The prevalence, predictors and associations of hypertension in Sri Lanka: A cross-sectional population based national survey

We studied the community prevalence, patterns and predictors of hypertension in a large sub-population of South Asian adults with a view of identifying differential risk factors. Data were collected between years 2005-2006 and 5000 adults were invited for the study. The sample size was 4485, and about 39.5% were males. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 127.1 ± 19.8 mmHg and 75.4 ± 11.3 mmHg, respectively. Age-adjusted prevalence in all adults, males and females was 23.7%, 23.4% and 23.8%, respectively. Urban adults had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension than rural adults. In the binary logistic-regression analysis, male gender (OR: 1.2), increasing age, Sri Lankan Moor ethnicity (OR: 1.6), physical inactivity (OR: 1.7), presence of diabetes (OR: 2.2) and central obesity (OR: 2.3) all were significantly associated with hypertension. In conclusion, nearly one-third of the Sri Lankan adult population is hypertensive. Hence, public health initiatives should encourage healthier lifestyles with emphasis on preventing obesity and increasing physical activity.

Postnatal depressive symptoms amongst women in Central Vietnam: A cross-sectional study investigating prevalence and associations with social, cultural and infant factors

Background This study investigated the prevalence and socio-cultural correlates of postnatal mood disturbance amongst women 18–45 years old in Central Vietnam. Son preference and traditional confinement practices were explored as well as factors such as poverty, parity, family and intimate partner relationships and infant health. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in twelve randomly selected Commune Health Centres from urban and rural districts of Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam. Mother-infant dyads one to six months postpartum were invited to participate. Questionnaires from 431 mothers (urban n = 216; rural n = 215) assessed demographic and family characteristics, traditional confinement practices, son preference, infant health and social capital. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and WHO5 Wellbeing Index indicated depressive symptoms and emotional wellbeing. Data were analysed using general linear models. Results Using an EPDS cut-off of 12/13, 18.1 % (n = 78, 95 % CI 14.6 - 22.1) of women had depressive symptoms (20.4 % urban; 15.8 % rural). Contrary to predictions, infant gender and traditional confinement were unrelated to depressive symptoms. Poverty, food insecurity, being frightened of family members, and intimate partner violence increased both depressive symptoms and lowered wellbeing. The first model accounted for 30.2 % of the variance in EPDS score and found being frightened of one’s husband, husband’s unemployment, breastfeeding difficulties, infant diarrhoea, and cognitive social capital were associated with higher EPDS scores. The second model had accounted for 22 % of the variance in WHO5 score. Living in Hue city, low education, poor maternal competence and a negative family response to the baby lowered maternal wellbeing. Conclusions Traditional confinement practices and son preference were not linked to depressive symptoms among mothers, but were correlates of family relationships and wellbeing. Poverty, food insecurity, violence, infant ill health, and discordant intimate and family relationships were linked with depressive symptoms in Central Vietnam.

Dieting and non-dieting: Socio-cognitive determinants and associations with nutrition and health status indicators

Dieting and non-dieting are two contrasting approaches to the management of overweight/obesity, but less is known about why people follow non-dieting approaches and how these approaches are associated with health and nutrition status indicators. This thesis enables a greater understanding of why dieting and non-dieting approaches are adopted and provides insight into whether one approach is more favourably associated with nutrition and health status indicators. The findings of this thesis will be useful for clinicians who wish to encourage dieting or non-dieting approaches in their clients and for researchers wishing to understand how best to address overweight and obesity.

Language in Acquisition : Early Lexical Development and Associations between Lexicon and Grammar Findings from Full-Term and Very-Low-Birth-Weight Finnish Children

