12508 research outputs found
Sort by
Colorectal polyp outcomes after participation in the seAFOod polyp prevention trial: Evidence of rebound elevated colorectal polyp risk after short-term aspirin use
Get PDFYesThe seAFOod polyp prevention trial was a randomised, placebo-controlled, 2 × 2 factorial trial of aspirin 300 mg and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) 2000 mg daily in individuals who had a screening colonoscopy in the English Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP). Aspirin treatment was associated with a 20% reduction in colorectal polyp number at BCSP surveillance colonoscopy 12 months later. It is unclear what happens to colorectal polyp risk after short-term aspirin use.
To investigate colorectal polyp risk according to the original trial treatment allocation, up to 6 years after trial participation.
All seAFOod trial participants were scheduled for further BCSP surveillance and provided informed consent for the collection of colonoscopy outcomes. We linked BCSP colonoscopy data to trial outcomes data.
In total, 507 individuals underwent one or more colonoscopies after trial participation. Individuals grouped by treatment allocation were well matched for clinical characteristics, follow-up duration and number of surveillance colonoscopies. The polyp detection rate (PDR; the number of individuals who had ≥1 colorectal polyp detected) after randomization to placebo aspirin was 71.1%. The PDR was 80.1% for individuals who had received aspirin (odds ratio [OR] 1.13 [95% confidence interval 1.02, 1.24]; p = 0.02). There was no difference in colorectal polyp outcomes between individuals who had been allocated to EPA compared with its placebo (OR for PDR 1.00 [0.91, 1.10]; p = 0.92).
Individuals who received aspirin in the seAFOod trial demonstrated increased colorectal polyp risk during post-trial surveillance. Rebound elevated neoplastic risk after short-term aspirin use has important implications for aspirin cessation driven by age-related bleeding risk. ISRCTN05926847.Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme. Grant Number: NIHR128210
Adaptability to eccentric exercise training is diminished with age in female mice
Get PDFYesThe ability of skeletal muscle to adapt to eccentric contractions has been suggested to be blunted in older muscle. If eccentric exercise is to be a safe and efficient training mode for older adults, preclinical studies need to establish if older muscle can effectively adapt and if not, determine the molecular signatures that are causing this impairment. The purpose of this study was to quantify the extent age impacts functional adaptations of muscle and identify genetic signatures associated with adaptation (or lack thereof). The anterior crural muscles of young (4 mo) and older (28 mo) female mice performed repeated bouts of eccentric contractions in vivo (50 contractions/wk for 5 wk) and isometric torque was measured across the initial and final bouts. Transcriptomics was completed by RNA-sequencing 1 wk following the fifth bout to identify common and differentially regulated genes. When torques post eccentric contractions were compared after the first and fifth bouts, young muscle exhibited a robust ability to adapt, increasing isometric torque 20%-36%, whereas isometric torque of older muscle decreased up to 18% (P ≤ 0.047). Using differential gene expression, young and older muscles shared some common transcriptional changes in response to eccentric exercise training, whereas other transcripts appeared to be age dependent. That is, the ability to express particular genes after repeated bouts of eccentric contractions was not the same between ages. These molecular signatures may reveal, in part, why older muscles do not appear to be as adaptive to exercise training as young muscles.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The ability to adapt to exercise training may help prevent and combat sarcopenia. Here, we demonstrate young mouse muscles get stronger whereas older mouse muscles become weaker after repeated bouts of eccentric contractions, and that numerous genes were differentially expressed between age groups following training. These results highlight that molecular and functional plasticity is not fixed in skeletal muscle with advancing age, and the ability to handle or cope with physical stress may be impaired
Spaceflight Induces Strength Decline in Caenorhabditis elegans
Get PDFYesBackground: Understanding and countering the well-established negative health consequences of spaceflight remains a primary challenge preventing safe deep space exploration. Targeted/personalized therapeutics are at the forefront of space medicine strategies, and cross-species molecular signatures now define the 'typical' spaceflight response. However, a lack of direct genotype-phenotype associations currently limits the robustness and, therefore, the therapeutic utility of putative mechanisms underpinning pathological changes in flight. Methods: We employed the worm Caenorhabditis elegans as a validated model of space biology, combined with 'NemaFlex-S' microfluidic devices for assessing animal strength production as one of the most reproducible physiological responses to spaceflight. Wild-type and dys-1 (BZ33) strains (a Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) model for comparing predisposed muscle weak animals) were cultured on the International Space Station in chemically defined media before loading second-generation gravid adults into NemaFlex-S devices to assess individual animal strength. These same cultures were then frozen on orbit before returning to Earth for next-generation sequencing transcriptomic analysis. Results: Neuromuscular strength was lower in flight versus ground controls (16.6% decline,
