360 research outputs found
An economic study of elementary: education in county Durham in the early part of the nineteenth century
In the early years of the century the funds for public elementary education came principally from the charities which had been established in the previous centuries, the best local examples being those associated with the Blue Coats and with Lord Crewe. Crewe's work In County Durham was continued and surpassed in value by Bishop Barrington's efforts in the first two decades of the 19th Century, especially in his relationship with the Barrington Schools, the Weardale Schools Committee and the Diocesan School Society. Between 1810 and 1850 the National Society became predominant in the public sector of elementary education in County Durham, the other societies being dwarfed by its efforts. But by 1850the State v/as beginning to accept the leading position as a provider of funds for elementary education. Of less significance in money value was the philanthropic work of industry, such as that of the lead companies, the Londonderry family, the coal-owners and the iron-masters. The poor children in the workhouses, were either educated in workhouse schools if these existed or at schools nearby. Supplementing these efforts was the private sector of education where large numbers of small schools educated, at times, as many children as were to be found in total in other schools. An estimate of the amount spent on elementary education out of National Income in 1851 gives about 0.3 per.cent, as compared with approximately 1,3 percent, today. In the context of disease, poverty, malnutrition and inadequate sanitation such as existed in the mid-19th Century the 0.3 per cent seems to represent a greater sacrifice in economic terms than the 1.3 per.cent, does today
Weight outcomes audit for 34,271 adults referred to a primary care/commercial weight management partnership scheme
Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Petrologic evidence for pressure-temperature conditions and recent reheating of andesitic magma erupting at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, WI
Pathways for degassing during the lava dome eruption of Mount St. Helens 2004-2008
The ability of volatiles to escape rising magma regulates the explosivity of a volcanic system. During silicic lava dome eruptions, strain localization at the conduit margin occurs during magma ascent, creating a damage halo with implications for gas escape. Here we report the first systematic study of permeability network anisotropy across the marginal shear zone of the A.D. 2004–2008 lava dome at Mount St. Helens (Washington State, USA). The results show increasingly large permeability anisotropy of as much as four orders of magnitude (over ∼4 m) moving from the interior of the spine through the damage halo. We find the permeability to be essentially isotropic in the spine interior but highly anisotropic in the damage zone and fault core. Our examination of the dome rocks reveals that the permeability anisotropy depends strongly on the presence of vertically oriented shear layers. Here we show that the rate of escape of volatiles will be several orders of magnitude higher vertically through a conduit margin shear zone than horizontally into the conduit wall
Isolation and characterization of the flavin-binding domain of flavocytochrome b2 expressed independently in Escherichia coli
Intramedullary nail fixation versus locking plate fixation for adults with a fracture of the distal tibia : the UK FixDT RCT
Background
The best treatment for fractures of the distal tibia remains controversial. Most of these fractures require surgical fixation, but the outcomes are unpredictable and complications are common.
Objectives
To assess disability, quality of life, complications and resource use in patients treated with intramedullary (IM) nail fixation versus locking plate fixation in the 12 months following a fracture of the distal tibia.
Design
This was a multicentre randomised trial.
Setting
The trial was conducted in 28 UK acute trauma centres from April 2013 to final follow-up in February 2017.
Participants
In total, 321 adult patients were recruited. Participants were excluded if they had open fractures, fractures involving the ankle joint, contraindication to nailing or inability to complete questionnaires.
Interventions
IM nail fixation (n = 161), in which a metal rod is inserted into the hollow centre of the tibia, versus locking plate fixation (n = 160), in which a plate is attached to the surface of the tibia with fixed-angle screws.
Main outcome measures
The primary outcome measure was the Disability Rating Index (DRI) score, which ranges from 0 points (no disability) to 100 points (complete disability), at 6 months with a minimum clinically important difference of 8 points. The DRI score was also collected at 3 and 12 months. The secondary outcomes were the Olerud–Molander Ankle Score (OMAS), quality of life as measured using EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), complications such as infection, and further surgery. Resource use was collected to inform the health economic evaluation.