The aim was to analyse the growth and compositional development of the receptive and expressive lexicons between the ages 0,9 and 2;0 in the full-term (FT) and the very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) children who are acquiring Finnish. The associations between the expressive lexicon and grammar at 1;6 and 2;0 in the FT children were also studied. In addition, the language skills of the VLBW children at 2;0 were analysed, as well as the predictive value of early lexicon to the later language performance. Four groups took part in the studies: the longitudinal (N = 35) and cross-sectional (N = 146) samples of the FT children, and the longitudinal (N = 32) and cross-sectional (N = 66) samples of VLBW children. The data was gathered by applying of the structured parental rating method (the Finnish version of the Communicative Development Inventory), through analysis of the children´s spontaneous speech and by administering a a formal test (Reynell Developmental Language Scales). The FT children acquired their receptive lexicons earlier, at a faster rate and with larger individual variation than their expressive lexicons. The acquisition rate of the expressive lexicon increased from slow to faster in most children (91%). Highly parallel developmental paths for lexical semantic categories were detected in the receptive and expressive lexicons of the Finnish children when they were analysed in relation to the growth of the lexicon size, as described in the literature for children acquiring other languages. The emergence of grammar was closely associated with expressive lexical growth. The VLBW children acquired their receptive lexicons at a slower rate and had weaker language skills at 2;0 than the full-term children. The compositional development of both lexicons happened at a slower rate in the VLBW children when compared to the FT controls. However, when the compositional development was analysed in relation to the growth of lexicon size, this development occurred qualitatively in a nearly parallel manner in the VLBW children as in the FT children. Early receptive and expressive lexicon sizes were significantly associated with later language skills in both groups. The effect of the background variables (gender, length of the mother s basic education, birth weight) on the language development in the FT and the VLBW children differed. The results provide new information of early language acquisition by the Finnish FT and VLBW children. The results support the view that the early acquisition of the semantic lexical categories is related to lexicon growth. The current findings also propose that the early grammatical acquisition is closely related to the growth of expressive vocabulary size. The language development of the VLBW children should be followed in clinical work.

Genetics of heifer puberty in two tropical beef genotypes in northern Australia and associations with heifer- and steer-production traits

A total of 2115 heifers from two tropical genotypes (1007 Brahman and 1108 Tropical Composite) raised in four locations in northern Australia were ovarian-scanned every 4-6 weeks to determine the age at the first-observed corpus luteum (CL) and this was used to de. ne the age at puberty for each heifer. Other traits recorded at each time of ovarian scanning were liveweight, fat depths and body condition score. Reproductive tract size was measured close to the start of the first joining period. Results showed significant effects of location and birth month on the age at first CL and associated puberty traits. Genotypes did not differ significantly for the age or weight at first CL; however, Brahman were fatter at first CL and had a small reproductive tract size compared with that of Tropical Composite. Genetic analyses estimated the age at first CL to be moderately to highly heritable for Brahman (0.57) and Tropical Composite (0.52). The associated traits were also moderately heritable, except for reproductive tract size in Brahmans (0.03) and for Tropical Composite, the presence of an observed CL on the scanning day closest to the start of joining (0.07). Genetic correlations among puberty traits were mostly moderate to high and generally larger in magnitude for Brahman than for Tropical Composite. Genetic correlations between the age at CL and heifer- and steer-production traits showed important genotype differences. For Tropical Composite, the age at CL was negatively correlated with the heifer growth rate in their first postweaning wet season (-0.40) and carcass marbling score (-0.49), but was positively correlated with carcass P8 fat depth (0.43). For Brahman, the age at CL was moderately negatively genetically correlated with heifer measures of bodyweight, fatness, body condition score and IGF-I, in both their first postweaning wet and second dry seasons, but was positively correlated with the dry-season growth rate. For Brahman, genetic correlations between the age at CL and steer traits showed possible antagonisms with feedlot residual feed intake (-0.60) and meat colour (0.73). Selection can be used to change the heifer age at puberty in both genotypes, with few major antagonisms with steer- and heifer- production traits.

Genome-wide association and genetic functional studies identify autism susceptibility candidate 2 gene (AUTS2) in the regulation of alcohol consumption

Alcohol consumption is a moderately heritable trait, but the genetic basis in humans is largely unknown, despite its clinical and societal importance. We report a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of approximately 2.5 million directly genotyped or imputed SNPs with alcohol consumption (gram per day per kilogram body weight) among 12 population-based samples of European ancestry, comprising 26,316 individuals, with replication genotyping in an additional 21,185 individuals. SNP rs6943555 in autism susceptibility candidate 2 gene (AUTS2) was associated with alcohol consumption at genome-wide significance (P = 4 x 10(-8) to P = 4 x 10(-9)). We found a genotype-specific expression of AUTS2 in 96 human prefrontal cortex samples (P = 0.026) and significant (P < 0.017) differences in expression of AUTS2 in whole-brain extracts of mice selected for differences in voluntary alcohol consumption. Down-regulation of an AUTS2 homolog caused reduced alcohol sensitivity in Drosophila (P < 0.001). Our finding of a regulator of alcohol consumption adds knowledge to our understanding of genetic mechanisms influencing alcohol drinking behavior.

