An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Laura W Lamps, Andrew M Bellizzi, Wendy L Frankel, Scott R Owens & Rhonda K Yantiss. DemosMEDICAL, New York, 2016; ISBN:978-1-936287-72-7
The title of this book would not have attracted my attention prior to being asked to review it. Neoplasia is covered in detail in existing GI pathology textbooks and there are also atlases of GI pathology. A quick glance at the contents, however, and I think the book should have been entitled ‘A Practical Guide (or Approach) to Neoplastic Gastrointestinal Pathology’.
The introductory chapter covers terminology, grading, staging, reporting and screening, as well as a general approach to …
The rise in global obesity makes it crucial to understand how diet drives obesity-related health conditions, such as premature cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD). In AD hippocampal-dependent episodic memory is one of the first types of memory to be impaired. Previous studies have shown that in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) episodic memory is rapidly but reversibly impaired.In this study we use hippocampal proteomics to investigate the effects of HFD in the hippocampus. Mice were fed either a low-fat diet (LFD) or HFD containing either 10% or 60% (Kcal) from fat for 3 days, 1 week or 2 weeks. One group of mice were fed the HFD for 1 week and then returned to the LFD for a further week. Primary hippocampal cultures were challenged with palmitic acid (PA), the most common long-chain saturated FA in the Western diet, and with the anti-inflammatory, n-3 polyunsaturated FA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), or a combination of the two to ascertain effects of these fatty acids on dendritic structure.HFD-induced changes occur in hippocampal proteins involved in metabolism, inflammation, cell stress, cell signalling, and the cytoskeleton after 3 days, 1 week and 2 weeks of HFD. Replacement of the HFD after 1 week by a low-fat diet (LFD) for a further week resulted in partial recovery of the hippocampal proteome. Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), one of the earliest proteins changed, was used to investigate the impact of fatty acids (FAs) on hippocampal neuronal morphology. PA challenge resulted in shorter and less arborised dendrites while DHA had no effect when applied alone but counteracted the effects of PA when FAs were used in combination. Dendritic morphology recovered when PA was removed from the cell culture media.This study provides evidence for the rapid and reversible effects of diet on the hippocampal proteome and the impact of PA and DHA on dendritic structure.
Epidemiological, morphological, and molecular differences exist between carcinomas of the right and left sides of the large bowel. To investigate whether this is reflected in differences in somatic mutation frequency in the background mucosa, mutation of the neutral O-acetyltransferase gene (oat) was quantified in histologically normal resection margins from 20 informative (heterozygous) patients with caecal or ascending colon cancer (11 males, median age 75 years) and 20 with sigmoid colon or rectal cancer (10 males, median age 70 years). Mutant discordant crypts lacking O-acetyltransferase activity were visualized by mPAS staining and classified as wholly or partially involved by the mutant phenotype; median frequencies (×10−4) were compared (Mann–Whitney U-test) after assessing a sample of more than 10 000 crypts per case. No significant difference was found between the frequencies of wholly involved mPAS-positive crypts in background mucosa of left- and right-sided cancers (p=0·4569), indicating that tumours on both sides of the colon are associated with similar levels of lifetime-accumulated stem cell mutational load. However, partially involved mPAS-positive crypts were significantly more frequent in mucosa from left-sided cancers (p<0·04), indicating increased mutational activity during the previous 12 months. Analysis of mucosa proximal and distal to left-sided cancers showed that this increase was due to a statistically higher frequency of partially involved crypts in proximal mucosa, which probably resulted from the obstructive effects of the tumour causing increased exposure of the proximal mucosa to luminal carcinogens and/or epithelial regeneration in response to low-grade inflammation or ischaemia. The findings indicate that although left-sided colonic cancer is commoner than right-sided cancer in the British population, carcinomas on both sides of the large bowel arise in a background of similar levels of stem cell mutational activity.
Public relations plays a sensitive role in dealing with the discomfort felt within organisations about the ethical implications of their operations. Organisational discomfort seems to be on the increase, and this may be as a result of demands for greater transparency. The purpose of public relations is to tell an organisation‟s side of the story. This role is mission critical, yet practitioners do not necessarily have the status to enable them to carry it out effectively. The practice appears to take on organisations‟ discomfort and deal with it by justifying decisions in which it has no part. Blatant attempts to mask the source of discomfort do not work, but they seem to be commonplace. Practitioners often seem to find themselves with their backs to the wall. Blaming the media may make them feel less uncomfortable. Practitioners seem to keep quiet about this aspect of their work, and it may be seen as valuable, especially when the discomfort is the leader‟s own. Practitioners seem to need to believe completely in what the organisation is doing, otherwise they could not bear the discomfort. It is not acknowledged. It could be a cause of “essential dissonance” (Berger 2005) within the field. Seen this way, the discomfort in and around public relations appears to be endemic. Critical theory is used to question the practice, drawing on the work of Foucault to interrogate the power that is inherent in public relations discourse. My approach is linguistic, drawing on Saussure and Derrida, and applying deconstruction which seeks to open up institutions to reveal what has been repressed or “forgotten”. This work is “disconcerting and deliberately so” (Kamuf, 1991, ix) This paper reports on ongoing research into how the UK practice represents its work (Campbell, Herman, Noble 2006) The research problem is the apparent contradiction between the way that practitioners explain what they do, and what they actually do in their daily work. My research has challenged me to face up to my own sense of discomfort about public relations. I feel discomfort about the public perception of the practice in the UK, and I understand the frustrations of the publics. I feel unease about the claims of transparency made by the practice. In my research interviews I have found similar discomfort within the practice, although it is not always identified as such.
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated whether lamivudine given during late pregnancy can reduce hepatitis B virus (HBV) perinatal transmission in highly viraemic mothers. Mothers were randomized to either lamivudine 100 mg or placebo from week 32 of gestation to week 4 postpartum. At birth, infants received recombinant HBV vaccine with or without HBIg and were followed until week 52. One hundred and fifty mothers, with a gestational age of 26-30 weeks and serum HBV DNA >1000 MEq/mL (bDNA assay), were treated. A total of 141 infants received immunoprophylaxis at birth. In lamivudine-treated mothers, 56 infants received vaccine + HBIg (lamivudine + vaccine + HBIg) and 26 infants received vaccine (lamivudine + vaccine). In placebo-treated mothers, 59 infants received vaccine + HBIg (placebo + vaccine + HBIg). At week 52, in the primary analyses where missing data was counted as failures, infants in the lamivudine + vaccine + HBIg group had a significant decrease in incidence of HBsAg seropositivity (10/56, 18%vs 23/59, 39%; P = 0.014) and in detectable HBV DNA (11/56, 20%vs 27/59, 46%; P = 0.003) compared to infants in the placebo + vaccine + HBIg group. Sensitivity analyses to evaluate the impact of missing data at week 52 resulting from a high dropout rate (13% in the lamivudine + vaccine + HBIg group and 31% in the placebo + vaccine + HBIg group) remained consistent with the primary analysis in that lower transmission rates were still observed in the infants of lamivudine-treated mothers, but the differences were not statistically significant. No safety concerns were noted in the lamivudine-treated mothers or their infants. Results of this study suggest that lamivudine reduced HBV transmission from highly viraemic mothers to their infants who received passive/active immunization.
'%3e%3cpath fill='%23012169' d='M0 0v30h60V0z'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='6' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='4' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30' clip-path='url(%23b)'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='10' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='6' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)