How dynamic are ice-stream beds?

Projections of sea-level rise contributions from West Antarctica's dynamically thinning ice streams contain high uncertainty because some of the key processes involved are extremely challenging to observe. An especially poorly observed parameter is sub-decadal stability of ice-stream beds, which may be important for subglacial traction, till continuity and landform development. Only two previous studies have made repeated geophysical measurements of ice-stream beds at the same locations in different years, but both studies were limited in spatial extent. Here, we present the results from repeat radar measurements of the bed of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, conducted 3–6 years apart, along a cumulative ∼ 60 km of profiles. Analysis of the correlation of bed picks between repeat surveys shows that 90 % of the bed displays no significant change despite the glacier increasing in speed by up to 40 % over the last decade. We attribute the negligible detection of morphological change at the bed of Pine Island Glacier to the ubiquitous presence of a deforming till layer, wherein sediment transport is in steady state, such that sediment is transported along the basal interface without inducing morphological change to the radar-sounded basal interface. Given the precision of our measurements, the upper limit of subglacial erosion observed here is 500 mm a‾¹, far exceeding erosion rates reported for glacial settings from proglacial sediment yields, but substantially below subglacial erosion rates of 1.0 m a‾¹ previously reported from repeat geophysical surveys in West Antarctica

Nanoencapsulation of phase change materials for advanced thermal energy storage systems

A review focusing on phase change materials for thermal energy storage, particularly their nanoencapsulation, and insight into future research possibilities.</p

Recent advances in the detection and management of early gastric cancer and its precursors

Despite declines in incidence, gastric cancer remains a disease with a poor prognosis and limited treatment options due to its often late stage of diagnosis. In contrast, early gastric cancer has a good to excellent prognosis, with 5-year survival rates as high as 92.6% after endoscopic resection. There remains an East-West divide for this disease, with high incidence countries such as Japan seeing earlier diagnoses and reduced mortality, in part thanks to the success of a national screening programme. With missed cancers still prevalent at upper endoscopy in the West, and variable approaches to assessment of the high-risk stomach, the quality of endoscopy we provide must be a focus for improvement, with particular attention paid to the minority of patients at increased cancer risk. High-definition endoscopy with virtual chromoendoscopy is superior to white light endoscopy alone. These enhanced imaging modalities allow the experienced endoscopist to accurately and robustly detect high-risk lesions in the stomach. An endoscopy-led staging strategy would mean biopsies could be targeted to histologically confirm the endoscopic impression of premalignant lesions including atrophic gastritis, gastric intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia and early cancer. This approach to quality improvement will reduce missed diagnoses and, combined with the latest endoscopic resection techniques performed at expert centres, will improve early detection and ultimately patient outcomes. In this review, we outline the latest evidence relating to diagnosis, staging and treatment of early gastric cancer and its precursor lesions

Thomas Graham Brown (1882–1965): Behind the Scenes at the Cardiff Institute of Physiology

Thomas Graham Brown undertook seminal experiments on the neural control of locomotion between 1910 and 1915. Although elected to the Royal Society in 1927, his locomotion research was largely ignored until the 1960s when it was championed and extended by the distinguished neuroscientist, Anders Lundberg. Puzzlingly, Graham Brown's published research stopped in the 1920s and he became renowned as a mountaineer. In this article, we review his life and multifaceted career, including his active neurological service in WWI. We outline events behind the scenes during his tenure at Cardiff's Institute of Physiology in Wales, UK, including an interview with his technician, Terrence J. Surman, who worked in this institute for over half a century

A novel cell-type deconvolution algorithm reveals substantial contamination by immune cells in saliva, buccal and cervix

AIM: An outstanding challenge in epigenome studies is the estimation of cell-type proportions in complex epithelial tissues. MATERIALS & METHODS: Here, we construct and validate a DNA methylation reference and algorithm for complex tissues that contain epithelial, immune and nonimmune stromal cells. RESULTS: Using this reference, we show that easily accessible tissues such as saliva, buccal and cervix exhibit substantial variation in immune cell (IC) contamination. We further validate our reference in the context of oral cancer, where it correctly predicts an increased IC infiltration in cancer but suppressed in patients with highest smoking exposure. Finally, our method can improve the specificity of differentially methylated CpG calls in epithelial cancer. CONCLUSION: The degree and variation of IC contamination in complex epithelial tissues is substantial. We provide a valuable resource and tool for assessing the epithelial purity and IC contamination of samples and for identifying differential methylation in such complex tissues

Using read codes to identify patients with irritable bowel syndrome in general practice: a database study

BACKGROUND: Estimates of the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) vary widely, and a large proportion of patients report having consulted their general practitioner (GP). In patients with new onset gastrointestinal symptoms in primary care it might be possible to predict those at risk of persistent symptoms. However, one of the difficulties is identifying patients within primary care. GPs use a variety of Read Codes to describe patients presenting with IBS. Furthermore, in a qualitative study, exploring GPs' attitudes and approaches to defining patients with IBS, GPs appeared reluctant to add the IBS Read Code to the patient record until more serious conditions were ruled out. Consequently, symptom codes such as 'abdominal pain', 'diarrhoea' or 'constipation' are used. The aim of the current study was to investigate the prevalence of recorded consultations for IBS and to explore the symptom profile of patients with IBS using data from the Salford Integrated Record (SIR). METHODS: This was a database study using the SIR, a local patient sharing record system integrating primary, community and secondary care information. Records were obtained for a cohort of patients with gastrointestinal disorders from January 2002 to December 2011. Prevalence rates, symptom recording, medication prescribing and referral patterns were compared for three patient groups (IBS, abdominal pain (AP) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)). RESULTS: The prevalence of IBS (age standardised rate: 616 per year per 100,000 population) was much lower than expected compared with that reported in the literature. The majority of patients (69%) had no gastrointestinal symptoms recorded in the year prior to their IBS. However a proportion of these (22%) were likely to have been prescribed NICE guideline recommended medications for IBS in that year. The findings for AP and IBD were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Using Read Codes to identify patients with IBS may lead to a large underestimate of the community prevalence. The IBS diagnostic Read Code was rarely applied in practice. There are similarities with many other medically unexplained symptoms which are typically difficult to diagnose in clinical practice

Posterior approaches to the ankle - an analysis of 3 approaches for access to the posterior malleolar fracture.

BackgroundAn anatomical study to determine what degree of access to the posterior distal tibia could be gained by using 3 different approaches; the posterolateral, the posteromedial and the medial posteromedial approaches.MethodsA comparison study, between the anatomical dissection of 7 fresh frozen cadaveric lower legs and image analysis of CT data of posterior malleolar fractures from a prospectively collected database was conducted. All fractures have been classified using the Mason and Molloy classification.ResultsIn comparing the posterior malleolar fracture fragment width to distal tibia width, the posterolateral fragment encompasses 60.1% (95% CI 56.8, 63.3) of the total width of the tibia. If the posteromedial fragment is included the fragments encompass the entire distal tibia (100%). In type 3 fractures, 81.4% (95% CI 75.5, 87.1) of the distal tibia width is involved. When comparing the fracture width to the approach, no approach achieves a complete exposure of the type 2B or 3 fracture patterns. The overall surface area of the type 2B and 3 fractures, is significantly greater than all the approaches. Considering the lateral to medial extent of the fracture, the posterolateral fragment mean width is 33% greater than what can be exposed by the posterolateral approach (mean 24.9 vs 16.8mm). In type 2B and 3 fractures, the horizontal exposure reduces to 39.8% and 47.6% respectively. In comparison, the PM approach exposes 47.6% of the type 2B fracture pattern and 57.1% of the type 3 fracture pattern and allows a preferable angle for hardware insertion. The MPM approach does not expose any of the posterolateral fragments in this study, however it does expose 92% (mean 21.9 vs. 23.8mm) of the medial to lateral width of a posteromedial fragment of a type 2B fracture.ConclusionEach approach allows access to different parts and amounts of the posterior tibia. An understanding of and utilisation of these approaches can lead to adequate exposure for fixation of most posterior malleolus fracture patterns seen

Comparing online campaigning: The evolution of interactive campaigning from Royal to Obama to Hollande

© 2016 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.Studies of election campaigning from a comparative perspective have a long history; this study approaches the topic through a most-similar regime perspective to explore the ebb and flow of innovations in digital campaigning between presidential campaigns in France and the United States. The hype surrounding the 2008 Obama campaign overshadowed innovations in France the previous year, while the 2011 contest gained little serious academic attention. Using a well-established content analysis methodology the research explains the strategic design of the digital dimension of the campaigns of the leading candidates (Sarkozy and Royal in 2007, Obama and McCain in 2008, Hollande and Sarkozy in 2011, and Obama and Romney in 2012). The research then assesses the strategic contribution of each feature using schematics for understanding the flow of communication, as well as the strategy employed by each candidate. The key findings are that the campaigns are becoming more interactive, with the citizens increasingly more able to enter into conversations with the campaign teams, however interactivity when it happens is carefully controlled. Largely, however, there is a strong similarity masked by the sophistication of US contests. Despite the advances in communication technology and the social trends they have instigated, campaign communication remains top-down and digital technologies are used to gather data and push supporters towards activism than creating an inclusive space for the co-creation that cyberoptimists argued would revitalise the structures of democracy