Estimating the prevalence of food risk increasing behaviours in UK kitchens

© 2017 Jones et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Foodborne disease poses a serious threat to public health. In the UK, half a million cases are linked to known pathogens and more than half of all outbreaks are associated with catering establishments. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has initiated the UK Food Hygiene Rating Scheme in which commercial food establishments are inspected and scored with the results made public. In this study we investigate the prevalence of food risk increasing behaviours among chefs, catering students and the public. Given the incentive for respondents to misreport when asked about illegal or illicit behaviours we employed a Randomised Response Technique designed to elicit more accurate prevalence rates of such behaviours. We found 14% of the public not always hand-washing immediately after handling raw meat, poultry or fish; 32% of chefs and catering students had worked within 48 hours of suffering from diarrhoea or vomiting. 22% of the public admitted having served meat “on the turn” and 33% of chefs and catering students admitted working in kitchens where such meat was served; 12% of the public and 16% of chefs and catering students admitted having served chicken at a barbeque when not totally sure it was fully cooked. Chefs in fine-dining establishment were less likely to wash their hands after handling meat and fish and those who worked in award winning restaurants were more likely to have returned to work within 48 hours of suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting. We found no correlation between the price of a meal in an establishment, nor its Food Hygiene Rating Score, and the likelihood of any of the food malpractices occurring

International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10(-8)) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine-cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist

Com o diabo no corpo: os terríveis papagaios do Brasil colônia

Desde a Antiguidade, papagaios, periquitos e afins (Psittacidae) fascinaram os europeus por seu vivo colorido e uma notável capacidade de interação com seres humanos. A descoberta do Novo Mundo nada faria além de acrescentar novos elementos ao tráfico de animais exóticos há muito estabelecido pelos europeus com a África e o Oriente. Sem possuir grandes mamíferos, a América tropical participaria desse comércio com o que tinha de mais atrativo, essencialmente felinos, primatas e aves - em particular os papagaios, os quais eram embarcados em bom número. Contudo, a julgar pelos documentos do Brasil colônia, esses voláteis podiam inspirar muito pouca simpatia, pois nenhum outro animal - exceto as formigas - foi tantas vezes mencionado como praga para a agricultura. Além disso, alguns psitácidas mostravam-se tão loquazes que inspiravam a séria desconfiança de serem animais demoníacos ou possessos, pois só três classes de entidades - anjos, homens e demônios - possuíam o dom da palavra. Nos dias de hoje, vários representantes dos Psittacidae ainda constituem uma ameaça para a agricultura, enquanto os indivíduos muito faladores continuam despertando a suspeita de estarem possuídos pelo demônio. Transcendendo a mera curiosidade, essa crença exemplifica o quão intrincadas podem ser as relações do homem com o chamado “mundo natural”, revelando um universo mais amplo e multifacetado do que se poderia supor a princípio. Nesse sentido, a existência de aves capazes de falar torna essa relação ainda mais complexa e evidencia que as dificuldades de estabelecer o limite entre o animal e o humano se estendem além dos primatas e envolvem as mais inusitadas espécies zoológicas.Since ancient times, parrots and their allies (Psittacidae) have fascinated Europeans by their striking colors and notable ability to interact with human beings. The discovery of the New World added new species to the international exotic animal trade, which for many centuries had brought beasts to Europe from Africa and the Orient. Lacking large mammals, tropical America participated in this trade with its most appealing species, essentially felines, primates and birds - especially parrots - which were shipped in large numbers. It should be noted, however, that at times these birds were not well liked. In fact, according to documents from colonial Brazil, only the ants rank higher than parrots as the animals most often mentioned as agricultural pests. On the other hand, some of these birds were so chatty that people suspected them to be demonic or possessed animals, since only three classes of beings - angels, men and demons - have the ability to speak. Nowadays, several Psittacidae still constitute a threat to agriculture, and the suspicion that extremely talkative birds were demon possessed has also survived. More than a joke or a mere curiosity, this belief exemplifies how intricate man’s relationships with the “natural world” may be. In this sense, the existence of birds that are able to speak adds a further twist to these relationships, demonstrating that the problem of establishing a boundary between the animal and the human does not only involve primates, but also includes some unusual zoological species

