Impact of Penny Brohn UK’s Living Well course on informal caregivers of people with cancer

Objectives: This study evaluated the change in the concerns, wellbeing and lifestyle behaviours of informal caregivers of people with cancer attending Penny Brohn UK’s Living Well Course (LWC), a self-management education intervention. Design: A pre-post-course design collected self-reported quantitative and qualitative data from informal caregivers attending a LWC. Setting/Location: Penny Brohn UK is a UK based charity (not-for-profit) providing specialist integrative, whole person support, free of charge, to people affected by cancer. Subjects: Informal caregivers taking part in a Penny Brohn UK LWC between June 2014 and May 2016 attending alongside the person with cancer. Intervention: The LWC is a structured 15 hour, multi-modal group self-management educational course, designed to help people affected by cancer learn tools and techniques to help build resilience. Trained facilitators deliver LWCs to around 12 people with various types and stages of cancer, and their informal caregivers. Outcome measures: MYCaW (Measure Yourself Concern and Wellbeing) completed pre-course and at 6 weeks post-course; and bespoke 6 week follow up Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM). Results: 480 informal caregivers attended a LWC June 2014 to May 2016. 118 completed a 6 week follow up MYCaW: MYCaW Concerns 1 and 2 showed statistically significant improvements (p<.0001), there was no significant improvement in wellbeing. Informal caregivers’ most reported concerns relating to themselves were psychological and emotional issues (59%). The primary concern of the caregiver for the care recipient was related to the physical health of the person with cancer (40%). 87% of responding informal caregivers stated the LWC enabled health self-management. Conclusions: The LWC was followed by an improvement in informal caregivers’ concerns, and increased self-management of their own health needs. More studies, with larger sample size, are needed to explore if better self-management by informal caregivers may also lead to improvements in patients’ health and wellbeing

The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC

The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix

Defining the Critical Hurdles in Cancer Immunotherapy

ABSTRACT: Scientific discoveries that provide strong evidence of antitumor effects in preclinical models often encounter significant delays before being tested in patients with cancer. While some of these delays have a scientific basis, others do not. We need to do better. Innovative strategies need to move into early stage clinical trials as quickly as it is safe, and if successful, these therapies should efficiently obtain regulatory approval and widespread clinical application. In late 2009 and 2010 the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), convened an "Immunotherapy Summit" with representatives from immunotherapy organizations representing Europe, Japan, China and North America to discuss collaborations to improve development and delivery of cancer immunotherapy. One of the concepts raised by SITC and defined as critical by all parties was the need to identify hurdles that impede effective translation of cancer immunotherapy. With consensus on these hurdles, international working groups could be developed to make recommendations vetted by the participating organizations. These recommendations could then be considered by regulatory bodies, governmental and private funding agencies, pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to facilitate changes necessary to accelerate clinical translation of novel immune-based cancer therapies. The critical hurdles identified by representatives of the collaborating organizations, now organized as the World Immunotherapy Council, are presented and discussed in this report. Some of the identified hurdles impede all investigators, others hinder investigators only in certain regions or institutions or are more relevant to specific types of immunotherapy or first-in-humans studies. Each of these hurdles can significantly delay clinical translation of promising advances in immunotherapy yet be overcome to improve outcomes of patients with cancer

PROFIL WISATAWAN MUSEUM RADYA PUSTAKA SURAKARTA

Anggit Margaret, C9407031 2011. Profil Wisatawan Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta. Program Studi Diploma III Usaha Perjalanan Wisata Fakultas Sastra Dan Seni Rupa Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta. Penelitian tugas akhir ini mengkaji tentang Profil Wisatawan di Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui dari daerah mana saja wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka, bagaimana ciri-ciri wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka serta harapan-harapan yang diinginkan wisatawan terhadap Museum Radya Pustaka. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode kualitatif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui wawancara dengan narasumber wisatawan yang berkujung di Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta tempat penulis melakukan penelitian, serta studi pustaka dan studi dokumen guna menambah sumber data. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) Sebagian besar wisatawan yang datang berasal dari Semarang sebesar 32%. (2) Mayoritas wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka berusia antara 17-25 tahun dan kebanyakan dari mereka adalah pelajar atau mahasiswa dengan prosentase 52%. (3) Sebagian besar wisatawan yang datang ke Museum Radya Pustaka adalah bertujuan untuk melakukan penelitian yaitu sebesar 34%. (4) Harapan wisatawan yang berkunjung terhadap kelangsungan Museum Radya Pustaka sebagian besar adalah agar ditingkatkan lagi pengelolaan dan keamanan museum, agar kejadian hilangnya benda-benda koleksi museum tidak terulang lagi dikemudian hari. Kesimpulan dari hasil penelitian ini bahwa wisatawan yang berkujung ke Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta mayoritas berasal dari Semarang, mayoritas berusia 17-25 tahun dan kebanyakan dari mereka adalah berprofesi sebagai pelajar dan mahasiswa. Kebanyakan wisatawan yang datang bertujuan untuk melakukan penelitian, serta harapan wisatawan terhadap Museum Radya Pustaka adalah supaya lebih ditingkatkan lagi pengelolaan dan keamanan museum

