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Dietary metabolites and blood pressure regulation in dietary feeding interventions: a systematic review
- F. Rikken, E.D. Clarke, J. Stanford, M. Gomez-Martin, J.J.A. Ferguson, C.E. Collins
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- Journal:
- Proceedings of the Nutrition Society / Volume 83 / Issue OCE1 / April 2024
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 07 May 2024, E173
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Hypertension, characterised by elevated blood pressure (BP), continues to be a major global public health problem. It is defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP (DBP) ≥90 mmH(1) and is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases(2). Nutritional metabolomics (Nutrimetabolomics) presents an objective approach to explore the interplay between diet and health outcomes(3). Through analysis of intermediate molecules and metabolic byproducts, metabolomic profiles can objectively reflect an individual’s dietary intake and assess variations in metabolism(3). To date, no review has been conducted that investigates the relationship between diet, metabolites and BP regulation. This systematic review aimed to identify and synthesise findings of human dietary feeding intervention studies that have examined the role of metabolites in BP regulation. A comprehensive search was conducted in November 2022 across EMBASE, Medline, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Scopus and Cochrane databases. Search terms were defined using a combination of keywords, including “metabolome”, “diet”, and “blood pressure”. All included intervention studies explored the dietary metabolome from food provision, meals or supplements to a comparator or control intervention and, examined the relationship between dietary-related metabolites and BP in humans and published in English. The initial search identified 1,109 studies, with a final six studies meeting all eligibility criteria and included in the final review. Metabolites were identified in urine (n = 4), plasma (n = 2), or faeces (n = 1). Various analytical techniques were employed, including H-NMR, LC-MS, and GC-MS, while majority of studies used untargeted metabolomics (n = 4). Among included studies, five reported a significant association between individual metabolites and BP or change in BP. These investigations emphasised dietary patterns as the primary focus of analysis. In contrast, one study revealed no relationship between the investigated metabolites and BP. However, this particular study evaluated the impact of a single food product rather than dietary patterns. In total, 39 metabolites were linked to BP, with 36 associated with SBP and 25 with DBP. Several super-pathways involved in blood pressure regulation were identified, across metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates, cofactors, vitamins, lipids, nucleotides, peptides, and xenobiotics. Within these, 17 distinct sub-pathways were delineated. The only metabolite found to have a significant relationship with BP measures across multiple studies was N-Acetylneuraminate. In one study, it showed a relationship with DBP, while another study linked it to a decrease in both 24-hour DBP and SBP. No other metabolites were consistently replicated between studies. Nutrimetabolomics appears to be a promising field in evaluation of diet and BP reduction. However, further research is required to understand which metabolites influence BP regulation.
VaTEST III: Validation of eight potential super-earths from TESS data
- Priyashkumar Mistry, Aniket Prasad, Mousam Maity, Kamlesh Pathak, Sarvesh Gharat, Georgios Lekkas, Surendra Bhattarai, Dhruv Kumar, Jack J. Lissauer, Joseph D. Twicken, Abderahmane Soubkiou, Francisco J. Pozuelos, Jon Jenkins, Keith Horne, Steven Giacalone, Khalid Barkaoui, Mathilde Timmermans, Cristilyn N. Watkins, Ramotholo Sefako, Karen A. Collins, David R. Ciardi, Catherine A. Clark, Boris S. Safonov, Avi Shporer, Joshua E. Schlieder, Zouhair Benkhaldoun, Chris Stockdale, Carl Ziegler, Emily A. Gilbert, Jehin Emmanuël, Felipe Murgas, Ian J. M. Crossfield, Martin Paegert, Michael B. Lund, Norio Narita, Richard P. Schwarz, Robert F. Goeke, Sergio B. Fajardo-Acosta, Steve B. Howell, Thiam-Guan Tan, Thomas Barclay, Yugo Kawai
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- Journal:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia / Volume 41 / 2024
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 11 April 2024, e030
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NASA’s all-sky survey mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is specifically engineered to detect exoplanets that transit bright stars. Thus far, TESS has successfully identified approximately 400 transiting exoplanets, in addition to roughly 6 000 candidate exoplanets pending confirmation. In this study, we present the results of our ongoing project, the Validation of Transiting Exoplanets using Statistical Tools (VaTEST). Our dedicated effort is focused on the confirmation and characterisation of new exoplanets through the application of statistical validation tools. Through a combination of ground-based telescope data, high-resolution imaging, and the utilisation of the statistical validation tool known as TRICERATOPS, we have successfully discovered eight potential super-Earths. These planets bear the designations: TOI-238b (1.61$^{+0.09} _{-0.10}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-771b (1.42$^{+0.11} _{-0.09}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-871b (1.66$^{+0.11} _{-0.11}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-1467b (1.83$^{+0.16} _{-0.15}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-1739b (1.69$^{+0.10} _{-0.08}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-2068b (1.82$^{+0.16} _{-0.15}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-4559b (1.42$^{+0.13} _{-0.11}$ R$_\oplus$), and TOI-5799b (1.62$^{+0.19} _{-0.13}$ R$_\oplus$). Among all these planets, six of them fall within the region known as ‘keystone planets’, which makes them particularly interesting for study. Based on the location of TOI-771b and TOI-4559b below the radius valley we characterised them as likely super-Earths, though radial velocity mass measurements for these planets will provide more details about their characterisation. It is noteworthy that planets within the size range investigated herein are absent from our own solar system, making their study crucial for gaining insights into the evolutionary stages between Earth and Neptune.
6 Remote Smartphone Cognitive and Motor Testing in Frontotemporal Dementia Research: Feasibility, Reliability, and Validity
- Adam M Staffaroni, Jack Carson Taylor, Annie L Clark, Hilary W Heuer, Amy B Wise, Masood Manoochehri, Leah Forsberg, Carly T Mester, Meghana Roa, Danielle Brushaber, Julio C Rojas, Joel H Kramer, Bradley F Boeve, Howard J Rosen, Adam L Boxer
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 604-605
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Objective:
Therapeutics targeting frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are entering clinical trials. There are challenges to conducting these studies, including the relative rarity of the disease. Remote assessment tools could increase access to clinical research and pave the way for decentralized clinical trials. We developed the ALLFTD Mobile App, a smartphone application that includes assessments of cognition, speech/language, and motor functioning. The objectives were to determine the feasibility and acceptability of collecting remote smartphone data in a multicenter FTD research study and evaluate the reliability and validity of the smartphone cognitive and motor measures.
