Interest and participation in EcoHealth and One Health approaches have grown considerably over the past decade. Clearly, the two approaches have many similarities and strive for similar outcomes, and collaboration between them holds great potential value. Convergence of the two approaches could avoid repetition, strengthening both communities yet still highlighting the unique attributes of each approach. In 2011 Margot Parkes, then President of the International Association for Ecology and Health , called for critical reflection on directions for ecohealth as a transdisciplinary field positioned among converging efforts Parkes . Buildinwww.ecohealth.net). Others have documented the evolution of the field of ecohealth , but not its focus. Ecohealth could further enhance these efforts by drawing on the One Health expertise and experiences in zoonotic disease research, and disease economics, surveillance and management.While One Health is growing in disciplinary diversity, veterinarians and public health practitioners currently form the majority of the field, and it tends to focus on communicable disease, food safety, nutrition and antimicrobial resistance, issues squarely at the nexus of human and animal health. There are gains to be made in synergizing with the already-diverse membership in Ecohealth. The threat of a global influenza pandemic gave great impetus to the One Health movement, and was able to influence the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to formally work together under the banner of One Health. Similar collaborations were established in many countries, influencing national policies, investments and research funding. Ecohealth affiliates could learn from the strategies and networks used by One Health advocates to widen their influence on large-scale policy processes.EcoHealth, and with communities of practice in Ecohealth around the world, individuals who identify with the One Health movement gain new platforms for interaction and outreach.One Health has chosen not to have an organisational structure, a single journal for research or policy dissemination, or undertake regular conferencing arrangements. By partnering with existing structures such as the IAEH and its journal, Ecohealth and One Health share many values and approaches, and converge most obviously in the areas of zoonoses, disease emergence, and pandemic threats. Each has strengths to offer the other and by working together, greater impact may be achieved in global health and sustainability. Each also embraces themes and approaches not currently suited to the other. These differences should not prevent a closer interaction; rather, both communities stand to gain from shared information, resources and collaborative action. For example, Ecohealth, with its foundations in environmental issues, could contribute to the enhanced development of ecosystem approaches in One Health. Similarly, One Health could bolster the animal health research in EcoHealth as well as strengthen its economic evaluations and policy influence.Some organizations are already employing the strengths of both approaches. For example, the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques in Côte d’Ivoire uses One Health approaches for diseases at the human-animal interface or food borne disease, and Ecohealth approaches for research on climate change, water and vector borne diseases.EcoHealth.Multiple benefits may be gained by bringing together One Health and Ecohealth, yet many people working in one or the other field are unaware of the potential for collaboration. Opportunities abound for reversing this: for example, through joint conferences, shared training, and publication in journals read by both communities of researchers, such as Jakob Zinsstag (convener), Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, SwitzerlandMartyn Jeggo (convener), Australian Animal Health Laboratory, CSIRO, AustraliaEsther Schelling, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, SwitzerlandBassirou Bonfoh, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’IvoireDavid Waltner-Toews, University of Guelph, Ontario, CanadaStefano Lelii, Institute of Public Health, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, GermanyBob Williams, Wellington, New ZealandMahamat Bechir, Centre de Support en Santé Internationale, ChadFelix Li, Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Embassy, ChinaDominique Charron, International Development Research Center, Ottawa, CanadaRobinson Mdegela, Sokoine University of Agriculture, TanzaniaMeredith Barrett, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars, University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley, CA, USARichard Kock, Royal Veterinary College, Hertfordshire, United KingdomIbrahima Sy, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, SwitzerlandAlain Vandersmissen, European Union - European External Action Service, Brussels, BelgiumPeter Black, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Barton, ACT, AustraliaPeter Daszak, EcoHealth Alliance, New York, USA


Background. Specific dietary components have been associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in Europe and the United States. However, the relationship between dietary components and GERD in Chinese still remains unclear. Methods. A total of 268 patients who were newly diagnosed as reflux esophagitis (RE) in Outpatient Endoscopy Center of Tongji Hospital were recruited. In addition, 269 sex- and age-matched subjects were also recruited as controls. The body measurements were determined, and the dietary intake during the previous year was evaluated using food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between nutrients and RE. Results. After adjustment for WC, WHR, total energy intake, and demographics, there were a positive dose-response relationship between RE and calcium, meat, oils, and salt and a negative dose-response relationship between RE and protein, carbohydrate, calories from protein (%), vitamin C, grains and potatoes, fruits, and eggs. Conclusion. High intake of meat, oils, salt, and calcium is associated with an increased risk for RE while high intake of protein, carbohydrate, calories from protein (%), vitamin C, grains and potatoes, fruits, and eggs correlates with a reduced risk for RE. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic disease usually caused by the reflux of acidic gastric and duodenal contents into the distal esophagus. The major symptoms of GERD include heartburn, acid regurgitation, and non-cardiac chest pain. GERD is a common digestive disease with the direct medical costs estimated around $9.3 billion annually , and witMost of the factors involved in the pathogenesis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), previously described in European, Australian, and American studies, are present in Chinese patients with GERD, but at a lower scale. A low-fat diet probably contributes to a more favorable gastric distribution . AnotherIn general, the effects of diet on GERD are not well understood, and the currently available data in Western countries do not support a strong relationship between GERD and dietary fat, fiber, alcohol, and other nutrients. Although there are conflicting data regarding the role of dietary nutrients in GERD, there is no direct evidence that some nutrients promote or protect against GERD. Due to the difference in dietary nutrients between Chinese and Westerns, and few studies reporting the association between dietary nutrients and GERD in China, we employed food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to evaluate the relationship between dietary components and RE in a Chinese population in the present study aiming to clarify whether the diet habits affect the prevalence of RE.A total of 537 Han Chinese were recruited from the Endoscopy Center of Tongji Hospital between May 2010 and May 2011 in Shanghai. Because the diet habits vary in different peoples and Han Chinese account for 91.51% of population in China, the Han Chinese were recruited in order to maximally ensure the accuracy of data. Among these subjects, the age of 268 patients who were newly diagnosed as RE based on the Los Angles (LA) classification  ranged fThe whole protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tongji Hospital. All subjects gave written informed consent before study. All subjects were trained to complete a detailed FFQ. Before survey, all subjects were required to complete a Reflux Diagnostic Questionnaire (RDQ), including “any symptoms including heartburn, acid regurgitation, and noncardiac chest pain,” and “often changing dietary habits and avoiding certain foods.” Controls with RDQ score of >12 were also excluded although the normal findings were present in the endoscopic examination. In order to avoid the influence of symptoms on the dietary intake, these subjects were asked to record the dietary intake before the onset of reflux symptoms. FFQ based on the Chinese Dietary Pagoda  was adap2) was calculated as a ratio of weight (kg) to the square of height (m2). WC and HC were measured to the nearest 0.1 cm and the mean of three measurements was obtained. Waist-hip ratio (WHR) was calculated as a ratio of WC (cm) to HC (cm).The height, weight, waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) were measured under fasting conditions followed by endoscopy. Height was measured to the nearest 0.5 cm using a stadiometer, and weight to the nearest 0.25 kg in light clothing and without shoes using standard digital scales. BMI  were calculated on the basis of interquartile range for each nutrient and thus show risk comparing the 75th centile of intake for each nutrient with the 25th centile. A value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 14.0 for Windows . All data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). P < 0.05). RE patients had a higher WC and WHR than controls (P < 0.05) and there were no differences in the height, weight, BMI, and HC (P > 0.05) between them. Data on nutrient and food intake obtained from the FFQ are shown in P < 0.05). The calories from protein (%), calcium, β-carotene, vitamin C, and vegetables were markedly lower in the RE group than in the control group (P < 0.05).The daily intake of total energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, total SFA, dietary fiber, selenium, milk and dairy products, beans, and nuts was significantly higher in the RE group than in the control group (P > 0.05).There were no significant differences in the intake of calories from fats and carbohydrates (%), cholesterol, zinc, ferrum, vitamin E, grains and potatoes, fruits, meat, fish and shrimps, eggs, alcohol, oils, and salt , there was a positive dose-response relationship between RE and calcium , meat , oils , and salt , and there was an inverse dose-response relationship between RE and protein , carbohydrate , calories from protein (%) , vitamin C , grains and potatoes , fruits , and eggs .β-carotene, vegetables, fish and shrimps, milk and dairy products, soy, and nuts. The relationship between RE and different nutrients and food is shown in After adjustment for WC, WHR, total energy intake, and demographics , there was no correlation of RE with fat, total SFA, alcohol, cholesterol, calories from fat (%), calories from carbohydrate (%), dietary fiber, vitamin E, selenium, ferrum, zinc, This is the first study reporting an association between the risk for RE and dietary nutrients as well as food in a Chinese population. In this study, results showed that the RE was mild (Grade A and B) which was similar to previously reported , and RE Some studies have demonstrated that an increased prevalence of reflux symptoms in alcohol users, and alcohol is an independent risk factor for GERD-related symptoms, with alcohol consumption exacerbating GERD by increasing acid secretion through gastric stimulation, reducing LESP, increasing spontaneous LES relaxations, and impairing esophageal motility and gastric emptying , 40–42. Some previous studies found that an increase in salt consumption was associated with GERD , 45, whiSome experts proposed that high intake of vitamin C could exert a protective effect against GERD , 36. OurCalcium is an important nutrient related to many diseases. However, to date, no studies have confirmed the relationship between calcium and GERD. To our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal the relationship between calcium intake and RE after adjustment for confounding variables. Nevertheless, the mechanism of such relationship is unknown. We speculated that calcium may stimulate the gastric acid secretion , 50, whiThe incidence of GERD is on the rise in China due to high intake of meat, oils, salt, and calcium, while high intake of protein, carbohydrate, calories from protein (%), vitamin C, grains and potatoes, fruits, and eggs correlates with a reduced risk for GERD, which is different from the findings in the study of El-Serag et al. The conflicting data may be attributed to differences in not only the race, geographic specificities, diet habit, and culture between Chinese and the Western, but the definition of GERD because studies based on GERD symptoms may be overinclusive, and our study based on GERD complications such as esophagitis is restrictive. Further studies are needed to clarify this association. Our study has some limitations: first, in the present study, incomplete data on vitamin and calcium supplements were not included for analysis, which may affect the determination of vitamin and calcium intakes; second, the folate, lutein, and other micronutrients were not employed for analysis and discussion since they are not included in Chinese Food Composition Tables; third, FFQ is not a particularly accurate dietary assessment tool, and there is potential for measurement error. However, FFQ is one of the most well validated and commonly used food frequency questionnaires; forth, the recall bias and residual confounding might also influence the results.Our results indicate that high intake of calcium, meat, oils, and salt is associated with an increased risk for RE while high intake of protein, carbohydrate, calories from protein (%), vitamin C, grains and potatoes, fruits, and eggs correlates with a reduced risk for RE in Han Chinese. Further studies are required to explore the relationships among diet, obesity, and RE comprehensively.


