Evaluation of fish pots as a feasible fishing method in Irish waters, with specific reference to the physiological effects of common and alternate pots on the lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula).

Finfish pots have emerged as a “responsible” gear, when used in combination with conservational and technical measures to sustain fisheries. Previous trials in Irish waters have offered no published reported data and so three designs tested in the current study provide new information on this gear. The most successful traps in terms of fish catch were rigid steel framed rectangular pots used to target Conger eel. Although commercial yield was low (0.2 per trap haul), potential existed for a viable pot fishery. Deployment and storage of Norwegian floating pots was conducted with relative ease but performance in the water was poor resulting in loss of gear. Catch returns were notable even though effort was restricted as mega-faunal by-catch was a problem, which lead to ending this trial. From these initial trials it was evident that catch rates were low compared to established Norwegian fisheries (3.6 cod per pot), which resulted in the utilisation of pots, already established in the crustacean fishery, to find species readily accessible to pot capture. Although fished and designed differently, these gears provided an opportunity to establish the benefits of pot fishing to fish quality and to determine the effects on by-catch. The fishing effects of three catching methods (pots, angling and trawl) and the effects of air exposure on the physiological status of a common by-catch, the lesser spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canícula (L.) were examined using a range of physiological biomarkers (plasma catecholamine, glucose, lactate, muscle pH and muscle lactate). Physiological responses of fish to an emersion stress regime resulted in a significant metabolic disturbance in groups, but may not have weakened the overall health of these fish, as signified in the revival of some metabolites. Plasma glucose and lactate concentrations did not however recovery to baseline levels indicating that to achieve an accurate profile, responses should be determined by a suite of biomarkers. Responses did not demonstrate that samples from the pots were significantly less stressed than for the other two methods; angling and trawling, which are in contrast to many other studies. Employment of finfish potting therefore in Irish waters needs further consideration before further promotion as a more responsible method to supplement or replace established techniques.

Effects of foliar fertilization of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) during the seed-filling stage

An experiment was carried out with common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) in a Red Yellow Latossol, sandy phase, in order to study the influence of foliar spraying of the Hanway nutrient solution (NPKS) at grain filling stage on: 1) grain yield; 2) the uptake of fertilizer and soil nitrogen by this crop through the root system and 3) the efficiency of utilization of the nitrogen in the foliar spray solution by the grain. The results of this experiment showed that the foliar application of the Hanway solution with ammonium nitrate at the pod filling period caused severe leaf burn and grain yield was inferior to that of the plants which received a soil application of this fertilizer at the same stage. These facts can be attributed to the presence of ammonium nitrate in the concentration used. The composition of final spray was: 114,28 Kg NH4NO3 + 43,11 Kg potassium poliphosphate + 12,44 Kg potassium sulphate per 500 litres. The uptake of nitrogen fertilizer through the root system and the efficiency of its utilization was greater than that through the leaves.

Testing of stair climbing point-of-choice prompts in Barcelona at an outdoor set of stairs and scalators on the Montjuïc site

Regular stair climbing has well-documented health dividends, such as increased fitness and strength, weight loss and reduced body fat, improved lipid profiles and reduced risk of osteoporosis. The general absence of barriers to participation makes stair climbing an ideal physical activity (PA) for health promotion. Studies in the US and the UK have consistently shown that interventions to increase the accumulation of lifestyle PA by climbing stairs rather than using the escalators are effective. However, there are no previous in Catalonia. This project tested one message for their ability to prompt travelers on the Montjuïc site to choose the stairs rather than the escalator when climbing up the Monjuïc hill. One standard message, " Take the stairs! 7 minutes of stair climbing a day protects your heart" provided a comparison with previous research done in the UK. Translated into Catalan and Spanish, it was presented on a poster positioned at the point of choice between the stairs and the escalator. The study used a quasi-experimental, interrupted time series design. Travelers, during several and specific hours on two days of the week, were coded for stair or escalator use, gender, age, ethnic status, presence of accompanying children or bags by one observer. Overall, the intervention resulted in a 81% increase in stair climbing. In the follow-up period without messages, stair climbing dropped out to baseline levels. This preliminary study showed a significant effect on stair use. However, caution is needed since results are based on a small sample and, only a low percentage of the sample took the stairs at baseline or the intervention phase . Future research on stair use in Catalonia should focus on using bigger samples, different sites (metro stations, airports, shopping centers, etc) , different messages and techniques to promote stair climbing.

