It's not rare to see former Major League sons in Major League uniforms, but is it unusual to find four in one clubhouse?

bmj;387/nov12_10/q2481/FAF1faJulia and Malcolm Donaldsondonaldson20241111.f1Malcolm Donaldson was a distinguished paediatric endocrinologist with a string of research publications to his name—but he was also happy to play second fiddle (almost literally) to his wife Julia, the celebrated author of much loved children’s books, including The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom.Malcolm, a talented musician and performer, accompanied his wife as she toured festivals, schools, and libraries in the UK and around the world. Together they performed the stories, with Malcolm acting characters ranging from an accident prone dragon to a comic cattle thief. His star role, in the words of Julia’s literary agent, was “a particularly suave fox” in The Gruffalo.Malcolm met Julia Shields when they were students at the University of Bristol and they married in 1972. Donaldson went on to work in Brighton, London, and Lyon, France, before moving back to Bristol to be a senior registrar in paediatrics. Six...

The current system for delivering NHS cardiovascular disease (CVD) health checks is not working effectively and must be reviewed to ensure that it reaches people with the highest risk, the National Audit Office has said.1In a review of the commissioning, delivery, and performance of CVD health checks the watchdog found that just over one in 12 people (8.8%) who were eligible attended a health check in 2023-24—which, if maintained, would equate to a five year coverage of 44%.Health checks were first introduced in 2009, with the aim of reducing ill health from CVD by offering everyone aged 40-74 without a pre-existing heart condition a check-up every five years. However, problems have arisen since the responsibility for commissioning these checks was transferred to local authorities in 2013, said the National Audit Office.The move led to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) losing its ability to influence local authority performance,...

Somatosensory coding in rodents has been mostly studied in the whisker system and hairy skin, whereas the function of low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) in the rodent glabrous skin has received scant attention, unlike in primates where the glabrous skin has been the focus. The relative activation of different LTMR subtypes carries information about vibrotactile stimuli, as does the rate and temporal patterning of LTMR spikes. Rate coding depends on the probability of a spike occurring on each stimulus cycle (reliability), whereas temporal coding depends on the timing of spikes relative to the stimulus cycle (precision). Using in vivo extracellular recordings in male rats and mice of either sex, we measured the reliability and precision of LTMR responses to tactile stimuli including sustained pressure and vibration. Similar to other species, rodent LTMRs were separated into rapid-adapting (RA) or slow-adapting based on their response to sustained pressure. However, unlike the dichotomous frequency preference characteristic of RA1 and RA2/Pacinian afferents in other species, rodent RAs fell along a continuum. Fitting generalized linear models to experimental data reproduced the reliability and precision of rodent RAs. The resulting model parameters highlight key mechanistic differences across the RA spectrum; specifically, the integration window of different RAs transitions from wide to narrow as tuning preferences across the population move from low to high frequencies. Our results show that rodent RAs can support both rate and temporal coding, but their heterogeneity suggests that coactivation patterns play a greater role in population coding than for dichotomously tuned primate RAs.

Peripheral taste neurons exhibit functional, genetic, and morphological diversity, yet understanding how or if these attributes combine into taste neuron types remains unclear. In this study, we used male and female mice to relate taste bud innervation patterns to the function of a subset of proenkephalin-expressing (Penk+) taste neurons. We found that taste arbors (the portion of the axon within the taste bud) stemming from Penk+ neurons displayed diverse branching patterns and lacked stereotypical endings. The range in complexity observed for individual taste arbors from Penk+ neurons mirrored the entire population, suggesting that taste arbor morphologies are not primarily regulated by the neuron type. Notably, the distinguishing feature of arbors from Penk+ neurons was their propensity to come within 110 nm (in apposition with) different types of taste-transducing cells within the taste bud. This finding is contrary to the expectation of genetically defined taste neuron types that functionally represent a single stimulus. Consistently, further investigation of Penk+ neuron function revealed that they are more likely to respond to innately aversive stimuli—sour, bitter, and high salt concentrations—as compared with the full taste population. Penk+ neurons are less likely to respond to nonaversive stimuli—sucrose, umami, and low salt—compared with the full population. Our data support the presence of a genetically defined neuron type in the geniculate ganglion that is responsive to innately aversive stimuli. This implies that genetic expression might categorize peripheral taste neurons into hedonic groups, rather than simply identifying neurons that respond to a single stimulus.

Basolateral amygdala (BLA) neurons are engaged by emotionally salient stimuli. An area of increasing interest is how BLA dynamics relate to evolving reward-seeking behavior, especially under situations of uncertainty or ambiguity. Here, we recorded the activity of individual BLA neurons in male rats across the acquisition and extinction of conditioned reward seeking. We assessed ongoing neural dynamics in a task where long reward cue presentations preceded an unpredictable, variably time reward delivery. We found that, with training, BLA neurons discriminated the CS+ and CS– cues with sustained cue-evoked activity that correlated with behavior and terminated only after reward receipt. BLA neurons were bidirectionally modulated, with a majority showing prolonged inhibition during cued reward seeking. Strikingly, population-level analyses revealed that neurons showing cue-evoked inhibitions and those showing excitations similarly represented the CS+ and behavioral state. This sustained population code rapidly extinguished in parallel with conditioned behavior. We next assessed the contribution of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), a major reciprocal partner to the BLA. Inactivation of the OFC while simultaneously recording in the BLA revealed a blunting of sustained cue-evoked activity in the BLA that accompanied reduced reward seeking. Optogenetic disruption of BLA activity and OFC terminals in the BLA also reduced reward seeking. Our data indicate that the BLA represents reward-seeking states via sustained, bidirectional cue-driven neural encoding. This code is regulated by cortical input and is important for the maintenance of vigilant reward-seeking behavior.

