Individuals living with lupus: findings from the LUPUS UK Members Survey 2014

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex and unpredictable disease which varies greatly among patients and has a significant impact on an individual’s daily living and quality of life. A better understanding of the patients’ experiences with the disease is vital to the effective management of the disease. LUPUS UK, a national UK-registered charity supporting people with systemic and discoid lupus, conducted a UK-wide survey of individuals living with lupus in order to provide foundation information to support and identify gaps needing further research. An anonymous survey was sent to 5660 LUPUS UK members in order to obtain demographic, diagnosis, symptom and treatment information. A total of 2527 surveys were returned by 2371 females (mean age 56.9 years, SD 13.6) and 156 males, (mean age 60.9 years, SD 15.7). Individuals reported a mean (SD) time to diagnosis from the first symptom of 6.4 (9.5) years, with 47% (n ¼ 1186) initially being given a different diagnosis prior to lupus. Fatigue/weakness (91%, n ¼ 2299) and joint pain/swelling (77.4%, n ¼ 1957) were the most common symptoms that interfere with daily activities, while 73% (n ¼ 1836) noted having some problems that make them unable to carry out their usual daily activities. Thirty-two per cent (n ¼ 806) were also seeking support beyond traditional pharmacological treatments, such as acupuncture and massage. This study highlights the range and frequency of symptoms difficult to live with on a daily basis and support areas needing further research to improve patients’ well-being

Suspended liquid particle disturbance on laser-induced blast wave and low density distribution

The impurity effect of suspended liquid particles on the laser-induced gas breakdown was experimentally investigated in quiescent gas. The focus of this study is the investigation of the influence of the impurities on the shock wave structure as well as the low density distribution. A 532 nm Nd:YAG laser beam with an 188 mJ/pulse was focused on the chamber filled with suspended liquid particles 0.9 ± 0.63 μm in diameter. Several shock waves are generated by multiple gas breakdowns along the beam path in the breakdown with particles. Four types of shock wave structures can be observed: (1) the dual blast waves with a similar shock radius, (2) the dual blast waves with a large shock radius at the lower breakdown, (3) the dual blast waves with a large shock radius at the upper breakdown, and (4) the triple blast waves. The independent blast waves interact with each other and enhance the shock strength behind the shock front in the lateral direction. The triple blast waves lead to the strongest shock wave in all cases. The shock wave front that propagates toward the opposite laser focal spot impinges on one another, and thereafter a transmitted shock wave (TSW) appears. The TSW interacts with the low density core called a kernel; the kernel then longitudinally expands quickly due to a Richtmyer-Meshkov-like instability. The laser-particle interaction causes an increase in the kernel volume which is approximately five times as large as that in the gas breakdown without particles. In addition, the laser-particle interaction can improve the laser energy efficiency

Conflict of interest: A tenacious ethical dilemma in public health policy, not only in clinical practice/research

In addition to the ethical practice of individual health professionals, bioethical debate about conflict of interest (CoI) must include theinstitutional ethics of public policy-making, as failure to establish independence from powerful stakeholder influence may pervert publichealth goals. All involved in public policy processes are accountable for CoI, including experts, scientists, professionals, industry and government officials. The liquor industry in South Africa is presented as a case study. Generic principles of how to identify, manage and address CoI are discussed. We propose that health professionals and policy makers should avoid partnering with industries that are harmful to health. Regarding institutional CoI, we recommend that there should be effective policies, procedures and processes for governing public-private joint ventures with such industries. These include arms-length funding, maintaining the balance between contesting vested interests, and full disclosure of the identity and affiliations of all participants in structures and reports pertaining to public policy-making

Repetitive low intensity magnetic field stimulation in a neuronal cell line: a metabolomics study

Low intensity repetitive magnetic stimulation of neural tissue modulates neuronal excitability and has promising therapeutic potential in the treatment of neurological disorders. However, the underpinning cellular and biochemical mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study investigates the behavioural effects of low intensity repetitive magnetic stimulation (LI-rMS) at a cellular and biochemical level. We delivered LI-rMS (10 mT) at 1 Hz and 10 Hz to B50 rat neuroblastoma cells in vitro for 10 minutes and measured levels of selected metabolites immediately after stimulation. LI-rMS at both frequencies depleted selected tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites without affecting the main energy supplies. Furthermore, LI-rMS effects were frequency-specific with 1 Hz stimulation having stronger effects than 10 Hz. The observed depletion of metabolites suggested that higher spontaneous activity may have led to an increase in GABA release. Although the absence of organised neural circuits and other cellular contributors (e.g., excitatory neurons and glia) in the B50 cell line limits the degree to which our results can be extrapolated to the human brain, the changes we describe provide novel insights into how LI-rMS modulates neural tissue

