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Hepatic steatosis is a key initiating event in the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), the most detrimental organ damage resulting from alcohol use disorder. However, the mechanisms by which alcohol induces steatosis remain incompletely understood. We have previously found that alcohol binging impairs brain insulin action, resulting in increased adipose tissue lipolysis by unrestraining sympathetic nervous system (SNS) outflow. Here, we examined whether an impaired brain-SNS-adipose tissue axis drives hepatic steatosis through unrestrained adipose tissue lipolysis and increased lipid flux to the liver.We examined the role of lipolysis, and the brain-SNS-adipose tissue axis and stress in alcohol induced hepatic triglyceride accumulation in a series of rodent models: pharmacological inhibition of the negative regulator of insulin signaling protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1β (PTP1b) in the rat brain, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) knockout mice as a pharmacogenetic model of sympathectomy, adipocyte specific adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) knockout mice, wildtype (WT) mice treated with β3 adrenergic agonist or undergoing restraint stress.Intracerebral administration of a PTP1b inhibitor, inhibition of adipose tissue lipolysis and reduction of sympathetic outflow ameliorated alcohol induced steatosis. Conversely, induction of adipose tissue lipolysis through β3 adrenergic agonism or by restraint stress worsened alcohol induced steatosis.Brain insulin resistance through upregulation of PTP1b, increased sympathetic activity, and unrestrained adipose tissue lipolysis are key drivers of alcoholic steatosis. Targeting these drivers of steatosis may provide effective therapeutic strategies to ameliorate ALD.

The aim of this study was to identify the attitudes of the public in the United States and in 12 European countries towards foreign policy issues and transatlantic issues. The survey concentrated on issues such as: United States and European Union (EU) leadership and relations, favorability towards certain countries, institutions and people, security, cooperation and the perception of threat including issues of concern with Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia, energy dependence, economic downturn, and global warming, Turkey and Turkish accession to the EU, promotion of democracy in other countries, and the importance of economic versus military power. Several questions asked of respondents pertained to voting and politics including whether they discussed political matters with friends and whether they attempted to persuade others close to them to share their views on politics which they held strong opinions about, vote intention, their assessment of the current United States President and upcoming presidential election, political party attachment, and left-right political self-placement. Demographic and other background information includes age, gender, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation and participation, age when stopped full-time education and stage at which full-time education completed, occupation, number of people aged 18 years and older living in the household, type of locality, region of residence, prior travel to the United States or Europe, and language of interview. computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI); computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); paper and pencil interview (PAPI)The original data collection was carried out by TNS, Fait et Opinion -- Brussels on request of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.The codebook and setup files for this collection contain characters with diacritical marks used in many European languages.A split ballot was used for one or more questions in this survey. The variable SPLIT defines the separate groups.For data collection, the computer-assisted face-to-face interview was used in Poland, the paper and pencil interview was used in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey, and the computer-assisted telephone interview was used in all other countries.Additional information on the Transatlantic Trends Survey is provided on the Transatlantic Trends Web site. (1) Multistage random sampling was implemented in the countries using face-to-face interviewing. Sampling points were selected according to region, and then random routes were conducted within these sampling points. Four callbacks were used for each address. The birthday rule was used to randomly select respondents within a household. (2) Random Digit Dialing was implemented in the countries using telephone interviewing. Eight callbacks were used for each telephone number. The birthday rule was used to randomly select respondents within a household. The adult population aged 18 years and over in 13 countries: Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Smallest Geographic Unit: country Response Rates: The total response rate for all countries surveyed is 23 percent. Please refer to the "Technical Note" in the ICPSR codebook for additional information about response rate. Please refer to the "Technical Note" in the ICPSR codebook for further information about weighting. Datasets: DS1: Transatlantic Trends Survey, 2008

This chapter focuses on the evaluation of adaptive capacities of community-level human systems related to agriculture and food security. It highlights findings regarding approaches and domains to monitor and evaluate behavioral changes from CGIAR’s research program on climate change, agriculture and food security (CCAFS). This program, implemented in five West African countries, is intended to enhance adaptive capacities in agriculture management of natural resources and food systems. In support of participatory action research on climate-smart agriculture, a monitoring and evaluation plan was designed with the participation of all stakeholders to track changes in behavior of the participating community members. Individuals’ and groups’ stories of changes were collected using most significant change tools. The collected stories of changes were substantiated through field visits and triangulation techniques. Frequencies of the occurrence of characteristics of behavioral changes in the stories were estimated. The results show that smallholder farmers in the intervention areas adopted various characteristics of behavior change grouped into five domains: knowledge, practices, access to assets, partnership and organization. These characteristics can help efforts to construct quantitative indicators of climate change adaptation at local level. Further, the results suggest that application of behavioral change theories can facilitate the development of climate change adaptation indicators that are complementary to indicators of development outcomes. We conclude that collecting stories on behavioral changes can contribute to biophysical adaptation monitoring and evaluation.

