Newsprint coverage of smoking in cars carrying children : a case study of public and scientific opinion driving the policy debate

Acknowledgements Date of Acceptance:17/10/2014 Acknowledgements: This project was funded by Cancer Research UK (MC_U130085862) and the Scottish School of Public Health Research. Cancer Research UK and the Scottish School of Public Health Research was not involved in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Shona Hilton, Karen Wood, Josh Bain and Chris Patterson are funded by the UK Medical Research Council as part of the Understandings and Uses of Public Health Research programme (MC_UU_12017/6) at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow. We thank Alan Pollock who provided assistance with coding.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Behavioural activation therapy for depression after stroke (BEADS): a study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled pilot trial of a psychological intervention for post-stroke depression

Background There is currently insufficient evidence for the clinical and cost-effectiveness of psychological therapies for treating post-stroke depression. Methods/Design BEADS is a parallel group feasibility multicentre randomised controlled trial with nested qualitative research and economic evaluation. The aim is to evaluate the feasibility of undertaking a full trial comparing behavioural activation (BA) to usual stroke care for 4 months for patients with post-stroke depression. We aim to recruit 72 patients with post-stroke depression over 12 months at three centres, with patients identified from the National Health Service (NHS) community and acute services and from the voluntary sector. They will be randomly allocated to receive behavioural activation in addition to usual care or usual care alone. Outcomes will be measured at 6 months after randomisation for both participants and their carers, to determine their effectiveness. The primary clinical outcome measure for the full trial will be the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Rates of consent, recruitment and follow-up by centre and randomised group will be reported. The acceptability of the intervention to patients, their carers and therapists will also be assessed using qualitative interviews. The economic evaluation will be undertaken from the National Health Service and personal social service perspective, with a supplementary analysis from the societal perspective. A value of information analysis will be completed to identify the areas in which future research will be most valuable. Discussion The feasibility outcomes from this trial will provide the data needed to inform the design of a definitive multicentre randomised controlled trial evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of behavioural activation for treating post-stroke depression

The potential role of thioredoxin 1 and CD30 systems as multiple pathway targets and biomarkers in tumor therapy

Our progress in understanding pathological disease mechanisms has led to the identification of biomarkers that have had a considerable impact on clinical practice. It is hoped that the move from generalized to stratified approaches, with the grouping of patients into clinical/therapeutic subgroups according to specific biomarkers, will lead to increasingly more effective clinical treatments in the near future. This success depends on the identification of biomarkers that reflect disease evolution and can be used to predict disease state and therapy response, or represent themselves a target for treatment. Biomarkers can be identified by studying relationships between serum, tissue, or tumor microenvironment parameters and clinical or therapeutic parameters at onset and during the progression of the disease, using systems biology. Given that multiple pathways, such as those responsible for redox and immune regulation, are deregulated or altered in tumors, the future of tumor therapy could lie in the simultaneous targeting of these pathways using extracellular and intracellular targets and biomarkers. With this aim in mind, we evaluated the role of thioredoxin 1, a key redox regulator, and CD30, a cell membrane receptor, in immune regulation. Our results lead us to suggest that the combined use of these biomarkers provides more detailed information concerning the multiple pathways affected in disease and hence the possibility of more effective treatment

Keeping vigil over the profession: a grounded theory of the context of nurse anaesthesia practice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nurse anaesthetists in the US have faced continued, repeated challenges to their profession. Regardless, they have met these challenges and have established themselves as major anaesthesia care providers. In this paper we address the research question: How do certified registered nurse anaesthetists (CRNAs) manage the socio-political context in which they provide care for their patients?</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Grounded theory was used to explore how nurse anaesthetists protect and promote their profession. Purposive, snowball, and theoretical sampling was used and data were collected through participant observation and interviews conducted at a conference of the professional association, an educational program, by telephone, email exchanges, and time spent in operating rooms and an outpatient surgical clinic. Analysis included coding at increasingly abstract levels and constant comparison.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The basic social process identified was Keeping Vigil Over the Profession, which explains how nurse anaesthetists protect and promote their profession. It is comprised of three contextual categories: Establishing Public Credibility through regulatory and educational standards, Political Vigilance and taking action in governmental and policy arenas, and Tending the Flock through a continuous information loop between local and administrative/political levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>From our study of the context of nurse anaesthesia practice, it is clear that CRNAs are dedicated to protecting their ability to provide high quality patient care by maintaining constant vigilance over their profession.</p

Effects of Ambulant Myofeedback Training and Ergonomic Counselling in Female Computer Workers with Work-Related Neck-Shoulder Complaints: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: To investigate the effects of ambulant myofeedback training including ergonomic counselling (Mfb) and ergonomic counselling alone (EC), on work-related neck-shoulder pain and disability. Methods: Seventy-nine female computer workers reporting neck-shoulder complaints were randomly assigned to Mfb or EC and received four weeks of intervention. Pain intensity in neck, shoulders, and upper back, and pain disability, were measured at baseline, immediately after intervention, and at three and six months follow-up. Results: Pain intensity and disability had significantly decreased immediately after four weeks Mfb or EC, and the effects remained at follow up. No differences were observed between the Mfb and EC group for outcome and subjects in both intervention groups showed comparable chances for improvement in pain intensity and disability. Conclusions: Pain intensity and disability significantly reduced after both interventions and this effect remained at follow-up. No differences were observed between the two intervention groups

Ratio of the Isolated Photon Cross Sections at \sqrt{s} = 630 and 1800 GeV

The inclusive cross section for production of isolated photons has been measured in \pbarp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 630$ GeV with the \D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The photons span a transverse energy ($E_T$) range from 7-49 GeV and have pseudorapidity $|\eta| < 2.5$. This measurement is combined with to previous \D0 result at $\sqrt{s} = 1800$ GeV to form a ratio of the cross sections. Comparison of next-to-leading order QCD with the measured cross section at 630 GeV and ratio of cross sections show satisfactory agreement in most of the $E_T$ range.Comment: 7 pages. Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 251805, (2001

Limits on WWZ and WW\gamma couplings from p\bar{p}\to e\nu jj X events at \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV

We present limits on anomalous WWZ and WW-gamma couplings from a search for WW and WZ production in p-bar p collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV. We use p-bar p -> e-nu jjX events recorded with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider during the 1992-1995 run. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 96.0+-5.1 pb^(-1). Assuming identical WWZ and WW-gamma coupling parameters, the 95% CL limits on the CP-conserving couplings are -0.33<lambda<0.36 (Delta-kappa=0) and -0.43<Delta-kappa<0.59 (lambda=0), for a form factor scale Lambda = 2.0 TeV. Limits based on other assumptions are also presented.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 2 table

Search for New Physics in e mu X Data at D0 Using Sleuth: A Quasi-Model-Independent Search Strategy for New Physics

We present a quasi-model-independent search for the physics responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. We define final states to be studied, and construct a rule that identifies a set of relevant variables for any particular final state. A new algorithm ("Sleuth") searches for regions of excess in those variables and quantifies the significance of any detected excess. After demonstrating the sensitivity of the method, we apply it to the semi-inclusive channel e mu X collected in 108 pb^-1 of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV at the D0 experiment during 1992-1996 at the Fermilab Tevatron. We find no evidence of new high p_T physics in this sample.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Physical Review