What effect have NHS commissioners’ policies for body mass index had on access to knee replacement surgery in England?:An interrupted time series analysis from the National Joint Registry

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of local commissioners' policies for body mass index on access to knee replacement surgery in England.MethodsA Natural Experimental Study using interrupted time series and difference-in-differences analysis. We used National Joint Registry for England data linked to the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation for 481,555 patients who had primary knee replacement surgery in England between January 2009 and December 2019. Clinical Commissioning Group policies introduced before June 2018 to alter access to knee replacement for patients who were overweight or obese were considered the intervention. The main outcome measures were rate per 100,000 of primary knee replacement surgery and patient demographics (body mass index, Index of Multiple Deprivation, independently-funded surgery) over time.ResultsRates of surgery had a sustained fall after the introduction of a policy (trend change of -0.98 operations per 100,000 population aged 40+, 95% confidence interval -1.22 to -0.74, PConclusionsBody mass index policy introduction was associated with decreases in the rates of knee replacement surgery across localities that introduced policies. This affected all patient groups, not just obese patients at whom the policies were targeted. Changes in patient demographics seen after policy introduction suggest these policies may increase health inequalities and further qualitative research is needed to understand their implementation and impact

Dual-locus DNA metabarcoding reveals southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons Owen) have a summer diet dominated by toxic invasive plants

Habitat degradation and summer droughts severely restrict feeding options for the endangered southern hairy-nosed wombat (SHNW; Lasiorhinus latifrons). We reconstructed SHNW summer diets by DNA metabarcoding from feces. We initially validated rbcL and ndhJ diet reconstructions using autopsied and captive animals. Subsequent diet reconstructions of wild wombats broadly reflected vegetative ground cover, implying local rather than long-range foraging. Diets were all dominated by alien invasives. Chemical analysis of alien food revealed Carrichtera annua contains high levels of glucosinolates. Clinical examination (7 animals) and autopsy (12 animals) revealed that the most degraded site also contained most individuals showing signs of glucosinolate poisoning. We infer that dietary poisoning through the ingestion of alien invasives may have contributed to the recent population crashes in the region. In floristically diverse sites, individuals appear to be able to manage glucosinolate intake by avoidance or episodic feeding but this strategy is less tractable in the most degraded sites. We conclude that recovery of the most affected populations may require effective Carrichtera management and interim supplementary feeding. More generally, we argue that protection against population decline by poisoning in territorial herbivores requires knowledge of their diet and of those food plants containing toxic principles

The Trypanosoma cruzi vitamin C dependent peroxidase confers protection against oxidative stress but is not a determinant of virulence.

BACKGROUND: The neglected parasitic infection Chagas disease is rapidly becoming a globalised public health issue due to migration. There are only two anti-parasitic drugs available to treat this disease, benznidazole and nifurtimox. Thus it is important to identify and validate new drug targets in Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent. T. cruzi expresses an ER-localised ascorbate-dependent peroxidase (TcAPx). This parasite-specific enzyme has attracted interest from the perspective of targeted chemotherapy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To assess the importance of TcAPx in protecting T. cruzi from oxidative stress and to determine if it is essential for virulence, we generated null mutants by targeted gene disruption. Loss of activity was associated with increased sensitivity to exogenous hydrogen peroxide, but had no effect on susceptibility to the front-line Chagas disease drug benznidazole. This suggests that increased oxidative stress in the ER does not play a significant role in its mechanism of action. Homozygous knockouts could proceed through the entire life-cycle in vitro, although they exhibited a significant decrease in their ability to infect mammalian cells. To investigate virulence, we exploited a highly sensitive bioluminescence imaging system which allows parasites to be monitored in real-time in the chronic stage of murine infections. This showed that depletion of enzyme activity had no effect on T. cruzi replication, dissemination or tissue tropism in vivo. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: TcAPx is not essential for parasite viability within the mammalian host, does not have a significant role in establishment or maintenance of chronic infections, and should therefore not be considered a priority for drug design

