Search

Background Evidence-based advice on alcohol consumption is required for pregnant women and women planning a pregnancy. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence, predictors and perinatal outcomes associated with peri-conceptional alcohol consumption. Methods A cohort study of 61,241 women who booked for antenatal care and delivered in a large urban maternity hospital between 2000 and 2007. Self-reported alcohol consumption at the booking visit was categorised as low (0-5 units per week), moderate (6-20 units per week) and high (>20 units per week). Results Of the 81% of women who reported alcohol consumption during the peri-conceptional period, 71% reported low intake, 9.9% moderate intake and 0.2% high intake. Factors associated with moderate alcohol consumption included being in employment OR 4.47 (95% CI 4.17 to 4.80), Irish nationality OR 16.5 (95% CI 14.9 to 18.3), private health care OR 5.83 (95% CI 5.38 to 6.31) and smoking OR 1.86 (95% CI 1.73 to 2.01). Factors associated with high consumption included maternal age less than 25 years OR 2.70 (95% CI 1.86 to 3.91) and illicit drug use OR 6.46 (95% CI 3.32 to 12.60). High consumption was associated with very preterm birth ( Conclusions Public Health campaigns need to emphasise the importance of peri-conceptional health and pre-pregnancy planning. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is likely to be under-reported despite the high prevalence of alcohol consumption in this population.

Background An industrial dispute between prison doctors and the Irish Prison Service (IPS) took place in 2004. Part of the resolution of that dispute was that an independent review of prison medical and support services be carried out by a University Department of Primary Care. The review took place in 2008 and we report here on the principal findings of that review. Methods This study utilised a mixed methods approach. An independent expert medical evaluator (one of the authors, DT) inspected the medical facilities, equipment and relevant custodial areas in eleven of the fourteen prisons within the IPS. Semistructured interviews took place with personnel who had operational responsibility for delivery of prison medical care. Prison doctors completed a questionnaire to elicit issues such as allocation of clinician's time, nurse and administrative support and resources available. Results There was wide variation in the standard of medical facilities and infrastructure provided across the IPS. The range of medical equipment available was generally below that of the equivalent general practice scheme in the community. There is inequality within the system with regard to the ratio of doctor-contracted time relative to the size of the prison population. There is limited administrative support, with the majority of prisons not having a medical secretary. There are few psychiatric or counselling sessions available. Conclusions People in prison have a wide range of medical care needs and there is evidence to suggest that these needs are being met inconsistently in Irish prisons.

In the May 1978 issue of this journal, the article by S. Joseph Barry and Sherry Gaddis (“Physical and Physiological Constraints on the Use of Bone-Conduction Speech Audiometry”) contains an error. On page 222, the line that reads “Zero-dB for bone conducted speech corresponded to 64.7 dB re 1 N” should read “Zero-dB for bone conducted speech corresponded to 64.7 dB re 1 μN.”

Cortical auditory‐evoked potentials (AEP's) were recorded simultaneously with the collection of behavioral responses to consonant‐vowel stimuli presented both dichotically and diotically in a group of 16 right‐handed normal females. During dichotic listening, the mean N1‐P2 component of the AEP's recorded over the temporal region of the left hemisphere was found to be significantly larger in amplitude than the mean recorded over the homologous area of the right hemisphere. No significant amplitude differences were found for any AEP component during diotic listening. The latencies of AEP components revealed no systematic trend across hemispheres during either dichotic or diotic listening. The mean amplitude of N1, and the mean peak‐to‐peak amplitudes of P1 and N1 and N1‐P2 were significantly larger over the right hemisphere during dichotic listening than during diotic listening, a result opposite to that expected if suppression of right hemisphere activity had occurred during dichotic testing. Correlation analyses revealed no significant relationships between hemispheric differences in AEP's, a measure of strength of handedness, and a measure of right‐ear advantage during dichotic listening.

Summary Selective protein degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is involved in all cellular processes. However, the substrates and specificity of most UPS components are not well understood. Here we systematically characterized the UPS in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using fluorescent timers, we determined how loss of individual UPS components affects yeast proteome turnover, detecting phenotypes for 76% of E2, E3, and deubiquitinating enzymes. We exploit this dataset to gain insights into N-degron pathways, which target proteins carrying N-terminal degradation signals. We implicate Ubr1, an E3 of the Arg/N-degron pathway, in targeting mitochondrial proteins processed by the mitochondrial inner membrane protease. Moreover, we identify Ylr149c/Gid11 as a substrate receptor of the glucose-induced degradation-deficient (GID) complex, an E3 of the Pro/N-degron pathway. Our results suggest that Gid11 recognizes proteins with N-terminal threonines, expanding the specificity of the GID complex. This resource of potential substrates and relationships between UPS components enables exploring functions of selective protein degradation., Graphical abstract, Highlights • Global analysis of proteome turnover in budding yeast • Proteome turnover profiles for most components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system • Substrates and functions for Ubr1 and GID, two E3s of the N-degron pathways • Identification of a GID receptor for substrates with a threonine N terminus, The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is key for selective protein degradation in eukaryotes. To understand its specificity, Kong et al. systematically analyze the effect of UPS mutants on yeast proteome turnover and explore the resulting resource of potential substrates and relationships between UPS components to gain insights into N-degron pathways.