Invitation Only Research Event

Event participants

Paul D’anieri, Professor of Public Policy and Political Science, University of California, Riverside
Vlad Mykhnenko, Associate Professor of Sustainable Urban Development, St Peter’s College, University of Oxford
Chair: Orysia Lutsevych, Research Fellow and Manager, Ukraine Forum, Chatham House

1 May 2020

Invitation Only Research Event

I spoke French for thirteen years I say to him And he smiles. More cheese. Soft night yields to love, Rap is the only hard night sound, The White man is out of his depth, Even in French. He leans forward and whispers in my ear but, The first lie was mine. We’ll count them […]

Never mind Lawyers, Children with no mouths, Never mind Inspiration, Write Now. Photo – ♦Personal♦ -short evocative poetry-

1 June 2012 , Volume 68, Number 4

Eyes in the skies keeping watch on a planet under stress. Click on the PDF link to view the graphic

7 September 2012 , Volume 88, Number 5

11 July 2014

Rising HFC use poses a significant threat to intergovernmental efforts to combat climate change. At present, there is a glaring regulatory gap in this area. Although challenging, there is no reason why the international community cannot come together to address this new problem of coordination and ensure that legal regimes support each other.

Invitation Only Research Event

Long before the existence of the Internet and going viral was a thing, reggae singer Jacob Miller, back in the ‘70s, coined a term that went viral – under heavy manners. Ian Lewis of Inner Circle band, the Bad Boys of Reggae, recalled that his...

IT IS said that every cloud has a silver lining, and that could still hold true, even in the midst of a terrifying global pandemic. Despite COVID-19, the cycle of life continues, and out of it has sprung forth an inspiring poetry competition,...

Event producers and entertainers still have a while to figure out how to right themselves after the threat of COVID-19 has passed. But that doesn’t mean they should wait until a vaccine is developed or until people begin to brave skies and crowds...

Four companies involved in one of America’s “largest price-fixing cases” are now behind the anti-malaria drug touted by Donald ‘The Great Impeached’ Trump as a snake-oil, cure-all treatment for COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus. Several...

We’re back! Hope you’re as excited as we are to do some learning! Let’s ease into things though, no one wants to learn about hems every week. So this week we’re gonna look at collection based words that describe how fashion is compiled! Dweek! Say...

Women with endometriosis have significantly higher rates of depression than women in the general population. That’s according to psychiatrist Dr Kristen Robinson-Barrett. It’s the end of endometriosis month, so Flair spoke to the expert to explore...

The molecular mechanisms of β-cell compensation to metabolic stress are poorly understood. We previously observed that nutrient-induced β-cell proliferation in rats is dependent on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. The aim of this study was to determine the role of the EGFR ligand heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) in the β-cell proliferative response to glucose, a β-cell mitogen and key regulator of β-cell mass in response to increased insulin demand. We show that exposure of isolated rat and human islets to HB-EGF stimulates β-cell proliferation. In rat islets, inhibition of EGFR or HB-EGF blocks the proliferative response not only to HB-EGF but also to glucose. Furthermore, knockdown of HB-EGF in rat islets blocks β-cell proliferation in response to glucose ex vivo and in vivo in transplanted glucose-infused rats. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that HB-EGF mRNA levels are increased in β-cells in response to glucose in a carbohydrate-response element–binding protein (ChREBP)–dependent manner. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation studies identified ChREBP binding sites in proximity to the HB-EGF gene. Finally, inhibition of Src family kinases, known to be involved in HB-EGF processing, abrogated glucose-induced β-cell proliferation. Our findings identify a novel glucose/HB-EGF/EGFR axis implicated in β-cell compensation to increased metabolic demand.

Loss of functional β-cell mass is an essential feature of type 2 diabetes, and maintaining mature β-cell identity is important for preserving a functional β-cell mass. However, it is unclear how β-cells achieve and maintain their mature identity. Here we demonstrate a novel function of protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) in maintaining mature β-cell identity. Prmt1 knockout in fetal and adult β-cells induced diabetes, which was aggravated by high-fat diet–induced metabolic stress. Deletion of Prmt1 in adult β-cells resulted in the immediate loss of histone H4 arginine 3 asymmetric dimethylation (H4R3me2a) and the subsequent loss of β-cell identity. The expression levels of genes involved in mature β-cell function and identity were robustly downregulated as soon as Prmt1 deletion was induced in adult β-cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing analyses revealed that PRMT1-dependent H4R3me2a increases chromatin accessibility at the binding sites for CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) and β-cell transcription factors. In addition, PRMT1-dependent open chromatin regions may show an association with the risk of diabetes in humans. Together, our results indicate that PRMT1 plays an essential role in maintaining β-cell identity by regulating chromatin accessibility.

Henry "Hank" Aaron was born in Alabama three years after Willie Mays, 85 years ago Tuesday. Now, all this time later, Aaron is as much the conscience and the soul of baseball as any man alive. But we don't just celebrate a great baseball life today. We celebrate a great American life.

