Developing a community-based intervention to improve quality of life in people with colorectal cancer: a complex intervention development study

Objectives: To develop and pilot a theory and evidence-based intervention to improve quality of life (QoL) in people with colorectal cancer. Design: A complex intervention development study. Setting: North East Scotland and Glasgow. Participants: Semistructured interviews with people with colorectal cancer (n=28), cancer specialists (n=16) and primary care health professionals (n=14) and pilot testing with patients (n=12). Interventions: A single, 1 h nurse home visit 6–12 weeks after diagnosis, and telephone follow-up 1 week later (with a view to ongoing follow-up in future). Primary and secondary outcome measures: Qualitative assessment of intervention feasibility and acceptability. Results: Modifiable predictors of QoL identified previously were symptoms (fatigue, pain, diarrhoea, shortness of breath, insomnia, anorexia/cachexia, poor psychological well-being, sexual problems) and impaired activities. To modify these symptoms and activities, an intervention based on Control Theory was developed to help participants identify personally important symptoms and activities; set appropriate goals; use action planning to progress towards goals; self-monitor progress and identify (and tackle) barriers limiting progress. Interview responses were generally favourable and included recommendations about timing and style of delivery that were incorporated into the intervention. The pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of intervention delivery. Conclusions: Through multidisciplinary collaboration, a theory-based, acceptable and feasible intervention to improve QoL in colorectal cancer patients was developed, and can now be evaluated

We are what we (think we) eat: The effect of expected satiety on subsequent calorie consumption

Varying expected satiety (ES) for equi-calorie portions of different foods can affect subsequent feelings of hunger and fullness and alter consumption. To our knowledge, no study has manipulated ES for an equal portion of the same solid food, appetite has not been measured >3 h and studies have not consistently measure later consumption. It is also unclear whether changes in hunger, fullness or later consumption are related to a physiological response. The aims of this study were to use the same solid food, to measure participants' response over a 4-h inter-meal period, to measure later consumption and to assess whether any effect of ES was related to a physiological (i.e. total ghrelin) response. Using a within-subjects design, 26 healthy participants had their ES for omelettes manipulated experimentally, believing that a 3-egg omelette contained either 2 (small condition) or 4 (large condition) eggs. When ES was higher (large condition) participants ate significantly fewer calories at a lunchtime test meal (mean difference = 69 kcal [± 95% CI 4–136]) and consumed significantly fewer calories throughout the day (mean difference = 167 kcal [± 95% CI 26–309]). As expected, there was a main effect of time on hunger and fullness, but no main effect of ‘portion size’ (p > .05). There was also a significant interaction between time and portion size for hunger. There was no evidence for any significant differences being the result of changes in total ghrelin. Overall, the data suggest that ES for a solid food can be manipulated and that, when given at breakfast, having a higher ES for a meal reduces lunchtime and whole day caloric consumption

Bounded and unitary elements in pro-C^*-algebras

A pro-C^*-algebra is a (projective) limit of C^*-algebras in the category of topological *-algebras. From the perspective of non-commutative geometry, pro-C^*-algebras can be seen as non-commutative k-spaces. An element of a pro-C^*-algebra is bounded if there is a uniform bound for the norm of its images under any continuous *-homomorphism into a C^*-algebra. The *-subalgebra consisting of the bounded elements turns out to be a C^*-algebra. In this paper, we investigate pro-C^*-algebras from a categorical point of view. We study the functor (-)_b that assigns to a pro-C^*-algebra the C^*-algebra of its bounded elements, which is the dual of the Stone-\v{C}ech-compactification. We show that (-)_b is a coreflector, and it preserves exact sequences. A generalization of the Gelfand-duality for commutative unital pro-C^*-algebras is also presented.Comment: v2 (accepted

Towards an online-coupled chemistry-climate model: evaluation of trace gases and aerosols in COSMO-ART

Peer reviewe

Flow characteristics of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids in a vessel stirred by a 60° pitched blade impeller

Mean and rms velocity characteristics of two Newtonian flows at Reynolds numbers of 12,800 (glycerin solution) and 48,000 (water) and of a non-Newtonian flow (0.2% CMC solution, at a power number similar to the Newtonian glycerin flow) in a mixing vessel stirred by a 60° pitched blade impeller have been measured by laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). The velocity measurements, resolved over 360° and 1.08° of impeller rotation, showed that the mean flow of the two power number matched glycerin and CMC flows were similar to within 3% of the impeller tip velocity and the turbulence intensities generally lower in the CMC flow by up to 5% of the tip velocity. The calculated mean flow quantities showed similar discharge coefficient and pumping efficiency in all three flows and similar strain rate between the two power number matched glycerin and CMC flows; the strain rate of the higher Reynolds number Newtonian flow was found to be slightly higher. The energy balance around the impeller indicated that the CMC flow dissipated up to 9% more of the total input power and converted 7% less into the turbulence compared to the glycerin flow with the same power input which could lead to less effective mixing processes where the micro-mixing is important

