Applying the behaviour change technique (BCT) taxonomy v1: a study of coder training.

Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) has been used to detect active ingredients of interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of user training in improving reliable, valid and confident application of BCTTv1 to code BCTs in intervention descriptions. One hundred sixty-one trainees (109 in workshops and 52 in group tutorials) were trained to code frequent BCTs. The following measures were taken before and after training: (i) inter-coder agreement, (ii) trainee agreement with expert consensus, (iii) confidence ratings and (iv) coding competence. Coding was assessed for 12 BCTs (workshops) and for 17 BCTs (tutorials). Trainees completed a course evaluation. Methods improved agreement with expert consensus (p < .05) but not inter-coder agreement (p = .08, p = .57, respectively) and increased confidence for BCTs assessed (both p < .05). Methods were as effective as one another at improving coding competence (p = .55). Training was evaluated positively. The training improved agreement with expert consensus, confidence for BCTs assessed, coding competence but not inter-coder agreement. This varied according to BCT.This work was carried out as part of the Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy project funded by the Medical Research Council via its Methodology panel [G0901474/1].This is the accepted manuscript version. The final publication is available from Springer at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13142-014-0290-

Attributing scientific and technical progress: the case of holography

Holography, the three-dimensional imaging technology, was portrayed widely as a paradigm of progress during its decade of explosive expansion 1964–73, and during its subsequent consolidation for commercial and artistic uses up to the mid 1980s. An unusually seductive and prolific subject, holography successively spawned scientific insights, putative applications and new constituencies of practitioners and consumers. Waves of forecasts, associated with different sponsors and user communities, cast holography as a field on the verge of success—but with the dimensions of success repeatedly refashioned. This retargeting of the subject represented a degree of cynical marketeering, but was underpinned by implicit confidence in philosophical positivism and faith in technological progressivism. Each of its communities defined success in terms of expansion, and anticipated continual progressive increase. This paper discusses the contrasting definitions of progress in holography, and how they were fashioned in changing contexts. Focusing equally on reputed ‘failures’ of some aspects of the subject, it explores the varied attributes by which success and failure were linked with progress by different technical communities. This important case illuminates the peculiar post-World War II environment that melded the military, commercial and popular engagement with scientific and technological subjects, and the competing criteria by which they assessed the products of science

Vaccination with Venezuelan equine encephalitis replicons encoding cowpox virus structural proteins protects mice from intranasal cowpox virus challenge

An anti-poxvirus vaccine based on replicon particles of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VRP) is being developed. The cowpox virus genes encoding structural proteins corresponding to vaccinia virus proteins A33, B5, and A27 were each expressed from VRP. High serum IgG titers against these proteins were generated in BALB/c mice vaccinated with each of these VRP. VRP induced both IgG1 and IgG2a with a strong predominance of IgG2a production. The response is long-lasting, as evidenced by the retention of high anti-B5 serum IgG titers through at least 50 weeks after priming immunization. Mice vaccinated with B5-, A33- or A27-VRP individually or together survived intranasal challenge with cowpox virus, with the multivalent vaccine formulation providing more effective protection from weight loss and clinical signs of illness than the monovalent vaccines. These results demonstrate that VRP may provide an effective alternative to vaccinia virus vaccines against poxvirus infection

A 12-Week, Randomized, Controlled Trial with a 4-Week Randomized Withdrawal Period to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Linaclotide in Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation

Objectives: Linaclotide is a minimally absorbed guanylate cyclase-C agonist. The objective of this trial was to determine the efficacy and safety of linaclotide in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). Methods: This phase 3, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial randomized IBS-C patients to placebo or 290 μg oral linaclotide once daily in a 12-week treatment period, followed by a 4-week randomized withdrawal (RW) period. There were four primary end points, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) primary end point for IBS-C (responder: improvement of ≥30% in average daily worst abdominal pain score and increase by ≥1 complete spontaneous bowel movement (CSBM) from baseline (same week) for at least 50% of weeks assessed) and three other primary end points, based on improvements in abdominal pain and CSBMs for 9/12 weeks. Adverse events (AEs) were monitored. Results: The trial evaluated 800 patients (mean age=43.5 years, female=90.5%, white=76.9%). The FDA end point was met by 136/405 linaclotide-treated patients (33.6%), compared with 83/395 placebo-treated patients (21.0%) (P<0.0001) (number needed to treat: 8.0, 95% confidence interval: 5.4, 15.5). A greater percentage of linaclotide patients, compared with placebo patients, reported for at least 6/12 treatment period weeks, a reduction of ≥30% in abdominal pain (50.1 vs. 37.5%, P=0.0003) and an increase of ≥1 CSBM from baseline (48.6 vs. 29.6%, P<0.0001). A greater percentage of linaclotide patients vs. placebo patients were also responders for the other three primary end points (P<0.05). Significantly greater improvements were seen in linaclotide vs. placebo patients for all secondary end points (P<0.001). During the RW period, patients remaining on linaclotide showed sustained improvement; patients re-randomized from linaclotide to placebo showed return of symptoms, but without worsening of symptoms relative to baseline. Diarrhea, the most common AE, resulted in discontinuation of 5.7% of linaclotide and 0.3% of placebo patients. Conclusions: Linaclotide significantly improved abdominal pain and bowel symptoms associated with IBS-C for at least 12 weeks; there was no worsening of symptoms compared with baseline following cessation of linaclotide during the RW period

Establishing a major cause of discrepancy in the calibration of Affymetrix GeneChips

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Affymetrix GeneChips are a popular platform for performing whole-genome experiments on the transcriptome. There are a range of different calibration steps, and users are presented with choices of different background subtractions, normalisations and expression measures. We wished to establish which of the calibration steps resulted in the biggest uncertainty in the sets of genes reported to be differentially expressed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results indicate that the sets of genes identified as being most significantly differentially expressed, as estimated by the z-score of fold change, is relatively insensitive to the choice of background subtraction and normalisation. However, the contents of the gene list are most sensitive to the choice of expression measure. This is irrespective of whether the experiment uses a rat, mouse or human chip and whether the chip definition is made using probe mappings from Unigene, RefSeq, Entrez Gene or the original Affymetrix definitions. It is also irrespective of whether both Present and Absent, or just Present, Calls from the MAS5 algorithm are used to filter genelists, and this conclusion holds for genes of differing intensities. We also reach the same conclusion after assigning genes to be differentially expressed using t-statistics, although this approach results in a large amount of false positives in the sets of genes identified due to the small numbers of replicates typically used in microarray experiments.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The major calibration uncertainty that biologists need to consider when analysing Affymetrix data is how their multiple probe values are condensed into one expression measure.</p

The neurogenic potential of astrocytes is regulated by inflammatory signals

Although the adult brain contains neural stem cells (NSCs) that generate new neurons throughout life, these astrocyte-like populations are restricted to two discrete niches. Despite their terminally differentiated phenotype, adult parenchymal astrocytes can re-acquire NSC-like characteristics following injury, and as such, these 'reactive' astrocytes offer an alternative source of cells for central nervous system (CNS) repair following injury or disease. At present, the mechanisms that regulate the potential of different types of astrocytes are poorly understood. We used in vitro and ex vivo astrocytes to identify candidate pathways important for regulation of astrocyte potential. Using in vitro neural progenitor cell (NPC)-derived astrocytes, we found that exposure of more lineage-restricted astrocytes to either tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) (via nuclear factor-κB (NFκB)) or the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) inhibitor, noggin, led to re-acquisition of NPC properties accompanied by transcriptomic and epigenetic changes consistent with a more neurogenic, NPC-like state. Comparative analyses of microarray data from in vitro-derived and ex vivo postnatal parenchymal astrocytes identified several common pathways and upstream regulators associated with inflammation (including transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ)) and cell cycle control (including TP53) as candidate regulators of astrocyte phenotype and potential. We propose that inflammatory signalling may control the normal, progressive restriction in potential of differentiating astrocytes as well as under reactive conditions and represent future targets for therapies to harness the latent neurogenic capacity of parenchymal astrocytes

Actin Nemaline Myopathy Mouse Reproduces Disease, Suggests Other Actin Disease Phenotypes and Provides Cautionary Note on Muscle Transgene Expression

Mutations in the skeletal muscle α-actin gene (ACTA1) cause congenital myopathies including nemaline myopathy, actin aggregate myopathy and rod-core disease. The majority of patients with ACTA1 mutations have severe hypotonia and do not survive beyond the age of one. A transgenic mouse model was generated expressing an autosomal dominant mutant (D286G) of ACTA1 (identified in a severe nemaline myopathy patient) fused with EGFP. Nemaline bodies were observed in multiple skeletal muscles, with serial sections showing these correlated to aggregates of the mutant skeletal muscle α-actin-EGFP. Isolated extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscles were significantly weaker than wild-type (WT) muscle at 4 weeks of age, coinciding with the peak in structural lesions. These 4 week-old mice were ∼30% less active on voluntary running wheels than WT mice. The α-actin-EGFP protein clearly demonstrated that the transgene was expressed equally in all myosin heavy chain (MHC) fibre types during the early postnatal period, but subsequently became largely confined to MHCIIB fibres. Ringbinden fibres, internal nuclei and myofibrillar myopathy pathologies, not typical features in nemaline myopathy or patients with ACTA1 mutations, were frequently observed. Ringbinden were found in fast fibre predominant muscles of adult mice and were exclusively MHCIIB-positive fibres. Thus, this mouse model presents a reliable model for the investigation of the pathobiology of nemaline body formation and muscle weakness and for evaluation of potential therapeutic interventions. The occurrence of core-like regions, internal nuclei and ringbinden will allow analysis of the mechanisms underlying these lesions. The occurrence of ringbinden and features of myofibrillar myopathy in this mouse model of ACTA1 disease suggests that patients with these pathologies and no genetic explanation should be screened for ACTA1 mutations

Btk regulates macrophage polarization in response to lipopolysaccharide

Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a strong inducer of inflammation and does so by inducing polarization of macrophages to the classic inflammatory M1 population. Given the role of Btk as a critical signal transducer downstream of TLR4, we investigated its role in M1/M2 induction. In Btk deficient (Btk (−\−)) mice we observed markedly reduced recruitment of M1 macrophages following intraperitoneal administration of LPS. Ex vivo analysis demonstrated an impaired ability of Btk(−/−) macrophages to polarize into M1 macrophages, instead showing enhanced induction of immunosuppressive M2-associated markers in response to M1 polarizing stimuli, a finding accompanied by reduced phosphorylation of STAT1 and enhanced STAT6 phosphorylation. In addition to STAT activation, M1 and M2 polarizing signals modulate the expression of inflammatory genes via differential activation of transcription factors and regulatory proteins, including NF-κB and SHIP1. In keeping with a critical role for Btk in macrophage polarization, we observed reduced levels of NF-κB p65 and Akt phosphorylation, as well as reduced induction of the M1 associated marker iNOS in Btk(−/−) macrophages in response to M1 polarizing stimuli. Additionally enhanced expression of SHIP1, a key negative regulator of macrophage polarisation, was observed in Btk(−/−) macrophages in response to M2 polarizing stimuli. Employing classic models of allergic M2 inflammation, treatment of Btk (−/−) mice with either Schistosoma mansoni eggs or chitin resulted in increased recruitment of M2 macrophages and induction of M2-associated genes. This demonstrates an enhanced M2 skew in the absence of Btk, thus promoting the development of allergic inflammation