Albumin metabolism following partial hepatectomy in the rat

In the work reported here the author set out to investigate five aspects of albumin metabolism following partial hepatectomy in the rat. 1. The plasma albumin levels following partial hepatectomy. 2. The effect of partial hepatectomy on the albumin synthesis rate. 3. The effect of supplementary amino acids on the albumin synthesis rate following partial hepatectomy. 4. The effect of hydrocortisone on the albumin synthesis rate following partial hepatectomy. 5. The effect of partial hepatectomy on the albumin catabolic rate

A study of relationships of four insects to heating in stored grain

This study was conducted to determine the effects of insect infestation on areas of heating in stored grain, and to demonstrate the ability of four species of insects to initiate or promote the spread of these heating areas. The four insects used were the granary weevil Sitophilus granarius (L.), the lesser grain borer Rhizopertha dominica (F.), the saw-toothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.), and the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Hbst.). All four of these insects are common pests of stored grain. Heating was initiated by adding moisture to a small portion of a confined mass of wheat. The term hot spot was used in reference to areas of the grain mass that showed a rise in temperature above that of the surrounding grain. Hot spots due to the growth of fungi on the moistened grain were referred to as fungus hot spots. A device was designed and constructed in which a small hot spot could be started and observed visually and electronically. It consisted of a wooden box of about one cubic foot capacity with two glass sides and an internal system of thermocouples and humidity indicators. Ten of these boxes were in operation during a period of two years in 18 laboratory experiments. A larger system of thermocouples and humidity indicators was installed in a Butler bin at the Oregon State University Entomology Farm in which 600 bushels of wheat were utilized in four different experiments. Hard white wheat was used in all experiments, and test insects were obtained from laboratory cultures. It was observed that fungus hot spots reached a peak of heating at room temperature about two weeks after moisture was added. Heating was confined to the small mass of grain that was moistened by the addition of water when no insects were present, and did not spread to the surrounding grain mass. The temperature declined rapidly unless additional moisture was forced into adjacent areas of the grain mass to start a second area of heating. Effects of insects on fungus hot spots varied according to the species of insect present. The granary weevil demonstrated the greatest ability, of the four insects tested, to promote the spread of a fungus hot spot. Hot spots involving the granary weevil, either by itself or in combination with other insects, expanded until most of the wheat in the laboratory boxes was involved. The lesser grain borer demonstrated an ability to promote the spread of a fungus hot spot almost equal to that of the granary weevil, but required a longer period of time. The red flour beetle and the saw-toothed grain beetle failed to promote the spread of a fungus hot spot, and heating declined as rapidly in their presence as without them. Field experiments on a larger scale likewise showed the granary weevil to be superior to the saw-toothed grain beetle in promoting the spread of fungus hot spots. Higher temperatures were recorded in the field experiments than in the laboratory experiments but heating was confined to the small mass of moistened grain when granary weevils were not present

Measuring organisational readiness for patient engagement (MORE) : an international online Delphi consensus study

Date of Acceptance: 28/01/2015. © 2015 Oostendorp et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise statedWidespread implementation of patient engagement by organisations and clinical teams is not a reality yet. The aim of this study is to develop a measure of organisational readiness for patient engagement designed to monitor and facilitate a healthcare organisation’s willingness and ability to effectively implement patient engagement in healthcarePeer reviewedFinal Published versio

The Trouble with Cyberpragmatics:Embedding an Online Intercultural Learning Project into the Curriculum

This paper reports on MexCo (Mexico-Coventry), an ongoing online intercultural learning project underpinned by action research. Its aim is to embed internationalisation into the curriculum of the institutions involved in order to promote citizenship competences, online intercultural communicative competence in particular, among both students and staff. The integration of telecollaboration into the curriculum has highlighted problematic aspects of the development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC), such as cyberpragmatics (Yus, 2011). Cyberpragmatics is intended here as the skill of understanding others' intended meanings in computer-mediated communication. It is suggested that cyberpragmatics in online intercultural learning exchanges is a ‘Threshold Concept' (TC) (Meyer &amp; Land, 2005, p. 375), i.e. a key concept that is troublesome to understand as it is challenging to the identity of the learner, but which could open new learning horizons to the students who do manage to grasp it.</jats:p