Participants and Methods:A diagnostically mixed sample of 207 participants with FTD or from familial FTD kindreds (CDR®+NACC-FTLD=0 [n=91]; CDR®+NACC-FTLD=0.5 [n=39]; CDR®+NACC-FTLD>1 [n=39]; unknown [n=38]) were asked to remotely complete a battery of tests on their smartphones three times over two weeks. Measures included five executive functioning (EF) tests, an adaptive memory test, and participant experience surveys. A subset completed smartphone tests of balance at home (n=31) and a finger tapping test (FTT) in the clinic (n=11). We analyzed adherence (percentage of available measures that were completed) and user experience. We evaluated Spearman-Brown split-half reliability (100 iterations) using the first available assessment for each participant. We assessed test-retest reliability across all available assessments by estimating intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). To investigate construct validity, we fit regression models testing the association of the smartphone measures with gold-standard neuropsychological outcomes (UDS3-EF composite [Staffaroni et al., 2021], CVLT3-Brief Form [CVLT3-BF] Immediate Recall, mechanical FTT), measures of disease severity (CDR®+NACC-FTLD Box Score & Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Rating Scale [PSPRS]), and regional gray matter volumes (cognitive tests only).
Results:Participants completed 70% of tasks. Most reported that the instructions were understandable (93%), considered the time commitment acceptable (97%), and were willing to complete additional assessments (98%). Split-half reliability was excellent for the executive functioning (r’s=0.93-0.99) and good for the memory test (r=0.78). Test-retest reliabilities ranged from acceptable to excellent for cognitive tasks (ICC: 0.70-0.96) and were excellent for the balance (ICC=0.97) and good for FTT (ICC=0.89). Smartphone EF measures were strongly associated with the UDS3-EF composite (ß's=0.6-0.8, all p<.001), and the memory test was strongly correlated with total immediate recall on the CVLT3-BF (ß=0.7, p<.001). Smartphone FTT was associated with mechanical FTT (ß=0.9, p=.02), and greater acceleration on the balance test was associated with more motor features (ß=0.6, p=0.02). Worse performance on all cognitive tests was associated with greater disease severity (ß's=0.5-0.7, all p<.001). Poorer performance on the smartphone EF tasks was associated with smaller frontoparietal/subcortical volume (ß's=0.4-0.6, all p<.015) and worse memory scores with smaller hippocampal volume (ß=0.5, p<.001).
Conclusions:These results suggest remote digital data collection of cognitive and motor functioning in FTD research is feasible and acceptable. These findings also support the reliability and validity of unsupervised ALLFTD Mobile App cognitive tests and provide preliminary support for the motor measures, although further study in larger samples is required.
2 Neuropsychological Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depressive Symptom Improvement in Compensatory Cognitive Training for Veterans with a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
- Amber V Keller, Jillian M.R. Clark, Jacqueline E Maye, Amy J Jak, Maya E O’Neil, Rhonda M Williams, Aaron P Turner, Kathleen F Pagulayan, Elizabeth W Twamley
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 515-517
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Objective:
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are a notable triad in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) Veterans. With the comorbidity of depression and PTSD in Veterans with mTBI histories, and their role in exacerbating cognitive and emotional dysfunction, interventions addressing cognitive and psychiatric functioning are critical. Compensatory Cognitive Training (CCT) is associated with improvements in areas such as prospective memory, attention, and executive functioning and has also yielded small-to-medium treatment effects on PTSD and depressive symptom severity. Identifying predictors of psychiatric symptom change following CCT would further inform the interventional approach. We sought to examine neuropsychological predictors of PTSD and depressive symptom improvement in Veterans with a history of mTBI who received CCT.
Participants and Methods:37 OEF/OIF/OND Veterans with mTBI history and cognitive complaints received 10-weekly 120-minute CCT group sessions as part of a clinical trial. Participants completed a baseline neuropsychological assessment including tests of premorbid functioning, attention/working memory, processing speed, verbal learning/memory, and executive functioning, and completed psychiatric symptom measures (PTSD Checklist-Military Version; Beck Depression Inventory-II) at baseline, post-treatment, and 5-week follow-up. Paired samples t-tests were used to examine statistically significant change in PTSD (total and symptom cluster scores) and depressive symptom scores over time. Pearson correlations were calculated between neuropsychological scores and PTSD and depressive symptom change scores at post-treatment and follow-up. Neuropsychological measures identified as significantly correlated with psychiatric symptom change scores (p^.05) were entered as independent variables in separate multiple linear regression analyses to predict symptom change at post-treatment and follow-up.
Results:Over 50% of CCT participants had clinically meaningful improvement in depressive symptoms (>17.5% score reduction) and over 20% had clinically meaningful improvement in PTSD symptoms (>10-point improvement) at post-treatment and follow-up. Examination of PTSD symptom cluster scores (re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and arousal) revealed a statistically significant improvement in avoidance/numbing at follow-up. Bivariate correlations indicated that worse baseline performance on D-KEFS Category Fluency was moderately associated with PTSD symptom improvement at post-treatment. Worse performance on both D-KEFS Category Fluency and Category Switching Accuracy was associated with improvement in depressive symptoms at post-treatment and follow-up. Worse performance on D-KEFS Trail Making Test Switching was associated with improvement in depressive symptoms at follow-up. Subsequent regression analyses revealed worse processing speed and worse aspects of executive functioning at baseline significantly predicted depressive symptom improvement at post-treatment and follow-up.
Conclusions:Worse baseline performances on tests of processing speed and aspects of executive functioning were significantly associated with improvements in PTSD and depressive symptoms during the trial. Our results suggest that cognitive training may bolster skills that are helpful for PTSD and depressive symptom reduction and that those with worse baseline functioning may benefit more from treatment because they have more room to improve. Although CCT is not a primary treatment for PTSD or depressive symptoms, our results support consideration of including CCT in hybrid treatment approaches. Further research should examine these relationships in larger samples.
