This research presents an in-depth study of ten-year adoption outcomes for 24 developmentally vulnerable African-American infants and toddlers and their parents. Overall the families reported feeling ...well bonded and satisfied with their children's progress, their family life, and the adoption experience. For the most part, the children were also doing reasonably well and had quite positive self esteem. This was despite the fact that some children had learning disabilities, some of the early adolescent males displayed oppositional social behavior, and some parents reported apparent contradictory perceptions of family cohesion and coping.
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BFBNIB, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
2.
CREATING A CITY Ober, Gail
The News Press,
05/2000
Newspaper Article
Tonight, city council members will vote whether to approve a contract for a consulting firm to help with the initial start-up and daily operations of the city. A six-month contract at $37,500 a ...month includes a full-time city manager and executive secretary at the city hall and, as needed, a finance director, accounting staff, city clerk, executive secretary and clerical staff.
Despite the fact that hundreds of genes are known to affect fertility in animal models, relatively little is known about genes that influence natural fertility in humans. To broadly survey genes ...contributing to variation in male fertility, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of two fertility traits (family size and birth rate) in 269 married men who are members of a founder population of European descent that proscribes contraception and has large family sizes. Associations between ∼250,000 autosomal SNPs and the fertility traits were examined. A total of 41 SNPs with p ≤ 1 × 10−4 for either trait were taken forward to a validation study of 123 ethnically diverse men from Chicago who had previously undergone semen analyses. Nine (22%) of the SNPs associated with reduced fertility in the GWAS were also associated with one or more of the ten measures of reduced sperm quantity and/or function, yielding 27 associations with p values < 0.05 and seven with p values < 0.01 in the validation study. On the basis of 5,000 permutations of our data, the probabilities of observing this many or more small p values were 0.0014 and 5.6 × 10−4, respectively. Among the nine associated loci, outstanding candidates for male fertility genes include USP8, an essential deubiquitinating enzyme that has a role in acrosome assembly; UBD and EPSTI1, which have potential roles in innate immunity; and LRRC32, which encodes a latent transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) receptor on regulatory T cells. We suggest that mutations in these genes that are more severe may account for some of the unexplained infertility (or subfertility) in the general population.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Models of type-I diabetes are well-characterized and commonly used in the preclinical evaluation of drugs and medical devices. The diabetic minipig is an excellent example of a translational model. ...However, chronic glucose monitoring in this species can be challenging; frequent blood
sampling can be technically difficult and poorly tolerated in conscious swine. Skin-patch continuous blood glucose monitors are FDA-approved for human use and offer a potential refinement to cageside blood collection. However, this modality has not been evaluated in pigs. In this study, young
adult male STZ-induced diabetic Yucatan minipigs (n = 4) and healthy York pigs (n = 4) were implanted with a 14-d skin-patch continuous glucose monitor. Readings from continuous glucose monitors were time-matched to whole blood samples, with glucose measurements performed using
point-of-care blood glucose monitors, serum chemistry or both. The aims of the study were to assess if a continuous glucose monitoring system could accurately detect glucose levels in swine, and to compare the readings to both point-of-care glucometers and serum chemistry results. We hypothesized
that a continuous glucose monitoring system would accurately detect glucose levels in swine in comparison with a validated analyzer and could serve as an animal welfare refinement for studies of diabetes. We found that the continuous glucose monitor used in this study provided an adequate
adjunct for clinical management in the stable diabetic pig and a minimally invasive and inexpensive option for colony maintenance of chronically diabetic swine.
Aims
To compare the incidence, timing and risk factors for substance‐related death between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous ex‐prisoners in Queensland, Australia.
Design
Retrospective cohort study.
...Setting
All adult prisons in the state of Queensland, Australia, linked to deaths registered in Australia.
Participants/cases
We obtained records for all adults released from prison in Queensland, Australia from 1 January 1994 to 31 December 2007. Among this cohort of 42 015 individuals we observed 82 315 releases from prison and 2158 deaths in the community by the end of 2007, of which 661 were substance‐related deaths.
Measurements
Incarceration data were obtained from Queensland Corrective Services and linked probabilistically with deaths recorded in the Australian National Death Index.