Born Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio was later renamed after his hometown in northern Italy, a practice not unusual in his day. His father, an architect and majordomo to the Marquis of Caravaggio, died of the plague when the artist was still young, leaving him under the protection of the art-loving marquis. Like many children of his day, he learned early how to grind pigments for painting, and soon he was apprenticed to a good studio in Milan. At 21, he moved to Rome, anxious, if not fully qualified, to compete in the capital’s bustling art world. This move to Rome began the tumultuous life journey of a man who changed the art of his day, had many followers (known as Caravaggists), and influenced future masters, from Rembrandt to Velázquez  has disrupted the fruit’s normal physiology, devitalizing the skin, allowing invasion of pathogens, and promoting decomposition.In our world, as in Caravaggio’s, where light and darkness, beauty and horror, pleasure and danger are constantly at play, survival depends on keeping the elements of nature in balance, constantly tracking their course, monitoring their moves, and checking their excesses. Left untended and uncontrolled, nature’s elements will thrive to unfair advantage, mutate to our detriment, and travel to our doorstep. In formerly out-of-the-way places like Mongolia, where control efforts have not always kept pace, old scourges  maintain their insidious hold, a blemish on world health and a threat to balance and control.


The impact of donors, such as national government , private sector, and individual financial (philanthropic) contributions, on domestic health policies of developing nations has been the subject of scholarly discourse. Little is known, however, about the impact of global financial initiatives, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, on policies and health governance of countries receiving funding from such initiatives.This study employs a qualitative methodological design based on a single case study: Brazil. Analysis at national, inter-governmental and community levels is based on in-depth interviews with the Global Fund and the Brazilian Ministry of Health and civil societal activists. Primary research is complemented with information from printed media, reports, journal articles, and books, which were used to deepen our analysis while providing supporting evidence.Our analysis suggests that in Brazil, Global Fund financing has helped to positively transform health governance at three tiers of analysis: the national-level, inter-governmental-level, and community-level. At the national-level, Global Fund financing has helped to increased political attention and commitment to relatively neglected diseases, such as tuberculosis, while harmonizing intra-bureaucratic relationships; at the inter-governmental-level, Global Fund financing has motivated the National Tuberculosis Programme to strengthen its ties with state and municipal health departments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs); while at the community-level, the Global Fund’s financing of civil societal institutions has encouraged the emergence of new civic movements, participation, and the creation of new municipal participatory institutions designed to monitor the disbursement of funds for Global Fund grants.Global Fund financing can help deepen health governance at multiple levels. Future work will need to explore how the financing of civil society by the Global Fund and other donors influence policy agenda-setting and institutional innovations for increased civic participation in health governance and accountability to citizens. In recent years, a rise in the international financing of health programmes in developing nations have spurred scholars and policy-makers working on global health policy to undertake studies to better understand the effects of these initiatives -12. In pAn area that has also attracted interest but where empirical evidence is all but absent relates to the extent to which these external investments have enhanced local institutional capacity ,11,20. Ai.e., within and between agencies), inter-governmental , governmental-civil societal, and community-level processes and responses to disease: more specifically, government leadership, policy commitment, and agency cooperation , inter-governmental cooperation between national, state, and municipal health agencies . This was aided by the fact that the Adjunct Coordinator, Fabio Moherdaui, as well as the director of the NTP, Draurio Barreira, had previously worked in the National AIDS Programme and had extensive networks , experience, and a strong commitment to creating a collaborative partnership with the National AIDS Program .Coinciding with negotiations with the Global Fund to finalise contracts to receive funding, in 2005 the NTP created a special division, the Fórum Estadual das ONGs na luta contra a Tuberculose no Rio de Janeiro (Forum of State NGOs against Tuberculosis in Rio de Janeiro); São Paulo followed suit with the creation of its own Fórum that same year, as well as the Rede para o Controle Social da TB no Estado de São Paulo  in 2005. These Fórums were comprised of community-based organizations, the church, businesses, sex worker organizations, feminist groups, as well as AIDS NGOs . This technical support also helps to increase PR accountability to the NTP . The NTP also regularly interacts with municipal health secretaries in Rio and other cities to ensure that it has adequate technical support . Because the NTP is accountable, through the CCM, to the Global Fund for the FAP and FIOTEC's performance, the programme has further incentives to work closely with these institutions and the municipalities in order to ensure policy success .Comitês Metropolitanos (Metropolitan Committees), which are independent entities, not financed by the Global Fund. Modeled after the 1988 constitutionally-mandated municipal health councils, these Comitês are public participatory institutions. AIDS NGOs, Fórum members, municipal health officials, people affected by TB, the church, and staff from the MOH’s Global Fund supported programme periodically meet to closely monitor the provision of Global Fund financing, review all aspects of Global Fund programmes, grant performance, impact, discussions for creating new funding proposals and potential PRs, as well as networking . In order to ensure that the PR's work effectively, in 2006 members of civil society in Rio and São Paulo, in conjunction with municipal health secretariats and the NTP, created tworking ,65; D. BComitês have also emerged in eight other cities, namely Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador, São Luís, and São Paulo. Because of the high incidence of the TB-HIV co-infection, São Paulo has created two Comitês, which are well known for exhibiting a very strong commitment to civic participation .Though initially created in Rio, Comitês have provided even further opportunity for the NTP to work closely with civil society and local health departments . The director of the NTP as well as MOH officials working on the Global Fund grant frequently attend Comitês meetings [ibid]; this demonstrates strong government support as well as oversight in the grant implementation process . Global Fund support has also provided new opportunities to deepen civic participation by directly involving TB victims and their supporters on the CCM. An analysis of recent budgetary allocations , it did not instigate national government interest and commitment to responding to TB. Rather, Global Fund financing complemented and further strengthened pre-existing efforts to address TB at the national government level .However, it is important to note that the Global Fund was limited in its direct contribution to the creation of multiple levels of health governance in Brazil. While the Global Fund did directly contribute to the creation of community-based accountability institutions  as well as the PRs  and Comitês implementing Global Fund policy. In addition, members of the Comitês in several cities were interviewed because of their experience working with the NTP and municipal health officials. Finally, those individuals not working in the TB sector were chosen for their knowledge of the TB sector, the NTP’s interaction with the Global Fund, and personal impressions of the Global Fund’s impact on health governance in Brazil. None of those interviewed for this study were chosen for their a-prior policy views and beliefs, thus allowing us to avoid the usage of biased interview data.With regards to NTP officials, the following individuals were interviewed: the director of the NTP, Draurio Barreira, October 20, 2009 and June 10, 2011 (30 minute phone interview); Patricia Werlang, NTP official, August 1, 2011 (email survey); a senior official within the NTP working on the Global Fund grant, November 5, 2009 (30 minute phone interview); and Fabio Moherdaui, NTP, June 16, 2006. With regards to municipal health officials, Vera Gallesi, coordinator of the São Paulo state TB program, October 13, 2009 (by phone); Margaret Dalcolmo, Reference Center for Tuberculosis, Rio de Janeiro, October 20, 2006; Germano Gerhardt, President, Fundação Ataulpho de Paiva, Rio de Janeiro, July 19, 2006; Bettina Dorovni, director of the division of AIDS, TB, and Colera, municipal department of health, Rio de Janeiro, July 7, 2006 (by phone).Members of civil society and activists included: Afranio Kritski, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, July 20, 2006; Carlos Basilia, director, Fórum Estadual das ONGs na Luta contra a Tuberculose no Rio de Janeiro, November 15, 2009 and October 17, 2006 (phone interview); Ezio T. Santos-Filho, Vice President, PellaVida NGO, Rio de Janeiro, June 30, 2006; members of the Global Fund Comitês Metropolitanos included: Nadja Faraone, São Paulo, June 4, 2010 (by phone); Joyce Matsudo, Manaus, Amazonia, August 17, 2010 (email survey); Laíze Brilhante, Recífe, July 6, 2010 (email survey); Ana Cristina Alegria de Almeida, Costa da Mata Atlantica, São Paulo, July 1, 2010 (email survey).Those non-TB individuals that were interviewed included AIDS NGO leaders, activists, national AIDS officials and university professors: Veriano Terto, Executive Director of ABIA, Rio de Janeiro, May 22, 2012 (30 minute phone interview); Ezio T. Santos-Filho, former Vice President of PellaVida AIDS NGO, Rio de Janeiro, currently PhD Candidate, Medical School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, May 23, 2012 (30 minute phone interview); Ruy Borgos Filho, Director, National AIDS Program, Brasilia, May 23, 2012 (30 minute phone interview); and Mauro Sanchez, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, July 2, 2011 (30 minute phone interview).The individuals interviewed for this study were chosen from officials working in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the Brazilian National TB Programme (NTP), municipal tuberculosis officials, members of civil society participating in the The authors have no competing interests to declare.EG and RA are the primary authors of this study, having devised the theoretical and empirical analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript


Stress is a major concern in medicine and the social and health sciences nowadays. In fact, not only are stress-associated ailments and diseases rapidly growing, that is, virtually everywhere in the modern world, but also the cost of treatment and “collateral damage,” for example, in occupational health or the economy as a whole, seems to increase exponentially—for example, see , 2. ThisSince primary care and health promotion can be seen as the first line of defense in medicine and, yet, as setting-oriented “places” where resistance resources, health protection, resiliency, and salutogenesis are facilitated in more complex situations and modalities, it should and will incorporate self-care-oriented means, techniques, and strategies to lower stress at all levels and improve self- or stress management skills of the population as a whole—and of each single individual under treatment. Research in this area is evolving and it focuses on the many aspects that contribute to a healthy and more stress-resilient life-style, hence, looking not only at tangible disease outcomes but also at quality of life, happiness, flourishing, subjective well-being, optimism, and so on—for example, see .With this special issue, we invited investigators to contribute original research as well as review articles that could stimulate the continuing efforts to understand the molecular, (patho)physiological, neurobiological, and, particularly, clinical factors that underlie stress and stress management programs or related interventions. Furthermore, we were interested in articles that focused on any mind-body medical, CAM, cognitive behavioral, or mindfulness-based technique that is believed or said to alleviate stress and the negative outcomes of its burden, that is, examining these interventions in clinical or out-patient and setting-oriented areas, including work-place, occupational and communal health, and, especially of interest, primary care.As expected, we received a broad array of papers and were able, following rigorous review procedures, to accept a couple of them that still cover the whole picture we had originally thought of. Papers on the effectiveness of a happiness training (positive psychology intervention) or on progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) during lunch breaks in the field of occupational health are now included, as are studies on the applicability and effectiveness of mind-body interventions and more complex programs, including mindfulness-based approaches or self-compassion training, in depression, in anxiety, or in general distress. Various settings are depicted, including the military or school and education. Finally, a focus lies on salutogenesis and resource-orientation in general practice.We hope this special issue meets the expectations of its readers, as it positively exceeded ours as editors. We are happy to herewith launch this special issue and open the discussion on the aspects raised.Tobias EschTobias EschGregory L. FricchioneGregory L. FricchioneStefanie JoosStefanie JoosMichael TeutMichael Teut


Civil unrest is a powerful form of collective human dynamics, which has led to major transitions of societies in modern history. The study of collective human dynamics, including collective aggression, has been the focus of much discussion in the context of modeling and identification of universal patterns of behavior. In contrast, the possibility that civil unrest activities, across countries and over long time periods, are governed by universal mechanisms has not been explored. Here, records of civil unrest of 170 countries during the period 1919–2008 are analyzed. It is demonstrated that the distributions of the number of unrest events per year are robustly reproduced by a nonlinear, spatially extended dynamical model, which reflects the spread of civil disorder between geographic regions connected through social and communication networks. The results also expose the similarity between global social instability and the dynamics of natural hazards and epidemics. Civil unrest contagion occurs when social, economic, and political stress accumulate slowly, and is released spontaneously in the form of social unrest on short time scales to nearest and long-range neighboring regions that are susceptible to social, economic, and political stress A pertinent question from large-scale social dynamics and policymaking standpoints is what causes the extent and outbreaks of civil unrest spreading. Social unrest has been attributed to a variety of social, political, economic, and environmental causes including racial and ethnic tensions The model , and a characteristic urban cluster as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau (see the section Parameter Estimation for details). The outburst ions see .The unrest contagion model is sufficiently flexible to accommodate a wide range of possible unrest event count distributions. “Broad-scale” distributions that show a power–law regime with a sharp cutoff in the tail are obtained when the infectiousness rate The unrest contagion patterns of each of the world’s geographic regions  are uniqThe reported results have several practical implications. First, the parameters of the model can be estimated from unrest data that includes small and medium sized events, and then be used to quantify the risk of large-sized events. Second, monitoring the parameters of the model and trends in their values over time through comprehensive ongoing unrest data, may serve as an early warning signal for increased vulnerability to social instability.This research utilizes a long-term dataset, which traces out several indicators of domestic conflict in 170 countries and covers the years from 1919 to 2008. These data are part of the comprehensive Cross National Time Series Dataset The countries and geographical regions included in this study are based on the United Nations geographical region classification Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius.Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.Middle Africa: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe.Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland.Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea.Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam.Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Ukraine.Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland.Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic.Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama.Argentina, Bolivia , Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).Canada, United States of America.The output of the social unrest contagion simulation model is a set of unrest event counts. The goodness of fit of this set relative to the empirically observed unrest count distribution was determined by measuring the distance between the observed and simulated distributions. Here, the tail-weighted Kolmogorov–Smirnov (wKS) statistic is used In this section the methods used to calibrate the social unrest contagion model shown in The social unrest contagion model is defined on a square grid of The spontaneous outburst The model was fitted to civil unrest data for each individual geographical region of the world using the tail-weighted Kolmogorov–Smirnov (wKS) statistic as described in the section Assessing the Goodness of Fit of the Model. The model has two free parameters: the probability Social unrest diffusion is often transmitted by some sort of a communication network In this section, the effect of mass media distribution networks on the patterns of unrest activity is examined. Long-term population data, number of radio receivers, television receivers, and all telephones (including cellular) of all countries analyzed, covering the years from 1919 to 2008, are obtained As discussed in the section Telecommunication Technologies and Social Unrest, civil unrest may spread through media networks or through social networks where protesters contact their recruits in other cities, encouraging them to join a protest. In the section Model, this unrest spreading process was modeled by overlaying a small-world network on top of a two-dimensional grid. In this model, two kinds of links are considered: short-range links between sites that are directly adjacent to each other; and long-range links selected uniformly among all sites. While the short-range links capture the geographical nature of civil unrest spreading, a plausible alternative to the uniform distribution of long-range links would be to consider a more heterogeneous distribution. Here we are motivated by major advances that have been made in understanding the structure and dynamics of real-world social, biological, and technological complex networks Here, the role of fat-tailed distributions of long-range links in civil unrest spreading is analyzed. To this end, the small-world construction of the section Model is modified by replacing the uniform distribution of long-range links with a procedure in which the grid is augmented by a set of links randomly chosen from a power-law distribution. In particular, directed scale-free networks with different exponents were generated using the static model presented in We have tested the effect of various network topologies on civil unrest spreading. The computer simulations include: two-dimensional grids with a uniform distribution of long-range links as described in the section Model, and two-dimensional grids with a power law distribution of long-range links. For comparison, the scale-free networks were generated with roughly the same number of directed links as the uniform overlay networks (see


Author Maria X. Sosa is missing from the author byline. Dr. Sosa should be listed as the fifth author and affiliated with institution number 1, Center for Complex Disease Genomics, McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetics Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America. Sosa should be noted as having made the following contributions to the article: Performed the experiments. The Citation should read: Sampath S, Bhat S, Gupta S, O’Connor A, Sosa MX, et al. (2013) Defining the Contribution of CNTNAP2 to Autism Susceptibility. PLoS ONE 8(10): e77906. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077906.In addition, the first author, Srirangan Sampath, was incorrectly indicated as being the Corresponding Author of the article. The correct Corresponding Author is the last author, Aravinda Chakravarti. The last author's email address is already correct as indicated for the first author.In addition, the last author was incorrectly indicated as having changed affiliation to the institution now indicated as their Current Address, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America. This institution is the Current Address of the first author, not the last author.