The New Political History

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66569/2/10.1177_000276427702100204.pd

Numerical Modeling of Flow Control in a Boundary-Layer-Ingesting Offset Inlet Diffuser at Transonic Mach Numbers

This paper will investigate the validation of the NASA developed, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) flow solver, OVERFLOW, for a boundary-layer-ingesting (BLI) offset (S-shaped) inlet in transonic flow with passive and active flow control devices as well as a baseline case. Numerical simulations are compared to wind tunnel results of a BLI inlet experiment conducted at the NASA Langley 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel. Comparisons of inlet flow distortion, pressure recovery, and inlet wall pressures are performed. The numerical simulations are compared to the BLI inlet data at a free-stream Mach number of 0.85 and a Reynolds number of approximately 2 million based on the fanface diameter. The numerical simulations with and without tunnel walls are performed, quantifying tunnel wall effects on the BLI inlet flow. A comparison is made between the numerical simulations and the BLI inlet experiment for the baseline and VG vane cases at various inlet mass flow rates. A comparison is also made to a BLI inlet jet configuration for varying actuator mass flow rates at a fixed inlet mass flow rate. Overall, the numerical simulations were able to predict the baseline circumferential flow distortion, DPCP avg, very well within the designed operating range of the BLI inlet. A comparison of the average total pressure recovery showed that the simulations were able to predict the trends but had a negative 0.01 offset when compared to the experimental levels. Numerical simulations of the baseline inlet flow also showed good agreement with the experimental inlet centerline surface pressures. The vane case showed that the CFD predicted the correct trends in the circumferential distortion levels for varying inlet mass flow but had a distortion level that was nearly twice as large as the experiment. Comparison to circumferential distortion measurements for a 15 deg clocked 40 probe rake indicated that the circumferential distortion levels are very sensitive to the symmetry of the flow and that a misalignment of the vanes in the experiment could have resulted in this difference. The numerical simulations of the BLI inlet with jets showed good agreement with the circumferential inlet distortion levels for a range of jet actuator mass flow ratios at a fixed inlet mass flow rate. The CFD simulations for the jet case also predicted an average total pressure recovery offset that was 0.01 lower than the experiment as was seen in the baseline. Comparisons of the flow features for the jet cases revealed that the CFD predicted a much larger vortex at the engine fan-face when compare to the experiment

Observing GRBs with the LOFT Wide Field Monitor

LOFT (Large Observatory For X-ray Timing) is one of the four candidate missions currently under assessment study for the M3 mission in ESAs Cosmic Vision program to be launched in 2024. LOFT will carry two instruments with prime sensitivity in the 2-30 keV range: a 10 m2 class large area detector (LAD) with a <1° collimated field of view and a wide field monitor (WFM) instrument. The WFM is based on the coded mask principle, and 5 camera units will provide coverage of more than 1/3 of the sky. The prime goal of the WFM is to detect transient sources to be observed by the LAD. With its wide field of view and good energy resolution of <500 eV, the WFM will be an excellent instrument for detecting and studying GRBs and X-ray flashes. The WFM will be able to detect ~150 gamma ray bursts per year, and a burst alert system will enable the distribution of ~100 GRB positions per year with a ~1 arcmin location accuracy within 30 s of the burst

Whole-genome sequencing of Schistosoma mansoni reveals extensive diversity with limited selection despite mass drug administration

Control and elimination of the parasitic disease schistosomiasis relies on mass administration of praziquantel. Whilst these programmes reduce infection prevalence and intensity, their impact on parasite transmission and evolution is poorly understood. Here we examine the genomic impact of repeated mass drug administration on Schistosoma mansoni populations with documented reduced praziquantel efficacy. We sequenced whole-genomes of 198 S. mansoni larvae from 34 Ugandan children from regions with contrasting praziquantel exposure. Parasites infecting children from Lake Victoria, a transmission hotspot, form a diverse panmictic population. A single round of treatment did not reduce this diversity with no apparent population contraction caused by long-term praziquantel use. We find evidence of positive selection acting on members of gene families previously implicated in praziquantel action, but detect no high frequency functionally impactful variants. As efforts to eliminate schistosomiasis intensify, our study provides a foundation for genomic surveillance of this major human parasite