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Developing sustainable software for the scientific community requires expertise in software engineering and domain science. This can be challenging due to the unique needs of scientific software, the insufficient resources for software engineering practices in the scientific community, and the complexity of developing for evolving scientific contexts. While open‐source software can partially address these concerns, it can introduce complicating dependencies and delay development. These issues can be reduced if scientists and software developers collaborate. We present a case study wherein scientists from the SuperNova Early Warning System collaborated with software developers from the Scalable Cyberinfrastructure for Multi‐Messenger Astrophysics project. The collaboration addressed the difficulties of open‐source software development, but presented additional risks to each team. For the scientists, there was a concern of relying on external systems and lacking control in the development process. For the developers, there was a risk in supporting a user‐group while maintaining core development. These issues were mitigated by creating a second Agile Scrum framework in parallel with the developers' ongoing Agile Scrum process. This Agile collaboration promoted communication, ensured that the scientists had an active role in development, and allowed the developers to evaluate and implement the scientists' software requirements. The collaboration provided benefits for each group: the scientists actuated their development by using an existing platform, and the developers utilized the scientists' use‐case to improve their systems. This case study suggests that scientists and software developers can avoid scientific computing issues by collaborating and that Agile Scrum methods can address emergent concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dietary counselling provided by a dietitian, with or without oral nutritional supplements, can impact on nutritional and clinical outcomes in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing radiotherapy. However, little is known about the role of adherence to oral nutritional interventions in this population. This review aimed to map the literature for evidence of adherence to oral nutritional interventions in HNC patients undergoing radiotherapy and to identify gaps in knowledge in this field. Methods: A scoping review methodology was used to identify studies, extract data, and collate and summarise results. We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central and CINAHL, from the earliest available time up to 8 January 2020. Results: In total, 2315 unique articles were identified, 163 studies were assessed in full and niner were included in the scoping review. The use of different measures to assess adherence and variability in the timing of the assessments was noted across studies. Despite identifying studies that have measured adherence to oral nutritional interventions, very few studies monitored its influence on clinical and nutritional outcomes in HNC patients or reported factors related to adherence. Conclusions: A robust evidence base is lacking for adherence to oral nutritional intervention in HNC patients. Overall, further studies evaluating the impact of oral nutritional interventions in HNC patients undergoing radiotherapy should measure adherence to the intervention. Early recognition of non‐adherence and the contributing factors could ensure intensification of nutritional support and better health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food habits of Melanogrammus aeglefinus were explored and contrasted across multiple north-eastern and north-western Atlantic Ocean ecosystems, using databases that span multiple decades. The results show that among all ecosystems, echinoderms are a consistent part of M. aeglefinus diet, but patterns emerge regarding where and when M. aeglefinus primarily eat fishes v. echinoderms. Melanogrammus aeglefinus does not regularly exhibit the increase in piscivory with ontogeny that other gadoids often show, and in several ecosystems there is a lower occurrence of piscivory. There is an apparent inverse relationship between the consumption of fishes and echinoderms in M. aeglefinus over time, where certain years show high levels of one prey item and low levels of the other. This apparent binary choice can be viewed as part of a gradient of prey options, contingent upon a suite of factors external to M. aeglefinus dynamics. The energetic consequences of this prey choice are discussed, noting that in some instances it may not be a choice at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2004–2009 a total of 226 out of a target of 750 prostate cancer patients have been randomised into the Timing of Androgen Deprivation trial between immediate and delayed androgen deprivation. A screening log was kept by participating centres for the first 928 patients, which documented the reasons for non-entry into the trial; 42.7% of screened patients were ineligible and a further 33.0% were not entered for other reasons. Fewer than 10% of patients cited not wanting to be part of a clinical trial as a reason for non-entry. Strategies to improve recruitment included broadening the eligibility criteria, encouraging international collaboration, the use and support of research nurses in the private health care environment, and the use of phone follow-up. Recruitment will be completed at the number originally intended to inform the interim analysis designed to test the validity of the statistical assumptions, and a combined survival analysis with the Canadian study is planned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective teamwork contributes to patient safety in the operating room (OR). For the busy rural surgeon, enhancing OR teamwork can be difficult. This manuscript describes results from the initial implementation of a preoperative briefing protocol at a rural community hospital. From July 2006 to February 2007, teamwork among OR staff working with a single general surgeon at a rural hospital in Alaska was evaluated before and after introduction of a preoperative briefing protocol. After each case, participants completed a questionnaire applying a 6-point Likert-type scale targeting effectiveness of both the preoperative briefing and OR team interaction. Mean values were calculated from 20 cases before introduction of the preoperative briefing and from another 16 cases after its introduction. Statistical analysis of the difference between pre- and post-protocol team performance was conducted with Student’s t test. Mean procedure times were calculated for matched cases pre- and post-intervention and were compared with Wilcoxon’s exact test. Ten members of the OR staff, including the general surgeon, completed both pre- and post-protocol questionnaires. Four additional members of the OR staff completed only pre-protocol questionnaires, and three additional members of the OR staff completed only post-protocol questionnaires. After implementation of the preoperative briefing protocol, the mean score of overall preoperative briefing was 1.01 units higher than before ( p < 0.0001), and overall OR team interaction was 0.50 units higher ( p < 0.0001). The overall mean post-intervention procedure time was shorter than the overall mean pre-intervention procedure time (31 ± 12 min versus 50 ± 18 min) for four categories of matched cases. Because of the small sample size, statistical significance was not achieved ( p = 0.057). Implementation of a preoperative briefing protocol improved overall preoperative briefing and OR team interaction in the study setting. These findings are encouraging for enhancing teamwork and patient safety through implementation of a systematic protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Donations that repeatedly react in transfusion microbiology screening assays are usually discarded; with appropriate confirmatory testing on the index and on follow-up samples, the great majority of these can be shown to be falsely positive. Under carefully controlled conditions, with secure information transfer, these donations, although still reactive in the primary screening assays, can be made available for clinical use after testing and obtaining negative results with alternative assays from a list of assays evaluated as suitable for the release of blood donations. We will describe a generic algorithm that can be applied to all markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Government policy requires that health and social care agencies work more closely together and in partnership with the criminal justice system. There is a well-established relationship between crime and mental disorder.Method: The Tracking Project provides for the first time in England the means of collating and analysing data on mental disorder (defined as receiving secondary care as patients of a Mental Health Trust) and crime (defined as all those charged with an offence). Data were collected over a three-year period for all individuals who had contact with the criminal justice system and mental health services in an English county.Results: In a county population of 800,400, some 30,329 were offenders. More than a third had used a health or social care service during the three-year period; 8.0% were mentally disordered. Those offenders aged 25-64 and who contacted the police more than once were significantly more likely to be mentally disordered. Type of offence was also a relevant variable. The probation service showed broadly similar results.Discussion: The research has provided for the first time substantive quantitative evidence of the relationship between crime and mental disorder. The results can be used as the basis for further work to target assessment and risk reduction measures at those most at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biomass of Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kütz, was estimated at selected sites in the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, and River Kilometer 354. C. glomerata biomass was significantly higher at sites above Lees Ferry (25 km downstream from the Dam) than sites below the Ferry. Biomass and chlorophyll a were significantly reduced when C. glomerata was subjected to one-time exposures to the atmosphere for 12 daylight h or more. Repeated 12/12 h and 24/24 h and (exposure/submergence) cycles over a two-week period also showed a significantly reduction in biomass. The adaptations of C. glomerata to "stranding" during regulated flows are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carte scolaire (school map) has been developed since 1963 as a device for planning long term development of educationaL provision at the secondary school level, down to prescribing what specialist provision should be made in individual establishments. The carte scolaire is approved by the Ministry of Education on the proposition of the Rector of the Académie (the regional authority for secondary education) and after consultation with representatives of local communities and specialist interests. Information gained from official documents and interviews with practitioners is used to develop a detailed picture of this neglected area, and to assess the criticisms made by administrators and commentators. Particular stress is placed on examining the dominance of the technocrats, the boundaries within which the devisers of the carte scolaire operate, and the effectiveness (or otherwise) of long-term educational planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollination success of Agave palmeri is strongly dependent on nectar-feeding bats. In areas with very low or nonexistent bat populations, Agave seed set is <5% of its maximum potential. A 30 yr trend of declining seed set parallels a decline in bat numbers during that period. We speculate that habitat destruction and an increase in human use of Agave are causal factors. Over half of the measurable energy in the plant biomass is allocated to advertising and reproduction. We discuss the costs and risks involved in the semelparous strategy when pollinators decline. Where bats remain, agaves in dense patches show higher seed set than do outlying plants, suggesting that the pollinators favor grouped plants. This behavior may reinforce the plants' colonial tendencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method of presentation and problems in diagnosis of 3 cases of hydrocolpos are discussed. The anatomy and embryology of the abnormality is described. The methods of treatment and results are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the transition-zone mineral assemblages in peridotie massifs in Tibet, China and their effects for collision-zone dynamics and orogenic peridotites. Also cited are the discovery of diamonds in both the chromitites and periodites of ophiolites in the Yarlung-Zangbo suture in Tibet and the Polar Urals, the exsolution of coesite, diopside and enstatite, as well as super-reducing ultra-high pressure (SuR-UHP) assemblages.

