UK Breastfeeding Helpline support: An investigation of influences upon satisfaction

Background Incentive or reward schemes are becoming increasingly popular to motivate healthy lifestyle behaviours. In this paper, insights from a qualitative and descriptive study to investigate the uptake, impact and meanings of a breastfeeding incentive intervention integrated into an existing peer support programme (Star Buddies) are reported. The Star Buddies service employs breastfeeding peer supporters to support women across the ante-natal, intra-partum and post-partum period. Methods In a disadvantaged area of North West England, women initiating breastfeeding were recruited by peer supporters on the postnatal ward or soon after hospital discharge to participate in an 8 week incentive (gifts and vouchers) and breastfeeding peer supporter intervention. In-depth interviews were conducted with 26 women participants who engaged with the incentive intervention, and a focus group was held with the 4 community peer supporters who delivered the intervention. Descriptive analysis of routinely collected data for peer supporter contacts and breastfeeding outcomes before and after the incentive intervention triangulated and retrospectively provided the context for the qualitative thematic analysis. Results A global theme emerged of 'incentives as connectors', with two sub-themes of 'facilitating connections' and 'facilitating relationships and wellbeing'. The incentives were linked to discussion themes and gift giving facilitated peer supporter access for proactive weekly home visits to support women. Regular face to face contacts enabled meaningful relationships and new connections within and between the women, families, peer supporters and care providers to be formed and sustained. Participants in the incentive scheme received more home visits and total contact time with peer supporters compared to women before the incentive intervention. Full participation levels and breastfeeding rates at 6-8 weeks were similar for women before and after the incentive intervention. Conclusion The findings suggest that whilst the provision of incentives might not influence women's intentions or motivations to breastfeed, the connections forged provided psycho-social benefits for both programme users and peer supporters

Photoswitchable diacylglycerols enable optical control of protein kinase C.

Increased levels of the second messenger lipid diacylglycerol (DAG) induce downstream signaling events including the translocation of C1-domain-containing proteins toward the plasma membrane. Here, we introduce three light-sensitive DAGs, termed PhoDAGs, which feature a photoswitchable acyl chain. The PhoDAGs are inactive in the dark and promote the translocation of proteins that feature C1 domains toward the plasma membrane upon a flash of UV-A light. This effect is quickly reversed after the termination of photostimulation or by irradiation with blue light, permitting the generation of oscillation patterns. Both protein kinase C and Munc13 can thus be put under optical control. PhoDAGs control vesicle release in excitable cells, such as mouse pancreatic islets and hippocampal neurons, and modulate synaptic transmission in Caenorhabditis elegans. As such, the PhoDAGs afford an unprecedented degree of spatiotemporal control and are broadly applicable tools to study DAG signaling

Callers’ attitudes and experiences of UK breastfeeding helpline support

Background: Breastfeeding peer support, is considered to be a key intervention for increasing breastfeeding duration rates. Whilst a number of national organisations provide telephone based breastfeeding peer support, to date there have been no published evaluations into callers’ experiences and attitudes of this support. In this study we report on the descriptive and qualitative insights provided by 908 callers as part of an evaluation of UK-based breastfeeding helpline(s). Methods: A structured telephone interview, incorporating Likert scale responses and open-ended questions was undertaken with 908 callers over May to August, 2011 to explore callers’ experiences of the help and support received via the breastfeeding helpline(s). Results: Overall satisfaction with the helpline was high, with the vast majority of callers’ recalling positive experiences of the help and support received. Thematic analysis was undertaken on all qualitative and descriptive data recorded during the evaluation, contextualised within the main areas addressed within the interview schedule in terms of ‘contact with the helplines’; ‘experiences of the helpline service’, ‘perceived effectiveness of support provision’ and ‘impact on caller wellbeing’. Conclusion: Callers valued the opportunity for accessible, targeted, non-judgmental and convenient support. Whilst the telephone support did not necessarily influence women’s breastfeeding decisions, the support they received left them feeling reassured, confident and more determined to continue breastfeeding. We recommend extending the helpline service to ensure support can be accessed when needed, and ongoing training and support for volunteers. Further advertising and promotion of the service within wider demographic groups is warranted

The role of oxidative stress and hypoxia in pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction in diabetes mellitus.

SIGNIFICANCE: Metabolic syndrome is a frequent precursor of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), a disease that currently affects ∼8% of the adult population worldwide. Pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction and loss are central to the disease process, although understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms is still fragmentary. RECENT ADVANCES: Oversupply of nutrients, including glucose and fatty acids, and the subsequent overstimulation of beta cells, are believed to be an important contributor to insulin secretory failure in T2D. Hypoxia has also recently been implicated in beta-cell damage. Accumulating evidence points to a role for oxidative stress in both processes. Although the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) results from enhanced mitochondrial respiration during stimulation with glucose and other fuels, the expression of antioxidant defense genes is unusually low (or disallowed) in beta cells. CRITICAL ISSUES: Not all subjects with metabolic syndrome and hyperglycemia go on to develop full-blown diabetes, implying an important role in disease risk for gene-environment interactions. Possession of common risk alleles at the SLC30A8 locus, encoding the beta-cell granule zinc transporter ZnT8, may affect cytosolic Zn(2+) concentrations and thus susceptibility to hypoxia and oxidative stress. FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Loss of normal beta-cell function, rather than total mass, is increasingly considered to be the major driver for impaired insulin secretion in diabetes. Better understanding of the role of oxidative changes, its modulation by genes involved in disease risk, and effects on beta-cell identity may facilitate the development of new therapeutic strategies to this disease. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 00, 000-000

Control of intestinal stem cell function and proliferation by mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism.

