The Fontan outcomes network: first steps towards building a lifespan registry for individuals with Fontan circulation in the United States.

The Fontan Outcomes Network was created to improve outcomes for children and adults with single ventricle CHD living with Fontan circulation. The network mission is to optimise longevity and quality of life by improving physical health, neurodevelopmental outcomes, resilience, and emotional health for these individuals and their families. This manuscript describes the systematic design of this new learning health network, including the initial steps in development of a national, lifespan registry, and pilot testing of data collection forms at 10 congenital heart centres.

Testing the kinship theory of intragenomic conflict in honey bees (Apis mellifera).

Sexual reproduction brings genes from two parents (matrigenes and patrigenes) together into one individual. These genes, despite being unrelated, should show nearly perfect cooperation because each gains equally through the production of offspring. However, an individual's matrigenes and patrigenes can have different probabilities of being present in other relatives, so kin selection could act on them differently. Such intragenomic conflict could be implemented by partial or complete silencing (imprinting) of an allele by one of the parents. Evidence supporting this theory is seen in offspring-mother interactions, with patrigenes favoring acquisition of more of the mother's resources if some of the costs fall on half-siblings who do not share the patrigene. The kinship theory of intragenomic conflict is little tested in other contexts, but it predicts that matrigene-patrigene conflict may be rife in social insects. We tested the hypothesis that honey bee worker reproduction is promoted more by patrigenes than matrigenes by comparing across nine reciprocal crosses of two distinct genetic stocks. As predicted, hybrid workers show reproductive trait characteristics of their paternal stock, (indicating enhanced activity of the patrigenes on these traits), greater patrigenic than matrigenic expression, and significantly increased patrigenic-biased expression in reproductive workers. These results support both the general prediction that matrigene-patrigene conflict occurs in social insects and the specific prediction that honey bee worker reproduction is driven more by patrigenes. The success of these predictions suggests that intragenomic conflict may occur in many contexts where matrigenes and patrigenes have different relatednesses to affected kin.

Measurement of the global lumped constant for 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose in normal human brain using [15O]water and 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography imaging. A method with validation based on multiple methodologies.

PURPOSE: This study aims to determine a lumped constant (LC) value that can be applied to the 2-deoxy-2[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) study to yield a physiological value of cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMR(glc)) in normal brain. PROCEDURES: We developed a more robust method for determining the global FDG LC. Dynamic FDG and H(2)(15)O PET studied were acquired in 18 normal subjects. Arterial-venous difference of blood glucose level was measured. RESULTS: A global LC of 0.65 +/- 0.15 was obtained if a 3-microparameter FDG model (k*(4)=0)was assumed. Assumption of a 4-microparameter FDG model (k*(4) not equal 0) in analyzing the FDG data resulted in a higher LC value of 0.81 +/- 0.18. CONCLUSION: The value of LC used for quantitating CMR(glc) should match the assumption inherent to the method of data analysis. The LC results in this study agree well with recent findings in the literature.

Effects of fluvalinate and coumaphos on queen honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in two commercial queen rearing operations.

We conducted research on the potential impacts of fluvalinate and coumaphos on honey bee, Apis mellifera L., queen viability and health. Queens were reared in colonies that had been treated with differing amounts of both fluvalinate and coumaphos. Pre- and posttreatment samples of both wax and bees were collected from all of the colonies and analyzed for total concentrations of fluvalinate and coumaphos. All queens were measured for queen weight, ovarial weight, and number of sperm in the spermathecae. The queens treated with high doses of fluvalinate weighed significantly less than low-dose or control queens, but otherwise appeared to develop normally. The highest fluvalinate concentrations were observed in the wax and queen cells of the high-dose group. The developing queens in colonies treated with as little as one coumaphos-impregnated strip for more than 24 h suffered a high mortality rate. Several of the queens showed sublethal effects from the coumaphos, including physical abnormalities and atypical behavior. The queens exposed to coumaphos weighed significantly less and had lower ovary weights than the control group queens. The highest coumaphos concentrations were observed in the queen cells and wax of the high-dose groups.