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Biodegradation Of Aromatic Hydrocarbons By Haloarchaea And Their Use For The Reduction Of The Chemical Oxygen Demand Of Hypersaline Petroleum Produced Water

Ten halophilic Archaea (Haloarchaea) strains able to degrade aromatic compounds were isolated from five hypersaline locations; salt marshes in the Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia, crystallizer ponds in Chile and Cabo Rojo (Puerto Rico), and sabkhas (salt flats) in the Persian Gulf (Saudi Arabia) and the Dead Sea (Israel and Jordan). Phylogenetic identification of the isolates was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The isolated Haloarchaea strains were able to grow on a mixture of benzoic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and salicylic acid (1.5. mM each) and a mixture of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, pyrene and benzo[a]anthracene (0.3. mM each). Evaluation of the extent of degradation of the mixed aromatic hydrocarbons demonstrated that the isolates could degrade these compounds in hypersaline media containing 20% NaCl. The strains were shown to reduce the COD of hypersaline crude oil reservoir produced waters significantly beyond that achieved using standard hydrogen peroxide treatment alone. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.841116711676Asker, D., Ohta, Y., Haloferax alexandrinus sp. nov., an extremely halophilic canthaxanthin-producing archaeon from a solar saltern in Alexandria (Egypt) (2002) Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 52, pp. 729-738Bertrand, J.C., Almallah, M., Acquaviva, M., Mille, G., Biodegradation of hydrocarbons by an extremely halophilic archaebacterium (1990) Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 11, pp. 260-263Cuadros-Orellana, S., Pohlschroder, M., Durrant, L.R., Isolation and characterization of halophilic archaea able to grow in aromatic compounds (2006) Int. Biodeter. Biodegr., 57, pp. 151-154Desper, R., Gascuel, O., Theoretical foundations of the balanced minimum evolution method of phylogenetic inference and its relationship to weighted least-squares tree fitting (2004) Mol. Biol. Evol., 21, pp. 587-598Elshahed, M.S., Savage, K.N., Oren, A., Gutierrez, M.C., Ventosa, A., Krumholz, L.R., Haloferax sulfurifontis sp. nov., a halophilic archaeon isolated from a sulfide- and sulfur-rich spring. (2004) Int. J. Syst. Evol. Micr., 54, pp. 2275-2279Embley, T.M., Finlay, B.J., Thomas, R.H., Dyal, P.L., The use of rRNA sequences and fluorescent probes to investigate the phylogenetic positions of the anaerobic ciliate Metopus palaeformis and its archaebacterial endosymbiont (1992) J. Gen. Microbiol., 138, pp. 1479-1487Emerson, D., Chauhan, S., Oriel, P., Breznak, J.A., Haloferax sp. D 1227, a halophilic archaeon capable of growth on aromatic compounds (1994) Arch. Microbiol., 161, pp. 445-452Enache, M., Itoh, T., Kamekura, M., Teodosiu, G., Dumitru, L., Haloferax prahovense sp. nov., an extremely halophilic archaeon isolated from a Romanian salt lake (2007) Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 57, pp. 393-397Ewing, B., Hillier, L., Wendl, M., Green, P., Base calling of automated sequencer traces using phred I. Accuracy assessment (1998) Genome Res., 8, pp. 175-185Fairley, D.J., Boyd, D.R., Sharma, N.D., Allen, C.C., Morgan, P., Larkin, M.J., Aerobic metabolism of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid in Archaea via an unusual pathway involving an intramolecular migration (NIH shift) (2002) Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 68, pp. 6246-6255Gordon, D., Abajian, C., Green, P., Consed: a graphical tool for sequence finishing (1998) Genome Res., 8, pp. 195-202Huson, D.H., Richter, D.C., Rausch, C., Dezulian, T., Franz, M., Rupp, R., Dendroscope: an interactive viewer for large phylogenetic trees (2007) BMC Bioinformatics, 8 (1), p. 460Kleinsteuber, S., Riis, V., Fetzer, I., Harms, H., Müller, S., Population dynamics within a microbial consortium during growth on diesel fuel in saline environments (2006) Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 72 (5), pp. 3531-3542Lefebvre, O., Moletta, R., Treatment of organic pollution in industrial saline wastewater: a literature review (2006) Water Res., 40, pp. 3671-3682Le Borgne, S., Paniagua, D., Vazquez-Duhalt, R., Biodegradation of organic pollutants by halophilic bacteria and archaea (2008) J. Mol. Microb. Biotech., 15, pp. 74-92Mevarech, M., Werczberger, R., Genetic transfer in Halobacterium volcanii (1985) J. Bacteriol., 162, pp. 461-462Mullakhanbhai, M.F., Larsen, H., Halobacterium volcanii spec. nov., A Dead Sea halobacterium with a moderate salt requirement (1975) Arch. Microbiol., 104, pp. 207-214Oren, A., The ecology of extremely halophilic archaea (1994) FEMS Microbiol. Rev., 13, pp. 415-440Pendashteh, A.R., Fakhru'l-Razi, A., Chuah, T.G., Dayang Radiah, A.B., Madaeni, S.S., Zurina, Z.A., Biological treatment of produced water in a sequencing batch reactor by a consortium of isolated halophilic microorganisms (2010) Environ. Technol., 31 (11), pp. 1229-1239Produced Water Society (2011), http://70.86.131.22/Singlandea, E., Balmanna, H.R., Lefevbreb, X., Sperandio, M., Improvement of the treatment of salted liquid waste by integrated electrodialysis upstream biological treatment (2006) Desalination, 199, pp. 64-66Speight, J.G., (2007) The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum, , Marcel Dekker, New YorkTapilatu, Y.H., Grossi, V., Acquaviva, M., Militon, C., Bertrand, J.C., Cuny, P., Isolation of hydrocarbon-degrading extremely halophilic archaea from an uncontaminated hypersaline pond (Camargue, France) (2010) Extremophiles, 14, pp. 225-231Veil, J.A., Puder, M., Elcock, D., Redweik Jr, R., (2004), A White Paper Describing Produced Water from Production of Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal Bed Methane, prepared by Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois for the US Department of Energy, National Energy Technology LaboratoryVan Hamme, J.D., Singh, A., Ward, O.P., Recent advances in petroleum microbiology (2003) Microbiol. Mol. Biol. R., 67, pp. 503-549Widdel, F., Bak, F., Gram-negative mesophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria (1992) The Prokaryotes (2nd ed.), pp. 3342-3378. , Springer, New York, A. Balows, H.G. Trüper, M. Dworkin, W. Harder, K.H. Schleifer (Eds.)Wolin, E.A., Wolin, M.J., Wolfe, R.S., Formation of methane by bacterial extracts (1963) J. Biol. Chem., 238, pp. 2882-288

Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Microbial Community In Hypersaline Petroleum Produced Water From The Campos Basin

In this work the archaea and eubacteria community of a hypersaline produced water from the Campos Basin that had been transported and discharged to an onshore storage facility was evaluated by 16S recombinant RNA (rRNA) gene sequence analysis. The produced water had a hypersaline salt content of 10 (w/v), had a carbon oxygen demand (COD) of 4,300 mg/l and contains phenol and other aromatic compounds. The high salt and COD content and the presence of toxic phenolic compounds present a problem for conventional discharge to open seawater. In previous studies, we demonstrated that the COD and phenolic content could be largely removed under aerobic conditions, without dilution, by either addition of phenol degrading Haloarchaea or the addition of nutrients alone. In this study our goal was to characterize the microbial community to gain further insight into the persistence of reservoir community members in the produced water and the potential for bioremediation of COD and toxic contaminants. Members of the archaea community were consistent with previously identified communities from mesothermic reservoirs. All identified archaea were located within the phylum Euryarchaeota, with 98 % being identified as methanogens while 2 % could not be affiliated with any known genus. Of the identified archaea, 37 % were identified as members of the strictly carbon-dioxide-reducing genus Methanoplanus and 59 % as members of the acetoclastic genus Methanosaeta. No Haloarchaea were detected, consistent with the need to add these organisms for COD and aromatic removal. Marinobacter and Halomonas dominated the eubacterial community. The presence of these genera is consistent with the ability to stimulate COD and aromatic removal with nutrient addition. In addition, anaerobic members of the phyla Thermotogae, Firmicutes, and unclassified eubacteria were identified and may represent reservoir organisms associated with the conversion hydrocarbons to methane. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Identification And Characterization Of Aromatic Degrading Halomonas In Hypersaline Produced Water And Cod Reduction By Bioremediation By The Indigenous Microbial Population Using Nutrient Addition

