Religion and the Cell-Only Population

Compares the religious affiliations, church attendance, and religious salience of the cell phone-only, landline, and combined cell/landline samples, and explores the extent to which the differences are due to the relative youth of the cell-only group

A liberated NHS – but will it lead Health and Social Care together or force them apart?

This article is based on a leadership seminar held by the National Skills Academy (Social Care) in July 2010 at which delegates representing local authorities, the independent social care sector, voluntary organisations, central government and academia considered the impact of integrated working on social care leadership. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the authors

Factors Affecting Sensory Acceptance of Thickened Liquids Used in Dysphagia Management

Between 4-16% of adults in the United States have experienced difficulty swallowing at some point during their lives. Difficulty swallowing, or clinically referred to as dysphagia, poses increased concern when drinking beverages. While no treatment is currently available, it is often recommended that liquids be thickened to improve the safety of swallowing and prevent liquids from being aspirated in the lungs. However, thickened liquids are poorly accepted by individuals with dysphagia. Taste and flavor suppression has been shown in various thickened liquid matrices, but the mechanisms for understanding these changes in perception are quite complex. Additionally, literature focused on dysphagic patients’ experiences with different types of beverages and clinicians’ experiences with thickening beverages is minimal. The study had two main goals: 1) explore how sensory properties including texture, taste, and flavor affect acceptance of specific thickened liquids and 2) determine challenges clinicians experience with thickening different beverages. This was achieved through a quantitative and qualitative online survey administered to clinicians (n=83; 96% speech-language pathologist) in the United States who work with dysphagia patients. Free-response questions related to thickening issues highlighted challenges with carbonation, temperature, and dairy products. Coffee, water, soda, milk, and oral nutritional supplements were the most complained about thickened beverages, respectively. Disliking of texture was a common complaint for each beverage likely due to the dissimilarity to the unthickened version and challenges associated with thickening. Off-flavors were reported for each beverage and were the most present in water. Additionally, clinicians noted the thickened version of the beverage typically has less flavor. To increase the acceptance of thickened liquids, clinicians believe the texture and flavor need significant improvements. Interdisciplinary work in the field of food science is needed to create a smoother consistency, more stable thickness across time and temperature, and improved flavor/taste to develop more enjoyable beverages for dysphagic patients

Thanks for the free products! #ad : the effects of the number of followers and sponsorship disclosures on the credibility of Instagram influencers

Instagram influencers regularly promote products for brands. Some influencers follow Federal Trade Commission rules on advertising disclosures, such as putting ad or sponsored in a visible line of text, whereas others do not. Disclosures alert users that they are viewing an ad. Many social media users view influencers as authentic, trusted information sources, so it is important they are aware when viewing paid ads. How disclosures affect source credibility remains unclear. This study used 2 x 2 factorial design to evaluate the roles of two possible credibility enhancing factors: number of followers and advertising disclosures. Instagram users (N = 131) were shown an influencer\u27s page and a corresponding post, then asked questions on credibility perceptions of the influencer, brand attitudes, intent to purchase the product, and intent to share the post. The results of a two-way MANOVA indicated that the main effect for followers was almost significant, F (4, 124) = 2.30, p = .06. The main effect for disclosure was not significant, F (4, 124) = 0.12, p = .98. Additionally, the interaction effect of followers and disclosure was not significant, F (4, 124) - 1.42, p = .23. These results indicated that number of followers and sponsorship disclosures do not impact credibility ratings or behavioral intent. However, 87% of respondents correctly identified the post as an ad, regardless of disclosure condition, indicating that Instagram users recognized advertising regardless of disclosure. Participants in both disclosure groups identified primary advertising indicators including photo layout, products, or brand recommendation. This research raises questions for future researchers regarding the role that disclosures and number of followers play in establishing source credibility and behavioral intent for Instagram influencer marketing campaigns

Parthenolide eliminates leukemia-initiating cell populations and improves survival in xenografts of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Key Points First report demonstrating in vivo elimination of multiple LIC populations from childhood ALL cases using animal models. In vivo models of leukemia are essential for drug evaluation studies.</jats:p

Natal dispersal and survival of red-bellied woodpeckers in a fragmented landscape

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 22,2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Dylan C. KeslerIncludes bibliographical references."July 2011"Survival and dispersal during the juvenile life stage are critical to population connectivity and persistence, but the post-fledging period is the least studied stage of the avian life cycle. We intensively radio-tracked Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) from fledging to dispersal to identify patterns of prospecting, test for landscape effects on individual movement, and investigate factors with the potential to affect juvenile survival. Juveniles used a centrally-based foray prospecting strategy previously only associated with cooperatively breeding birds. Woodpeckers repeatedly forayed between returns to the natal home range to roost, and foray direction predicted eventual dispersal settlement direction. Prospecting individuals traveled along paths containing higher forest cover than was randomly available in the surrounding area. Juvenile mortality declined with age and no birds died during prospecting or dispersal stages, which suggests that dispersal is not costly in this species. We provide evidence of juvenile birds making repeated exploratory movements to inform decisions about dispersal prior to permanent departure from the natal area. In addition, we demonstrate the value of landscape habitat connectivity to a dispersing resident forest bird

Parrondo-like behavior in continuous-time random walks with memory

The Continuous-Time Random Walk (CTRW) formalism can be adapted to encompass stochastic processes with memory. In this article we will show how the random combination of two different unbiased CTRWs can give raise to a process with clear drift, if one of them is a CTRW with memory. If one identifies the other one as noise, the effect can be thought as a kind of stochastic resonance. The ultimate origin of this phenomenon is the same of the Parrondo's paradox in game theoryComment: 8 pages, 3 figures, revtex; enlarged and revised versio

Investigating CD99 Expression in Leukemia Propagating Cells in Childhood T Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia:Relevance of CD99 Overexpression in T-ALL

A significant number of children with T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) fail to respond to therapy and experience early relapse. CD99 has been shown to be overexpressed on T-ALL cells and is considered to be a reliable detector of the disease. However, the relevance of CD99 overexpression in ALL has not been investigated in a functional context. The aim of this study was to investigate the functional capacity of CD99+ cells in childhood ALL and determine the suitability of CD99 as a therapeutic target. Flow cytometric analyses confirmed higher expression of CD99 in ALL blasts (81.5±22.7%) compared to normal hemopoietic stem cells (27.5±21.9%) and T cells (3.1±5.2%, P≤0.004). When ALL cells were sorted and assessed in functional assays, all 4 subpopulations (CD34+/CD99+, CD34+/CD99-, CD34-/CD99+ and CD34-/CD99-) could proliferate in vitro and establish leukemia in NSG mice. Leukemia propagating cell frequencies ranged from 1 in 300 to 1 in 7.4x104 but were highest in the CD34+/CD99- subpopulation. In addition, all four subpopulations had self-renewal ability in secondary NSG mice. Cells in each subpopulation contained patient specific TCR rearrangements and karyotypic changes that were preserved with passage through serial NSG transplants. Despite high levels of CD99 antigen on the majority of blast cells, leukemia initiating capacity in vivo was not restricted to cells that express this protein. Consequently, targeting CD99 alone would not eliminate all T-ALL cells with the ability to maintain the disease. The challenge remains to develop therapeutic strategies that can eliminate all leukemia cells with self-renewal capacity in vivo

Cas9+ conditionally-immortalized macrophages as a tool for bacterial pathogenesis and beyond.

Macrophages play critical roles in immunity, development, tissue repair, and cancer, but studies of their function have been hampered by poorly-differentiated tumor cell lines and genetically-intractable primary cells. Here we report a facile system for genome editing in non-transformed macrophages by differentiating ER-Hoxb8 myeloid progenitors from Cas9-expressing transgenic mice. These conditionally immortalized macrophages (CIMs) retain characteristics of primary macrophages derived from the bone marrow yet allow for easy genetic manipulation and a virtually unlimited supply of cells. We demonstrate the utility of this system for dissection of host genetics during intracellular bacterial infection using two important human pathogens: Listeria monocytogenes and Mycobacterium tuberculosis

A cross-sectional survey of smoking and cessation support policies in a sample of homeless services in the United Kingdom

Background: Smoking is extremely common amongst adults experiencing homelessness. To date, there is no nationally representative data on how tobacco dependence is treated and if and how smoking cessation is supported across the homeless sector. The aim of this study was to document smoking and e-cigarette policies of UK homeless services and identify areas of good practice and where improvements could be made. Methods: A cross-sectional survey with homeless centre staff was conducted between June 2020-December 2020 totalling 99 homeless centres. Quotas were stratified based on population and service type across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and England. Interviews were conducted over the phone or online in a minority of cases. Survey questions were themed to assess, i) onsite smoking and e-cigarette (vaping) policies ii) screening and recording of smoking status, iii) cessation training and resources available to staff, iv) cessation support for service users. Results: 92% accounted for smoking within their policies in some form (stand-alone policy (56%) or embedded within another health and safety policy (36%)). 84% allowed smoking in at least some (indoor and outdoor) areas. In areas where smoking was not allowed, vaping was also disallowed in 96% of cases. Staff smoking rates were 23% and 62% of centres reported staff smoked with service users. Just over half (52%) reported screening and recording smoking status and 58% made referrals to Stop Smoking Services (SSS), although established links with SSS were low (12%) and most centres did not provide staff training on supporting smoking cessation. Areas of good practice included regular offers of smoking cessation support embedded in routine health reviews or visits from SSS and offering tangible harm reduction support. Areas for improvement include staff training, staff smoking with service users and skipping routine screening questions around smoking. Conclusions: Smoking is accounted for across different policy types and restricted in some areas within most settings. Smoking cessation support is not routinely offered across the sector and there is little involvement with the SSS