World Health Organization

About: World Health Organization is a government organization based out in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 13330 authors who have published 22232 publications receiving 1322023 citations. The organization is also known as: World Health Organisation & WHO.

From the national institutes of health. Summary of a workshop on the clone concept in the epidemiology, taxonomy, and evolution of the enterobacteriaceae and other bacteria.

Abstract: Participants in this workshop included Mark Achtman, Max-Planck Institut ffir Molekulare Genetik, Berlin; Alan G. Barbour, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Rocky Mountain Laboratory, Hamilton, Mont; Michael Barile, US Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, Md; Louis S. Baron, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC; Mark Beaubien, Fogarty International Center, NIH; Thomas M. Buchanan, University of Washington, Seattle; B. Wesley Catlin, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; P. Patrick Cleary, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Mitchell L. Cohen, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta; Alan S. Cross, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; J. P. Duguid, University of Dundee Medical School, Scotland; Robert Edelman, NIAID; John J. Farmer, III, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC; Samuel B. Formal, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Carl E. Frasch, US Food and Drug Administration; Peter Gemski, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Robert C. Goldman, National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH; Carolyn M. Hardegree, US Food and Drug Adminstration; James B. Kaper, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; Dennis J. Kopecko, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Loretta Leive, National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; Bruce R. Levin, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Myron M. Levine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; Frits and Ida Orskov, International Escherichia and Klebsiella Centre, Statens Seruminstitut, Copenhagen; John B. Robbins, US Food and Drug Administration; Bernard Rowe, Central Public Health Laboratory, London; R. Bradley Sack, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; J. C. Sadoff, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Rachel Schneerson, US Food and Drug Administration; Robert K. Selander, University of Rochester, New York; Richard Silver, US Food and Drug Administration; David H. Smith, University of Rochester, New York; Lucy S. Tompkins, University of Washington, Seattle; Kaye Wachsmuth, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC; the late Lewis Wannamaker, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis; T. S. Whittam, University of Rochester, New York; Richard A. Wilson, Pennsylvania State Bethesda, Md. Investigators from Europe and the United States discussed epidemiologic, pathophysical, genetic, and evolutionary problems relating to the clone concept. T e workshop was opened by Dr Mark Beaubien, Acting Director of the Fogarty International Center, and by Dr Frits Orskov, who noted that Herbert John Webber first used the word clone in 1903 to designate a population in which all members have been derived from one and the same progenitor by nonsexual multiplication. For present purposes, the word clone will be used to denote bacterial cultures isolated independently from different sources, in different locations, and perhaps at different times, but showing so many identical phenotypic and genetic traits that the most likely explanation for this identity is a common origin. Dr Orskov pointed out that the concept of a clonal connection between isolates from a clear-cut outbreak of disease caused by a phenotypically well-characterized pathogen has probably always been accepted, even though the word "clone" itself may not have been used. In recent years, however, the clone concept has also been applied to bacteria (such as many serotypes of Escherichia coli) that usually do not cause clearcut outbreaks or epidemics. Dr Orskov concluded by expressing the hope that recently developed techniques would make it possible to characterize phenotypes within the many bacterial groups, thereby allowing a more precise definition of bacterial clones.

Polymorphisms in the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5) gene are associated with variation in vertebral bone mass, vertebral bone size, and stature in whites.

Abstract: Stature, bone size, and bone mass are interrelated traits with high heritability, but the major genes that govern these phenotypes remain unknown. Independent genomewide quantitative-trait locus studies have suggested a locus for bone-mineral density and stature at chromosome 11q12-13, a region harboring the low-density lipoprotein receptor–related protein 5 (LRP5) gene. Mutations in the LRP5 gene were recently implicated in osteoporosispseudoglioma and “high-bone-mass” syndromes. To test whether polymorphisms in the LRP5 gene contribute to bone-mass determination in the general population, we studied a cross-sectional cohort of 889 healthy whites of both sexes. Significant associations were found for a missense substitution in exon 9 (c.2047GrA) with lumbar spine (LS)–bone-mineral content (BMC) ( ), with bone area ( ), and with stature ( ). P p .0032 P p .0014 P p .0062 The associations were observed mainly in adult men, in whom LRP5 polymorphisms accounted for 15% of the traits’ variances. Results of haplotype analysis of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the LRP5 region suggest that additional genetic variation within the locus might also contribute to bone-mass and size determination. To confirm our results, we investigated whether LRP5 haplotypes were associated with 1-year gain in vertebral bone mass and size in 386 prepubertal children. Significant associations were observed for changes in BMC ( ) P p .0348 and bone area ( ) in males but not females, independently supporting our observations of a mostly maleP p .0286 specific effect, as seen in the adults. Together, these results suggest that LRP5 variants significantly contribute to LS–bone-mass and size determination in men by influencing vertebral bone growth during childhood.

The global burden of epilepsy.

Abstract: Summary: We briefly describe the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) study, its goals, and some of its outcomes as related to neurologic and psychiatric disorders. The summary measure of population health DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years) are described, as well as the implications for neuropsychiatric disorders of changing health indicators and the move from mortality toward disability indicators. The pressing need for new measures for health is answered by the new WHO Classification of Functioning Disability and Health, ICF, and a brief summary of its basic principles is provided. Although a better understanding of the physical, social, and economic burden of epilepsy has moved this disorder higher on the world's agenda, epilepsy still has problems to be recognized as a public health priority. The implications of a shift toward considering the disability of epilepsy, as outlined in the the WHO World Health Report 2001, are important. The burden of epilepsy is high and, for the year 2000, accounts for ∼0.5% of the whole burden of diseases in the world.