FEP covers for silicon solar cells

Feasibility of fluorinated ethylene propylene as replacement for conventional silicon solar cell cover

Understanding low colorectal cancer screening uptake in South Asian faith communities in England - a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer screening uptake within the South Asian population in England is approximately half that of the general population (33 % vs 61 %), and varies by Muslim (31.9 %), Sikh (34.6 %) and Hindu (43.7 %) faith background. This study sought to explore reasons for low uptake of CRC screening in South Asian communities and for the variability of low uptake between three faith communities; and to identify strategies by which uptake might be improved. METHODS: We interviewed 16 'key informants' representing communities from the three largest South Asian faith backgrounds (Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism) in London, England. RESULTS: Reasons for low colorectal cancer screening uptake were overwhelmingly shared across South Asian faith groups. These were: limitations posed by written English; limitations posed by any written language; reliance on younger family members; low awareness of colorectal cancer and screening; and difficulties associated with faeces. Non-written information delivered verbally and interactively within faith or community settings was preferred across faith communities. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to increase accessibility to colorectal cancer screening in South Asian communities should use local language broadcasts on ethnic media and face-to-face approaches within community and faith settings to increase awareness of colorectal cancer and screening, and address challenges posed by written materials

Do on-farm natural, restored, managed and constructed wetlands mitigate agricultural pollution in Great Britain and Ireland?

Wetlands in agricultural landscapes offer a number of benefits to the landscape function in which they are set, reducing nutrient runoff, providing additional habitat mosaics and offering various ecosystem services. They require careful planning and maintenance in order to perform their optimum design function over a prolonged period of time. They should be treated as functional units of farm infrastructure rather than fit-and-forget systems. A high priority topic within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) water quality programme is the mitigation of pollution from agriculture. This programme was set up to meet the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) EU (2000). Nutrient loss from agricultural land has been suggested as a major cause of elevated nutrient concentrations in surface waters in the UK. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are of particular concern as an excess of either nutrient can lead to eutrophication of freshwater systems and coastal waters. Agriculture has also been identified as a significant source of suspended sediment (SS) concentrations in UK rivers and agriculturally derived sediment has been identified as a source of increased bed-sediment P concentrations in rivers. High bed sediments loads have other negative impacts, such as clogging river gravels reducing fish spawning. There is considerable evidence in the published and grey literature that wetlands have the ability to remove nutrients and sediment and thus reduce the load on receiving waters. Wetlands have also been reported to perform other ecosystem services, such as reducing floods, supporting biodiversity and sequestering carbon. A policy to promote the conservation, management, restoration or construction of wetlands could help to mitigate the impacts of N, P and SS from agriculture delivering requirements of WFD through Catchment Sensitive Farming following an Ecosystem Approach and Catchment Based Approach promoted by Defra. It could also meet other commitments such as implementing the Ramsar and Biodiversity Conventions to which the UK is a signatory. However, the term wetlands covers a wide range of habitat types and it is important that policy makers are provided with accurate, robust and independently reviewed information on the degree to which different types of wetland perform these services under different circumstances, so that policy can most best targeted. This systematic review assesses the available evidence on the performance of various wetland types on farms to reduce nutrient input and suspended sediments to receiving waters. It provides a defensible evidence base on which to base policy. The studies reviewed cover different input loads and the analysis compares performance of these wetland systems in respect of % reduction efficiency. In England and Wales, Defra, working closely with the Environment Agency and Natural England, has commissioned this systematic review on how effective, and what influences the effectiveness of wetlands at mitigating N, P and SS inputs from agriculture to receiving freshwater in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Reasons for non-uptake and subsequent participation in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme: a qualitative study.

Background:Screening for bowel cancer using the guaiac faecal occult blood test offered by the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) is taken up by 54% of the eligible population. Uptake ranges from 35% in the most to 61% in the least deprived areas. This study explores reasons for non-uptake of bowel cancer screening, and examines reasons for subsequent uptake among participants who had initially not taken part in screening.Methods:Focus groups with a socio-economically diverse sample of participants were used to explore participants' experience of invitation to and non-uptake of bowel cancer screening.Results:Participants described sampling faeces and storing faecal samples as broaching a cultural taboo, and causing shame. Completion of the test kit within the home rather than a formal health setting was considered unsettling and reduced perceived importance. Not knowing screening results was reported to be preferable to the implications of a positive screening result. Feeling well was associated with low perceived relevance of screening. Talking about bowel cancer screening with family and peers emerged as the key to subsequent participation in screening.Conclusions:Initiatives to normalise discussion about bowel cancer screening, to link the BCSP to general practice, and to simplify the test itself may lead to increased uptake across all social groups.British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 11 March 2014; doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.125 www.bjcancer.com