Effect of molecular association and reactivity on substitution in chromium(III)-salprn complexes

A new chromium(III)-Schiff base complex, [Cr(5-chlorosalprn)(H2O)(2)]ClO4, where salprn=N,N'-propylenebis(salicylideneimine) has been prepared and characterized by electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (ESIMS) analysis and other spectroscopic techniques. Single crystal X-ray data reveal that the complex assumes a trans-diaquo structure, [Cr(C17H18Cl2N2O4)]ClO4.H2O. The effect of phenyl ring substituents on the rate of formation of [O=Cr-V Schiff base](+) has been investigated. The bimolecular rate constant for the formation of O=Cr-V species by the [Cr(Schiff base)(H2O)(2)]ClO4, where the Schiff base=salprn, (1) and 5-chlorosalprn, (2) with PhOI was compared. In the case of (2) the rate was found to be faster by an order of magnitude at pH=4 compared to (1). The introduction of a chloro-substituent on the phenyl ring not only influences the rate of redox reactivity but also the pKa values of aquo ligands of the complexes, indicating the difference in the electronic environment around the metal ion in both (1) and (2).

An association and Wilson activity coefficient model for solubilities of aromatic solid pollutants in supercritical carbon dioxide

The solubilities of various solid pollutants in supercritical carbon dioxide were investigated. The intermolecular interactions play a significant role in determining the solubilities of solids in supercritical carbon dioxide. A new model equation was derived by using the concepts of association and activity coefficient model to correlate the solubilities of solids. The model equation combines the association and Wilson activity coefficient models and includes the interaction potentials between the molecules, which are useful in understanding the behavior of the solid solutes in SCCO2. The new model equation involves five adjustable parameters to correlate the solubilities of solids by incorporating the interactions between the molecules. The equation correlated 75 solid systems with an average AARD of around 9%, which was better than the correlations obtained from standard models such as Mendez Santiago-Teja (MT) model and association model. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Freshwater Biological Association and the International Biological Programme (1961-1976)

The involvement of the FBA in the primary productivity program is reviewed.

Subtypes of Patients Experiencing Exacerbations of COPD and Associations with Outcomes

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex and heterogeneous condition characterized by occasional exacerbations. Identifying clinical subtypes among patients experiencing COPD exacerbations (ECOPD) could help better understand the pathophysiologic mechanisms involved in exacerbations, establish different strategies of treatment, and improve the process of care and patient prognosis. The objective of this study was to identify subtypes of ECOPD patients attending emergency departments using clinical variables and to validate the results using several outcomes. We evaluated data collected as part of the IRYSS-COPD prospective cohort study conducted in 16 hospitals in Spain. Variables collected from ECOPD patients attending one of the emergency departments included arterial blood gases, presence of comorbidities, previous COPD treatment, baseline severity of COPD, and previous hospitalizations for ECOPD. Patient subtypes were identified by combining results from multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. Results were validated using key outcomes of ECOPD evolution. Four ECOPD subtypes were identified based on the severity of the current exacerbation and general health status (largely a function of comorbidities): subtype A (n = 934), neither high comorbidity nor severe exacerbation; subtype B (n = 682), moderate comorbidities; subtype C (n = 562), severe comorbidities related to mortality; and subtype D (n = 309), very severe process of exacerbation, significantly related to mortality and admission to an intensive care unit. Subtype D experienced the highest rate of mortality, admission to an intensive care unit and need for noninvasive mechanical ventilation, followed by subtype C. Subtypes A and B were primarily related to other serious complications. Hospitalization rate was more than 50% for all the subtypes, although significantly higher for subtypes C and D than for subtypes A and B. These results could help identify characteristics to categorize ECOPD patients for more appropriate care, and help test interventions and treatments in subgroups with poor evolution and outcomes.

Some aspects of association and development of Lytocestus indicus Moghe in catfish Clarias batrachus (Lin.)

Some aspects of association and development of the caryophyllid cestode Lytocestus indicus Moghe, 1925 infecting the catfish Clarias batrachus (Linn.) from the Kailla Beel of Mymensingh, Bangladesh were studied. About 33.14% of Clarias batrachus were infected with a mean intensity of 3.75, mean density 1.25. The infection was not found throughout the year. Two seasonal occurrence of this cestode were observed, one in April-May and the other in August-September. However, maturation period of the worm coincided with the maturation of the host. The worm was found attached to the wall of the intestine of the host. At the site of attachment tissue layers were compressed due to mechanical injuries. Prevalence and mean intensity of infection increased with length groups. No variation in infection was significantly observed in different sexes of the host examined.