The impact of optic nerve and related characteristics on disc area measurements derived from different imaging techniques

<div><p>Purpose</p><p>Optic nerve head (ONH) assessment and its interpretation in healthy patients and those with glaucoma remains a pivotal topic specifically considering rapid advancements in imaging technologies. We undertook a large-scale, mixed cohort, comparative study to assess the correlation of optic disc measurements between different imaging modalities and investigated the impact of patient and disc associated parameters.</p><p>Methods</p><p>ONH sizes were obtained from one randomly selected eye of each of 209 patients using stereophotography, confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy and two different optical coherence tomographers (OCT). Patient related data, glaucoma status and optic disc variables, specifically oblique insertion, torsion, presence of beta PPA and spherical equivalent were recorded. Measurements between imaging modalities were analysed using Pearson correlation, linear regression analysis and Blend-Altman plots. Individual variables were compared applying multivariate regression analysis, ANOVA and chi square statistics was used to determine correlations between patient and clinical characteristics.</p><p>Results</p><p>Absolute measurements significantly differed between imaging modalities generally producing smaller measurements for OCT derived measurements of Bruch’s membrane opening (BMO). Pairwise correlations between imaging modalities were between 0.83 and 0.93 for discs without myopia, oblique insertion, or beta PPA. These features impacted on measurements for individual modalities and consequently contributed to inconsistencies and variability.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>In comparison to planimetry, OCT derived BMO measurements are more variable in the presence of oblique insertion, beta PPA or magnification errors due to myopia. Impact of these factors, however, differs between instruments and needs to be considered to accurately interpret optic disc features in particular within the context of glaucoma diagnosis.</p></div

The impact of optic nerve and related characteristics on disc area measurements derived from different imaging techniques

Purpose Optic nerve head (ONH) assessment and its interpretation in healthy patients and those with glaucoma remains a pivotal topic specifically considering rapid advancements in imaging technologies. We undertook a large-scale, mixed cohort, comparative study to assess the correlation of optic disc measurements between different imaging modalities and investigated the impact of patient and disc associated parameters. Methods ONH sizes were obtained from one randomly selected eye of each of 209 patients using stereophotography, confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy and two different optical coherence tomographers (OCT). Patient related data, glaucoma status and optic disc variables, specifically oblique insertion, torsion, presence of beta PPA and spherical equivalent were recorded. Measurements between imaging modalities were analysed using Pearson correlation, linear regression analysis and Blend-Altman plots. Individual variables were compared applying multivariate regression analysis, ANOVA and chi square statistics was used to determine correlations between patient and clinical characteristics. Results Absolute measurements significantly differed between imaging modalities generally producing smaller measurements for OCT derived measurements of Bruch’s membrane opening (BMO). Pairwise correlations between imaging modalities were between 0.83 and 0.93 for discs without myopia, oblique insertion, or beta PPA. These features impacted on measurements for individual modalities and consequently contributed to inconsistencies and variability. Conclusion In comparison to planimetry, OCT derived BMO measurements are more variable in the presence of oblique insertion, beta PPA or magnification errors due to myopia. Impact of these factors, however, differs between instruments and needs to be considered to accurately interpret optic disc features in particular within the context of glaucoma diagnosis

Influence of optic disc characteristics on average disc/BMO sizes measured with four different imaging modalities.

<p>Optic disc sizes of 209 participants were measured using KOWA stereoscopic photography and HRT3 topographic imaging and corresponding BMO measurements obtained with the Spectralis and Cirrus OCT. Differences in average size measurements was examined for each imaged modality based on patient ethnicity (<b>A</b>), absence or presence of optic disc tilt (<b>B</b>), oblique optic disc insertion (<b>C</b>), absence or presence of beta PPA (<b>D</b>), refraction error of equal or less than -1 defined as myopia (<b>D</b>). Of these, myopia as well as oblique insertion and/or presence of beta PPA were associated with significant and <b><i>instrument specific</i></b> differences in average measurement sizes (<b>E</b>). <b>Bars</b>: 95% confidence interval; <b>Asterisks</b>: Significant difference in average measurement size using ANOVA analysis, * = p<0.05, ** = p<0.01.</p