An exploratory study of long-term publicly waitlisted bariatric surgery patients’ quality of life before and 1 year after bariatric surgery, and considerations for healthcare planners

Background: Long-term publicly waitlisted bariatric surgerypatients typically experience debilitating physical/psychosocial obesity-related comorbidities that profoundlyaffect their quality of life.Objectives: We sought to measure quality-of-life impactsin a study population of severely obese patients who hadmultiyear waitlist times and then underwent bariatricsurgery.Methods: Participants were recruited opportunistically followinga government-funded initiative to provide bariatricsurgery to morbidly obese long-term waitlisted patients.Participants self-completed the EQ-5D-5L and AQoL-8Dquestionnaires pre- and postoperatively. Utility valuations(utilities) and individual/super dimension scores (AQoL-8D only) were generated.Results: Participants’ (n = 23) waitlisted time was mean[standard deviation (SD)] 6.5 (2) years, body mass indexreduced from 49.3 (9.35) kg/m2 preoperatively to 40.8(7.01) 1 year postoperatively (p = 0.02). One year utilitiesrevealed clinical improvements (both instruments).AQoL-8D improved significantly from baseline to1 year, with the change twice that of the EQ-5D-5L[EQ-5D-5L: mean (SD) 0.70 (0.25) to 0.78 (0.25);AQoL-8D: 0.51 (0.24) to 0.67 (0.23), p = 0.04], despitethe AQoL-8D’s narrower algorithmic range. EQ-5D-5Lutility plateaued from 3 months to 1 year. AQoL-8D1-year utility improvements were driven by Happiness/Coping/Self-worth (p p Conclusions: Ongoing improvements in psychosocialparameters from 3 months to 1 year post-surgeryaccounted for improvements in overall utilities measuredby the AQoL-8D that were not detected by EQ-5D-5L. Selection of a sensitive instrument is importantto adequately assess changes in quality of life and toaccurately reflect changes in quality-adjusted life-yearsfor cost-utility analyses and resource allocation in apublic healthcare resource-constrained environment

The African Women's Protocol: Bringing Attention to Reproductive Rights and the MDGs

Andrew Gibbs and colleagues discuss the African Women's Protocol, a framework for ensuring reproductive rights are supported throughout the continent and for supporting interventions to improve women's reproductive health, including the MDGs

Reduction of low- and high-grade cervical abnormalities associated with high uptake of the HPV bivalent vaccine in Scotland

In Scotland, a national HPV immunisation programme began in 2008 for 12-13 year olds, with a catch-up campaign from 2008-2011 for those under the age of 18. To monitor the impact of HPV immunisation on cervical disease at the population level, a programme of national surveillance was established.  We analysed colposcopy data from a cohort of women born between 1988-1992 who entered the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme (SCSP) and were aged 20-21 in 2008-2012.  By linking datasets from the SCSP and colposcopy services, we observed a significant reduction in diagnoses of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1 (CIN 1) (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.87, p=0.0008), CIN 2 (RR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4, 0.63, p<0.0001) and CIN 3 (RR 0.45, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.58, p< 0.0001) for women who received 3 doses of vaccine compared with unvaccinated women.  To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to show a reduction of low and high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia associated with high uptake of the HPV bivalent vaccine at the population level. These data are very encouraging for countries that have achieved high HPV vaccine uptake

