Implicit anti-fat bias in physical educators: physical attributes, ideology and socialization

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the implicit and explicit prejudice of physical education (PE) students before, and following extensive professional training, and to examine the relationship of anti-fat prejudice to relevant psychosocial predictors.

DESIGN

Implicit and explicit anti-fat prejudice of year one and three PE students (cross-sectional sample) were assessed and compared to a similarly matched (age, body mass index (BMI), education) sample of psychology students.

SUBJECTS

Three hundred and forty-four university students, 180 PE students, 164 psychology students (67% female, mean age 20 years, BMI: mean 23.18 kg/m(2)).

MEASUREMENTS

Measures of implicit and explicit anti-fat prejudice were administered to PE and psychology students in either their second week, or near completion of their third year, of university study. Physical identity, body esteem and social dominance orientation (SDO) were assessed in order to establish their relationship with anti-fat bias.

RESULTS

PE students displayed higher levels of implicit anti-fat bias than psychology students, and other health professionals. Additionally, year three PE students displayed higher levels of implicit anti-fat attitudes than year one PE students. The higher implicit anti-fat biases exhibited by year three PE students were associated with SDO, and lower body esteem.

CONCLUSION

Physical educators, and particularly those more socialized in the PE environment, display strong negative prejudice toward obese individuals that is greater than that displayed by other groups. These prejudices appear to be supported by an over-investment in physical attributes, and ideological beliefs.

Definitive PCI for severe coronary disease masquerading as troponin-negative ACS

Images

Swine and circovirus

In the 1990s Post-weaning, multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) emerged in N. America and Europe as a major disease problem with significant welfare and economic consequences for pig producers. The disease, characterised by wasting, respiratory, enteric and lymphoid system problems in pigs of 4-16 weeks of age, has since spread so that today it has a global distribution. PCV-2 is consistently associated with PMWS, is more abundant in association with PMWS and is considered by many to be the causative agent of the syndrome. However, several lines of evidence indicate that PCV-2 is necessary but not sufficient to cause the full range of clinical signs associated with PMWS, suggesting the involvement of an as yet unidentified factor or factors. The process of identifying unknown agents and their respective roles in the pathogenesis of complex syndromes now has an ever broadening spectrum of analytical techniques available. Immune phenotyping, cytokine responses, micro-array profiling, and proteomics are just some of the techniques available. This paper describes the philosophy and the application of these and classical techniques in an integrated, holistic manner to the problem of PMWS and circoviruses, by examination of samples collected from a prospective, clinical case-control study, and discusses some of the preliminary findings in relation to the efforts to understand the aetiopathogenesis of PMWS.

Non-travel-associated hepatitis E in England and Wales: demographic, clinical, and molecular epidemiological characteristics

Between 1996 and 2003, 186 cases of hepatitis E were serologically diagnosed. Of these, 17 (9%) were not associated with recent travel abroad. Patients were >55 years old (range, 56-82 years old) and tended to be male (76%). Two patients presented with fulminant hepatitis. A total of 129 (69%) cases were associated with recent travel to countries where hepatitis E virus (HEV) is hyperendemic. Compared with patients with travel-associated disease, patients with non-travel-associated disease were more likely to be older, living in coastal or estuarine areas, not of South Asian ethnicity, and infected by genotype 3 strains of HEV. The genotype 3 subgenomic nucleotide sequences were unique and closely related to those from British pigs. Patients infected by HEV indigenous to England and Wales tended to belong to a distinct demographic group, there were multiple sources of infection, and pigs might have been a viral reservoir.

The secondary transfer of fibres from head hair

In this study, the effects of fibre type, hair style, time and fibre persistence on the secondary transfer of mask fibres to pillowcases via head hair were studied. Volunteers with a range of hair styles, and masks consisting of different fibre compositions were used in the study. Fibres from the masks were found to transfer from donor subjects to the pillowcases up to 14 nights after the mask had been worn. On average, the number of secondarily transferred fibres found decreased with time; however, this decrease appeared to be more 'linear' in nature, rather than an exponential decay. The greatest degree of secondary transfer occurred with cotton, then acrylic, then wool. In a primary transfer/persistence experiment with a 50% acrylic/50% wool mask, wool was found to persist in the hair more readily than acrylic. The results also showed that the greatest degree of secondary transfer occurred via short straight and long straight hair, with no clear pattern emerging between medium length hair (both straight and curly) and with long curly hair. The implications of these findings for the assessment and interpretation of casework are considered along with data obtained from related studies.