AbstractJournal of the Bombay Natural History Society (JBNHS). The temporal scale of the dataset represents bird observations recorded between 1909 and 2007. The dataset has been developed by employing MS Excel. The key elements in the database are scientific name, taxonomic classification, temporal and geospatial details including geo-coordinate precision, data collector, basis of record and primary source of the data record. The temporal and geospatial quality of more than 50% of the data records has been enhanced retrospectively. Where possible, data records are annotated with geospatial coordinate precision to the nearest minute. This dataset is being constantly updated with the addition of new data records, and quality enhancement of documented occurrences. The dataset can be used in species distribution and niche modeling studies. It is planned to expand the scope of the dataset to collate bird species occurrences across the Indian peninsula.The northeast region of India is one of the world’s most significant biodiversity hotspots. One of the richest bird areas in India, it is an important route for migratory birds and home to many endemic bird species. This paper describes a literature-based dataset of species occurrences of birds of northeast India. The occurrence records documented in the dataset are distributed across eleven states of India, viz.: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The geospatial scope of the dataset represents 24 to 29 degree North latitude and 78 to 94 degree East longitude, and it comprises over 2400 occurrence records. These records have been collated from scholarly literature published between1915 and 2008, especially from the  The highest number of data records are from the family Muscicapidae (560 records), followed by Anatidae (180 records) and Accipitridae (136 records). The families with the least number of records are Hemiprocnidae, Podargidae, Indicatoridae with one data record each.Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: AvesOrder: Podicipediformes, Pelecaniformes, Ciconiiformes, Anseriformes, Falconiformes, Galliformes, Gruiformes, Charadriiformes, Columbiformes, Psittaciformes, Cuculiformes, Strigiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Apodiformes, Trogoniformes, Coraciiformes, Piciformes, PasseriformesFamily: Podicipedidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Anhingidae, Ardeidae, Ciconiidae, Threskiornithidae, Anatidae, Accipitridae, Pandionidae, Falconidae, Phasianidae, Turnicidae, Gruidae, Rallidae, Otididae, Jacanidae, Rostratulidae, Charadriidae, Scolopacidae, Recurvirostridae, Glareolidae, Laridae, Rhynchopidae, Columbidae, Psittacidae, Cuculidae, Tytonidae, Strigidae, Podargidae, Caprimulgidae, Apodidae, Hemiprocnidae, Trogonidae, Alcedinidae, Meropidae, Coraciidae, Upupidae, Bucerotidae, Capitonidae, Indicatoridae, Picidae, Eurylaimidae, Pittidae, Alaudidae, Hirundinidae, Motacillidae, Campephagidae, Pycnonotidae, Irenidae, Laniidae, Troglodytidae, Prunellidae, Muscicapidae, Aegithalidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Certhiidae, Dicaeidae, Nectariniidae, Zosteropidae, Emberizidae, Fringillidae, Estrildidae, Passeridae, Sturnidae, Oriolidae, Dicruridae, Artamidae, Corvidae.General spatial coverage: This dataset collates species occurrences from northeast India and neighboring regions. The occurrence records collated in the dataset are Literature-based species occurrence data of birds of North-East India 3 distributed acrossPageBreak eleven provinces of India, viz.: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. This region falls within the Himalayan mountain ranges, and spans an area of 234567 sq. km. The region borders with Bangladesh to the south, Bhutan to the west, Myanmar to the east and with China to the north. Minimum and maximum elevations are 2000 meters and 8000 meters above sea level respectively.Coordinates: 24°30'0"N - 28°15'0"N Latitude; 78°22'58.8"E - 93°47'60"E Longitude.1909–2007.Title: This dataset is an outcome of the collaborative work carried out by three projects, viz.:, (a) Environmental Information System (ENVIS) Centre on Avian Ecology, Bombay Natural History Society, sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India; (b) Important Bird Areas Programme and Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBA-IBCN), sponsored by the Royal Society for Protection of Birds, United Kingdom; and (c) Impact of Climate Change on the Conservation of Birds, a project supported by the MacArthur Foundation.Personnel: Sujit Narwade , Mohit Kalra (Processor), Divya Varier (Custodian Steward/Metadata Provider), Rajkumar Jagdish (Processor), Sagar Satpute  (Custodian Steward), Noor Khan (Custodian Steward), Gautam Talukdar (Publisher), V.B. Mathur (Publisher), Karthik Vasudevan (Publisher), Dinesh Singh Pundir (Publisher), Vishwas Chavan (Metadata Provider/Editor), Rajesh Sood (Metadata Provider/Programmer).Funding: Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, (Funding), the Royal Society for Protection of Birds, United Kingdom (Funding), MacArthur Foundation (Funding), Bombay Natural History Society (Host institution), and Wildlife Institute of India (publishing support).Study area descriptions/descriptor: Northeast India is one of the most significant biodiversity hotspots of the world and among the richest bird zones in India. It is considered as the ‘biological gateway’ for much of India’s fauna, as the Gondwana land first touched this region, during the Tertiary period. The north-eastern region is at the confluence of the Indo-Malayan, Indo-Chinese and Indian biogeographical realms. As a result, it is unique in providing a profusion of habitats that harbor diverse biota with a high degree of endemism  Centre at the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) is a focal point for collection, collation PageBreakand dissemination of data on avian ecology in India. The objective of this dataset is to collate avian observations documented in various research publications such as journals, magazines, newsletters, project reports, theses, books and other gray literature. However, the current version of the dataset collates occurrence records reported in research articles published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society (JBNHS). The motivation for this approach is because of the dispersed availability of the occurrence records in published literature. Because these data records are documented in several literature sources, it is difficult to access them together, inspite of being in the public domain. Thus, for a potential user it is not possible to access and use them when he/she needs them the most. Another consideration is the quality of these data records, as they are published in peer reviewed literature and their quality is expected to be ‘fit for use’. The data records were entered in a MS-Excel worksheet. The offline version of the dataset maintained by the Bombay Natural History Society is developed employing MS-Access. The key elements about which information is collated in the current version of the dataset includes: scientific name, common name, taxonomic classification, occurrence location, geo-coordinates, precision of geo-coordinates, date of observation, data collector, and primary source of the data record.The data records were entered in the MS-Excel worksheet. The offline version of the dataset maintained by the Bombay Natural History Society is developed employing the MS-Access. The key elements about which information is collated in the current version of the dataset includes, scientific name, common name, taxonomic classification, occurrence location, geo-coordinates, precision of geo-coordinates, date of observation, data collector, and primary source of the data record.Object name: Darwin Core Archive literature-based species occurrence data of birds of northeast IndiaCharacter encoding: UTF-8Format name: Darwin Core Archive formatFormat version: 1.0Distribution: http://ibif.gov.in:8080/ipt/archive.do?r=BNHS-NEWPublication date of data: 2011-06-30Language: EnglishLicenses of use: by-nc-saMetadata language: EnglishDate of metadata creation: 2011-06-30Hierarchy level: DatasetPageBreakWe are most thankful to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India; the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), United Kingdom; and the MacArthur Foundation for financial support. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Dr. Asad R. Rahmani, Director, BNHS and Principal Investigators of the aforementioned projects.


