Patient-reported outcomes following flexible sigmoidoscopy screening for colorectal cancer in a demonstration screening programme in the UK

<p>OBJECTIVES: Flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) screening for colorectal cancer will be introduced into the National Cancer Screening Programmes in England in 2013. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) from trial participants indicate high acceptability and no adverse physical or psychological consequences, but this may not generalize to routine screening in the community. This study examined PROMs in a community-based FS screening programme.</p> <p>METHODS: Eligible adults aged 58-59 (n = 2016) registered at 34 London general practices were mailed a National Health Service-endorsed invitation to attend FS screening. Pain and side-effects were assessed in a 'morning-after' questionnaire, and satisfaction was assessed in a three-month follow-up questionnaire. Anxiety, self-rated health and colorectal symptoms were assessed at prescreening and follow-up.</p> <p>RESULTS: In total, 1020 people attended screening and were included in the current analyses, of whom 913 (90%) returned the morning-after questionnaire, and 674 (66%) the follow-up questionnaire. The prescreening questionnaire had been completed by 751 (74%) of those who attended. The majority (87%) of respondents reported no pain or mild pain, and the most frequent side-effect (wind) was only experienced more than mildly by 16%. Satisfaction was extremely high, with 98% glad they had the test; 97% would encourage a friend to have it. From prescreening to follow-up there were no changes in anxiety or self-rated health, and the number of colorectal symptoms declined. Satisfaction and changes in wellbeing were not moderated by gender, deprivation, ethnicity or screening outcome.</p> <p>CONCLUSIONS: PROMs indicate high acceptability of FS screening in 58-59 year olds, with no adverse effects on colorectal symptoms, health status or psychological wellbeing.</p&gt

Discrete solvent effects on the effective interaction between charged colloids

Using computer simulations of two charged colloidal spheres with their counterions in a hard sphere solvent, we show that the granular nature of the solvent significantly influences the effective colloidal interaction. For divalent counterions, the total effective force can become attractive generated by counterion hydration, while for monovalent counterions the forces are repulsive and well-described by a solvent-induced colloidal charge renormalization. Both effects are not contained in the traditional "primitive" approaches but can be accounted for in a solvent-averaged primitive model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Highly hydrolytic reuteransucrase from probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri strain ATCC 55730

Lactobacillus reuteri strain ATCC 55730 (LB BIO) was isolated as a pure culture from a Reuteri tablet purchased from the BioGaia company. This probiotic strain produces a soluble glucan (reuteran), in which the majority of the linkages are of the α-(1→4) glucosidic type (∼70%). This reuteran also contains α-(1→6)- linked glucosyl units and 4,6-disubstituted α-glucosyl units at the branching points. The LB BIO glucansucrase gene (gtfO) was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the GTFO enzyme was purified. The recombinant GTFO enzyme and the LB BIO culture supernatants synthesized identical glucan polymers with respect to linkage type and size distribution. GTFO thus is a reuteransucrase, responsible for synthesis of this reuteran polymer in LB BIO. The preference of GTFO for synthesizing α-(1→4) linkages is also evident from the oligosaccharides produced from sucrose with different acceptor substrates, e.g., isopanose from isomaltose. GTFO has a relatively high hydrolysis/transferase activity ratio. Complete conversion of 100 mM sucrose by GTFO nevertheless yielded large amounts of reuteran, although more than 50% of sucrose was converted into glucose. This is only the second example of the isolation and characterization of a reuteransucrase and its reuteran product, both found in different L. reuteri strains. GTFO synthesizes a reuteran with the highest amount of α-(1→4) linkages reported to date

Protest event data for Croatia, Portugal, Serbia and Spain: Focus on strike data

‘Disobedient Democracy: A Comparative Analysis of Contentious Politics in the European Semi-periphery’ is a research project implemented by the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Zagreb, in the period 2016-2021, led by Principal Investigator Danijela Dolenec and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (IZ11Z0_166540 – PROMYS). The overall objective of the project is to explore how protest politics advances democracy by collecting and analyzing data on protest mobilizations in four countries: Portugal, Spain, Croatia and Serbia.‎info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Flash Memory: Photochemical Imprinting of Neuronal Action Potentials onto a Microbial Rhodopsin

We developed a technique, “flash memory”, to record a photochemical imprint of the activity state—firing or not firing—of a neuron at a user-selected moment in time. The key element is an engineered microbial rhodopsin protein with three states. Two nonfluorescent states, D1 and D2, exist in a voltage-dependent equilibrium. A stable fluorescent state, F, is reached by a photochemical conversion from D2. When exposed to light of a wavelength λwrite, population transfers from D2 to F, at a rate determined by the D1 ⇌ D2 equilibrium. The population of F maintains a record of membrane voltage which persists in the dark. Illumination at a later time at a wavelength λread excites fluorescence of F, probing this record. An optional third flash at a wavelength λreset converts F back to D2, for a subsequent write–read cycle. The flash memory method offers the promise to decouple the recording of neural activity from its readout. In principle, the technique may enable one to generate snapshots of neural activity in a large volume of neural tissue, e.g., a complete mouse brain, by circumventing the challenge of imaging a large volume with simultaneous high spatial and high temporal resolution. The proof-of-principle flash memory sensors presented here will need improvements in sensitivity, speed, brightness, and membrane trafficking before this goal can be realized

Simultaneous mapping of membrane voltage and calcium in zebrafish heart in vivo reveals chamber-specific developmental transitions in ionic currents

