Rapid Antigen-Capture Assay To Detect West Nile Virus in Dead Corvids

The utility of the VecTest antigen-capture assay to detect West Nile virus (WNV) in field-collected dead corvids was evaluated in Manitoba and Ontario, Canada, in 2001 and 2002. Swabs were taken from the oropharynx, cloaca, or both of 109 American Crows, 31 Blue Jays, 6 Common Ravens, and 4 Black-billed Magpies from Manitoba, and 255 American Crows and 28 Blue Jays from Ontario. The sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-capture assay were greatest for samples from American Crows; oropharyngeal swabs were more sensitive than cloacal swabs, and interlaboratory variation in the results was minimal. The sensitivity and specificity of the VecTest using oropharyngeal swabs from crows were 83.9% and 93.6%, respectively, for Manitoba samples and 83.3% and 95.8%, respectively, for Ontario birds. The VecTest antigen-capture assay on oropharyngeal secretions from crows is a reliable and rapid diagnostic test that appears suitable for incorporation into a WNV surveillance program

Intra-articular Injection Administration in UK Ex-professional Footballers During Their Playing Careers and the Association with Post-career Knee Osteoarthritis

© 2020, The Author(s). Background: The long-term risk from knee intra-articular (KIA) injections in professional athletes such as ex-footballers remains unknown. The use of KIA injections is controversial and remains anecdotally prolific as it is perceived as being safe/beneficial. The aim of this study was to determine the number, type and frequency KIA injections administered to retired professional footballers during their playing careers and the associations with post-career knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving a postal questionnaire (n = 1207) and subsequent knee radiographs in a random sample of questionnaire responders (n = 470). Footballers self-reported in the questionnaire whether they had received KIA injections and the estimated total number over the course of their playing career. Participant characteristics and football career-related details were also recorded. KOA was measured as self-reported knee pain (KP), total knee replacement (TKR) and radiographic KOA (RKOA). Results: 44.5% of footballers had received at least one KIA injection (mean: 7.5; SD ± 11.2) during their professional career. 71% of knee injections were cortisone/corticosteroid based. Multivariate logistic regression, adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI) and significant knee injury identified that footballers with injections weretwo times more likely to have KP (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.40–2.34) and TKR (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.43–3.42) than those without injections. However, there was no association with RKOA (OR 1.30, 95% CI 0.85–2.01). Given, the association with KP and TKR, we found a significant dose–response relationship as the more injections a player received (by dose–response groups), the greater the risk of KP and TKR outcomes after adjustment for knee injury and other confounders (p for trend < 0.01). Conclusion: On average, 8 KIA injections were given to the ex-footballers during their professional career. The most commonly administered injections were cortisone based. These injections associated with KP and TKR after they retired. The associations are independent of knee injuries and are dose dependent. The study suggests that there may have been excessive use of KIA injections to expedite return to play and this contributed to detrimental long-term outcomes such as KP and TKR post-retirement from professional football

Prevalence of knee pain, radiographic osteoarthritis and arthroplasty in retired professional footballers compared to men in the general population: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of knee pain, radiographic knee osteoarthritis (RKOA), total knee replacement (TKR) and associated risk factors in male ex-professional footballers compared to men in the general population (comparison group). Methods: 1207 male ex-footballers and 4085 men in the general population in the UK were assessed by postal questionnaire. Current knee pain was defined as pain in or around the knees on most days of the previous month. Presence and severity of RKOA were assessed on standardised radiographs using the Nottingham Line Drawing Atlas (NLDA) in a sub-sample of 470 ex-footballers and 491 men in the comparison group. The adjusted risk ratio (aRR) and risk difference (aRD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) in ex-footballers compared to the general population were calculated using the marginal model in Stata. Results: Ex-footballers were more likely than the comparison group to have current knee pain [aRR 1.91, 95%CI 1.77-2.06], RKOA [aRR 2.21, 95%CI 1.92-2.54] and TKR (aRR 3.61, 95%CI 2.90–4.50). Ex-footballers were also more likely to present with chondrocalcinosis [aRR 3.41, 95%CI 2.44-4.77]. Prevalence of knee pain and RKOA were higher in ex-footballers at all ages. However, even after adjustment for significant knee injury and other risk factors, there was more than a doubling of risk of these outcomes in footballers. Conclusions: The prevalence of all knee osteoarthritis outcomes (knee pain, RKOA and TKR) were 2-3 times higher in male ex-footballers compared to men in the general population group. Knee injury is the main attributable risk factor. Even after adjustment for recognised risk factors, knee osteoarthritis appear to be an occupational hazard of professional football

Participatory politics, environmental journalism and newspaper campaigns

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journalism Studies, 13(2), 210 - 225, 2012, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1461670X.2011.646398.This article explores the extent to which approaches to participatory politics might offer a more useful alternative to understanding the role of environmental journalism in a society where the old certainties have collapsed, only to be replaced by acute uncertainty. This uncertainty not only generates acute public anxiety about risks, it has also undermined confidence in the validity of long-standing premises about the ideal role of the media in society and journalistic professionalism. The consequence, this article argues, is that aspirations of objective reportage are outdated and ill-equipped to deal with many of the new risk stories environmental journalism covers. It is not a redrawing of boundaries that is needed but a wholesale relocation of our frameworks into approaches better suited to the socio-political conditions and uncertainties of late modernity. The exploration of participatory approaches is an attempt to suggest one way this might be done

