85 research outputs found
Gaps to bridge: Misalignment between perception, reality and actions in obesity
Aims
Despite increased recognition as a chronic disease, obesity remains greatly underdiagnosed and undertreated. We aimed to identify international perceptions, attitudes, behaviours and barriers to effective obesity care in people with obesity (PwO) and healthcare professionals (HCPs).
Materials and methods
An online survey was conducted in 11 countries. Participants were adults with obesity and HCPs who were primarily concerned with direct patient care.
Results
A total of 14â502 PwO and 2785 HCPs completed the survey. Most PwO (68%) and HCPs (88%) agreed that obesity is a disease. However, 81% of PwO assumed complete responsibility for their own weight loss and only 44% of HCPs agreed that genetics were a barrier. There was a median of three (mean, six) years between the time PwO began struggling with excess weight or obesity and when they first discussed their weight with an HCP. Many PwO were concerned about the impact of excess weight on health (46%) and were motivated to lose weight (48%). Most PwO (68%) would like their HCP to initiate a conversation about weight and only 3% were offended by such a conversation. Among HCPs, belief that patients have little interest in or motivation for weight management may constitute a barrier for weight management conversations. When discussed, HCPs typically recommended lifestyle changes; however, more referrals and followâup appointments are required.
Conclusions
Our international dataset reveals a need to increase understanding of obesity and improve education concerning its physiological basis and clinical management. Realization that PwO are motivated to lose weight offers an opportunity for HCPs to initiate earlier weight management conversations
The impact of changing the diagnostic algorithm for TB in Manicaland, Zimbabwe.
SETTING: Governmental health facilities performing TB diagnostics in Manicaland, Zimbabwe. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of making XpertÂź MTB/RIF the primary TB diagnostic for all patients presenting with presumptive TB on 1) the number of samples investigated for TB, 2) the proportion testing TB-positive, and 3) the proportion of unsuccessful results over time. DESIGN: This retrospective study used data from GeneX-pert downloads, laboratory registers and quality assurance reports between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2018. RESULTS: The total number of Xpert tests performed in Manicaland increased from 3,967 in the first quarter of 2017 to 7,011 in the last quarter of 2018. Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA was detected in 4.9-8.6% of the samples investigated using Xpert, with a higher yield in 2017 than in 2018. The overall proportion of unsuccessful Xpert assays due to "no results", errors and invalid results was 6.3%, and highly variable across sites. CONCLUSION: Roll out of more sensitive TB diagnostics does not necessarily result in an increase of microbiologically confirmed TB diagnosis. While the number of samples tested using Xpert increased, the proportion of TB-positive tests decreased. GeneXpert soft- and hardware infrastructure needs to be strengthened to reduce the rate of unsuccessful assays and therefore, costs and staff time
Purinergic signalling and immune cells
This review article provides a historical perspective on the role of purinergic signalling in the regulation of various subsets of immune cells from early discoveries to current understanding. It is now recognised that adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and other nucleotides are released from cells following stress or injury. They can act on virtually all subsets of immune cells through a spectrum of P2X ligand-gated ion channels and G protein-coupled P2Y receptors. Furthermore, ATP is rapidly degraded into adenosine by ectonucleotidases such as CD39 and CD73, and adenosine exerts additional regulatory effects through its own receptors. The resulting effect ranges from stimulation to tolerance depending on the amount and time courses of nucleotides released, and the balance between ATP and adenosine. This review identifies the various receptors involved in the different subsets of immune cells and their effects on the function of these cells
Updated measurements of exclusive J/Ï and Ï(2S) production cross-sections in pp collisions at âs = 7 TeV
The differential cross-section as a function of rapidity has been measured for the exclusive production of J/Ï and Ï(2S) mesons in protonâproton collisions at âs = 7 TeV, using data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 930 pbâ1. The cross-sections times branching fractions to two muons having pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.5 are measured to be where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The measurements agree with next-to-leading order QCD predictions as well as with models that include saturation effects
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Combination of inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section measurements using ATLAS and CMS data at = 7 and 8 TeV
A preprint version of this article is available at arXiv:2205.13830v2 [hep-ex], https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.13830 . Submission istory: [v2] Tue, 5 Sep 2023 12:43:58 UTC (484 KB). Comments: 59 pages in total, author lists starting at page 24, 4 figures, 6 tables. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/TOPQ-2018-39 and at https://cms-results.web.cern.ch/cms-results/public-results/publications/TOP-18-014/index.html . Report number: CERN-EP-2021-222.A combination of measurements of the inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section performed by ATLAS and CMS in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV at the LHC is presented. The cross-sections are obtained using top-quark pair decays with an opposite-charge electron-muon pair in the final state and with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 5 fbâ1 at âs = 7 TeV and about 20 fbâ1 at âs = 8 TeV for each experiment. The combined cross-sections are determined to be 178.5±4.7 pb at âs = 7 TeV and 243.3+6.0â5.9 pb at âs = 8 TeV with a correlation of 0.41, using a reference top-quark mass value of 172.5 GeV. The ratio of the combined cross-sections is determined to be R8/7=1.363±0.032. The combined measured cross-sections and their ratio agree well with theory calculations using several parton distribution function (PDF) sets. The values of the top-quark pole mass (with the strong coupling fixed at 0.118) and the strong coupling (with the top-quark pole mass fixed at 172.5 GeV) are extracted from the combined results by fitting a next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-log QCD prediction to the measurements. Using a version of the NNPDF3.1 PDF set containing no top-quark measurements, the results obtained are mpolet=173.4+1.8â2.0 GeV and αs(mZ)=0.1170+0.0021â0.0018.SCOAP3
Studies of beauty baryon decays to D0phâ and Î+châ final states
Decays of beauty baryons to the D0phâ and Î+châ final states (where h indicates a pion or a kaon) are studied using a data sample of pp collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0ââfbâ1, collected by the LHCb detector. The Cabibbo-suppressed decays Î0bâD0pKâ and Î0bâÎ+cKâ are observed, and their branching fractions are measured with respect to the decays Î0bâD0pÏâ and Î0bâÎ+cÏâ. In addition, the first observation is reported of the decay of the neutral beauty-strange baryon Î0b to the D0pKâ final state, and a measurement of the Î0b mass is performed. Evidence of the Î0bâÎ+cKâ decay is also reported
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