Gastric Emptying Rate of Young Cyclists by Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Three Case Studies

Gastric emptying rate during exercise has been documented in adult athletes, but not in younger athletes because of the utilization of invasive techniques. However, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive alternative. The aim of this study was to pilot the sequencing of MRI to a typical fluid intake strategy, in order to assess the viability of the procedure. Therefore, we compared the gastric emptying rate of water and a carbohydrate drink in three well-trained 17-year-old cyclists using MRI. Each participant cycled 4 bouts of 15 minutes each at moderate intensity followed by a ∼15-minute time trial. Water or carbohydrate drinks were distributed in amounts of 200–250 mL. After an initial baseline MRI scan, cyclists ingested the first drink, cycled 15 minutes, followed by an MRI scan to assess remaining gastric volume. This feeding-exercise-scanning protocol was repeated thereafter. Relative to the initial volume at the start of the time trial, 69% and 72% of water and carbohydrate emptied during the time trial. MRI appears to be a feasible technique to assess gastric emptying rates in youth cyclists

Comparison of the two most commonly used treatments for pyoderma gangrenosum: results of the STOP GAP randomised controlled trial

Objective To determine whether ciclosporin is superior to prednisolone for the treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum, a painful, ulcerating skin disease with a poor evidence base for management. Design Multicentre, parallel group, observer blind, randomised controlled trial. Setting 39 UK hospitals, recruiting from June 2009 to November 2012. Participants 121 patients (73 women, mean age 54 years) with clinician diagnosed pyoderma gangrenosum. Clinical diagnosis was revised in nine participants after randomisation, leaving 112 participants in the analysis set (59 ciclosporin; 53 rednisolone). Intervention Oral prednisolone 0.75 mg/kg/day compared with ciclosporin 4 mg/kg/day, to a maximum dose of 75 and 400 mg/day, respectively. Main outcome measures The primary outcome was speed of healing over six weeks, captured using digital images and assessed by blinded investigators. Secondary outcomes were time to healing, global treatment response, resolution of inflammation, self reported pain, quality of life, number of treatment failures, adverse reactions, and time to recurrence. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and six weeks and when the ulcer had healed (to a maximum of six months). Results Of the 112 participants, 108 had complete primary outcome data at baseline and six weeks (57 ciclosporin; 51 rednisolone). Groups were balanced at baseline. The mean (SD) speed of healing at six weeks was −0.21 (1.00) cm2/day in the ciclosporin group compared with −0.14 (0.42) cm2/day in the prednisolone group. The adjusted mean difference showed no between group difference (0.003 cm2/day, 95% confidence interval −0.20 to 0.21; P=0.97). By six months, ulcers had healed in 28/59 (47%) participants in the ciclosporin group compared with 25/53 (47%) in the prednisolone group. In those with healed ulcers, eight (30%) receiving ciclosporin and seven (28%) receiving prednisolone had a recurrence. Adverse reactions were similar for the two groups (68% ciclosporin and 66% prednisolone), but serious adverse reactions, especially infections, were more common in the prednisolone group. Conclusion Prednisolone and ciclosporin did not differ across a range of objective and patient reported outcomes. Treatment decisions for individual patients may be guided by the different side effect profiles of the two drugs and patient preference. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN35898459

Modelling environmental changes and effects on wild-caught species in Queensland. Environmental drivers.

We report on the findings of a collaborative research project that was designed to identify and measure the effects of environmental drivers on the abundance and population dynamics of key Queensland fishery species. The project was co-funded by the Commonwealth Government’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) and carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of scientists from the University of Queensland (UQ), the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). The research team applied modern statistical, data science and modelling techniques in combination with biological insights into the life cycles of the three target species. Background With increasing evidence that environmental conditions in the marine environment are changing rapidly, it is becoming ever more important to understand how these changes may impact on the population dynamics and abundance of important fish stocks. Understanding the influence of environmental conditions can provide greater certainty that the risk of overfishing (under adverse environmental conditions) or under harvesting (under favourable conditions) are accounted for by resource managers. This project aimed to identify the environmental factors which may be influencing the recruitment, catchability or productivity of Snapper, Pearl Perch, and Spanner Crab stocks in Queensland. Results from this work will support sustainable management of Queensland’s fisheries by directly informing the assessment and management of these key species within Queensland waters

The host immune response to gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep

non peer reviewedGastrointestinal nematode infection represents a major threat to the health, welfare and productivity of sheep populations worldwide. Infected lambs have a reduced ability to absorb nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in morbidity and occasional mortality. The current chemo-dominant approach to nematode control is considered unsustainable due to the increasing incidence of anthelmintic resistance. In addition there is growing consumer demand for food products from animals not subjected to chemical treatment. Future mechanisms of nematode control must rely on alternative, sustainable strategies such as vaccination or selective breeding of resistant animals. Such strategies take advantage of the host's natural immune response to nematodes. The ability to resist gastrointestinal nematode infection is considered to be dependent on the development of a protective acquired immune response; although the precise immune mechanisms involved in initiating this process remain to be fully elucidated. In this paper current knowledge on the innate and acquired host immune response to gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep and the development of immunity is reviewed.We gratefully acknowledge funding support for the research in our laboratories from the Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programme, the Allan and Grace Kay Overseas Scholarship and the EC-funded FP7 Programme. We also thank the BBSRC Animal Health Research Club for funding part of this research (grant BB/l004070/1

Perceived control, locus of control and preparatory information: effects on the perception of an acute pain stimulus