Findings
In the first year after release, Indigenous ex‐prisoners were more likely to die from alcohol‐related causes hazard ratio (HR) = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1–3.1) but less likely to die of drug‐related causes (HR = 0.34, 95%CI = 0.21–0.53) than were non‐Indigenous ex‐prisoners. Among non‐Indigenous prisoners only, the risk of substance‐related death was significantly higher in the first 4 weeks relative risk (RR) = 5.1, 95% CI = 3.7–6.9 when compared with the risk after 1 year post‐release. Most evaluated risk factors for substance‐related death were similar for Indigenous and non‐Indigenous ex‐prisoners; however, the hazard of death increased with age more for Indigenous ex‐prisoners (HR = 1.7 per decade of age, 95% CI = 1.4–2.1) than for non‐Indigenous ex‐prisoners (HR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.2–1.4).
Conclusions
In Australia, patterns of substance‐related death in ex‐prisoners differ markedly according to Indigenous status. Efforts to prevent substance‐related deaths in ex‐prisoners should consider heterogeneity in the target population and tailor responses accordingly.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FSPLJ, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Plasma lipoprotein(a) (Lpa) level is an independent risk factor of cardiovascular disease that is under strong genetic control. We conducted a genome-wide association study of plasma Lp(a) in 386 ...members of a founder population that adheres to a communal lifestyle, proscribes cigarette smoking, and prepares and eats meals communally. We identified associations with 77 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning 12.5 Mb on chromosome 6q26-q27 that met criteria for genome-wide significance (P ≤ 1.3 × 10−7) and were within or flanking nine genes, including LPA. We show that variation in at least six genes in addition to LPA are significantly associated with Lp(a) levels independent of each other and of the kringle IV repeat polymorphism in the LPA gene. One novel SNP in intron 37 of the LPA gene was also associated with Lp(a) levels and carotid artery disease number in unrelated Caucasians (P = 7.3 × 10−12 and 0.024, respectively), also independent of kringle IV number. This study suggests a complex genetic architecture of Lp(a) levels that may involve multiple loci on chromosome 6q26-q27.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Background
New therapies to treat diabetic peripheral artery disease (PAD) require target-specific non-invasive imaging modalities to follow efficacy. As a translational study, we performed targeted ...imaging of receptors for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in response to anterior femoral artery occlusion (FAO) in Yucatan minipigs and compare the normal response to response in diabetic Yucatan minipigs.
Methods
Eleven Yucatan minipigs, 6 non-diabetic (non-D) and 5 purpose bred diabetic (D) (Sinclair, Auxvasse MO), underwent intravascular total occlusion of the anterior femoral artery (FA). At days 1 and 28, pigs underwent SPECT/CT
201
Tl hindlimb perfusion imaging and at day 7 were injected with
99m
TcDOTA-PEG-scVEGF (scV/Tc) tracer targeting VEGF receptor, and underwent biopsies of the hindlimb muscles for gamma counting and histology, followed by imaging. One day after the final scan, pigs underwent contrast angiography of the lower extremities. Counts from scans were converted to percentage injected activity (%IA).
Results
Perfusion was lower in the occluded hindlimb compared to non-occluded on day 1 in both the D and non-D pigs. At day 7, scV/Tc count ratio of counts from ROIs drawn in proximal gastrocnemius muscle for the occluded over non-occluded limb was significantly higher in non-D vs. D pigs (1.32 ± 0.06 vs. 1.04 ± 0.13,
P
= 0.02) reflecting higher level of angiogenesis. Perfusion increased between days 1 and 28 in the muscles in the occluded limb for the non-diabetic pigs while the diabetic pig showed no increase (+ 0.13 ± 0.08 %IA vs. − 0.13 ± 0.11,
P
= 0.003). The anterior FA showed poor contrast filling beyond occluder and qualitatively fewer bridging collaterals compared to non-D pigs at 28 days.
Conclusion
VEGF receptor targeted imaging showed the effects of diabetes to suppress angiogenesis in response to occlusion of the anterior femoral artery of purpose bred diabetic Yucatan minipigs and indicates potential applicability as a marker to follow efficacy of novel therapies to improve blood flow by stimulating angiogenesis in diabetic PAD.
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