Smart nanogels at the air/water interface: structural studies by neutron reflectivity

STFC for provision of consumables and subsistence and access to the ILL facility through the STFC managed UK contribution to the facility (EXP: 9-13-530, 9-11-1721 and 9-11-17446). The European Commission (FP7 Marie Curie Actions, NANOLEM, PIEF-GA-2013-627146 to KZ) and the Chinese Scholarship Council (studentship to HS) are gratefully acknowledged for financial support

Why do patients with multimorbidity in England report worse experiences in primary care? Evidence from the General Practice Patient Survey.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and explain the primary care experiences of people with multiple long-term conditions in England. DESIGN AND METHODS: Using questionnaire data from 906,578 responders to the English 2012 General Practice Patient Survey, we describe the primary care experiences of patients with long-term conditions, including 583,143 patients who reported one or more long-term conditions. We employed mixed effect logistic regressions to analyse data on six items covering three care domains (access, continuity and communication) and a single item on overall primary care experience. We controlled for sociodemographic characteristics, and for general practice using a random effect, and further, controlled for, and explored the importance of, health-related quality of life measured using the EuroQoL (EQ-5D) scale. RESULTS: Most patients with long-term conditions report a positive experience of care at their general practice (after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and general practice, range 74.0-93.1% reporting positive experience of care across seven questions) with only modest variation by type of condition. For all three domains of patient experience, an increasing number of comorbid conditions is associated with a reducing percentage of patients reporting a positive experience of care. For example, compared with respondents with no long-term condition, the OR for reporting a positive experience is 0.83 (95% CI 0.80 to 0.87) for respondents with four or more long-term conditions. However, this relationship is no longer observed after adjusting for health-related quality of life (OR (95% CI) single condition=1.23 (1.21 to 1.26); four or more conditions=1.31 (1.25 to 1.37)), with pain making the greatest difference among five quality of life variables included in the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with multiple long-term conditions more frequently report worse experiences in primary care. However, patient-centred measures of health-related quality of life, especially pain, are more important than the number of conditions in explaining why patients with multiple long-term conditions report worse experiences of care

Recent history, current status, conservation and management of native mammalian carnivore species in Great Britain

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record After historical declines in population sizes and ranges, we compare and contrast the recent history and contemporary variation in the status of Great Britain's eight native mammalian carnivore species from the 1960s to 2017. Wildcat Felis silvestris conservation status is unfavourable and is masked by hybridisation with domestic cats Felis catus. Red foxes Vulpes vulpes remain widespread but are currently declining. European otter Lutra lutra, European pine marten Martes martes and European polecat Mustela putorius populations are characterised by rapid recovery. Otters have almost completely recolonised Great Britain, polecats have expanded their range throughout southern Britain from refugia in Wales and pine martens have expanded their range from the Scottish Highlands. European badgers Meles meles have generally increased in population density. Status assessments of stoats Mustela erminea and weasels Mustela nivalis are data-deficient but available evidence suggests that stoats may have increased while weasels may have declined. Anthropogenic processes influencing carnivore status include legal protections, habitat quality, reintroductions, predator control, pollutants, hybridisation and diseases and their associated control practices. Population effects of contaminants, such as anticoagulant rodenticides, remain poorly characterised. The widespread interface with domestic and feral cats makes the wildcat's situation precarious. Recent declines in rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus populations are a concern, given that several carnivore species depend on them as food. We conclude that, with the exception of the wildcat, the status of Great Britain's mammalian carnivores has markedly improved since the 1960s. Better understanding of the social aspects of interactions between humans and expanding predator populations is needed if conflict is to be avoided and long-term co-existence with people is to be possible.Vincent Wildlife TrustUniversity of Exete

Tuneable interfacial surfactant aggregates mimic lyotropic phases and facilitate large scale nanopatterning.

