Comprehensive policies for victims of sexual assault returning to the campus classroom: Lessons from university sports-related concussion policies.

ObjectiveThe current paper presents a comparison of university policies and health and academic accommodations offered to undergraduate students following sexual assault (SA) and sports-related concussions (SRC). Procedures and protocols for universities to consider adapting from their SRC policies to their SA policies are detailed. The SRC and SA policies at the 50 United States public flagship universities were analyzed.

Identification of methylation changes associated with positive and negative growth deviance in Gambian infants using a targeted methyl sequencing approach of genomic DNA.

Low birthweight and reduced height gain during infancy (stunting) may arise at least in part from adverse early life environments that trigger epigenetic reprogramming that may favor survival. We examined differential DNA methylation patterns using targeted methyl sequencing of regions regulating gene activity in groups of rural Gambian infants: (a) low and high birthweight (DNA from cord blood ( = 16 and  = 20, respectively), from placental trophoblast tissue ( = 21 and  = 20, respectively), and DNA from peripheral blood collected from infants at 12 months of age ( = 23 and  = 17, respectively)), and, (b) the top 10% showing rapid postnatal length gain (high,  = 20) and the bottom 10% showing slow postnatal length gain (low,  = 20) based on z score change between birth and 12 months of age (LAZ) (DNA from peripheral blood collected from infants at 12 months of age). Using BiSeq analysis to identify significant methylation marks, for birthweight, four differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified in trophoblast DNA, compared to 68 DMRs in cord blood DNA, and 54 DMRs in 12-month peripheral blood DNA.

Anthropometric, physical function and general health markers of Masters athletes: a cross-sectional study.

Once the general decline in muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance falls below specific thresholds, the middle aged or older adult will be diagnosed as having sarcopenia (a loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength). Sarcopenia contributes to a range of adverse events in older age including disability, hospitalisation, institutionalisation and falls. One potentially relevant but understudied population for sarcopenia researchers would be Masters athletes.

Impact on offspring methylation patterns of maternal gestational diabetes mellitus and intrauterine growth restraint suggest common genes and pathways linked to subsequent type 2 diabetes risk.

Size at birth, postnatal weight gain, and adult risk for type 2 diabetes may reflect environmental exposures during developmental plasticity and may be mediated by epigenetics. Both low birth weight (BW), as a marker of fetal growth restraint, and high birth weight (BW), especially after gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), have been linked to increased risk of adult type 2 diabetes. We assessed DNA methylation patterns using a bead chip in cord blood samples from infants of mothers with GDM (group 1) and infants with prenatal growth restraint indicated by rapid postnatal catch-up growth (group 2), compared with infants with normal postnatal growth (group 3).

An association and haplotype analysis of porcine maternal infanticide: a model for human puerperal psychosis?

An association analysis using the Illumina porcine SNP60 beadchip was performed to identify SNPs significantly associated with porcine maternal infanticide. We previously hypothesised that this was a good animal model for human puerperal psychosis, an extreme form of postnatal mood disorder. Animals were selected from carefully phenotyped unrelated infanticide and control groups (representing extremes of the phenotypic spectrum), from four different lines.

Gene structure and expression of serotonin receptor HTR2C in hypothalamic samples from infanticidal and control sows.

Background: The serotonin pathways have been implicated in behavioural phenotypes in a number of species, including human, rat, mouse, dog and chicken. Components of the pathways, including the receptors, are major targets for drugs used to treat a variety of physiological and psychiatric conditions in humans. In our previous studies we have identified genetic loci potentially contributing to maternal infanticide in pigs, which includes a locus on the porcine X chromosome long arm.

Cloning, mapping and molecular characterization of porcine progesterone receptor membrane component 2 (PGRMC2) gene.

Progesterone plays an important role in sow reproduction by stimulating classic genomic pathways via nuclear receptors and non-genomic pathways via membrane receptors such a progesterone receptor membrane component 2 (PGRMC2). In this work, we used radiation hybrid mapping to assign PGRMC2 to pig chromosome 8 and observed that this receptor has two transcripts in pigs. The full-length cDNA of the large transcript is 1858 bp long and contains a 669-bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 223 amino acids.

Responsiveness of 2 procedures for measurement of temporal and spatial gait parameters in older adults.

Objective: To determine the responsiveness of the GAITRite system and a stopwatch-footfall count technique for measurement of walking speed, cadence, and stride length during comfortable and fast-paced walking.

Design: Criterion standard.

Setting: Research laboratory in a physical therapy education program.

Analysis of X chromosome genomic DNA sequence copy number variation associated with premature ovarian failure (POF).

Background: Premature ovarian failure (POF) is a heterogeneous disease defined as amenorrhoea for >6 months before age 40, with an FSH serum level >40 mIU/ml (menopausal levels). While there is a strong genetic association with POF, familial studies have also indicated that idiopathic POF may also be genetically linked. Conventional cytogenetic analyses have identified regions of the X chromosome that are strongly associated with ovarian function, as well as several POF candidate genes.

Analysis of the non-recombining Y chromosome defines polymorphisms in domestic pig breeds: ancestral bases identified by comparative sequencing.

Sequences from 20 amplicons representing nine different loci and 11369bp from the short arm of the pig Y chromosome were compared using pools of DNA from different European and Chinese breeds. A total of 33 polymorphic sites were identified, including five indels and 28 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Three high frequency SNPs within the coding regions of SRY were further analysed across 889 males representing 25 European and 25 Asian breeds or Lines, plus a European Line of Meishan.

Number of strides required for reliable measurements of pace, rhythm and variability parameters of gait during normal and dual task walking in older individuals.

