Interventions to increase physical activity: An analysis of candidate behavioural mechanisms.

Physical inactivity is a significant driver of health and social inequalities, particularly affecting socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. This poses a major challenge to policymakers worldwide. Despite the large volume of original research and reviews that focus on the design and evaluation of interventions to increase physical activity, there remains little consensus on which interventions are likely to work.

Is it riskier to meet 100 people outdoors or 14 people indoors? Comparing public and expert perceptions of COVID-19 risk.

People have limited capacity to process and integrate multiple sources of information, so how do they integrate multiple contextual risk factors for Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection? In June 2020, we elicited risk perceptions from a nationally representative sample of the public ( = 800) using three psychologically-distinct tasks. Responses were compared to a sample of medical experts who completed the same tasks. Relative to experts, the public perceived lower risk associated with environmental factors (such as whether a gathering takes place indoors or outdoors) and were less inclined to treat risk factors as multiplicative.

Loss of histone methyltransferase SETD1B in oogenesis results in the redistribution of genomic histone 3 lysine 4 trimethylation.

Histone 3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) is an epigenetic mark found at gene promoters and CpG islands. H3K4me3 is essential for mammalian development, yet mechanisms underlying its genomic targeting are poorly understood. H3K4me3 methyltransferases SETD1B and MLL2 (KMT2B) are essential for oogenesis.

Using decision aids to support self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: Self-isolation is a vital element of efforts to contain COVID-19. We set out to test whether decision aids can support self-isolation.

Design: We conducted a pre-registered online experiment with a nationally representative sample (n = 500).

Motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: An online experiment.

Rationale: Maintaining social distance during the COVID-19 pandemic can save lives. We therefore set out to test communication strategies to promote social distancing.

Objective: We aimed to test two novel public health messages against a control message.

It depends on how you ask: measuring bias in population surveys of compliance with COVID-19 public health guidance.

Objective: Accurate measurement of compliance with COVID-19 guidance is important for public health policy and communications. Responses to surveys, however, are susceptible to psychological biases, including framing effects and social desirability. Our aim was to measure the effects of these biases on estimates of compliance with public health guidance (eg, hand-washing, social distancing).

Dip-pen patterning of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) chain-conformation-based nano-photonic elements.

Metamaterials are a promising new class of materials, in which sub-wavelength physical structures, rather than variations in chemical composition, can be used to modify the nature of their interaction with electromagnetic radiation. Here we show that a metamaterials approach, using a discrete physical geometry (conformation) of the segments of a polymer chain as the vector for a substantial refractive index change, can be used to enable visible wavelength, conjugated polymer photonic elements. In particular, we demonstrate that a novel form of dip-pen nanolithography provides an effective means to pattern the so-called β-phase conformation in poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) thin films.

White light emission via cascade Förster energy transfer in (Ga, In)N quantum well/polymer blend hybrid structures.

We have studied the room-temperature non-radiative energy transfer processes in hybrid structures composed of (Ga, In)N/GaN single quantum wells and semiconducting polymer blend films placed in nanometre-scale proximity. The blends consist of three polyfluorene materials with concentrations adjusted so that they emit white light. Power-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements are used to investigate the process of energy transfer from the quantum wells to the different components of the polymer blend.

Chromosome 9p21.3 is associated with early-onset coronary heart disease in the Irish population.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a leading cause of death across the world. A region on chromosome 9p21.3 has been recently reported to be associated with CHD.

Variants in the nestin gene and coronary heart disease.

Background: The intermediate filament protein, nestin, may play a role in tissue regeneration and nestin expression has been detected in coronary atherosclerotic plaques. To date, no population-based studies concerning the role of the nestin gene in coronary heart disease (CHD) have been reported.

Methods And Results: The 3 SNPs in the nestin gene were genotyped in 1,494 individuals from 580 Irish families.

Genetic variants of complement factor H gene are not associated with premature coronary heart disease: a family-based study in the Irish population.

Background: The complement factor H (CFH) gene has been recently confirmed to play an essential role in the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). There are conflicting reports of its role in coronary heart disease. This study was designed to investigate if, using a family-based approach, there was an association between genetic variants of the CFH gene and risk of early-onset coronary heart disease.

Evidence that TRPC4 supports the calcium selective I(CRAC)-like current in human gingival keratinocytes.

We previously demonstrated that high external [Ca(2+)] activated two Ca(2+) currents in human gingival keratinocytes (HGKs): an initial small I(CRAC)-like current and a second large nonspecific cation current (Fatherazi S, Belton CM, Cai S, Zarif S, Goodwin PC, Lamont RJ, Izutsu KT; Pflugers Arch 448:93-104, 2004). It was recently shown that TRPC1, a member of the transient receptor potential protein family, is a component of the store-operated calcium entry mechanism in keratinocytes. To further elucidate the molecular identity of these channels, we investigated the expression of TRPC4 in gingival tissue and in cultured keratinocytes, and the effect of knockdown of TRPC4 expression on the Ca(2+) currents and influx.

Lack of MEF2A Delta7aa mutation in Irish families with early onset ischaemic heart disease, a family based study.

Background: Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is a complex disease due to the combination of environmental and genetic factors. Mutations in the MEF2A gene have recently been reported in patients with IHD. In particular, a 21 base pair deletion (Delta7aa) in the MEF2A gene was identified in a family with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance of IHD.

