WHAT STARTED as an idea of two Barbadians – Ian Webster and Cheyne Jones – transformed into We Got This, a song which proved enough to stir the collective imagination of 25 recording artistes from 14 countries across the region, disseminating the...

It’s not news that the current fight against COVID-19 has overshadowed plans of artistes worldwide, having impacted some of their biggest stages and platforms with the cancellation of not only large-scale events but private ones as well. Birthday...

Despite its best efforts, COVID-19 will not be allowed to steal the joy of Mother’s Day this year. An array of the island’s top singers and musicians have pledged to infuse the accustomed specialness into the day dedicated to mothers with a concert...

A few weeks ago while I was hosting a Friday slot of Cliff Hughes Online, a caller engaged me in a brief discussion about a matter that was never at the forefront on my mind. According to him, the inclusion of another major player in the national...

The national priority at this time must be the protection of the Jamaican people against the onset of COVID-19. This has to be done by striking the balance between implementing protective public-health measures and providing a supporting economic...

I cannot quite remember the exact day he called me, but I know that it was sometime in the early 1990s. Six weeks before that, he was selected as constituency caretaker for a rough garrison seat that was going through some changes, slowly but...

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...

A sufficient β-cell mass is crucial for preventing diabetes, and perinatal β-cell proliferation is important in determining the adult β-cell mass. However, it is not yet known how perinatal β-cell proliferation is regulated. Here, we report that serotonin regulates β-cell proliferation through serotonin receptor 2B (HTR2B) in an autocrine/paracrine manner during the perinatal period. In β-cell–specific Tph1 knockout (Tph1 βKO) mice, perinatal β-cell proliferation was reduced along with the loss of serotonin production in β-cells. Adult Tph1 βKO mice exhibited glucose intolerance with decreased β-cell mass. Disruption of Htr2b in β-cells also resulted in decreased perinatal β-cell proliferation and glucose intolerance in adulthood. Growth hormone (GH) was found to induce serotonin production in β-cells through activation of STAT5 during the perinatal period. Thus, our results indicate that GH-GH receptor-STAT5-serotonin-HTR2B signaling plays a critical role in determining the β-cell mass by regulating perinatal β-cell proliferation, and defects in this pathway affect metabolic phenotypes in adults.

Human but not mouse islets transplanted into immunodeficient NSG mice effectively accumulate lipid droplets (LDs). Because chronic lipid exposure is associated with islet β-cell dysfunction, we investigated LD accumulation in the intact human and mouse pancreas over a range of ages and states of diabetes. Very few LDs were found in normal human juvenile pancreatic acinar and islet cells, with numbers subsequently increasing throughout adulthood. While accumulation appeared evenly distributed in postjuvenile acinar and islet cells in donors without diabetes, LDs were enriched in islet α- and β-cells from donors with type 2 diabetes (T2D). LDs were also found in the islet β-like cells produced from human embryonic cell–derived β-cell clusters. In contrast, LD accumulation was nearly undetectable in the adult rodent pancreas, even in hyperglycemic and hyperlipidemic models or 1.5-year-old mice. Taken together, there appear to be significant differences in pancreas islet cell lipid handling between species, and the human juvenile and adult cell populations. Moreover, our results suggest that LD enrichment could be impactful to T2D islet cell function.

The host environment is a crucial factor for considering the transplant of stem cell–derived immature pancreatic cells in patients with type 1 diabetes. Here, we investigated the effect of insulin (INS)-deficient diabetes on the fate of immature pancreatic endocrine cell grafts and the underlying mechanisms. Human induced pluripotent stem cell–derived pancreatic endocrine progenitor cells (EPCs), which contained a high proportion of chromogranin A⁺ NK6 homeobox 1⁺ cells and very few INS⁺ cells, were used. When the EPCs were implanted under the kidney capsule in immunodeficient mice, INS-deficient diabetes accelerated increase in plasma human C-peptide, a marker of graft-derived INS secretion. The acceleration was suppressed by INS infusion but not affected by partial attenuation of hyperglycemia by dapagliflozin, an INS-independent glucose-lowering agent. Immunohistochemical analyses indicated that the grafts from diabetic mice contained more endocrine cells including proliferative INS-producing cells compared with that from nondiabetic mice, despite no difference in whole graft mass between the two groups. These data suggest that INS-deficient diabetes upregulates the INS-secreting capacity of EPC grafts by increasing the number of endocrine cells including INS-producing cells without changing the graft mass. These findings provide useful insights into postoperative diabetic care for cell therapy using stem cell–derived pancreatic cells.

