Publications by authors named "Esther Watson"

Despite Medicaid's importance as a payer and source of coverage for mental health care, relatively little is known about how prevalence, access, and quality might vary among Medicaid beneficiaries. This study used national Medicaid data from 2018 to assess regional variations in emergency department (ED) visits for mental health conditions, a measure that may reflect unmet needs for behavioral health care. We found substantial variations, with rates in the region with the highest visit rates eight times higher than those in the region with the lowest rates.

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Background: Dietary protein and phosphorus (P) restriction is the mainstay for nutritional management of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, adequate restriction levels for cats with early CKD remain unclear.

Objectives: To investigate responses in cats with early CKD to varying dietary protein, P, and calcium (Ca) : P ratio.

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Women physicians have a long history of advocacy, dating to the 19th century women's suffrage movement. As history recounts the work of the suffragists, many women physicians bear mention. Some were leaders on the national scene, and others led suffrage efforts in their own state.

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Spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14) is a subtype of the autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias that is characterized by slowly progressive cerebellar dysfunction and neurodegeneration. SCA14 is caused by mutations in the PRKCG gene, encoding protein kinase C gamma (PKCγ). Despite the identification of 40 distinct disease-causing mutations in PRKCG, the pathological mechanisms underlying SCA14 remain poorly understood.

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The metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1) is abundantly expressed in the mammalian central nervous system, where it regulates intracellular calcium homeostasis in response to excitatory signaling. Here, we describe heterozygous dominant mutations in GRM1, which encodes mGluR1, that are associated with distinct disease phenotypes: gain-of-function missense mutations, linked in two different families to adult-onset cerebellar ataxia, and a de novo truncation mutation resulting in a dominant-negative effect that is associated with juvenile-onset ataxia and intellectual disability. Crucially, the gain-of-function mutations could be pharmacologically modulated in vitro using an existing FDA-approved drug, Nitazoxanide, suggesting a possible avenue for treatment, which is currently unavailable for ataxias.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lung infections caused by Mycobacterium abscessus, a multidrug-resistant mycobacteria, pose a significant threat to individuals with cystic fibrosis as they worsen lung damage and increase health risks.
  • Contrary to previous beliefs that these infections are acquired from the environment, recent genomic analysis shows many cases are actually spread through transmission from person to person, possibly via surfaces and aerosols.
  • The analysis also identified that dominant circulating clones of M. abscessus are linked to worse health outcomes and higher virulence, indicating an urgent global health challenge.
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Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology has emerged as an important tool in understanding, and potentially reversing, disease pathology. This is particularly true in the case of neurodegenerative diseases, in which the affected cell types are not readily accessible for study. Since the first descriptions of iPSC-based disease modelling, considerable advances have been made in understanding the aetiology and progression of a diverse array of neurodegenerative conditions, including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

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Arboviruses are transmitted by distantly related arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes (class Insecta) and ticks (class Arachnida). RNA interference (RNAi) is the major antiviral mechanism in arthropods against arboviruses. Unlike in mosquitoes, tick antiviral RNAi is not understood, although this information is important to compare arbovirus/host interactions in different classes of arbovirus vectos.

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Objective: To assess the nutritional adequacy of Seychellois children in relation to nutrients reported to be important for cognitive development.

Design: Dietary intakes were assessed by 4 d weighed food diaries and analysed using dietary analysis software (WISP version 3·0; Tinuviel Software, UK). Individual nutrient intakes were adjusted to usual intakes and, in order to investigate adequacy, were compared with the UK Estimated Average Requirements for children aged 4-6 years.

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