Informed choice and public health screening for children: the case of blood spot screening

Objective: To examine parents' and health professionals' views on informed choice in newborn blood spot screening, and assess information and communication needs. Design and participants: A qualitative study involving semi-structured telephone interviews and focus groups with 47 parents of children who were either found to be affected or unaffected by the screened conditions, and 35 health professionals with differing roles in newborn blood spot screening programmes across the UK. Results and conclusions: Parents and health professionals recognize a tension between informed choice in newborn blood spot screening and public health screening for children. Some propose resolving this tension with more information and better communication, and some with rigorous dissent procedures. This paper argues that neither extensive parent information, nor a signed dissent model adequately address this tension. Instead, clear, brief and accurate parent information and effective communication between health professionals and parents, which take into account parents' information needs, are required, if informed choice and public health screening for children are to coexist successfully

The continuing development of Scottish economic statistics

Scottish economic statistics produced by the Scottish Government have improved considerably over the last decade and are more comprehensive than for any other part of the UK and for many devolved administration internationally. We now publish a wide range of statistics on the Scottish economy, ranging from GDP, labour market indicators, productivity, international trade to a full set of national accounts and detailed Input-Output tables. Over the coming year we are taking forward an extensive programme of work to further enhance Scotland’s economic statistics. This will include, developing estimates of GNI for Scotland, bringing forward the publication of GDP and estimating a set of accounts for Scotland to include the North Sea

North Africa: Implications for Information Creation and Access

© 2017, Published with license by Taylor & Francis. Column Editor\u27s Notes: The “Advances in Library Data and Access” column examines technological advances internal and external to libraries. The focus is on how library data is created and used. The strength of the column is its broad, international focus and contributors are encouraged to explore issues and recent advances in information technology relevant to their geographical region, as well as the larger, global audience. Interested authors are invited to submit proposals and articles to the column editor at [email protected]. Please include “IILR Submission” in the subject line of the email

Patient and public perspectives shaping scientific and medical research: panels for data, discussions, and decisions

Published onlineThis paper explores the role of patient panels for shaping research for health, scientific research about health and illness, and applied medical research. After examining the history and purposes of involving patients in discussions and decision making for research, it outlines the expertise and skills required if panels are to be successful. The paper also analyses existing guidance for panels that include patients. Panels benefit from the experiential knowledge of panel members, craft knowledge of panel facilitators, and organizational knowledge gained through previous experience of hosting panels. Guidance is available that addresses structures and resources (for panel funders) and interpersonal communication and group dynamics (for panel members and facilitators). This guidance is most comprehensive when it has itself been developed by all these types of stakeholders

Rapid UHPLC-MS metabolite profiling and phenotypic assays reveal genotypic impacts of nitrogen supplementation in oats

IntroductionOats (Avena sativa L.) are a whole grain cereal recognised for their health benefits and which are cultivated largely in temperate regions providing both a source of food for humans and animals, as well as being used in cosmetics and as a potential treatment for a number of diseases. Oats are known as being a cereal source high in dietary fibre (e.g. β-glucans), as well as being high in antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. Recently, oats have been gaining increased global attention due to their large number of beneficial health effects. Consumption of oats has been proven to lower blood LDL cholesterol levels and blood pressure, thus reducing the risk of heart disease, as well as reducing blood-sugar and insulin levels.ObjectivesOats are seen as a low input cereal. Current agricultural guidelines on nitrogen application are believed to be suboptimal and only consider the effect of nitrogen on grain yield. It is important to understand the role of both variety and of crop management in determining nutritional quality of oats. In this study the response of yield, grain quality and grain metabolites to increasing nitrogen application to levels greater than current guidelines were investigated.MethodsFour winter oat varieties (Mascani, Tardis, Balado and Gerald) were grown in a replicated nitrogen response trial consisting of a no added nitrogen control and four added nitrogen treatments between 50 and 200 kg N ha-1 in a randomised split-plot design. Grain yield, milling quality traits, β-glucan, total protein and oil content were assessed. The de-hulled oats (groats) were also subjected to a rapid Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) metabolomic screening approach.ResultsApplication of nitrogen had a significant effect on grain yield but there was no significant difference between the response of the four varieties. Grain quality traits however displayed significant differences both between varieties and nitrogen application level. β-glucan content significantly increased with nitrogen application. The UHPLC-MS approach has provided a rapid, sub 15 min per sample, metabolite profiling method that is repeatable and appropriate for the screening of large numbers of cereal samples. The method captured a wide range of compounds, inclusive of primary metabolites such as the amino acids, organic acids, vitamins and lipids, as well as a number of key secondary metabolites, including the avenanthramides, caffeic acid, and sinapic acid and its derivatives and was able to identify distinct metabolic phenotypes for the varieties studied. Amino acid metabolism was massively upregulated by nitrogen supplementation as were total protein levels, whilst the levels of organic acids were decreased, likely due to them acting as a carbon skeleton source. Several TCA cycle intermediates were also impacted, potentially indicating increased TCA cycle turn over, thus providing the plant with a source of energy and reductant power to aid elevated nitrogen assimilation. Elevated nitrogen availability was also directed towards the increased production of nitrogen containing phospholipids. A number of both positive and negative impacts on the metabolism of phenolic compounds that have influence upon the health beneficial value of oats and their products were also observed.ConclusionsAlthough the developed method has broad applicability as a rapid screening method or a rapid metabolite profiling method and in this study has provided valuable metabolic insights, it still must be considered that much greater confidence in metabolite identification, as well as quantitative precision, will be gained by the application of higher resolution chromatography methods, although at a large expense to sample throughput. Follow up studies will apply higher resolution GC (gas chromatography) and LC (reversed phase and HILIC) approaches, oats will be also analysed from across multiple growth locations and growth seasons, effectively providing a cross validation for the results obtained within this preliminary study. It will also be fascinating to perform more controlled experiments with sampling of green tissues, as well as oat grains, throughout the plants and grains development, to reveal greater insight of carbon and nitrogen metabolism balance, as well as resource partitioning into lipid and secondary metabolism

Ultrasound and Microbubbles Promote the Retention of Fluorescent Compounds in the Small Intestine

Focused ultrasound (US) is a novel means to increase the passage of medication through the wall of the small intestine. The purpose of this study was to determine whether US and microbubbles (MBs) can facilitate delivery of macromolecular therapeutic agents across the intestinal epithelium in vitro and in vivo. In vitro experiments involved delivery of compounds across a cell monolayer, namely Caco-2 cells cultured on ThinCert filters. The cells were cultured for a minimum of 3 weeks to mimic the polarised intestinal epithelium. A suspension of dextran with or without MBs, prepared in growth medium, was introduced into the apical chamber of the ThinCert with a syringe pump through a channel in the centre of a miniature focused US transducer (4 MHz, 1 MPa PNP). Each in vivo experiment involved a tethered endoscopic capsule with an US transducer and a delivery channel inserted into the small intestine of a terminally anaesthetised pig via a surgical stoma. The amount of fluorescent dextran delivered across the Caco-2 monolayer when employing US, MBs and dextran was higher than the amount delivered with dextran alone. With this approach, fluorescent marking of the wall of the small intestine was achieved in vivo by applying US and MBs. Our work indicates that US has potential for application in targeted treatment of gastrointestinal disease and oral drug delivery