Protecting Looked after Children Guidance (PDF 28 KB)

The Department has published guidance which deals with the issue of children who become Looked After and are on the Child Protection Register.

Jornades de seguretat viària al món local Mollet del Vallès, 27 i 28 de gener de 2012: recull de ponències

Proporcionar els coneixements i les eines més adients als càrrecs electes i al personal tècnic dels ajuntaments sobre el trànsit, la seguretat viària i sobre els recursos de què disposen per millorar la mobilitat en el seu municipi.

Focus on Fitness For Practice (PDF 1.28 Mb)

Pre-registration nursing and midwifery education

Identification of snails within the Bulinus africanus group from East Africa by multiplex SNaPshotTManalysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms within the cytochrome oxidase subunit I

Identification of populations of Bulinus nasutus and B. globosus from East Africa is unreliable using characters of the shell. In this paper, a molecular method of identification is presented for each species based on DNA sequence variation within the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) as detected by a novel multiplexed SNaPshotTM assay. In total, snails from 7 localities from coastal Kenya were typed using this assay and variation within shell morphology was compared to reference material from Zanzibar. Four locations were found to contain B. nasutus and 2 locations were found to contain B. globosus. A mixed population containing both B. nasutus and B. globosus was found at Kinango. Morphometric variation between samples was considerable and UPGMA cluster analysis failed to differentiate species. The multiplex SNaPshotTM assay is an important development for more precise methods of identification of B. africanus group snails. The assay could be further broadened for identification of other snail intermediate host species.

Lack of association between connexin40 polymorphisms and coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVE: Cx40 is a gap junction protein important for cell-cell communication in the endothelium. Polymorphisms in the promoter region of the human Cx40 gene, -44G>A and +71A>G, were shown to reduce Cx40 transcription by half. As mice with an endothelial-specific deletion of Cx40 are more susceptible to atherosclerosis, this study was designed to discover a correlation between these polymorphisms and atherosclerosis in European populations.¦METHODS AND RESULTS: 803 patients referred to the Geneva University Hospitals for elective coronary angiography were divided according to the number of significantly stenosed vessels (from 0 to 3) and were genotyped for the Cx40 polymorphisms. Genotype distribution in the control group was -44GG/+71AA=59.8%, -44AG/+71AG=35.1% and -44AA/+71GG=5.2%. Surprisingly, this distribution was similar in the CAD group, with -44GG/+71AA=58.5%, -44AG/+71AG=37.6% and -44AA/+71GG=3.8% (p=0.67). Moreover, no significant association between histological carotid plaque composition of culprit lesions and Cx40 polymorphisms could be detected in 583 Dutch patients of the Athero-Express study.¦CONCLUSIONS: Despite a clear antiatherogenic role of Cx40 in mice, our study could not detect an association of Cx40 promoter polymorphisms and CAD in human. Moreover, a correlation with atherosclerotic plaque stability or hypertension could not be demonstrated either. Connexin polymorphisms affecting channel function may be of greater importance for cardiovascular disease than polymorphisms affecting the expression level of the protein.

Genetic Analyses Reveal a Role for Vitamin D Insufficiency in HCV-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D insufficiency has been associated with the occurrence of various types of cancer, but causal relationships remain elusive. We therefore aimed to determine the relationship between genetic determinants of vitamin D serum levels and the risk of developing hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODOLOGYPRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Associations between CYP2R1, GC, and DHCR7 genotypes that are determinants of reduced 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D3) serum levels and the risk of HCV-related HCC development were investigated for 1279 chronic hepatitis C patients with HCC and 4325 without HCC, respectively. The well-known associations between CYP2R1 (rs1993116, rs10741657), GC (rs2282679), and DHCR7 (rs7944926, rs12785878) genotypes and 25(OH)D3 serum levels were also apparent in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The same genotypes of these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with reduced 25(OH)D3 serum levels were found to be associated with HCV-related HCC (P = 0.07 [OR = 1.13, 95% CI = 0.99-1.28] for CYP2R1, P = 0.007 [OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.12-2.15] for GC, P = 0.003 [OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.13-1.78] for DHCR7; ORs for risk genotypes). In contrast, no association between these genetic variations and liver fibrosis progression rate (P>0.2 for each SNP) or outcome of standard therapy with pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin (P>0.2 for each SNP) was observed, suggesting a specific influence of the genetic determinants of 25(OH)D3 serum levels on hepatocarcinogenesis. CONCLUSIONSSIGNIFICANCE: Our data suggest a relatively weak but functionally relevant role for vitamin D in the prevention of HCV-related hepatocarcinogenesis.