Donors who falsely react in any of the transfusion microbiology screen tests are sent a standard letter and asked to give a sample after a suspension of twelve weeks [84 days]. The donors can then be considered for re-entry to the active panel. We are not aware of any work showing how many donors re-attend to give samples and how soon, so have analysed our national figures. 1301 donors who donated in the 3 months from 1st Oct 05 [434 per month] gave a false positive reaction and were sent the standard letter. 2269 donors returned in the period 1st Jan 06 to 31st May 06 [453 per month] following the standard letter and gave samples to be considered for re-entry. Of these: 769 had donated in the 3 months from 1/10/05, 393 females and 376 males. The average number of days between initial and repeat samples was 130 days for females and 129 days for males with standard deviations of 27.4 and 27.9. Two donors attended and were sampled at less than 84 days! We recorded a maximum time interval between sample and donation of 231 days - with each testing centre having donors attending at over 150 days. 755 donors were returned to the active panel [400 using the alternative assay re-entry algorithm]. We have shown that 59% of false positive donors have given further samples for re-entry. The figure is constrained by the length of time for which data is currently available. It may be higher if data were available for a longer period. When more data are available it may be possible to investigate how many false positive donors do not return and compare the results with those for first time donors, currently approximately 30%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter to the editor about an article on viraemia in a primarily isolated anti-HBc donor who seroconverted to anti-HBs following vaccination.

