University of East Anglia

About: University of East Anglia is a education organization based out in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Climate change. The organization has 13250 authors who have published 37504 publications receiving 1669060 citations. The organization is also known as: UEA.

Wound-Induced Endogenous Jasmonates Stunt Plant Growth by Inhibiting Mitosis

Abstract: When plants are repeatedly injured their growth is stunted and the size of organs such as leaves is greatly reduced. The basis of this effect is not well-understood however, even though it reduces yield of crops injured by herbivory, and produces dramatic effects exemplified in ornamental bonsai plants. We have investigated the genetic and physiological basis of this “bonsai effect” by repeatedly wounding leaves of the model plant Arabidopsis. This treatment stunted growth by 50% and increased the endogenous content of jasmonate (JA), a growth inhibitor, by seven-fold. Significantly, repeated wounding did not stunt the growth of the leaves of mutants unable to synthesise JA, or unable to respond to JA including coi1, jai3, myc2, but not jar1. The stunted growth did not result from reduced cell size, but resulted instead from reduced cell number, and was associated with reduced expression of CycB1;2. Wounding caused systemic disappearance of constitutively expressed JAZ1::GUS. Wounding also activates plant immunity. We show that a gene, 12-oxo-phytodienoate reductase, which catalyses a step in JA biosynthesis, and which we confirm is not required for defence, is however required for wound-induced stunting. Our data suggest that intermediates in the JA biosynthetic pathway activate defence, but a primary function of wound-induced JA is to stunt growth through the suppression of mitosis.

Anticholinergic drugs and risk of dementia : case-control study

Abstract: Objectives To estimate the association between the duration and level of exposure to different classes of anticholinergic drugs and subsequent incident dementia. Design Case-control study. Setting General practices in the UK contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Participants 40 770 patients aged 65-99 with a diagnosis of dementia between April 2006 and July 2015, and 283 933 controls without dementia. Interventions Daily defined doses of anticholinergic drugs coded using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale, in total and grouped by subclass, prescribed 4-20 years before a diagnosis of dementia. Main outcome measures Odds ratios for incident dementia, adjusted for a range of demographic and health related covariates. Results 14 453 (35%) cases and 86 403 (30%) controls were prescribed at least one anticholinergic drug with an ACB score of 3 (definite anticholinergic activity) during the exposure period. The adjusted odds ratio for any anticholinergic drug with an ACB score of 3 was 1.11 (95% confidence interval 1.08 to 1.14). Dementia was associated with an increasing average ACB score. When considered by drug class, gastrointestinal drugs with an ACB score of 3 were not distinctively linked to dementia. The risk of dementia increased with greater exposure for antidepressant, urological, and antiparkinson drugs with an ACB score of 3. This result was also observed for exposure 15-20 years before a diagnosis. Conclusions A robust association between some classes of anticholinergic drugs and future dementia incidence was observed. This could be caused by a class specific effect, or by drugs being used for very early symptoms of dementia. Future research should examine anticholinergic drug classes as opposed to anticholinergic effects intrinsically or summing scales for anticholinergic exposure. Trial registration Registered to the European Union electronic Register of Post-Authorisation Studies EUPAS8705.

Green tea (Camellia sinensis) for the prevention of cancer

Abstract: Background Tea is one of the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide. Teas from the plant Camellia sinensis can be grouped into green, black and oolong tea. Cross-culturally tea drinking habits vary. Camellia sinensis contains the active ingredient polyphenol, which has a subgroup known as catechins. Catechins are powerful antioxidants. It has been suggested that green tea polyphenol may inhibit cell proliferation and observational studies have suggested that green tea may have cancer-preventative effects. Objectives To critically assess any associations between green tea consumption and the risk of cancer incidence and mortality. Search methods We searched eligible studies up to January 2009 in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, Amed, CancerLit, Psych INFO and Phytobase and reference lists of previous reviews and included studies. Selection criteria We included all prospective, controlled interventional studies and observational studies, which either assessed the associations between green tea consumption and risk of cancer incidence or that reported on cancer mortality. Data collection and analysis At least two review authors independently applied the study criteria, extracted data and assessed methodological quality of studies. Due to the nature of included studies, which were mainly epidemiological, results were summarised descriptively according to cancer diagnosis. Main results Fifty-one studies with more than 1.6 million participants were included. Twenty-seven of them were case-control studies, 23 cohort studies and one randomised controlled trial (RCT). Twenty-seven studies tried to establish an association between green tea consumption and cancer of the digestive tract, mainly of the upper gastrointestinal tract, five with breast cancer, five with prostate cancer, three with lung cancer, two with ovarian cancer, two with urinary bladder cancer one with oral cancer, three further studies included patients with various cancer diagnoses. The methodological quality was measured with the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS). The 9 nested case-control studies within prospective cohorts were of high methodological quality, 13 of medium, and 1 of low. One retrospective case-control study was of high methodological quality and 21 of medium and 5 of low. Results from studies assessing associations between green tea and risk of digestive tract cancer incidence were highly contradictory. There was limited evidence that green tea could reduce the incidence of liver cancer. The evidence for esophageal, gastric, colon, rectum, and pancreatic cancer was conflicting. In prostate cancer, observational studies with higher methodological quality and the only included RCT suggested a decreased risk in men consuming higher quantities green tea or green tea extracts. However, there was limited to moderate evidence that the consumption of green tea reduced the risk of lung cancer, especially in men, and urinary bladder cancer or that it could even increase the risk of the latter. There was moderate to strong evidence that green tea consumption does not decrease the risk of dying from gastric cancer. There was limited moderate to strong evidence for lung, pancreatic and colorectal cancer. Authors' conclusions There is insufficient and conflicting evidence to give any firm recommendations regarding green tea consumption for cancer prevention. The results of this review, including its trends of associations, need to be interpreted with caution and their generalisability is questionable, as the majority of included studies were carried out in Asia (n = 47) where the tea drinking culture is pronounced. Desirable green tea intake is 3 to 5 cups per day (up to 1200 ml/day), providing a minimum of 250 mg/day catechins. If not exceeding the daily recommended allowance, those who enjoy a cup of green tea should continue its consumption. Drinking green tea appears to be safe at moderate, regular and habitual use.

Incompressible water-entry problems at small deadrise angles

Abstract: This paper summarizes and extends some mathematical results for a model for a class of water-entry problems characterized by the geometrical property that the impacting body is nearly parallel to the undisturbed water surface and that the impact is so rapid that gravity can be neglected. Explicit solutions for the pressure distributions are given in the case of two-dimensional flow and a variational formulation is described which provides a simple numerical algorithm for three-dimensional flows. We also pose some open questions concerning the well-posedness and physical relevance of the model for exit problems or when there is an air gap between the impacting body and the water.