48 Elevated Postconcussive Symptoms are Associated with Increased Anterior Cerebral Blood Flow and Not Cortical Thickness in Veterans with a History of Remote mTBI
- Erin D Ozturk, Victoria C Merritt, Monica T Ly, Alexandra L Clark, Katherine J Bangen, Adan F. Ton-Loy, Lisa Delano-Wood
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 154-155
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Objective:
Veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) often endorse enduring postconcussive symptoms (PCS) including cognitive and neuropsychiatric complaints. However, although several studies have shown associations between these complaints and brain structure and cerebrovascular function, few studies have examined relationships between structural and functional brain alterations and PCS in the context of remote mTBI. We therefore examined whether PCS were associated with cortical thickness and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in a well-characterized sample of Veterans with a history of mTBI.
Participants and Methods:116 Veterans underwent structural neuroimaging and a clinical interview to obtain detailed TBI history and injury-related information. Participants also completed the following self-report measures: the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) for ratings of cognitive, emotional, somatic-sensory, and vestibular symptoms, and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for PTSD symptom severity. Regional brain thickness was indexed using FreeSurfer-derived cortical parcellations of frontal and temporal regions of interest (ROIs) including the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), middle frontal gyrus (MFG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial temporal lobe (MTL), and lateral temporal lobe (LTL). A subset of Veterans (n=50) also underwent multi-phase pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (MPPCASL) to obtain resting CBF. T1-weighted structural and MPPCASL scans were co-registered and CBF estimates were extracted from the 7 bilateral parcellations of ROIs. To assess the relationship between NSI total and subscale scores and ROI thickness and CBF, multiple regression analyses were conducted adjusting for age, sex, and PTSD symptom severity. False Discovery Rate was used to correct for multiple comparisons.
Results:NSI total and subscale scores were not associated with cortical thickness of any ROI. However, higher NSI scores were associated with increased ROI CBF of the SFG (q=.014) and MFG CBF (q=.014). With respect to symptom subscales, higher affective subscale scores were associated with increased SFG (q=.001), MFG (q=.001), IFG (q=.039), ACC (q=.026), and LTL CBF (q=.026); higher cognitive subscale scores were associated with increased SFG (q=.014) and MFG CBF (q=.032); and higher vestibular subscale scores were associated with increased ACC CBF (q=.021). NSI somatic-sensory subscale scores were not associated with ROI CBF.
Conclusions:Results demonstrate that in TBI-susceptible anterior ROIs, alterations in CBF but not cortical thickness are associated with postconcussive symptomatology in Veterans with a history of mTBI. Specifically, postconcussive total symptoms as well as affective, cognitive, and vestibular subscale symptoms were strongly linked primarily to CBF of frontal regions. Remarkably, these results indicate that enduring symptoms in generally younger samples of Veterans with head injury histories may be closely tied to cerebrovascular function rather than brain structure changes. These findings may provide a neurological basis for negative clinical outcomes (e.g., enduring PCS and poor quality of life) that is frequently reported by many individuals following mTBI. Future work is needed to examine unique effects of blast exposure as well as associations with repeated injury on brain-behavior relationships.
Chapter 2 - Diet and the Microbiome–Gut–Brain Axis
- Edited by Ted Dinan, Emeritus Professor, University College Cork, Ireland
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- Book:
- Nutritional Psychiatry
- Published online:
- 17 August 2023
- Print publication:
- 31 August 2023, pp 15-38
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Summary
The assortment of trillions of microorganisms resident along the human gastrointestinal tract, our gut microbiota, has co-evolved with us over thousands of years. It can influence a plethora of aspects of human physiology, including host metabolism, immunity and even brain function, cognition and behaviour across the lifespan. The gut microbiota and the brain can communicate with one another, directly and indirectly, through immune system modulation, tryptophan metabolism, vagus nerve activity, the enteric nervous system and bioactive microbial by-products, or metabolites produced by the gut microbiome. Indeed, the gut microbiota are responsible for a rich reservoir of novel metabolites and bioactive substances that can have pleiotropic functionalities for the host. Moreover, diet, an easily accessible and thus powerful interventional tool, can act as a modulator of gut-microbial composition and activity, impacting on host physiology. As such, nutrition is seen as one of the major modulators of the gut microbiota. Intriguingly, although psychiatric conditions often include a dietary aspect, much research investigating this link in clinical populations ignores this relationship, missing a key therapeutic avenue. This has led to the concept of nutritional psychiatry, where we can use food and supplements to support mental health and brain function. As a result, it is critical to consider emerging microbiome-targeted dietary approaches with the greatest potential to improve health outcomes in a psychiatric population.
The assessment of emotional expression in dogs using a Free Choice Profiling methodology
- J Walker, A Dale, N Waran, N Clarke, M Farnworth, F Wemelsfelder
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- Animal Welfare / Volume 19 / Issue 1 / February 2010
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 January 2023, pp. 75-84
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This study explores the use of Free Choice Profiling (FCP) methodology for the qualitative behaviour assessment of emotional expression in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Qualitative behaviour assessment is based upon the integration of many pieces of information that in conventional quantitative approaches are recorded separately or not at all. Observers are asked to focus on an animal's interaction with its surrounding environment, and to describe the animal's expressive demeanor, or ‘body language’. A specific characteristic of FCP methodology is that it allows observers the freedom to devise their own descriptive terms, and then to use these personal terms to quantitatively score observed subjects. Application of FCP to qualitative behaviour assessment in animals was originally tested for pigs, and more recently for dairy cows, horses, and ponies. The goal of this study was to apply FCP to the domestic dog, and to investigate the inter-observer reliability of assessments of emotional expression in 10 individual Beagles by a group of 18 untrained observers. The data was analysed using Generalised Procrustes Analysis (GPA), a multivariate statistical technique associated with FCP. The observers achieved highly-significant agreement in their assessments of the dogs’ expressions, thereby establishing the applicability of this methodology for the first time in the domestic dog.
