivation, car ownership, dog ownership, walking in the local area, and years lived in current home.<p></p> Results:<p></p> In general, there was poor agreement (Kappa <0.20) between perceptions of being well-placed for each facility and objective presence, within 800 m and 1000 m straight-line and network buffers, with the exception of pharmacies (at 1000 m straight-line) (Kappa: 0.21). Results varied between respondent sub-groups, with some showing better agreement than others. Amongst sub-groups, at 800 m straight-line buffers, the highest correspondence between subjective and objective measures was for pharmacies and primary schools, and at 1000 m, for pharmacies, primary schools and libraries. For road network buffers under 1000 m, agreement was generally poor.<p></p> Conclusion:<p></p> Respondents did not necessarily regard themselves as well-placed for specific amenities when these amenities were present within specified boundaries around their homes, with some exceptions; the picture is not clear-cut with varying findings between different amenities, buffers, and sub-groups

Is proximity to a food retail store associated with diet and BMI in Glasgow, Scotland?

<p><b>Background:</b> Access to healthy food is often seen as a potentially important contributor to diet. Policy documents in many countries suggest that variations in access contribute to inequalities in diet and in health. Some studies, mostly in the USA, have found that proximity to food stores is associated with dietary patterns, body weight and socio-economic differences in diet and obesity, whilst others have found no such relationships. We aim to investigate whether proximity to food retail stores is associated with dietary patterns or Body Mass Index in Glasgow, a large city in the UK.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> We mapped data from a 'Health and Well-Being Survey' (n = 991), and a list of food stores (n = 741) in Glasgow City, using ArcGIS, and undertook network analysis to find the distance from respondents' home addresses to the nearest fruit and vegetable store, small general store, and supermarket.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> We found few statistically significant associations between proximity to food retail outlets and diet or obesity, for unadjusted or adjusted models, or when stratifying by gender, car ownership or employment.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> The findings suggest that in urban settings in the UK the distribution of retail food stores may not be a major influence on diet and weight, possibly because most urban residents have reasonable access to food stores.</p&gt

Glycoprotein gp130 of \u3ci\u3eDictyostelium discoideum\u3c/i\u3e Influences Macropinocytosis and Adhesion

Glycoprotein gp130, found on the plasma membrane of Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae, was postulated previously to play a role in phagocytosis. The gene for gp130 was cloned and when translated, yielded a 768 amino acid preproprotein of 85.3 kDa. It had nearly 40% similarity to the 138 kDa family of glycoproteins implicated in sexual cell fusion during macrocyst formation in D. discoideum. The difference between the calculated size and observed Mr of 130 kDa on protein gels likely was due to N-glycosylation that was confirmed by lectin blots. Consistent with its surface-exposure, an antibody raised against recombinant protein stained the plasma membrane of D. discoideum amoebae. Gp130 and its transcripts were high during axenic growth of cells, but relatively low during growth on bacteria. The gene for gp130 was disrupted and cell lines lacking the glycoprotein were efficient phagocytes, indicating that gp130 was dispensable for phagocytosis. Gp130-null cells were similar in size to parent DH1 cells, had enhanced macropinocytosis and grew faster to higher densities. They also exhibited weaker cell-substrate adhesion but displayed greater cell-cell cohesion. Collectively, the data indicated that gp130 influenced macropinocytosis and played a role in adhesion during vegetative growth

Phenotype of the \u3ci\u3eTriplo-lethal\u3c/i\u3e locus of \u3ci\u3eDrosophila melanogaster\u3c/i\u3e and its suppression by hyperoxia

The Triplo-lethal locus (Tpl) of Drosophila is both triplo-lethal and haploinsufficient, but the function of the locus is unknown. We have examined Tpl-aneuploid embryos and find that, in both trisomics and monosomics, the midgut shows extensive cell death and the tracheae are abnormal. Shortly thereafter, all tissues die. PCR-based genotyping of individual embryos and larvae show that this phenotype occurs in the trisomics after hatching and in the monosomics before hatching. Weak alleles of the interacting gene Su(Tpl) delay the death of Tpl trisomics, but they still show the same tracheal and midgut phenotypes before dying. Hyperoxia (45% oxygen) partially suppresses the phenotype of Tpl aneuploids, even though the use of a hypoxia reporter strain shows that dying Tpl aneuploids are not hypoxic. This is the first report of a phenotype associated with the Tpl locus and the first report of an environmental condition that suppresses the phenotype

Glycoprotein gp130 of Dictyostelium discoideum Influences Macropinocytosis and Adhesion

