Differing community responses to similar public health threats: a cross-disciplinary systematic literature review.

Background: The way in which different communities respond to similar threats to their health can vary, from outrage to indifference and public health agencies are often taken by surprise leading to potential loss of public confidence. The objective of this systematic literature review was to seek to better understand the community-level drivers that might explain the variability in response.

Methods: A vigorous systematic cross-disciplinary literature review was undertaken searching thirteen bibliographic databases and a variety of grey sources were screened.

Probing the consequences of antenna modification in cyanobacteria.

Photosynthetic organisms rely on antenna systems to harvest and deliver energy from light to reaction centers. In fluctuating photic environments, regulation of light harvesting is critical for a photosynthetic organism's survival. Here, we describe the use of a suite of phycobilisome mutants to probe the consequences of antenna truncation in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp.

Formation of gelsolin amyloid fibrils in the rough endoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle in the gelsolin mouse model of inclusion body myositis: comparative analysis to human sporadic inclusion body myositis.

Sporadic inclusion body myositis has a significant impact on the life of the elderly. Despite some similarities to other myopathies with established genetic defects, little is known about mechanisms of its development and no effective treatment is available. Therefore, there is a need for animal models that can faithfully reconstitute important aspects of this human disease.

PainDETECT: a suitable screening tool for neuropathic pain in patients with painful post-traumatic trigeminal nerve injuries?

The PainDETECT questionnaire (PD-Q), originally developed and validated in a multicentre study of neuropathic pain (NeP) patients with back pain, is increasingly being applied to other pain conditions. The present study assessed whether the PD-Q would be a suitable screening tool for detecting NeP in patients with post-traumatic inferior alveolar nerve injury (IANI) and lingual nerve injury (LNI). A prospective cohort of patients with clinically diagnosed neuropathy was given the PD-Q at their clinic appointment, or it was sent to them after their consultation.

Intrathecal gabapentin to treat chronic intractable noncancer pain.

Background: Oral gabapentin is approved as an anticonvulsant medication and to treat postherpetic neuralgia. Its nonopioid properties and presumed spinal site of analgesic action made the study on intrathecal gabapentin attractive to establish the minimum effective dose for a later, pivotal trial.

Methods: The authors examined the safety and efficacy of intrathecal gabapentin in a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial in a heterogeneous cohort of candidates with chronic pain for intrathecal drug therapy.

Hyperpolarized butyrate: a metabolic probe of short chain fatty acid metabolism in the heart.

Purpose: Butyrate, a short chain fatty acid, was studied as a novel hyperpolarized substrate for use in dynamic nuclear polarization enhanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy experiments, to define the pathways of short chain fatty acid and ketone body metabolism in real time.

Methods: Butyrate was polarized via the dynamic nuclear polarization process and subsequently dissolved to generate an injectable metabolic substrate. Metabolism was initially assessed in the isolated perfused rat heart, followed by evaluation in the in vivo rat heart.

Subgingival root brushing in deep human periodontal pockets.

Objective: The short-term clinical and microbiological effects of patient-applied subgingival root brushing were assessed on untreated deep human periodontal pockets.

Methods: Assessments of plaque, bleeding on probing, probing depth, total cultivable subgingival counts, and cultivable counts and proportions of six putative periodontal pathogens were carried out at baseline and after 14 days on two contralateral > or = 6 mm bleeding interproximal posterior sites in each of 11 adults with untreated chronic periodontitis. One of the sites was randomly assigned to daily patient-applied subgingival root brushing for 14 days, and the other to remain with the patient's pre-existing tooth brushing and flossing regimen.

Individual differences in the conditioned and unconditioned rat 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations elicited by repeated amphetamine exposure.

Rationale: Adult rats often produce 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), particularly the frequency-modulated varieties, in appetitive situations. These calls are thought by some to reflect positive affective states and the reinforcing value of drugs such as amphetamine and cocaine.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether the number of unconditioned 50-kHz USVs elicited by amphetamine predicts the development and/or magnitude of drug-conditioned motivation.

Baylisascaris procyonis infection in white-footed mice: predicting patterns of infection from landscape habitat attributes.

There is a growing body of evidence that habitat fragmentation resulting from anthropogenic land use can alter the transmission dynamics of infectious disease. Baylisascaris procyonis , a parasitic roundworm with the ability to cause fatal central nervous system disease in many mammals, including humans, is a zoonotic threat, and research suggests that parasite recruitment rates by intermediate hosts are highly variable among forest patches in fragmented landscapes. During 2008, we sampled 353 white-footed mice ( Peromyscus leucopus ) from 22 forest patches distributed throughout a fragmented agricultural ecosystem to determine the influence of landscape-level habitat attributes on infection rates of B.

Use of experimental translocations of Allegheny woodrat to decipher causal agents of decline.