Risk Factors for Knee Osteoarthritis in Retired Professional Footballers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To determine risk factors for three knee osteoarthritis (KOA) outcomes, knee pain (KP), radiographic KOA (RKOA) and total knee replacement (TKR), in professional footballers.Design: This was a cross-sectional study involving a postal questionnaire, followed by radiographic assessment in a sub-cohort of responders. Settings and Participants: 4775 questionnaires were sent to retired professional footballers, who had played in the English football league, and 1207 responded. Of these, 470 underwent knee radiographs. Assessment of Risk Factors: Potential factors include age, BMI, knee alignment, a history of football-related knee injury, and training hours (during career) were collected via the questionnaire.Main Outcome Measures: KOA outcomes were current KP (pain for most days of the previous month), TKR (self-reported) and RKOA (observed via radiographs). Results: Football-related injury was the strongest risk factor for KP [aOR 4.22, 95%CI 3.26-5.48], RKOA [aOR 2.88, 95%CI 1.81-4.59] and TKR [aOR 4.83, 95%CI 2.87-8.13]. Footballers had a 7% increased risk of RKOA for every 1000 hours trained. While age and gout were associated with all three KOA outcomes, BMI, nodal OA, a family history of OA, knee malalignment and 2D:4D ratio were associated with one or another of these three KOA outcomes.Conclusion: This study is the first to examine KOA risk factors in retired professional footballers. The study has identified several risk factors, both specific (for example, knee injury and training dose), and non-specific (for example, age and gout) to footballers. This may be used to develop prevention strategies to reduce the risk of KOA in professional footballers following retirement

Humanising the interview process: an evaluation of Service User/Carers contribution to value based recruitment in a Pre-registration Adult Nursing Programme.

Within the UK there has been move towards value based recruitment (VBR) as a response to some highly publicised poor standards of care with the National Health Service (Francis 2013). In 2014, Health Education England (HEE) published their VBR Framework which articulated how recruitment of healthcare practitioners needed to focus on how applicants’ individual values/behaviours aligned with core values of the NHS Constitution (DoH 2013). Higher Education Institutes were expected to comply as 50% of student nurse programmes are based in healthcare settings. During 2014-2015 the pre-registration adult nursing team redesigned the interview process to increase a focus on VBR: integral to this, we felt was the inclusion of Service Users/Carers within the interview process. Following training SU/Carers graded applicants in a group activity alongside academic and practice partners. There have been few research studies published evaluating SU/Carers engagement in Pre-registration Adult Nursing interviews probably due to the challenges of implementing SU/Carer engagement in the large cohort numbers that adult nursing attracts. This mixed-method evaluation analysed the perspectives of differing stakeholders (Candidates, SU/Carers, Academics and Practice Partners) regarding the role SU/Carer engagement in Adult Nursing Pre-registration interviews. Early findings from candidates have highlighted they value the involvement of SU/Carers in the interview process, SU/Carers add a “human dimension” ensuring a focus on the heart of nursing and its value base rather than the role of nursing and associated nursing tasks. This paper will present the full evaluation identifying areas of good practice, some of the challenges as well recommendations for future work. References Department of Health. (2013) NHS Constitution. Department of Health: London. Francis, R. (2013) Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry; Executive Summary. London. Health Education England. (2014) Value Based Recruitment Framework. Available from: http://hee.nhs.uk/wp-content/blogs.dir/321/files/2014/10/VBR-Framework.pdf (accessed 07/02/15

Emerging pharmacotherapy for cancer patients with cognitive dysfunction

Advances in the diagnosis and multi-modality treatment of cancer have increased survival rates for many cancer types leading to an increasing load of long-term sequelae of therapy, including that of cognitive dysfunction. The cytotoxic nature of chemotherapeutic agents may also reduce neurogenesis, a key component of the physiology of memory and cognition, with ramifications for the patient's mood and other cognition disorders. Similarly radiotherapy employed as a therapeutic or prophylactic tool in the treatment of primary or metastatic disease may significantly affect cognition. A number of emerging pharmacotherapies are under investigation for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction experienced by cancer patients. Recent data from clinical trials is reviewed involving the stimulants modafinil and methylphenidate, mood stabiliser lithium, anti-Alzheimer's drugs memantine and donepezil, as well as other agents which are currently being explored within dementia, animal, and cell culture models to evaluate their use in treating cognitive dysfunction

Dynamic GABAergic afferent modulation of AgRP neurons

Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC) promote homeostatic feeding at times of caloric insufficiency, yet they are rapidly suppressed by food-related sensory cues prior to ingestion. Here we identify a highly selective inhibitory afferent to AgRP neurons that serves as a neural determinant of this rapid modulation. Specifically, GABAergic projections arising from the ventral compartment of the dorsomedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (vDMH) contribute to the pre-consummatory modulation of ARCAgRP neurons. In a manner reciprocal to ARCAgRP neurons, ARC-projecting leptin receptor (LepR)-expressing GABAergic DMH neurons exhibit rapid activation upon availability of food that additionally reflects the relative value of the food. Thus, DMHLepR neurons form part of the sensory network that relays real-time information about the nature and availability of food to dynamically modulate ARCAgRP neuron activity and feeding behavior