The impact of personal resources and their goal relevance on satisfaction with food-related life among the elderly.

The study explored how actual resources, perceived levels of different types of resources and goal relevance of these resources affect older people's satisfaction with food-related life using a survey in eight European countries, where 3291 participants above 65 years of age and living in their own homes took part. Satisfaction with food-related life was measured using Satisfaction With Food-related Life (SWFL) scale developed by Grunert, Raats, Dean, Nielsen, Lumbers and The Food in Later Life Team. [(2007). A measure of satisfaction with food-related life. Appetite, 49, 486–493]. Results showed that older people rated the resources that they believed to have plentiful of as being highly relevant to achieve their goals. The individuals who rated the relevance and their level of different resources as high were also more satisfied with their food-related quality of life. Further, satisfaction with food-related life, as was expected, was predicted by income, health measures and living circumstances. However, the study also showed that perceived levels of other resources such as support of family and friends, food knowledge, storage facilities also added to the individuals’ satisfaction with food-related life. In addition, the congruence between perceived level and relevance of a resource was also shown to add to people's satisfaction with food-related life, implying that older people's satisfaction with food-related life depends not only on the level of resources they think they have but also on their goals and how important they think these resources are to achieving their goals.

Incidence trends for childhood type 1 diabetes in Europe during 1989-2003 and predicted new cases 2005-20: a multicentre prospective registration study

Background: The incidence of type 1 diabetes in children younger than 15 years is increasing. Prediction of future incidence of this disease will enable adequate fund allocation for delivery of care to be planned. We aimed to establish 15-year incidence trends for childhood type 1 diabetes in European centres, and thereby predict the future burden of childhood diabetes in Europe.
Methods: 20 population-based EURODIAB registers in 17 countries registered 29 311 new cases of type 1 diabetes, diagnosed in children before their 15th birthday during a 15-year period, 1989–2003. Age-specific log linear rates of increase were estimated in five geographical regions, and used in conjunction with published incidence rates and population projections to predict numbers of new cases throughout Europe in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020.
Findings: Ascertainment was better than 90% in most registers. All but two registers showed significant yearly increases in incidence, ranging from 0·6% to 9·3%. The overall annual increase was 3·9% (95% CI 3·6–4·2), and the increases in the age groups 0–4 years, 5–9 years, and 10–14 years were 5·4% (4·8–6·1), 4·3% (3·8–4·8), and 2·9% (2·5–3·3), respectively. The number of new cases in Europe in 2005, is estimated as 15 000, divided between the 0–4 year, 5–9 year, and 10–14 year age-groups in the ratio 24%, 35%, and 41%, respectively. In 2020, the predicted number of new cases is 24 000, with a doubling in numbers in children younger than 5 years and a more even distribution across age-groups than at present (29%, 37%, and 34%, respectively). Prevalence under age 15 years is predicted to rise from 94 000 in 2005, to 160 000 in 2020.
Interpretation: If present trends continue, doubling of new cases of type 1 diabetes in European children younger than 5 years is predicted between 2005 and 2020, and prevalent cases younger than 15 years will rise by 70%. Adequate health-care resources to meet these children’s needs should be made available.

Championing the interface between mental health and child protection: evaluation of a service initiative to improve joint working in Northern Ireland

The importance of establishing effective interagency working between adult mental health services and child care services in order to safeguard children has been repeatedly identified by research, policy, inquiries and inspection reports. This article reports on the evaluation of an initiative in one Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland that aimed to facilitate joint working and so improve service provision and protection for children and families. The Champions Initiative involved identifying a champion in each multi-disciplinary community mental health team and in each family and child care team who would have responsibility for providing information, promoting joint working and identifying any obstacles to better co-operation. The evaluation of this initiative assessed levels of experience, training, confidence, understanding and awareness in the Champions and their team members at baseline. The Champions and their Team Leaders were then followed-up after six months to obtain their qualitative views of the impact of the initiative. The results include comparisons between mental health and child care staff, and crucially, views about whether the initiative has had any impact on working together. This study also generated recommendations for further service development in this complex and important area of practice.

An explanatory model for food-web structure and evolution

Food webs are networks describing who is eating whom in an ecological community. By now it is clear that many aspects of food-web structure are reproducible across diverse habitats, yet little is known about the driving force behind this structure. Evolutionary and population dynamical mechanisms have been considered. We propose a model for the evolutionary dynamics of food-web topology and show that it accurately reproduces observed food-web characteristics in the steady state. It is based on the observation that most consumers are larger than their resource species and the hypothesis that speciation and extinction rates decrease with increasing body mass. Results give strong support to the evolutionary hypothesis. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interaction between interleukin 3 and dystrobrevin-binding protein 1 in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a common psychotic mental disorder that is believed to result from the effects of multiple genetic and environmental factors. In this study, we explored gene-gene interactions and main effects in both case-control (657 cases and 411 controls) and family-based (273 families, 1350 subjects) datasets of English or Irish ancestry. Fifty three markers in 8 genes were genotyped in the family sample and 44 markers in 7 genes were genotyped in the case-control sample. The Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction Pedigree Disequilibrium Test (MDR-PDT) was used to examine epistasis in the family dataset and a 3-locus model was identified (permuted p=0.003). The 3-locus model involved the IL3 (rs2069803), RGS4 (rs2661319), and DTNBP1 (rs21319539) genes. We used MDR to analyze the case-control dataset containing the same markers typed in the RGS4, IL3 and DTNBP1 genes and found evidence of a joint effect between IL3 (rs31400) and DTNBP1 (rs760761) (cross-validation consistency 4/5, balanced prediction accuracy=56.84%, p=0.019). While this is not a direct replication, the results obtained from both the family and case-control samples collectively suggest that IL3 and DTNBP1 are likely to interact and jointly contribute to increase risk for schizophrenia. We also observed a significant main effect in DTNBP1, which survived correction for multiple comparisons, and numerous nominally significant effects in several genes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Significant correlation in linkage signals from genome-wide scans of schizophrenia and schizotypy

Prior family and adoption studies have suggested a genetic relationship between schizophrenia and schizotypy. However, this has never been verified using linkage methods. We therefore attempted to test for a correlation in linkage signals from genome-wide scans of schizophrenia and schizotypy. The Irish study of high-density schizophrenia families comprises 270 families with at least two members with schizophrenia or poor-outcome schizoaffective disorder (n = 637). Non-psychotic relatives were assessed using the structured interview for schizotypy (n = 746). A 10-cM multipoint, non-parametric, autosomal genomewide scan of schizophrenia was performed in Merlin. A scan of a quantitative trait comprising ratings of DSM-III-R criteria for schizotypal personality disorder in non-psychotic relatives was also performed. Schizotypy logarithm of the odds (LOD) scores were regressed onto schizophrenia LOD scores at all loci, with adjustment for spatial autocorrelation. To assess empirical significance, this was also carried out using 1000 null scans of schizotypy. The number of jointly linked loci in the real data was compared to distribution of jointly linked loci in the null scans. No markers were suggestively linked to schizotypy based on strict Lander Kruglyak criteria. Schizotypy LODs predicted schizophrenia LODs above chance expectation genome wide (empirical P = 0.04). Two and four loci yielded nonparametric LOD (NPLs) > 1.0 and > 0.75, respectively, for both schizophrenia and schizotypy (genome-wide empirical P = 0.04 and 0.02, respectively). These results suggest that at least a subset of schizophrenia susceptibility genes also affects schizotypy in non-psychotic relatives. Power may therefore be increased in molecular genetic studies of schizophrenia if they incorporate measures of schizotypy in non-psychotic relatives.

Can the spread of non-native oysters (Crassostrea gigas) at the early stages of population expansion be managed?

The Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) was introduced into Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland in the 1970s. It was assumed that local environmental conditions would not facilitate successful reproduction. However, in the 1990s there were reports of C. gigas outside licensed aquaculture sites and this investigation set out to ascertain the current distribution, years of likely recruitment and population structure of the species. C. gigas were found distributed widely throughout the northern basin during surveys; the frequency distribution suggesting C. gigas is not recruiting every year. Establishment of feral populations of C. gigas elsewhere have linked to habitat change. A pilot cull was initiated to assess the success rate of early intervention. This paper demonstrates the potential benefits of responding rapidly to initial reports of non-native species in a way that may curtail establishment and expansion. The method advocated in simple and can be recommended to the appropriate regulatory authorities.

Testing a social ecological model for relations between political violence and child adjustment in Northern Ireland

Relations between political violence and child adjustment are matters of international concern. Past research demonstrates the significance of community, family, and child psychological processes in child adjustment, supporting study of interrelations between multiple social ecological factors and child adjustment in contexts of political violence. Testing a social ecological model, 300 mothers and their children (M = 12.28 years, SD = 1.77) from Catholic and Protestant working class neighborhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland, completed measures or community discord, family relations, and children's regulatory processes (i.e., emotional security) and outcomes. Historical political violence in neighborhoods based on objective records (i.e., politically motivated deaths) were related to family members' reports of current sectarian antisocial behavior and nonsectarian antisocial behavior. Interparental conflict and parental monitoring and children's emotional security about both the community and family contributed to explanatory pathways for relations between sectarian antisocial behavior in communities and children's adjustment problems. The discussion evaluates support for social ecological models for relations between political violence and child adjustment and its implications for understanding relations in other parts of the world.

The status of the cryptic bat species, Myotis mystacinus and Myotis brandtii in Ireland

The recent identification of Myotis brandtii in Ireland raised the possibility that many roosts previously identified as M. mystacinus had the potential of being misidentified M. brandtii. Thus, the distribution and population estimates for M. mystacinus may have been over-estimated, while M. brandtii may have been under-estimated. Results from an all Ireland genetic survey of known M. mystacinus maternity roosts confirm that no long term misidentification has taken place. All specimens caught and sampled were M. mystacinus. Additonally, no further records of M. brandtii were found during six nights of woodland trapping using the acoustic lure. While the status of M. mystacinus in Ireland is now listed as ‘least concern’ in the Irish Red List, M. brandtii is listed as ‘data deficient’ and cannot currently be considered a resident species

Characterization of 14 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the facultatively eusocial sweat bee Halictus rubicundus (Hymenoptera, Halictidae) and their variability in related species

Sweat bees display considerable variation in social organization and a few species, such as Halictus rubicundus, are even facultatively eusocial. Fourteen polymorphic, unlinked microsatellite loci were isolated from H. rubicundus and characterized in 45 females. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to 18 (mean 10.1), observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.24 to 0.98 (mean 0.71) and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.24 to 0.98 (mean 0.70). Six or more loci cross-amplified in four other sweat bees. These loci will be useful for the study of social evolution and population genetic structure in H. rubicundus and many other sweat bees.

The relationship between agricultural intensification and biological control: experimental tests across Europe

Agricultural intensification can affect biodiversity and related ecosystem services such as biological control, but large-scale experimental evidence is missing. We examined aphid pest populations in cereal fields under experimentally reduced densities of (1) ground-dwelling predators (-G), (2) vegetation-dwelling predators and parasitoids (-V), (3) a combination of (1) and (2) (-G-V),compared with open-fields (control), in contrasting landscapes with low vs. high levels of agricultural intensification (AI), and in five European regions. Aphid populations were 28%, 97%, and 199% higher in -G, -V, and -G -V treatments, respectively, compared to the open fields, indicating synergistic effects of both natural-enemy groups. Enhanced parasitoid : host and predator : prey ratios were related to reduced aphid population density and population growth. The relative importance of parasitoids and vegetation-dwelling predators greatly differed among European regions, and agricultural intensification affected biological control and aphid density only in some regions. This shows a changing role of species group identity in diverse enemy communities and a need to consider region-specific landscape management.

Understanding and predicting ecological dynamics: Are major surprises inevitable?

Ecological surprises, substantial and unanticipated changes in the abundance of one or more species that result from previously unsuspected processes, are a common outcome of both experiments and observations in community and population ecology. Here, we give examples of such surprises along with the results of a survey of well-established field ecologists, most of whom have encountered one or more surprises over the course of their careers. Truly surprising results are common enough to require their consideration in any reasonable effort to characterize nature and manage natural resources. We classify surprises as dynamic-, pattern-, or intervention-based, and we speculate on the common processes that cause ecological systems to so often surprise us. A long-standing and still growing concern in the ecological literature is how best to make predictions of future population and community dynamics. Although most work on this subject involves statistical aspects of data analysis and modeling, the frequency and nature of ecological surprises imply that uncertainty cannot be easily tamed through improved analytical procedures, and that prudent management of both exploited and conserved communities will require precautionary and adaptive management approaches.

The repertoire of G protein-coupled receptors in the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni and the model organism Schmidtea mediterranea.

Background

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute one of the largest groupings of eukaryotic proteins, and represent a particularly lucrative set of pharmaceutical targets. They play an important role in eukaryotic signal transduction and physiology, mediating cellular responses to a diverse range of extracellular stimuli. The phylum Platyhelminthes is of considerable medical and biological importance, housing major pathogens as well as established model organisms. The recent availability of genomic data for the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni and the model planarian Schmidtea mediterranea paves the way for the first comprehensive effort to identify and analyze GPCRs in this important phylum.

Results

Application of a novel transmembrane-oriented approach to receptor mining led to the discovery of 117 S. mansoni GPCRs, representing all of the major families; 105 Rhodopsin, 2 Glutamate, 3 Adhesion, 2 Secretin and 5 Frizzled. Similarly, 418 Rhodopsin, 9 Glutamate, 21 Adhesion, 1 Secretin and 11 Frizzled S. mediterranea receptors were identified. Among these, we report the identification of novel receptor groupings, including a large and highly-diverged Platyhelminth-specific Rhodopsin subfamily, a planarian-specific Adhesion-like family, and atypical Glutamate-like receptors. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out following extensive gene curation. Support vector machines (SVMs) were trained and used for ligand-based classification of full-length Rhodopsin GPCRs, complementing phylogenetic and homology-based classification.

Conclusions

Genome-wide investigation of GPCRs in two platyhelminth genomes reveals an extensive and complex receptor signaling repertoire with many unique features. This work provides important sequence and functional leads for understanding basic flatworm receptor biology, and sheds light on a lucrative set of anthelmintic drug targets.

Molecular dynamics studies of the STAT3 homodimer:DNA complex: relationships between STAT3 mutations and protein-DNA recognition.

Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STAT) proteins are a group of latent cytoplasmic transcription factors involved in cytokine signaling. STAT3 is a member of the STAT family and is expressed at elevated levels in a large number of diverse human cancers and is now a validated target for anticancer drug discovery.. Understanding the dynamics of the STAT3 dimer interface, accounting for both protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions, with respect to the dynamics of the latent unphosphorylated STAT3 monomer, is important for designing potential small-molecule inhibitors of the activated dimer. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to study the activated STAT3 homodimer:DNA complex and the latent unphosphorylated STAT3 monomer in an explicit water environment. Analysis of the data obtained from MD simulations over a 50 ns time frame has suggested how the transcription factor interacts with DNA, the nature of the conformational changes, and ways in which function may be affected. Examination of the dimer interface, focusing on the protein-DNA interactions, including involvement of water molecules, has revealed the key residues contributing to the recognition events involved in STAT3 protein-DNA interactions. This has shown that the majority of mutations in the DNA-binding domain are found at the protein-DNA interface. These mutations have been mapped in detail and related to specific protein-DNA contacts. Their structural stability is described, together with an analysis of the model as a starting-point for the discovery of novel small-molecule STAT3 inhibitors.