Clinical research indicates that negative calcium balance is associated with low bone mass, rapid bone loss, and high fracture rates. However, some studies revealed that not only calcium is involved in bone strengthening as risk factor of fracture osteoporosis. Thus, in this report, the difference of metallic and nonmetallic elements in osteoporosis and normal bones was studied by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS). The influence of these elements on bone metabolic processes is also discussed. Inclusion criteria of bone samples consist of postmenopausal woman, trabecular bone fracture, normal and osteoporosis BMD value, and no history of previous disease. The results showed that the concentration of B, Al, S, V, Co, Mo, Te, Ba, La, Ni, As, and Ca/P ratio is higher in osteoporosis than normal. These atomic minerals have negative role to imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation activity. Conversely, concentrations of Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Cr, Pd, Ag, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Pb, and Se are lower in osteoporosis than in normal bones. Among these atoms, known to have important roles in bone structure, we found involvement of atomic mineral and calcium which are considerable to contribute to osteoporotic phenomena. Decreasing of skeletal strength and increasing of fragility and fracture risk was a marker of osteoporosis. This condition is caused by abnormalities of bone density and bone microstructure , 2. A feOrganic and inorganic components are responsible for toughness and rigidity of bone, respectively. Both of these substances also show the mechanical strength of the bone. Trabecular bone is more sensitive to hormones or other biological factors that are involved in modulating bone metabolism . Atomic iliac crest autopsy sample by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and conclude that Zn, Rb, Se, Fe, Al, Cu, Pb are in mg/g level, and Ca is in g/mg level [Each atomic mineral was able to substitute another atomic mineral due its similarity in the atomic radius. Ren et al. showed that Zn substitution on hydroxyl apatite crystal was found to inhibit crystal growth due to its smaller atomic radius as compared with Ca . This fimg level . Brodziamg level . Zaichicmg level . Alfvén mg level . HoweverSo far, no detail information is dealing with the bone quality of Indonesian people. We just believe that its quality is not solely determined by calcium, but no explanation as an answer of the hypothesis of why in Indonesian population the fracture rate of osteoporosis are low does not in accordance with the fact of low Calcium intake. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to investigate the characteristics of atomic mineral in Indonesian osteoporosis and normal bone by HR-ICP-MS. About 27 elements were successfully analyzed, which include B, Al, S, V, Co, Mo, Te, Ba, La, Ni, As, Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Cr, Pd, Ag, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Pb, and Se. The present study provides more detail information of atomic mineral compositions as well as better understanding for the association of atomic mineral  with osteoporosis.3 and 1 mL of H2O2 were added. The temperature program of a microwave irradiation was ramped to 220°C within 15 min and kept at this temperature for 10 min. After cooling the vessels, proper amounts of the internal standard solution contained Rh and Re were added. Then, all solutions in the vessels were transferred into polypropylene bottles and diluted with 0.1 M HNO3  up to 50 mL. Minimal samples for normal and osteoporosis groups based on Epi Info version 6 were 32 samples for both groups. Statistical analysis was performed using t student-test, and P  value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.The study was mainly conducted in the Department of Orthopaedics, Ulin General Hospital of Banjarmasin and the Department of Orthopaedics, Syaiful Anwar Hospital of Malang from September 2010 to January 2011. Inclusion criteria consist of postmenopausal woman, trabecular bone fracture, normal and osteoporosis BMD value, age less than 50 years, and no history of previous disease. Bone was obtained in surgery room and then analysed for its atomic mineral compositions using HR-ICP-MS  at the Division of Nanomaterial Sciences, EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya University, Japan. The mineral measured consists of 27 elements, such as B, Al, S, V, Co, Mo, Te, Ba, La, Ni, As, Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Cr, Pd, Ag, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Pb, and Se. Prior to ICP-MS measurement, dry weight of bone samples were digested with a microwave-assisted acid digestion system . Approximately 100 mg of the sample in a PTFE digestion vessel was weighted, into which 4 mL of HNOFifteen osteoporosis BMD and twenty three normal BMD values were involved in this study. HR-ICP MS analytical results showed different concentration of atomic minerals in osteoporosis and normal postmenopausal women. The concentration of B, Al, S, V, Co, Mo, Te, Ba, La, Ni, As, and Ca/P ratio in osteoporosis bones was found higher than that of normal bone as shown in Geometrics pattern of bone atomic minerals for substitution or incorporation is based on the properties of atoms in the periodic tables of Mendeleev. Substitution is the replacement of an atom with other atoms due to the similarity of atomic radius and atomic charge. Incorporation is joining an atom to a molecule and/or a composite that can alter the integrity of a molecule. Molecular cavity can also play considerable role in substitution or incorporation of atoms. All of these phenomenons significantly affect the properties and structure of bone crystal.P < 0.05) in osteoporosis bone than in normal bone. Concentration of Pd, Rb, and, Se is higher significantly (P < 0.05) in normal bone than osteoporosis bone.The concentration of B, Al, S, V, Co, Mo, Te, Ba, La, Ni, As, and Ca/P ratio in osteoporosis is higher than in normal bone. These atomic minerals have negative role in imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation activity. Conversely, the concentration of Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Cr, Pd, Ag, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Pb, and Se in osteoporosis is lower than in normal. Beside that, concentration of B and As is higher significantly (P < 0.05) and indicates decrease in a bone mineral density. Since boron is substitution mineral for phosphorus, the concentration level of phosphorus in osteoporosis bone would be lower than in normal bone as observed in this study. Simulation using crystal maker software shows that the substitution of phosphorus by boron resulted in decreasing atomic density for both osteoporosis and normal hydroxyapatite bones as shown in As it is well known, plant is a rich source of boron, but meat and fish are poor sources of boron . Effect Ščančar et al. reported that concentration of aluminum in bone from autopsy subject was 3–10 mg/kg . Effect Vanadium, nickel, cobalt, and arsenic are toxic metals for osteoblast in vitro. High concentration of these metals induces osteoblast apoptosis –22. In tThe highest concentrations of Barium in the body are found in the bone, and it is primarily deposited in areas of active bone growth . The uptIron has a role in bone formation as an enzymatic cofactor for the synthesis of collagen. Calcium could inhibit the iron formation. Beside that, iron is also toxic for bone cell, which can induce osteoporosis by disturbing bone mineralization , 25. ŠčaŠčančar et al. also found that concentration of copper in bone from autopsy subject was 100–200 mg/kg . Copper Magnesium was not a main component in hydoxyapatite crystal but was able to join with this crystal. Magnesium is substitution mineral for calcium in composite hydroxyapatite crystal . MagnesiManganese was prominent atomic for mucopolysaccharide metabolism that affects the organic matrix formation. Manganese was able to substitute calcium due to similar oxidation state. In osteoporosis patient, manganese was found in low level , 24. ProZinc has been demonstrated to be an essential element for normal growth of skeleton and bone metabolism. The concentration of zinc in bone is higher than in the other tissues . Zinc isŠčančar et al. found that concentration of strontium in bone from autopsy subject was 13–60 mg/kg . AccordiLead in organic or inorganic forms is absorbed through the lungs and gastrointestinal absorption. Organic leads also absorbed through a skin. Inhalation exposure was more common in occupational setting, whereas in the general population through the ingestion route , 41. Up Selenium was a mineral found in soil and organism. Selenium was incorporated into protein as selenocysteine. Selenoprotein was important for bone metabolism. The population with selenium deficiency was found higher in osteoporosis incidence . In thisPalladium, silver, and lantanadium are atomic minerals for unknown function that need further investigation.In summary, among these atoms, known to have important roles in bone structure, we found involvement of atomic mineral and calcium which are considerable to contribute to osteoporotic phenomena. These mineral atomics would determine bone mass density. To our knowledge, this study is the first time to provide such evidence. Consideration of involvement of mineral atomic beside calcium in osteoporosis is warranted to prevent osteoporosis.


Campylobacter, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Enterococcus, non-Typhi Salmonella, Salmonella Typhi, and Shigella.National Antibiotic Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS)–enteric bacteria is a collaboration by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA-CVM), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). NARMS was established in 1996 and monitors antimicrobial drug resistance in The 2004 meeting was held March 4–5 in Decatur, Georgia, and hosted by the Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC. The meeting highlighted data from scientific studies and surveillance for antimicrobial drug resistance in the United States and abroad with enteric bacteria isolated from humans, animals, and retail foods. Approximately 180 participants from 14 countries, representing 71 organizations, attended the meeting. The organizations included international and national public health agencies, state and local health departments, public health laboratories, industry consumer groups, and academic institutions from Australia, Canada, Cameroon, China, Denmark, Europe, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Poland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.The meeting began with a World Health Organization expert's summarization of a recent workshop on nonhuman antimicrobial drug use and antimicrobial drug resistance. Scientific assessment and risk management of antimicrobial drug use in agriculture and human and veterinary medicine were examined. A plenary session on the human health consequences of antimicrobial drug resistance consisted of two presentations from the United States and two presentations from Denmark.Salmonella infection, as compared to susceptible ones, were presented. The results of another CDC study that found higher frequencies of bloodstream infection and hospitalization with resistant Salmonella infections, as compared to susceptible ones, were presented. A presentation from the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark highlighted the association between flouroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter infections, as compared to susceptible ones, and a higher frequency of invasive illness, hospitalization, and death. A second presentation demonstrated increased death rates in resistant S. Typhimurium infections, as compared to susceptible ones. Other speakers highlighted emerging resistance to clinically important antimicrobial drugs, environmental studies on antimicrobial drug resistance, antimicrobial drug resistance in commensal bacteria, partner perspectives on antimicrobial drug resistance, international perspectives on antimicrobial drug resistance, and NARMS educational activities. A presentation of the "GET SMART: Know When Antibiotics Work on the Farm" campaign highlighted educational efforts to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine. The campaign currently includes an interactive Web-based program on aspects of microbiology, pharmacology, infectious disease, and public health for veterinary students and veterinarians who participate in continuing education programs. The conference also included brief summaries of three recent outbreaks of multidrug- resistant S. Typhimurium DT104 R-type, which has become a common strain of Salmonella isolated from humans and was resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulphonamides, and tetracyclines. More information about NARMS and antimicrobial resistance can be found at www.cdc.gov/NARMS.The results of a study conducted by CDC that found higher rates of hospitalization and death in resistant


There are three NOS-isoforms, NOS1-3, which have been originally termed neuronal, inducible and endothelial NOS, respectively  Wang, . Recentl2S have still not been sufficiently determined. The measurement of endogenous gas concentrations is limited by the accuracy and specificity of currently available methods (Olson, 2S (Kimura, Despite the knowledge of the substrates and specific enzymes which are involved in gasotransmitter production, the precise endogenous concentrations of NO, CO, and Hs Olson, , the reas Olson, , and sim Kimura, .Although precise endogenous concentrations of gasotransmitters remain to be determined, numerous studies investigated the physiological effects of those gaseous signaling molecules in almost every organ system [as summarized in excellent review articles such as Olson , Wu and 2S. Excellent review and research articles highlight the importance of gasotransmitter/ion channel interactions for vegetative physiology (Althaus, This research topic summarizes currently available data on the regulation of ion channels and transporters by NO, CO, and HAlthaus, , neurophAlthaus, , and expAlthaus, . FurtherAlthaus,  give per


