Blood markers for cancer

Cancer Research UKNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR)Policy Research Unit in Cancer Awareness, Screening and Early DiagnosisDepartment of Healt

Assessing connectivity between an overlying aquifer and a coal seam gas resource using methane isotopes, dissolved organic carbon and tritium

Coal seam gas (CSG) production can have an impact on groundwater quality and quantity in adjacent or overlying aquifers. To assess this impact we need to determine the background groundwater chemistry and to map geological pathways of hydraulic connectivity between aquifers. In south-east Queensland (Qld), Australia, a globally important CSG exploration and production province, we mapped hydraulic connectivity between the Walloon Coal Measures (WCM, the target formation for gas production) and the overlying Condamine River Alluvial Aquifer (CRAA), using groundwater methane (CH4) concentration and isotopic composition (δ13C-CH4), groundwater tritium (3H) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration. A continuous mobile CH4 survey adjacent to CSG developments was used to determine the source signature of CH4 derived from the WCM. Trends in groundwater δ13C-CH4 versus CH4 concentration, in association with DOC concentration and 3H analysis, identify locations where CH4 in the groundwater of the CRAA most likely originates from the WCM. The methodology is widely applicable in unconventional gas development regions worldwide for providing an early indicator of geological pathways of hydraulic connectivity

Targeted encouragement of GP consultations for possible cancer symptoms: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: For some common cancers, survival is lower in the UK than in comparable high-income countries. AIM: To assess the effectiveness of a targeted postal intervention (to promote awareness of cancer symptoms and earlier help seeking) on patient consultation rates. DESIGN AND SETTING: A two-arm randomised controlled trial was carried out on patients aged 50-84 years registered at 23 general practices in rural and urban areas of Greater London, Greater Manchester, and the North East of England. METHOD: Patients who had not had a consultation at their general practice in the previous 12 months and had at least two other risk factors for late presentation with cancer were randomised to intervention and control arms. The intervention consisted of a posted letter and leaflet. Primary outcome was the number of consultations at the practice with patients randomised to each arm in the 6 months subsequent to posting the intervention. All patients with outcome data were included in the intention-to-treat analyses. RESULTS: In total, 1513 patients were individually randomised to the intervention (n = 783) and control (n = 730) arms between Nov 2016 - May 2017; outcome data were available for 749 and 705 patients, respectively, with a statistically significantly higher rate of consultation in the intervention arm compared with the control arm: 436 versus 335 consultations (relative risk 1.40, 95% confidence interval = 1.11 to 1.77, P = 0.004). There was, however, no difference in the numbers of patients consulting. CONCLUSION: Targeted interventions of this nature can change behaviour; there is a need to develop interventions that can be more effective at engaging patients with primary care. This study demonstrates that targeted interventions promoting both awareness of possible cancer symptoms and earlier health seeking, can change behaviour. There is a need to develop and test interventions that can be more effective at engaging the most at-risk patients

A Suborbital Payload for Soft X-ray Spectroscopy of Extended Sources

We present a suborbital rocket payload capable of performing soft X-ray spectroscopy on extended sources. The payload can reach resolutions of ~100(lambda/dlambda) over sources as large as 3.25 degrees in diameter in the 17-107 angstrom bandpass. This permits analysis of the overall energy balance of nearby supernova remnants and the detailed nature of the diffuse soft X-ray background. The main components of the instrument are: wire grid collimators, off-plane grating arrays and gaseous electron multiplier detectors. This payload is adaptable to longer duration orbital rockets given its comparatively simple pointing and telemetry requirements and an abundance of potential science targets.Comment: Accepted to Experimental Astronomy, 12 pages plus 1 table and 17 figure

Impact of Financial Incentives on Alcohol Consumption Recording in Primary Health Care Among Adults with Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses: A Cross-Sectional and Retrospective Cohort Study

AIMS: Lack of financial incentive is a frequently cited barrier to alcohol screening in primary care. The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) pay for performance scheme has reimbursed UK primary care practices for alcohol screening in people with schizophrenia since April 2011. This study aimed to determine the impact of financial incentives on alcohol screening by comparing rates of alcohol recording in people with versus those without schizophrenia between 2000 and 2013. METHODS: Cross-sectional and retrospective cohort study. Alcohol data were extracted from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database of UK primary care records using (a) Read Codes for level of alcohol consumption, (b) continuous measures of drinking (e.g. units a week) and (c) Read Codes for types of screening test. RESULTS: A total of 14,860 individuals (54% (8068) men and 46% (6792) women) from 409 general practices aged 18-99 years with schizophrenia were identified during April 2011-March 2013. Of these, 11,585 (78%) had an alcohol record, of which 99% (8150/8257) of Read Codes for level of consumption were eligible for recompense in the QOF. There was an 839% increase in alcohol recording among people with schizophrenia over the 13-year period (rate ratio per annum increase 1.19 (95% CI 1.18-1.20)) compared with a 62% increase among people without a severe mental illness (rate ratio per annum increase 1.04 (95% CI 1.03-1.05)). CONCLUSION: Financial incentives offered by the QOF appear to have a substantial impact on alcohol screening among people with schizophrenia in UK primary care. SHORT SUMMARY: Alcohol screening among people with schizophrenia increased dramatically in primary health care following the introduction of the UK pay for performance incentive scheme (Quality and Outcomes Framework) for severe mental illness, with an 839% rise (>8-fold increase) compared with a 62% increase among people without a over the 13-year study period (2000-2013)

Flood realities, perceptions, and the depth of divisions on climate

Research has led to broad agreement among scientists that anthropogenic climate change is happening now and likely to worsen. In contrast to scientific agreement, US public views remain deeply divided, largely along ideological lines. Science communication has been neutralised in some arenas by intense counter-messaging, but as adverse climate impacts become manifest they might intervene more persuasively in local perceptions. We look for evidence of this occurring with regard to realities and perceptions of flooding in the northeastern US state of New Hampshire. Although precipitation and flood damage have increased, with ample news coverage, most residents do not see a trend. Nor do perceptions about past and future local flooding correlate with regional impacts or vulnerability. Instead, such perceptions follow ideological patterns resembling those of global climate change. That information about the physical world can be substantially filtered by ideology is a common finding from sociological environment/society research

Pathogenesis of scrapie in ARQ/ARQ sheep after subcutaneous infection: effect of lymphadenectomy and immune cell subset changes in relation to prion protein accumulation.

Although it is well established that the infectious agent can replicate in the lymphoreticular system (LRS) early after inoculation, the information on pathways or cells involved in the dissemination of scrapie from the point of inoculation is limited. In order to gain a better understanding on these mechanisms 16 ARQ/ARQ, polymorphic or non polymorphic Suffolk or Romney lambs were inoculated subcutaneously with a Suffolk scrapie brain homogenate in the drainage area of the prefemoral lymph node. Fourteen lambs were then either subjected to early or late surgical removal of the prefemoral lymph nodes or not subjected to lymphadectomy and used as positive controls. Eleven animals were culled at a preclinical stage of the disease, and only 5, including 2 positive controls, were killed after reaching clinical end point. Of 5 polymorphic animals killed at preclinical stages of infection, two did not show any evidence of infection, two showed little involvement of LRS tissues and little or none in brain, and one showed widespread LRS involvement but mild PrPd accumulation in the CNS. This was in contrast with the findings in non-polymorphic sheep which, at comparable dpi, showed a complete attack rate with widespread PrPd accumulation in LRS tissues and many of them also in the CNS. The only polymorphic sheep left to develop clinical signs reached enpoint with a more protracted incubation period than the non-polymorphic sheep, but with similar PrPd magnitudes in the LRS or brain. The only change that appears to be related to PrPd accumulation in the LNs is the increase in CD21+ cells indistinctly in polymorphic or polymorphic animals

Neurobehavioral consequences of chronic intrauterine opioid exposure in infants and preschool children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<b>Background</b><p></p> It is assumed within the accumulated literature that children born of pregnant opioid dependent mothers have impaired neurobehavioral function as a consequence of chronic intrauterine opioid use.<p></p> <b>Methods</b><p></p> Quantitative and systematic review of the literature on the consequences of chronic maternal opioid use during pregnancy on neurobehavioral function of children was conducted using the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We searched Cinahl, EMBASE, PsychINFO and MEDLINE between the periods of January 1995 to January 2012.<p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> There were only 5 studies out of the 200 identified that quantitatively reported on neurobehavioral function of children after maternal opioid use during pregnancy. All 5 were case control studies with the number of exposed subjects within the studies ranging from 33–143 and 45–85 for the controls. This meta-analysis showed no significant impairments, at a non-conservative significance level of p < 0.05, for cognitive, psychomotor or observed behavioural outcomes for chronic intra-uterine exposed infants and pre-school children compared to non-exposed infants and children. However, all domains suggested a trend to poor outcomes in infants/children of opioid using mothers. The magnitude of all possible effects was small according to Cohen’s benchmark criteria.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b><p></p> Chronic intra-uterine opioid exposed infants and pre-school children experienced no significant impairment in neurobehavioral outcomes when compared to non-exposed peers, although in all domains there was a trend to poorer outcomes. The findings of this review are limited by the small number of studies analysed, the heterogenous populations and small numbers within the individual studies. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine if any neuropsychological impairments appear after the age of 5 years and to help investigate further the role of environmental risk factors on the effect of ‘core’ phenotypes