Biospectroscopy investigations Into cervical cytology

Local treatment for cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) involves the removal of the affected part of the tissue and is >95% effective in preventing re-invasive disease. However, removal of part of the cervix is linked to significant adverse sequelae, including preterm birth; with cone depth and radicality of treatment correlating to the frequency and severity of adverse events. Since pre-treatment cervix length vary amongst women, the percentage of cervix excised may correlate more accurately to risk than absolute dimensions. Attenuated total reflectance, Fourier-transform infra-red (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy detected that treatment for CIN significantly alters the biochemical fingerprint in the cervix, compared with women who have not had treatment; this is due to the excision of cervical tissue rather than a disease controlling effect. However, the spectra did not correlate to the cone depth or proportion of cervical length excised. Post-hoc analyses of patient characteristics found that spectral absorbance was different for treated women according to whether they were current/non-smokers; nulliparous/parous; by luteal/follicular phase; and by combined oral contraceptive pill use; these patient characteristics are likely to have affected the excisional outcomes. As traditional IR techniques are limited by the effect of diffraction of ~3 μm to 30 μm, we assessed the potential of scanning near-field optical microscopy in combination with an IR free electron laser (SNOM-IR-FEL), in determining the biophysical properties of abnormal cervical cells. SNOM-IR-FEL is able to distinguish between normal and various grades of cervical abnormalities at designated wavelengths associated with DNA, amides I and II and lipids, at spatial resolutions below the diffraction limit (≥0.2 μm)

Substance use and Intimate Partner Abuse (IPA):A descriptive model of the pathways between substance use and IPA perpetration for men

Intimate partner abuse (IPA) is a pervasive public health and human rights issue disproportionately affecting women. There is a complex link between IPA and substance use; substance use can increase both the frequency and severity of IPA. Pathway models have been applied to explore heterogeneous trajectories into other behaviours and to identify areas for intervention. This approach has not previously been applied in the area of substance use and IPA. Inductive thematic analysis of 37 interviews with heterosexual men aged 28-52 who had reported previous IPA perpetration was conducted. Men were recruited from alcohol and drug services across two areas of England. Three groupings of pathways into substance use-related IPA were generated: 1) Rule Breaking Pathway (n = 11); 2) Entrenched Substance Use Pathway (n = 13); and 3) Relationship Insecurity Pathway (n = 13). Across the three groupings of pathways, the men's childhood and early experiences led to different journeys into SU-related IPA (abuse that was associated with intoxication, withdrawal, acquisition and substance use lifestyle). Each pathway presented differently with varying core features, for example core features of generalised violence, mental health or jealousy, and different predisposing background factors, including types and timing of childhood abuse and trauma. Adopting a pathways approach drawing on principles of equifinality and multifinality can improve understanding of heterogeneity in men who perpetrate IPA and use substances and propose treatment/intervention targets

Substance Use and Intimate Partner Abuse (IPA): A Descriptive Model of the Pathways Between Substance Use and IPA Perpetration for Men

Intimate partner abuse (IPA) is a pervasive public health and human rights issue disproportionately affecting women. There is a complex link between IPA and substance use; substance use can increase both the frequency and severity of IPA. Pathway models have been applied to explore heterogeneous trajectories into other behaviours and to identify areas for intervention. This approach has not previously been applied in the area of substance use and IPA. Inductive thematic analysis of 37 interviews with heterosexual men aged 28-52 who had reported previous IPA perpetration was conducted. Men were recruited from alcohol and drug services across two areas of England. Three groupings of pathways into substance use-related IPA were generated: 1) Rule Breaking Pathway (n = 11); 2) Entrenched Substance Use Pathway (n = 13); and 3) Relationship Insecurity Pathway (n = 13). Across the three groupings of pathways, the men's childhood and early experiences led to different journeys into SU-related IPA (abuse that was associated with intoxication, withdrawal, acquisition and substance use lifestyle). Each pathway presented differently with varying core features, for example core features of generalised violence, mental health or jealousy, and different predisposing background factors, including types and timing of childhood abuse and trauma. Adopting a pathways approach drawing on principles of equifinality and multifinality can improve understanding of heterogeneity in men who perpetrate IPA and use substances and propose treatment/intervention targets

The feasibility of delivering the ADVANCE digital intervention to reduce intimate partner abuse by men receiving substance use treatment:protocol for a non-randomised multi-centre feasibility study and embedded process evaluation