In situ, broadband measurement of the radio frequency attenuation length at Summit Station, Greenland
- J. A. Aguilar, P. Allison, J. J. Beatty, D. Besson, A. Bishop, O. Botner, S. Bouma, S. Buitink, M. Cataldo, B. A. Clark, Z. Curtis-Ginsberg, A. Connolly, P. Dasgupta, S. de Kockere, K. D. de Vries, C. Deaconu, M. A. DuVernois, C. Glaser, A. Hallgren, S. Hallmann, J. C. Hanson, B. Hendricks, C. Hornhuber, K. Hughes, A. Karle, J. L. Kelley, I. Kravchenko, R. Krebs, R. Lahmann, U. Latif, J. Mammo, Z. S. Meyers, K. Michaels, K. Mulrey, A. Nelles, A. Novikov, A. Nozdrina, E. Oberla, B. Oeyen, Y. Pan, H. Pandya, I. Plaisier, N. Punsuebsay, L. Pyras, D. Ryckbosch, O. Scholten, D. Seckel, M. F. H. Seikh, D. Smith, D. Southall, J. Torres, S. Toscano, D. Tosi, D. J. Van Den Broeck, N. van Eijndhoven, A. G. Vieregg, C. Welling, D. R. Williams, S. Wissel, R. Young, A. Zink
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- Journal:
- Journal of Glaciology / Volume 68 / Issue 272 / December 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 30 May 2022, pp. 1234-1242
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Over the last 25 years, radiowave detection of neutrino-generated signals, using cold polar ice as the neutrino target, has emerged as perhaps the most promising technique for detection of extragalactic ultra-high energy neutrinos (corresponding to neutrino energies in excess of 0.01 Joules, or 1017 electron volts). During the summer of 2021 and in tandem with the initial deployment of the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G), we conducted radioglaciological measurements at Summit Station, Greenland to refine our understanding of the ice target. We report the result of one such measurement, the radio-frequency electric field attenuation length $L_\alpha$. We find an approximately linear dependence of $L_\alpha$ on frequency with the best fit of the average field attenuation for the upper 1500 m of ice: $\langle L_\alpha \rangle = ( ( 1154 \pm 121) - ( 0.81 \pm 0.14) \, ( \nu /{\rm MHz}) ) \,{\rm m}$ for frequencies ν ∈ [145 − 350] MHz.
GASKAP-HI pilot survey science I: ASKAP zoom observations of Hi emission in the Small Magellanic Cloud
- N. M. Pingel, J. Dempsey, N. M. McClure-Griffiths, J. M. Dickey, K. E. Jameson, H. Arce, G. Anglada, J. Bland-Hawthorn, S. L. Breen, F. Buckland-Willis, S. E. Clark, J. R. Dawson, H. Dénes, E. M. Di Teodoro, B.-Q. For, Tyler J. Foster, J. F. Gómez, H. Imai, G. Joncas, C.-G. Kim, M.-Y. Lee, C. Lynn, D. Leahy, Y. K. Ma, A. Marchal, D. McConnell, M.-A. Miville-Deschènes, V. A. Moss, C. E. Murray, D. Nidever, J. Peek, S. Stanimirović, L. Staveley-Smith, T. Tepper-Garcia, C. D. Tremblay, L. Uscanga, J. Th. van Loon, E. Vázquez-Semadeni, J. R. Allison, C. S. Anderson, Lewis Ball, M. Bell, D. C.-J. Bock, J. Bunton, F. R. Cooray, T. Cornwell, B. S. Koribalski, N. Gupta, D. B. Hayman, L. Harvey-Smith, K. Lee-Waddell, A. Ng, C. J. Phillips, M. Voronkov, T. Westmeier, M. T. Whiting
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- Journal:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia / Volume 39 / 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 07 February 2022, e005
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We present the most sensitive and detailed view of the neutral hydrogen ( ${\rm H\small I}$ ) emission associated with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), through the combination of data from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and Parkes (Murriyang), as part of the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (GASKAP) pilot survey. These GASKAP-HI pilot observations, for the first time, reveal ${\rm H\small I}$ in the SMC on similar physical scales as other important tracers of the interstellar medium, such as molecular gas and dust. The resultant image cube possesses an rms noise level of 1.1 K ( $1.6\,\mathrm{mJy\ beam}^{-1}$ ) $\mathrm{per}\ 0.98\,\mathrm{km\ s}^{-1}$ spectral channel with an angular resolution of $30^{\prime\prime}$ ( ${\sim}10\,\mathrm{pc}$ ). We discuss the calibration scheme and the custom imaging pipeline that utilises a joint deconvolution approach, efficiently distributed across a computing cluster, to accurately recover the emission extending across the entire ${\sim}25\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ field-of-view. We provide an overview of the data products and characterise several aspects including the noise properties as a function of angular resolution and the represented spatial scales by deriving the global transfer function over the full spectral range. A preliminary spatial power spectrum analysis on individual spectral channels reveals that the power law nature of the density distribution extends down to scales of 10 pc. We highlight the scientific potential of these data by comparing the properties of an outflowing high-velocity cloud with previous ASKAP+Parkes ${\rm H\small I}$ test observations.
Risk for depression tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic in emerging adults followed for the last 8 years
- Elisabet Alzueta, Simon Podhajsky, Qingyu Zhao, Susan F. Tapert, Wesley K. Thompson, Massimiliano de Zambotti, Dilara Yuksel, Orsolya Kiss, Rena Wang, Laila Volpe, Devin Prouty, Ian M. Colrain, Duncan B. Clark, David B. Goldston, Kate B. Nooner, Michael D. De Bellis, Sandra A. Brown, Bonnie J. Nagel, Adolf Pfefferbaum, Edith V. Sullivan, Fiona C. Baker, Kilian M. Pohl
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- Journal:
- Psychological Medicine / Volume 53 / Issue 5 / April 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 November 2021, pp. 2156-2163
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Background
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly increased depression rates, particularly in emerging adults. The aim of this study was to examine longitudinal changes in depression risk before and during COVID-19 in a cohort of emerging adults in the U.S. and to determine whether prior drinking or sleep habits could predict the severity of depressive symptoms during the pandemic.
MethodsParticipants were 525 emerging adults from the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA), a five-site community sample including moderate-to-heavy drinkers. Poisson mixed-effect models evaluated changes in the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) from before to during COVID-19, also testing for sex and age interactions. Additional analyses examined whether alcohol use frequency or sleep duration measured in the last pre-COVID assessment predicted pandemic-related increase in depressive symptoms.
