Injury-Dependent and Disability-Specific Lumbar Spinal Gene Regulation following Sciatic Nerve Injury in the Rat

Allodynia, hyperalgesia and spontaneous pain are cardinal sensory signs of neuropathic pain. Clinically, many neuropathic pain patients experience affective-motivational state changes, including reduced familial and social interactions, decreased motivation, anhedonia and depression which are severely debilitating. In earlier studies we have shown that sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI) disrupts social interactions, sleep-wake-cycle and endocrine function in one third of rats, a subgroup reliably identified six days after injury. CCI consistently produces allodynia and hyperalgesia, the intensity of which was unrelated either to the altered social interactions, sleep-wake-cycle or endocrine changes. This decoupling of the sensory consequences of nerve injury from the affective-motivational changes is reported in both animal experiments and human clinical data. The sensory changes triggered by CCI are mediated primarily by functional changes in the lumbar dorsal horn, however, whether lumbar spinal changes may drive different affective-motivational states has never been considered. In these studies, we used microarrays to identify the unique transcriptomes of rats with altered social behaviours following sciatic CCI to determine whether specific patterns of lumbar spinal adaptations characterised this subgroup. Rats underwent CCI and on the basis of reductions in dominance behaviour in resident-intruder social interactions were categorised as having Pain & Disability, Pain & Transient Disability or Pain alone.We examined the lumbar spinal transcriptomes two and six days after CCI. Fifty-four ‘disability-specific’ genes were identified. Sixty-five percent were unique to Pain & Disability rats, two-thirds of which were associated with neurotransmission, inflammation and/or cellular stress. In contrast, 40% of genes differentially regulated in rats without disabilities were involved with more general homeostatic processes (cellular structure, transcription or translation). We suggest that these patterns of gene expression lead to either the expression of disability, or to resilience and recovery, by modifying local spinal circuitry at the origin of ascending supraspinal pathways

Attitudes to parenting practices and child discipline

This qualitative research report outlines the findings of focus groups held to explore parents’ views about parenting practices and approaches to child discipline. Fourteen focus groups were conducted in eight local authority areas around Wales with mothers and fathers of children and young people aged between birth and 18 years. The purpose of this work was to inform the development of questions for use in future quantitative work and to fill gaps in current knowledge about Welsh specific attitudes around this issue

Corrosion management of reinforced concrete structures

Corrosion management of reinforced concrete structure

The Archaeology of the Digital Periphery : Computer mice and the archaeology of the early Digital Era

The computer mouse is one of the most familiar artefacts of the developed world to have been devised in the late twentieth century. The essential form remains the same as when it was first invented, but during this time the mouse has transformed our physical interaction with and perception of computers. With increased attention being paid to curating and collecting technologies of the contemporary world, and within the context of an archaeological research culture that extends to the contemporary, an archaeological examination of this ubiquitous object appeared timely. There are millions - if not billions - of mice in circulation, including models that are now outdated or obsolete. Despite their apparent uniformity they differ in significant ways, and examination of these differences can help us to understand human experiences of technology in ways that resonate with artefact types of much earlier periods. With that time depth in mind, this paper will therefore focus on the form and function of the computer mouse and its place in the contemporary imagination. This will be followed by a detailed study of five specific examples which together illustrate some of the key issues and challenges that face us, as archaeologists and curators

Investigating the effect of Interrupted Cathodic Protection on reinforced concrete structures

Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) has been one of the major components of the repair and maintenance strategy on many motorway structures in the U.K. It has helped to prolong the life of more than 700 structures, in a significantly sustainable manner, by reducing the need to remove chloride contaminated (but otherwise sound) concrete. This study was initiated after identifying that some of the ICCP systems were reaching the end of their design life and required a significant level of maintenance (including anode replacement) to operate in accordance with the latest Codes of Practice. In addition, there were a number of structures where the application of ICCP has been interrupted due to severe anode deterioration or vandalism. The objective of this work was to collate evidence from structures to support preliminary laboratory results that the application of ICCP to a reinforced concrete structure over a period of time can transform the environment around the reinforcement, even after the protective current has been interrupted. This experimental field study interrupted the current to ten structures which had been protected with ICCP between 5 and 16 years and corrosion rates were monitored to determine when reinforcement corrosion will initiate again. It was found that after five or more years of ICCP, the steel remained passive for at least 30 months after interrupting the protective current, despite the presence of chloride contamination representing a substantial corrosion risk. In some cases, severe anode deterioration meant that the current was interrupted at an unknown point in time prior to the initiation of the scheme. Four main conclusions are drawn regarding this approach: it can give an indication of when repairs to ICCP systems are likely to be critical; provide new evidence for the design lives attributed to systems using lower cost anodes; reduce the requirement to replace systems at the end of their functional lives; and potentially extend the interval between planned maintenance of existing systems with corresponding reduction in monitoring frequency, cost and disruption

Long-term performance of surface impregnation of reinforced concrete structures with silane

Silanes can act as hydrophobic pore liners for reinforced concrete (RC) structures. They can significantly reduce the depth of chloride penetration, a major cause of steel reinforcement corrosion. However, there is little published information on their long-term performance. Thirty-two concrete cores were extracted from eight full-scale RC bridge supporting cross-beams that were treated with silane 20 years ago. Their water absorption by capillarity was measured and compared with sixteen control cores extracted from four non-silane treated RC cross-beams constructed at the same time. Results show that silanes may provide a residual protective effect against water even after 20 years of service

Diagnosing the cause of incipient anodes in repaired reinforced concrete structures

The incipient anode (or halo) effect often occurs on repaired reinforced concrete structures. The diagnosis of this problem is widely reported to be macrocell activity. This diagnosis is based on very limited data. Indeed potential measurements on field structures repaired with proprietary materials have provided data that suggest that macrocell activity is not a cause of incipient anode formation. Alternative mechanisms that may cause incipient anode activity include repair/parent material interface effects, residual chloride contamination within the parent concrete, and/or vibration damage to the steel/parent concrete interface during repair area preparation

On-site transient analysis for the corrosion assessment of reinforced concrete

A range of methods exist to assess the condition of steel reinforcement in concrete. The analysis of the transient response to a small perturbation has been employed successfully in laboratories to assess corrosion. This work examines a simplified method for the application of transientanalysis to in situ reinforcedconcrete structures. The complex analysis has been simplified and undertaken with the use of common spreadsheet packages. The results illustrate that transient response analysis is a viable technique for use on site and appears to provide a more accurate representation of steel corrosion current densities at very low values than polarisation resistance