Distribution and discovery of oceanic natural gas hydrates
No full textNoA crystalline solid called a gas hydrate has gas molecules surrounded by water molecules. There are several gases with suitable structures for the production of hydrates, but methane-rich gas hydrates are more common and form in seas and on the ocean. The place of hydrates formation is usually the sediment of the ocean floor and the polar regions, which largely covered with ice. It is also found in large quantities in combination with ambient ice in the ever-frozen polar regions. The importance of gas hydrates is due to the great ability of gas hydrates in natural gas storage, which makes it attractive to use them for the purposes of storing and transporting natural gas and other gases as a competitor to liquefaction and condensing methods. Due to the significance potential of these reserves as the world's future energy supplier and their direct impact on changes in climate conditions due to the greenhouse effect of methane, as well as their geological risks during water hydrocarbon discoveries, marine science researchers have been studying them over the past few years. Acoustic and seismic methods are helpful instruments for measuring subterranean hydrated reserves because there is not the technology to measure hydrated reserves directly
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): Taking stock and looking ahead for international business research
Get PDFYesThe establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has opened new avenues of research interest in International Business and International Management. However, scholarly work in this fledgling area of research has been disparate and often lacking in the assessment of core international business implications of the emergence of the AfCFTA on member states as well as non-member states. This is because, as yet, no systematic attempt has been made to explore the AfCFTA in the context of IB research, or project future IB research directions. Hence, in this paper, using the PRISMA method we have systematically identified the current published research and scholarly work on the AfCFTA and provided a robust picture of the current state of knowledge and available literature on the AfCFTA while at the same time outlining potential areas for future international business researc
Numerical study of steel–concrete composite cellular beam using demountable shear connectors
Get PDFYesSteel concrete composite beams have been increasingly used in practice due to their advantages with respect to
their structural features and constructability. However, in conventional composite beam systems composite
action is applied via shear connectors welded at the top flange of the down-stand steel beam and embedded in the
concrete slabs, making it less favourable for the beam system to be disassembled and reused. This paper presents
a numerical study of a new composite beam system consisting of a cellular steel beam, metal deck flooring and
demountable shear connectors. According to the experimental study, this composite beam system made the
demounting, reassembly, and member reuse possible, and did not compromise the loading capacity. In the numerical
study presented in the paper, a finite element model was developed and validated against the results
obtained from the previous experimental study. The parametric study further examined the effects of concrete
strength, shear connector arrangements and asymmetry ratios of steel beam section to the load capacity of the
composite beam system. The analysis and comparison provided a deeper insight into the behaviour of this type of
shear connector. Through this numerical study, the structural merits of the composite beam system using
demountable shear connectors were highlighted. Finally, the mid-span plastic moment of the composite beam
was predicted using the direction method provided in SCI publications and compared with the
moment–deflection relationship obtained from FE modelling.The research leading to these results is part of a joint project of the University of Bradford, the University of Luxemburg, the Technology University of Delft, the Steel Construction Institute, Tata Steel, Lindab S. A., BmS and AEC3 Ltd. The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the European Commission: Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS-2015, RPJ, 710040). In addition, deep appreciation to Mr. Stephen Robinson for his work done in the laboratory
Determining Sustainability Key Performance Indicators for Food Loss Reduction in the Supply Chain: Empirical Evidence from Jordan
No full textFood loss and food waste in large quantities undoubtedly form one of the most significant global problems affecting our food security and the world’s sustainability development position. Although recent years have witnessed growing research on reducing food loss, most research didn’t evaluate the performance measurement systems in the context of food loss reduction. Consequently, research targeting the strategic decision-making level is needed to develop holistic performance evaluation models that can integrate environmental, social, and economic issues, with particular attention paid to food loss along the supply chain. This study aims to develop a decision model that determines the key sustainability performance indicators in the context of food loss reduction and examines the interrelationships between these indicators.