BACKGROUND: Compared to men in the general population, men in substance use treatment are more likely to perpetrate intimate partner abuse (IPA). The ADVANCE group intervention for men in substance use treatment is tailored to address substance use and IPA in an integrated way. In a feasibility trial pre-COVID, men who received the ADVANCE intervention via face-to-face group delivery showed reductions in IPA perpetration. Due to COVID-19, ADVANCE was adapted for remote digital delivery. METHODS/DESIGN: This mixed-methods non-randomised feasibility study, with a nested process evaluation, will explore the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the ADVANCE digital intervention to men in substance use treatment who have perpetrated IPA towards a female partner in the past year. Sixty men will be recruited from seven substance use treatment services in Great Britain. The ADVANCE digital intervention comprises a preparatory one-to-one session with a facilitator to set goals, develop a personal safety plan, and increase motivation and a preparatory online group to prepare men for taking part in the intervention. The core intervention comprises six fortnightly online group sessions and 12 weekly self-directed website sessions to recap and practise skills learned in the online group sessions. Each website session is followed by a one-to-one video/phone coaching session with a facilitator. Men will also receive their usual substance use treatment. Men’s female (ex) partners will be invited to provide outcome data and offered support from integrated safety services (ISS). Outcome measures for men and women will be sought post intervention (approximately 4 months post male baseline interview). Feasibility parameters to be estimated include eligibility, suitability, consent, recruitment, attendance, retention and follow-up rates. In-depth interviews or focus groups will explore the intervention’s acceptability to participants, facilitators and ISS workers. A secondary focus of the study will estimate pre-post-differences in outcome measures covering substance use, IPA, mental health, self-management, health and social care service use, criminal justice contacts and quality of life. DISCUSSION: Findings will inform the design of a multicentre randomised controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the ADVANCE digital intervention for reducing IPA. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The feasibility study was prospectively registered: ISRCTN66619273

Autonomous and Lagrangian ocean observations for Atlantic tropical cyclone studies and forecasts

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 30, no. 2 (2017): 92–103, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2017.227.The tropical Atlantic basin is one of seven global regions where tropical cyclones (TCs) commonly originate, intensify, and affect highly populated coastal areas. Under appropriate atmospheric conditions, TC intensification can be linked to upper-ocean properties. Errors in Atlantic TC intensification forecasts have not been significantly reduced during the last 25 years. The combined use of in situ and satellite observations, particularly of temperature and salinity ahead of TCs, has the potential to improve the representation of the ocean, more accurately initialize hurricane intensity forecast models, and identify areas where TCs may intensify. However, a sustained in situ ocean observing system in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea dedicated to measuring subsurface temperature, salinity, and density fields in support of TC intensity studies and forecasts has yet to be designed and implemented. Autonomous and Lagrangian platforms and sensors offer cost-effective opportunities to accomplish this objective. Here, we highlight recent efforts to use autonomous platforms and sensors, including surface drifters, profiling floats, underwater gliders, and dropsondes, to better understand air-sea processes during high-wind events, particularly those geared toward improving hurricane intensity forecasts. Real-time data availability is key for assimilation into numerical weather forecast models.The NOAA/AOML component of this work was originally funded by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, also known as the Sandy Supplemental, and is currently funded through NOAA research grant NA14OAR4830103 by AOML and CARICOOS, as well as NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). The TEMPESTS component of this work is supported by NOAA through the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (NA13OAR4830233) with additional analysis support from the WHOI Summer Student Fellowship Program, Nortek Student Equipment Grant, and the Rutgers University Teledyne Webb Graduate Student Fellowship Program. The drifter component of this work is funded through NOAA grant NA15OAR4320071(11.432) in support of the Global Drifter Program

Funny walking : the rise, fall and rise of the Anglo-American comic eccentric dancer

This article will attempt to reposition comic eccentric dance as a metamorphic form that still, surprisingly, exists, and is to be found with reasonable ubiquity, in renewed incarna-tions within twenty first century media. Tracing the origins of comic eccentric dance through examples of earlier comedy performance, and drawing from Bergson’s comic theory of body misalliance, this article will dis-cuss this particularly ludic fusion of music and comedy. Further changes to the form affected by modernist preoccupations during the new Jazz Age at the turn of the twentieth century will be suggested. Finally, ways in which the formulation lives on in twenty-first century in-carnations in the comedy work of, for instance, Jimmy Fallon and Ricky Gervase, and in popular television shows such as Strictly Come Dancing (BBC 2004 - ) and Britain’s Got Talent (ITV 2006 - ) will be posited