ResultsThe prevalence of risk for clinical depression tripled due to a substantial and sustained increase in depressive symptoms during COVID-19 relative to pre-COVID years. Effects were strongest for younger women. Frequent alcohol use and short sleep duration during the closest pre-COVID visit predicted a greater increase in COVID-19 depressive symptoms.
ConclusionsThe sharp increase in depression risk among emerging adults heralds a public health crisis with alarming implications for their social and emotional functioning as this generation matures. In addition to the heightened risk for younger women, the role of alcohol use and sleep behavior should be tracked through preventive care aiming to mitigate this looming mental health crisis.
Addressing personal protective equipment (PPE) decontamination: Methylene blue and light inactivates severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on N95 respirators and medical masks with maintenance of integrity and fit
- Part of
- Thomas Sean Lendvay, James Chen, Brian H. Harcourt, Florine E. M. Scholte, Ying Ling Lin, F. Selcen Kilinc-Balci, Molly M. Lamb, Kamonthip Homdayjanakul, Yi Cui, Amy Price, Belinda Heyne, Jaya Sahni, Kareem B. Kabra, Yi-Chan Lin, David Evans, Christopher N. Mores, Ken Page, Larry F. Chu, Eric Haubruge, Etienne Thiry, Louisa F. Ludwig-Begall, Constance Wielick, Tanner Clark, Thor Wagner, Emily Timm, Thomas Gallagher, Peter Faris, Nicolas Macia, Cyrus J. Mackie, Sarah M. Simmons, Susan Reader, Rebecca Malott, Karen Hope, Jan M. Davies, Sarah R. Tritsch, Lorène Dams, Hans Nauwynck, Jean-Francois Willaert, Simon De Jaeger, Lei Liao, Mervin Zhao, Jan Laperre, Olivier Jolois, Sarah J. Smit, Alpa N. Patel, Mark Mayo, Rod Parker, Vanessa Molloy-Simard, Jean-Luc Lemyre, Steven Chu, John M. Conly, May C. Chu
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- Journal:
- Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 43 / Issue 7 / July 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 May 2021, pp. 876-885
- Print publication:
- July 2022
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Objective:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), underscoring the urgent need for simple, efficient, and inexpensive methods to decontaminate masks and respirators exposed to severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We hypothesized that methylene blue (MB) photochemical treatment, which has various clinical applications, could decontaminate PPE contaminated with coronavirus.
Design:The 2 arms of the study included (1) PPE inoculation with coronaviruses followed by MB with light (MBL) decontamination treatment and (2) PPE treatment with MBL for 5 cycles of decontamination to determine maintenance of PPE performance.
Methods:MBL treatment was used to inactivate coronaviruses on 3 N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) and 2 medical mask models. We inoculated FFR and medical mask materials with 3 coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and we treated them with 10 µM MB and exposed them to 50,000 lux of white light or 12,500 lux of red light for 30 minutes. In parallel, integrity was assessed after 5 cycles of decontamination using multiple US and international test methods, and the process was compared with the FDA-authorized vaporized hydrogen peroxide plus ozone (VHP+O3) decontamination method.
Results:Overall, MBL robustly and consistently inactivated all 3 coronaviruses with 99.8% to >99.9% virus inactivation across all FFRs and medical masks tested. FFR and medical mask integrity was maintained after 5 cycles of MBL treatment, whereas 1 FFR model failed after 5 cycles of VHP+O3.
Conclusions:MBL treatment decontaminated respirators and masks by inactivating 3 tested coronaviruses without compromising integrity through 5 cycles of decontamination. MBL decontamination is effective, is low cost, and does not require specialized equipment, making it applicable in low- to high-resource settings.
Differential drivers of intraspecific and interspecific competition during malaria–helminth co-infection
- L. F. Wait, T. Kamiya, K. J. Fairlie-Clarke, C. J. E. Metcalf, A. L. Graham, N. Mideo
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- Journal:
- Parasitology / Volume 148 / Issue 9 / August 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 11 May 2021, pp. 1030-1039
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Various host and parasite factors interact to determine the outcome of infection. We investigated the effects of two factors on the within-host dynamics of malaria in mice: initial infectious dose and co-infection with a helminth that limits the availability of red blood cells (RBCs). Using a statistical, time-series approach to model the within-host ‘epidemiology’ of malaria, we found that increasing initial dose reduced the time to peak cell-to-cell parasite propagation, but also reduced its magnitude, while helminth co-infection delayed peak cell-to-cell propagation, except at the highest malaria doses. Using a mechanistic model of within-host infection dynamics, we identified dose-dependence in parameters describing host responses to malaria infection and uncovered a plausible explanation of the observed differences in single vs co-infections. Specifically, in co-infections, our model predicted a higher background death rate of RBCs. However, at the highest dose, when intraspecific competition between malaria parasites would be highest, these effects of co-infection were not observed. Such interactions between initial dose and co-infection, although difficult to predict a priori, are key to understanding variation in the severity of disease experienced by hosts and could inform studies of malaria transmission dynamics in nature, where co-infection and low doses are the norm.
Ten new insights in climate science 2020 – a horizon scan
- Erik Pihl, Eva Alfredsson, Magnus Bengtsson, Kathryn J. Bowen, Vanesa Cástan Broto, Kuei Tien Chou, Helen Cleugh, Kristie Ebi, Clea M. Edwards, Eleanor Fisher, Pierre Friedlingstein, Alex Godoy-Faúndez, Mukesh Gupta, Alexandra R. Harrington, Katie Hayes, Bronwyn M. Hayward, Sophie R. Hebden, Thomas Hickmann, Gustaf Hugelius, Tatiana Ilyina, Robert B. Jackson, Trevor F. Keenan, Ria A. Lambino, Sebastian Leuzinger, Mikael Malmaeus, Robert I. McDonald, Celia McMichael, Clark A. Miller, Matteo Muratori, Nidhi Nagabhatla, Harini Nagendra, Cristian Passarello, Josep Penuelas, Julia Pongratz, Johan Rockström, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Joyashree Roy, Adam A. Scaife, Peter Schlosser, Edward Schuur, Michelle Scobie, Steven C. Sherwood, Giles B. Sioen, Jakob Skovgaard, Edgardo A. Sobenes Obregon, Sebastian Sonntag, Joachim H. Spangenberg, Otto Spijkers, Leena Srivastava, Detlef B. Stammer, Pedro H. C. Torres, Merritt R. Turetsky, Anna M. Ukkola, Detlef P. van Vuuren, Christina Voigt, Chadia Wannous, Mark D. Zelinka
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- Journal:
- Global Sustainability / Volume 4 / 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 27 January 2021, e5
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Non-technical summary
We summarize some of the past year's most important findings within climate change-related research. New research has improved our understanding of Earth's sensitivity to carbon dioxide, finds that permafrost thaw could release more carbon emissions than expected and that the uptake of carbon in tropical ecosystems is weakening. Adverse impacts on human society include increasing water shortages and impacts on mental health. Options for solutions emerge from rethinking economic models, rights-based litigation, strengthened governance systems and a new social contract. The disruption caused by COVID-19 could be seized as an opportunity for positive change, directing economic stimulus towards sustainable investments.