For Brandon Hyde, the days and weeks leading up to Tuesday were filled with phone calls to friends, to former colleagues, to mentors he's made across more than two decades in the game. A constant theme emerged from the ensuing chats: What, exactly, should Hyde expect from his first Spring Training as a big league manager?

Wave him bye bye. A legendary voice of Orioles baseball is calling it a career. Joe Angel, beloved play-by-plan man and voice of the Orioles' radio broadcasts for nearly two decades, announced his retirement this week. The decision caps a 41-year career in the booth for Angel, 71, a fixture for 19 seasons across two stints in Baltimore.

The ability to switch fuels for oxidation in response to changes in macronutrient composition of diet (metabolic flexibility) may be informative of individuals’ susceptibility to weight gain. Seventy-nine healthy, weight-stable participants underwent 24-h assessments of energy expenditure and respiratory quotient (RQ) in a whole-room calorimeter during energy balance (EBL) (50% carbohydrate, 30% fat) and then during 24-h fasting and three 200% overfeeding diets in a crossover design. Metabolic flexibility was defined as the change in 24-h RQ from EBL during fasting and standard overfeeding (STOF) (50% carbohydrate, 30% fat), high-fat overfeeding (HFOF) (60% fat, 20% carbohydrate), and high-carbohydrate overfeeding (HCOF) (75% carbohydrate, 5% fat) diets. Free-living weight change was assessed after 6 and 12 months. Compared with EBL, RQ decreased on average by 9% during fasting and by 4% during HFOF but increased by 4% during STOF and by 8% during HCOF. A smaller decrease in RQ, reflecting a smaller increase in lipid oxidation rate, during HFOF but not during the other diets predicted greater weight gain at both 6 and 12 months. An impaired metabolic flexibility to acute HFOF can identify individuals prone to weight gain, indicating that an individual’s capacity to oxidize dietary fat is a metabolic determinant of weight change.

The whitening and loss of brown adipose tissue (BAT) during obesity and aging promote metabolic disorders and related diseases. The imbalance of Ca²⁺ homeostasis accounts for the dysfunction and clearance of mitochondria during BAT whitening. Capsaicin, a dietary factor activating TRPV1, can inhibit obesity induced by high-fat diet (HFD), but whether capsaicin inhibits BAT loss and the underlying mechanism remain unclear. In this study, we determined that the inhibitory effects of capsaicin on HFD-induced obesity and BAT whitening were dependent on the participation of SIRT3, a critical mitochondrial deacetylase. SIRT3 also mediated all of the beneficial effects of capsaicin on alleviating reactive oxygen species generation, elevating mitochondrial activity, and restricting mitochondrial calcium overload induced by HFD. Mechanistically, SIRT3 inhibits mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU)-mediated mitochondrial calcium overload by reducing the H3K27ac level on the MCU promoter in an AMPK-dependent manner. In addition, HFD also inhibits AMPK activity to reduce SIRT3 expression, which could be reversed by capsaicin. Capsaicin intervention also inhibited aging-induced BAT whitening through this mechanism. In conclusion, this study emphasizes a critical role of the AMPK/SIRT3 pathway in the maintenance of BAT morphology and function and suggests that intervention in this pathway may be an effective target for preventing obesity- or age-related metabolic diseases.

All eyes were on right-hander Forrest Whitley, MLB Pipeline's top pitching prospect, when he threw in the bullpen for the first time Friday in Major League camp. Astros manager AJ Hinch, assistant general manager Brandon Taubman and director of player development Pete Putila were all watching intently as Whitley threw 21 pitches -- fastballs, changeups and cutters.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nation’s leader said Wednesday the world’s one billion people living with disabilities are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus and called for them to have equal access to prevention and...

Airbnb says it is laying off 25% of its workforce as it confronts a steep decline in global travel due to the new coronavirus pandemic. It’s a serious setback for the 12-year-old home-sharing company, which just a few months ago was...

  WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 40 public companies are pledging to return money to the government’s small business coronavirus fund now that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is threatening criminal prosecutions for...

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii authorities are cracking down on rogue tourists who are visiting beaches, riding personal watercraft, shopping and generally flouting strict requirements that they quarantine for 14 days after arriving. A newlywed...

MOSCOW (AP): United States (US) President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed progress in combating the coronavirus pandemic, along with arms-control issues and oil prices, in a phone call Thursday, the White House and the...

BOSTON (AP) — Centenarians have always been a rare breed. Now they’re an endangered species. The 100-plus crowd — those most venerable of human beings — is succumbing rapidly and heartbreakingly to the coronavirus...

ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC): A top West Indies Cricket Umpires Association (WICUA) official says regional umpires have also been heavily impacted by the cessation of cricket, stemming from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vivian Johnson, who...

