Symposium - How effective are brief motivational interviewing interventions : Are they necessary? Do they require enhancement? Can they be translated into routine clinical practice? [Conference Abstract]

Brief interventions are effective for problem drinking and reductions are known to occur in association with screening and assessment. Design and methods: This study aimed to determine how much change occurred between baseline assessment and a one-session brief intervention (S1), and the predictors of early change among adults with comorbid depression and alcohol misuse (n=202) participating in a clinical trial. The primary focus was on changes in Beck Depression Inventory fastscreen scores and alcohol consumption (standard drinks per week) prior to random allocation to nine further sessions addressing either depression, alcohol, or both problems. Results: There were large and clinically significant reductions between baseline and S1, with the strongest predictors being baseline scores in the relevant domain and change in the other domain. Client engagement was also predictive of early depression changes. Discussion and Conclusion: Monitoring progress in both domains from first contact, and provision of empathic care, followed by brief intervention appear to be useful for this high prevalence comorbidity..

Cataloguing cowries: a standardised strategy to record six key species of cowrie shell from the West African archaeological record

Two species of cowrie shell, Monetaria moneta (Linnaeus 1758) and Monetaria annulus (Linnaeus 1758), occur repeatedly in archaeological contexts across West Africa. Despite their archaeological and ethnographic importance, these shells remain poorly and inconsistently reported in the archaeological literature. The absence of standardised data on species composition, size and condition of cowrie assemblages, and whether and how the shells were modified, make it difficult to examine their significance in a regional and/or chronological framework. To address this, we propose a standardisation of the criteria and coding used to systematically record cowrie assemblages – in particular species, size, condition and state of modification. We aim to enable non-shell specialists within the wider archaeological community to securely identify intact or intact but modified specimens of M. annulus and M. moneta, showing how these can be distinguished from four cowries native to West Africa (specifically Luria lurida (Linnaeus 1758), Zonaria zonaria (Gmelin 1791), Zonaria sanguinolenta (Gmelin 1791) and Trona stercoraria (Linnaeus 1758)) that occur in assemblages from West African sites. We demonstrate how accurate species identification and the assessment of proportions of different sizes of shells within suitably large assemblages can provide insight into their provenance, and through this enhance our appreciation of the exchange networks within which these shells moved. We also identify five different strategies documented in the archaeological record that were used to modify cowries, detailing how these can be differentiated and classified. The aim here is to suggest a recording strategy that will enable comparisons of the use and value of cowries in West Africa and more widely

A Detailed Observational Analysis of V1324 Sco, the Most Gamma-Ray Luminous Classical Nova to Date

It has recently been discovered that some, if not all, classical novae emit GeV gamma rays during outburst, but the mechanisms involved in the production of the gamma rays are still not well understood. We present here a comprehensive multi-wavelength dataset---from radio to X-rays---for the most gamma-ray luminous classical nova to-date, V1324 Sco. Using this dataset, we show that V1324 Sco is a canonical dusty Fe-II type nova, with a maximum ejecta velocity of 2600 km s$^{-1}$ and an ejecta mass of few $\times 10^{-5}$ M$_{\odot}$. There is also evidence for complex shock interactions, including a double-peaked radio light curve which shows high brightness temperatures at early times. To explore why V1324~Sco was so gamma-ray luminous, we present a model of the nova ejecta featuring strong internal shocks, and find that higher gamma-ray luminosities result from higher ejecta velocities and/or mass-loss rates. Comparison of V1324~Sco with other gamma-ray detected novae does not show clear signatures of either, and we conclude that a larger sample of similarly well-observed novae is needed to understand the origin and variation of gamma rays in novae.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figure

The catalytic subunit of the system L1 amino acid transporter (S<i>lc7a5</i>) facilitates nutrient signalling in mouse skeletal muscle

The System L1-type amino acid transporter mediates transport of large neutral amino acids (LNAA) in many mammalian cell-types. LNAA such as leucine are required for full activation of the mTOR-S6K signalling pathway promoting protein synthesis and cell growth. The SLC7A5 (LAT1) catalytic subunit of high-affinity System L1 functions as a glycoprotein-associated heterodimer with the multifunctional protein SLC3A2 (CD98). We generated a floxed Slc7a5 mouse strain which, when crossed with mice expressing Cre driven by a global promoter, produced Slc7a5 heterozygous knockout (Slc7a5+/-) animals with no overt phenotype, although homozygous global knockout of Slc7a5 was embryonically lethal. Muscle-specific (MCK Cre-mediated) Slc7a5 knockout (MS-Slc7a5-KO) mice were used to study the role of intracellular LNAA delivery by the SLC7A5 transporter for mTOR-S6K pathway activation in skeletal muscle. Activation of muscle mTOR-S6K (Thr389 phosphorylation) in vivo by intraperitoneal leucine injection was blunted in homozygous MS-Slc7a5-KO mice relative to wild-type animals. Dietary intake and growth rate were similar for MS-Slc7a5-KO mice and wild-type littermates fed for 10 weeks (to age 120 days) with diets containing 10%, 20% or 30% of protein. In MS-Slc7a5-KO mice, Leu and Ile concentrations in gastrocnemius muscle were reduced by ∼40% as dietary protein content was reduced from 30 to 10%. These changes were associated with >50% decrease in S6K Thr389 phosphorylation in muscles from MS-Slc7a5-KO mice, indicating reduced mTOR-S6K pathway activation, despite no significant differences in lean tissue mass between groups on the same diet. MS-Slc7a5-KO mice on 30% protein diet exhibited mild insulin resistance (e.g. reduced glucose clearance, larger gonadal adipose depots) relative to control animals. Thus, SLC7A5 modulates LNAA-dependent muscle mTOR-S6K signalling in mice, although it appears non-essential (or is sufficiently compensated by e.g. SLC7A8 (LAT2)) for maintenance of normal muscle mass

Gaia22dkvLb: A Microlensing Planet Potentially Accessible to Radial-Velocity Characterization

We report discovering an exoplanet from following up a microlensing event alerted by Gaia. The event Gaia22dkv is toward a nearby disk source at ~2.5 kpc rather than the traditional bulge microlensing fields. Our primary analysis yields a Jovian planet with M_p = 0.50 +/- 0.05 M_J at a projected orbital separation r_perp = 1.63 +/- 0.17 AU. The host is a turnoff star with mass 1.24 +/- 0.06 M_sun and distance of 1.35 +/- 0.09 kpc, and at r'~14, it is far brighter than any previously discovered microlensing planet host, opening up the opportunity of testing the microlensing model with radial velocity (RV) observations. RV data can be used to measure the planet's orbital period and eccentricity, and they also enable searching for inner planets of the microlensing cold Jupiter, as expected from the "inner-outer correlation" inferred from Kepler and RV discoveries. Furthermore, we show that Gaia astrometric microlensing will not only allow precise measurements of its angular Einstein radius theta_E, but also directly measure the microlens parallax vector and unambiguously break a geometric light-curve degeneracy, leading to definitive characterization of the lens system

Why health visiting? Examining the potential public health benefits from health visiting practice within a universal service: A narrative review of the literature

INTRODUCTION: There is increasing international interest in universal, health promoting services for pregnancy and the first three years of life and the concept of proportionate universalism. Drawing on a narrative review of literature, this paper explores mechanisms by which such services might contribute to health improvement and reducing health inequalities. OBJECTIVES: Through a narrative review of empirical literature, to identify: DESIGN: The paper draws upon a scoping study and narrative review. REVIEW METHODS: We used three complementary approaches to search the widely dispersed literature: Our key inclusion criterion was information about health visiting practice. We included empirical papers from United Kingdom (UK) from 2004 to February 2012 and older seminal papers identified in search (3), identifying a total of 348 papers for inclusion. A thematic content analysis compared the older (up to 2003) with more recent research (2004 onwards). RESULTS: The analysis revealed health visiting practice as potentially characterized by a particular 'orientation to practice.' This embodied the values, skills and attitudes needed to deliver universal health visiting services through salutogenesis (health creation), person-centredness (human valuing) and viewing the person in situation (human ecology). Research about health visiting actions focuses on home visiting, needs assessment and parent-health visitor relationships. The detailed description of health visitors' skills, attitudes, values, and their application in practice, provides an explanation of how universal provision can potentially help to promote health and shift the social gradient of health inequalities. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of needs across an undifferentiated, universal caseload, combined with an outreach style that enhances uptake of needed services and appropriate health or parenting information, creates opportunities for parents who may otherwise have remained unaware of, or unwilling to engage with such provision. There is a lack of evaluative research about health visiting practice, service organization or universal health visiting as potential mechanisms for promoting health and reducing health inequalities. This paper offers a potential foundation for such research in future