Patterns of ongoing thought in the real world

Health and well-being are impacted by our thoughts and the things we do. In the laboratory, studies suggest specific task contexts impact thought processes. More broadly, this suggests the people we are with, the places we are in, and the activities we perform may influence our thought patterns. In our study, participants completed experience sampling surveys for five days in daily life. Principal component analysis decomposed this data to identify common “patterns of thought,” and linear mixed modelling related these patterns to the participants’ activities. Our study replicated the influence of socializing on patterns of thought and established that this is part of a broader set of relationships linking activities to how thoughts are organized in daily life. Our study suggests sampling thinking in the real world may help map thoughts to activities, and these “thought-activity” mappings could be useful to researchers and health care professionals interested in health and well-being

Ocean observations in support of studies and forecasts of tropical and extratropical cyclones

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Domingues, R., Kuwano-Yoshida, A., Chardon-Maldonado, P., Todd, R. E., Halliwell, G., Kim, H., Lin, I., Sato, K., Narazaki, T., Shay, L. K., Miles, T., Glenn, S., Zhang, J. A., Jayne, S. R., Centurioni, L., Le Henaff, M., Foltz, G. R., Bringas, F., Ali, M. M., DiMarco, S. F., Hosoda, S., Fukuoka, T., LaCour, B., Mehra, A., Sanabia, E. R., Gyakum, J. R., Dong, J., Knaff, J. A., & Goni, G. Ocean observations in support of studies and forecasts of tropical and extratropical cyclones. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 446, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00446.Over the past decade, measurements from the climate-oriented ocean observing system have been key to advancing the understanding of extreme weather events that originate and intensify over the ocean, such as tropical cyclones (TCs) and extratropical bomb cyclones (ECs). In order to foster further advancements to predict and better understand these extreme weather events, a need for a dedicated observing system component specifically to support studies and forecasts of TCs and ECs has been identified, but such a system has not yet been implemented. New technologies, pilot networks, targeted deployments of instruments, and state-of-the art coupled numerical models have enabled advances in research and forecast capabilities and illustrate a potential framework for future development. Here, applications and key results made possible by the different ocean observing efforts in support of studies and forecasts of TCs and ECs, as well as recent advances in observing technologies and strategies are reviewed. Then a vision and specific recommendations for the next decade are discussed.This study was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Numbers: JP17K19093, JP16K12591, and JP16H01846)

TLR9 expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia identifies a promigratory subpopulation and novel therapeutic target

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains incurable despite B-cell receptor–targeted inhibitors revolutionizing treatment. This suggests that other signaling molecules are involved in disease escape mechanisms and resistance. Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) is a promising candidate that is activated by unmethylated cytosine guanine dinucleotide–DNA. Here, we show that plasma from patients with CLL contains significantly more unmethylated DNA than plasma from healthy control subjects (P < .0001) and that cell-free DNA levels correlate with the prognostic markers CD38, β(2)-microglobulin, and lymphocyte doubling time. Furthermore, elevated cell-free DNA was associated with shorter time to first treatment (hazard ratio, 4.0; P = .003). We also show that TLR9 expression was associated with in vitro CLL cell migration (P < .001), and intracellular endosomal TLR9 strongly correlated with aberrant surface expression (sTLR9; r = 0.9). In addition, lymph node–derived CLL cells exhibited increased sTLR9 (P = .016), and RNA-sequencing of paired sTLR9(hi) and sTLR9(lo) CLL cells revealed differential transcription of genes involved in TLR signaling, adhesion, motility, and inflammation in sTLR9(hi) cells. Mechanistically, a TLR9 agonist, ODN2006, promoted CLL cell migration (P < .001) that was mediated by p65 NF-κB and STAT3 transcription factor activation. Importantly, autologous plasma induced the same effects, which were reversed by a TLR9 antagonist. Furthermore, high TLR9 expression promoted engraftment and rapid disease progression in a NOD/Shi-scid/IL-2Rγ(null) mouse xenograft model. Finally, we showed that dual targeting of TLR9 and Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) was strongly synergistic (median combination index, 0.2 at half maximal effective dose), which highlights the distinct role for TLR9 signaling in CLL and the potential for combined targeting of TLR9 and BTK as a more effective treatment strategy in this incurable disease

Electron transfer from the hydroxide ion to a carbon-carbon triple bond

A one-electron transfer from the hydroxide ion to the electron acceptor p-nitrotolan was studied in aqueous dimethylsulfoxide by means of visible spectroscopy and electron spin resonance techniques. The possibility of initial nucleophilic attack followed by electron transfer from the carbanion so formed was eliminated. The analogous reaction of methoxide with p-nitrotolan was briefly examined.Science, Faculty ofChemistry, Department ofGraduat