To serve the purpose of this study, a mixed-methods approach has been applied. By employing semi-structured interviews and a Delphi study with 34 experts in the food manufacturing industry, a large number of sustainability performance indicators were systematically examined under the proposed sustainability balanced scorecard (SBSC) model. Then, the significant indicators were selected through an online survey. Subsequently, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach was applied, using the DEMATEL technique to discover the interrelationships between the indicators.
The results show that learning and growth, economic, and internal process are the cause perspectives in the model and need to be primarily considered by food manufacturing companies for food loss reduction. The suggested model will allow the decision-makers to revise their performance models and diagnose their activities in the context of food loss reduction
Firm growth, innovation and access to finance: Evidence from European SMEs
Get PDFThis thesis examines three issues about European SMEs. Chapter Two examines how sustainable growth firms obtain external finance during and after the 2008 financial crisis. Although sustainable growth firms have past growth records and future growth aspirations; however, those firms may face challenges in obtaining external finance. We find that those firms increase their demand for external finance after the financial crisis and obtain finance from suppliers during this period to implement their growth activities. In contrast, firms are less likely to secure loans from banks during this period.
Chapter Three examines how SMEs can reduce information asymmetry and increase the probability of obtaining a bank loan. SMEs can easily establish a lending relationship with suppliers, which may improve firms’ creditworthiness and reduce information asymmetry. We show that SMEs that suffer information asymmetry can obtain bank finance if these firms establish a significant relationship in the past with suppliers. This finding is more prominent for small firms as banks refuse their loan applications due to information asymmetry.
Chapter Four examines financially constrained SMEs for increasing sales growth through innovation activities. As innovation has a positive effect on sales growth; therefore, conducting innovation activities can improve cash flows to constrained firms. We find that financially constrained SMEs can obtain sales growth if they conduct innovation activities. Our results suggest that product and process innovation are significant for financially constrained SMEs as those innovations provide additional cash flow in firms to reduce the adverse effect of the constrained condition
The Bronze Age funerary cups of southern England
Get PDF’Pygmy’, ‘incense’, ‘accessory’ or ‘funerary’ cups are small Early Bronze Age
vessels, almost all from mortuary contexts, united by their diminutive size.
Although several small-scale and regional studies have previously been
undertaken, until recently there has been little attempt to consider such vessels
as a whole. The vessels from the north of England were recently examined in
detail by Hallam (2015), and the present study of the southern English vessels
will complement Hallam’s work with the ultimate goal of producing a national
corpus. Details of over three hundred and fifty vessels, from thirty counties, are
presented together with a comprehensive literature review.
Analysis demonstrates how the form and depositional contexts of such vessels
probably arose within Beaker ceramic and funerary traditions. Many have
complex biographies, some being deposited ‘fresh’ whilst others are fragmented
or otherwise damaged. Perforations, long seen as a key feature of the tradition,
appear to be restricted to certain forms only, and it is suggested that
fenestration may be a development of this practice. Regional links and networks
may be discerned through the distribution of attributes and similar vessel types
and probably reflect trade networks. It is suggested that the cups had a primary
role within Early Bronze Age funerary rituals associated only with certain
individuals, perhaps marked out by the nature of their deathsThe full text will be available at the end of the embargo period: 21st Feb 202
Measuring gaze angle changes to maintain fixation upon a small target during motion: 3D motion tracking versus wearable eye-tracker
Get PDFYesRecently we demonstrated how changes in gaze angle can be determined without an eye-tracker. The approach uses 3D motion-capture, to track the viewed target in the head’s reference frame and assumes head or target movement causes a gaze-angle change. This study determined the validity of this “assumed-gaze” method. Participants read information presented on a smartphone whilst walking. Changes in gaze angles were simultaneously assessed with an eye-tracker and our assumed-gaze method. The spatial and temporal agreement of the assumed-gaze approach with the eye-tracker were ~1deg and ~0.02s, respectively, and spatial congruence indicated the direction of changes in the assumed-gaze angle were in accordance with those determined with the eye tracker for ~81% of the time. Findings indicate that when the head is moving and gaze is continually directed to a small target, our assumed-gaze approach can determine changes in gaze angle with comparable precision to a wearable eye-trackerAlejandro Rubio Baranano ˜ was funded by a UK College of Optometrists PhD studentshi