It is shown that the air-liquid interface can be made to display the same rich curvature phenomena as common lyotropic liquid crystal systems. Through mixing an insoluble, naturally occurring, branched fatty acid, with an unbranched fatty acid of the same length, systematic variation in the packing constraints at the air-water interface could be obtained. The combination of atomic force microscopy and neutron reflectometry is used to demonstrate that the water surface exhibits significant tuneable topography. By systematic variation of the two fatty acid proportions, ordered arrays of monodisperse spherical caps, cylindrical sections, and a mesh phase are all observed, as well as the expected lamellar structure. The tuneable deformability of the air-water interface permits this hitherto unexplored topological diversity, which is analogous to the phase elaboration displayed by amphiphiles in solution. It offers a wealth of novel possibilities for the tailoring of nanostructure

Marine bioinvasion management: structural framework

Significant global change has occurred through the accidental and intentional human mediated introductions of species in regions outside of their evolutionary origins can no longer be disputed (e.g., Lubchenco et al. 1991; Carlton 2001; Pimentel 2002). This change is well documented in a variety of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems (e.g., Drake and Mooney 1989) and is becoming increasingly apparent in marine and estuarine habitats in all of the world’s oceans (e.g., Carlton 2001; Chap. 2, Carlton). Documenting the scale and rates of marine introductions and the subsequent changes to invaded systems has captured much of the marine invasion ecology effort during the last 25 years (e.g., Grosholz et al. 2000; Carlton and Ruiz 2004). While the lessons that can be learned about evolution, ecosystem function, community dynamics, and species biology and ecology from the study of biological introductions are fascinating (e.g., Harper 1965; Carlton and Ruiz 2004), the challenge “what should we and/or what can we do?” remains. The options appear to be simple, however the details of implementation are difficult: we can choose to do nothing or we can choose to act

Resident Memory T Cells (TRM) Are Abundant in Human Lung: Diversity, Function, and Antigen Specificity

Recent studies have shown that tissue resident memory T cells (TRM) are critical to antiviral host defense in peripheral tissues. This new appreciation of TRM that reside in epithelial tissues and mediate host defense has been studied most extensively in skin: adult human skin contains large numbers of functional TRM that express skin specific markers. Indeed, more than twice as many T cells reside in skin as in peripheral blood. This T cell population has a diverse T cell receptor repertoire, and can produce a broad array of cytokines. More recently, we have begun to examine other epithelial tissues for the presence of resident T cells. In the present study, we asked whether analogous populations of resident T cells could be found in human lung. We were able to demonstrate abundant resident T cells in human lung-more than 10 billion T cells were present. Lung T cells were largely of the effector memory T cell (TEM) phenotype, though small numbers of central memory T cells (TCM) and T regulatory cells (Treg) could be identified. Lung T cells had a diverse T cell receptor repertoire and subsets produced IL-17, IL-4, IFNγ, as well as TNFα. A significant number of lung TRM CD4+Th cells produced more than one cytokine, identifying them as “multifunctional” Th1 type cells. Finally, lung TRM, but not TRM resident to skin or T cells from blood, proliferated in response to influenza virus. This work suggests that normal human lung contains large numbers of TRM cells, and these cells are poised to respond to recall antigens previously encountered through lung mucosa. This population of T cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of asthma and other T cell mediated lung diseases

Issues potentially affecting quality of life arising from long-term medicines use: a qualitative study

Background Polypharmacy is increasing and managing large number of medicines may create a burden for patients. Many patients have negative views of medicines and their use can adversely affect quality of life. No studies have specifically explored the impact of general long-term medicines use on quality of life. Objective To determine the issues which patients taking long-term medicines consider affect their day-to-day lives, including quality of life. Setting Four primary care general practices in North West England Methods Face-to-face interviews with adults living at home, prescribed four or more regular medicines for at least 1 year. Interviewees were identified from primary care medical records and purposively selected to ensure different types of medicines use. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Results Twenty-one interviews were conducted and analysed. Patients used an average of 7.8 medicines, 51 % were preventive, 40 % for symptom relief and 9 % treatment. Eight themes emerged: relationships with health professionals, practicalities, information, efficacy, side effects, attitudes, impact and control. Ability to discuss medicines with health professionals varied and many views were coloured by negative experiences, mainly with doctors. All interviewees had developed routines for using multiple medicines, some requiring considerable effort. Few felt able to exert control over medicines routines specified by health professionals. Over half sought additional information about medicines whereas others avoided this, trusting in doctors to guide their medicines use. Patients recognised their inability to assess efficacy for many medicines, notably those used for prophylaxis. All were concerned about possible side effects and some had poor experiences of discussing concerns with doctors. Medicines led to restrictions on social activities and personal life to the extent that, for some, life can revolve around medicines. Conclusion There is a multiplicity and complexity of issues surrounding medicines use, which impact on day-to-day lives for patients with long-term conditions. While most patients adapt to long-term medicines use, others did so at some cost to their quality of life

Impact of the growing healthy mhealth program on maternal feeding practices, infant food preferences, and satiety responsiveness: Quasi-experimental study

© Catherine Georgina Russell, Elizabeth Denney-Wilson, Rachel A Laws, Gavin Abbott, Miaobing Zheng, Sharyn J Lymer, Sarah Taki, Eloise-Kate V Litterbach, Kok-Leong Ong, Karen J Campbell. Background: Infancy is an important life stage for obesity prevention efforts. Parents’ infant feeding practices influence the development of infants’ food preferences and eating behaviors and subsequently diet and weight. Mobile health (mHealth) may provide a feasible medium through which to deliver programs to promote healthy infant feeding as it allows low cost and easy access to tailored content. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the effects of an mHealth intervention on parental feeding practices, infant food preferences, and infant satiety responsiveness. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with an mHealth intervention group (Growing Healthy) and a nonrandomized comparison group (“Baby's First Food"). The intervention group received access to a free app with age-appropriate push notifications, a website, and an online forum that provided them with evidence-based advice on infant feeding for healthy growth from birth until 9 months of age. Behavior change techniques were selected using the Behaviour Change Wheel framework. Participants in both groups completed three Web-based surveys, first when their infants were less than 3 months old (baseline, T1), then at 6 months (time 2, T2), and 9 months of age (time 3, T3). Surveys included questions on infant feeding practices and beliefs (Infant Feeding Questionnaire, IFQ), satiety responsiveness (Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire), and infant’s food exposure and liking. Multivariate linear regression models, estimated using maximum likelihood with bootstrapped standard errors, were fitted to compare continuous outcomes between the intervention groups, with adjustment for relevant covariates. Multivariate logistic regression adjusting for the same covariates was performed for categorical outcomes. Results: A total of 645 parents (Growing Healthy: n=301, Baby's First Food: n=344) met the eligibility criteria and were included in the study, reducing to a sample size of 546 (Growing Healthy: n=234, Baby's First Food: n=312) at T2 and a sample size of 518 (Growing Healthy: n=225, Baby's First Food: n=293) at T3. There were approximately equal numbers of boy and girl infants, and infants were aged less than 3 months at baseline (Growing Healthy: mean 7.0, SD 3.7 weeks; Baby's First Food: mean 7.9, SD 3.8 weeks), with Growing Healthy infants being slightly younger than Baby's First Food infants (P=.001). All but one (IFQ subscale “concerns about infant overeating or becoming overweight” at T2) of the measured outcomes did not differ between Growing Healthy and Baby's First Food. Conclusions: Although mHealth can be effective in promoting some health behaviors and offers many advantages in health promotion, the results of this study suggest that design and delivery characteristics needed to maximize the impact of mHealth interventions on infant feeding are uncertain. The sensitivity of available measurement tools and differences in baseline characteristics of participants may have also affected the results