Human population has increased from 3,031,092,442 in 1960 to 6,879,100,100 as on date. The highest populated country of the world is China (19.5%) followed by India (17.3%). Population genetic frequencies are ethnically based on the religion, country, region and community that are studied. Some of the major ethnic groups as per the region of the world are American Indians, Australoid Aboriginals, Caucasoid, Hispanics, Orientals, Blacks, Pacific Islanders, Iranians, Negroids, Persians, Russians, Jews etc., depending on the continents such as Africa, America, Asia, Australia. Many religious linguistic groups in each part of the world have evolved during earth’s time course as rightly pointed out in 1973[India, with 1,189,700,000 people, having 3824 castes and 461 tribes and many unique languages families, is one of the megadiversity countries and the largest democracy in the world. It is the second continent to have been occupied by man since the past 60,000 years. Many early migrations settled in various parts of the world especially Central Asia, Eurasia, Middle East, Pakistan and India when huge expansions of human occurred. As a result, almost all forms of religious and social events like marriage and family styles have been experimented. The basic pattern of the society and value system seems to have been laid down well before the origin and spread of Dravidian and other languages in India. While India was an ancient land of immigration spread of very many streams of people, Africa was a land of origin, expansion and divergence of the same gene pool for the past 0.2 million years.A caste or tribe is a breeding unit and a breeding isolate: as time passes they drift away from one another. A tribe in most of the instances are primitive in their mode of subsistence, economy and living conditions, mostly living in isolation in hilly terrains sight of the modern developments. Castes on the contrary live in plains and are capable of articulation and egging their income in more modern interdependent societies, villages and township. Most of these castes and tribes in India are inbred and endogamous, though the degree varies from one region to other. Each caste/tribe is made of many clans, mostly patriliny, though matriliny is the ancient form of lifestyle and is practised even today in many tribes of India. Each caste/tribe is a social unit and a social security system defined by their own characteristics, territory, space, job and interdependency. Different castes living in the same region, sharing the environment and epidemiology as on date are sympatrically isolated in terms of their gene pool. This has great significance in terms of epidemiology and infectious disease transmission and susceptibility. It is known that not all the infected develop the disease.People having two different genetic make up may not be equally susceptible to a given disease, though the nature–nurture interaction plays a dominant role in the incidence and prevalence of various diseases. Theoretically, high polymorphism of HLA gene can occur due to mutation rate, selection, genetic hitchhiking or a combination of all the three. Indigenous populations or caste/tribal groups show a very restricted diversity of alleles at a particular HLA locus consistent within a population. Studies on HLA allelic diversity of among 838 population groups from Asia 272), Western Europe 147), South and Central America (107), North America 79), Pacific 59), sub-Saharan Africa (55), Eastern Europe 56), Middle East (34), North Africa (21) and Australia (8) of the world have revealed that some common alleles such as HLA A*02 (20–28%), B*40 (5–20%), and DRB1*15 (10–18%) are seen in Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Middle East, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Srilanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.[7, South 9, sub-Sa, Middle 2, Wester, Pacific


Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy (PCD). In our introductory editorial, we defined our primary audience as researchers in chronic disease prevention and intervention and health practitioners responsible for reducing the effects of chronic conditions and improving population health  on the US–Mexico border in Arizona. Today, most PCD articles include Spanish translations.We also wanted PCD evolved? A perusal of journal content between December 2011 and July 2012 finds articles on not only subjects of ongoing public health interest such as social determinants, nutrition, breast health, diabetes, and surveillance but also topics such as health financing, veterans’ health, and health informatics. International health is represented by reports from Mexico, Australia, Canada, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Grenada.In that 10-year blink, how has PCD is now published continually, provides new media opportunities , and offers continuing medical education credits. The number, breadth, and quality of the articles have increased. The journal supports an annual student paper competition and provides podcasts of selected authors discussing their work. In addition, the journal has added a fourth goal to the original 3: encouraging multisectoral partnerships that engage communities (munities .PCD to date: gestation, birth, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The journal is well positioned to move on to young adulthood and maturity. Happily, a journal need not experience senescence or death, and we can look for increasing quality, influence, and readership in the future.Ten years are a lifetime. The classic life-cycle metaphor can be used to describe the growth and development of Ten years ago, my first editorial spoke of chronic diseases in my parents’ generation. Today, all of that generation of my family is gone, and among my own generation others have been lost to chronic diseases. Let us hope our work will enhance the health of our children — they, too, have a lifetime, and we will be gone in a blink.


Asthma affects more than 22 million persons in the United States, including more than 6 million children. In the past 2 decades, the gap between science and clinical practice has been narrowed by better understanding of asthma pathophysiology and improvements in therapeutic approaches, which have been well described in national and international management guidelines.,2 Nonethβ-agonists for symptom control. The second is risk, defined as the propensity for exacerbations, treatment-related side effects, and progressive loss of lung function over a period of time. Although impairment can be quantified effectively and is well addressed by current treatment approaches, the same cannot be said for risk. However, risk will have a more profound effect on patients' disease over time.Current guidelines call for treatment decisions to be based on assessments of disease severity.,2 These There are differences among the major asthma guidelines, and whether the differences can be (or need to be) reconciled is not yet clear. If so, the next question is whether guidelines should be universal and standardized internationally.These questions were the focus of interesting, and sometimes controversial, dialogue at the inaugural Asthma Summit held in Baltimore, MD, in February, 2009. International key opinion leaders, physicians, and scientists convened to discuss state-of-the-art issues in asthma genetics, pharmacotherapeutics, and clinical management. Entitled, Beyond the Guidelines, the Summit explored how to "operationalize" the concepts of asthma control, dosing flexibility, and heterogeneity of disease to help clinicians improve patient care.Chaired by William Busse, MD, a distinguished faculty of international prestige, including Jean Bousquet, MD; Chris Brightling, MD; William Calhoun, MD; G. Walter Canonica, MD; Gene Colice, MD; Frederick Hargreave, MD; Erwin Gelfand, MD; and Stephen Lazarus, MD, presented the most current clinical aspects of their research. The research presentations were followed by interactive panels, workshops, and debates with the goal of applying the findings to everyday patient issues. The program was developed by a steering committee that included Bradley Chipps, MD; Peter Dicpinigaitis, MD; Michael Kaliner, MD; Allan Luskin, MD; Sheldon Spector, MD; and William Storms, MD.It is evident that many patients with asthma want to reduce their medications, but whether treatment can be flexible has been a matter of debate. In addition, new treatment approaches, such as those that address early life events, multiphase aspects of inflammation, or allergic factors, have not been explored fully. Consideration of these questions and further improvement of asthma management will require a view of asthma not as a single disease, but as one with many ramifications and end points. Furthermore, although guidelines provide direction on how to treat patients with asthma, it is likely that treatments will have to become more patient specific. These are some of the issues discussed by faculty and attendees at the Asthma Summit, which are captured in the following articles and discussion.These Proceedings are sponsored by LifeSciences Press, LLC, and supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Sepracor, Inc.All content has been derived from the Asthma Summit 2009, which was sponsored by SRxA Institute for Professional Education and Medical Education Resources and funded by unrestricted educational grants from Sepracor, Inc.; Abbot Laboratories; Graceway Pharmaceuticals; Strategic BioSciences; and the TREAT Foundation.


Tim Gilberger should be included in the list of participants in the malERA Young Investigators/Basic science meeting 8-9 October 2009, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is affiliated with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.