Glycoprotein gp130, found on the plasma membrane of Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae, was postulated previously to play a role in phagocytosis. The gene for gp130 was cloned and when translated, yielded a 768 amino acid preproprotein of 85.3 kDa. It had nearly 40% similarity to the 138 kDa family of glycoproteins implicated in sexual cell fusion during macrocyst formation in D. discoideum. The difference between the calculated size and observed M(r) of 130 kDa on protein gels likely was due to N-glycosylation that was confirmed by lectin blots. Consistent with its surface-exposure, an antibody raised against recombinant protein stained the plasma membrane of D. discoideum amoebae. Gp130 and its transcripts were high during axenic growth of cells, but relatively low during growth on bacteria. The gene for gp130 was disrupted and cell lines lacking the glycoprotein were efficient phagocytes, indicating that gp130 was dispensable for phagocytosis. Gp130-null cells were similar in size to parent DH1 cells, had enhanced macropinocytosis and grew faster to higher densities. They also exhibited weaker cell-substrate adhesion but displayed greater cell-cell cohesion. Collectively, the data indicated that gp130 influenced macropinocytosis and played a role in adhesion during vegetative growth

CureGN Study Rationale, Design, and Methods: Establishing a Large Prospective Observational Study of Glomerular Disease

Glomerular diseases, including minimal change disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, membranous nephropathy, and immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy, share clinical presentations, yet result from multiple biological mechanisms. Challenges to identifying underlying mechanisms, biomarkers, and new therapies include the rarity of each diagnosis and slow progression, often requiring decades to measure the effectiveness of interventions to prevent end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) or death. Multicenter prospective cohort study. Cure Glomerulonephropathy (CureGN) will enroll 2,400 children and adults with minimal change disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, membranous nephropathy, or IgA nephropathy (including IgA vasculitis) and a first diagnostic kidney biopsy within 5 years. Patients with ESKD and those with secondary causes of glomerular disease are excluded. Clinical data, including medical history, medications, family history, and patient-reported outcomes, are obtained, along with a digital archive of kidney biopsy images and blood and urine specimens at study visits aligned with clinical care 1 to 4 times per year. Patients are followed up for changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate, disease activity, ESKD, and death and for nonrenal complications of disease and treatment, including infection, malignancy, cardiovascular, and thromboembolic events. The study design supports multiple longitudinal analyses leveraging the diverse data domains of CureGN and its ancillary program. At 2,400 patients and an average of 2 years’ initial follow-up, CureGN has 80% power to detect an HR of 1.4 to 1.9 for proteinuria remission and a mean difference of 2.1 to 3.0mL/min/1.73m2 in estimated glomerular filtration rate per year. Current follow-up can only detect large differences in ESKD and death outcomes. Study infrastructure will support a broad range of scientific approaches to identify mechanistically distinct subgroups, identify accurate biomarkers of disease activity and progression, delineate disease-specific treatment targets, and inform future therapeutic trials. CureGN is expected to be among the largest prospective studies of children and adults with glomerular disease, with a broad goal to lessen disease burden and improve outcomes

Longitudinal Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life in Primary Glomerular Disease: Results From the CureGN Study

Prior cross-sectional studies suggest that health-related quality of life (HRQOL) worsens with more severe glomerular disease. This longitudinal analysis was conducted to assess changes in HRQOL with changing disease status. Cure Glomerulonephropathy (CureGN) is a cohort of patients with minimal change disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, membranous nephropathy, IgA vasculitis, or IgA nephropathy. HRQOL was assessed at enrollment and follow-up visits 1 to 3 times annually for up to 5 years with the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS). Global health, anxiety, and fatigue domains were measured in all; mobility was measured in children; and sleep-related impairment was measured in adults. Linear mixed effects models were used to evaluate HRQOL responsiveness to changes in disease status. A total of 469 children and 1146 adults with PROMIS scores were included in the analysis. HRQOL improved over time in nearly all domains, though group-level changes were modest. Edema was most consistently associated with worse HRQOL across domains among children and adults. A greater number of symptoms also predicted worse HRQOL in all domains. Sex, age, obesity, and serum albumin were associated with some HRQOL domains. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was only associated with fatigue and adult physical health; proteinuria was not associated with any HRQOL domain in adjusted models. HRQOL measures were responsive to changes in disease activity, as indicated by edema. HRQOL over time was not predicted by laboratory-based markers of disease. Patient-reported edema and number of symptoms were the strongest predictors of HRQOL, highlighting the importance of the patient experience in glomerular disease. HRQOL outcomes inform understanding of the patient experience for children and adults with glomerular diseases