Technical summaryA synthesis is made of ten fields within climate science where there have been significant advances since mid-2019, through an expert elicitation process with broad disciplinary scope. Findings include: (1) a better understanding of equilibrium climate sensitivity; (2) abrupt thaw as an accelerator of carbon release from permafrost; (3) changes to global and regional land carbon sinks; (4) impacts of climate change on water crises, including equity perspectives; (5) adverse effects on mental health from climate change; (6) immediate effects on climate of the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for recovery packages to deliver on the Paris Agreement; (7) suggested long-term changes to governance and a social contract to address climate change, learning from the current pandemic, (8) updated positive cost–benefit ratio and new perspectives on the potential for green growth in the short- and long-term perspective; (9) urban electrification as a strategy to move towards low-carbon energy systems and (10) rights-based litigation as an increasingly important method to address climate change, with recent clarifications on the legal standing and representation of future generations.
Social media summaryStronger permafrost thaw, COVID-19 effects and growing mental health impacts among highlights of latest climate science.
Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory: A kilohertz-band gravitational-wave detector in the global network
- Part of
- K. Ackley, V. B. Adya, P. Agrawal, P. Altin, G. Ashton, M. Bailes, E. Baltinas, A. Barbuio, D. Beniwal, C. Blair, D. Blair, G. N. Bolingbroke, V. Bossilkov, S. Shachar Boublil, D. D. Brown, B. J. Burridge, J. Calderon Bustillo, J. Cameron, H. Tuong Cao, J. B. Carlin, S. Chang, P. Charlton, C. Chatterjee, D. Chattopadhyay, X. Chen, J. Chi, J. Chow, Q. Chu, A. Ciobanu, T. Clarke, P. Clearwater, J. Cooke, D. Coward, H. Crisp, R. J. Dattatri, A. T. Deller, D. A. Dobie, L. Dunn, P. J. Easter, J. Eichholz, R. Evans, C. Flynn, G. Foran, P. Forsyth, Y. Gai, S. Galaudage, D. K. Galloway, B. Gendre, B. Goncharov, S. Goode, D. Gozzard, B. Grace, A. W. Graham, A. Heger, F. Hernandez Vivanco, R. Hirai, N. A. Holland, Z. J. Holmes, E. Howard, E. Howell, G. Howitt, M. T. Hübner, J. Hurley, C. Ingram, V. Jaberian Hamedan, K. Jenner, L. Ju, D. P. Kapasi, T. Kaur, N. Kijbunchoo, M. Kovalam, R. Kumar Choudhary, P. D. Lasky, M. Y. M. Lau, J. Leung, J. Liu, K. Loh, A. Mailvagan, I. Mandel, J. J. McCann, D. E. McClelland, K. McKenzie, D. McManus, T. McRae, A. Melatos, P. Meyers, H. Middleton, M. T. Miles, M. Millhouse, Y. Lun Mong, B. Mueller, J. Munch, J. Musiov, S. Muusse, R. S. Nathan, Y. Naveh, C. Neijssel, B. Neil, S. W. S. Ng, V. Oloworaran, D. J. Ottaway, M. Page, J. Pan, M. Pathak, E. Payne, J. Powell, J. Pritchard, E. Puckridge, A. Raidani, V. Rallabhandi, D. Reardon, J. A. Riley, L. Roberts, I. M. Romero-Shaw, T. J. Roocke, G. Rowell, N. Sahu, N. Sarin, L. Sarre, H. Sattari, M. Schiworski, S. M. Scott, R. Sengar, D. Shaddock, R. Shannon, J. SHI, P. Sibley, B. J. J. Slagmolen, T. Slaven-Blair, R. J. E. Smith, J. Spollard, L. Steed, L. Strang, H. Sun, A. Sunderland, S. Suvorova, C. Talbot, E. Thrane, D. Töyrä, P. Trahanas, A. Vajpeyi, J. V. van Heijningen, A. F. Vargas, P. J. Veitch, A. Vigna-Gomez, A. Wade, K. Walker, Z. Wang, R. L. Ward, K. Ward, S. Webb, L. Wen, K. Wette, R. Wilcox, J. Winterflood, C. Wolf, B. Wu, M. Jet Yap, Z. You, H. Yu, J. Zhang, J. Zhang, C. Zhao, X. Zhu
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- Journal:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia / Volume 37 / 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 05 November 2020, e047
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Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influenced by the presence of tides, which depend on the neutron star equation of state. Neutron star mergers are expected to often produce rapidly rotating remnant neutron stars that emit gravitational waves. These will provide clues to the extremely hot post-merger environment. This signature of nuclear matter in gravitational waves contains most information in the 2–4 kHz frequency band, which is outside of the most sensitive band of current detectors. We present the design concept and science case for a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory (NEMO): a gravitational-wave interferometer optimised to study nuclear physics with merging neutron stars. The concept uses high-circulating laser power, quantum squeezing, and a detector topology specifically designed to achieve the high-frequency sensitivity necessary to probe nuclear matter using gravitational waves. Above 1 kHz, the proposed strain sensitivity is comparable to full third-generation detectors at a fraction of the cost. Such sensitivity changes expected event rates for detection of post-merger remnants from approximately one per few decades with two A+ detectors to a few per year and potentially allow for the first gravitational-wave observations of supernovae, isolated neutron stars, and other exotica.
