What's in a name?: a discussion paper on the labels and location of self-organising community groups, with particular reference to mental health and Black groups

This article discusses the labelling and location of self-organising community groups – ‘self-help’, ‘peer support’ and ‘service user’. It notes the increasingly close relationship between these groups and statutory authorities, and how this relationship may put the benefits of the groups at risk. Historical, cultural and social factors are discussed to help explain differences and separate developments within African, Caribbean and other Black communities

Vitamin D supplementation and breast cancer prevention : a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

In recent years, the scientific evidence linking vitamin D status or supplementation to breast cancer has grown notably. To investigate the role of vitamin D supplementation on breast cancer incidence, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing vitamin D with placebo or no treatment. We used OVID to search MEDLINE (R), EMBASE and CENTRAL until April 2012. We screened the reference lists of included studies and used the “Related Article” feature in PubMed to identify additional articles. No language restrictions were applied. Two reviewers independently extracted data on methodological quality, participants, intervention, comparison and outcomes. Risk Ratios and 95% Confident Intervals for breast cancer were pooled using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 test. In sensitivity analysis, we assessed the impact of vitamin D dosage and mode of administration on treatment effects. Only two randomized controlled trials fulfilled the pre-set inclusion criteria. The pooled analysis included 5372 postmenopausal women. Overall, Risk Ratios and 95% Confident Intervals were 1.11 and 0.74–1.68. We found no evidence of heterogeneity. Neither vitamin D dosage nor mode of administration significantly affected breast cancer risk. However, treatment efficacy was somewhat greater when vitamin D was administered at the highest dosage and in combination with calcium (Risk Ratio 0.58, 95% Confident Interval 0.23–1.47 and Risk Ratio 0.93, 95% Confident Interval 0.54–1.60, respectively). In conclusions, vitamin D use seems not to be associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer development in postmenopausal women. However, the available evidence is still limited and inadequate to draw firm conclusions. Study protocol code: FARM8L2B5L

Hyperspectral phasor analysis enables multiplexed 5D in vivo imaging

Time-lapse imaging of multiple labels is challenging for biological imaging as noise, photobleaching and phototoxicity compromise signal quality, while throughput can be limited by processing time. Here, we report software called Hyper-Spectral Phasors (HySP) for denoising and unmixing multiple spectrally overlapping fluorophores in a low signal-to-noise regime with fast analysis. We show that HySP enables unmixing of seven signals in time-lapse imaging of living zebrafish embryos

Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications

Whereas semiclassical gravity is based on the semiclassical Einstein equation with sources given by the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of quantum fields, stochastic semiclassical gravity is based on the Einstein-Langevin equation, which has in addition sources due to the noise kernel. In the first part, we describe the fundamentals of this new theory via two approaches: the axiomatic and the functional. In the second part, we describe three applications of stochastic gravity theory. First, we consider metric perturbations in a Minkowski spacetime, compute the two-point correlation functions of these perturbations and prove that Minkowski spacetime is a stable solution of semiclassical gravity. Second, we discuss structure formation from the stochastic gravity viewpoint. Third, we discuss the backreaction of Hawking radiation in the gravitational background of a black hole and describe the metric fluctuations near the event horizon of an evaporating black holeComment: 100 pages, no figures; an update of the 2003 review in Living Reviews in Relativity gr-qc/0307032 ; it includes new sections on the Validity of Semiclassical Gravity, the Stability of Minkowski Spacetime, and the Metric Fluctuations of an Evaporating Black Hol

Trazodone for the treatment of fibromyalgia: an open-label, 12-week study

Background: Despite its frequent use as a hypnotic, trazodone has not been systematically assessed in fibromyalgia patients. In the present study have we evaluated the potential effectiveness and tolerability of trazodone in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Methods: A flexible dose of trazodone (50-300 mg/day), was administered to 66 fibromyalgia patients for 12 weeks. The primary outcome measure was the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Secondary outcome measures included the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Patients' Global Improvement Scale (PGI). Trazodone's emergent adverse reactions were recorded. Data were analyzed with repeated measures one-way ANOVA and paired Student's t test. Results: Trazodone markedly improved sleep quality, with large effect sizes in total PSQI score as well on sleep quality, sleep duration and sleep efficiency. Significant improvement, although with moderate effect sizes, were also observed in total FIQ scores, anxiety and depression scores (both HADS and BDI), and pain interference with daily activities. Unexpectedly, the most frequent and severe side effect associated with trazodone in our sample was tachycardia, which was reported by 14 (21.2%) patients. Conclusions: In doses higher than those usually prescribed as hypnotic, the utility of trazodone in fibromyalgia management surpasses its hypnotic activity. However, the emergence of tachycardia should be closely monitored. Trial registration: This trial has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT-00791739

Rapidity and Centrality Dependence of Proton and Anti-proton Production from Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 130GeV

We report on the rapidity and centrality dependence of proton and anti-proton transverse mass distributions from Au+Au collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 130GeV as measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. Our results are from the rapidity and transverse momentum range of |y|<0.5 and 0.35 <p_t<1.00GeV/c. For both protons and anti-protons, transverse mass distributions become more convex from peripheral to central collisions demonstrating characteristics of collective expansion. The measured rapidity distributions and the mean transverse momenta versus rapidity are flat within |y|<0.5. Comparisons of our data with results from model calculations indicate that in order to obtain a consistent picture of the proton(anti-proton) yields and transverse mass distributions the possibility of pre-hadronic collective expansion may have to be taken into account.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, submitted to PR

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Expanding the clinical spectrum of biglycan-related Meester-Loeys syndrome

\ua9 The Author(s) 2024.Pathogenic loss-of-function variants in BGN, an X-linked gene encoding biglycan, are associated with Meester-Loeys syndrome (MRLS), a thoracic aortic aneurysm/dissection syndrome. Since the initial publication of five probands in 2017, we have considerably expanded our MRLS cohort to a total of 18 probands (16 males and 2 females). Segregation analyses identified 36 additional BGN variant-harboring family members (9 males and 27 females). The identified BGN variants were shown to lead to loss-of-function by cDNA and Western Blot analyses of skin fibroblasts or were strongly predicted to lead to loss-of-function based on the nature of the variant. No (likely) pathogenic missense variants without additional (predicted) splice effects were identified. Interestingly, a male proband with a deletion spanning the coding sequence of BGN and the 5’ untranslated region of the downstream gene (ATP2B3) presented with a more severe skeletal phenotype. This may possibly be explained by expressional activation of the downstream ATPase ATP2B3 (normally repressed in skin fibroblasts) driven by the remnant BGN promotor. This study highlights that aneurysms and dissections in MRLS extend beyond the thoracic aorta, affecting the entire arterial tree, and cardiovascular symptoms may coincide with non-specific connective tissue features. Furthermore, the clinical presentation is more severe and penetrant in males compared to females. Extensive analysis at RNA, cDNA, and/or protein level is recommended to prove a loss-of-function effect before determining the pathogenicity of identified BGN missense and non-canonical splice variants. In conclusion, distinct mechanisms may underlie the wide phenotypic spectrum of MRLS patients carrying loss-of-function variants in BGN