Antiretroviral resistance mutations in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infected patients enrolled in genotype testing at the Central Public Health Laboratory, São Paulo, Brazil: preliminary results

Antiretroviral resistance mutations (ARM) are one of the major obstacles for pharmacological human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) suppression. Plasma HIV-1 RNA from 306 patients on antiretroviral therapy with virological failure was analyzed, most of them (60%) exposed to three or more regimens, and 28% of them have started therapy before 1997. The most common regimens in use at the time of genotype testing were AZT/3TC/nelfinavir, 3TC/D4T/nelfinavir and AZT/3TC/efavirenz. The majority of ARM occurred at protease (PR) gene at residue L90 (41%) and V82 (25%); at reverse transcriptase (RT) gene, mutations at residue M184 (V/I) were observed in 64%. One or more thymidine analogue mutations were detected in 73%. The number of ARM at PR gene increased from a mean of four mutations per patient who showed virological failure at the first ARV regimens to six mutations per patient exposed to six or more regimens; similar trend in RT was also observed. No differences in ARM at principal codon to the three drug classes for HIV-1 clades B or F were observed, but some polymorphisms in secondary codons showed significant differences. Strategies to improve the cost effectiveness of drug therapy and to optimize the sequencing and the rescue therapy are the major health priorities.

Briefing 28: NCMP data 2008/9, East of England: Gender

One in a series of six data briefings based on regional-level analysis of data from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) undertaken by the National Obesity Observatory (NOO). The briefings are intended to complement the headline results for the region published in January 2010, at Quick Link 20510.

Impact of HSD11B1 polymorphisms on BMI and components of the metabolic syndrome in patients receiving psychotropic treatments.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) associated with psychiatric disorders and psychotropic treatments represents a major health issue. 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) is an enzyme that catalyzes tissue regeneration of active cortisol from cortisone. Elevated enzymatic activity of 11β-HSD1 may lead to the development of MetS. METHODS: We investigated the association between seven HSD11B1 gene (encoding 11β-HSD1) polymorphisms and BMI and MetS components in a psychiatric sample treated with potential weight gain-inducing psychotropic drugs (n=478). The polymorphisms that survived Bonferroni correction were analyzed in two independent psychiatric samples (nR1=168, nR2=188) and in several large population-based samples (n1=5338; n2=123 865; n3>100 000). RESULTS: HSD11B1 rs846910-A, rs375319-A, and rs4844488-G allele carriers were found to be associated with lower BMI, waist circumference, and diastolic blood pressure compared with the reference genotype (Pcorrected<0.05). These associations were exclusively detected in women (n=257) with more than 3.1 kg/m, 7.5 cm, and 4.2 mmHg lower BMI, waist circumference, and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, in rs846910-A, rs375319-A, and rs4844488-G allele carriers compared with noncarriers (Pcorrected<0.05). Conversely, carriers of the rs846906-T allele had significantly higher waist circumference and triglycerides and lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol exclusively in men (Pcorrected=0.028). The rs846906-T allele was also associated with a higher risk of MetS at 3 months of follow-up (odds ratio: 3.31, 95% confidence interval: 1.53-7.17, Pcorrected=0.014). No association was observed between HSD11B1 polymorphisms and BMI and MetS components in the population-based samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that HSD11B1 polymorphisms may contribute toward the development of MetS in psychiatric patients treated with potential weight gain-inducing psychotropic drugs, but do not play a significant role in the general population.