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"Thompson, Brett"
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Low-level seaweed supplementation improves iodine status in iodine-insufficient women
Iodine insufficiency is now a prominent issue in the UK and other European countries due to low intakes of dairy products and seafood (especially where iodine fortification is not in place). In the present study, we tested a commercially available encapsulated edible seaweed (Napiers Hebridean Seagreens®
Ascophyllum nodosum species) for its acceptability to consumers and iodine bioavailability and investigated the impact of a 2-week daily seaweed supplementation on iodine concentrations and thyroid function. Healthy non-pregnant women of childbearing age, self-reporting low dairy product and seafood consumption, with no history of thyroid or gastrointestinal disease were recruited. Seaweed iodine (712 μg, in 1 g seaweed) was modestly bioavailable at 33 (interquartile range (IQR) 28–46) % of the ingested iodine dose compared with 59 (IQR 46–74) % of iodine from the KI supplement (n 22). After supplement ingestion (2 weeks, 0·5 g seaweed daily, n 42), urinary iodine excretion increased from 78 (IQR 39–114) to 140 (IQR 103–195) μg/l (P< 0·001). The concentrations of thyroid-stimulating hormone increased from 1·5 (IQR 1·2–2·2) to 2·1 (IQR 1·3–2·9) mIU/l (P< 0·001), with two participants having concentrations exceeding the normal range after supplement ingestion (but normal free thyroxine concentrations). There was no change in the concentrations of other thyroid hormones after supplement ingestion. The seaweed was palatable and acceptable to consumers as a whole food or as a food ingredient and effective as a source of iodine in an iodine-insufficient population. In conclusion, seaweed inclusion in staple foods would serve as an alternative to fortification of salt or other foods with KI.
Journal Article
Oral fucoidan improves muscle size and strength in mice
Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide found in a range of brown algae species. Growing evidence supports the long‐term supplementation of fucoidan as an ergogenic aid to improve skeletal muscle performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fucoidan on the skeletal muscle of mice. Male BL/6 mice (N = 8–10) were administered a novel fucoidan blend (FUC, 400 mg/kg/day) or vehicle (CON) for 4 weeks. Treatment and control experimental groups were further separated into exercise (CON+EX, FUC+EX) or no‐exercise (CON, FUC) groups, where exercised groups performed 30 min of treadmill training three times per week. At the completion of the 4‐week treatment period, there was a significant increase in cross‐sectional area (CSA) of muscle fibers in fucoidan‐treated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus fibers, which was accompanied by a significant increase in tibialis anterior (TA) muscle force production in fucoidan‐treated groups. There were no significant changes in grip strength or treadmill time to fatigue, nor was there an effect of fucoidan or exercise on mass of TA, EDL, or soleus muscles. In gastrocnemius muscles, there was no change in mRNA expression of mitochondrial biogenesis markers PGC‐1α and Nrf‐2 in any experimental groups; however, there was a significant effect of fucoidan supplementation on myosin heavy chain (MHC)‐2x, but not MHC‐2a, mRNA expression. Overall, fucoidan increased muscle size and strength after 4 weeks of supplementation in both exercised and no‐exercised mice suggesting an important influence of fucoidan on skeletal muscle physiology. Fucoidan is a complex polysaccharide found in brown seaweed. While fucoidan has many bioactive properties, here we show that in mice, 4 weeks of supplementation with a novel blend of fucoidan species increased both size and strength of skeletal muscle.
Journal Article
Ecological differences between two closely related morphologically similar benthic whitefish (Prosopium spilonotus and Prosopium abyssicola) in an endemic whitefish complex
Identifying the differences in ecology between closely related species occupying the same environment contributes to our understanding of community diversity, ecosystem structure, and species conservation. Endemic Bear Lake whitefish (Prosopium abyssicola) and Bonneville whitefish (Prosopium spilonotus) are benthic, morphologically similar, and closely related, yet the extent of differential resource use remains poorly understood. To determine the ecological differences between these two species, we studied their seasonal distribution and diet in Bear Lake, Utah-Idaho. We used bottom-set gill nets to examine how catch of each species of whitefish varied in relation to depth and season (spring and summer). In both spring and summer, Bonneville whitefish dominated the shallower depths (5-30 m), whereas Bear Lake whitefish dominated the deeper depths (45-55 m). Bonneville whitefish ate a variety of benthic invertebrates, but mostly Chironomidae, whereas Bear Lake whitefish fed mostly on Ostracoda. These data describe a closely related morphologically similar, yet ecologically distinct group of whitefish in an ecoregion completely different from those studied before. These results indicated that each species has a very different role in the Bear Lake ecosystem. To conserve this unique fish assemblage, both shallow and deepwater habitats need to be protected.
