Young carers in England: findings from the 2018 BBC survey on the prevalence and nature of caring among young people

Background Many young people are involved in caring for parents, siblings, or other relatives who have an illness or disability. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of caring by young people in England. Method A national survey of 925 English young people was conducted using the 18‐item survey version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Caring Activities Checklist for Young Carers. Results Around 7% of young people were identified as doing at least a high amount of caring activity and 3% a very high amount. Most frequently, caring by a young person is for a mother or a sibling, with a physical disability. Caring activity consisted mostly of domestic activities, household management, and emotional care. Conclusion This study provides the most up to date and methodologically sophisticated survey data on the prevalence of young caring in England, with implications for policy and practice

FlaA1, a New Bifunctional UDP-GlcNAc C6Dehydratase/ C4 Reductase from Helicobacter pylori

FlaA1 is a small soluble protein of unknown function in Helicobacter pylori. It has homologues that are essential for the virulence of numerous medically relevant bacteria. FlaA1 was overexpressed as a histidine-tagged protein and purified to homogeneity by nickel chelation and cation exchange chromatography. Spectrophotometric assays, capillary electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry analyses showed that FlaA1 is a novel bifunctional C(6) dehydratase/C(4) reductase specific for UDP-GlcNAc. It converts UDP-GlcNAc into a UDP-4-keto-6-methyl-GlcNAc intermediate, which is stereospecifically reduced into UDP-QuiNAc. Substrate conversions as high as 80% were obtained at equilibrium. The K(m) and V(max) for UDP-GlcNAc were 159 microm and 65 pmol/min, respectively. No exogenous cofactor was required to obtain full activity of FlaA1. Additional NADH was only used with poor efficiency for the reduction step. The biochemical characterization of FlaA1 is important for the elucidation of biosynthetic pathways that lead to the formation of 2,6-deoxysugars in medically relevant bacteria. It establishes unambiguously the first step of the pathway and provides the means of preparing the substrate UDP-QuiNAc, which is necessary for the study of downstream enzymes

A Parameterized Galaxy Catalog Simulator for Testing Cluster Finding, Mass Estimation, and Photometric Redshift Estimation in Optical and Near-infrared Surveys

We present a galaxy catalog simulator that converts N -body simulations with halo and subhalo catalogs into mock, multiband photometric catalogs. The simulator assigns galaxy properties to each subhalo in a way that reproduces the observed cluster galaxy halo occupation distribution, the radial and mass-dependent variation in fractions of blue galaxies, the luminosity functions in the cluster and the field, and the color-magnitude relation in clusters. Moreover, the evolution of these parameters is tuned to match existing observational constraints. Parameterizing an ensemble of cluster galaxy properties enables us to create mock catalogs with variations in those properties, which in turn allows us to quantify the sensitivity of cluster finding to current observational uncertainties in these properties. Field galaxies are sampled from existing multiband photometric surveys of similar depth. We present an application of the catalog simulator to characterize the selection function and contamination of a galaxy cluster finder that utilizes the cluster red sequence together with galaxy clustering on the sky. We estimate systematic uncertainties in the selection to be at the ≤15% level with current observational constraints on cluster galaxy populations and their evolution. We find the contamination in this cluster finder to be ~35% to redshift z ~ 0.6. In addition, we use the mock galaxy catalogs to test the optical mass indicator B gc and a red-sequence redshift estimator. We measure the intrinsic scatter of the B gc -mass relation to be approximately log normal with ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/0004-637X/747/1/58/apj417488ieqn1.gif] {\sigma _{\log _{10M\sim 0.25 and we demonstrate photometric redshift accuracies for massive clusters at the ~3% level out to z ~ 0.7.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98548/1/0004-637X_747_1_58.pd

