Remembering the forgotten non-communicable diseases

The forthcoming post-Millennium Development Goals era will bring about new challenges in global health. Low- and middle-income countries will have to contend with a dual burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Some of these NCDs, such as neoplasms, COPD, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, cause much health loss worldwide and are already widely recognised as doing so. However, 55% of the global NCD burden arises from other NCDs, which tend to be ignored in terms of premature mortality and quality of life reduction. Here, experts in some of these 'forgotten NCDs' review the clinical impact of these diseases along with the consequences of their ignoring their medical importance, and discuss ways in which they can be given higher global health priority in order to decrease the growing burden of disease and disability.MerckUniv Melbourne, Sch Populat & Global Hlth, Melbourne, Vic 3053, AustraliaUniv London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, St Marys Hosp, Dept Med, London W2 1NY, EnglandKEMRI Wellcome Trust Res Programme, Kilifi, KenyaUniv British Columbia, St Pauls Hosp, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y8, CanadaVA Med Ctr, Med Serv, Birmingham, AL USAVA Med Ctr, Ctr Surg Med Acute Care Res & Transit, Birmingham, AL USAUniv Alabama Birmingham, Sch Med, Dept Med, Birmingham, AL 35294 USAUniv Alabama Birmingham, Sch Publ Hlth, Div Epidemiol, Birmingham, AL 35294 USAMayo Clin, Coll Med, Dept Orthoped Surg, Rochester, MN 55905 USAUniv London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, Natl Heart & Lung Inst, London, EnglandCtr Addict & Mental Hlth, Toronto, ON, CanadaTech Univ Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, GermanyUniv Toronto, Dalla Lana Sch Publ Hlth, Toronto, ON, CanadaUniv Toronto, Dept Psychiat, Toronto, ON, CanadaUofT, Inst Med Sci, Toronto, ON, CanadaNIDA, NIH, Rockville, MD USANIAAA, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USAHosp Alemao Oswaldo Cruz, Inst Educ & Hlth Sci, BR-01323903 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Psychobiol, BR-04023062 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Psychobiol, BR-04023062 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Hybrid Mechanical Systems

We discuss hybrid systems in which a mechanical oscillator is coupled to another (microscopic) quantum system, such as trapped atoms or ions, solid-state spin qubits, or superconducting devices. We summarize and compare different coupling schemes and describe first experimental implementations. Hybrid mechanical systems enable new approaches to quantum control of mechanical objects, precision sensing, and quantum information processing.Comment: To cite this review, please refer to the published book chapter (see Journal-ref and DOI). This v2 corresponds to the published versio

Integer and half-integer flux-quantum transitions in a niobium/iron-pnictide loop

The recent discovery of iron-based superconductors challenges the existing paradigm of high-temperature superconductivity. Owing to their unusual multi-orbital band structure, magnetism, and electron correlation, theories propose a unique sign reversed s-wave pairing state, with the order parameter changing sign between the electron and hole Fermi pockets. However, because of the complex Fermi surface topology and material related issues, the predicted sign reversal remains unconfirmed. Here we report a novel phase-sensitive technique for probing unconventional pairing symmetry in the polycrystalline iron-pnictides. Through the observation of both integer and half-integer flux-quantum transitions in composite niobium/iron-pnictide loops, we provide the first phase-sensitive evidence of the sign change of the order parameter in NdFeAsO0.88F0.12, lending strong support for microscopic models predicting unconventional s-wave pairing symmetry. These findings have important implications on the mechanism of pnictide superconductivity, and lay the groundwork for future studies of new physics arising from the exotic order in the FeAs-based superconductors.Comment: 23 pages, including 4 figures and supplementary informatio