Most differentiated cells convert glucose to pyruvate in the cytosol through glycolysis, followed by pyruvate oxidation in the mitochondria. These processes are linked by the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), which is required for efficient mitochondrial pyruvate uptake. In contrast, proliferative cells, including many cancer and stem cells, perform glycolysis robustly but limit fractional mitochondrial pyruvate oxidation. We sought to understand the role this transition from glycolysis to pyruvate oxidation plays in stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Loss of the MPC in Lgr5-EGFP-positive stem cells, or treatment of intestinal organoids with an MPC inhibitor, increases proliferation and expands the stem cell compartment. Similarly, genetic deletion of the MPC in Drosophila intestinal stem cells also increases proliferation, whereas MPC overexpression suppresses stem cell proliferation. These data demonstrate that limiting mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism is necessary and sufficient to maintain the proliferation of intestinal stem cells

New Measure of Insulin Sensitivity Predicts Cardiovascular Disease Better than HOMA Estimated Insulin Resistance

10.1371/journal.pone.0074410PLoS ONE89-POLN

A finer grained approach to psychological capital and work performance

Purpose Psychological capital is a set of personal resources comprised by hope, efficacy, optimism, and resilience, which previous research has supported as being valuable for general work performance. However, in today’s organizations, a multidimensional approach is required to understanding work performance, thus, we aimed to determine whether psychological capital improves proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity, and also whether hope, efficiency, resilience, and optimism have a differential contribution to the same outcomes. Analyzing the temporal meaning of each psychological capital dimension, this paper theorizes the relative weights of psychological capital dimensions on proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity, proposing also that higher relative weight dimensions are helpful to cope with job demands and perform well. Methodology Two survey studies, the first based on cross-sectional data and the second on two waves of data, were conducted with employees from diverse organizations, who provided measures of their psychological capital, work performance, and job demands. Data was modeled with regression analysis together with relative weights analysis. Findings Relative weights for dimensions of psychological capital were supported as having remarkable unique contributions for proficient, adaptive, and proactive behavior, particularly when job demands were high. Originality/Value We concluded that organizations facing high job demands should implement actions to enhance psychological capital dimensions; however, those actions should focus on the specific criterion of performance of interest

Atypicalities in Perceptual Adaptation in Autism Do Not Extend to Perceptual Causality

A recent study showed that adaptation to causal events (collisions) in adults caused subsequent events to be less likely perceived as causal. In this study, we examined if a similar negative adaptation effect for perceptual causality occurs in children, both typically developing and with autism. Previous studies have reported diminished adaptation for face identity, facial configuration and gaze direction in children with autism. To test whether diminished adaptive coding extends beyond high-level social stimuli (such as faces) and could be a general property of autistic perception, we developed a child-friendly paradigm for adaptation of perceptual causality. We compared the performance of 22 children with autism with 22 typically developing children, individually matched on age and ability (IQ scores). We found significant and equally robust adaptation aftereffects for perceptual causality in both groups. There were also no differences between the two groups in their attention, as revealed by reaction times and accuracy in a change-detection task. These findings suggest that adaptation to perceptual causality in autism is largely similar to typical development and, further, that diminished adaptive coding might not be a general characteristic of autism at low levels of the perceptual hierarchy, constraining existing theories of adaptation in autism.16 page(s

Supporting the education and wellbeing of children looked-after: what is the role of the virtual school?

The Children and Families Act (2014) placed a statutory responsibility on local authorities in the United Kingdom to establish a Virtual School Headteacher with the role of championing the education of all children looked-after within that authority. The current research was designed to illuminate how Virtual Schools are currently supporting educational outcomes for children looked-after, not only through educational interventions, but also through supporting broader psychological factors that might impact on attainment such as attachment, relationships and mental health. Virtual School Head Teachers from 29 local authorities completed an online survey about the services they provided to three target groups – children looked-after, foster carers and schools – with a particular focus on the transition years from primary to secondary school, which have been identified as being a difficult time for children looked-after. Using inductive thematic analysis four overarching themes to service provision were identified: Enhanced learning opportunities; Specific Transition Support; Wellbeing and Relationships, and Raising Awareness. Direct work, interprofessional working and the development of supportive environments, particularly guided by attachment theory, were identified as important areas of practice. Practice is discussed in relation to resilience and ecological systems theory and suggestions for future research are identified