Experience of Dying: Concerns of Dying Patients and of Carers

Background: Terminally ill patients frequently express concerns about what dying will be like: how their bodies may change as disease progresses, how medication may alter the effect of these changes and whether and how their preferences will be respected as they become more ill.----- Methods: Thirty-six patients admitted to a hospice were interviewed and 18 carers of patients of the Palliative Care service,whohad died participated in focus groups. Thirty-three patients had advanced malignant disease, 13 were women; their mean age was 68 years (range 44–92 years).----- Results: The areas of concern consistently identified by patients were (i) privacy and autonomy, principally in regard to families, (ii) a lack of information about physical changes and medication use as death approached and (iii) the desire to shorten life, which was expressed by all patients. Carers recalled problems accessing services and support and had needed more help with practical issues such as medication timing and dose. They believed that not enough information about the patients’ illnesses had been given to them and they were insistent that carers should have information against the wishes of patients.----- Conclusion: Some of the patients’ and carers’ concerns can be readily addressed. Others, particularly access to confidential information, cannot be addressed without a realignment of professional ethical standards and community expectations. The patients’ discussions of their desire to shorten life may have implications for the debate on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide

Sorption of selected radionuclides to clay in the presence of humic acid

Within the framework of the FUNMIG programme, Loughborough University is performing work to increase understanding of the sorption behaviour of selected radionuclides with various minerals in the absence and presence of competing complexing ligands, such as humic acid (HA). The determination of the distribution ratios (Rd) of binary (metal- and humic-solid), and ternary (metal-solid-humic) systems using a batch adsorption technique is reported. Four radionuclides have been used; 137Cs, 63Ni, 152Eu and 109Cd, to facilitate modelling. Montmorillonite, kaolinite and α-goethite have been used as solids. Humic acid concentrations (2 - 300 ppm (w/v)) were determined using UV spectrophotometry. Radiometric analysis was used for radionuclide measurement. Construction of sorption isotherms using the Langmuir and Freundlich Equations has allowed characterisation of sorption types, and has provided maximum sorption capacities of the solid surfaces for each of the metals in the binary systems. Distribution relationships between metal and humic acid for each ternary system have been established and correlated

Single amino acid substitutions in alpha-conotoxin PnIA shift selectivity for subtypes of the mammalian neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

The alpha-conotoxins, a class of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonists, are emerging as important probes of the role played by different nAChR subtypes in cell function and communication, In this study, the native alpha-conotoxins PnIA and PnIB were found to cause concentration-dependent inhibition of the ACh-induced current in all rat parasympathetic neurons examined, with IC50 values of 14 and 33 nM, and a maximal reduction in current amplitude of 87% and 71%, respectively. The modified alpha-conotoxin [N11S]PnIA reduced the ACh-induced current with an IC50 value of 375 nM and a maximally effective concentration caused 91% block, [A10L]PnIA was the most potent inhibitor, reducing the ACh-induced current in similar to 80% of neurons, with an IC50 value of 1.4 nM and 46% maximal block of the total current, The residual current was not inhibited further by alpha-bungarotoxin, but was further reduced by the cu-conotoxins PnIA or PnIB, and by mecamylamine. H-1 NMR studies indicate that PnIA, PnIB, and the analogues, [A10L]PnIA and [N11S]PnIA, have identical backbone structures. We propose that positions 10 and II of PnIA and PnIB influence potency and determine selectivity among alpha 7 and other nAChR subtypes, including alpha 3 beta 2 and alpha 3 beta 4, Four distinct components of the nicotinic ACh-induced current in mammalian parasympathetic neurons have been dissected with these conopeptides

The Prevalence and Influence of the Combination of Humor and Violence in Super Bowl Commercials

The growing concern over violence in the media has led to vast amounts of research examining the effects of violent media on viewers. An important subset of this research looks at how humor affects this relationship. While research has considered this subset in television programming, almost no research has explored this in the context of advertising. This paper builds on the little research that exists by examining the effects of combining humor and violence, as well as the theoretical approaches that underlie these effects. A content analysis is conducted to identify the prevalence of violence, humor, and the combination of these elements in a longitudinal sample of Super Bowl commercials (2005, 2007, and 2009). Further, we investigate the relationship between the joint occurrence of humor and violence in ads and ad popularity. We conclude that violent acts are rampant in these commercials and that many acts are camouflaged by the simultaneous presence of humor, especially in the most popular ads

Loss of DNA ligase IV prevents recognition of DNA by double-strand break repair proteins XRCC4 and XLF

The repair of DNA double-strand breaks by nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) is essential for maintenance of genomic integrity and cell viability. Central to the molecular mechanism of NHEJ is DNA ligase IV/XRCC4/XLF complex, which rejoins the DNA. During adenovirus (Ad5) infection, ligase IV is targeted for degradation in a process that requires expression of the viral E1B 55k and E4 34k proteins while XRCC4 and XLF protein levels remain unchanged. We show that in Ad5-infected cells, loss of ligase IV is accompanied by loss of DNA binding by XRCC4. Expression of E1B 55k and E4 34k was sufficient to cause loss of ligase IV and loss of XRCC4 DNA binding. Using ligase IV mutant human cell lines, we determined that the absence of ligase IV, and not expression of viral proteins, coincided with inhibition of DNA binding by XRCC4. In ligase IV mutant human cell lines, DNA binding by XLF was also inhibited. Expression of both wild-type and adenylation-mutant ligase IV in ligase IV-deficient cells restored DNA binding by XRCC4. These data suggest that the intrinsic DNA-binding activities of XRCC4 and XLF may be subject to regulation and are down regulated in human cells that lack ligase IV

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV