Identification of NPY-induced c-Fos expression in hypothalamic neurones projecting to the dorsal vagal complex and the lower thoracic spinal cord

Neuropeptide Y exerts profound effects on body weight and glucose homeostasis. We have investigated the effect of centrally administered neuropeptide Y on the activity of descending neurones of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus by combining retrograde tract tracing with c-Fos immunocytochemistry. Male rats were injected with True Blue into the dorsal vagal complex and with FluoroGold into the intermediolateral column of the lower thoracic spinal cord. One week after the last surgical procedure, animals were injected centrally with an orexigenic dose of neuropeptide Y (5 microg) and sacrificed 60 to 240 minutes following this injection. Temporal analysis of NPY-induced c-Fos expression showed a peak at 90 minutes, which was nearly returned to basal levels between 120 and 240 minutes. Expression of c-Fos was prominent in several of the subnuclei of the paraventricular nucleus and in the adjacent perifornical nucleus. Neurones projecting to the spinal cord were prominent in the dorsal, lateral, and ventral portion of the medial parvicellular subnuclei of the PVN. About 15% of IML projecting neurones of the medial parvicellular subnucleus were Fos-positive, whereas less than 5% of IML projecting neurones from other subnuclei were Fos-positive. Hardly any PVN neurones projecting to the dorsal vagal complex were concomitantly Fos-positive. A considerably larger (>10%) proportion of perifornical neurones projecting to the nucleus of the solitary tract were c-Fos-immunopositive. In conclusion, NPY induces c-Fos in paraventricular neurones projecting to intermediolateral column of the spinal cord and in neurones of the perifornical nucleus projecting to the dorsal vagal complex.     

External Assessment of the GEMA2009 Recommendations by a Multidisciplinary Expert Panel on Asthma

ObjectivesTo assess the level of agreement on the GEMA 2009 clinical recommendations by a Spanish expert panel on asthma.Materials and methodsThe study was divided into four stages: 1) establishment of a 9 member scientific committee (GEMA authors) for selection of GEMA recommendations to use in the survey; 2) formation of a panel of 74 professionals with expertise in this field (pulmonologists, allergists, family doctors, ear, nose and throat and paediatric specialists); 3) Delphi survey in two rounds, sent by mail, with intermediate processing of opinions and a report to the panel members; and 4) analysis and discussion of results for the Scientific Committee.ResultsSeventy four participants completed the two rounds of survey. During the first round, a consensus was reached in 49 out of 56 questions analysed. Following discussion by the panel, the consensus was increased to a total of 53 items in the survey. With respect to the remaining questions, Insufficient consensus was obtained on the rest of the questions, due to differing views between sub-specialists, or lack of criteria by most of the experts.ConclusionsThe external analysis by asthma experts from different specialities showed a high level of professional agreement with the GEMA 2009 recommendations in Spain (96.5 %). The disagreement shown in three recommendations reflect the lack of a high level evidence. These issues represent areas of interest for future research.     

Clinical predictors of cardiac and arterial lesions in carotid transient ischemic attacks

In 205 patients with carotid transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) who underwent full angiographic and cardiac investigations, we found that ipsilateral carotid bruit and triggering of TIA by exertion or standing up suggested a carotid lesion. Angina pectoris or palpitations at onset of TIA suggested a cardiac source of emboli. Patients with only one TIA, multiple identical attacks, progression of symptoms over minutes, and appropriate infarct on computed tomograms (28%) were likely to show a potential arterial or cardiac cause for the TIAs in subsequent investigations. Transient monocular blindness correlated with carotid occlusion, but the severity of the carotid lesion did not influence the duration and repetition of attacks. Transient ischemic attacks in multiple territories, identical attacks, and multiple or silent infarcts on computed tomograms occurred equally in the patients with arterial lesions and those with cardiac lesions. These findings suggest that only a few, albeit important, conclusions regarding etiology can be drawn from the clinical characteristics of TIAs.     

Academic Surgical Oncologists’ Productivity Correlates with Gender,Grant Funding,and Institutional NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center Affiliation

Background

A scholar’s h-index is defined as the number of h papers published, each of which has been cited at least h times. We hypothesized that the h-index strongly correlates with the academic rank of surgical oncologists.

Methods

We utilized the National Cancer Institute (NCI) website to identify NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCC) and Doximity to identify the 50 highest-ranked general surgery residency programs with surgical oncology divisions. Demographic data of respective academic surgical oncologists were collected from departmental websites and Grantome. Bibliometric data were obtained from Web of Science.

Results

We identified 544 surgical oncologists from 64 programs. Increased h-index was associated with academic rank (p?<?0.001), male gender (p?<?0.001), number of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants (p?<?0.001), and affiliation with an NCI CCC (p?=?0.018) but not number of additional degrees (p?=?0.661) or Doximity ranking (p?=?0.102). H-index was a stronger predictor of academic rank (r?=?0.648) than total publications (r?=?0.585) or citations (r?=?0.450).