Genome sequence analysis of 10 Dutch porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) isolates from a PMWS case-control study

The factors responsible for the emergence of post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) as an epidemic disease with significant impact upon the pig industry are not all known. Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) has been shown to be necessary but not sufficient for the expression of PMWS. Retrospective serological and molecular surveys have shown that PCV-2 was widespread and was maintained with only occasional reports of sporadic PMWS in the 30 year period prior to the recent emergence of the epidemic form of the syndrome. However, the recent spread of the disease in Europe and elsewhere has pointed to the transmission of a novel pathogen. One explanation to reconcile this paradox is that PWMS is caused by a unique PCV-2 variant that is being spread through pig populations. To test this hypothesis, complete genomes (1767 bp) of 10 Dutch PCV-2 isolates from 4 PMWS affected premises and 6 farms without PMWS were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these sequences were grouped together although they differed on 77 nucleotide positions relative to each other (95.6-100% identity between the 10 isolates). None of these nucleotide changes identified impacted upon transcriptional elements or other important recognised features of the genome of the PCV-2. Amino acid changes were recorded on 4 positions in ORF1 and on 16 positions in ORF2 but, importantly, no consistent pattern was evident between PCV-2 isolates from affected and control pigs. These data provide further evidence to suggest that factor(s) in addition to PCV-2 are necessary in the development of PMWS.

Detection of mustelid herpesvirus-1 infected European badgers (Meles meles) in the British Isles

The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of mustelid herpesvirus-1 (MusHV-1) infection in free-ranging badgers (Meles meles) in the British Isles. A polymerase chain reaction assay was developed that detected MusHV-1 DNA in 95% (18/19) and 100% (10/10) of anticoagulant-treated blood samples collected from free-ranging badgers sampled in the southwest of England and the Republic of Ireland, respectively. An indirect immunoassay was also developed to detect MusHV-1-specific immunoglobulin-G in serum samples. Using an arbitrary cutoff of twice the optical density obtained with a virus-negative preparation, 32.7% (36/110) of sera sampled from badgers were positive. The conclusion drawn from these data is that infection with MusHV-1 is common among free-ranging badgers in the British Isles.

Evaluation of tests for antibodies against bovine herpesvirus 1 performed in national reference laboratories in Europe

Sets of serum and milk samples were collected from various countries and prepared, lyophilised and distributed by 1 laboratory to 12 reference laboratories in Europe. The serum sets contained the three European bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV1) reference serum samples (EU1, EU2 and EU3), serum samples from naturally and experimentally BHV1-infected cattle, from vaccinated, and vaccinated-challenged cattle, from uninfected cattle, and a series of serum dilutions. In addition, sets of milk samples were distributed. The samples were tested for antibodies against BHV1 in virus neutralisation tests, in gB-specific ELISAs, in indirect ELISAs and in gE-specific ELISAs. It was found that the virus neutralisation test and the gB-specific ELISAs were most sensitive for the detection of antibodies in serum, whereas for assaying milk samples the indirect ELISAs were the tests of choice. The results show that the quality of most laboratories appeared to be adequate, but that one laboratory performed considerably below an acceptable level of quality. Four samples from the panel have been proposed that might be selected as reference sera in addition to the three European reference samples.

Human and porcine hepatitis E virus strains, United Kingdom

We describe a case of acquired infection of a strain of hepatitis E virus (HEV)with a 100% amino acid identity to the analogous region in strains of HEV circulating in a United Kingdom pig herd. This case further supports the theory that autochthonous HEV infection in industrialized countries is zoonotic.

Detection and genetic typing of type 2 porcine circoviruses in archived pig tissues from the UK

Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) is implicated as the causative agent of post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) and is also associated with porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS). The recent emergence of epidemic PMWS in the United Kingdom was predated by sporadic cases of PDNS dating back to the early 1980's. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PCV-2 DNA was present in archival tissues, and if so, to investigate the relatedness of these viruses with contemporary strains of PCV-2. DNA extracted from paraffin wax-embedded tissue blocks ( n = 68), was subjected to a TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting a fragment of ORF1 of PCV-2. Positive results were obtained from 41% (9/22), 31% (4/13) and 32% (8/25) of submissions from the 1990's, 1980's and 1970's respectively. The presence of PCV-2 antigen in some of these tissues was confirmed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). A PCR targeting ORF2 was used to obtain sequence data for phylogenetic analysis. Sequences from 5 archival tissues were unique but showed high genetic identity to PCV-2 sequence obtained from a 2000 PDNS case. These data demonstrate that similar isolates of PCV-2 have been present in the UK pig population for more than 30 years.