P01-61 - Impaired Decision-making in the 3 Phases of Bipolar Disorder : a Trait-related Deficit
- M. Adida, F. Jollant, L. Clark, P. Mazzola-Pomietto, A. Kaladjian, R. Jeanningros, G. Goodwin, J.-M. Azorin, P. Courtet
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- Journal:
- European Psychiatry / Volume 25 / Issue S1 / 2010
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 17 April 2020, 25-E280
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Introduction
Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with impaired psychosocial behaviours. Little is known about deficits in neurocognitive functions like decision-making possibly related both to these behaviours and to the nature of the disorder.
ObjectivesTo determine whether decision-making impairments exist in manic (M), depressed (D) and euthymic (E) bipolar patients (BP) and to determine whether illness and course-of-illness characteristics can predict participants’ performance
MethodsA power analysis was conducted. A total of 315 subjects, including 45 M and 32 D inpatients and 90 E outpatients with BD I, medicated, and 150 Healthy Controls (HC), age, IQ and gender-matched, were included. Decision-making ability and sensitivity to punishment frequency were assessed with the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).
ResultsOn the IGT, MBP (p< 0.001), DBP (p< 0.01) and EBP (p< 0.05) selected significantly more cards from the risky decks than HC with no significant differences between BP groups. Unlike HC, MBP (p< 0.001), DBP (p< 0.05) and EBP (p< 0.05) showed little capacity to learn from incurred losses with no significant differences between BP groups, but, like HC, BP preferred decks that yielded infrequent penalties over those decks that yielded frequent penalties. In a multivariate analysis, decision-making impairment in the BP was significantly (p=0.001) predicted by low level of education, high total number of admissions and family history of BD.
ConclusionsBP clearly show defects in decision-making predicted by course-of-illness illness characteristics. Impaired decision-making might be a trait-related neurocognitive deficit in BD and partly explain impaired psychosocial behaviours of BP.
Great Lakes Copper and Shared Mortuary Practices on the Atlantic Coast: Implications for Long-Distance Exchange during the Late Archaic
- Matthew C. Sanger, Brian D. Padgett, Clark Spencer Larsen, Mark Hill, Gregory D. Lattanzi, Carol E. Colaninno, Brendan J. Culleton, Douglas J. Kennett, Matthew F. Napolitano, Sébastien Lacombe, Robert J. Speakman, David Hurst Thomas
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- Journal:
- American Antiquity / Volume 84 / Issue 4 / October 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 September 2019, pp. 591-609
- Print publication:
- October 2019
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Analysis of human remains and a copper band found in the center of a Late Archaic (ca. 5000–3000 cal BP) shell ring demonstrate an exchange network between the Great Lakes and the coastal southeast United States. Similarities in mortuary practices suggest that the movement of objects between these two regions was more direct and unmediated than archaeologists previously assumed based on “down-the-line” models of exchange. These findings challenge prevalent notions that view preagricultural Native American communities as relatively isolated from one another and suggest instead that wide social networks spanned much of North America thousands of years before the advent of domestication.
The effect of temporal variation in feed quality and quantity on the diurnal feeding behaviour of dairy cows
- A. J. John, S. C. Garcia, K. L. Kerrisk, M. J. Freeman, M. R. Islam, C. E. F. Clark
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The diurnal feeding patterns of dairy cows affects the 24 h robot utilisation of pasture-based automatic milking systems (AMS). A decline in robot utilisation between 2400 and 0600 h currently occurs in pasture-based AMS, as cow feeding activity is greatly reduced during this time. Here, we investigate the effect of a temporal variation in feed quality and quantity on cow feeding behaviour between 2400 and 0600 h as a potential tool to increase voluntary cow trafficking in an AMS at night. The day was allocated into four equal feeding periods (0600 to 1200, 1200 to 1800, 1800 to 2400 and 2400 to 0600 h). Lucerne hay cubes (CP = 19.1%, water soluble carbohydrate = 3.8%) and oat, ryegrass and clover hay cubes with 20% molasses (CP = 11.8%, water soluble carbohydrate = 10.7%) were offered as the ‘standard’ and ‘preferred’ (preference determined previously) feed types, respectively. The four treatments were (1) standard feed offered ad libitum (AL) throughout 24 h; (2) as per AL, with preferred feed replacing standard feed between 2400 and 0600 h (AL + P); (3) standard feed offered at a restricted rate, with quantity varying between each feeding period (20:10:30:60%, respectively) as a proportion of the (previously) measured daily ad libitum intake (VA); (4) as per VA, with preferred feed replacing standard feed between 2400 and 0600 h (VA + P). Eight non-lactating dairy cows were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. During each experimental period, treatment cows were fed for 7 days, including 3 days habituation and 4 days data collection. Total daily intake was approximately 8% greater (P < 0.001) for the AL and AL + P treatments (23.1 and 22.9 kg DM/cow) as compared with the VA and VA + P treatments (21.6 and 20.9 kg DM/cow). The AL + P and VA treatments had 21% and 90% greater (P < 0.001) dry matter intake (DMI) between 2400 and 0600 h, respectively, compared with the AL treatment. In contrast, the VA + P treatment had similar DMI to the VA treatment. Our experiment shows ability to increase cow feeding activity at night by varying feed type and quantity, though it is possible that a penalty to total DMI may occur using VA. Further research is required to determine if the implementation of variable feed allocation on pasture-based AMS farms is likely to improve milking robot utilisation by increasing cow feeding activity at night.
Evidence of causal effect of major depression on alcohol dependence: findings from the psychiatric genomics consortium
- Renato Polimanti, Roseann E. Peterson, Jue-Sheng Ong, Stuart MacGregor, Alexis C. Edwards, Toni-Kim Clarke, Josef Frank, Zachary Gerring, Nathan A. Gillespie, Penelope A. Lind, Hermine H. Maes, Nicholas G. Martin, Hamdi Mbarek, Sarah E. Medland, Fabian Streit, Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Substance Use Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, 23andMe Research Team, Arpana Agrawal, Howard J. Edenberg, Kenneth S. Kendler, Cathryn M. Lewis, Patrick F. Sullivan, Naomi R. Wray, Joel Gelernter, Eske M. Derks
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- Journal:
- Psychological Medicine / Volume 49 / Issue 7 / May 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 April 2019, pp. 1218-1226
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Background
Despite established clinical associations among major depression (MD), alcohol dependence (AD), and alcohol consumption (AC), the nature of the causal relationship between them is not completely understood. We leveraged genome-wide data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and UK Biobank to test for the presence of shared genetic mechanisms and causal relationships among MD, AD, and AC.