Conclusions

This is the first report to assess the h-index within academic surgical oncology. H-index is a bibliometric predictor of academic rank that correlates with NIH grant funding and NCI CCC affiliation. We also highlight a previously unexpected and unappreciated gender disparity in the academic productivity of US surgical oncologists. When academic rank was accounted for, female surgical oncologists had lower h-indices compared with their male colleagues. Evaluation of the etiologies of this gender disparity is needed to address barriers to academic productivity faced by female surgical oncologists as they progress through their careers.

     

Validation of a questionnaire to evaluate the quality of life of nonprofessional caregivers of dependent persons

AIM OF THE STUDY: To determine the acceptance, validity and reliability of the questionnaire for assessing the type of informal care that caregivers of dependent people give and the effects this care might have on the health of the carer. BACKGROUND: In Spain, the formal health care system provides 12% of the total time dedicated to health care, the remaining 88% is carried out by the informal system within the home environment. The act of caring has effects on various areas of the life of the carer and on family functioning. This makes clear the existing risk when the principal carer becomes a secondary nurse. METHODS: This research was a cross-sectional design, carried out in municipalities in the province of Barcelona (Spain) from January to December 1997. The subjects of the study were 240 caregivers of dependent people. The questionnaire (ICUB97Copyright ) is based on the Virginia Henderson's 14 Needs nursing model. The validity of the content was assessed through the consensus of a group of experts, validity of design by means of comparison with the hypotheses. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability was completed for the three parts of the questionnaire and the kappa index values was 0.89, 0.80 and 0.75 for each part. The higher the level of dependency of the person cared for, the more care tasks the carer had to perform. A correlation coefficient of 0.58 was obtained for the Barthel Index (P < 0.001) and 0.53 on the Philadelphia Index (P < 0.001). The care tasks performed by the carer showing greatest correlation with dependency level were; help with elimination (r=0.73, P < 0.001), help with feeding (r=0.55, P < 0.001) and help in personal development (r=0.55, P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This questionnaire provides a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the care given by caregivers to dependent people, to meet their basic needs as well as for assessing the needs of the carers who experience problems by the act of caring. It is therefore important for nursing practice, to have a validated instrument available for identifying the tasks performed by family carers and the effects on their health.     

Relation Between Genetic Factors and Frailty in Older Adults

ObjectivesFrailty is a geriatric syndrome that identifies individuals at higher risk of disability, institutionalization, and death. We previously reported that frailty is related to oxidative stress and cognitive impairment-related biomarkers. The aim of this study was to determine whether frailty is associated with genetic variants.DesignLongitudinal population-based cohort of 2488 community-dwelling people from Toledo, Spain, aged 65 years or older.Setting and participantsWe obtained blood samples from 78 individuals with frailty and 74 nonfrail individuals who were nonfrail (according to Fried criteria) from the Toledo Study of Healthy Ageing and extracted DNA using the Chemagic DNA blood kit.MeasuresSample genotyping was carried out by means of Axiom Exome 319 Genotyping Array (Thermo Fisher Scientific), which contains 295,988 markers [single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and rare variants], and transferred to the GeneTitan Instrument (Affymetrix).ResultsWe found 15 SNPs (P < .001), 18 genes (P < .005), and 4 pathways (P < .05) related to cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, regulation of autophagy, and renin-angiotensin system as the most strongly associated with frailty.Conclusions/ImplicationsThe specific genetic features related to energy metabolism, biological processes regulation, cognition, and inflammation highlighted by this preliminary analysis offer useful insights for finding biologically meaningful biomarkers of frailty that allow early diagnosis and treatment. Further research is needed to confirm our novel findings in a larger population. Indeed, the EU-funded FRAILOMICS research effort will address this question.     

Linking chemical contamination to biological effects in coastal pollution monitoring

To establish the connection between pollutant levels and their harmful effects on living resources, coastal monitoring programmes have incorporated biological tools, such as the scope for growth (SFG) in marine mussels and benthic macrofauna community indices. Although the relation between oxygen-depleting anthropogenic inputs and the alteration of benthic communities is well described, the effects of chemical pollutants are unknown because they are not expected to favour any particular taxa. In this study, the combined efforts of five research teams involved in the investigative monitoring of marine pollution allowed the generation of a multiyear data set for Ría de Vigo (NW Iberian Peninsula). Multivariate analysis of these data allowed the identification of the chemical-matrix combinations responsible for most of the variability among sites and the construction of a chemical pollution index (CPI) that significantly (P?相似文献   

Type-1 Collagen differentially alters β-catenin accumulation in primary Dupuytren's Disease cord and adjacent palmar fascia cells

Background  

Dupuytren's Disease (DD) is a debilitating contractile fibrosis of the palmar fascia characterised by excess collagen deposition, contractile myofibroblast development, increased Transforming Growth Factor-β levels and β-catenin accumulation. The aim of this study was to determine if a collagen-enriched environment, similar to in vivo conditions, altered β-catenin accumulation by primary DD cells in the presence or absence of Transforming Growth Factor-β.