In July, an OM team of artists will use their creative gifts to share about the Creator at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Twenty students graduate OM Russia’s Discipleship programme with a heart for missions.

OM Russia’s Student Christian Centre, in partnership with the local Evangelical Church, reaches universities in Novosibirsk. The project leader shares about plans for this year.

Dorothea, from Germany, joins the one-year programme with OM Russia, which includes visiting Siberian villages to help churches and sharing the Gospel with locals.

OM Russia and partner organisations work to thwart two killers picking off the younger generation in Russia: drugs and HIV and AIDS.

OM Russia leader Colin Cleaver discusses why he values the involvement of families in OM Russia’s ministry and encourages other families to consider missions.

A Dutch team member shares her mission trip experience praying with a man in Siberia.

A team member from the USA who participated in a short-term trip on the Trans-Siberian railroad across Russia shares her experience.

A group of Russians participates in an OM Moldova summer outreach for children.

A woman from a least-reached group of people accepted Christ during Discipleship Centre student outreach.

After discovering his freedom in Christ and being discipled, former drug addict Ruslan wants to share hope with the least reached.

OM Philippines will host three training sessions this month in an effort to see sustainable, transformational and developmental ministries grow in Cebu City.

A group who started a funeral cooperative but registered it as a church learns what it means to be a real church.

Limardes Domingo, an OM worker in Mecula, Mozambique, has seen church growth over two years through God's faithful answers to prayer.

In partnership with a local church, OM Lifehope teaches truths about God and the Bible to children at their recent Easter holiday club.

Three communications interns serving with OM Lifehope in the UK share their experiences and why people should consider using their God-given gifts in missions.

Some people may not think that getting somebody a cup of tea is missionary work, but for Rachel, it’s an important part of her ministry.

Sent onto the road after two weeks of training at the OM Lifehope base, the Transit Challenge Team supports OM ministries across Europe.

At Manna House, in the Greater London Area, guests from all over the world come for accommodation and a place to rest.

“Seeing how these boys lived…put my own life into perspective,” said Anne Davidson, after spending time with youth living on the streets of Lusaka.

OM Lake Tanganyika is using cheerleading as a way to reach out to African young women and girls.

It's more than just a sport. OM is using football at Lake Tanganyika to train and empower young boys.

Ega and her family receive a new house through OM Lake Tanganyika.

“I have always wanted to do more than coach specific sport skills,” Joseph said. “This approach touches all areas of fitness: physical, emotional and spiritual–all aspects of a human being.”

Instead of the two families they had hoped for, seven families from Katerini attend the Christian camp for Albanians in Greece.

As Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees pour onto the beaches of Lesbos, OM Greece and partner organisations offer water, essential items and, more importantly, hope.

Surprises await Bus4Life coordinator Esko when visiting a Romanian village: Meeting orphaned girls saved on a visit 26 years ago, and the former Chief of Police from the Communist era.

OM MENA Travelling Team (MTT) spent 26 days distributing more than 10,000 gospel tracts and spreading Scripture throughout a Muslim-majority country.

When a small team decides to focus more on church planting, God brings people into their lives in unusual ways.

As prayer ministries grow in the Near East, one worker speaks into the challenges of leading a regional ministry of prayer.

A children’s music programme helps Syrian mothers identify their skills and how to use them for Christ, even before they become believers.

Syrian Kurdish refugee families profess faith in Jesus Christ.

Tesori Raggianti, OM Italy's anti-trafficking ministry, hosts a 'Nefarious' screening in a local theatre.

How do you shine God’s light to people in the community in which God has placed you?

A new OM Italy team member participates in an English Scout Camp, which brings the Gospel to children and gives her new cultural insight.

As a grandmother with some serious health issues and limited knowledge of Spanish and English, Francine wondered whether God could use her in Spain.

Slobodan never thought he could be free, but Jesus gave him a new start. Now Slobodan urges Roma in Croatia and Serbia that there is a better way.

A couple uses their God-given cultural and evangelistic tools, gained from years spent in the Muslim world, to reach out to Turkish Muslims.

OM Hope for Zurich’s kids’ club brings together immigrant children from a local neighbourhood in hopes of sharing God’s love with them and their families.

A recent training course in Malaysia unpacks the subject of financial development and reminds participants that it is a ministry based on biblical principles.

A young refugee hears about Christmas.

An OM worker in Bosnia shares how the enduring faith of two elderly women of God has inspired her to also persevere to the end.

Spending the weekend with friends, Mark and Beth quickly learn that their friends’ background does not necessarily mean they follow the practices of that religion.

Thanks to the interest shown in his tattoos, OMer Rafael shares about Jesus during an impromptu soccer game with a few Roma boys in Bosnia.