As the Mets, Nationals and Phillies have made multiple upgrades, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has thus far limited his offseason activity to giving Josh Donaldson a record one-year deal and bringing to fruition the desires of Brian McCann and Nick Markakis to play for the Braves.

Here's a look at 10 stars that you may have forgotten played for the Braves.

The 30 prospects below all are getting very long looks this spring with an eye toward breaking camp with the parent club. Even if they start the year in the Minors, they all should get the chance to contribute at some point in the very near future.

Brian McCann still laughs about what transpired as he learned the Braves were calling him up to the Majors during the 2005 season. He remembers being summoned to Brian Snitker's room, where he found the then Double-A manager eating pizza while wearing nothing more than his underwear.

When the Braves re-signed Nick Markakis in January, they began leaning toward putting Ender Inciarte in the leadoff spot and moving Ronald Acuna Jr. to the cleanup role. But manager Brian Snitker said Acuna may still get his wish to stay at the top of the lineup.

A year ago, Danny Farquhar was not going to be in the middle of a spring storyline. That's going to change this spring as he tries to win a spot in the Yankees' bullpen

The 30 prospects below all are getting very long looks this spring with an eye toward breaking camp with the parent club. Even if they start the year in the Minors, they all should get the chance to contribute at some point in the very near future.

Pitch clocks are set to make their Spring Training debuts this week, and it will be in games featuring hordes of players for whom playing on a timer is nothing new.

The 30 prospects below all are getting very long looks this spring with an eye toward breaking camp with the parent club. Even if they start the year in the Minors, they all should get the chance to contribute at some point in the very near future.

Spring Training is underway. Players around the league are stepping back onto the baseball field as they get ready for the 2019 season. MLB.com's beat reporters have you covered with the action from every team's training camp. Keep track of the latest highlights of Spring Training right here.

With Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton leaving in free agency and Lance McCullers Jr. on the mend following Tommy John surgery, Collin McHugh is returning to his roots this year and is back in the Houston rotation. He said his experience as a reliever will only help him evolve as a starter.

Astros outfielder Josh Reddick vows to start hitting to the opposite field more this year, which is something he did well in 2017, but not '18. Reddick hit .242 with 17 homers and 47 RBIs last year after hitting .314 with 13 homers and 82 RBIs to help the Astros to the World Series title in '17.

JAMAICA OLYMPIC Association (JOA) President Christopher Samuda believes that his sports administration experience will aid him in helping to finally shape a professional football league in the Caribbean. Concacaf announced Samuda’s appointment to...

Germany’s decision that football can return this month provided encouragement for players and teams across Europe yesterday that the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic could soon be coming to an end. With COVID-19 infections declining,...

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC): ST KITTS AND Nevis Patriots have made some significant changes to their line-up for the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season. Captain Carlos Brathwaite has gone to the Jamaica Tallawahs, while the Patriots have...

Portmore United captain Rosario Harriott says the Premier League Clubs Association shouldn’t rush to call off this season of the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The league was stopped indefinitely in mid-March...

FORMER NATIONAL footballer Aldrick ‘Allie’ McNab is concerned about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Caribbean’s football development. The coronavirus has caused the postponement, suspension, and cancellation of a number of sporting...

Former national footballer Arthur Lattimore has died. Lattimore, who represented Jamaica in the 1970s, lost his battle with throat cancer at his home in Florida on Thursday. Lattimore, who was known as one of Jamaica's most skilful left-sided...

Winners of the Darwin Award must eliminate themselves from the gene pool in such an idiotic manner that their action ensures one less idiot will survive. Ben and Dennis Lendrem, and colleagues, have reviewed the data on winners of the Darwin Award over a 20 year period and they join us to discuss why men are idiots, and why their team is not the...

In our accompanying roundtable discussion,we hear views from a group of patients and clinicians based largely in the UK on the actions required  to advance  progress towards providing patient centred care. To extend the conversation we talked to members of the BMJ's international patient advisory panel and other patient advocates - and what...