Bioluminescent sensor proteins for point-of-care therapeutic drug monitoring.

For many drugs, finding the balance between efficacy and toxicity requires monitoring their concentrations in the patient's blood. Quantifying drug levels at the bedside or at home would have advantages in terms of therapeutic outcome and convenience, but current techniques require the setting of a diagnostic laboratory. We have developed semisynthetic bioluminescent sensors that permit precise measurements of drug concentrations in patient samples by spotting minimal volumes on paper and recording the signal using a simple point-and-shoot camera. Our sensors have a modular design consisting of a protein-based and a synthetic part and can be engineered to selectively recognize a wide range of drugs, including immunosuppressants, antiepileptics, anticancer agents and antiarrhythmics. This low-cost point-of-care method could make therapies safer, increase the convenience of doctors and patients and make therapeutic drug monitoring available in regions with poor infrastructure.

Mise en place d'un programme de prévention et de prise en charge du diabète en Suisse: le point de vue des patients et des professionnels de la santé [Implementation of a diabetes disease management program in Switzerland: patients' and healthcare professionals' point of view].

BACKGROUND: A reorganization of healthcare systems is required to meet the challenge of the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, e.g. diabetes. In North-America and Europe, several countries have thus developed national or regional chronic disease management programs. In Switzerland, such initiatives have only emerged recently. In 2010, the canton of Vaud set up the "Diabetes Cantonal Program", within the framework of which we conducted a study designed to ascertain the opinions of both diabetic patients and healthcare professionals on the elements that could be integrated into this program, the barriers and facilitators to its development, and the incentives that could motivate these actors to participate. METHODS: We organized eight focus-groups: one with diabetic patients and one with healthcare professionals in the four sanitary areas of the canton of Vaud. The discussions were recorded, transcribed and submitted to a thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Patients and healthcare professionals were rather in favour of the implementation of a cantonal program, although patients were more cautious concerning its necessity. All participants envisioned a set of elements that could be integrated to this program. They also considered that the program could be developed more easily if it were adapted to patients' and professionals' needs and if it used existing structures and professionals. The difficulty to motivate both patients and professionals to participate was mentioned as a barrier to the development of this program however. Quality or financial incentives could therefore be created to overcome this potential problem. CONCLUSION: The identification of the elements to consider, barriers, facilitators and incentives to participate to a chronic disease management program, obtained by exploring the opinions of patients and healthcare professionals, should favour its further development and implementation.

Choline-PET in prostate cancer management: The point of view of the radiation oncologist.

Among PET radiotracers, FDG seems to be quite accepted as an accurate oncology diagnostic tool, frequently helpful also in the evaluation of treatment response and in radiation therapy treatment planning for several cancer sites. To the contrary, the reliability of Choline as a tracer for prostate cancer (PC) still remains an object of debate for clinicians, including radiation oncologists. This review focuses on the available data about the potential impact of Choline-PET in the daily clinical practice of radiation oncologists managing PC patients. In summary, routine Choline-PET is not indicated for initial local T staging, but it seems better than conventional imaging for nodal staging and for all patients with suspected metastases. In these settings, Choline-PET showed the potential to change patient management. A critical limit remains spatial resolution, limiting the accuracy and reliability for small lesions. After a PSA rise, the problem of the trigger PSA value remains crucial. Indeed, the overall detection rate of Choline-PET is significantly increased when the trigger PSA, or the doubling time, increases, but higher PSA levels are often a sign of metastatic spread, a contraindication for potentially curable local treatments such as radiation therapy. Even if several published data seem to be promising, the current role of PET in treatment planning in PC patients to be irradiated still remains under investigation. Based on available literature data, all these issues are addressed and discussed in this review.

Routine use of point-of-care tests: usefulness and application in clinical microbiology.

