Attitudes and impressions of participants in a study of the causes of childhood cancer

Researchers and ethics committees are increasingly concerned about the perceived emotional impact on individuals following participation in epidemiologic studies. This attitudinal survey was designed to investigate this issue among 751 of the parents who had already given an interview in the UK Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS), one of the largest case-control studies ever undertaken to investigate the aetiology of cancer in children. Information was collected by postal questionnaire on their reasons for agreeing to take part in the UKCCS, on whether questions had caused distress or difficulty and what their feelings were immediately after the interview and at the time of this survey. Parents were asked if they felt they had benefited in any way by taking part and control parents were asked if they would have taken part without prior consent of their doctor. 90% of both cases and controls felt glad to have taken part immediately after the interview and few reported any anxiety at having done so; 95% of both cases and controls felt satisfied that they had made a worthwhile contribution. Although 18% of cases felt tense and 14% felt unhappy after the interview, over 90% of them felt glad that they had taken part a few weeks later. Of particular interest is that 38% of cases and 24% of controls said they had positively benefited from taking part in the UKCCS and 96% of control mothers did not mind their family doctor giving permission for them to be contacted. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

The outcome of patients with surgically treated meningioma in England: 1999-2013. A cancer registry data analysis.

Purpose: Meningiomas are the commonest predominantly non-malignant brain tumour in adults. The use of surgery appears to be increasing, and outcomes are thought to be good, but whole nation data for England is scarce. The aim of this report is to examine the epidemiology of patients operated for cranial and spinal meningioma in England, and to assess associations between outcomes and gender, age, meningioma site (cranial or spinal), and grade. Material and methods: A search strategy encompassing all patients coded with cranial and spinal meningioma treated between January 1999 and December 2013 was obtained from data linkage between the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service and Hospital Episode Statistics for England. Results: 25,694 patients were diagnosed with meningioma in England between 1999 and 2013, in whom 24,302 were cranial and 1392 spinal. Of these patients, 14,229 (60%) cranial and 1188 (85%) spinal meningioma received surgery. Of those operated on 70.1% were women, and, where the tumour grade was recorded, 79.5% were WHO grade I, 18.4% grade II, and 2.1% grade III. Five and ten year net survival rates for surgically treated cranial meningiomas were respectively 90% and 81% for those with WHO grade I, 80% and 63% for grade II, and 30% and 15% for WHO grade III tumours. Overall survival after surgery is better in women, younger adults, and people with spinal or lower grade meningiomas. Outcomes have improved over the time period examined. Conclusion: The outcome for patients with meningioma is good and is improving. However, there remains a significant mortality related to the disease process

The Lagrange and Markov spectra from the dynamical point of view

This text grew out of my lecture notes for a 4-hours minicourse delivered on October 17 \& 19, 2016 during the research school "Applications of Ergodic Theory in Number Theory" -- an activity related to the Jean-Molet Chair project of Mariusz Lema\'nczyk and S\'ebastien Ferenczi -- realized at CIRM, Marseille, France. The subject of this text is the same of my minicourse, namely, the structure of the so-called Lagrange and Markov spectra (with an special emphasis on a recent theorem of C. G. Moreira).Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures. Survey articl

Chickpea genotypes contrasting for seed yield under terminal drought stress in the field differ for traits related to the control of water use

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is often exposed to terminal drought, and deep, profuse rooting has been proposed as the main breeding target to improve terminal drought tolerance. This work tested whether plant water use at the vegetative stage and under non-limited water conditions could relate to the degree of sensitivity of chickpea to terminal drought. Transpiration response to a range of vapour pressure deficits under controlled and outdoor conditions was measured with canopy conductance using gravimetric measurements and thermal imagery in eight chickpea genotypes with comparable phenology and contrasting seed yield under terminal drought in the field. Additionally, the response of plant growth and transpiration to progressive soil moisture depletion was assayed in the same genotypes. Drought-tolerant genotypes had a lower canopy conductance under fully irrigated conditions at the vegetative stage; this trend was reversed at the early pod filling stage. While two sensitive genotypes had high early growth vigour and leaf development, there was a trend of lower growth in tolerant genotypes under progressive soil drying than in sensitive ones. Tolerant genotypes also exhibited a decline of transpiration in wetter soil compared to sensitive genotypes. Canopy conductance could be proxied by measuring leaf temperature with an infrared camera, although the relationship lost sensitivity at the pod filling stage. This work suggests that some traits contribute to water saving when water does not limit plant growth and development in drought-tolerant chickpea. It is hypothesised that this water would be available for the reproduction and grain filling stages

Effect of genotype × alcoholism interaction on linkage analysis of an alcoholism-related quantitative phenotype