Although the importance of controlling postprandial glycaemia (PPG) was recognised in the position statement, they expressed the view that the GI could be ‘misleading’ and ‘would not add value’ to the existing standards for nutrition labels. Unfortunately, several statements indicate a lack of understanding of the evidence base for current information on food labels and of the GI concept in particular.On behalf of Health Canada, Aziz . Ideally, plasma glucose levels at the 2 h time point after a meal should be < 7·8 mmol/l since values above this level are considered to indicate the presence of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), which may be indicative of pre-diabetes, a condition which is more prevalent than diabetes itself. Both type 2 diabetes mellitus and IGT are increasing at an alarming rate, largely due to obesity and sedentary lifestyles. Mitigating the risk of adverse outcomes associated with elevated PPG is an important target for population health.The clinical relevance of PPG is now recognised by health institutions worldwide,3. Iet al. concluded that the GI was not useful because: (1) it has poor accuracy and precision for labelling purposes, (2) it does not vary in response to the amount of food consumed and (3) it is not congruent with national nutritional policies and guidelines.For food labelling purposes, the challenge is to find the best tool for evaluating a product's impact on PPG within the context of other health recommendations. Although the GI has a long history of use in research and clinical practice, Aziz  as a method to assess the glycaemic impact of available carbohydrates. The GI value of one food is calculated from 640 data points . The margin of error of < 15 % (i.e. the standard error of the mean expressed as a percentage of the mean) is considered reliable in the context of the considerable day-to-day variation in glucose tolerance in healthy individuals ( ± 30–50 %). By testing a reference food, the GI method takes into account ‘between-person variation’.To address the first issue, the GI methodology is recognised and described by the International Standards Organization (26 642:2010) and by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations4 as aConcerning the accuracy and precision of any nutritional attribute, one cannot let perfect be the enemy of good. For example, both whole-grain and fibre claims are permitted on food labels, despite the fact that the definition and measurement of each varies among nations and is neither perfect nor precise. A whole-grain product may contain only 50 % whole grains according to the Food and Drug Administration, and there is marked disagreement of what fibre is and how it should be measured. Moreover, total carbohydrates on food labels are often described as ‘carbohydrate by difference’, which is calculated by subtracting the sum of the water, protein, fat, dietary fibre, ash and alcohol contents from 100. This method compounds the errors associated with all assays and often differs markedly from the direct measurement of the available carbohydrate. In addition, there is a permitted margin of error of < 20 % for any component listed in the nutrition panel, which is considerably higher than the margin of error considered reliable for the GI of a food ( < 15 %). In this context, the GI is being held to a much higher standard than other nutritional attributes.et al. was that the GI does not vary in response to the amount of food consumed. Informed consumers would anticipate that the greater the amount of the available carbohydrate consumed, the greater the increase in blood glucose. The key value of the GI therefore is that it allows comparisons between foods on a gram-for-gram carbohydrate basis, which is important for consumer choice. The glycaemic load (GL) per serving (the product of the available carbohydrate content × GI) varies in response to the amount consumed, and could be included in the nutrient panel together with the GI.The second issue identified by Aziz . However, this concern relates to any dietary claim, including ‘low fat’ and ‘high fibre’. Of note, Health Canada's concern is inconsistent with their earlier statement that ‘low-GI diets have attributes of generally recognized healthy eating patterns’. However, to address their concern that the composition of a low-GI food may not always be congruent with nutritional guidelines, our suggestion would be to consider a GI claim in conjunction with a healthy food profile. Programmes such as the GI symbol in Australia require the fulfilment of strict nutritional criteria that are consistent with dietary guidelines in order for a food to be eligible to use the certified GI logo.With respect to the third issue, Health Canada claims that the GI is not congruent with national nutritional policies and guidelines, implying that the GI would be used in isolation, irrespective of other important attributes such as saturated fat, fibre and whole grain content. We agree that the GI should not override sound dietary advice1. Howet al. that ‘consumers are familiar with the concept, even though their understanding of it might not be accurate’. In our view, this largely reflects the lack of communication about the GI to the general public and health professionals. The assumption that the GI concept may be too difficult for the lay person is not supported by the Australian experience, where surveys indicate that one in four Australians look for healthy low-GI foods when shopping, simply substituting healthy low-GI varieties for regular high-GI variants within a food group/category. Moreover, low-GI dietary advice in randomised clinical trials is associated with high completion rates (low attrition), suggesting that simple low-GI communications can be effective. As in the case of quality of fat , health agency advice preceded information now commonly listed in the nutritional panel.We agree with Aziz et al. proposed that nutritional recommendations should take a food-based approach. We agree, yet Health Canada's recommendation to increase intakes of whole foods in the form of vegetables, fruits, grains and pulses does not address the main carbohydrate sources of most populations, i.e. breads, breakfast cereals, rice and ready-to-eat cereal products. Pasta, a staple carbohydrate food of the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, is a refined yet low-GI carbohydrate food. Most basmati and parboiled rice are white yet have a low GI. There is also a need to distinguish high-GI from low-GI whole grains. Indeed, advice to ‘choose more intact, unprocessed or minimally processed whole-grain products instead of their highly processed counterparts’ is aimed at lowering overall dietary GI or GL. It is a common myth that all whole-grain products have low-GI values when in fact many are highly processed and correspondingly easy to digest. In clinical trials, low-GI diets have produced superior outcomes compared with the high-fibre–high-GI diets. We suggest that GI labels may in fact stimulate the food industry to produce genuinely healthier whole-grain products that retain the low GI of the original grain.Finally, in their conclusions, Aziz  and cardiovascular disease in large prospective cohort studies of diverse populations. Similarly, randomised controlled trials have shown the benefits of low-GI diets for weight management, serum lipids, insulin sensitivity and inflammatory markers. Most importantly, the selection of low-GI foods has resulted in the successful improvements of glycaemic control, dyslipidaemia and inflammation in people with type 2 diabetes. In this regard, these lines of evidence have been used to support the inclusion of low-GI and low-GL dietary patterns in the evidence-based nutrition recommendations of the Canadian Diabetes Association, American Diabetes Association, Diabetes UK, Diabetes Australia, International Diabetes Federation and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. If GI values were not precise, one would not expect to see distinct differences in PPG in response to low- or high-GI meals observed at different time points throughout the day. These beneficial outcomes would not be possible if the GI concept were unduly undermined by large variability or differences among people of different ethnicity.Finally, if GI values are misleading and unreliable as Health Canada claims, then it is truly remarkable that a lower dietary GI/GL has been independently associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes13 andTaken together, Health Canada's evaluation misinterprets and misrepresents current scientific evidence, in part by taking the GI outside the context of a healthy diet. In view of the proven health benefits of low-GI diets ‘as currently defined and measured’, every effort should be made to assist consumers in choosing carbohydrate foods that will not exacerbate PPG.International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC)David J. A. Jenkins (ICQC chair), Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Walter C. Willett (ICQC chair), Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.Arne Astrup, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports (NEXS), Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.Livia S. A. Augustin, Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Sara Baer-Sinnott, Oldways, Boston, MA, USA.Alan W. Barclay, Australian Diabetes Council, Glycemic Index Foundation, Sydney, Australia.Inger Björck, Antidiabetic Food Centre, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.Jennie C. Brand-Miller, Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.Furio Brighenti, Department of Food Science, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.Anette E. Buyken, Department of Nutritional Epidemiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.Antonio Ceriello, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.Cyril W. C. Kendall, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.Carlo La Vecchia, Department of Epidemiology, Mario Negri Institute, and Professor of Epidemiology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.Geoffrey Livesey, Independent Nutrition Logic, Wymondham, UK.Simin Liu, Department of Epidemiology and Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.Andrea Poli, Nutrition Foundation of Italy, Milan, Italy.Gabriele Riccardi, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University, Naples, Italy.Salwa W. Rizkalla, National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), ICAN Institute of Cardiometabolism & Nutrition, University Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris 6, Centre of Research in Human Nutrition, Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.John L. Sievenpiper, Toronto 3D Knowledge Synthesis and Clinical Trials Unit, Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.Antonia Trichopoulou, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Food & Nutrition, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens, Greece.Thomas M. S. Wolever, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.


There was an error in the Author Contributions. CFJA, PM, ND, CSW, DJR and MJD wrote the paper.


The Funding statement was incorrect. The correct version is:This work was supported by grants from the Crafoord Foundation, VELUX stiftung, Clas Groschinskys Foundation, Kronprinsessan Margaretas Arbetsnämnd för synskadade (KMA), Karin Sandqvist Foundation, Maggie Stephens Foundation, Magnus Bergvall Foundation, Per Westling Foundation, and the Nanometer Consortium at Lund University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.


A commentary onThe danger theory: 20 years laterby Pradeu, T., and Cooper, E. L. (2012). Front. Immunol. 3:287. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2012.00287The “danger theory” of Polly Matzinger posed in 1994 (Matzinger, Recently, the danger theory was emphasized in this journal by Pradeu and Cooper who assessed the topic in view of recently published experimental data (Pradeu and Cooper, The injury hypothesis—which equals the danger theory—is based on stringent observations from a clinical trial in kidney transplant patients that was conducted during the late 1980s/early1990s, that is, even more than 20 years ago. Basically, the clinical data obtained from this trial showed that mitigation of postischemic allograft reperfusion injury by intraoperative injection of a single dose of the oxygen free radical scavenger “superoxide dismutase” results in a statistically significant reduction in incidence of both acute and chronic rejection events (Land et al., Walter Land, ex-head of experimental surgery at the Medical School, Munich, Germany was one of the first surgeons to understand the danger model. In a way, he discovered it before I published it” (Matzinger, In fact, as recently pointed out by Matzinger (Matzinger, innate immunity. Interestingly enough, that happened before the groups of the Nobel Laureates Jules Hoffmann (Lemaitre et al., In the same article published by us in 1994 (Land et al., Innate Alloimmunity (Land, DAMPs in the sense of damage-associated molecular patterns a year later (Land, During subsequent years, the injury hypothesis was extended and modified several times Land, ,b, 2005.ty Land,  followeder Land, . Of noteer Land, , 2005.In more recently published review articles, we have updated the concept of allograft injury-induced innate alloimmunity Land, ,b,c. In Finally, the whole concept of the injury hypothesis, in light of the international literature on innate immunity currently available, has been thoroughly and comprehensively discussed in a monograph that was published as two parts in 2011 Land, ,b.Frontiers in Immunology with this information about the history of both, the danger theory and the injury hypothesis as related to organ transplantation; a note that may serve as a useful addendum to the excellent article of Pradeu and Cooper.We thought it would be worthwhile to provide the reader of