Examines the occurrence of hepatitis B infection and hepatitis B vaccination in blood donors in great Britain. Effect of vaccination on blood donation; Changes in the donor selection criteria; Exclusion of donors with hepatitis B vaccination from blood donation.

Presents an obituary for psychologist Ruth Campbell who died on February 9, 1974 in London, England.

The treatment landscape for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) has changed dramatically in recent years, with findings from clinical trials reporting improvements in survival. Data on the general patient population are, however, sparse; and it is unclear whether the effects observed in clinical trials have translated into the real-world setting. To investigate this, we examined first-line and relapsed/refractory (RR) disease management in 335 MCL patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2015 in an established population-based patient cohort, along with data on demographic, diagnostic and prognostic factors. Marked treatment and survival changes were observed; first-line rituximab immunotherapy, for example, increased from 32% to 86% over the 11-year period, and median survival increased from 2·0 years among those first treated in 2004-2011 to 3·5 years among those treated in 2012-2015. Outcomes for RR disease also improved, from 8 months in 2004-2011 to 16·8 months in 2012-2015, coinciding with the introduction of agents, such as bendamustine and ibrutinib. Encouragingly, improvements were seen across all ages; 1-year overall survival among patients over 70 years treated for RR disease almost doubled. Our analyses underscore the importance of monitoring the impact of treatment changes in the real-world setting., (© 2018 The Authors. British Journal of Haematology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Prompt cancer diagnosis may align UK survival with European averages. We examined the impact of route to diagnosis on survival for multiple myeloma patients diagnosed 2012-2013 using data from our population-based patient cohort that links to national death notifications and collects details on treatment and response (n = 441). Emergency presentation was associated with advanced disease and poorer outcomes, and was the commonest route to diagnosis (28·1%) followed by General Practitioner urgent (19·0%) and two-week wait (17·2%) referrals. CRAB (elevated Calcium, Renal failure, Anaemia, Bone lesions) distribution varied by route (P < 0·001), with patients with emergency presentations most likely to have ≥2 features and significantly worse survival (log-rank test χ 2  = 13·8, P = 0·0002)., (© 2017 The Authors. British Journal of Haematology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The Haematological Malignancy Research Network (HMRN) was established in 2004 to provide robust generalizable data to inform clinical practice and research. It comprises an ongoing population-based cohort of patients newly diagnosed by a single integrated haematopathology laboratory in two adjacent UK Cancer Networks (population 3.6 million). With an emphasis on primary-source data, prognostic factors, sequential treatment/response history, and socio-demographic details are recorded to clinical trial standards. Data on 8131 patients diagnosed over the 4 years 2004-08 are examined here using the latest World Health Organization classification. HMRN captures all diagnoses (adult and paediatric) and the diagnostic age ranged from 4 weeks to 99 years (median 70.4 years). In line with published estimates, first-line clinical trial entry varied widely by disease subtype and age, falling from 59.5% in those aged <15 years to 1.9% in those aged over 75 years - underscoring the need for contextual population-based treatment and response data of the type collected by HMRN. The critical importance of incorporating molecular and prognostic markers into comparative survival analyses is illustrated with reference to diffuse-large B-cell lymphoma, acute myeloid leukaemia and myeloma. With respect to aetiology, several descriptive factors are highlighted and discussed, including the unexplained male predominance evident for most subtypes across all ages.