Western Bureau: THE MOBAY City Run organisers have reconsidered the event’s cancellation. Organising committee chair­person Janet Silvera said on Sunday, the day the event was to have taken place, that the seventh staging of the 5K/10K Walk and Run...

Karen Grépin, assistant professor of global health policy at New York University, has been examining the pledges made by the international community to help fight the ebola virus outbreak - was it really too little, too late? Read her full analysis: http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h376

Michelle Sinclar, a GP in Hampshire who is concerned that GP premises aren't fit for purpose and limit her ability to provide fully rounded patient care. BMJ Voices is a collection of readers’ experiences of working in the NHS. For this, The BMJ is seeking short audio submissions from UK listeners. These submissions will be published on...

The movement to make data from clinical trials widely accessible has achieved enormous success, and it is now time for medical journals to play their part. From 1 July The BMJ will extend its requirements for data sharing to apply to all submitted clinical trials, not just those that test drugs or devices. The BMJ's Elizabeth Loder explains what...

“Juliet”, a woman living in London, was diagnosed with a mysterious illness in November 2015, Ian Cropley, a consultant in infectious disease from The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, was there to investigate. In this podcast, we find out how Zika, once a little known virus causing a rash and fever, has subsequently become a global health...

As France has moved in recent weeks to clear camps where migrants stay while trying to cross illegally into Britain, Médecins Sans Frontières has just opened a new one. Sophie Arie talks to Caroline Gollé, medical coordinator at the Médecins Sans Frontières​ La Linière camp​. Read more about the camp: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i1696

In February World Health Organization (WHO) declared the microcephaly epidemic in South America an international public health emergency. Today, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, has confirmed that it’s is Zika virus which is causing that microcephaly.  The outbreak was originally spotted in Recife, in Brazil, and it’s...

Medical error is not included on death certificates or in rankings of cause of death. Martin Makary, professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, joins us to explain why we don't measure medical error, and why it is so important that we start. Read the full analysis: http://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139

Interviews from the Women deliver conference in Copenhagen. Donna McCarraher, director of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health at FHI 360, explains why women should be at the centre of efforts to mitigate the effect of Zika Virus in Brazil.

Delirium is common in the last weeks or days of life. It can be distressing for patients and those around them. A clinical update explains why successful management involves excluding reversible causes of delirium and balancing drugs that may provoke or maintain delirium while appreciating that most patients want to retain clear cognition at the...

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is an acute viral respiratory tract infection caused by the novel betacoronavirus. Cases have been limited to the Arabian Peninsula and its surrounding countries, and to travellers from the Middle East or their contacts. The clinical spectrum of infection varies from no symptoms or mild respiratory...

Viral exanthema can cause rash in a pregnant woman and should be considered even in countries that have comprehensive vaccination programmes. Measles and rubella can cause intrauterine death. Intrauterine infection with rubella can lead to congenital rubella syndrome in the liveborn baby. In this podcast, Jack Carruthers, honorary clinical...

The rapid changes in the global environment have led many scientists to conclude that we are living in a new geological epoch—the Anthropocene—in which human activities have become the dominant driving force transforming the Earth’s natural systems. A recent joint publication by the World Health Organization and Convention on Biological Diversity...

Air pollution is a truly damaging environmental insult to the human body. The numbers of premature deaths, in the UK alone, that can be attributed to it are calculated to be 40,000 a year. Yet despite this, action to tackle the problem - as with the other huge environmental issue of our time, climate change - is distinctly lacking. Robin...

The BMJ has been campaigning for an end to “too much medicine” - the pernicious effect of marketing on the range of tests and treatments that doctors offer patients - tests and treatments which are motivated by the financial reward to the system, than the health of the individual. A new analysis on BMJ.com takes a look at what’s happening in the...

It’s been 10 years since electronic cigarettes hit the shelves in a big way - and since there controversy has reigned about their health effects - are they less unhealthy than smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes, and will they increase nicotine dependence? Its to that last point that new research, published on BMJ.com is looking into -...

Acute respiratory distress syndrome was first described in 1967 and has become a defining condition in critical care. Around 40% of patients with ARDS will die, and survivors experience long term sequelae. No drug treatments exist for ARDS, however good supportive management reduces harm and improves outcome. In this podcast, John Laffey,...

Virginia Murray, public health consultant in global disaster risk reduction at Public Health England, was instrumental in putting together the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction - an international agreement which aims to move the world from reacting to disasters, to proactively preventing them. In this podcast, she explains what they...

There’s been a lot of attention given to the new antirviral drugs which target Hepatitis C - partly because of the burden of infection of the disease, and the lack of a treatment that can be made easily accessible to around the world, and partly because of the incredible cost of a course of treatment. But a new article on BMJ talks about the...

Terence Stephenson is a consultant paediatrician who became been chair of the General Medical Council in 2015. His 4 year tenure has now come to an end, but during his time with the regulator the medical profession faced a number of challenges - the case of Hadiza Bawa Garba and a growing recruitment crisis in the NHS - the GMC is the...