We, as organizers and participants of the 2011 Growing Older with a Disability (GOWD) Conference, a part of the Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology (FICCDAT), held in Toronto, Canada June 5–8, 2011 forward this declaration and invite governmental, non-governmental, professional, and consumer stakeholders to join us in supporting and implementing this plan of action.The 2011 World Report on disability, produced jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, estimates that there are over one billion people with disabilities in the world today, of whom nearly 200 million experience significant difficulties. At the same time, in almost every country, the proportion of people aged over 60 years is growing faster than any other age group, forecast to reach 1.5 billion by 2050, according to the Global Health and Aging Report, also released in 2011 by WHO in partnership with US National Institute on Aging. This means that in the years ahead disability will be an even greater concern to developed and developing nations due to aging populations, higher risk of disability in older people, as well as the global increase in chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health disorders. Taken together, the dual phenomena of global aging and increased longevity for individuals with disabilities represent significant advances in public health and education.However, along with these positive trends come new challenges for the 21st century. These include: strains on pension and social security systems; preparing health providers and societies to meet the needs of populations aging with and aging into disability; preventing and managing age and disability associated secondary conditions and chronic diseases; designing sustainable policies to support healthy aging and community-living as well as long-term and palliative care; and developing disability and age-friendly services and settings.Bridging the fields of aging and disability research, policy, and practice is critical for meeting these challenges. All of us aspire to healthy aging, regardless of the presence of age-related impairments or disabling conditions. The experience of growing older with a disability and growing older into a disability may differ—in part because of the different dynamics of ageism and ableism and the differences in economic and social conditions that result—but these life course trajectories present similar challenges and opportunities. In this document we seek common ground, in terms of the modern conception of active aging and of disability, defined as difficulty in functioning at the body, person or societal levels experienced by an individual with a health condition in interaction with the person’s physical, social and attitudinal environment. Moreover, we firmly believe that, despite the distinctions between aging and disability created by professionals, academics, advocacy NGOs, public policies and government agencies, the time has come to emphasize similarities in experiences and needed supports, services and policies rather than focusing on differences. Distinctions between early and late onset of disability are to a large extent a reflection of policy issues—with various utilities across nations—but they do provide a picture of the parameters of practice and research that can inform bridging and consequences of this distinction.This declaration builds upon the Barcelona Declaration on Bridging Knowledge in Long-Term Care and Support, March 5–7, 2009, the Graz Declaration on Disability and Ageing, 9th June, 2006, the Linz Declaration as well as United Nation’s Conventions  and international directives that recognize the human rights and the biopsychosocial approach to disability. Bridging encompasses a range of concepts, tasks, technologies and practices aimed at improving knowledge sharing and collaboration across stakeholders, organizations and fields in care and support for persons with disabilities, their families, and the aging population. Bridging tasks include activities of dissemination, coordination, assessment, empowerment, service delivery, management, financing and policy. The overall purpose of bridging is to improve efficiency, equity of care, inclusion and support at all levels, from the person to the society. It is also an issue of recognition of the complexity of the human condition from birth to death, the capabilities of all people, and the need for a conceptual vision that takes into consideration planning for a society where participation of all citizens is the ultimate goal.National and international bridging of aging and disability knowledge, policy and practice must be actively promoted. Aging with and aging into disability are global population trends. Cross-national and international collaborations can support effective and efficient knowledge development and transfer, implementation of best practices, and facilitate information exchange among and empowerment of persons with disabilities and their families.Bridging is composed of several activities which must occur simultaneously, at multiple levels of knowledge development, policy and practice, and include disability and aging stakeholder groups. The scope of required bridging activities is broad, including the analysis of public policies, interdisciplinary research, the development of professional best practices, and coalition building across advocacy groups and among individual stakeholders. Older adults and people with disabilities and their families must be meaningfully included in bridging activities in recognition of their rights to self-determination and social inclusion.Building effective bridges across aging and disability knowledge, policy and practice requires interdisciplinary collaboration and engagement with national and international decision-makers. Development of effective models of bridging and successful bridging practices requires engagement of professional and citizen stakeholders bringing together relevant knowledge and experience. Decision leaders must engage knowledge brokers to pursue program and policy changes that support bridging activities.Connecting the field of aging and disability will require development of a clear model of bridging. Research at all levels will support the science of bridging as it develops. However, research must give immediate and persistent attention to the pace of bridging to assure that it aligns with the needs of the person aging with disability in order for them to negotiate and make life choices, navigate support and service systems, and engage in opportunities for full inclusion and participation in society.Bridging requires developing a common terminology and knowledge base. Tasks include activities of dissemination, coordination, assessment, empowerment, service delivery, management, financing and policy. Technologies include various Information Technologies, assessment instruments and guidelines. Bridging practices should be catalogued and incorporated to open-access repositories for use by aging and disability networks.Improved access to healthcare services; improved diagnosis and treatment of secondary conditions and diseases; care coordination; health literacy; health promotion and wellness; prevention of age-related chronic conditions; prevention of abuse and neglect; reduction in pre-mature mortality and training of health professionals in aging and disability.Accessible societies, including age and disability friendly communities, removal of barriers of any kind: architectural, cultural, legislative. Impact and implications of aging and disability on civic and community engagement, and the role of technology and universal design in fostering inclusion, participation and knowledge management.Support for families and caregivers, training and education of direct support professionals; self-determination, access, availability, and affordability of supports and services; ethical issue related to non-discrimination, such as in palliative care, end of life issues.Employment, retirement security, asset development; accommodation and accessibility in the work setting; value of non-paid social and community contributions.Research on bridging aging and disability and on ways to transfer this knowledge locally, nationally, and internationally to policy development.An international agenda for bridging aging and disability be formally developed through the involvement of researchers, practice professionals, policy-makers, older adults, persons with disabilities and their families.Public and private funders provide financial support for research and scholarship that advances the science of bridging aging and disability knowledge, practice and policies.Health and social policy-makers incorporate bridging and knowledge transfer as key strategies in policy planning for building a society where all citizens can fully participate including persons with disabilities of all ages.The authors, all of whom were participants at the Growing Older with a Disability conference at FICCDAT 2011, endorse this Declaration and invite feedback.Response can be sent to the attention of Toronto Declaration@marchofdimes.ca‘TD Endorsement’ in the subject line.Individuals and organizations which have endorsed this declaration are listed below. Others are invited to add their endorsement by sending an email with your full contact information to TorontoDeclaration@marchofdimes.ca, adding Most importantly, we call upon governments, practitioners, policy-makers and academics to work together with consumers and their families to ensure attention and implementation of the preceding recommendations.Co-Chairs of Growing Older with a Disability (GOWD) conference, Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology (FICCDAT), 2011Margaret Campbell, PhD, Jennifer Mendez, PhD, Sandy KeshenJerome E. Bickenbach, PhDDepartment of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne and Schweizer Paraplegiker-Forschung, Nottwil, SwitzerlandChristine Bigby, PhDDepartment of Social Work and Social Policy, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, AustraliaLuis Salvador-Carulla, MD PhDFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, AustraliaTamar Heller, PhDRehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with Developmental Disabilities, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USAMatilde Leonardi, PhDHead Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit Foundation IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, ItalyBarbara LeRoy, PhDDevelopmental Disabilities Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USAJennifer Mendez, PhDSchool of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USAMichelle Putnam, PhDSchool of Social Work, Simmons College, Boston, USAAndria Spindel, MSWMarch of Dimes Canada, Toronto, CanadaEuropean Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD).The Graz Declaration on Disability and Ageing. Graz, Austria, June 9, 2006. http://www.easpd.eu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=eDUBIDI0HSU%3D&tabid=3531.Salvador-Carulla, L., Balot, J., Weber, G., Zelderloo, L., Parent, A.S., McDaid, D., Solans, J., Knapp, M., Mestheneos, L., Wolfmayr, F. Participants at the Conference. (2010).The Barcelona Declaration on bridging knowledge in long-term care and support. Barcelona (Spain), March 7, 2009. International Journal of Integrated Care, April 12.http://www.ijic.org/index.php/ijic/article/viewArticle/521/1035European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD).The Linz Declaration: Independent living for ageing persons with disabilities. Linz, Austria, January, 2012.http://www.poraka.org.mk/en/2012/EASPD%20Linz%20Declaration%202011.pdf.World Health Organization.World Report on Disability. Geneva, Switzerland, 2011. (Joint Publication of The World Bank.) http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789240685215_eng.pdf.United Nations.Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York, USA. December 13, 2006http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml.United Nations.Political Declaration and Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing.Madrid, Spain, 2002.http://social.un.org/index/Portals/0/ageing/documents/Fulltext-E.pdf.http://www.ficcdat.ca/main.cfm?cid=1793.To download a copy of the Toronto Declaration, learn about presentation dates, and to endorse this declaration, please visit the FICCDAT website at www.ficcdat.ca (click on Growing Older) or click here


The affiliation for the third and fourth authors is incorrect. Daouda A. K. Traore and Lan Gong are affiliated not with institution number 2, but with institution number 1, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.


The authors would like to make the following corrections.Cartagena's University Hospital del Caribe  instead of Cartagena's University, second column, 29th line, it should be Bogota, instead of Cartagena.In page 2, paragraph 2, Materials and Methods, first column, 34th line, it should be


There were errors in two affiliations and in the Funding statement of the article.Affiliations 3 and 6 should read, respectively:3 German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich-Neuherberg, Germany,6 Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany,The Funding statement should read: This work was funded by grants from AIRC , Fondazione Monzino and Fondazione Ferrari to PPDF, and by grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research  and the European Union (EUMODIC LSHG-2006–037188). SC is supported by the Italian Foundation for Cancer Research (FIRC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.


There was an error in the affiliation for Maria Antonietta Ajmone-Cat. The correct affiliation is: Section of Experimental Neurology, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy