The Ursinus Weekly, March 7, 1949

Bruins place second in mat tourney • Cheating committee sets up new rules to stop offenders • Bullets take first; Helfferich and Cox gain Ursinus wins • Lantern lists Howard S. Lee for program of varied ballads • Hallelujah!!! Gaff gets highest rating in poll of readers • Arnold D. Graeffe to address forum audience on Thursday • Business group nears disaster; meeting called • Juniors to pick Ruby officers on Wednesday • Sophs planning week-end with hop as feature event • Sororities extending bids as week of rushing begins • Should Ursinus subsidize its athletes? • Hardworking publicity staff keeps Ursinus in limelight • Doggie roast, talk on China highlight week\u27s Y activities • Benefactors donate volumes and money to growing library • Ursinus grapplers pin PMC opponents to loss sheet 35-3 • Matmen, hoopsters force intramurals to sidelines • Cindermen to face \u27Fords on April 23 in season\u27s opener • Drexel swamps local mermaids, 42-15; Jay Vee team matches opponents, 27-27 • Bearettes nose out Garnet team 36-33, trim Beaver 26-20 • Court season closes with pair of defeats • Cox, Helfferich outstanding in MA tourney • Garnet, PMC to vie for league honors in Friday play-off • Powell, Pleet, Peterson receive honors on \u2748 MA soccer team • MSGA topics cover cheating, placement at Tuesday session • Orchestra and television highlight junior class affair • Curtain Club selects spring playhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1610/thumbnail.jp

An innovative in silico model of the oral mucosa reveals the impact of extracellular spaces on chemical permeation through epithelium

In pharmaceutical therapeutic design or toxicology, accurately predicting the permeation of chemicals through human epithelial tissues is crucial, where permeation is significantly influenced by the tissue's cellular architecture. Current mathematical models for multi-layered epithelium such as the oral mucosa only use simplistic 'bricks and mortar' geometries and therefore do not account for the complex cellular architecture of these tissues at the microscale level, such as the extensive plasma membrane convolutions that define the extracellular spaces between cells. Chemicals often permeate tissues via this paracellular route, meaning that permeation is underestimated. To address this, measurements of human buccal mucosal tissue were conducted to ascertain the width and tortuosity of extracellular spaces across the epithelium. Using mechanistic mathematical modelling, we show that the convoluted geometry of extracellular spaces significantly impacts chemical permeation and that this can be approximated, provided that extracellular tortuosity is accounted for. We next developed an advanced physically-relevant in silico model of oral mucosal chemical permeation using partial differential equations, fitted to chemical permeation in vitro assays on tissue-engineered human oral mucosa. Tissue geometries were measured and captured in silico, and permeation examined and predicted for chemicals with different physicochemical properties. The effect of altering the extracellular space to mimic permeation enhancers was also assessed by perturbing the in silico model. This novel in vitro-in silico approach has the potential to expedite pharmaceutical innovation for testing oromucosal chemical permeation, providing a more accurate, physiologically-relevant model which can reduce animal testing with early screening based on chemical properties

Improving response rates using a monetary incentive for patient completion of questionnaires: an observational study

Background: Poor response rates to postal questionnaires can introduce bias and reduce the statistical power of a study. To improve response rates in our trial in primary care we tested the effect of introducing an unconditional direct payment of 5 pound for the completion of postal questionnaires. Methods: We recruited patients in general practice with knee problems from sites across the United Kingdom. An evidence-based strategy was used to follow-up patients at twelve months with postal questionnaires. This included an unconditional direct payment of 5 pound to patients for the completion and return of questionnaires. The first 105 patients did not receive the 5 pound incentive, but the subsequent 442 patients did. We used logistic regression to analyse the effect of introducing a monetary incentive to increase the response to postal questionnaires. Results: The response rate following reminders for the historical controls was 78.1% ( 82 of 105) compared with 88.0% ( 389 of 442) for those patients who received the 5 pound payment (diff = 9.9%, 95% CI 2.3% to 19.1%). Direct payments significantly increased the odds of response ( adjusted odds ratio = 2.2, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.0, P = 0.009) with only 12 of 442 patients declining the payment. The incentive did not save costs to the trial - the extra cost per additional respondent was almost 50 pound. Conclusion: The direct payment of 5 pound significantly increased the completion of postal questionnaires at negligible increase in cost for an adequately powered study

Carbon dioxide and ocean acidification observations in UK waters. Synthesis report with a focus on 2010–2015

Key messages: 1.1 The process of ocean acidification is now relatively well-documented at the global scale as a long-term trend in the open ocean. However, short-term and spatial variability can be high. 1.2 New datasets made available since Charting Progress 2 make it possible to greatly improve the characterisation of CO2 and ocean acidification in UK waters. 3.1 Recent UK cruise data contribute to large gaps in national and global datasets. 3.2 The new UK measurements confirm that pH is highly variable, therefore it is important to measure consistently to determine any long term trends. 3.3 Over the past 30 years, North Sea pH has decreased at 0.0035±0.0014 pH units per year. 3.4 Upper ocean pH values are highest in spring, lowest in autumn. These changes reflect the seasonal cycles in photosynthesis, respiration (decomposition) and water mixing. 3.5 Carbonate saturation states are minimal in the winter, and lower in 7 more northerly, colder waters. This temperature-dependence could have implications for future warming of the seas. 3.6 Over the annual cycle, North-west European seas are net sinks of CO2. However, during late summer to autumn months, some coastal waters may be significant sources. 3.7 In seasonally-stratified waters, sea-floor organisms naturally experience lower pH and saturation states; they may therefore be more vulnerable to threshold changes. 3.8 Large pH changes (0.5 - 1.0 units) can occur in the top 1 cm of sediment; however, such effects are not well-documented. 3.9 A coupled forecast model estimates the decrease in pH trend within the North Sea to be -0.0036±0.00034 pH units per year, under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario (RCP 8.5). 3.10 Seasonal estimates from the forecast model demonstrate areas of the North Sea that are particularly vulnerable to aragonite undersaturation

Optimising use of electronic health records to describe the presentation of rheumatoid arthritis in primary care: a strategy for developing code lists

Background Research using electronic health records (EHRs) relies heavily on coded clinical data. Due to variation in coding practices, it can be difficult to aggregate the codes for a condition in order to define cases. This paper describes a methodology to develop ‘indicator markers’ found in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA); these are a broader range of codes which may allow a probabilistic case definition to use in cases where no diagnostic code is yet recorded. Methods We examined EHRs of 5,843 patients in the General Practice Research Database, aged ≥30y, with a first coded diagnosis of RA between 2005 and 2008. Lists of indicator markers for RA were developed initially by panels of clinicians drawing up code-lists and then modified based on scrutiny of available data. The prevalence of indicator markers, and their temporal relationship to RA codes, was examined in patients from 3y before to 14d after recorded RA diagnosis. Findings Indicator markers were common throughout EHRs of RA patients, with 83.5% having 2 or more markers. 34% of patients received a disease-specific prescription before RA was coded; 42% had a referral to rheumatology, and 63% had a test for rheumatoid factor. 65% had at least one joint symptom or sign recorded and in 44% this was at least 6-months before recorded RA diagnosis. Conclusion Indicator markers of RA may be valuable for case definition in cases which do not yet have a diagnostic code. The clinical diagnosis of RA is likely to occur some months before it is coded, shown by markers frequently occurring ≥6 months before recorded diagnosis. It is difficult to differentiate delay in diagnosis from delay in recording. Information concealed in free text may be required for the accurate identification of patients and to assess the quality of care in general practice

Preliminary Exploration of the Accuracy of Visual Evaluation in Estimating Actual Bruise-Trim Weight of Beef Carcasses

Carcass bruising results in economic loss to the beef industry and is an indicator of a potential animal-welfare concern. The industry relies on visual assessment to determine the prevalence of bruising and to estimate bruise size (weight). This study examines the accuracy of using visual assessment to estimate bruise-trim weight from beef carcasses in a commercial slaughter facility. The removed bruise trim from 105 beef carcasses (84 cow and 21 steer carcasses; hot carcass weight for a subsample [mean ± standard deviation] = 768 ± 157 lb) was visually assessed by one trained observer using a protocol adapted from the National Beef Quality Audit Bruise Key visual assessment tool, and a second observer weighed the bruise trim. These data were used to assess the accuracy of the visual assessment of trim off of a carcass. A total of 68.6% (95% confidence interval: 58.7%, 77.1%) of collected bruise-trim weights were assessed correctly using the modi- fied National Beef Quality Audit Bruise Size Key visual assessment. Because of a limited number of samples in several of the bruise-trim categories, there is not a clear trend in how accuracy of estimation changed with increased bruise weight. These findings suggest that visual assessment of bruise trim may not be providing an accurate estimate of bruise-trim weight. The development of training materials to aid in visual bruise weight/size assessment would be helpful for improving bruise estimates within the cattle industry

Mucus-responsive functionalized emulsions: design, synthesis and study of novel branched polymers as functional emulsifiers

Mucus lines the moist cavities throughout the body, acting as barrier by protecting the underlying cells against the external environment, but it also hinders the permeation of drugs and drug delivery systems. As the rate of diffusion is low, the development of a system which could increase retention time at the mucosal surface would prove beneficial. Here, we have designed a range of branched copolymers to act as functional mucus-responsive oil-in-water emulsifiers comprising the hydrophilic monomer oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate and a hydrophobic dodecyl initiator. The study aimed to investigate the importance of chain end functionality on successful emulsion formation, by systematically replacing a fraction of the hydrophobic chain ends with a secondary poly(ethylene glycol) based hydrophilic initiator in a mixed-initiation strategy; a decrease of up to 75 mole percent of hydrophobic chain ends within the branched polymer emulsifiers was shown to maintain comparative emulsion stability. These redundant chain ends allowed for functionality to be incorporated into the polymers via a xanthate based initiator containing a masked thiol group; thiol groups are known to have mucoadhesive character, due to their ability to form disulfide bonds with the cysteine rich areas of mucus. The mucoadhesive nature of emulsions stabilised by thiol-containing branched copolymers was compared to non-functional emulsions in the presence of a biosimilar mucosal substrate and enhanced adherence to the mucosal surface was observed. Importantly, droplet rupture and mucus triggered release of dye-containing oil was seen from previously highly-stable thiol-functional emulsions; this observation was not mirrored by non-functional emulsions where droplet integrity was maintained even in the presence of mucus

"Do I really want to do this?" Longitudinal cohort study participants' perspectives on postal survey design: a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Randomised controlled trials have investigated aspects of postal survey design yet cannot elaborate on reasons behind participants' decision making and survey behaviour. This paper reports participants' perspectives of the design of, and participation in, a longitudinal postal cohort survey. It describes strengths and weaknesses in study design from the perspectives of study participants and aims to contribute to the: 1) design of future cohort surveys and questionnaires generally and, 2) design of cohort surveys for people with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) specifically.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In-depth interviews explored the design of postal surveys previously completed by participants. Interviews used open ended questioning with a topic guide for prompts if areas of interest were not covered spontaneously. Thematic data analysis was undertaken based on the framework method. A second researcher verified all coding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data from fourteen interviews were analysed within three main themes; participation, survey design and survey content. One of the main findings was the importance of clear communication aimed at the correct audience both when inviting potential participants to take part and within the survey itself. Providing enough information about the study, having a topic of interest and an explanation of likely benefits of the study were important when inviting people to participate. The neutrality of the survey and origination from a reputable source were both important; as was an explanation about why information was being collected within the survey itself. Study findings included participants' impressions when invited to take part, why they participated, the acceptability of follow-up of non-responders and why participants completed the follow-up postal survey. Also discussed were participants' first impression of the survey, its length, presentation and participants' views about specific questions within the survey.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Ideas generated in this study provide an insight into participants' decision making and survey behaviour and may enhance the acceptability of future surveys to potential participants. As well as clear communication, participants valued incentives and survey questions that were relevant to them. However, opinions varied as to the preferred format for responses with some advising more opportunity for open-ended feedback. We also found that some standard format questions can raise quandaries for individual participants.</p

Developing and enhancing biodiversity monitoring programmes: a collaborative assessment of priorities

1.Biodiversity is changing at unprecedented rates, and it is increasingly important that these changes are quantified through monitoring programmes. Previous recommendations for developing or enhancing these programmes focus either on the end goals, that is the intended use of the data, or on how these goals are achieved, for example through volunteer involvement in citizen science, but not both. These recommendations are rarely prioritized. 2.We used a collaborative approach, involving 52 experts in biodiversity monitoring in the UK, to develop a list of attributes of relevance to any biodiversity monitoring programme and to order these attributes by their priority. We also ranked the attributes according to their importance in monitoring biodiversity in the UK. Experts involved included data users, funders, programme organizers and participants in data collection. They covered expertise in a wide range of taxa. 3.We developed a final list of 25 attributes of biodiversity monitoring schemes, ordered from the most elemental (those essential for monitoring schemes; e.g. articulate the objectives and gain sufficient participants) to the most aspirational (e.g. electronic data capture in the field, reporting change annually). This ordered list is a practical framework which can be used to support the development of monitoring programmes. 4.People's ranking of attributes revealed a difference between those who considered attributes with benefits to end users to be most important (e.g. people from governmental organizations) and those who considered attributes with greatest benefit to participants to be most important (e.g. people involved with volunteer biological recording schemes). This reveals a distinction between focussing on aims and the pragmatism in achieving those aims. 5.Synthesis and applications. The ordered list of attributes developed in this study will assist in prioritizing resources to develop biodiversity monitoring programmes (including citizen science). The potential conflict between end users of data and participants in data collection that we discovered should be addressed by involving the diversity of stakeholders at all stages of programme development. This will maximize the chance of successfully achieving the goals of biodiversity monitoring programmes