Studies have shown that genetic and environmental factors and their interactions affect several alcoholism phenotypes. Genotype × alcoholism (G×A) interaction refers to the environmental (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) influences on the autosomal genes contributing to variation in an alcoholism-related quantitative phenotype. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of G×A interaction on the detection of linkage for alcoholism-related phenotypes. We used phenotypic and genotypic data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism relating to 1,388 subjects as part of Genetic Analysis Workshop 14 problem 1. We analyzed the MXDRNK phenotype to detect G×A interaction using SOLAR. Upon detecting significant interaction, we conducted variance-component linkage analyses using microsatellite marker data. For maximum number of drinks per a 24 hour period, the highest LODs were observed on chromosomes 1, 4, and 13 without G×A interaction. Interaction analysis yielded four regions on chromosomes 1, 4, 13, and 15. On chromosome 4, a maximum LOD of 1.5 at the same location as the initial analysis was obtained after incorporating G×A interaction effects. However, after correcting for extra parameters, the LOD score was reduced to a corrected LOD of 1.1, which is similar to the LOD observed in the non-interaction analysis. Thus, we see little differences in LOD scores, while some linkage regions showed large differences in the magnitudes of estimated quantitative trait loci heritabilities between the alcoholic and non-alcoholic groups. These potential hints of differences in genetic effect may influence future analyses of variants under these linkage peaks

Wigs, disguises and child's play : solidarity in teacher education

It is generally acknowledged that much contemporary education takes place within a dominant audit culture, in which accountability becomes a powerful driver of educational practices. In this culture both pupils and teachers risk being configured as a means to an assessment and target-driven end: pupils are schooled within a particular paradigm of education. The article discusses some ethical issues raised by such schooling, particularly the tensions arising for teachers, and by implication, teacher educators who prepare and support teachers for work in situations where vocational aims and beliefs may be in in conflict with instrumentalist aims. The article offers De Certeau’s concept of ‘la perruque’ to suggest an opening to playful engagement for human ends in education, as a way of contending with and managing the tensions generated. I use the concept to recover a concept of solidarity for teacher educators and teachers to enable ethical teaching in difficult times

Free versus total serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a murine model of colitis

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease have been linked to vitamin D-deficiency. Using a dextran sodium sulphate (DSS)-induced model of IBD we have shown previously that mice raised on vitamin D-deficient diets from weaning have lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels and develop more severe colitis compared to vitamin D-sufficient counterparts. We have also shown in vitro that immune responses to 25OHD may depend on 'free' rather than total serum concentrations of 25OHD. To investigate the possible effects of free versus total 25OHD on anti-inflammatory immune responses in vivo we have studied DSS-induced colitis in wild type C57BL/6 mice raised from weaning on diets containing vitamin D2 (D2) or vitamin D3 (D3) only (both 1000 IU/kg feed). 25OHD2 has lower binding affinity for the vitamin D binding protein than 25OHD3 which results in higher levels of free 25OHD2 relative to free 25OHD3 in mice raised on a D2-only diet. Total serum 25OHD concentrations, measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), showed that D2 mice had significantly lower levels of 25OHD than D3 mice (6.85 ± 2.61 nmol/L vs. 49.16 ± 13.8 nmol/L for D2 and D3 respectively). Despite this, direct ELISA measurement showed no difference in free serum 25OHD levels between D2 and D3 mice (13.62 ± 2.26 pmol/L vs. 14.11 ± 2.24 pmol/L for D2 and D3 respectively). Analysis of DSS-induced colitis also showed no difference in weight loss or disease progression between D2 and D3 mice. These data indicate that despite D2-fed mice being vitamin D-deficient based on serum total 25OHD concentrations, these mice showed no evidence of increased inflammatory colitis disease relative to vitamin D-sufficient D3 mice. We therefore propose that free, rather than total serum 25OHD, may be a better marker of immune responses to vitamin D in vivo

Assembling the thymus medulla:Development and function of epithelial cell heterogeneity

The thymus is a unique primary lymphoid organ that supports the production of self-tolerant T-cells essential for adaptive immunity. Intrathymic microenvironments are microanatomically compartmentalised, forming defined cortical, and medullary regions each differentially supporting critical aspects of thymus-dependent T-cell maturation. Importantly, the specific functional properties of thymic cortical and medullary compartments are defined by highly specialised thymic epithelial cells (TEC). For example, in the medulla heterogenous medullary TEC (mTEC) contribute to the enforcement of central tolerance by supporting deletion of autoreactive T-cell clones, thereby counterbalancing the potential for random T-cell receptor generation to contribute to autoimmune disease. Recent advances have further shed light on the pathways and mechanisms that control heterogeneous mTEC development and how differential mTEC functionality contributes to control self-tolerant T-cell development. Here we discuss recent findings in relation to mTEC development and highlight examples of how mTEC diversity contribute to thymus medulla function.</p