Narrative-based computational modelling of the Gp130/JAK/STAT signalling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Appropriately formulated quantitative computational models can support researchers in understanding the dynamic behaviour of biological pathways and support hypothesis formulation and selection by "in silico" experimentation. An obstacle to widespread adoption of this approach is the requirement to formulate a biological pathway as machine executable computer code. We have recently proposed a novel, biologically intuitive, narrative-style modelling language for biologists to formulate the pathway which is then automatically translated into an executable format and is, thus, usable for analysis via existing simulation techniques. RESULTS: Here we use a high-level narrative language in designing a computational model of the gp130/JAK/STAT signalling pathway and show that the model reproduces the dynamic behaviour of the pathway derived by biological observation. We then "experiment" on the model by simulation and sensitivity analysis to define those parameters which dominate the dynamic behaviour of the pathway. The model predicts that nuclear compartmentalisation and phosphorylation status of STAT are key determinants of the pathway and that alternative mechanisms of signal attenuation exert their influence on different timescales. CONCLUSION: The described narrative model of the gp130/JAK/STAT pathway represents an interesting case study showing how, by using this approach, researchers can model biological systems without explicitly dealing with formal notations and mathematical expressions (typically used for biochemical modelling), nevertheless being able to obtain simulation and analysis results. We present the model and the sensitivity analysis results we have obtained, that allow us to identify the parameters which are most sensitive to perturbations. The results, which are shown to be in agreement with existing mathematical models of the gp130/JAK/STAT pathway, serve us as a form of validation of the model and of the approach itself

Seasonal changes in patterns of gene expression in avian song control brain regions.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Photoperiod and hormonal cues drive dramatic seasonal changes in structure and function of the avian song control system. Little is known, however, about the patterns of gene expression associated with seasonal changes. Here we address this issue by altering the hormonal and photoperiodic conditions in seasonally-breeding Gambel's white-crowned sparrows and extracting RNA from the telencephalic song control nuclei HVC and RA across multiple time points that capture different stages of growth and regression. We chose HVC and RA because while both nuclei change in volume across seasons, the cellular mechanisms underlying these changes differ. We thus hypothesized that different genes would be expressed between HVC and RA. We tested this by using the extracted RNA to perform a cDNA microarray hybridization developed by the SoNG initiative. We then validated these results using qRT-PCR. We found that 363 genes varied by more than 1.5 fold (>log(2) 0.585) in expression in HVC and/or RA. Supporting our hypothesis, only 59 of these 363 genes were found to vary in both nuclei, while 132 gene expression changes were HVC specific and 172 were RA specific. We then assigned many of these genes to functional categories relevant to the different mechanisms underlying seasonal change in HVC and RA, including neurogenesis, apoptosis, cell growth, dendrite arborization and axonal growth, angiogenesis, endocrinology, growth factors, and electrophysiology. This revealed categorical differences in the kinds of genes regulated in HVC and RA. These results show that different molecular programs underlie seasonal changes in HVC and RA, and that gene expression is time specific across different reproductive conditions. Our results provide insights into the complex molecular pathways that underlie adult neural plasticity

Spanish medical students’ attitudes and views towards Mental Health and Psychiatry: a multicentric cross-sectional study.

Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the attitudes towards mental illness and psychiatry among fifth year Spanish medical students. Methods The study included 171 students from three medical schools located in different areas of Spain: Cádiz; UCA (n= 113), Madrid; San Pablo-CEU (n=22), and Barcelona; UAB (n=36). They responded, prior to their undergraduate medical course in psychiatry, to the AMI questionnaire to measure the attitudes towards mental illness and to Balon’s adapted questionnaire to investigate their view towards psychiatry. Results The students (93.4 %) had a positive attitude towards mental illness (AMI). Attitudes towards psychiatry were fairly positive with a few negative views, specifically regarding the role of psychiatrists (items 11 and 13) and the prestige of the specialty (item 16). There were some statistically significant differences between the three medical schools in the perception of psychiatry as a medical discipline. A better attitude towards mental illness was associated with a better view of the overall merits of psychiatry. Conclusions Findings suggest that Spanish medical students do not have a negative attitude towards mental illness and they have a good perception of psychiatry, although there are still some misconceptions about this specialty. These student’s attitudes could favor an appropriate management of patients suffering from mental illness