Conflict of interest: A tenacious ethical dilemma in public health policy not only in clinical practice/research

In addition to the ethical practice of individual health professionals, bioethical debate about conflict of interest (CoI) must include the institutional ethics of public policy-making, as failure to establish independence from powerful stakeholder influence may pervert public health goals. All involved in public policy processes are accountable for CoI, including experts, scientists, professionals, industry and government officials. The liquor industry in South Africa is presented as a case study. Generic principles of how to identify, manage and address CoI are discussed. We propose that health professionals and policy makers should avoid partnering with industries that are harmful to health. Regarding institutional CoI, we recommend that there should be effective policies, procedures and processes for governing public-private joint ventures with such industries. These include arms-length funding, maintaining the balance between contesting vested interests, and full disclosure of the identity and affiliations of all participants in structures and reports pertaining to public policy-making

Ultra-low timing jitter, Ti:Al2O3 synchronisation for stimulated Raman scattering and pump-probe microscopy

This is the final version. Available from SPIE via the DOI in this recordSignificance: Stimulated Raman scattering and pump-probe microscopy are implementations of multiphoton microscopy that acquire high-resolution, label-free images of live samples encoded with molecular contrast. Most commercial multiphoton microscopes cannot access these techniques since they require sample illumination by two temporally synchronised ultrafast modelocked pulse trains. Here, we present a compact and robust way of synchronising an additional Ti:Sapphire laser with a conventional single beam multiphoton microscope to realise an instrument that can acquire images with enhanced molecular specificity. Aim: A passive optical synchronisation scheme for a pair of commercially available, unmodified modelocked Ti:Sapphire lasers was developed. The suitability of this synchronisation scheme for advanced biomedical microscopy was investigated. Approach: A pair of modelocked Ti:Sapphire lasers were aligned in master-slave configuration. 5% of the master laser output was used to seed the modelocking in the slave laser cavity. The timing jitter of the master and slave pulse trains was characterised using an optical autocorrelator. The synchronised output of both lasers was coupled into a laser scanning microscope and used to acquire spectral focussing stimulated Raman scattering and pump-probe microscopy images from biological and non-biological samples. Results: A timing jitter between the modelocked pulse trains of 0.74 fs was recorded. Spectral focussing stimulated Raman scattering allowed spectral discrimination of polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate beads. Pump-probe microscopy was used to record excited state lifetime curves from haemoglobin in intact red blood cells. Conclusion: This work demonstrates a simple and robust method of upgrading single beam multiphoton microscopes with an additional ultrafast laser. The resulting dual-beam instrument can be used to acquire label-free images of sample structure and composition with high biochemical specificity.Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)Wellcome Trus

Mapping the dynamical regimes of a SESAM mode-locked VECSEL with long cavity using time series analysis

The different dynamical regions of an optically-pumped SESAM mode-locked, long-cavity VECSEL system with a fundamental pulse repetition frequency of ~200 MHz are investigated. The output power, captured as 250 μs long time series using a sampling rate of 200 GSa/s, for each operating condition of the system, is analyzed to determine the dynamical state. A wavelength range of 985-995 nm and optical pump powers of 10 W-16.3 W is studied. The system produces high quality fundamental passive mode-locking (FML) over an extensive part of the parameter space, but the different dynamical regions outside of FML are the primary focus of this study. We report five types of output: CW emission, FML, modelocking of a few modes, double pulsing, and, semi-stable 4th harmonic mode-locking. The high sampling rate of the oscilloscope, combined with the long duration of the time series analyzed, enables insight into how the structure and substructure of pulses vary systematically over thousands of round trips of the laser cavity. Higher average output power is obtained in regions characterized by semi-stable 4th harmonic mode-locking than observed for FML, raising whether such average powers might be achieved for FML. The observed dynamical transitions from fundamental mode-locking provide insights into instability challenges in developing a stable, widely tunable, low repetition rate, turn-key system; and to inform future modelling of the system