Participant recruitment to FiCTION, a primary dental care trial – survey of facilitators and barriers

Objective To identify reasons behind a lower than expected participant recruitment rate within the FiCTION trial, a multi-centre paediatric primary dental care randomised controlled trial (RCT). Subjects (materials) and methods An online survey, based on a previously published tool, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative responses, completed by staff in dental practices recruiting to FiCTION. Ratings from quantitative responses were aggregated to give overall scores for factors related to participant recruitment. Qualitative responses were independently grouped into themes. Results Thirty-nine anonymous responses were received. Main facilitators related to the support received from the central research team and importance of the research question. The main barriers related to low child eligibility rates and the integration of trial processes within routine workloads. Conclusions These findings have directed strategies for enhancing participant recruitment at existing practices and informed recruitment of further practices. The results help provide a profile of the features required of practices to successfully screen and recruit participants. Future trials in this setting should consider the level of interest in the research question within practices, and ensure trial processes are as streamlined as possible. Research teams should actively support practices with participant recruitment and maintain enthusiasm among the entire practice team

Organic phosphorus cycling may control grassland responses to nitrogen deposition: A long-term field manipulation and modelling study

This is the final version. Available on open access from the European Geosciences Union via the DOI in this recordData availability: Data presented in the manuscript have been deposited with NERC's Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) at the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.5285/98b473c7-3ca9-498d-a851-31152b1f1da7 (Taylor et al., 2021). All data to be archived are present in the Supplement for review purposes.Ecosystems limited in phosphorous (P) are widespread, yet there is limited understanding of how these ecosystems may respond to anthropogenic deposition of nitrogen (N) and the interconnected effects on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon (C), N, and P. Here, we investigate the consequences of enhanced N addition for the C-N-P pools of two P-limited grasslands, one acidic and one limestone, occurring on contrasting soils, and we explore their responses to a long-term nutrient-manipulation experiment. We do this by combining data with an integrated C-N-P cycling model (N14CP). We explore the role of P-access mechanisms by allowing these to vary in the modelling framework and comparing model plant-soil C-N-P outputs to empirical data. Combinations of organic P access and inorganic P availability most closely representing empirical data were used to simulate the grasslands and quantify their temporal response to nutrient manipulation. The model suggested that access to organic P is a key determinant of grassland nutrient limitation and responses to experimental N and P manipulation. A high rate of organic P access allowed the acidic grassland to overcome N-induced P limitation, increasing biomass C input to soil and promoting soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in response to N addition. Conversely, poor accessibility of organic P for the limestone grassland meant N provision exacerbated P limitation and reduced biomass input to the soil, reducing soil carbon storage. Plant acquisition of organic P may therefore play an important role in reducing P limitation and determining responses to anthropogenic changes in nutrient availability. We conclude that grasslands differing in their access to organic P may respond to N deposition in contrasting ways, and where access is limited, soil organic carbon stocks could decline.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Elevated CO2 interacts with nutrient inputs to restructure plant communities in phosphorus-limited grasslands

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are openly available through Figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23685921Globally pervasive increases in atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen (N) deposition could have substantial effects on plant communities, either directly or mediated by their interactions with soil nutrient limitation. While the direct consequences of N enrichment on plant communities are well documented, potential interactions with rising CO2 and globally widespread phosphorus (P) limitation remain poorly understood. We investigated the consequences of simultaneous elevated CO2 (eCO2 ) and N and P additions on grassland biodiversity, community and functional composition in P-limited grasslands. We exposed soil-turf monoliths from limestone and acidic grasslands that have received >25 years of N additions (3.5 and 14 g m-2  year-1 ) and 11 (limestone) or 25 (acidic) years of P additions (3.5 g m-2  year-1 ) to eCO2 (600 ppm) for 3 years. Across both grasslands, eCO2 , N and P additions significantly changed community composition. Limestone communities were more responsive to eCO2 and saw significant functional shifts resulting from eCO2 -nutrient interactions. Here, legume cover tripled in response to combined eCO2 and P additions, and combined eCO2 and N treatments shifted functional dominance from grasses to sedges. We suggest that eCO2 may disproportionately benefit P acquisition by sedges by subsidising the carbon cost of locally intense root exudation at the expense of co-occurring grasses. In contrast, the functional composition of the acidic grassland was insensitive to eCO2 and its interactions with nutrient additions. Greater diversity of P-acquisition strategies in the limestone grassland, combined with a more functionally even and diverse community, may contribute to the stronger responses compared to the acidic grassland. Our work suggests we may see large changes in the composition and biodiversity of P-limited grasslands in response to eCO2 and its interactions with nutrient loading, particularly where these contain a high diversity of P-acquisition strategies or developmentally young soils with sufficient bioavailable mineral P.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Lateral Transfer of a Lectin-Like Antifreeze Protein Gene in Fishes

Fishes living in icy seawater are usually protected from freezing by endogenous antifreeze proteins (AFPs) that bind to ice crystals and stop them from growing. The scattered distribution of five highly diverse AFP types across phylogenetically disparate fish species is puzzling. The appearance of radically different AFPs in closely related species has been attributed to the rapid, independent evolution of these proteins in response to natural selection caused by sea level glaciations within the last 20 million years. In at least one instance the same type of simple repetitive AFP has independently originated in two distant species by convergent evolution. But, the isolated occurrence of three very similar type II AFPs in three distantly related species (herring, smelt and sea raven) cannot be explained by this mechanism. These globular, lectin-like AFPs have a unique disulfide-bonding pattern, and share up to 85% identity in their amino acid sequences, with regions of even higher identity in their genes. A thorough search of current databases failed to find a homolog in any other species with greater than 40% amino acid sequence identity. Consistent with this result, genomic Southern blots showed the lectin-like AFP gene was absent from all other fish species tested. The remarkable conservation of both intron and exon sequences, the lack of correlation between evolutionary distance and mutation rate, and the pattern of silent vs non-silent codon changes make it unlikely that the gene for this AFP pre-existed but was lost from most branches of the teleost radiation. We propose instead that lateral gene transfer has resulted in the occurrence of the type II AFPs in herring, smelt and sea raven and allowed these species to survive in an otherwise lethal niche

Who wants to join preventive trials? – Experience from the Estonian Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy Trial [ISRCTN35338757]

BACKGROUND: The interest of patients in participating in randomized clinical trials involving treatments has been widely studied, but there has been much less research on interest in preventive trials. The objective of this study was to find out how many women would be interested in a trial involving postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT) and how the women's background characteristics and opinions correlated to their interest. METHODS: The data come from recruitment questionnaires (n = 2000) sent to women in Estonia in 1998. A random sample of women aged 45 to 64 was drawn from the Population Registry. The trial is a two-group randomized trial comparing estrogen-progestogen therapy with placebo or no drugs. A brief description of the study was attached to the questionnaires. Women were not told at this stage of the recruitment which group they would be assigned to, however, they were told of the chance to receive either hormone, placebo or no treatment. RESULTS: After two reminders, 1312 women (66%) responded. Eleven percent of the women approached (17% of the respondents) were interested in joining the trial, and 8% wanted more information before deciding. When the 225 women who stated clearly that they were interested in joining and the 553 women who said they were not interested were compared, it was found that interested women were younger and, adjusting for age, that more had given birth; in other respects, the sociodemographic characteristics and health habits of the interested women were similar to those of the non-interested women. The interested women had made more use of more health services, calcium preparations and PHT, they were more often overweight, and more had chronic diseases and reported symptoms. Interested women's opinions on the menopause were more negative, and they favoured PHT more than the non-interested women. CONCLUSION: Unlike the situation described in previous reports on preventive trials, in this case Estonian women interested in participating in a PHT trial were not healthier than other women. This suggests that trials involving PHT are more similar to treatment trials than to preventive trials. In a randomized controlled trial, more information should be obtained from those women who decline to participate

BRAF and PIK3CA genes are somatically mutated in hepatocellular carcinoma among patients from South Italy

Poor data have been previously reported about the mutation rates in K-RAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA genes among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here we further elucidated the role of these genes in pathogenesis of primary hepatic malignancies. Archival tumour tissue from 65 HCC patients originating from South Italy were screened for mutations in these candidate genes by direct sequencing. Overall, oncogenic mutations were detected in 15 (23%) patients for BRAF gene, 18 (28%) for PIK3CA gene, and 1 (2%) for K-RAS gene. Using statistical analysis, BRAF mutations were significantly correlated with the presence of either multiple HCC nodules (P=0.021) or higher proliferation rates (P=0.034). Although further extensive screenings are awaited in HCC patients among different populations, our findings clearly indicated that mutational activation of both BRAF and PIK3CA genes does contribute to hepatocellular tumorigenesis at somatic level in Southern Italian population

Carbon stable isotope analysis of cereal remains as a way to reconstruct water availability: preliminary results

Reconstructing past water availability, both as rainfall and irrigation, is important to answer questions about the way society reacts to climate and its changes and the role of irrigation in the development of social complexity. Carbon stable isotope analysis of archaeobotanical remains is a potentially valuable method for reconstructing water availability. To further define the relationship between water availability and plant carbon isotope composition and to set up baseline values for the Southern Levant, grains of experimentally grown barley and sorghum were studied. The cereal crops were grown at three stations under five different irrigation regimes in Jordan. Results indicate that a positive but weak relationship exists between irrigation regime and total water input of barley grains, but no relationship was found for sorghum. The relationship for barley is site-specific and inter-annual variation was present at Deir ‘Alla, but not at Ramtha and Khirbet as-Samra

Ocular accommodation and cognitive demand: An additional indicator besides pupil size and cardiovascular measures?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of the present study was to assess accommodation as a possible indicator of changes in the autonomic balance caused by altered cognitive demand. Accounting for accommodative responses from a human factors perspective may be motivated by the interest of designing virtual image displays or by establishing an autonomic indicator that allows for remote measurement at the human eye. Heart period, pulse transit time, and the pupillary response were considered as reference for possible closed-loop accommodative effects. Cognitive demand was varied by presenting monocularly numbers at a viewing distance of 5 D (20 cm) which had to be read, added or multiplied; further, letters were presented in a "n-back" task.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cardiovascular parameters and pupil size indicated a change in autonomic balance, while error rates and reaction time confirmed the increased cognitive demand during task processing. An observed decrease in accommodation could not be attributed to the cognitive demand itself for two reasons: (1) the cognitive demand induced a shift in gaze direction which, for methodological reasons, accounted for a substantial part of the observed accommodative changes. (2) Remaining effects disappeared when the correctness of task processing was taken into account.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although the expectation of accommodation as possible autonomic indicator of cognitive demand was not confirmed, the present results are informative for the field of applied psychophysiology noting that it seems not to be worthwhile to include closed-loop accommodation in future studies. From a human factors perspective, expected changes of accommodation due to cognitive demand are of minor importance for design specifications – of, for example, complex visual displays.</p

Fluid intake and incidence of renal cell carcinoma in UK women

Background:It has been suggested that the apparent protective effect of alcohol intake on renal cell carcinoma may be due to the diluting effect of carcinogens by a high total fluid intake. We assessed the association between intakes of total fluids and of specific beverages on the risk of renal cell carcinoma in a large prospective cohort of UK women.Methods:Information on beverage consumption was obtained from a questionnaire sent 3 years after recruitment into the Million Women Study. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for renal cell carcinoma associated with beverage consumption adjusted for age, region of residence, socioeconomic status, smoking, and body mass index.Results:After an average of 5.2 years of follow-up, 588 cases of renal cell carcinoma were identified among 779 369 women. While alcohol intake was associated with a reduced risk of renal cell carcinoma (RR for 2 vs 1 drink per day: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.61-0.96; P for trend0.02), there was no association with total fluid intake (RR for 12 vs 7 drinks per day: 1.15; 95% CI: 0.91-1.45; P for trend0.3) or with intakes of specific beverages.Conclusions:The apparent protective effect of alcohol on the risk of renal cell carcinoma is unlikely to be related to a high fluid intake. © 2011 Cancer Research UK All rights reserved