The cardiac action potential (AP) and the consequent cytosolic Ca2+ transient are key indicators of cardiac function. Natural developmental processes, as well as many drugs and pathologies change the waveform, propagation, or variability (between cells or over time) of these parameters. Here we apply a genetically encoded dual-function calcium and voltage reporter (CaViar) to study the development of the zebrafish heart in vivo between 1.5 and 4 days post fertilization (dpf). We developed a high-sensitivity spinning disk confocal microscope and associated software for simultaneous three-dimensional optical mapping of voltage and calcium. We produced a transgenic zebrafish line expressing CaViar under control of the heart-specific cmlc2 promoter, and applied ion channel blockers at a series of developmental stages to map the maturation of the action potential in vivo. Early in development, the AP initiated via a calcium current through L-type calcium channels. Between 90 and 102 h post fertilization (hpf), the ventricular AP switched to a sodium-driven upswing, while the atrial AP remained calcium driven. In the adult zebrafish heart, a sodium current drives the AP in both the atrium and ventricle. Simultaneous voltage and calcium imaging with genetically encoded reporters provides a new approach for monitoring cardiac development, and the effects of drugs on cardiac function

Variability in concentrations of potentially toxic elements in urban parks from six European cities

Use of a harmonised sampling regime has allowed comparison of concentrations of copper, chromium, nickel, lead and zinc in six urban parks located in different European cities differing markedly in their climate and industrial history. Wide concentrations ranges were found for copper, lead and zinc at most sites, but for chromium and nickel a wide range was only seen in the Italian park, where levels were also considerably greater than in other soils. As might be expected, the soils from older cities with a legacy of heavy manufacturing industry (Glasgow, Torino) were richest in potentially toxic elements (PTEs); soils from Ljubljana, Sevilla and Uppsala had intermediate metal contents, and soils from the most recently established park, in the least industrialised city (Aveiro), displayed lowest concentrations. When principal component analysis was applied to the data, associations were revealed between pH and organic carbon content; and between all five PTEs. When pH and organic carbon content were excluded from the PCA, a distinction became clear between copper, lead and zinc (the "urban" metals) on the one hand, and chromium and nickel on the other. Similar results were obtained for the surface (0-10 cm depth) and sub-surface (10-20 cm depth) samples. Comparisons with target or limit concentrations were limited by the existence of different legislation in different countries and the fact that few guidelines deal specifically with public-access urban soils intended for recreational use

Gases and seabed fluid fluxes at the Panarea shallow hydrothermal vents (Aeolian Islands)

CO2 leaking into the shallow sediments and overlying seawater is partitioned in different forms, each migrating at its own rate and having potentially different impacts. To begin with the CO2 gas will migrate through the shallow subsurface either alone as a free gas or together with associated deep fluids (e.g. brines), with the free-phase CO2 equilibrating with the surrounding pore waters/associated brines. Migrating upward these fluids will enter the base of the water column, with the release of gas bubbles (and possibly associated waters) from the sediments into the overlying seawater. The bubbles will rise in the water column creating what is known as a bubble “flare” with the CO2 in the bubbles dissolving in the surrounding surface water as they rise. Depending on the depth and the chemical/physical characteristics of the water column, these bubbles may or may not reach the water surface. Any co-migrating water/brine will also be released into the water column, creating a plume having a chemical composition that is distinct from the surrounding seawater, consisting of dissolved gases (mainly CO2), elements in the original brine, and elements liberated via CO2-induced water-rock interaction. The height that this dissolved plume will reach in the water column will depend on the original flow rate across the sediment-water interface and the density contrast between the plume and surrounding seawater. Both the gas-induced and water plumes will then migrate laterally and vertically as a result of the local currents, water column stratification, and density effects, meaning that there is the potential for impact both in the near and far field for pelagic organisms, both in terms of a lower pH and the possibility of elevated concentrations of toxic elements. This study was carried out in the framework of two EC funded projects, RISCS and ECO2 related to research on sub-seabed CO2 storage as climate change mitigation strategy, and potential impact on marine ecosystems. Here, we investigated how CO2-leakage, a risk associated with subseafloor CO2-storage, can affect physical and chemical characteristics of the surrounding ecosystem. We studied the Panarea natural laboratory site (Aeolian Islands), where natural CO2 is leaking from the seafloor into the overlying water column, as an analogue for a leakage scenario

Long-term effects of once-only flexible sigmoidoscopy screening after 17 years of follow-up: the UK Flexible Sigmoidoscopy Screening randomised controlled trial

National Institute for Health Research Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation

Annihilation of edge dislocations in smectic A liquid crystals

This paper presents a theoretical study of the annihilation of edge dislocations in the same smectic plane in a bulk smectic-A phase. We use a time-dependent Landau-Ginzburg approach where the smectic ordering is described by the complex order parameter psi( r--> ,t) =eta e(iphi) . This quantity allows both the degree of layering and the position of the layers to be monitored. We are able to follow both precollision and postcollision regimes, and distinguish different early and late behaviors within these regimes. The early precollision regime is driven by changes in the phi ( r--> ) configuration. The relative velocity of the defects is approximately inversely proportional to the interdefect separation distance. In the late precollision regime the symmetry changes within the cores of defects also become influential. Following the defect collision, in the early postcollision stage, bulk layer order is approached exponentially in time. At very late times, however, there seems to be a long-time power-law tail in the order parameter fluctuation relaxation