Results
Participants had a mean age of 45 years (standard deviation 16.2 years), were predominantly male (61%, 197/321) and had experienced traumatic injury after a fall (69%, 223/321). There was no statistically significant difference in DRI score at 6 months [IM nail fixation group, mean 29.8 points, 95% confidence interval (CI) 26.1 to 33.7 points; locking plate group, mean 33.8 points, 95% CI 29.7 to 37.9 points; adjusted difference, 4.0 points, 95% CI –1.0 to 9.0 points; p = 0.11]. There was a statistically significant difference in DRI score at 3 months in favour of IM nail fixation (IM nail fixation group, mean 44.2 points, 95% CI 40.8 to 47.6 points; locking plate group, mean 52.6 points, 95% CI 49.3 to 55.9 points; adjusted difference 8.8 points, 95% CI 4.3 to 13.2 points; p < 0.001), but not at 12 months (IM nail fixation group, mean 23.1 points, 95% CI 18.9 to 27.2 points; locking plate group, 24.0 points, 95% CI 19.7 to 28.3 points; adjusted difference 1.9 points, 95% CI –3.2 to 6.9 points; p = 0.47). Secondary outcomes showed the same pattern, including a statistically significant difference in mean OMAS and EQ-5D scores at 3 and 6 months in favour of IM nail fixation. There were no statistically significant differences in complications, including the number of postoperative infections (13% in the locking plate group and 9% in the IM nail fixation group). Further surgery was more common in the locking plate group (12% in locking plate group and 8% in IM nail fixation group at 12 months). The economic evaluation showed that IM nail fixation provided a slightly higher quality of life in the 12 months after injury and at lower cost and, therefore, it was cost-effective compared with locking plate fixation. The probability of cost-effectiveness for IM nail fixation exceeded 90%, regardless of the value of the cost-effectiveness threshold.
Limitations
As wound dressings after surgery are clearly visible, it was not possible to blind the patients to their treatment allocation. This evidence does not apply to intra-articular (pilon) fractures of the distal tibia.
Conclusions
Among adults with an acute fracture of the distal tibia who were randomised to IM nail fixation or locking plate fixation, there were similar disability ratings at 6 months. However, recovery across all outcomes was faster in the IM nail fixation group and costs were lower
TOWARD IAVCEI GUIDELINES ON THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF SCIENTISTS INVOLVED IN VOLCANIC HAZARD EVALUATION, RISK MITIGATION AND CRISIS RESPONSE
The International Association for Volcanology and Chemistry
of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI), as the representative international
association of scientists working on volcanic hazard
evaluations and risk mitigation, promotes sustained open discussion
within the scientific community of many relevant issues,
including the following:
& how to best understand and forecast volcanic activity, the
associated hazards, and contribute to risk evaluations;
& the appropriate roles and responsibilities of scientists prior
to, during, and after crises;
& the nature of scientists’ relationships with government authorities,
populations at risk, and the media;
& the manner and extent of involvement of scientists in processes
that eventually lead authorities to make decisions,
the extent of the liability or vulnerability of scientists to
the outcomes of these decisions, and the way that scientists’
input may be perceived and judged by others;
& the role of national and local culture and perception of risk
in both mitigation policy and communication of hazard
and risk;
& the effectiveness of descriptions of forecasted volcanic
phenomena and associated hazards, and of their related
uncertainties;
& how to best increase the awareness, preparedness and empowerment
of individuals, and society as a whole, in order
to reduce the impact of volcanic phenomena on society
In particular, IAVCEI, as a modern learned society wants to
offer through its media (e.g., its website, archives, documents,
recommendation notes) informative material, which can help
members and others to fulfill these roles and responsibilities.
In particular, scientists have a role in protecting populations
and societies from harm due to volcanic phenomena, within
the context of, and being cognizant of, diverse cultural needs
and settings.