Journal Article
Characterization of the putative polysaccharide synthase CpsA and its effects on the virulence of the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus
The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is a ubiquitous opportunistic human pathogen capable of causing a life-threatening disease called invasive aspergillosis, or IA, with an associated 40-90% mortality rate in immunocompromised patients. Of the approximately 250 species known in the genus Aspergillus, A. fumigatus is responsible for up to 90% of IA infections. This study focuses on examining the role of the putative polysaccharide synthase cpsA gene in A. fumigatus virulence. Additionally, we evaluated its role in cellular processes that influence invasion and colonization of host tissue. Importantly, our results support that cpsA is indispensable for virulence in A. fumigatus infection of non-neutropenic hosts. Our study revealed that cpsA affects growth and sporulation in this fungus. Absence of cpsA resulted in a drastic reduction in conidiation, and forced overexpression of cpsA produced partially fluffy colonies with low sporulation levels, suggesting that wild-type cpsA expression levels are required for proper conidiation in this fungus. This study also showed that cpsA is necessary for normal cell wall integrity and composition. Furthermore, both deletion and overexpression of cpsA resulted in a reduction in the ability of A. fumigatus to adhere to surfaces, and caused increased sensitivity to oxidative stress. Interestingly, metabolomics analysis indicated that cpsA affects A. fumigatus secondary metabolism. Forced overexpression of cpsA resulted in a statistically significant difference in the production of fumigaclavine A, fumigaclavine B, fumigaclavine C, verruculogen TR-2, and tryprostatin A.
Journal Article
Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Peace Initiative: 25 Years On
From politicians with the gifts necessary to inspire and mobilize others behind causes, much is expected. In return, they receive little patience and little understanding when, almost inevitably, results fall short. Former United States Vice President Al Gore, not known for such gifts while in office, was co-awarded the 2007 Nobel peace prize for his ability to draw attention to the inconvenient truth of climate change. If only, some critics said, he had demonstrated such leadership on this issue while in office. During his last term as prime minister of Canada from 1980 to 1984, Pierre Elliott Trudeau vowed not to be a politician who waited until he was out office, as if planning a retirement project, to speak out and act on what he deemed \"nonconventional,\" inconvenient truths. With Quebec's sovereigntists in disarray following a referendum and a charter of rights and freedoms enshrined but also with significant national economic woes and tumbling popularity, Trudeau turned the waning political capital of his last months in office to the non-conventional: a personal initiative, international in scope, focused on nuclear nonproliferation. The \"Trudeau peace initiative,\" as it came to be known, saw the prime minister tour capitals, including Washington, London, and Moscow, to encourage east- west dialogue when the threat of nuclear war seemed great. In the history of Canadian foreign relations it made little splash, and it has been treated - in the media and the history books alike - as an insignificant and unimportant episode. That the protagonist - a man with a reputation for demonstrating sporadic interest in foreign affairs, whom pundits suggested was either grasping at legacy narratives while nearing retirement or hoping for another term - was sinking in the polls had something to do with the treatment, then and now.
Journal Article
Prison(er) Auto/biography, 'True Crime', and Teaching, Learning, and Research in Criminology
The main aim of this essay is to explore prisoner life writing within the specific, richly and multiply dependent context of teaching and learning undergraduate criminology at an English university, from the authorial viewpoint of a teacher and her students as budding criminologists and coauthors. This article seeks to redress a continuing resistance to life history approaches in criminology, despite the discipline being formally devoted to the understanding of the meaning and experience of imprisonment in all its forms and consequences. What follows is a reflection on what students had to say on the fascinating subject of prisoner auto/biography and its place in popular and expert discourses on crime, criminality, and punishment, contextualised within the academic discipline of criminology.
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