MethodsLinkage disequilibrium score regression and Mendelian randomization (MR) were performed using genome-wide data from the PGC (MD: 135 458 cases and 344 901 controls; AD: 10 206 cases and 28 480 controls) and UK Biobank (AC-frequency: 438 308 individuals; AC-quantity: 307 098 individuals).
ResultsPositive genetic correlation was observed between MD and AD (rgMD−AD = + 0.47, P = 6.6 × 10−10). AC-quantity showed positive genetic correlation with both AD (rgAD−AC quantity = + 0.75, P = 1.8 × 10−14) and MD (rgMD−AC quantity = + 0.14, P = 2.9 × 10−7), while there was negative correlation of AC-frequency with MD (rgMD−AC frequency = −0.17, P = 1.5 × 10−10) and a non-significant result with AD. MR analyses confirmed the presence of pleiotropy among these four traits. However, the MD-AD results reflect a mediated-pleiotropy mechanism (i.e. causal relationship) with an effect of MD on AD (beta = 0.28, P = 1.29 × 10−6). There was no evidence for reverse causation.
ConclusionThis study supports a causal role for genetic liability of MD on AD based on genetic datasets including thousands of individuals. Understanding mechanisms underlying MD-AD comorbidity addresses important public health concerns and has the potential to facilitate prevention and intervention efforts.
Robot utilisation of pasture-based dairy cows with varying levels of milking frequency
- A. J. John, M. J. Freeman, K. F. Kerrisk, S. C. Garcia, C. E. F. Clark
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Achieving a consistent level of robot utilisation throughout 24 h maximises automatic milking system (AMS) utilisation. However, levels of robot utilisation in the early morning hours are typically low, caused by the diurnal feeding behaviour of cows, limiting the inherent capacity and total production of pasture-based AMS. Our objective was to determine robot utilisation throughout 24 h by dairy cows, based on milking frequency (MF; milking events per animal per day) in a pasture-based AMS. Milking data were collected from January and February 2013 across 56 days, from a single herd of 186 animals (Bos taurus) utilising three Lely A3 robotic milking units, located in Tasmania, Australia. The dairy herd was categorised into three equal sized groups (n=62 per group) according to the cow’s mean daily MF over the duration of the study. Robot utilisation was characterised by an interaction (P< 0.001) between the three MF groups and time of day, with peak milking time for high MF cows within one h of a fresh pasture allocation becoming available, followed by the medium MF and low MF cows 2 and 4 h later, respectively. Cows in the high MF group also presented for milking between 2400 and 0600 h more frequently (77% of nights), compared to the medium MF group (57%) and low MF group (50%). This study has shown the formation of three distinct groups of cows within a herd, based on their MF levels. Further work is required to determine if this finding is replicated across other pasture-based AMS farms.
2351 Environmental barriers and facilitators of health care access and utilization for elderly stroke survivors
- Allison Brenner, Lesli E. Skolarus, Philippa J. Clarke, James F. Burke
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- Journal:
- Journal of Clinical and Translational Science / Volume 2 / Issue S1 / June 2018
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 November 2018, p. 70
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OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: This study will use face-to-face interviewers with Medicare-eligible stroke survivors, and adult caregivers of stroke survivors, to extend the aims of a quantitative study on healthcare utilization in elderly stroke survivors. The objective of this research is to better understand, in more detail, relevant barriers and facilitators to accessing healthcare among older stroke survivors. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop strategies to improve access to healthcare, such as home modifications; changes to the neighborhood physical environment; or interventions at the provider/service level. This research will also serve as a precursor for future intervention work that will be proposed as a part of a K01 proposal. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Participants were recruited from Ann Arbor and Flint, MI using an existing academic-community partnership as well as through the University of Michigan Stroke Clinic. A total of 8–10 stroke survivors and 1–2 caregivers were recruited through the partnership and clinic records, as well as some use of snowball sampling to obtain a socially, economically, and racially representative sample. Participants must be 65+ years old, eligible for Medicare, living in the community, identify as either White or Black, and have no major cognitive/language deficits that jeopardize informed consent. Face-to-face interviews were conducted, and open-ended questions emphasized environmental barriers and facilitators to accessing healthcare, with a focus on social and physical barriers in the home and neighborhood. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed, and field notes from 1 to 2 sources were also documented and will be used to triangulate the data and increase coding validity. Audio recordings will be reviewed multiple times and quotes relevant to the research questions and underlying theoretical framework will be transcribed verbatim. The transcripts will be analyzed using thematic coding based on literature and the study objectives and hypotheses. I will identify primary themes related to environmental barriers and facilitators to accessing healthcare among the stroke-survivors. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Preliminary results suggest that participants are primarily concerned about the social environment. Several interviews revealed that stroke survivors felt socially isolated and were often hesitant to ask for help because they did not want to be a burden on their family and friends. Transportation to appointments was also identified as a barrier due to the fact that many people are no longer able to drive, yet are not comfortable navigating other forms of transportation. We expect to identify additional physical and social environmental challenges to both health care utilization and well-being more generally, among older stroke survivors. Anticipated themes may include: barriers in the physical environment such as transportation to care and services, social support and social environmental factors to support feeling safe leaving home to access care. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Despite the physical and economic burden of stroke, and attempts to improve outcomes for stroke survivors living in the community, stroke survivors have high rates of disability and unmet medical and psychological needs. The results from this research are anticipated to directly inform future partnerships and intervention in these, or in similar communities. Understanding how the environment influences access to healthcare for elderly stroke survivors is essential if we want to increase recommended preventative care and treatment in this vulnerable population with unique healthcare needs. The results of this study will be used to directly inform the aims and methods for other translational research projects, including a K01 proposal, in which I will develop and pilot a community-based intervention to ameliorate environmental barriers and enhance facilitators of access to healthcare for older, disabled adults.