The chondroprotective potential of glycosaminoglycan-peptide association complex (GP-C) was examined in the medial meniscectomy model of lapine osteoarthritis (OA). Prophylactic treatment with increasing doses of intramuscular GP-C (0.05-0.5 ml/kg) caused a significant reduction in OA lesion area and histologic scores, and the effect on disease activity appeared to be dose related. The DNA and uronic acid contents of OA tissue were unaffected by prophylactic treatment with GP-C. However, levels of hydroxyproline in OA cartilage increased to near control levels with prophylactic treatment. Cartilage levels of active and total metalloproteinases that digest proteoglycans were elevated in rabbits with OA; prophylactic treatment with low-dose GP-C (0.05 ml/kg) produced a significant reduction in active, but not total, enzyme. Cartilage levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases in animals with OA were comparable with control levels, but rose with increasing doses of GP-C. We also investigated GP-C as a therapeutic treatment in animals that had already developed OA lesions. Carbon black retention and histologic score returned to near-normal after therapeutic treatment with GP-C. Uronic acid and hydroxyproline levels were decreased in OA cartilage. Therapeutic treatment with GP-C had no statistically significant effect on uronic acid levels, but was associated with increased hydroxyproline content in the cartilage. The changes in metalloproteinase and metalloproteinase inhibitor were similar to those found in the studies of prophylactic treatment. The findings in this animal model may help explain some of the beneficial effects of GP-C in human OA.

Nucleoside triphosphate pyrophosphohydrolase activity was first detected in articular cartilage in previous studies at our laboratory. In this report, the enzyme is partially characterized with respect to its pH optimum and Km. The enzyme was metal-dependent and was active in the presence of 1 mM Ca++. It was inhibited by several substances, including cysteine and dithiothreitol. Its activity was not inhibited by tetramisole at concentrations which inhibited 100% of the pyrophosphatase activity in the same extracts. It functioned most effectively on ATP, but also on UTP, CTP, and GTP. A role for scavenging nucleotides and production of pyrophosphate in osteoarthritic and chondrocalcinotic cartilage is postulated.

One abnormality in calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPDD) which fosters consistently high synovial fluid pyrophosphate ion (PPi) and large accumulations of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals (Ca pyrophosphate) might be an aberration in chondrocytes involving elaboration of PPi and failure of its hydrolysis within cartilage matrix. Exploration of this hypothesis required further information on the phosphohydrolases in relevant human articular cartilages. Triton X-100 extracts of whole homogenized cartilage from 18 patients with primary osteoarthritis (OA), 10 patients with CPDD and secondary OA, as well as 6 "normal" subjects were partially purified by DE-52 chromatography and eluates studied for phosphohydrolase activity in a variety of substrates, inhibitors, and environmental conditions. Almost all the protein as well as crude alkaline phosphatase and pyrophosphatase activities were clustered in peaks designated I and II. Findings in CPDD cartilage not observed in OA controls were: 1) consistent alkaline phosphatase activity in the void volume of DE-52 columns, 2) high levels of 5'nucleotidase activity, 3) abundant generation of PPi by CPDD cartilage during in vitro incubation of cartilage extract fractions with ATP. This enzymatic behavior is likely to bear a regulatory relationship to PPi production by chondrocytes in CPDD.