Point-of-care (POC) tests offer potentially substantial benefits for the management of infectious diseases, mainly by shortening the time to result and by making the test available at the bedside or at remote care centres. Commercial POC tests are already widely available for the diagnosis of bacterial and viral infections and for parasitic diseases, including malaria. Infectious diseases specialists and clinical microbiologists should be aware of the indications and limitations of each rapid test, so that they can use them appropriately and correctly interpret their results. The clinical applications and performance of the most relevant and commonly used POC tests are reviewed. Some of these tests exhibit insufficient sensitivity, and should therefore be coupled to confirmatory tests when the results are negative (e.g. Streptococcus pyogenes rapid antigen detection test), whereas the results of others need to be confirmed when positive (e.g. malaria). New molecular-based tests exhibit better sensitivity and specificity than former immunochromatographic assays (e.g. Streptococcus agalactiae detection). In the coming years, further evolution of POC tests may lead to new diagnostic approaches, such as panel testing, targeting not just a single pathogen, but all possible agents suspected in a specific clinical setting. To reach this goal, the development of serology-based and/or molecular-based microarrays/multiplexed tests will be needed. The availability of modern technology and new microfluidic devices will provide clinical microbiologists with the opportunity to be back at the bedside, proposing a large variety of POC tests that will allow quicker diagnosis and improved patient care.

Older persons' perceptions of general practitioner or specialist primary care physicians : same point of view?

BACKGROUND: Identification of a Primary Care Physician (PCP) by older patients is considered as essential for the coordination of care, but the extent to which identified PCPs are general practitioners or specialists is unknown. This study described older patients' experiences with their PCP and tested the hypothesis of differences between patients who identify a specialist as their PCP (SP PCP) and those who turn to a general practitioner (GP PCP). METHODS: In 2012, a cross-sectional postal survey on care was conducted in the 68+ year old population of the canton of Vaud. Data was provided by 2,276 participants in the ongoing Lausanne cohort 65+ (Lc65+), a study of those born between 1934 and 1943, and by 998 persons from an additional sample drawn to include the population outside of Lausanne or born before 1934. RESULTS: Participants expressed favourable perceptions, at rates exceeding 75% for most items. However, only 38% to 51% responded positively for out-of-hours availability, easy access and at home visits, likelihood of prescribing expensive medication if needed, and doctors' awareness of over-the-counter drugs. 12.0% had an SP PCP, in 95.9% specialised in a discipline implying training in internal medicine. Bivariate and multivariate analyses did not result in significant differences between GP and SP PCPs regarding perceptions of accessibility/availability, doctor-patient relationship, information and continuity of care, prevention, spontaneous use of the emergency department or ambulatory care utilisation. CONCLUSIONS: Experiences of old patients were mostly positive despite some lack in reported hearing, memory testing, and colorectal cancer screening. We found no differences between GP and SP PCP groups.

Glomus intraradices induces changes in root system architecture of rice independently of common symbiosis signaling

? Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonize the roots of most monocotyledons and dicotyledons despite their different root architecture and cell patterning. Among the cereal hosts of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Oryza sativa (rice) possesses a peculiar root system composed of three different types of roots: crown roots; large lateral roots; and fine lateral roots. Characteristic is the constitutive formation of aerenchyma in crown roots and large lateral roots and the absence of cortex from fine lateral roots. Here, we assessed the distribution of colonization by Glomus intraradices within this root system and determined its effect on root system architecture. ? Large lateral roots are preferentially colonized, and fine lateral roots are immune to arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization. Fungal preference for large lateral roots also occurred in sym mutants that block colonization of the root beyond rhizodermal penetration. ? Initiation of large lateral roots is significantly induced by G. intraradices colonization and does not require a functional common symbiosis signaling pathway from which some components are known to be needed for symbiosis-mediated lateral root induction in Medicago truncatula. ? Our results suggest variation of symbiotic properties among the different rice root-types and induction of the preferred tissue by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Furthermore, signaling for arbuscular mycorrhizal-elicited alterations of the root system differs between rice and M. truncatula.