A systematic review of strategies to recruit and retain primary care doctors

Background There is a workforce crisis in primary care. Previous research has looked at the reasons underlying recruitment and retention problems, but little research has looked at what works to improve recruitment and retention. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate interventions and strategies used to recruit and retain primary care doctors internationally. Methods A systematic review was undertaken. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and grey literature were searched from inception to January 2015.Articles assessing interventions aimed at recruiting or retaining doctors in high income countries, applicable to primary care doctors were included. No restrictions on language or year of publication. The first author screened all titles and abstracts and a second author screened 20%. Data extraction was carried out by one author and checked by a second. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity. Results 51 studies assessing 42 interventions were retrieved. Interventions were categorised into thirteen groups: financial incentives (n=11), recruiting rural students (n=6), international recruitment (n=4), rural or primary care focused undergraduate placements (n=3), rural or underserved postgraduate training (n=3), well-being or peer support initiatives (n=3), marketing (n=2), mixed interventions (n=5), support for professional development or research (n=5), retainer schemes (n=4), re-entry schemes (n=1), specialised recruiters or case managers (n=2) and delayed partnerships (n=2). Studies were of low methodological quality with no RCTs and only 15 studies with a comparison group. Weak evidence supported the use of postgraduate placements in underserved areas, undergraduate rural placements and recruiting students to medical school from rural areas. There was mixed evidence about financial incentives. A marketing campaign was associated with lower recruitment. Conclusions This is the first systematic review of interventions to improve recruitment and retention of primary care doctors. Although the evidence base for recruiting and care doctors is weak and more high quality research is needed, this review found evidence to support undergraduate and postgraduate placements in underserved areas, and selective recruitment of medical students. Other initiatives covered may have potential to improve recruitment and retention of primary care practitioners, but their effectiveness has not been established

Development and validation of an exome-based SNP marker set for identification of the St, J ^r and J ^vs genomes of Thinopyrym intermedium in a wheat background

Thinopyrum intermedium (2n = 6x = 42, StJrJvs) is one of the most promising reservoirs of useful genes including tolerance to abiotic stresses, perenniality and disease resistance not available in the cultivated bread wheat. The transfer of genetic diversity from wild species to wheat offers valuable responses to the effects of climate change. The new array-based single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker technology provides cheap and easy-to-use molecular markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in wheat breeding programmes. Here, we focus on the generation of a new chromosome-specific SNP marker set that can be used to characterize and identify the Th. intermedium chromosomes or chromosome segments transferred into wheat. A progressive investigation of marker development was conducted using 187 various newly developed wheat–Th. intermedium introgression lines and the Axiom® Wheat-Relative Genotyping array. We employed molecular cytogenetic techniques to clarify the genome constitution of the Th. intermedium parental lines and validated 634 chromosome-specific SNPs. Our data confirmed the allohexaploid nature of Th. intermedium and demonstrated that the St genome-specific GISH signal and markers are present at the centromeric regions of chromosomes 1Jvs, 2Jvs, 3Jvs and 7Jvs. The SNP markers presented here will be introduced into current wheat improvement programmes, offering a significant speed-up in wheat breeding and making it possible to deal with the transfer of the full genetic potential of Th. intermedium into wheat

A FAIR guide for data providers to maximise sharing of human genomic data

It is generally acknowledged that, for reproducibility and progress of human genomic research, data sharing is critical. For every sharing transaction, a successful data exchange is produced between a data consumer and a data provider. Providers of human genomic data (e.g., publicly or privately funded repositories and data archives) fulfil their social contract with data donors when their shareable data conforms to FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles. Based on our experiences via Repositive (https://repositive.io), a leading discovery platform cataloguing all shared human genomic datasets, we propose guidelines for data providers wishing to maximise their shared data’s FAIRness. Citation: Corpas M, Kovalevskaya NV, McMurray A, Niel

Fine-mapping identifies multiple prostate cancer risk loci at 5p15, one of which associates with TERT expression

Associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 5p15 and multiple cancer types have been reported. We have previously shown evidence for a strong association between prostate cancer (PrCa) risk and rs2242652 at 5p15, intronic in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene that encodes TERT. To comprehensively evaluate the association between genetic variation across this region and PrCa, we performed a fine-mapping analysis by genotyping 134 SNPs using a custom Illumina iSelect array or Sequenom MassArray iPlex, followed by imputation of 1094 SNPs in 22 301 PrCa cases and 22 320 controls in The PRACTICAL consortium. Multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis identified four signals in the promoter or intronic regions of TERT that independently associated with PrCa risk. Gene expression analysis of normal prostate tissue showed evidence that SNPs within one of these regions also associated with TERT expression, providing a potential mechanism for predisposition to disease

Developing a high-throughput SNP-based marker system to facilitate the introgression of traits from Aegilops species into bread wheat (Triticum aestivum)

The genus Aegilops contains a diverse collection of wild species exhibiting variation in geographical distribution, ecological adaptation, ploidy and genome organization. Aegilops is the most closely related genus to Triticum which includes cultivated wheat, a globally important crop that has a limited gene pool for modern breeding. Aegilops species are a potential future resource for wheat breeding for traits, such as adaptation to different ecological conditions and pest and disease resistance. This study describes the development and application of the first high-throughput genotyping platform specifically designed for screening wheat relative species. The platform was used to screen multiple accessions representing all species in the genus Aegilops. Firstly, the data was demonstrated to be useful for screening diversity and examining relationships within and between Aegilops species. Secondly, markers able to characterize and track introgressions from Aegilops species in hexaploid wheat were identified and validated using two different approaches

High-throughput sequence analysis of variants of human cytomegalovirus strains Towne and AD169

The genomes of commonly used variants of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strains Towne and AD169 each contain a substantial mutation in which a region (UL/b′) at the right end of the long unique region has been replaced by an inverted duplication of a region from the left end of the genome. Using high-throughput technology, we have sequenced HCMV strain Towne (ATCC VR-977) and confirmed the presence of two variants, one exhibiting the replacement in UL/b′ and the other intact in this region. Both variants are mutated in genes RL13, UL1, UL40, UL130, US1 and US9. We have also sequenced a novel AD169 variant (varUC) that is intact in UL/b′ except for a small deletion that affects genes UL144, UL142, UL141 and UL140. Like other AD169 variants, varUC is mutated in genes RL5A, RL13, UL36 and UL131A. A subpopulation of varUC contains an additional deletion affecting genes IRS1, US1 and US2

The UBA-UIM Domains of the USP25 Regulate the Enzyme Ubiquitination State and Modulate Substrate Recognition

USP25m is the muscle isoform of the deubiquitinating (DUB) enzyme USP25. Similarly to most DUBs, data on USP25 regulation and substrate recognition is scarce. In silico analysis predicted three ubiquitin binding domains (UBDs) at the N-terminus: one ubiquitin-associated domain (UBA) and two ubiquitin-interacting motifs (UIMs), whereas no clear structural homology at the extended C-terminal region outside the catalytic domains were detected. In order to asses the contribution of the UBDs and the C-terminus to the regulation of USP25m catalytic activity, ubiquitination state and substrate interaction, serial and combinatorial deletions were generated. Our results showed that USP25m catalytic activity did not strictly depend on the UBDs, but required a coiled-coil stretch between amino acids 679 to 769. USP25 oligomerized but this interaction did not require either the UBDs or the C-terminus. Besides, USP25 was monoubiquitinated and able to autodeubiquitinate in a possible loop of autoregulation. UBDs favored the monoubiquitination of USP25m at the preferential site lysine 99 (K99). This residue had been previously shown to be a target for SUMO and this modification inhibited USP25 activity. We showed that mutation of K99 clearly diminished USP25-dependent rescue of the specific substrate MyBPC1 from proteasome degradation, thereby supporting a new mechanistic model, in which USP25m is regulated through alternative conjugation of ubiquitin (activating) or SUMO (inhibiting) to the same lysine residue (K99), which may promote the interaction with distinct intramolecular regulatory domains