Participants in our discussion on person centred care in January agreed that a change in culture and better use of technology could benefit both patients and doctors. At the roundtable: Fiona Godlee (chair), editor in chief, The BMJ Tessa Richards, senior editor, patient partnership, The BMJ Rosamund Snow, patient editor, The BMJ Navjoyt Ladher,...

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 “correct” rates of discretional interventions are difficult to define. However, David Hamilton and Colin Howie point out that discrepancies in usage of knee arthroscopy within the UK suggest the organisation of the care pathway may be an important determinant Read their full analysis: http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4720

Thousands of NHS staff have demonstrated against the government’s threatened “imposition” of an “unsafe and unfair” contract for junior doctors. At a London rally on Saturday 17 October junior doctors and supporters noisily defended their trade union, as speakers accused England’s health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, of misleading the public about...

The UK Parliament's Health Select Committee's recent report on childhood obesity says 1 in 5 children are obese by the time they leave school. The committee calls for legislation to turn the tide by taxing sugary drinks, a pre-watershed ban on junk food advertising, and investment in public health. We joined Sarah Wollaston, conservative MP for...

“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 the junior doctors in England strike, concerns for the workforce are foremost in the minds of those running the NHS. A summary is available here: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i1510 In The BMJ roundtable, recorded at the Nuffield Trust Health Policy Summit on Friday 4 March 2016, we asked our participants if they think the NHS is in...

Gareth Iacobucci talks to Candace Imison, director of policy at The Nuffield Trust, about the problems facing GPs, and how primary care could be changed. "5 minutes with... Candace Imison": http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i1378

Nick Oliver, consultant diabetologist at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust and Philippa Cooper, who has type I diabetes, join us to explain how structured education works for patients, and give tips on self management. Read the full review: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i998

However well intentioned, working in detention centres amounts to complicity in torture, says David Berger, a district medical officer in emergency medicine at Broome Hospital in Australia. However, Steven Miles, chair in bioethics at the University of Minnesota thinks that they play an important role in telling the world about conditions in...

James Barrett, president of the British Association of Gender Identity Specialists, and Nina, a trans woman, join us to discuss how difficult it can be for trans people to access gender clinics, and what barriers are faced by the community after their transition has been completed. Read James Barrett's personal...

Providing information to enable informed choices about healthcare sounds immediately appealing to most of us. But Minna Johansson, GP trainee and PhD student at the University of Gothenburg, argues that preventive medicine and expanding disease definitions have changed the ethical premises of informed choice and our good intentions may...

Katja Iversen, CEO of Women Deliver, joins Rebecca Coombes to explain why the UN sustainable development goals are unachievable if we don't empower women and girls to take control of their health, wellbeing, and reproductive rights. http://womendeliver.org/

Global evidence indicates that mandated treatment of drug dependence conflicts with drug users’ human rights and is not effective in treating addiction. Karsten Lunze, associate professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, joins us to describe the evidence, and why he is convinced seemingly counter intuitive hard reduction...

"I say to all Australian doctors - young, old, the political and the apolitical - that on this depends not just our ethical credibility as a profession, but our shared humanity. " Following the leaked emails published in The Guardian newspaper, alleging abuse of asylum seekers detained by the Australian government on the Pacific island of Nauru,...

Lily was diagnosed at 14 years old with stage four Hodgkin's lymphoma and received six rounds of chemotherapy and two weeks of radiotherapy. She survived but now lives with the long term effects of that therapy - and joins us to discuss how it has impacted her quality of life. We're also joined by Saif Ahmad and Thankamma Ajithkumar, oncologists...

Scott Murray, professor of primary palliative care at the University of Edinburgh, has written, and talked in this podcast before, about the benefits of early palliative care - and today he’s back to explain how illness trajectory, and the pattern of decline at the end of life, affects 4 main areas of wellness - physical, social, psychological and...

Our latest debate asks whether there should be a Royal Commission (a high level enquiry, with statutory powers) into the future of the NHS. A high level inquiry could detoxify the radical changes needed and command wide support, say Maurice Saatchi, conservative peer, and Paul Buchanan, The BMJ's patient editor; but Nigel Crisp, independent peer,...

Pharma companies say that money spent on promotion is essential to educate doctors about the best drugs - but when a medical student asked Joseph Ross, associate professor of medicine and public health at Yale, if those companies are promoting the right drugs for that message to be true, the answer wasn't available. Ross and Tyler Greenaway, his...

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...