Translocations are an important tool for wildlife conservation, although progress in the field of reintroduction biology has been hindered by the ad hoc and opportunistic nature of many translocations. We used an experimental translocation to elucidate the role of raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) and inbreeding depression in the decline of the Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister), an endangered species. We translocated woodrats from genetically diverse populations in the core of the species range to 4 previously occupied sites (reintroductions) and 2 sites supporting genetically depauperate populations (reinforcements) in Indiana (U.

A decadal view of biodiversity informatics: challenges and priorities.

Biodiversity informatics plays a central enabling role in the research community's efforts to address scientific conservation and sustainability issues. Great strides have been made in the past decade establishing a framework for sharing data, where taxonomy and systematics has been perceived as the most prominent discipline involved. To some extent this is inevitable, given the use of species names as the pivot around which information is organised.

FOXO4 is necessary for neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells.

Proteostasis is critical for maintaining cell function and proteome stability may play an important role in human embryonic stem cell (hESC) immortality. Notably, hESC populations exhibit a high assembly of active proteasomes, a key node of the proteostasis network. FOXO4, an insulin/IGF-1 responsive transcription factor, regulates proteasome activity in hESCs.

Bigh3 is upregulated in regenerating zebrafish fin.

Zebrafish is a good model for studying regeneration because of the rapidity with which it occurs. Better understanding of this process may lead in the future to improvement of the regenerating capacity of humans. Signaling factors are the second largest category of genes, regulated during regeneration after the regulators of wound healing.

Should I eXtract Every Six dental trial (SIXES): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Extraction of lower first permanent molars in children is common. There is uncertainty among clinicians as to whether a 'compensating extraction' (removal of the upper first permanent molar to prevent it over erupting) is necessary despite current guidelines recommending this. As a result, unnecessary dental extractions may be carried out or children may be failing to receive extractions required to achieve optimal long-term oral health.

Cluster-seeded synthesis of doped CdSe:Cu4 quantum dots.

We report here a method for synthesizing CdSe quantum dots (QDs) containing copper such that each QD is doped with four copper ions. The synthesis is a derivative of the cluster-seed method, whereby organometallic clusters act as nucleation centers for quantum dots. The method is tolerant of the chemical identity of the seed; as such, we have doped four copper ions into CdSe QDs using [Na(H2O)3]2[Cu4(SPh)6] as a cluster seed.

Optoacoustic multispectral imaging of radiolucent foreign bodies in tissue.

Optoacoustic imaging is an emerging medical technology that uniquely combines the absorption contrast of optical imaging and the penetration depth of ultrasound. While it is not currently employed as a clinical imaging modality, the results of current research strongly support the use of optoacoustic-based methods in medical imaging. One such application is the diagnosis of the presence of soft tissue foreign bodies.

Organization and flexibility of cyanobacterial thylakoid membranes examined by neutron scattering.

Cyanobacteria are prokaryotes that can use photosynthesis to convert sunlight into cellular fuel. Knowledge of the organization of the membrane systems in cyanobacteria is critical to understanding the metabolic processes in these organisms. We examined the wild-type strain of Synechocystis sp.

The other gastropod larvae: larval morphogenesis in a marine neritimorph.

Two of the three major gastropod clades with feeding larvae are sister groups and larval morphogenesis for members of these clades, the Caenogastropoda and Heterobranchia, has been well studied. The third clade, the Neritimorpha, has an unstable phylogenetic position and little is known about development of their planktotrophic larvae. Information about larval morphology of neritimorphs and resolution of their controversial phylogenetic placement is critically important for understanding evolution of larval feeding within the Gastropoda.

Timing of clade divergence and discordant estimates of genetic and morphological diversity in the Slender Madtom, Noturus exilis (Ictaluridae).

Phylogeographic relationships, the timing of clade diversification, and the potential for cryptic diversity in the Slender Madtom, Noturus exilis, was investigated using mitochondrial Cyt b, nuclear RAG2, shape analysis, and meristic and pigmentation data. Three well-supported and deeply divergent clades were recovered from analyses of genetic data: Little Red River (White River drainage) clade, Arkansas+Red River (Mississippi River) clade, and a large clade of populations from the rest of the range of the species. Recovered clades showed little to no diagnostic morphological differences, supporting previous hypotheses of morphological conservatism in catfishes, and indicating morphology may commonly underestimate diversity in this group of fishes.

Assessing perceptions about hazardous substances (PATHS): the PATHS questionnaire.

How people perceive the nature of a hazardous substance may determine how they respond when potentially exposed to it. We tested a new Perceptions AbouT Hazardous Substances (PATHS) questionnaire. In Study 1 (N = 21), we assessed the face validity of items concerning perceptions about eight properties of a hazardous substance.