Furthermore, IAVCEI wants to develop frameworks within
which relationships and communication with local communities,
media, and authorities can be fostered and improve
Heritable components of the human fecal microbiome are associated with visceral fat
Background: Variation in the human fecal microbiota has previously been associated with body mass index (BMI). Although obesity is a global health burden, the accumulation of abdominal visceral fat is the specific cardio-metabolic disease risk factor. Here, we explore links between the fecal microbiota and abdominal adiposity using body composition as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in a large sample of twins from the TwinsUK cohort, comparing fecal 16S rRNA diversity profiles with six adiposity measures.Results: We profile six adiposity measures in 3666 twins and estimate their heritability, finding novel evidence for strong genetic effects underlying visceral fat and android/gynoid ratio. We confirm the association of lower diversity of the fecal microbiome with obesity and adiposity measures, and then compare the association between fecal microbial composition and the adiposity phenotypes in a discovery subsample of twins. We identify associations between the relative abundances of fecal microbial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and abdominal adiposity measures. Most of these results involve visceral fat associations, with the strongest associations between visceral fat and Oscillospira members. Using BMI as a surrogate phenotype, we pursue replication in independent samples from three population-based cohorts including American Gut, Flemish Gut Flora Project and the extended TwinsUK cohort. Meta-analyses across the replication samples indicate that 8 OTUs replicate at a stringent threshold across all cohorts, while 49 OTUs achieve nominal significance in at least one replication sample. Heritability analysis of the adiposity-associated microbial OTUs prompted us to assess host genetic-microbe interactions at obesity-associated human candidate loci. We observe significant associations of adiposity-OTU abundances with host genetic variants in the FHIT, TDRG1 and ELAVL4 genes, suggesting a potential role for host genes to mediate the link between the fecal microbiome and obesity.Conclusions: Our results provide novel insights into the role of the fecal microbiota in cardio-metabolic disease with clear potential for prevention and novel therapies
Promotion of Hendra virus replication by microRNA 146a
Hendra virus is a highly pathogenic zoonotic paramyxovirus in the genus Henipavirus. Thirty-nine outbreaks of Hendra virus have been reported since its initial identification in Queensland, Australia, resulting in seven human infections and four fatalities. Little is known about cellular host factors impacting Hendra virus replication. In this work, we demonstrate that Hendra virus makes use of a microRNA (miRNA) designated miR-146a, an NF-κB-responsive miRNA upregulated by several innate immune ligands, to favor its replication. miR-146a is elevated in the blood of ferrets and horses infected with Hendra virus and is upregulated by Hendra virus in human cells in vitro. Blocking miR-146a reduces Hendra virus replication in vitro, suggesting a role for this miRNA in Hendra virus replication. In silico analysis of miR-146a targets identified ring finger protein (RNF)11, a member of the A20 ubiquitin editing complex that negatively regulates NF-κB activity, as a novel component of Hendra virus replication. RNA interference-mediated silencing of RNF11 promotes Hendra virus replication in vitro, suggesting that increased NF-κB activity aids Hendra virus replication. Furthermore, overexpression of the IκB superrepressor inhibits Hendra virus replication. These studies are the first to demonstrate a host miRNA response to Hendra virus infection and suggest an important role for host miRNAs in Hendra virus disease
Untangling the relationship between diet and visceral fat mass through blood metabolomics and gut microbiome profiling
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Higher visceral fat mass (VFM) is associated with an increased risk for developing cardio-metabolic diseases. The mechanisms by which an unhealthy diet pattern may influence VF development has yet to be examined through cutting-edge multi-omic methods. Therefore, our objective was to examine the dietary influences on VFM and identify gut microbiome and metabolite profiles that link food intakes to VFM. SUBJECTS/METHODS: In 2218 twins with VFM, food intake and metabolomics data available we identified food intakes most strongly associated with VFM in 50% of the sample, then constructed and tested the ‘VFM diet score’ in the remainder of the sample. Using linear regression (adjusted for covariates, including BMI and total fat mass) we investigated associations between the VFM diet score, the blood metabolomics profile and the faecal microbiome (n=889), and confirmed these associations with VFM. We replicated top findings in monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant (greater than or equal to1 s.d. apart) for VFM, matched for age, sex and the baseline genetic sequence. RESULTS: Four metabolites were associated with the VFM diet score and VFM: hippurate, alpha-hydroxyisovalerate, bilirubin (Z,Z) and butyrylcarnitine. We replicated associations between VFM and the diet score (Beta[s.e.]: 0.281[0.091]; P=0.002), butyrylcarnitine (0.199[0.087]; P=0.023) and hippurate (−0.297[0.095]; P=0.002) in VFM-discordant MZ twins. We identified a single species, Eubacterium dolichum to be associated with the VFM diet score (0.042[0.011], P=8.47 × 10−5), VFM (0.057[0.019], P=2.73 × 10−3) and hippurate (−0.075[0.032], P=0.021). Moreover, higher blood hippurate was associated with elevated adipose tissue expression neuroglobin, with roles in cellular oxygen homeostasis (0.016[0.004], P=9.82 × 10−6). CONCLUSION: We linked a dietary VFM score and VFM to Eubacterium dolichum and four metabolites in the blood. In particular, the relationship between hippurate, a metabolite derived from microbial metabolism of dietary polyphenols, and reduced VFM, the microbiome and increased adipose tissue expression of neuroglobin provides potential mechanistic insight into the influence of diet on VFM
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