Prospective evaluation of three point of care devices for glycemia measurement in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Hypoglycemia, if recurrent, may have severe consequences on cognitive and psychomotor development of neonates. Therefore, screening for hypoglycemia is a daily routine in every facility taking care of newborn infants. Point-of-care-testing (POCT) devices are interesting for neonatal use, as their handling is easy, measurements can be performed at bedside, demanded blood volume is small and results are readily available. However, such whole blood measurements are challenged by a wide variation of hematocrit in neonates and a spectrum of normal glucose concentration at the lower end of the test range. We conducted a prospective trial to check precision and accuracy of the best suitable POCT device for neonatal use from three leading companies in Europe. Of the three devices tested (Precision Xceed, Abbott; Elite XL, Bayer; Aviva Nano, Roche), Aviva Nano exhibited the best precision. None completely fulfilled the ISO-accuracy-criteria 15197: 2003 or 2011. Aviva Nano fulfilled these criteria in 92% of cases while the others were <87%. Precision Xceed reached the 95% limit of the 2003 ISO-criteria for values ≤4.2 mmol/L, but not for the higher range (71%). Although validated for adults, new POCT devices need to be specifically evaluated on newborn infants before adopting their routine use in neonatology.

Genome-wide meta-analysis of common variant differences between men and women.

The male-to-female sex ratio at birth is constant across world populations with an average of 1.06 (106 male to 100 female live births) for populations of European descent. The sex ratio is considered to be affected by numerous biological and environmental factors and to have a heritable component. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of common allele modest effects at autosomal and chromosome X variants that could explain the observed sex ratio at birth. We conducted a large-scale genome-wide association scan (GWAS) meta-analysis across 51 studies, comprising overall 114 863 individuals (61 094 women and 53 769 men) of European ancestry and 2 623 828 common (minor allele frequency >0.05) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Allele frequencies were compared between men and women for directly-typed and imputed variants within each study. Forward-time simulations for unlinked, neutral, autosomal, common loci were performed under the demographic model for European populations with a fixed sex ratio and a random mating scheme to assess the probability of detecting significant allele frequency differences. We do not detect any genome-wide significant (P < 5 × 10(-8)) common SNP differences between men and women in this well-powered meta-analysis. The simulated data provided results entirely consistent with these findings. This large-scale investigation across ~115 000 individuals shows no detectable contribution from common genetic variants to the observed skew in the sex ratio. The absence of sex-specific differences is useful in guiding genetic association study design, for example when using mixed controls for sex-biased traits.

Les vertébroplasties: point de vue du rhumatologue [Vertebro-plasty: a rheumatologist's point of view]

Percutaneous vertebro-plasty is an efficient treatment of the symptomatic vertebral compression fracture refractory to optimal medical therapy. The procedure is used for neoplastic lesions, aggressive angioma, but also osteoporotic compression fractures. In order to adequately advice our patients, it is essential to know its indications and possible complications. However, to practice a vertebro-plasty for an osteoporotic compression fracture without any long term management of the osteoporotic disease is useless. Unfortunately, it still happens too often and it is essential that orthopedic surgeons, general practitioner, radiologist, rheumatologist, and any practitioners work together to guarantee the optimal management of our patients.

A study of the cambial zone and conductive phloem of common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) using an image analysis method. I. Influence of tree age on the structure

Quantification is a major problem when using histology to study the influence of ecological factors on tree structure. This paper presents a method to prepare and to analyse transverse sections of cambial zone and of conductive phloem in bark samples. The following paper (II) presents the automated measurement procedure. Part I here describes and discusses the preparation method, and the influence of tree age on the observed structure. Highly contrasted images of samples extracted at breast height during dormancy were analysed with an automatic image analyser. Between three young (38 years) and three old (147 years) trees, age-related differences were identified by size and shape parameters, at both cell and tissue levels. In the cambial zone, older trees had larger and more rectangular fusiform initials. In the phloem, sieve tubes were also larger, but their shape did not change and the area for sap conduction was similar in both categories. Nevertheless, alterations were limited, and demanded statistical analysis to be identified and ascertained. The physiological implications of the structural changes are discussed.