Incubates of articular cartilage from young but not mature rabbits, as well as growth plate cartilage, elaborated PPi into basel Eagle's medium during a 4-hour period. Control rabbit synovial membrane and ear cartilage elaborated negligible amounts of PPi. The PPi was shown to be nondialyzable but could be dissociated from the alkaline phosphatase by ultracentrifugation. In 16 patients with osteoarthritis a substantial output of PPi by samples of articular cartilage from the knee was demonstrated. The present authors believe that either rapid cell division and matrix synthesis found in the base of ulcerating osteoarthritic cartilage or remodeling calcified sites comprise the origin of the PPi in such osteoarthritic cartilage. They further theorize that this PPi output accounts for a considerable fraction, if not all, of the elevated PPi levels found in synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis.

Size distribution of cartilage proteoglycans (PG) extracted from control and osteoarthritic rabbit knees after partial meniscectomy was analyzed. In normal control knees, about 30% of PG molecules were in aggregate form and average sedimentation constant was 60S. No aggregates were found in osteoarthritic cartilage, whether ulcer, rim about ulcer, or distant normal-appearing cartilage was examined. Weight average sedimentation constants for PG subunits were similar to controls, 15S. Up to 70% of guanidinium-extractable PG could be extracted from osteoarthritic cartilage by using 0.5M guanidine HC1 (GuHCl); sedimentation characteristics of extracted PG were similar to those using 4.0M GuHCl. Absence of aggregates is consistent with a disorder of link protein, hyaluronic acid, or PG subunit hyaluronic acid binding sites. Absence of subunit degradation was an enexpected finding. The demonstrated ability of 0.5 M GuHCl to extract large amounts of PG from osteoarthritic cartilage will allow study of cartilage proteoglycans in their native nondissociated state.

Forty-nine specimens of human cartilage were taken from 3 sites on the tibial plateau (center of osteoarthritic lesion, edge of lesion, and remote site) and graded histologically by the scale of Mankin. The tissue was homogenized and centrifuged to obtain an insoluble pellet. This was resuspended in buffer and incubated at 37 degrees C, pH 7.5. Collagen digestion was quantitated by the release of hydroxyproline-containing peptides. The highest collagenolytic activity (4.6%) was found in the center of lesions, declining in remote sites to 2.4% and in controls to 1.1%. Moderately severe disease of grade 6--9 had the highest collagenolytic activity. Approximately 55% of the metal-dependent collagenolytic activity was in a latent form, activatable by amino-phenylmercuric acetate; the remainder was self-active. A method was developed for the extraction of collagenase from cartilage; the extracted enzyme produced the typical 75:25 cleavage products of type I collagen.

Recent reports on the Pond-Nuki model of osteoarthritis in the dog have provided evidence for partial disruption of the collagen network. The possibility of collagenase involvement in these localized changes was studied. Animals were killed 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after surgery. The left knee served as a sham-operated control. Cartilages from femoral condyles were processed for light and electron microscopy and assayed for collagenolytic activity by a direct tissue assay, based on the measurement of digestion of endogenous cartilage collagen. Animals killed at 2 and 4 weeks showed fibrillation and mild erosion of femoral condyles, which usually progressed to ulceration by 8 and 12 weeks. Electron microscopy demonstrated fiber disruption of the mid-zone perilacunar collagen as early as 2 weeks after the operation. Total collagenolytic activity, measured after activation by aminophenylmercuric acetate, was significantly higher in decreased cartilage than in controls of 2, 4, and 8 weeks; the peak value was at 4 weeks. Collagenase was shown, by its specific action on type I collagen, to be present at 2 and 4 weeks; however, other metalloproteases may also contribute to the digestion. The correlation between increased collagenolytic activity and the early osteoarthritic changes in cartilage suggests a role of this enzyme activity in the disease process.

The neutral metalloprotease extracted from 1,200 gm of human articular cartilage was purified 1,400- to 2,400-fold by diethylaminoethyl- and carboxymethyl-Sephadex chromatography. Disc electrophoresis and an isoelectric focusing method resolved the neutral enzyme activity into 4 bands. All bands had a similar amino acid analysis and a similar molecular weight by sodium dodecylsulfate electrophoresis and gel filtration: 24,000-27,000 daltons. The enzyme degraded proteoglycan subunit and proteoglycan aggregate to products with a sedimentation coefficient of 3S, but at low dilutions the enzyme produced 19.3S fragments. It is postulated that this protease may contribute to the development of osteoarthritis from within the cartilage matrix.