Background:  We previously found that activation of the glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) pathway in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) reduces ethanol‐drinking behaviors. In this study, we set out to assess the contribution of endogenous GDNF or its receptor GFRα1 to the regulation of ethanol‐related behaviors.Methods:  GDNF and GFRα1 heterozygote mice (HET) and their wild‐type littermate controls (WT) were used for the studies. Ethanol‐induced hyperlocomotion, sensitization, and conditioned place preference (CPP), as well as ethanol consumption before and after a period of abstinence were evaluated. Blood ethanol concentration (BEC) was also measured.Results:  We observed no differences between the GDNF HET and WT mice in the level of locomotor activity or in sensitization to ethanol‐induced hyperlocomotion after systemic injection of a nonhypnotic dose of ethanol and in BEC. However, GDNF and GFRα1 mice exhibited increased place preference to ethanol as compared with their WT littermates. The levels of voluntary ethanol or quinine consumption were similar in the GDNF HET and WT mice, however, a small but significant increase in saccharin intake was observed in the GDNF HET mice. No changes were detected in voluntary ethanol, saccharin or quinine consumption of GFRα1 HET mice as compared with their WT littermates. Interestingly, however, both the GDNF and GFRα1 HET mice consumed much larger quantities of ethanol after a period of abstinence from ethanol as compared with their WT littermates. Furthermore, the increase in ethanol consumption after abstinence was found to be specific for ethanol as similar levels of saccharin intake were measured in the GDNF and GFRα1 HET and WT mice after abstinence.Conclusions:  Our results suggest that endogenous GDNF negatively regulates the rewarding effect of ethanol and ethanol‐drinking behaviors after a period of abstinence.

Aims The aim of this study was to determine whether the sequential application of povidone iodine-alcohol (PVI) followed by chlorhexidine gluconate-alcohol (CHG) would reduce surgical wound contamination to a greater extent than PVI applied twice in patients undergoing spinal surgery. Patients and Methods A single-centre, interventional, two arm, parallel group randomised controlled trial was undertaken, involving 407 patients who underwent elective spinal surgery. For 203 patients, the skin was disinfected before surgery using PVI (10% [w/w (1% w/w available iodine)] in 95% industrial denatured alcohol, povidone iodine; Videne Alcoholic Tincture) twice, and for 204 patients using PVI once followed by CHG (2% [w/v] chlorhexidine gluconate in 70% [v/v] isopropyl alcohol; Chloraprep with tint). The primary outcome measure was contamination of the wound determined by aerobic and anaerobic bacterial growth from samples taken after disinfection. Results The detection of viable bacteria in any one of the samples taken after disinfection (culture-positive) was significantly lower in the group treated with both PVI and CHG than in the group treated with PVI alone (59 (29.1%) versus 85 (41.7%), p = 0.009; odds ratio 0.574; 95% confidence interval, 0.380 to 0.866). Conclusions Antisepsis of the skin with the sequential application of PVI and CHG more effectively reduces the contamination of a surgical wound than PVI alone. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:1354–65.

To discuss current evidence of global climate change and its implications for allergic rhinitis and other allergic respiratory diseases.Global climate change is evidenced by increasing average earth temperature, increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas levels, and elevated pollen levels. Pollutants of interest include carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), and nitrous oxide (NO2) because they can enhance the allergic response and lead to increased symptoms of allergic respiratory diseases. Heightened CO2 levels stimulate pollen production via photosynthesis and increased growth in multiple plant species investigated. Although worsened air quality appears to increase prevalence of allergic rhinitis, the effects of increased temperature are less certain. The findings of increased aeroallergen levels likely contribute to increases in presentation of allergic diseases, although more healthcare impact studies are necessary.Although recent literature indicates and strongly supports changes in temperature, pollution levels, and aeroallergen levels, more longitudinal epidemiologic surveillance of allergic diseases in relation to climate change as well as pathophysiologic studies on changing aeroallergen effects on allergic diseases are needed.

ABSTRACTPrenatal ethanol exposure causes a variety of cognitive deficits that have a persistent impact on quality of life, some of which may be explained by ethanol-induced alterations in interneuron function. Studies from several laboratories, including our own, have demonstrated that a single binge-like ethanol exposure during the equivalent to the third trimester of human pregnancy leads to acute apoptosis and long-term loss of interneurons in the rodent retrosplenial cortex (RSC). The RSC is interconnected with the hippocampus, thalamus, and other neocortical regions and plays distinct roles in visuospatial processing and storage, as well as retrieval of hippocampal-dependent episodic memories. Here we used slice electrophysiology to characterize the acute effects of ethanol on GABAergic neurotransmission in the RSC of neonatal mice, as well as the long-term effects of neonatal ethanol exposure on parvalbumin-interneuron mediated neurotransmission in adolescent mice. Mice were exposed to ethanol using vapor inhalation chambers. In postnatal day (P) 7 mouse pups, ethanol unexpectedly failed to potentiate GABAAreceptor-mediated synaptic transmission. Binge-like ethanol exposure of P7 mice expressing channel rhodopsin in parvalbumin-positive interneurons enhanced the peak amplitudes, asynchronous activity and total charge, while decreasing the rise-times of optically-evoked GABAAreceptor-mediated inhibitory postsynaptic currents in adolescent animals. These effects could partially explain the learning and memory deficits that have been documented in adolescent and young adult mice exposed to ethanol during the third trimester-equivalent developmental period.

The country’s unique philosophy is expressed by Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) as the guiding principle of development. Bhutan is at a crossroads: It can maintain the current pattern of development—with rising inequality—or develop a vibrant private sector to generate jobs and diversify the economy, building resilience to future external shocks. The overarching priority of this Country Partnership Framework (CPF) is job creation. This CPF presents an integrated framework of WBG support to help Bhutan achieve inclusive and sustainable development through private sector–led job creation.