Fluorescence characterization of clinically-important bacteria

Healthcare-associated infections (HCAI/HAI) represent a substantial threat to patient health during hospitalization and incur billions of dollars additional cost for subsequent treatment. One promising method for the detection of bacterial contamination in a clinical setting before an HAI outbreak occurs is to exploit native fluorescence of cellular molecules for a hand-held, rapid-sweep surveillance instrument. Previous studies have shown fluorescence-based detection to be sensitive and effective for food-borne and environmental microorganisms, and even to be able to distinguish between cell types, but this powerful technique has not yet been deployed on the macroscale for the primary surveillance of contamination in healthcare facilities to prevent HAI. Here we report experimental data for the specification and design of such a fluorescence-based detection instrument. We have characterized the complete fluorescence response of eleven clinically-relevant bacteria by generating excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) over broad wavelength ranges. Furthermore, a number of surfaces and items of equipment commonly present on a ward, and potentially responsible for pathogen transfer, have been analyzed for potential issues of background fluorescence masking the signal from contaminant bacteria. These include bedside handrails, nurse call button, blood pressure cuff and ward computer keyboard, as well as disinfectant cleaning products and microfiber cloth. All examined bacterial strains exhibited a distinctive double-peak fluorescence feature associated with tryptophan with no other cellular fluorophore detected. Thus, this fluorescence survey found that an emission peak of 340nm, from an excitation source at 280nm, was the cellular fluorescence signal to target for detection of bacterial contamination. The majority of materials analysed offer a spectral window through which bacterial contamination could indeed be detected. A few instances were found of potential problems of background fluorescence masking that of bacteria, but in the case of the microfiber cleaning cloth, imaging techniques could morphologically distinguish between stray strands and bacterial contamination

Zika virus impairs the development of blood vessels in a mouse model of congenital infection

Zika virus (ZIKV) is associated with brain development abnormalities such as primary microcephaly, a severe reduction in brain growth. Here we demonstrated in vivo the impact of congenital ZIKV infection in blood vessel development, a crucial step in organogenesis. ZIKV was injected intravenously in the pregnant type 2 interferon (IFN)-deficient mouse at embryonic day (E) 12.5. The embryos were collected at E15.5 and postnatal day (P)2. Immunohistochemistry for cortical progenitors and neuronal markers at E15.5 showed the reduction of both populations as a result of ZIKV infection. Using confocal 3D imaging, we found that ZIKV infected brain sections displayed a reduction in the vasculature density and vessel branching compared to mocks at E15.5; altogether, cortical vessels presented a comparatively immature pattern in the infected tissue. These impaired vascular patterns were also apparent in the placenta and retina. Moreover, proteomic analysis has shown that angiogenesis proteins are deregulated in the infected brains compared to controls. At P2, the cortical size and brain weight were reduced in comparison to mock-infected animals. In sum, our results indicate that ZIKV impairs angiogenesis in addition to neurogenesis during development. The vasculature defects represent a limitation for general brain growth but also could regulate neurogenesis directly

An Exploratory Study: A head-to-head comparison of the EQ5D-5L and AQoL-8D for long-term publicly waitlisted bariatric surgery patients before and 3 months after bariatric surgery

Background: Choice of a multi-attribute utility instrument (MAUI) that appropriately assesses an intervention's health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) impacts is a vital part of healthcare resource allocation and clinical assessment.Objective: Our exploratory study compared the EuroQol (EQ)-5D-5L and Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL)-8D MAUIs, which were used to assess the effect of bariatric surgery for a cohort of long-term publicly waitlisted, severely obese patients.Methods: The study was conducted at the Hobart Private Hospital (Tasmania, Australia). To compare the sensitivity and instrument content of the two MAUIs, we used dimensional comparisons by investigating the distribution of patient-reported responses (number/percentage) across the MAUIs' levels and dimensions; summary health-state utility valuations (utilities); and individual/super-dimension scores (AQoL-8D) to investigate discriminatory power and HRQoL improvements preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively.Results: Participants' (n = 23) overall MAUI completion rate was 74%. Postoperative total weight loss was 9.9%. EQ-5D-5L utilities were relatively higher pre- and postoperatively than AQoL-8D utilities [mean standard deviation (SD) EQ-5D-5L 0.70 (0.25) to 0.80 (0.25); AQoL-8D 0.51 (0.24) to 0.61 (0.24)]. AQoL-8D Psychosocial super dimension was relatively low postoperatively [0.37 (0.25)], driving the instrument's lower utility. These results were supported by the dimensional comparisons that revealed an overall greater dispersion for the AQoL-8D. Nevertheless, there were clinical improvements in utilities for both instruments. AQoL-8D utilities were lower than population norms; not so the EQ-5D-5L utilities. The AQoL-8D dimensions of Happiness, Coping, and Self-worth improved the most.Conclusions: AQoL-8D more fully captured the impact of obesity and bariatric surgery on HRQoL (particularly psychosocial impacts) for long-term waitlisted bariatric surgery patients, even 3 months postoperatively. AQoL-8D preoperative utility revealed our population's HRQoL was lower than people with cancer or heart disease