The reliability with which spatiotemporal gait parameters are measured has neither been well-established for variability parameters nor during dual task walking. The purpose of this study was to examine test-retest reliability of three gait parameters representing pace, rhythm and variability in healthy older persons during normal and dual task walking and to determine the number of strides necessary to measure the parameters reliably. Twenty-four healthy adults aged 65 or older participated in the study.

Porcine maternal infanticide as a model for puerperal psychosis.

Childbirth is a period of substantial rapid biological and psychological change and a wide range of psychotic disorders can occur ranging from mild 'baby blues' to severe episodes of psychotic illnesses. Puerperal psychosis is the most extreme form of postnatal psychosis, occurring in 1 in 1,000 births. In this study, we have used the pig as an animal model for human postnatal psychiatric illness.

Chromosomal mapping, sequence and transcription analysis of the porcine fertilin beta gene (ADAM2).

Fertilin beta (ADAM2) forms a part of the heterodimeric surface protein fertilin, found on the plasma membrane of mammalian sperm, and has been implicated in the process of sperm-egg fusion. Analysis of cDNA products obtained from adult porcine testis mRNA has presented a sequence corresponding to 2620 bp of the ADAM2 gene. This sequence contained an open reading frame encoding a 735-amino acid protein and homologous to ADAM2 genes known in other mammalian species.

X/XY/XYY mosaicism as a cause of subfertility in boars: a single case study.

Sex chromosome abnormalities are common in mammals and humans and are often associated with subfertility. In this study a boar with normal sperm parameters was indicated to have reduced prolificacy from figures obtained for return rate, farrowing rate and total number of piglets born. G-banded cytogenetic analysis of peripheral blood identified an abnormal mosaic sex chromosome constitution 39,XYY[74]/38,XY[23]/37,X[3].

Cytogenetic and Y chromosome microdeletion screening of a random group of infertile males.

Objective: To assess whether to perform routine cytogenetic and Y chromosome microdeletion screening on all infertile male patients.

Design: A cytogenetic and Y microdeletion study of a random group of infertile men.

Setting: University department.

A mapping and evolutionary study of porcine sex chromosome genes.

A combination of FISH and RH mapping was used to study the evolution of sex chromosome genes in the pig. In total, 19 genes were identified, including 3 PAR genes (STS, KAL, PRK). The gene order of the porcine X Chromosome (Chr) closely resembled the human X Chr (PRK/STS/KAL-AMELX-EIF2s3X/ZFX-USP9X-DBX-SMCX), suggesting that the porcine X has undergone very little rearrangement during evolution.

Characterization of the porcine sperm adhesion molecule gene SPAM1- expression analysis, genomic structure, and chromosomal mapping.

Sequence analysis of cDNA products, derived from adult porcine testis mRNA, gave overlapping nucleotide sequence correlating to 1952 bp of the sperm adhesion molecule 1 (SPAM1) gene. This sequence was shown to be homologous to SPAM1 genes known in other mammalian species and contained an open reading frame encoding a 493-amino acid protein. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), using a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone from the PigE BAC library, was used to map SPAM1 to chromosome 18 of the pig.

SHIRPA, a protocol for behavioral assessment: validation for longitudinal study of neurological dysfunction in mice.

Mouse models of neurological abnormalities are only valuable if accurately assessed. The three-stage SHIRPA procedure is used for the standardised assessment of mouse phenotype and has been reported in a high throughput experiment in which different mutants were ascertained at one age point using stage 1 of the protocol. In this study we have validated SHIRPA using a large cohort with one single mutation, 'legs at odd angles that causes neurological dysfunction.

Aneuploidy screening in direct chorionic villus samples by fluorescence in situ hybridisation: the use of commercial probes in a clinical setting.

The results of screening for the common aneuploidies involving chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y by florescent in-situ hybridisation (FISH) in direct preparations from 100 chorionic villus samples from pregnancies between 10 and 20 weeks' gestation are reported. Samples prepared using routine methods and analysed with commercially available probes, accurately detected 12 cases of fetal aneuploidy, all referred because of developmental abnormality. Three of the four cases where chromosome abnormality was detected in cultured villi but not by the direct fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) assay, were due to confined placental mosaicism.

Rapid detection of chromosomes X and Y aneuploidies by quantitative fluorescent PCR.

Quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR) assays and small tandem repeat (STR) markers have been successfully employed for the rapid detection of major numerical aneuploidies affecting human autosomes. So far, the analysis of chromosomes X and Y disorders has been hampered by the rarity of highly polymorphic markers which could distinguish normal female homozygous PCR patterns from those seen in patients with Turner's syndrome. A new marker (X22) of the X/Y chromosomes has been identified which maps in the Xq/Yq pseudoautosomal region PAR2; used together with the HPRT it allows the rapid diagnosis of numerical aneuploidies of the sex chromosomes.

Use of SHIRPA and discriminant analysis to characterise marked differences in the behavioural phenotype of six inbred mouse strains.

Detailed characterisation of six inbred strains of mice commonly used in transgenic and knockout research was carried out using a battery of behavioural tests (SHIRPA) followed by discriminant analysis of the data. In the primary observation screen, DBA/2 mice were relatively irritable and vocalised during handling. C57BL/6 were hyperactive as measured by transfer arousal, arena activity and touch-escape tests.

A familial case of X chromosome deletion ascertained by cytogenetic screening of women with premature ovarian failure.

The association between X chromosome deletions and premature ovarian failure is well established. Previous anecdotal reports however, have not documented the prevalence of X deletions in women with premature ovarian failure. We therefore performed cytogenetic analyses on 79 women with primary or secondary amenorrhoea to assess the utility of screening for a genetic marker for familial premature ovarian failure.