Venous Thromboembolic Disease in Trauma and Surveillance Ultrasonography

Background. The literature reports a wide variation in the incidence of venous thromboembolic (VTE) disease in trauma patients. The performance of routine surveillance venous duplex ultrasound of bilateral lower extremities is controversial. Furthermore, recent examinations of the national trauma databank registry have suggested that routine duplex surveillance is associated with higher deep venous thrombosis (DVT) detection rates. Materials and Methods. We examined the incidence and risk factors for VTE disease in 2827 trauma patients admitted over a 2-y period to a state-verified level I trauma center. Detailed chart review was carried out for patients with VTE disease. We then evaluated the effects of a routine bilateral lower extremity duplex surveillance guideline on VTE detection in the subset of injury patients admitted to the trauma service. Results. We found an approximately 2% incidence of venous thromboembolic disease in a mostly blunt trauma population. Amongst patients with VTE disease, the most common risk factors were obesity and significant head injury. We then evaluated the 998 patients with injury who were admitted to the trauma service 1 y before and after surveillance guideline implementation. Despite a nearly 5-fold increase in the number of duplex scans, with a substantial increase in cost, we found no significant difference in the incidence of DVT. Conclusions. Our preliminary data argue against the use of routine duplex surveillance of lower extremities for DVT in trauma patients. A larger, prospective analysis is necessary to confirm these findings

Epithelioid Glioblastoma Presenting as Aphasia in a Young Adult with Ovarian Cancer: A Case Report

Background: Epithelioid glioblastoma (eGBM) is a recent addition to the World Health Organization’s classification of central nervous system (CNS) tumors. This rare lesion has a predilection for younger patients, can mimic metastatic disease on preoperative imaging and intraoperative pathology, and portends a poor prognosis due to propensity for leptomeningeal dissemination. Case Description: We discuss a case of a young woman with a history of ovarian cancer who presented with seizure and a new ring-enhancing left temporal brain lesion. The patient underwent gross-total surgical resection of this lesion, during which frozen section suggested metastasis. However, pathologic interrogation showed pleomorphic epithelioid cells and glial fibrillary acid positivity, suggesting eGBM. The patient has since completed radiotherapy and six-month post-operative imaging has not revealed recurrence or leptomeningeal dissemination. Conclusion: Our patient\u27s clinical history and pre-operative radiographic evaluation suggested CNS metastatic disease. Ultimately, final pathology revealed eGBM, a newly classified CNS primary tumor. This reinforces the importance of direct tissue sampling and including eGBM on the differential for young patients with histories of systemic cancer presenting with new CNS lesions

Oligosaccharides from placenta: early diagnosis of feline mannosidosis

AbstractHigh-pressure liquid chromatography analysis of oligosaccharides from placentas allowed the diagnosis of α-mannosidosis in three litters of kittens. The chromatography also afforded a detailed comparison of the oligosaccharide pattern and levels in placenta, liver, brain, urine and ocular fluid of the affected animals. In all cases, two series of compounds were observed, with one or two residues of N-acetylglucosamine at the reducing terminus, respectively, and between two and nine mannose residues. This pattern is unlike that of human mannosidosis, and resembles that of ruminants, except that the major oligosaccharide contains three mannose residues instead of two

Adjusting bone mass for differences in projected bone area and other confounding variables: an allometric perspective.

The traditional method of assessing bone mineral density (BMD; given by bone mineral content [BMC] divided by projected bone area [Ap], BMD = BMC/Ap) has come under strong criticism by various authors. Their criticism being that the projected bone "area" (Ap) will systematically underestimate the skeletal bone "volume" of taller subjects. To reduce the confounding effects of bone size, an alternative ratio has been proposed called bone mineral apparent density [BMAD = BMC/(Ap)3/2]. However, bone size is not the only confounding variable associated with BMC. Others include age, sex, body size, and maturation. To assess the dimensional relationship between BMC and projected bone area, independent of other confounding variables, we proposed and fitted a proportional allometric model to the BMC data of the L2-L4 vertebrae from a previously published study. The projected bone area exponents were greater than unity for both boys (1.43) and girls (1.02), but only the boy's fitted exponent was not different from that predicted by geometric similarity (1.5). Based on these exponents, it is not clear whether bone mass acquisition increases in proportion to the projected bone area (Ap) or an estimate of projected bone volume (Ap)3/2. However, by adopting the proposed methods, the analysis will automatically adjust BMC for differences in projected bone size and other confounding variables for the particular population being studied. Hence, the necessity to speculate as to the theoretical value of the exponent of Ap, although interesting, becomes redundant