Evidence for the presence of hepatitis E virus in pigs in the United Kingdom

Samples of serum, tissue and faeces from two pig herds in England were examined for hepatitis E virus by reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), and a virus strain from each herd was partially sequenced. Eleven of 42 faecal samples and 16 of 21 tissue samples from two pigs were positive for the virus by RT-PCR. Analysis of two unique but closely related nucleotide sequences obtained from the two herds showed that the viruses clustered in genotype III (6) with a human strain of the virus from an autochthonously acquired case of acute hepatitis in the UK. An ELISA based on recombinant open reading frame 2 (ORF-2) was used to detect antibodies to hepatitis E virus in 256 pig sera from the UK; 85.5 per cent of the samples were positive, compared with 58 per cent of similar samples from Swedish pigs and 23.5 per cent of samples from Dutch pigs.

Use of an internal standard in a TaqMan® nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for the detection of bovine viral diarrhoea virus

The aim of this study was to improve molecular methods for the detection of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV). A single-tube nested reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (nRT-PCR) employing the 5'-3'-exonuclease assay (TaqMan) system was optimised for use with bulk milk, semen and whole blood samples. An artificial template (mimic) was engineered to provide in-tube validation of negative samples by demonstrating the absence of substances inhibitory to RT or PCR. This mimic was constructed by disrupting the BVDV amplicon at the TaqMan probe site by inserting a 295bp fragment of human genomic DNA. The mimic amplicon was discriminated from the BVDV RT-PCR products using a second TaqMan probe, with a different fluorochrome specific for the inserted DNA. This new method was more sensitive than BVDV antigen ELISA methods and the existing RT-PCR method used in the laboratory for detection of BVDV in bulk milk. Furthermore, RNA extracted by robotic methods has proved suitable for use in this assay. This TaqMan nRT-PCR will be a valuable method for the detection of BVDV in a variety of biological matrices including milk and semen.

Subclinical breakdown with infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus infection in dairy herd of high health status

Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus infection was detected by an antibody ELISA in the bulk milk of a large closed dairy herd of high health status in an area of low cattle density in East Anglia. The herd was managed under high standards of biosecurity and was known to have been serologically free of IBR virus for the previous 13 years. Although over 70 per cent of the cows had seroconverted to IBR virus no clinical signs were observed apart from a slight bilateral watery ocular discharge in a few cows, and their performance and productivity were unaffected. The causal virus, which was isolated after it had been reactivated with corticosteroid, had the DNA profile of a bovine herpesvirus type 1 strain normally associated with clinically severe respiratory disease. In spite of extensive enquiries and seroepidemiological investigations the source of the infection was not determined.

Partial characterization of a novel gammaherpesvirus isolated from a European badger (Meles meles)

A herpesvirus causing a cytopathic effect was isolated from pulmonary fibroblast cultures established from a European badger (Meles meles). A study was undertaken to classify and to assess some in-vitro growth characteristics of this virus. From a panel of 27 mammalian cell lines, in-vitro replication of the badger herpesvirus (BadHV) was only demonstrated with a mink lung cell line, suggesting a high degree of host specificity. Using PCR with degenerate primers, three independent fragments of the BadHV genome were sequenced. The largest of these fragments comprised a 6.2 kb segment including the DNA polymerase and glycoprotein B genes. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences demonstrated that the BadHV is novel and clearly grouped with members of the Gammaherpesvirinae. In view of the oncogenic and immunosuppressive potential of many related herpesviruses, it is possible that BadHV can impact on existing acute or chronic disease in badgers.

Identification and sequence analysis of the glycoprotein B gene of porcine cytomegalovirus

Porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV) is one of the pathogens that should be eliminated from pigs intended for use as organ donors in xenotransplantation. For this purpose, reliable diagnostic test systems are needed. To provide a basis for this goal and to analyse the evolutionary relationships of PCMV within the herpesvirus family, the putative glycoprotein B (gB) gene of PCMV was identified by assuming gene colinearity and a relative conservation of nucleotide sequences in comparison with closely related herpesviruses. Using this approach the complete nucleotide sequence of the PCMV gB gene was determined. A protein of 860 amino acids was deduced and a putative cleavage site, conserved cysteine residues, as well as potential N-terminal glycosylation motifs were identified. In a comparison of PCMV gB with the corresponding region of other herpesviruses, the highest identities were found with human herpesviruses 6 and 7 (HHV-6 and 7; 43.4% and 42.6%, respectively). Also in phylogenetic analysis, the PCMV gB clustered with HHV-6 and HHV-7. Between the complete gB sequences of five different PCMV strains and isolates from the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Japan and Sweden, differences of 3.4% were found, indicating a considerable intra-species variation. The characterisation of the protein deduced from the identified gene provides further evidence that this is indeed the gB gene of PCMV and provides important taxonomical information regarding PCMV. The identification of the gB gene should facilitate the development of sensitive and robust diagnostic methods for the PCMV screening of pigs.