This study investigated the effects of differences in a pre-procedure briefing (providing or withholding preparatory information and explicit control) on the perception of the second of two identical acute pain stimuli. 61 healthy participants were allocated to one of three conditions: Information + Control (I+C), Information - No Control (I-NC) or No information - No Control (NINC). Baseline measures of Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) and pain rating using Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) were taken, as was a measure of general internal/external Locus of Control (LOC). Participants were read the briefing and subjected to a second pain stimulus of identical intensity to their baseline measures. Participants rated the second stimulus using the VASs, and compared it to the first using comparison scales. Results show that differences in a pre-procedure briefing significantly altered participants' perception of the pain stimulus. Participants in the I-NC group rated the second stimulus more painful than the first, and participants in the NI-NC group rated the second stimulus as less painful than the first. There is also suggestive evidence that these differences may relate to individual LOC style. We recommend encouragement of patient participation to engender at least the perception of control in clinical situations involving acutely painful procedures

A Naturally Selected Dimorphism within the HLA-B44 Supertype Alters Class I Structure, Peptide Repertoire, and T Cell Recognition

HLA-B*4402 and B*4403 are naturally occurring MHC class I alleles that are both found at a high frequency in all human populations, and yet they only differ by one residue on the α2 helix (B*4402 Asp156→B*4403 Leu156). CTLs discriminate between HLA-B*4402 and B*4403, and these allotypes stimulate strong mutual allogeneic responses reflecting their known barrier to hemopoeitic stem cell transplantation. Although HLA-B*4402 and B*4403 share >95% of their peptide repertoire, B*4403 presents more unique peptides than B*4402, consistent with the stronger T cell alloreactivity observed toward B*4403 compared with B*4402. Crystal structures of B*4402 and B*4403 show how the polymorphism at position 156 is completely buried and yet alters both the peptide and the heavy chain conformation, relaxing ligand selection by B*4403 compared with B*4402. Thus, the polymorphism between HLA-B*4402 and B*4403 modifies both peptide repertoire and T cell recognition, and is reflected in the paradoxically powerful alloreactivity that occurs across this “minimal” mismatch. The findings suggest that these closely related class I genes are maintained in diverse human populations through their differential impact on the selection of peptide ligands and the T cell repertoire

Patient-reported outcomes from a randomized, active-controlled, open-label, phase 3 trial of burosumab versus conventional therapy in children with X-linked hypophosphatemia

Changing to burosumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting fibroblast growth factor 23, significantly improved phosphorus homeostasis, rickets, lower-extremity deformities, mobility, and growth versus continuing oral phosphate and active vitamin D (conventional therapy) in a randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial involving children aged 1-12 years with X-linked hypophosphatemia. Patients were randomized (1:1) to subcutaneous burosumab or to continue conventional therapy. We present patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from this trial for children aged ≥ 5 years at screening (n = 35), using a Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) questionnaire and SF-10 Health Survey for Children. PROMIS pain interference, physical function mobility, and fatigue scores improved from baseline with burosumab at weeks 40 and 64, but changed little with continued conventional therapy. Pain interference scores differed significantly between groups at week 40 (- 5.02, 95% CI - 9.29 to - 0.75; p = 0.0212) but not at week 64. Between-group differences were not significant at either week for physical function mobility or fatigue. Reductions in PROMIS pain interference and fatigue scores from baseline were clinically meaningful with burosumab at weeks 40 and 64 but not with conventional therapy. SF-10 physical health scores (PHS-10) improved significantly with burosumab at week 40 (least-squares mean [standard error] + 5.98 [1.79]; p = 0.0008) and week 64 (+ 5.93 [1.88]; p = 0.0016) but not with conventional therapy (between-treatment differences were nonsignificant). In conclusion, changing to burosumab improved PRO measures, with statistically significant differences in PROMIS pain interference at week 40 versus continuing with conventional therapy and in PHS-10 at weeks 40 and 64 versus baseline

Dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and confinement with an infrared-vanishing gluon propagator?

We study a model Dyson-Schwinger equation for the quark propagator closed using an {\it Ansatz} for the gluon propagator of the form \mbox{$D(q) \sim q^2/[(q^2)^2 + b^4]$} and two {\it Ans\"{a}tze} for the quark-gluon vertex: the minimal Ball-Chiu and the modified form suggested by Curtis and Pennington. Using the quark condensate as an order parameter, we find that there is a critical value of $b=b_c$ such that the model does not support dynamical chiral symmetry breaking for $b>b_c$. We discuss and apply a confinement test which suggests that, for all values of $b$, the quark propagator in the model {\bf is not} confining. Together these results suggest that this Ansatz for the gluon propagator is inadequate as a model since it does not yield the expected behaviour of QCD.Comment: 21 Pages including 4 PostScript figures uuencoded at the end of the file. Replacement: slight changes of wording and emphasis. ADP-93-215/T133, ANL-PHY-7599-TH-93, FSU-SCRI-93-108, REVTEX 3.

Dyson-Schwinger Equations and the Application to Hadronic Physics

We review the current status of nonperturbative studies of gauge field theory using the Dyson-Schwinger equation formalism and its application to hadronic physics. We begin with an introduction to the formalism and a discussion of renormalisation in this approach. We then review the current status of studies of Abelian gauge theories [e.g., strong coupling quantum electrodynamics] before turning our attention to the non-Abelian gauge theory of the strong interaction, quantum chromodynamics. We discuss confinement, dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and the application and contribution of these techniques to our understanding of the strong interactions.Comment: 110 pages, LaTeX. Replaced only to facilitate retrieval. Also available at /u/ftp/pub/Review.uu via anonymnous-ft