Evidence that TRPC1 contributes to calcium-induced differentiation of human keratinocytes.

External calcium ion concentration is a major regulator of epidermal keratinocyte differentiation in vitro and probably also in vivo. Regulation of calcium-induced differentiation changes is proposed to occur via an external calcium-sensing, signaling pathway that utilizes increases in intracellular calcium ion concentration to activate differentiation-related gene expression. Calcium ion release from intracellular stores and calcium ion influx via store-operated calcium-permeable channels are key elements in this proposed signaling pathway; however, the channels involved have not yet been identified.

TRPC channel expression during calcium-induced differentiation of human gingival keratinocytes.

Background: Extracellular calcium is an important regulator of keratinocyte differentiation. An increase in intracellular calcium ion concentration is required for activation of calcium-induced keratinocyte differentiation. The signaling elements in this differentiation response include the calcium sensing receptor, phospholipase C, release of calcium ions from intracellular stores, and store-operated calcium channels.

Family-based association studies of lipid gene polymorphisms in coronary artery disease.

Dysfunction of lipid-metabolizing proteins is implicated in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes that encode sterol regulatory binding protein-1a, adenosine triphosphate binding cassette-A1, hepatic lipase, lipoprotein lipase, and cholesteryl ester transfer protein were assessed as potential markers of disease susceptibility in a family-based study of 1,012 patients from 386 families. Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms and coronary artery disease was tested by the combined transmission disequilibrium test/sib transmission disequilibrium test and pedigree disequilibrium test.

Isolation and characterisation of a human monoclonal autoantibody to the islet cell autoantigen IA-2.

A hybridoma secreting a human monoclonal autoantibody to the islet cell autoantigen IA-2 was prepared from peripheral lymphocytes of a patient with type 1 diabetes and Graves' disease using EBV infection followed by fusion with a mouse/human hybrid cell line. The monoclonal antibody (M13) is an IgG1/kappa and in an immunofluorescence test M13 at 1 microg/mL showed islet cell antibody reactivity equivalent to 40 JDF units. M13 IgG bound (35)S-labelled IA-2 (26% at 100 microg/mL) and (125)I-labelled IA-2 (34% at 100 microg/mL) in an immunoprecipitation assay and reacted well with IA-2 in western blotting analysis.

The intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) gene K469E polymorphism is not associated with ischaemic heart disease: an investigation using family-based tests of association.

The possible role of the K469E polymorphism in the intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) gene in the susceptibility to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was investigated in a well-defined Irish population using two recently described family-based tests of association. One thousand and twelve individuals from 386 families with at least one member prematurely affected with IHD were genotyped for the ICAM-1 K469E polymorphism. Using the combined transmission disequilibrium test (TDT)/sib-TDT and the pedigree disequilibrium test (PDT), no association between the ICAM-1 K469E polymorphism and IHD was found.

Lack of association between the -2518G/A polymorphism of the MCP-1 gene and ischaemic heart disease: a family-based investigation.

Using two recently described family-based tests of association, the possible role of the functional -2518G/A polymorphism in the promoter region of the monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) gene in the susceptibility to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was investigated in a well-defined Irish population. One thousand and twelve individuals from 386 families with at least one member prematurely affected with IHD were genotyped for the MCP-1 -2518G/A polymorphism. Using the combined transmission disequilibrium test and the pedigree disequilibrium test, no association between the MCP-1 -2518G/A polymorphism and IHD was found.

Calcium oscillations in gingival epithelial cells infected with Porphyromonas gingivalis.

The periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis modulates epithelial cell signal transduction pathways including Ca2+ signaling, and internalizes within the host cell cytoplasm. Since nuclear and cytoplasmic [Ca2+] increases can induce different host cell responses, P. gingivalis-related [Ca2+] changes in these compartments were measured by digital fluorescent imaging microscopy.

Paraoxonase polymorphisms PON1 192 and 55 and longevity in Italian centenarians and Irish nonagenarians. A pooled analysis.

Background: PON1, an arylesterase, associated with high density lipoprotein (HDL), protects low density lipoprotein (LDL) against oxidative modification. Common polymorphisms PON1 55 (L/M) and 192 (Q/R) in the PON1 gene associate with atherosclerosis and heart disease. Because long-lived people seem protected from premature vascular death, we conducted a pooled statistical analysis to assess any association between these polymorphisms and longevity in a large combined group of Italian centenarians and octo/nonagenarians from Northern Ireland (NI).

Calcium receptor message, expression and function decrease in differentiating keratinocytes.

Calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) expression and function were studied in proliferating and differentiating cultured human gingival keratinocytes (HGKs). CaSR mRNA and protein were present in proliferating HGKs cultured in 0.03 mM [Ca(2+)] and decreased in cells induced to differentiate by culturing in 1.

Sequential activation of store-operated currents in human gingival keratinocytes.

Calcium ion store-activated currents in undifferentiated human gingival keratinocytes were measured with the whole cell patch clamp and fura techniques. Thapsigargin or intracellular inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and BAPTA rapidly induced an early transient current with I(CRAC) (calcium release activated calcium ion current) characteristics, and several later, larger sustained currents that depended on the mode of store depletion. Thapsigargin activated two currents within minutes of I(CRAC) activation.