Hypersaline produced water is a high volume waste stream that is typically contaminated by toxic low molecular weight aromatic compounds exemplified by phenol. Aromatic compound degrading Halomonas were isolated from hypersaline produced water obtained from offshore operations in Brazil, which had a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 4300 mg/L. These isolates were able to aerobically degrade the oxygenated aromatics phenol, benzoic acid, para-hydroxybenzoic acid and some isolates were shown to produce aromatic dioxygenase activities associated with highly conserved aromatic degradation pathways utilized by a broad range of aromatic degrading bacteria. The presence of aromatic degrading bacteria in the hypersaline produced water suggested that the COD content could be reduced by bioremediation using the indigenous microbial population by the addition of nutrients. Using this approach a variety of nitrogen, phosphorous and carbons sources were identified that individually or in combination significantly improved the reduction in COD after aerobic incubation. These results demonstrate the potential of applying bioremediation to undiluted hypersaline produced water for COD reduction and aromatic compound removal. Copyright © 2012, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.27385390Arnold, R., Burnett, D.B., Elphick, J., Feeley III, T.J., Galbrun, M., Hightower, M., Jiang, Z., Verbeek, P., Managing water-from waste to resource (2004) Oilfield Review, 16 (2), pp. 26-41Ausubel, F.M.R., Kinston, R.E., Moore, D.D., Seidman, J.G., Smith, J.A., Strhl, K., (1989) Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, , John Wiley & Sons, New York, USAClark, C.E., Veil, J.A., (2009) A White Paper Describing Produced Water Volumes and Managements Pratices in the United States, , Prepared by Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, USAFairley, D.J., Boyd, D.R., Sharma, N.D., Allen, C.C., Morgan, P., Larkin, M.J., Aerobic metabolism of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid in Archaea via an unusual pathway involving an intramolecular migration (NIH shift) (2002) Applied Environmental Microbiology, 68, pp. 6246-6255García, M.T., Ventosa, A., Mellado, E., Catabolic versatility of aromatic compound-degrading halophilic bacteria (2005) FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 54 (1), pp. 97-109Lefebvre, O., Moletta, R., Treatment of organic pollution in industrial saline wastewater: A literature review (2006) Water Research, 40, pp. 3671-3682Masai, E., Yamada, A., Healey, J.M., Hatta, T., Kimbara, K., Fukuda, M., Yano, K., Characterization of biphenyl catabolic genes of Gram-positive polychlorinated biphenyl degrader Rhodococcus sp. strain RHA1 (1995) Applied Environmental Microbiology, 61, pp. 2079-2085Oie, C.S., Albaugh, C.E., Peyton, B.M., Benzoate and salicylate degradation by Halomonas campisalis, an alkaliphilic and moderately halophilic microorganism (2007) Water Research, 41, pp. 1235-1242Ornston, L.N., Stanier, R.Y., The conversion of catechol and protocatechuate to β- Ketoadipate by Pseudomonas putida (1966) Journal of Biological Chemistry, 241, pp. 3776-3786Speight, J.G., (2007) The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum, , 4th edn. Marcel Dekker, New York,USAVeil, J.A., Puder, M., Elcock, D., Redweik, R.Jr., (2004) A White Paper Describing Produced Water from Production of Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal Bed Methane, , Prepared by Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, USAWolin, E.A., Wolin, M.J., Wolfe, R.S., Formation of methane by bacterial extracts (1963) Journal of Biological Chemistry, 238, pp. 2882-2886Yang, C., Wang, Z., Li, Y., Niu, Y., Du, M., He, X., Ma, C., Xu, P., Metabolic versatility of halotolerant and alkaliphilic strains of Halomonas isolated from alkaline black liquor (2010) Bioresource Technology, 101, pp. 6778-6784Zhao, B., Wang, H., Mao, X., Li, R., Biodegradation of phenanthrene by a halophilic bacterial consortium under aerobic conditions (2009) Current Microbiology, 58 (3), pp. 205-210Zhuang, X., Han, Z., Bai, Z., Zhuang, G., Shim, H., Progress in decontamination by halophilic microorganisms in saline wastewater and soil (2010) Environmental Pollution, 158, pp. 1119-211