The Power of Words: Healing Narratives among Lubavitcher Hasidim

The debate concerning the relation between magic and religion has a long history. Instead of separating religion and magic as separate domains, recent work on ritual examines how symbolic and pragmatic acts interrelate. After discussing current theories of religious healing and, specifically, the power of words in healing, this article examines how a group of Lubavitcher Hasidic Jews deals with sickness and the relation between the group's use ofbiomedicine and religious healing. According to the group's mystical text, Tanya, there is an intrinsic link between the physical and the spiritual and between religious words and the body. At times of sickness Lubavitchers communicate with the Rebbe, who instructs them to examine their religious texts. The manipulation of religious words mediated by the Rebbe results in bodily healing. The data confirm the Malinowskian hypothesis that symbolic measures come into play when pragmatic actions fail. Can Lubavitchers be characterized as holding a well-defined model of the healing process? [Lubavitch, Tanya, text, healing]     

Transfer of Immunity from Mother to Offspring Is Mediated via Egg-Yolk Protein Vitellogenin

Insect immune systems can recognize specific pathogens and prime offspring immunity. High specificity of immune priming can be achieved when insect females transfer immune elicitors into developing oocytes. The molecular mechanism behind this transfer has been a mystery. Here, we establish that the egg-yolk protein vitellogenin is the carrier of immune elicitors. Using the honey bee, Apis mellifera, model system, we demonstrate with microscopy and western blotting that vitellogenin binds to bacteria, both Paenibacillus larvae – the gram-positive bacterium causing American foulbrood disease – and to Escherichia coli that represents gram-negative bacteria. Next, we verify that vitellogenin binds to pathogen-associated molecular patterns; lipopolysaccharide, peptidoglycan and zymosan, using surface plasmon resonance. We document that vitellogenin is required for transport of cell-wall pieces of E. coli into eggs by imaging tissue sections. These experiments identify vitellogenin, which is distributed widely in oviparous species, as the carrier of immune-priming signals. This work reveals a molecular explanation for trans-generational immunity in insects and a previously undescribed role for vitellogenin.     

The DAO Gene Is Associated with Schizophrenia and Interacts with Other Genes in the Taiwan Han Chinese Population

Background

Schizophrenia is a highly heritable disease with a polygenic mode of inheritance. Many studies have contributed to our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of schizophrenia, but little is known about how interactions among genes affect the risk of schizophrenia. This study aimed to assess the associations and interactions among genes that confer vulnerability to schizophrenia and to examine the moderating effect of neuropsychological impairment.

Methods

We analyzed 99 SNPs from 10 candidate genes in 1,512 subject samples. The permutation-based single-locus, multi-locus association tests, and a gene-based multifactorial dimension reduction procedure were used to examine genetic associations and interactions to schizophrenia.

Results

We found that no single SNP was significantly associated with schizophrenia. However, a risk haplotype, namely A-T-C of the SNP triplet rsDAO7-rsDAO8-rsDAO13 of the DAO gene, was strongly associated with schizophrenia. Interaction analyses identified multiple between-gene and within-gene interactions. Between-gene interactions including DAO*DISC1 , DAO*NRG1 and DAO*RASD2 and a within-gene interaction for CACNG2 were found among schizophrenia subjects with severe sustained attention deficits, suggesting a modifying effect of impaired neuropsychological functioning. Other interactions such as the within-gene interaction of DAO and the between-gene interaction of DAO and PTK2B were consistently identified regardless of stratification by neuropsychological dysfunction. Importantly, except for the within-gene interaction of CACNG2, all of the identified risk haplotypes and interactions involved SNPs from DAO.

Conclusions

These results suggest that DAO, which is involved in the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor regulation, signaling and glutamate metabolism, is the master gene of the genetic associations and interactions underlying schizophrenia. Besides, the interaction between DAO and RASD2 has provided an insight in integrating the glutamate and dopamine hypotheses of schizophrenia.     

Season of Birth in Schizophrenia in the Mexico City Area: Comparison with General Population

The relationship between seasonal changes and mental disorders has been extensively studied in the northern and southern hemispheres. In both cases, the results show that there is a higher rate of schizophrenic births during the winter months. The present study attempts to prove the existence of this phenomena in Mexico City, an area that does not undergo extreme weather variations throughout the year. A total of 2,288 schizophrenic patients was considered for this study. Their date of birth was compared to that of the general population of the Mexico City area, a total of 4,848,119 individuals. The number of births was evaluated according to the number of days in each month. The distribution of the births of schizophrenics was compared to the reference population by means of a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and a X 2 contrast. The annual rhythm of births of schizophrenics was determined through an analysis of the Estimated Seasonal Component. There was a slight, non-significant increment in schizophrenic births in December and autumn, as compared with the general population birth rate. Interestingly, it was found that births in the control population decreased significantly in December when compared with all the other months. Results were discussed in relation to the geographical location of Mexico, which lies in a tropical zone, and as a consequence minimal seasonal effects.     

The Yeast Dynactin Complex Is Involved in Partitioning the Mitotic Spindle between Mother and Daughter Cells during Anaphase B

Although vertebrate cytoplasmic dynein can move to the minus ends of microtubules in vitro, its ability to translocate purified vesicles on microtubules depends on the presence of an accessory complex known as dynactin. We have cloned and characterized a novel gene, NIP100, which encodes the yeast homologue of the vertebrate dynactin complex protein p150^glued. Like strains lacking the cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain Dyn1p or the centractin homologue Act5p, nip100Δ strains are viable but undergo a significant number of failed mitoses in which the mitotic spindle does not properly partition into the daughter cell. Analysis of spindle dynamics by time-lapse digital microscopy indicates that the precise role of Nip100p during anaphase is to promote the translocation of the partially elongated mitotic spindle through the bud neck. Consistent with the presence of a true dynactin complex in yeast, Nip100p exists in a stable complex with Act5p as well as Jnm1p, another protein required for proper spindle partitioning during anaphase. Moreover, genetic depletion experiments indicate that the binding of Nip100p to Act5p is dependent on the presence of Jnm1p. Finally, we find that a fusion of Nip100p to the green fluorescent protein localizes to the spindle poles throughout the cell cycle. Taken together, these results suggest that the yeast dynactin complex and cytoplasmic dynein together define a physiological pathway that is responsible for spindle translocation late in anaphase.     

Season of Birth in Schizophrenia in the Mexico City Area: Comparison with General Population

The relationship between seasonal changes and mental disorders has been extensively studied in the northern and southern hemispheres. In both cases, the results show that there is a higher rate of schizophrenic births during the winter months. The present study attempts to prove the existence of this phenomena in Mexico City, an area that does not undergo extreme weather variations throughout the year. A total of 2,288 schizophrenic patients was considered for this study. Their date of birth was compared to that of the general population of the Mexico City area, a total of 4,848,119 individuals. The number of births was evaluated according to the number of days in each month. The distribution of the births of schizophrenics was compared to the reference population by means of a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and a X 2 contrast. The annual rhythm of births of schizophrenics was determined through an analysis of the Estimated Seasonal Component. There was a slight, non-significant increment in schizophrenic births in December and autumn, as compared with the general population birth rate. Interestingly, it was found that births in the control population decreased significantly in December when compared with all the other months. Results were discussed in relation to the geographical location of Mexico, which lies in a tropical zone, and as a consequence minimal seasonal effects.     

Riyadh Mother and Baby Multicenter Cohort Study: The Cohort Profile

Objectives

To assess the effects of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, on the mother and the infant.

Methods

A multicentre cohort study was conducted in three hospitals in the city of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. All Saudi women and their babies who delivered in participating hospitals were eligible for recruitment. Data on socio-demographic characteristics in addition to the maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnancy were collected. The cohort demographic profile was recorded and the prevalence of maternal conditions including gestational diabetes, pre-gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and obesity were estimated.

Findings

The total number of women who delivered in participating hospitals during the study period was 16,012 of which 14,568 women participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 29 ± 5.9 years and over 40% were university graduates. Most of the participants were housewives, 70% were high or middle income and 22% were exposed to secondhand smoke. Of the total cohort, 24% were married to a first cousin. More than 68% of the participants were either overweight or obese. The preterm delivery rate was 9%, while 1.5% of the deliveries were postdate. The stillbirth rate was 13/1000 live birth. The prevalence of gestational diabetes was 24% and that of pre-gestational diabetes was 4.3%. The preeclampsia prevalence was 1.1%. The labour induction rate was 15.5% and the cesarean section rate was 25%.

Conclusion

Pregnant women in Saudi Arabia have a unique demographic profile. The prevalence of obesity and diabetes in pregnancy are among the highest in the world.     

The Texture of the Real: Experimentation and Experience in Schizophrenia

The dominance of the neurosciences in psychiatric research raises questions about the relationship between research practices and the lived experience of mental illness. Here, I use data from a group of researchers focusing on neurocognition in schizophrenia to explore the problem of representation in psychiatric research and the forms that neuroscientific evidence assumes for those who produce it. These researchers grappled with the complexity of schizophrenia not by narrowing disease concepts to biological facts but by referencing measurement techniques to generate new versions of schizophrenia. By linking experimental findings to inchoate concepts of personhood and social experience, I found that they reframed and reinforced cultural values, including that those with schizophrenia are destined to a debased and deficient existence. I argue that cognition has emerged as an essential feature of schizophrenia not only because of its representational utility but also because of the ontological work the concept performs. In closing, I present some implications for the neurobiological and social sciences.     

Additive Genetic Variation in Schizophrenia Risk Is Shared by Populations of African and European Descent

To investigate the extent to which the proportion of schizophrenia’s additive genetic variation tagged by SNPs is shared by populations of European and African descent, we analyzed the largest combined African descent (AD [n = 2,142]) and European descent (ED [n = 4,990]) schizophrenia case-control genome-wide association study (GWAS) data set available, the Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia (MGS) data set. We show how a method that uses genomic similarities at measured SNPs to estimate the additive genetic correlation (SNP correlation [SNP-r_g]) between traits can be extended to estimate SNP-r_g for the same trait between ethnicities. We estimated SNP-r_g for schizophrenia between the MGS ED and MGS AD samples to be 0.66 (SE = 0.23), which is significantly different from 0 (p_{(SNP-rg = 0)} = 0.0003), but not 1 (p_{(SNP-rg = 1)} = 0.26). We re-estimated SNP-r_g between an independent ED data set (n = 6,665) and the MGS AD sample to be 0.61 (SE = 0.21, p_{(SNP-rg = 0)} = 0.0003, p_{(SNP-rg = 1)} = 0.16). These results suggest that many schizophrenia risk alleles are shared across ethnic groups and predate African-European divergence.