Implementing Shared Decision Making in the NHS: Lessons from the MAGIC Programme

Contains fulltext : 174279.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Future research into the treatment of vitiligo: where should our priorities lie? Results of the vitiligo priority setting partnership

Background  Vitiligo is the most frequent depigmentation disorder of the skin and is cosmetically and psychologically devastating. A recently updated Cochrane systematic review ‘Interventions for vitiligo’ showed that the research evidence for treatment of vitiligo is poor, making it difficult to make firm recommendations for clinical practice. Objectives  To stimulate and steer future research in the field of vitiligo treatment, by identifying the 10 most important research areas for patients and clinicians. Methods  A vitiligo priority setting partnership was established including patients, healthcare professionals and researchers with an interest in vitiligo. Vitiligo treatment uncertainties were gathered from patients and clinicians, and then prioritized in a transparent process, using a methodology advocated by the James Lind Alliance. Results  In total, 660 treatment uncertainties were submitted by 461 participants. These were reduced to a list of the 23 most popular topics through an online/paper voting process. The 23 were then prioritized at a face-to-face workshop in London. The final list of the top 10 treatment uncertainties included interventions such as systemic immunosuppressants, topical treatments, light therapy, melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogues, gene therapy, and the impact of psychological interventions on the quality of life of patients with vitiligo. Conclusions  The top 10 research areas for the treatment of vitiligo provide guidance for researchers and funding bodies, to ensure that future research answers questions that are important both to clinicians and to patients

‘Much Clearer with Pictures’: Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Design and Test a Picture Option Grid for Underserved Patients with Breast Cancer

Women of low socioeconomic status (SES) diagnosed with early stage breast cancer experience decision-making, treatment and outcome disparities. Evidence suggests that decision aids can benefit underserved patients, when tailored to their needs. Our aim was to develop and test the usability, acceptability and accessibility of a pictorial encounter decision aid targeted at women of low SES diagnosed with early stage breast cancer

Using a co-production prioritization exercise involving South Asian children, young people and their families to identify health priorities requiring further research and public awareness

OBJECTIVES: To facilitate South Asian (SA) families and health-care professionals (HCPs) participation in a prioritization exercise to co-produce child health research and public awareness agendas. DESIGN: A three-stage process was adopted involving the following: (i) systematic literature review, (ii) HCP scoping survey and (iii) focus groups of SA adolescents and families. A Punjabi- and Urdu-speaking community facilitator moderated focus groups. A British Sign Language interpreter assisted in the hard of hearing group. Concordant and discordant themes between HCPs and SAs were identified. SETTING: National survey of HCPs. Leicestershire for SA families. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 27 HCPs and 35 SAs. SAs varied by descent, age (16-74), UK stay length (3-57 years) religion and disability. RESULTS: Ranked by submission frequency in the survey, HCPs prioritized (i) public awareness on obesity, mental health, health-care access, vitamin D and routine health checks and (ii) research on nutrition, diabetes, health education and parenting methods. DISCUSSION: South Asians prioritized research into the effectiveness of alternative medicines, a theme not identified by HCPs. Both HCPs and SAs prioritized increased research or public awareness on mental health illness, blood and organ donation, obesity and diet. Whilst HCPs identified diabetes, vitamin D and rickets together with parenting methods were important priorities requiring increased public awareness, and these views were not shared by SAs. CONCLUSIONS: Minority groups are not always included in priority setting exercises due to concerns about language and perceived difficulty with accessing communities. Through this co-production exercise, we showed that it is possible and essential